The Bulletin

Amidst protests and aggressive tactics by federal immigration agents, Christians in Minnesota are caring for their immigrant neighbors. CT’s Emily Belz joins us to talk about her reporting from the Twin Cities, with an eye to how churches are responding to those living in fear and at risk of deportation. Then, Harvest Prude stops by to give us an update on the annual March for Life, the largest gathering of pro-life supporters in the US, and how the pro-life movement is faring under the current administration. Finally, is Trump leaving behind pro-democracy Syrians? Hadeel Oueis joins Russell Moore, Mike Cosper, and Clarissa Moll to discuss the dynamics in the post-Asaad regime.

REFERENCED IN THE EPISODE:

In a Tense Minnesota, Christians Help Immigrant Neighbors - Emily Belz

First Year of Trump 2.0 Leaves Pro-lifers with Misgivings - Harvest Prude

ABOUT THE GUESTS:

Emily Belz is a staff writer with Christianity Today. She is a former senior reporter for World magazine. She is a World Journalism Institute graduate and also previously reported for the New York Daily News, The Indianapolis Star, and Philanthropy magazine.

Harvest Prude is Christianity Today’s national political correspondent and a congressional reporter based in Washington, DC. She is a former reporter for The Dispatch and World, having served there as political reporter for their Washington bureau.

Hadeel Oueis is a political writer with a focus on US foreign policy in the Middle East. She is a news analyst for BBC, France 24, DW Arabic, and other international news channels. In 2011, at the age of 18, she was arrested by the Assad regime for playing a key role in the early days of Syrian protests. In 2012, the US delegation in Geneva helped her relocate to the United States.

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Join the conversation at our Substack.

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ABOUT THE BULLETIN:

The Bulletin is a twice-weekly politics and current events show from Christianity Today moderated by Clarissa Moll, with senior commentary from Russell Moore (Christianity Today’s editor-at-large and columnist) and Mike Cosper (senior contributor). Each week, the show explores current events and breaking news and shares a Christian perspective on issues that are shaping our world. We also offer special one-on-one conversations with writers, artists, and thought leaders whose impact on the world brings important significance to a Christian worldview, like Bono, Sharon McMahon, Harrison Scott Key, Frank Bruni, and more.



The Bulletin listeners get 25% off CT. Go to https://orderct.com/THEBULLETIN to learn more.



“The Bulletin” is a production of Christianity Today

Producer: Clarissa Moll

Associate Producer: Alexa Burke

Editing and Mix: Kevin Morris

Graphic Design: Rick Szuecs

Music: Dan Phelps

Executive Producer: Erik Petrik

Senior Producer: Matt Stevens
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On Saturday, a US Customs and Border Patrol agent shot nurse Alex Pretti in the street after he stepped between a woman and the ICE agent who was pepper spraying her. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, President Trump announced his new Board of Peace to rebuild Gaza. And on Sunday, recordings of Senator Ted Cruz were leaked to the press, distancing himself from potential GOP presidential contenders in 2028. Mike Cosper and Clarissa Moll discuss these headlines, and Mike sits down with Robert Smith, author of the book The Body God Gives (recipient of Christianity Today’s Book of the Year Award of Merit), to discuss a biblical response to transgender theory.

REFERENCED IN THE SHOW:

-The Body God Gives: A Biblical Response to Transgender Theory - Robert Smith

-First Comes Sex, Then Comes Gender - CT review of The Body God Gives - J. Alan Branch

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-Join the conversation at our Substack.

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ABOUT THE GUESTS:

Robert Smith is an ordained Anglican minister and a lecturer in theology, ethics, and music ministry. He is the author of How Should We Think About Gender and Identity? and The Body God Gives: A Biblical Response to Transgender Theory.

