New Persuasive Words

In this episode we consider whether our democracy can adequately respond to the concerns and crises that face the American citizenry. We were inspired in part by a conversation Jon Stewart just had with American historian Jon Meacham. You can watch the conversation here, or listen to it wherever you get your podcasts.

It's Monday and we have a few things to say with the Inauguration just a week away!

In this episode we engage with a talk given by Bishop Robert Barron at the Acton institute. The topic of the address is the philosophical roots of "wokeism." You can listen to the talk here, or read a transcript of it here.

In this episode we talk about Original Sin and human origins, inspired in part by an essay on the work of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin that appeared in a recent issue of the Christian Century. You can find the article we reference here..

In this episode we talk about a recent piece by New York Times columnist David Brooks Entitled "The Shock of Faith: It’s Nothing Like I Thought It Would Be." We also consider some of the response it's generated in public discourse by people of many faiths and no faith at all. You can find the original David Brooks piece here. You can find Mark Oppenheimer's responses here and here. You can listen to Scott's conversation with Mark here. To see what states received campaign visits during the 2024 Presidential election click here. If you're curious about the Dead Poet's Society poetry scale reference, you can watch the clip here. [You can go here](patreon.com/scottkentjones) to become a Patreon sponsor of the show. If you want to make a one time gift to contribute to the work of the show you can do so here. Lastly here's Scott's Amazon podcast production wishlist.

In this episode we talk about the Jewishness of Jesus and what it means in the context of contemporary antisemitism.

In this episode we contrast the ecology of the Roman Empire with the ecology of the Christmas story.

In this special holiday episode we talk with our good friend Matt Milliner about the Virgin Mary and her significance for the spiritual life.Special Guest: Matt Milliner.

Can we have a truly secular society, or does religion always play some animating role in public life? If this is the case, are all religious cultural foundations created equal? And what does any of this have to do with Christmas?

In this episode we address a listener's question and concerns. She is currently pursuing a graduate degree and is finding herself consistently confronted with criticisms of her religious faith. We offer some insights into how we might approach some of the criticisms of Christianity that she's regular hearing.