Faithful Politics

• ProPublica's Jennifer Smith Richards on Oklahoma’s Push for More Patriotic, Christian Public Schools

  Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: [email protected] reporter Jennifer Smith Richards of ProPublica joins Will and Josh to break down her major reporting on Oklahoma’s controversial education overhaul under Superintendent Ryan Walters. She explains how Christianity was woven into new academic standards, why educators across the political spectrum objected, and how figures like PragerU, David Barton, and Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts influenced the proposed curriculum. Jennifer also walks through the dramatic rollback of civil-rights enforcement at the U.S. Department of Education and what the loss of federal oversight means for students with disabilities, racial discrimination claims, and families seeking accountability. This is a sobering, deeply important look at the future of public education, Christian nationalism in policy, and the stakes for parents and students nationwide.Additional ResourcesThis Is Ground Zero in the Conservative Quest for More Patriotic and Christian Public Schools: https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-education-department-oklahoma-public-schoolsPragerU Kids curriculum referenced by Oklahoma DOE: https://www.prageru.com/kidsGuest BioJennifer Smith Richards is an investigative reporter at ProPublica, specializing in education, civil rights, and systemic failures affecting children and families. Her reporting has uncovered national patterns in school discipline, civil-rights enforcement, curriculum changes influenced by political movements, and the real-world impact of state-level education policy. Her work is widely recognized for its depth, clarity, and public impact.Support the show🎧 Want to learn more about Faithful Politics, get in touch with the hosts, or suggest a future guest?👉 Visit our website: faithfulpoliticspodcast.com 📚 Check out our Bookstore – Featuring titles from our amazing guests:faithfulpoliticspodcast.com/bookstore ❤️ Support the show – Help us keep the conversation going:donorbox.org/faithful-politics-podcast 📩 Reach out to us: Faithful Host, Josh Burtram: [email protected] Political Host, Will Wright: [email protected] 📱 Follow & connect with us: Twitter/X: @FaithfulPolitik Instagram: faithful_politics Facebook: FaithfulPoliticsPodcast LinkedIn: faithfulpolitics 📰 Subscribe to our Substack for behind-the-scenes content:faithfulpolitics.substack.com 📅 RSVP for upcoming live events:Chec...

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• Corregan Brown on Building Better Arguments: Bridging Principles, Power, and Polarization

  Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: [email protected] do we argue without tearing each other apart? Corregan Brown joins us to explore the art of disagreement in an age of outrage. He breaks down the difference between arguing policy and clarifying principles, showing how many of our public fights aren’t about facts but about unspoken values. Brown also explains why recognizing power differentials matters in civic discourse and how “unbundling” political coalitions allows for more authentic and constructive engagement across divides.We dig into the practical side of argument—what it means to enter a tense conversation without triggering defensiveness, how to recover when debates go sideways, and why empathy doesn’t mean compromise. Brown brings insight from both his engineering and faith-based backgrounds, offering a model for conversation rooted in curiosity, integrity, and shared purpose. His message is clear: productive disagreement isn’t about winning—it’s about understanding enough to build something better together.Guest Bio:Corrigan Brown leads in-store technology teams at Chick-fil-A—covering point-of-sale, kitchen operations, and digital fulfillment—and serves as an educator with Be the Bridge, facilitating historically grounded conversations around race, faith, and civic life. He blends a background in engineering, leadership, and reconciliation work to help communities navigate complex social and political divides with empathy and clarity. Brown appeared on Faithful Politics in a personal capacity and not as a representative or employee of Chick-fil-A.Support the show🎧 Want to learn more about Faithful Politics, get in touch with the hosts, or suggest a future guest?👉 Visit our website: faithfulpoliticspodcast.com 📚 Check out our Bookstore – Featuring titles from our amazing guests:faithfulpoliticspodcast.com/bookstore ❤️ Support the show – Help us keep the conversation going:donorbox.org/faithful-politics-podcast 📩 Reach out to us: Faithful Host, Josh Burtram: [email protected] Political Host, Will Wright: [email protected] 📱 Follow & connect with us: Twitter/X: @FaithfulPolitik Instagram: faithful_politics Facebook: FaithfulPoliticsPodcast LinkedIn: faithfulpolitics 📰 Subscribe to our Substack for behind-the-scenes content:faithfulpolitics.substack.com 📅 RSVP for upcoming live events:Chec...

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• China’s Crackdown on Zion Church: William Nee on the Fight for Religious Freedom

  Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: [email protected] this episode of Faithful Politics, Will and Josh talk with China expert William Nee about the major October 2025 crackdown on Beijing’s Zion Church, one of the largest underground Christian networks in China. William explains what actually happened during the coordinated raids, why Pastor Ezra Jin (Jin Mingri) and nearly 30 church leaders were charged with “illegally using information networks,” and how all of this connects to Xi Jinping’s tightened national-security agenda.The conversation steps back to look at the broader picture: how “Sinicization” works, why the Chinese Communist Party fears independent faith communities, and what life is like for ordinary Christians when church gatherings, youth religious education, and online ministry can all trigger state action.William also describes how the U.S. government and human-rights groups are responding, why international attention matters, and what this moment means for Christians, Uyghur Muslims, Tibetans, and others facing religious restrictions in China. If you want clear, grounded insight into what’s really happening inside China’s religious-freedom landscape, this episode gives you the context you need.Guest bio:William Nee is the Senior Manager for East Asia at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), where he focuses on China’s human-rights landscape, civil society, and religious freedom. Before NED, he served as a China researcher at Amnesty International and worked with Chinese Human Rights Defenders. His work often covers the CCP’s efforts to control faith communities, including the recent crackdown on Zion Church and its founder, Pastor Ezra Jin.RELEVANT LINKSZion Church background:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_Zion_ChurchPastor Ezra Jin biography:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jin_MingriReuters report on the 2025 arrests:https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-undergrSupport the show🎧 Want to learn more about Faithful Politics, get in touch with the hosts, or suggest a future guest?👉 Visit our website: faithfulpoliticspodcast.com 📚 Check out our Bookstore – Featuring titles from our amazing guests:faithfulpoliticspodcast.com/bookstore ❤️ Support the show – Help us keep the conversation going:donorbox.org/faithful-politics-podcast 📩 Reach out to us: Faithful Host, Josh Burtram: [email protected] Political Host, Will Wright: [email protected] 📱 Follow & connect with us: Twitter/X: @FaithfulPolitik Instagram: faithful_politics Facebook: FaithfulPoliticsPodcast LinkedIn: faithfulpolitics 📰 Subscribe to our Substack for behind-the-scenes content:faithfulpolitics.substack.com 📅 RSVP for upcoming live events:Chec...

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• Ethan Hollander on Democracy, Autocracy, and America’s Authoritarian Temptation

  Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: [email protected] this return visit to Faithful Politics, political scientist Dr. Ethan J. Hollander helps us take a hard, honest look at the health of American democracy—and why so many people around the world are tempted by strongman rule. Drawing on his Great Courses series Democracy and Its Alternatives, Ethan walks through a clear, working definition of democracy, why “constitutional republic vs. democracy” is mostly a semantic dodge, and how all political systems are constantly trading freedom for order.Will and Josh press into the mechanics of democratic backsliding: court-packing, weaponizing the bureaucracy, gerrymandering, hollowing out norms, and the “they did it first” spiral that turns politics into a race to the bottom. Along the way, Ethan explains why ranked-choice voting can reward bridge-building candidates, why demonizing the “deep state” is so dangerous, and why, even in failing democracies, the public is still the final check on authoritarian power. This is a hopeful but unsentimental tour through the dictator’s playbook—and what it will take for ordinary citizens to keep the republic.Guest Bio Dr. Ethan J. Hollander is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Wabash College, specializing in comparative politics, authoritarianism and democratization, ethnic conflict, and the politics of the Holocaust. He is the author of Hegemony and the Holocaust: State Power and Jewish Survival in Occupied Europe, and the creator of the Great Courses series Democracy and Its Alternatives, which explores how democracies thrive, why they fail, and the lessons their authoritarian competitors offer. His scholarship also includes work on democratic transitions in Eastern Europe and the Arab Spring, and he is a frequent commentator on the future of democracy around the world.Support the show🎧 Want to learn more about Faithful Politics, get in touch with the hosts, or suggest a future guest?👉 Visit our website: faithfulpoliticspodcast.com 📚 Check out our Bookstore – Featuring titles from our amazing guests:faithfulpoliticspodcast.com/bookstore ❤️ Support the show – Help us keep the conversation going:donorbox.org/faithful-politics-podcast 📩 Reach out to us: Faithful Host, Josh Burtram: [email protected] Political Host, Will Wright: [email protected] 📱 Follow & connect with us: Twitter/X: @FaithfulPolitik Instagram: faithful_politics Facebook: FaithfulPoliticsPodcast LinkedIn: faithfulpolitics 📰 Subscribe to our Substack for behind-the-scenes content:faithfulpolitics.substack.com 📅 RSVP for upcoming live events:Chec...

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• Conflict Resilience with Bob Bordone — How to Disagree Without Giving Up or Giving In

  Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: [email protected] you stay in hard conversations without trying to “win” or walk away? In this episode, Harvard Law School Senior Fellow and USA Today bestselling author Bob Bordone joins us to unpack conflict resilience—the ability to stay grounded, curious, and compassionate when everything in you wants to shut down or strike back. Bob helps us understand how to build this muscle in our homes, workplaces, and even in our faith communities. He explains why persuasion mode often backfires, how identity threat hijacks our nervous system, and what neuroscience reveals about giving our brains a “bigger, better offer” than defensiveness. Together we explore the cost of avoidance, the limits of performative civility, and how faith can model a braver kind of engagement that doesn’t sacrifice truth or relationship. By the end, Bob leaves us with tools to disagree well—without giving up or giving in—and reminds us that healing our political divides begins in the small, sacred act of really listening.Learn more and buy his book: https://www.bobbordone.comGuest bio:Bob Bordone is a USA Today bestselling author, Senior Fellow at Harvard Law School, and one of the nation’s leading experts on negotiation, mediation, and conflict resolution. For more than two decades, he has helped organizations, governments, universities, and faith communities navigate their toughest conversations. His latest book is Conflict Resilience: Negotiating Disagreement Without Giving Up or Giving In.Support the show🎧 Want to learn more about Faithful Politics, get in touch with the hosts, or suggest a future guest?👉 Visit our website: faithfulpoliticspodcast.com 📚 Check out our Bookstore – Featuring titles from our amazing guests:faithfulpoliticspodcast.com/bookstore ❤️ Support the show – Help us keep the conversation going:donorbox.org/faithful-politics-podcast 📩 Reach out to us: Faithful Host, Josh Burtram: [email protected] Political Host, Will Wright: [email protected] 📱 Follow & connect with us: Twitter/X: @FaithfulPolitik Instagram: faithful_politics Facebook: FaithfulPoliticsPodcast LinkedIn: faithfulpolitics 📰 Subscribe to our Substack for behind-the-scenes content:faithfulpolitics.substack.com 📅 RSVP for upcoming live events:Chec...

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