ABOUT THE BULLETIN:

The Bulletin is a twice-weekly politics and current events show from Christianity Today moderated by Clarissa Moll, with senior commentary from Russell Moore (Christianity Today’s editor-at-large and columnist) and Mike Cosper (senior contributor). Each week, the show explores current events and breaking news and shares a Christian perspective on issues that are shaping our world. We also offer special one-on-one conversations with writers, artists, and thought leaders whose impact on the world brings important significance to a Christian worldview, like Bono, Sharon McMahon, Harrison Scott Key, Frank Bruni, and more.



The Bulletin listeners get 25% off CT. Go to https://orderct.com/THEBULLETIN to learn more.



“The Bulletin” is a production of Christianity Today

Producer: Clarissa Moll

Associate Producer: Alexa Burke

Editing and Mix: Kevin Morris

Graphic Design: Rick Szuecs

Music: Dan Phelps

Executive Producer: Erik Petrik

Senior Producer: Matt Stevens
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2014, the Islamic terrorist organization Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from the small town of Chibok, Nigeria. One of the young women, Naomi Adamu, and her friends smuggled a Bible into captivity, and for seven years the Scriptures were a source of their strength to resist. Upon the hostages’ release, Wall Street Journal reporters Drew Hinshaw and Joe Parkinson interviewed Naomi and many others for their book Bring Back Our Girls, and wrote a 2021 cover story for Christianity Today in which they shared the role that their faith played in their captivity. As Boko Haram continues to kidnap and displace innocent people in Nigeria and religious conflict abounds, this piece offers an account of the ways that God can be at work in the darkest places.

READ THE PRINT VERSION:


Whispered Prayers, Hidden Bibles, Secretly Scribbled Verses: Inside the Resilient Faith of the #BringBackOurGirls Hostages - Joe Parkinson and Drew Hinshaw


Bring Back Our Girls - Joe Parkinson and Drew Hinshaw

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ABOUT THE GUESTS:

Drew Hinshaw is a senior reporter for The Wall Street Journal and the co-author of the books Bring Back Our Girls and Swap: A Secret History of the Cold War. He has been nominated six times for the Pulitzer Prize and has also written for The New York Times Magazine, Time, Al Jazeera, The Atlantic and Rolling Stone.

ABOUT THE BULLETIN:

The Bulletin is a twice-weekly politics and current events show from Christianity Today moderated by Clarissa Moll, with senior commentary from Russell Moore (Christianity Today’s editor-at-large and columnist) and Mike Cosper (senior contributor). Each week, the show explores current events and breaking news and shares a Christian perspective on issues that are shaping our world. We also offer special one-on-one conversations with writers, artists, and thought leaders whose impact on the world brings important significance to a Christian worldview, like Bono, Sharon McMahon, Harrison Scott Key, Frank Bruni, and more.

The Bulletin listeners get 25% off CT. Go to https://orderct.com/THEBULLETIN to learn more.

“The Bulletin” is a production of Christianity Today

Producer: Clarissa Moll

Associate Producer: Alexa Burke

Editing and Mix: Kevin Morris

Graphic Design: Rick Szuecs

Music: Dan Phelps

Executive Producers: Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper

Senior Producer: Matt Stevens
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

President Trump expresses his desire to possess Greenland, causing tension between the administration and European leaders. Noah Rothman of National Review sits down with Russell Moore, Mike Cosper, and Clarissa Moll to discuss the president's overtures and their implications on the post-WWII global order. A worship service in St. Paul, Minnesota is interrupted by protestors, where the pastor is an ICE field director. Pastor and community organizer Chris Butler helps us consider how Christians can think about protesting. And finally, David Zahl of Mockingbird Ministries stops in to discuss Democratic Texas state representative James Talarico and his statements about reclaiming Christianity for the left.

REFERENCED IN THE EPISODE:


Can James Talarico Reclaim Christianity for the Left? - The Ezra Klein Show

ABOUT THE GUESTS:

Noah Rothman is a senior writer with National Review and a contributor to MSNBC. He is the author of Unjust: Social Justice and the Unmaking of America and The Rise of the New Puritans: Fighting Back Against Progressives’ War on Fun.

