Welcome to the quarterly books episode of The Russell Moore Show!

Tune in for a discussion of what Russell Moore and Ashley Hales, the former producer of the show and now CT’s editorial director for print, have been reading lately. The two discuss the themes that emerge in their reads, from power to technology to deconstruction. Their conversation covers nonfiction, fiction, and poetry—with shout-outs to some television and music as well. 

 Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Ashley Hales
• Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World by Anne Applebaum
• Enlightenment: A Novel by Sarah Perry
• The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg
• Another Day: Sabbath Poems 2013–2023 by Wendell Berry
• Break, Blow, Burn, & Make: A Writer's Thoughts on Creation by E. Lily Yu
• The Slow Road North: How I Found Peace in an Improbable Country by Rosie Schaap
• “Rainn Wilson Tells Me Where I’m Wrong on Spirituality”
• Rainn Wilson and the Geography of Bliss
• Willie, Waylon, and the Boys: How Nashville Outsiders Changed Country Music Forever by Brian Fairbanks
• Confessions by Saint Augustine
• The Sparrow: A Novel by Mary Doria Russell
• Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
• Aegypt by John Crowley
• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
• Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
• The Life Impossible: A Novel by Matt Haig
• The Grey Wolf: A Novel by Louise Penny
• Charles Taylor
• J. R. R. Tolkien

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Why do we struggle to rest in the love of God? Perhaps, says Steve Cuss, it’s because we’ve never “wrestled to the ground our own preconceived notions.”

On this episode of The Russell Moore Show, Moore and Cuss dig into some of those preconceived notions about God and Christianity. They talk about fear and anxiety, persistent sin, and addiction. Their conversation covers the differences between a preventative and a redemptive gospel, the power of community as an antidote to despair, and how to determine when a failure is an inevitable part of life or when it is a sign that something is wrong. Moore and Cuss discuss the five false needs in every human, what it looks like to give our anxiety to God, and the great hope of the thief on the cross.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Abbey of Gethsemani 
• The Silence of God
• The Expectation Gap: The Tiny, Vast Space between Our Beliefs & Experience of God by Steve Cuss
• Being Human
• Holy the Firm by Annie Dillard
• Herbert McCabe
• Managing Leadership Anxiety episode “Dr. Andrew Newberg”
• Frederick Buechner
• “‘I Wish You Bad Luck.’ Read Supreme Court Justice John Roberts’ Unconventional Speech to His Son’s Graduating Class”
• “The Man on the Middle Cross Said I Can Come”
• Philip Yancey

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Does the world seem crazy because we’re in an unusually tense time? Or is this just … life? Maybe it’s a little bit of both. 

On this episode, Bible teacher and author Jen Wilkin talks about the modern era in light of Revelation. She and Russell Moore talk about how the apocalyptic book has been misinterpreted and misused, how Christians can recognize when they have lost their first love, and the role of persecution in the life of the church. Their conversation covers the blessings of generations caring for one another, the hope of the new creation, and how the references to prior books of the Bible seen in Revelation might feel a bit like watching Shrek. 

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Jen Wilkin
• Revelation: Eternal King, Everlasting Kingdom by Jen Wilkin
• Shrek



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Content warning: This episode discusses mental affliction, self-harm, and suicide. 

The United States surgeon general says there should be a tobacco-style warning for social media. Why? Because the mental health crisis among young people is reaching seriously harmful levels.

On this episode, associate professor, author, and cofounder and editor in chief of Christ and Pop Culture Alan Noble joins Russell Moore to discuss what such a warning may look like and the modern state of affairs in the public square. Noble and Moore talk about Noble’s latest book, On Getting Out of Bed, and the differences between mental affliction and mental illness. The conversation covers the importance of friendship, embracing life as an act of worship, and how men can embody healthy masculinity. 

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• “U.S. surgeon general calls for tobacco-style warning labels for social media”
• Alan’s #NobleWords Memes
• Christ and Pop Culture
• And Campaign
• Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age by Alan Noble
• You Are Not Your Own: Belonging to God in an Inhuman World by Alan Noble
• On Getting Out of Bed: The Burden and Gift of Living by Alan Noble
• Mariner: A Voyage with Samuel Taylor Coleridge by Malcolm Guite
• Resonance: A Sociology of Our Relationship to the World by Hartmut Rosa

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Science should be a quest to discover truth. Christian faith means following the one who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

This pair of facts defines the life and work of this episode’s guest, former director of the National Institutes of Health, Francis Collins. He and Moore discuss COVID-19, conspiracies, and the creator God. Their conversation draws upon Collins’ new book, The Road to Wisdom, and highlights Christian hope for perspective amidst polarization. Collins and Moore also talk about Artificial Intelligence, the power of the Sermon on the Mount, and their common friend, the late Tim Keller.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest(s) include:

• BioLogos
• Human Genome Project
• The Road to Wisdom: On Truth, Science, Faith, and Trust by Francis Collins
• The Singularity Is Nearer: When We Merge with AI by Ray Kurzweil
• Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis 
• Democracy and Solidarity: On the Cultural Roots of America's Political Crisis by James Davison Hunter
• The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate by John H. Walton
• The Advancement of Learning by Francis Bacon
• The Resurrection of the Son of God by N.T. Wright
• Promised Land

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How can Christians act with integrity, fortitude, and gospel hope in a volatile political season?

