Podcast
Talkin‘ Politics & Religion Without Killin‘ Each Other
Hosted by Scan Media, LLC · EN
Politics and Religion. We’re not supposed to talk about that, right? Wrong! We only say that nowadays because the loudest, most extreme voices have taken over the whole conversation. Well, we‘re taking some of that space back! If you’re dying for some dialogue instead of all the yelling; if you know it’s okay to have differences without having to hate each other; if you believe politics and religion are too important to let ”the screamers” drown out the rest of us and would love some engaging, provocative and fun conversations about this stuff, then ”Talkin‘ Politics & Religion Without Killin‘ Each Other” is for you!
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Lindsey Cormack || How to Raise a Citizen for a Government That Doesn't Suck
3d ago01:16:54Tap to summarizeThe founders weren't just the names in the history books. You count as one, and citizenship is something you practice. Lindsey Cormack studies how members of Congress actually talk to the people they represent, and she wrote the book on why civics belongs at home long before it reaches a classroom. Corey sits down with her on what it takes to raise a citizen, why disagreement is where the learning happens, and how a new podcast makes the case that government doesn't always have to suck. Calls to Action ✅ Grab Lindsey's book, How to Raise a Citizen (And Why It's Up to You to Do It): howtoraiseacitizen.com ✅ Follow her new podcast, Government That Doesn't Suck ✅ Enjoyed this one? Leave a quick review: lovethepodcast.com/politicsandreligion Key Takeaways Every American is a founder. Lindsey reframes citizenship as something you practice, not something performed on you. The question she puts to students of every age, "what kind of founder are you," turns civic life from a spectator sport into a personal responsibility. Two classes is not a civic education. Most Americans get one social studies class in middle school and one government class in high school, then nothing. That's too little, too late for a subject this size. Open with "what have you heard?" Since there's no shared set of facts anymore, that question sets the table without a fight. From there, "what do you think" and "what do you know" move things toward learning instead of scorekeeping. Winning is the wrong goal. The point of talking across difference is to learn why someone thinks the way they do, not to convert them. The pressure drops the moment you stop keeping score. Government doesn't always have to suck. Lindsey's new show with Greg Jackson studies the times American government got things right, on the logic that you can't repeat a success you never bothered to examine. Grounded optimism holds up better than either blind cheerleading or constant despair. About Our Guest Lindsey Cormack is an associate professor of political science at Stevens Institute of Technology, creator of the DC Inbox database of congressional e-newsletters, author of How to Raise a Citizen (And Why It's Up to You to Do It), and co-host of the podcast Government That Doesn't Suck. Links and Resources 📘 How to Raise a Citizen (And Why It's Up to You to Do It) 🎙️ Government That Doesn't Suck — podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/government-that-doesnt-suck/id1896938110 🗂️ DCinbox Insights on Substack — dcinboxinsights.substack.com 📸 Instagram — @howtoraiseacitizen 🦋 X and Bluesky — @DCInbox Connect with Us Substack: coreysnathan.substack.com LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, TikTok, X: @coreysnathan YouTube: youtube.com/@politicsandreligion Our Partners Proud to be part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts examining what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it. Clarity, charity, and conviction can live in the same room. Yes, really.
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All the Meeting Places || On Desecration and What Endures at America's 250th
1w ago00:16:18Tap to summarizeThrough Psalm 74 and the firebombing of a New Jersey synagogue in 1984, a bar mitzvah season becomes a reckoning with the places we call hallowed and what survives once they've been defiled. A solo reflection on desecration, spectacle, and the unglamorous work of redemption, from an old tavern's charred remains to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in the year of America's 250th. ✅ If this one landed, leave a quick review so others looking for conversations like it can find them too: lovethepodcast.com/politicsandreligion ✅ Find Corey @coreysnathan across the socials, and join the conversation over on Substack: coreysnathan.substack.com Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts examining what's broken in our democracy and how we can fix it together. The buckets and the steel wool. That's the work of redemption.
