The Speak Life Podcast

Donald Trump questions plans to livestream Nidal Hasan’s execution, sparking a provocative discussion about capital punishment, public justice, and the dangers of turning death into spectacle. The conversation explores biblical views of state authority, how Jesus transforms approaches to punishment, and why the cross offers a radically different lens on guilt, mercy, and execution.

A lively tour through today’s culture wars, viewed through four competing frameworks shaped by Christianity’s rise and decline. Topics range from “love is love,” abortion, gender and euthanasia to Andrew Tate, Taylor Swift, environmentalism, Queers for Palestine and Donald Trump. Along the way, films, music and politics spark a deeper game about how Jesus reframes identity, power, sacrifice and loving enemies.

Glen Scrivener explores Tucker Carlson’s debate with Jacob Rees-Mogg on just war, World War II, Hiroshima, and the moral legacy of Hitler. The discussion widens to the West’s possible futures, the fading postwar consensus, anti-woke politics, and the clash between strength and sacrifice. At the center is a question of whether Christian foundations can endure when opposition to Nazism no longer holds society together.

What exactly does it mean to share the gospel? Explore familiar tools like the Bridge Diagram, Four Points, Two Ways to Live, Wordless Book, and 3-2-1. The conversation also examines how Jesus tailored his responses, why gospel formulas can fall short, and how seeing Jesus himself as the gospel transforms conversations about faith.

Glen Scrivener explores three strengths often associated with Catholicism: its deep sense of history, resistance to cultural pressure, and emphasis on the institutional church. He also considers the Protestant missionary impulse, the risks of excessive contextualization, and how Catholics and Protestants can recognize the Spirit’s work across denominational lines.

Can miracles prove which church is true? This discussion examines a new Catholic apologetic focused on signs, prophecies, and Fatima, while comparing it with Ratzinger, Vatican teaching, and Scripture. It explores why private revelations cannot replace the Bible, why the resurrection stands apart from other wonders, and how Paul points believers to Christ crucified rather than miracle-hunting.

Matthew Adelstein, a Princeton-associated philosopher and writer, defends his viral claim that insects may matter more than humans collectively. He discusses effective altruism, insect consciousness and suffering, moral mathematics, pest control, animal welfare, abortion, and human exceptionalism. A probing Christian conversation explores the problem of evil, creation’s fallenness, incarnation, redemption, and whether an afterlife could transform the meaning of suffering.

What does evangelistic success really look like? Glen Scrivener and Naomi Brehm explore Jesus’ parable of the sower, from hardened paths and shallow faith to the thorns of worry and desire. They consider why sharing the gospel can seem fruitless, how to recognize lasting faith, and why faithfully sowing the seed matters even when results remain unseen.

Why did Christianity spread so dramatically in the ancient world? The discussion explores its exclusive monotheism, belief in bodily resurrection, radical care for outsiders, transformative sexual ethic, and promise of freedom from fate and shame. It also considers whether the movement’s explosive growth can be explained naturally, or points to something supernatural at its origin.

Glen Scrivener explores Andrew Huberman and Steven Bartlett’s discussion of DMT, material reality, faith, and prayer. He examines whether science and belief can complement each other, the brain’s longing for God, and modern spiritual hunger amid loneliness and social media. Prayer emerges as a practical way to explore dimensions of life beyond biology and psychology.