That’s the question that David French, Curtis Chang, Ashley Hales, and Russell Moore consider on this special episode. Recorded live at a spring The After Party event in Washington, DC, the first half of the episode features a live panel discussion. In the second half, Moore, Chang, and French consider audience questions on practical engagement for Christians.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest(s) include:

• The After Party
• David French
• Curtis Chang
• Ashley Hales
• “Firm Centers and Soft Edges”
• The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt
• The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to [email protected].

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Do we believe in redemption? 

That’s the question Latasha Morrison, author and founder of Be the Bridge, encourages listeners to consider. On this episode, Morrison and Moore discuss the issues of race, culture, and history’s impact on the present. They talk about what it’s like to listen, lament, and act on behalf of the oppressed—surrendering our work to the Lord as we walk the path of justice, righteousness, and reconciliation.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Brown Faces, White Spaces: Confronting Systemic Racism to Bring Healing and Restoration by Latasha Morrison
• Be the Bridge: Pursuing God's Heart for Racial Reconciliation by Latasha Morrison
• Be the Bridge
• Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible by E. Randolph Richards and Richard James
• Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes: Patronage, Honor, and Shame in the Biblical World by E. Randolph Richards and Richard James
• Jemar Tisby
• “Meet 115 Changemakers Working With Facebook To Bring The World Together”
• Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story by Ruby Bridges
• Ta-Nehisi Coates 

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Could the Constitution provide the antidote to polarization?

Yuval Levin thinks so. The director of social, cultural, and constitutional studies at the American Enterprise Institute, Levin is the author of a new book titled American Covenant. In it, and during this episode, Levin identifies the reasons people feel as though America is at a breaking point and meaningful opportunities for reuniting.

He and Moore consider why fragmentation is happening, the naiveté of cynicism, and ways the party system has—and hasn’t—worked well for the United States. They discuss partisanship, the potential upsides of ranked-choice voting in primaries, and the importance of seeing one another not primarily as political beings but as human beings.

Yuval Levin’s work:

• American Covenant, How the Constitution Unified Our Nation—and Could Again by Yuval Levin
• American Enterprise Institute
• National Affairs
• The New Atlantis
• National Review
• The New York Times

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• The Abolition of Man by C. S. Lewis
• Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J. D. Vance
• “My Unsettling Interview with Steve Bannon” by David Brooks
• The West Wing: “Night Five”
• The Sword and the Trowel by Charles Spurgeon

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American politics have hit a fever pitch. 

In the wake of events such as the assassination attempt on former president Trump, President Biden’s choice not to run for reelection, and the announcement of the Harris-Walz ticket, we’re revisiting a fan-favorite episode on political polarization. This conversation with Elizabeth Neumann, the former assistant secretary for counterterrorism and threat prevention at the Department of Homeland Security, covers radicalization, online discourse, and where to find hope. 

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Ben Sasse, Them
• Alan Noble, You Are Not Your Own
• Life After Hate
• Parents for Peace
• Moonshot's Monthly Bulletin
• SCREEN Hate: National findings report
• Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism
• Center for Strategic and International Studies Report: Pushed to Extremes: Domestic Terrorism amid Polarization and Protest

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Was Richard Nixon a Christian?

As America approaches the 50th anniversary of Watergate, Russell Moore welcomes Daniel Silliman, Christianity Today news editor and the author of One Lost Soul: Richard Nixon’s Search for Salvation to the podcast.

Silliman and Moore discuss the dissonance between Nixon’s Quaker heritage and legacy as the president who executed the Vietnam War. They also examine the former president’s relationship with CT founder, Billy Graham, and how it influenced his understanding of God and his political rhetoric.

Tune in for an episode that reflects on history while speaking pointedly to the present.

Resources mentioned in this episode include:

• One Lost Soul: Richard Nixon’s Search for Salvation by Daniel Silliman
• Okie from Muskogee by Merle Haggard
• “Checkers Speech” by Richard Nixon
• Years of Upheaval by Henry Kissinger
• Frost/Nixon

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It’s a frenzy out there.

As America draws closer to the presidential election, the cultural sense of division and disquiet only grows. On this episode, Russell Moore and producer Ashley Hales respond to listener questions, exploring how Christians can stay grounded in tumultuous times.

Questions addressed in this episode include:

• What practices or rules ground Russell personally and communally?
• How can Christians compassionately engage with people who hold a conspiratorial worldview?
• How might church leaders guard themselves against lust for power?
• What has Russell reflected upon since his episode with Ryan Burge about the future of the American church?What does it look like to teach people—especially children—to think well?
• What can the church do to provide young men with a meaningful place and voice?
• How might a Christian respond to unethical behavior in the workplace?
• How can Christians be more confident that heaven is real?

Resources mentioned in this episode include:

• Inside Out 2
• Daniel Patterson
• “Predictions About the Future of the Christian Church”
• How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds by Alan Jacobs
• Frederick Buechner“
• A Christian Response to Gen Z’s Mental Health Crisis”
• The Weight of Glory by C. S. Lewis

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to [email protected].

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