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Stop Talking, Start Building || Rich Harwood on How Divided Towns Actually Heal
1w ago01:29:18Tap to summarizeA doctor once told Rich Harwood's mother to face it, her son was a lemon. He's spent his life proving no one is disposable, and that even the most divided towns in America can build something together. Two minutes. Real impact. Leave a review: lovethepodcast.com/politicsandreligion What does it take to heal a divided town? Less talking, says Rich Harwood. After almost 40 years running the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, he's watched the poorest community in America and some of the most divided places in the country do what most of us have stopped believing is possible: build something together, across every line that's supposed to keep them apart. The conversation runs from Moses and Lincoln to a synagogue firebombing to the three working men who saved his life as a sick kid, and lands on a deceptively simple idea about what we owe one another. A few takeaways: Pull issues out of the political frame and people agree more than they think. Harwood works the reddest and bluest places in the country and says he can't tell who voted for whom. Ask people what they care about instead of who they voted for, and the same concerns surface everywhere: youth, seniors, mental health, belonging. Start small. Big comprehensive plans tend to collapse under their own weight. Real change starts with one modest step that catalyzes a chain reaction, the way practice dinners at a single church spread across an entire county in Reading, Pennsylvania. Turn outward. Sharing space begins with a posture, not a technique. Physically turn toward the other person, choose to see them, and lead with curiosity about what matters to them. About our guest: Rich Harwood is president and founder of the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation and the author of several books, most recently The New Civic Path: Restoring Our Belief in One Another and Our Nation (2024). Find Rich: The Harwood Institute: theharwoodinstitute.org Rich Harwood on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/richardcharwood ✅ Subscribe to the Substack: coreysnathan.substack.com ✅ Follow @coreysnathan across the platforms ✅ Loved this one? Rate and review: lovethepodcast.com/politicsandreligion Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts examining what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it. Rich wants the sequel over a beer. We're holding him to it.
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Spring/Summer Updates || Two Essays, and We're Taking This to the Pub
2w ago00:09:54Tap to summarizeAn off-the-cuff solo update on two essays in the works: one on the sacred spaces we share and what survives their desecration, the other on the real derangement in our politics, told through three men Corey loves and has watched change. Plus the launch of something new for the show, taking the mission to a local pub, the divier the better, to talk politics and religion on camera, over a drink, with friends who see the world differently. ✅ If you're into where this is heading, leave a quick review so others looking for conversations like this can find them too: lovethepodcast.com/politicsandreligion ✅ Find Corey @coreysnathan across the socials, and join the conversation over on Substack: coreysnathan.substack.com Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts examining what's broken in our democracy and how we can fix it together. Pull up a stool. We're just getting started.
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Layla Zaidane, Future Caucus on Why Good Lawmakers Quit | Introducing Terms of Service
2w ago01:08:18Tap to summarizeSome state lawmakers drive Uber to afford the job. The best of them are walking away. Layla Zaidane runs the largest nonpartisan organization for young lawmakers in the country, and her team's "Exit Interview" found that the most promising bipartisan legislators are leaving office over problems that are entirely fixable. This conversation launches Terms of Service, a new collaboration between Future Caucus and TP&R that takes you inside what it actually costs to serve. Key Takeaways The math doesn't work. The average state lawmaker earns about $20,000 less than the average American worker. That pushes good people toward second jobs or out of office entirely. The best ones are quitting. The legislators most willing to work across the aisle are resigning at high rates, and the reasons are solvable: pay, staff, scheduling, safety. State houses are less broken than you think. Smaller chambers and retail-scale politics let lawmakers build the trust that gridlocked institutions can't. Violence brought out the worst and the best. As threats against officials rose, some of the most powerful responses came from bipartisan pairs refusing to let it become normal. About Our Guest Layla Zaidane is president and CEO of Future Caucus, the largest nonpartisan organization for young lawmakers in the United States, working with Gen Z and millennial legislators across 36 states to govern across party lines. Links and Resources Future Caucus: futurecaucus.org | @futurecaucus Layla Zaidane: @lzaidane TP&R is proud to be part of The Democracy Group podcast network. ✅ If this one landed, leave a quick review so others looking for conversations like it can find them too: lovethepodcast.com/politicsandreligion ✅ Find Corey @coreysnathan across the socials, and join the conversation over on Substack: coreysnathan.substack.com The Terms of Service series is a partnership between Scan Media and Future Caucus. Executive Producers: Future Caucus and Layla Zaidane. Learn more about Future Caucus at www.futurecaucus.org.
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The Glass Menagerie and the White House Lawn
3w ago00:10:54Tap to summarizeThrough the lens of the Tennessee Williams play, The Glass Menagerie, a morning walk through Washington, from DuPont Circle to the Jefferson Memorial, becomes a reckoning with what we've made of our civic sacred spaces. A solo reflection on desecration, devotion, and a faith in the American experiment that proves harder to walk away from than intended. ✅ If this one landed, leave a quick review so others looking for conversations like it can find them too: lovethepodcast.com/politicsandreligion ✅ Find Corey @coreysnathan across the socials, and join the conversation over on Substack: coreysnathan.substack.com Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts examining what's broken in our democracy and how we can fix it together. Beautiful, impossible, and ours anyway.
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Kristin Wilson // A Newsroom for What Congress Actually Does
3w ago00:59:36Tap to summarize“It’s easy to hate things you don’t understand.” Two minutes. Real impact. Leave a review: lovethepodcast.com/politicsandreligion Kristin Wilson spent three decades producing Washington coverage, including a decade running CNN’s Capitol Hill unit, with stops at NBC, CBS, Nightline, the BBC, and Fox News. Now she’s co-founder and executive producer of 535, a journalist-founded, nonpartisan newsroom built to cover the policy of Congress. The conversation gets into what gets lost when the cameras chase conflict, why bipartisan work still happens when no one is looking, and how seeing legislators as people makes them harder to write off. Calls to Action ✅ If this episode resonates, consider sharing it with someone who might need a reminder that disagreement doesn’t have to mean dehumanization. ✅ Check out our Substack: coreysnathan.substack.com ✅ Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen: lovethepodcast.com/politicsandreligion ✅ Subscribe to Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other on your favorite podcast platform. ✅ Watch the full conversation and subscribe on YouTube: youtube.com/@politicsandreligion Key Takeaways Policy is the story. 535 covers the appropriations fights, committee work, and behind-the-scenes deals that move real money and shape real lives. It’s harder to dislike people up close. Watch members talk about what they care about, and the cartoon version gets harder to hold onto. The aisle still gets crossed. From steak invitations to co-sponsored bills, members find ways to work together when they decide to. Ask, then listen. Kristin’s whole craft comes down to asking a real question and actually hearing the answer. About Our Guest Kristin Wilson is co-founder and executive producer of 535, a new kind of newsroom for the policy of Congress. Over nearly 30 years she led CNN’s Hill coverage and produced for NBC, CBS, Nightline, the BBC, and Fox News. Links and Resources 535 - 535.news Kristin Wilson - @kristin-wilson Grateful to our friends at The Democracy Group - www.democracygroup.org Connect on Social Media Corey is @coreysnathan on all the socials... Substack LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Twitter Threads Bluesky TikTok Clarity, charity, and conviction can live in the same room. Yes, really.
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Susan Page: The Queen Had a Front Row Seat to American Democracy (Best of TP&R)
4w ago01:14:36Tap to summarizeThis was one of our most listened-to conversations of the past year. If you missed it the first time, here's your second chance. She moderated the fly debate. She interviewed Stephen Hawking. She covered 12 presidential campaigns and sat down with the last 10 presidents. And she spent years inside Queen Elizabeth’s extraordinary vantage point on American democracy — one that no American journalist could ever fully replicate. Two minutes. Real impact. Leave a review: lovethepodcast.com/politicsandreligion Susan Page, Washington Bureau Chief of USA TODAY, joins Corey to discuss her latest book, The Queen and Her Presidents: a sweeping account of Queen Elizabeth II’s relationships with every American president from Truman to Biden. But this conversation goes well beyond the book. Susan reflects on a career that began in a converted car dealership on Long Island, the lessons she learned covering her first president (and how badly she blew it), what it really takes to develop sources across decades of political reporting, and why — from a Kansas girl’s perspective — the people on both sides of our divide love America more than we give them credit for. Calls to Action ✅ If this conversation resonates, consider sharing it with someone who believes connection across difference still matters. ✅ Subscribe to Corey’s Substack: coreysnathan.substack.com ✅ Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen: lovethepodcast.com/politicsandreligion ✅ Subscribe to Talkin’ Politics & Religion Without Killin’ Each Other on your favorite podcast platform. ✅ Watch the full conversation and subscribe on YouTube: youtube.com/@politicsandreligion Key Takeaways Preparation is a framework, not a script. Susan goes into every major interview with a plan — what she wants to get, how to get it, what to do if the answer goes sideways. But the goal is to inform the conversation, not control it. The worst thing an interviewer can do, she says, is fail to listen to the answer. Great sourcing is built on respect and fairness, not on pulling punches. Rich Bond, the young Long Island operative she profiled in 1979, became a top Republican official and a reliable source for decades — not because she went easy on him, but because he trusted her to be fair. She would not have softened a story about him, and he knew it. Books and daily journalism use the same muscle, differently. The skills transfer directly — the sourcing, the curiosity, the nose for a good detail — but the bar is higher and the time horizon is longer. Writing a book means people are paying thirty dollars and spending real time. You owe them something they couldn’t get from clicking a link. The best research rewards patience. Sifting through archival files at eight presidential libraries and the National Archives in Britain yielded moments that almost nobody else has read. The sarcastic cables British ambassadors sent back about LBJ as vice president confirmed everything LBJ already suspected they thought of him. They love America. Whether she’s at a No Kings rally or a MAGA rally, Susan hears the same thing: people who care deeply, who revere the Constitution, who think they’re fighting for the country. The polarization isn’t about love of country — it’s about a failure to extend basic respect across the divide. Queen Elizabeth perfected the art of getting people to talk. Her small talk strategy — chatter briefly, then turn the question back — was especially effective with men, who, as Susan notes diplomatically, tend to enjoy talking about themselves. Susan has consciously adopted the technique and credits it with making her better at navigating rooms full of strangers. About Our Guest Susan Page is the Washington Bureau Chief of USA TODAY and one of the most respected political journalists in America. She has covered 12 presidential campaigns and interviewed the last 10 presidents. She moderated the 2020 vice presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Mike Pence — yes, the one with the fly — and is the bestselling author of biographies of Barbara Bush, Nancy Pelosi, and Barbara Walters. Her latest book, The Queen and Her Presidents, chronicles Queen Elizabeth II’s relationships with every American president from Truman through Biden. Links and Resources The Queen and Her Presidents by Susan Page — susanpagedc.com Grateful to our friends at The Democracy Group: www.democracygroup.org Connect on Social Media Corey is @coreysnathan on all the socials… Substack LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Twitter Threads Bluesky TikTok “Clarity, charity, and conviction can live in the same room.” Yes, really.
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Lura Forcum: How to Human (And Why We've Stopped)
Jun 801:18:00Tap to summarizeWhat if the way we talk about "the other side" isn't just rude — it's something closer to dehumanization? Consumer and social psychologist Lura Forcum has a precise vocabulary for what's happening, and a clear-eyed prescription for what to do about it. Two minutes. Real impact. Leave a review: lovethepodcast.com/politicsandreligion Lura writes the newsletter How to Human and co-hosts We Made This Political with political scientist Lauren Hall. Her work sits at the intersection of human behavior, civic life, and the social cognition we're outsourcing to screens, algorithms, and AI. Calls to Action ✅ If this episode resonates, consider sharing it with someone who might need a reminder that disagreement doesn’t have to mean dehumanization. ✅ Check out our Substack: coreysnathan.substack.com ✅ Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen: lovethepodcast.com/politicsandreligion ✅ Subscribe to Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other on your favorite podcast platform. ✅ Watch the full conversation and subscribe on YouTube: youtube.com/@politicsandreligion Key Takeaways Infrahumanization is the dehumanization we don't notice. Calling people vermin is rare and widely rejected. But treating the other side as interchangeable, simple, or incapable of real suffering? That's everywhere — and it's the mental move that makes cruelty psychologically possible. Politics is relational, and we've been pretending it isn't. Civic life is built from relationships that require reciprocity. We've convinced ourselves the normal rules don't apply when the subject is politics. They do. Broken relationships have to be repaired. We evolved for face-to-face. We didn't evolve for this. Online, you never have to reckon with being wrong about someone. In person, you're stuck with them — and that's the point. About Our Guest Lura Forcum is a consumer and social psychologist, strategic advisor, and former professor. She writes How to Human on Substack and co-hosts We Made This Political with Lauren Hall. Links and Resources How to Human: luraforcum.substack.com We Made This Political: wemadethispolitical.substack.com Lura on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/luraforcum Grateful to our friends at The Democracy Group: www.democracygroup.org You evolved to do this. You've just been out of practice.
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Who Is Your God, Really? || Ken Paxton, James Talarico, and the God American Evangelicalism Actually Worships
Jun 400:25:36Tap to summarizeWhen the theological scrutiny is ferocious for the Democrat and nonexistent for the Republican, you're not watching theology. You're watching idolatry. Two minutes. Real impact. Leave a review: lovethepodcast.com/politicsandreligion Ken Paxton won the Republican primary for the Texas U.S. Senate seat. He was impeached 121-23 by a Republican-controlled House, divorced on biblical grounds, and caught on video pocketing a thousand-dollar pen. James Talarico, the Democratic nominee, attends Princeton Seminary and talks openly about his faith. Prominent evangelical voices have published multiple pieces questioning Talarico's Christian credibility. You won't find comparable scrutiny of Paxton. This episode is about what that asymmetry actually reveals, and why refusing to traffic in fear and anger is the harder road. Calls to Action ✅ If this episode resonates, consider sharing it with someone who might need a reminder that disagreement doesn’t have to mean dehumanization. ✅ Check out our Substack: coreysnathan.substack.com ✅ Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen: lovethepodcast.com/politicsandreligion ✅ Subscribe to Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other on your favorite podcast platform. ✅ Watch the full conversation and subscribe on YouTube: youtube.com/@politicsandreligion Key Takeaways The scrutiny follows the letter, not the life. The asymmetry between evangelical treatment of Talarico and Paxton isn't theological. It's tribal. Love is obedience, not an optional add-on. Kindness and humility aren't the soft edges of the faith. They're the point. The Pew data draws the line clearly. Most Americans are open to religion's influence in their lives. Nearly eight in ten say churches shouldn't endorse candidates. People know the difference between faith and partisanship. Links and Resources Pew Research: pewresearch.org Grateful to our friends at The Democracy Group: www.democracygroup.org Connect on Social Media Corey is @coreysnathan on all the socials... Substack LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Twitter Threads Bluesky TikTok Horse hockey has a theological address, and this episode found it.
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