Chris Butler is the director of Christian civic formation at the Center for Christianity and Public Life, and he has pastored at Ambassador Church in Chicago for nine years. Chris co-authored Compassion (&) Conviction: The AND Campaign's Guide to Faithful Civic Engagement.

David Zahl is the founder and director of Mockingbird Ministries, editor-in-chief of the Mockingbird website, and co-host of both The Mockingcast and The Brothers Zahl podcasts. His latest book is, The Big Relief: The Urgency of Grace for a Worn-Out World. His writing has been featured in The Washington Post, Christianity Today, and The Guardian, among others.

GO DEEPER WITH THE BULLETIN:

Join the conversation at our Substack.

Find us on YouTube.

Rate and review the show in your podcast app of choice.

ABOUT THE BULLETIN:

The Bulletin is a twice-weekly politics and current events show from Christianity Today moderated by Clarissa Moll, with senior commentary from Russell Moore (Christianity Today’s editor-at-large and columnist) and Mike Cosper (senior contributor). Each week, the show explores current events and breaking news and shares a Christian perspective on issues that are shaping our world. We also offer special one-on-one conversations with writers, artists, and thought leaders whose impact on the world brings important significance to a Christian worldview, like Bono, Sharon McMahon, Harrison Scott Key, Frank Bruni, and more.



The Bulletin listeners get 25% off CT. Go to https://orderct.com/THEBULLETIN to learn more.



“The Bulletin” is a production of Christianity Today

Producer: Clarissa Moll

Associate Producer: Alexa Burke

Editing and Mix: Kevin Morris

Graphic Design: Rick Szuecs

Music: Dan Phelps

Executive Producer: Erik Petrik

Senior Producer: Matt Stevens
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last week, a war powers resolution that would require congressional approval for military action in Venezuela died on the Senate floor after Vice President Vance cast the tie-breaking vote. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in cases regarding trans athletes participating in women's sports. And, ICE continues controversial immigration enforcement in Minneapolis. Mike Cosper and Clarissa Moll discuss these headlines, and Mike sits down with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and journalist Anne Applebaum as she shares an analysis on Russia’s war in Ukraine.

REFERENCED IN THE SHOW: 

-Listen to the first episode of the new season of Autocracy in America, hosted by Anne Applebaum.

GO DEEPER WITH THE BULLETIN: 

-Join the conversation at our Substack. 

-Find us on YouTube. 

-Rate and review the show in your podcast app of choice. 

ABOUT THE GUESTS: 

Anne Applebaum is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Gulag: A History. She is staff writer at The Atlantic and a senior fellow at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University. Her most recent books include the New York Times best sellers Twilight of Democracy and Autocracy, Inc: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World. She was a Washington Post columnist for 15 years and a member of the editorial board. 

ABOUT THE BULLETIN: 

The Bulletin is a twice-weekly politics and current events show from Christianity Today moderated by Clarissa Moll, with senior commentary from Russell Moore (Christianity Today’s editor-at-large and columnist) and Mike Cosper (senior contributor). Each week, the show explores current events and breaking news and shares a Christian perspective on issues that are shaping our world. We also offer special one-on-one conversations with writers, artists, and thought leaders whose impact on the world brings important significance to a Christian worldview, like Bono, Sharon McMahon, Harrison Scott Key, Frank Bruni, and more. 

 

The Bulletin listeners get 25% off CT. Go to https://orderct.com/THEBULLETIN to learn more. 

 

“The Bulletin” is a production of Christianity Today 

Producer: Clarissa Moll 

Associate Producer: Alexa Burke 

Editing and Mix: Kevin Morris

Graphic Design: Rick Szuecs

Music: Dan Phelps 

Executive Producer: Erik Petrik 

Senior Producer: Matt Stevens
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices