The SkyePod – Both-Sidesism
Date: September 19, 2025
Host: Skye Jethani
Guests: Caitlyn Chess, Mike Strehlo
Episode Overview
This episode takes a deep dive into the topic of "both-sidesism," a frequent accusation lobbed at Skye Jethani and his co-hosts, particularly in light of recent political tensions, including the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The team aims to clarify what both-sidesism is and isn't, address listener criticisms, and explain their approach to critiquing both left and right political actors from a Christian perspective. The conversation is candid, honest, and at times humorous, as the hosts seek to model nuance rather than knee-jerk tribalism.
Key Discussions and Insights
1. Defining Both-Sidesism (00:31–03:36)
- Distinction from Whataboutism: Both-sidesism is often confused with whataboutism.
- Skye: "Both sidesism is not whataboutism... whataboutism is essentially a way of deflating or defending or minimizing whatever your side may be guilty of." [02:01]
- Distinguishing from False Equivalence:
- Skye: "Just because you're acknowledging that an error may exist on both the Democratic left and Republican right does not mean they are in equal proportion." [02:42]
Notable Quote
"Both sidesism is not the same as equivalence."
— Skye Jethani [02:42]
2. Why Point Out Failures Across the Political Spectrum? (03:36–06:28)
- Illustrates the danger in pretending only one side is at fault.
- Example: Both Trump and Biden have lied, but not at equal rates or magnitude.
- Caitlyn: "If your motivation for saying, 'Well, Biden lied,' is to say all politicians lie—Trump's no different... that's unhelpful because you're minimizing that... But if you're using that to say the pressures of being in that… can lead to these kinds of temptations, that can be really useful." [04:19]
- Abuse of pardon power: Both presidents have abused this, albeit differently.
3. Listener Critiques: Why Not Just Criticize the Worse Side? (06:28–10:02)
- Some fans ask the show to "strike 'but there are problems on both sides'" from their vocabulary due to fear of false equivalency.
- Skye insists that acknowledging failings on both sides is not an attempt to equate their magnitude, but rather to resist tribalism and maintain Christian witness.
- Skye: "I am not here to be an apologist for the left either." [09:37]
Notable Quote
"When the left deviates from the way of Jesus, I feel the need to acknowledge that and speak up to it because I don't want anyone to hear my critique of MAGA or Trump and assume, well, then the Christian answer is to be a Democrat."
— Skye Jethani [10:12]
4. The Christian Rationale for Critiquing All Sides (10:37–12:10)
- The hosts emphasize that no party has a monopoly on either good or evil—and that viewing history, politics, or faith in binary terms is unfaithful and un-Christian.
- Caitlyn: "There's something just deeply Christian about always having this impulse to say I don't want to accidentally communicate there's an obvious good and an obvious evil..." [11:49]
- Pushback against the "binary choice" logic that one must wholly support one side if the other is worse.
- Skye: "I refuse to buy into that argument." [13:06]
5. Do Hosts “Both Sides” to Avoid Offending Listeners? (13:15–16:06)
- Responding to suspicion that critiques of the left are to “placate” conservatives—hosts deny this intent.
- Mike: "I don't know how you could listen to the majority of our stuff and think we care about placating conservative ears." [13:23]
- Financial model supports independent thinking, not crowd-pleasing.
- Listeners seeking only affirmation (not Christian challenge) will ultimately be disappointed.
- Skye: "If they're looking for affirmation for… a political ideology, they're going to be constantly frustrated with us." [15:06]
6. The “Other Side Is Just So Bad!” Objection (17:20–19:35)
- Some argue that one party (Republicans) is so much more anti-Christian that time spent critiquing Democrats is wasted.
- Skye rebuts with analogy:
- Skye: "Imagine somebody choking…you ignore the fact there’s an 80 pound wolf chewing on their leg… I agree [the left’s problems] are not the imminent threat to the republic… but that doesn’t mean I’m going to minimize them." [18:21]
- Discusses the risks of overlooking problems in one’s own camp.
7. Individual and Institutional Nuance (19:35–21:54)
- Avoid reducing entire parties or groups to singular traits or policies.
- Caitlyn: "There are a lot of people that work for the Republican Party… that are not all of those awful things... it's a coalition." [20:51]
Notable Quote
"We need to be able to call out what the Republican Party leadership is doing… but I don’t want to say just everyone can be lumped into this and they're irredeemably evil."
— Caitlyn Chess [21:35]
8. Why Critique the Right More? (22:02–23:28)
- The hosts’ church backgrounds are more entangled with the right, creating greater responsibility to address excesses there.
- Skye: "There’s a lot more political idolatry within evangelicalism on the Republican right than there is on the left. That’s been the focus of a lot of our critique." [22:11]
- Skye: "Political idolatry on the left, whenever it occurs, is just as problematic as political idolatry on the right… magnitude is different, but idolatry is idolatry." [22:48]
Notable Quote
"What we're advocating for is we all need to throw our lot in with Jesus." — Skye Jethani [23:02]
9. The Danger of Uncritical Partisan Loyalty (23:28–24:40)
- Becoming overly loyal to a political party leads to escalating moral compromise over time.
- Caitlyn: "If you're not cautious… you can end up in a similar position where you've become very loyal and those things that were not a big deal in the beginning have now become huge." [24:21]
Memorable Moments & Quotes
-
On false equivalence:
"Just because you're acknowledging that an error may exist or a violation may exist on both the Democratic left and the Republican right does not mean they are in equal proportion."
— Skye Jethani [02:42] -
On Christian politics:
"There is no clear divide politically between, like, the clear good and the clear evil... there's great possibilities of good and great possibilities of evil in every institution and every person."
— Caitlyn Chess [11:49] -
On audience expectations:
"If they're looking for affirmation for... a political ideology, they're going to be constantly frustrated with us because we are not here to affirm the MAGA right or the progressive left."
— Skye Jethani [15:06] -
On calling out all sides:
"When the left deviates from the way of Jesus, I feel the need to acknowledge that and speak up to it."
— Skye Jethani [10:12] -
Wolf analogy:
"Imagine somebody choking in a restaurant and you're like, obviously their airway is obstructed... and ignore the fact that there's... an 80 pound wolf chewing on their leg."
— Skye Jethani [18:21]
Timestamps for Key Segments
- 00:31 — Defining both-sidesism vs. whataboutism
- 03:36 — Example: lying and pardoning abuses (Trump/Biden)
- 06:28 — How fear of both-sidesism silences necessary critique
- 08:12 — Listener comment: "Can we drop 'both sides' from the vocabulary?"
- 10:37 — A Christian rationale for critiquing all political actors
- 13:15 — Do the hosts pull punches to avoid conservative backlash?
- 17:20 — Objection: "But one side is just so much worse!"
- 19:35 — Why nuance matters: not every member of a party is the same
- 22:02 — Why their tradition is harder on the right
- 23:28 — Dangers of building partisan loyalty over time
Summary
This episode of The SkyePod offers a robust defense against the accusation of both-sidesism, clarifying the hosts' motives and method for critiquing both left and right from a thoroughly Christian vantage point. The team pushes listeners to resist false binaries, idolizing any political party, and the temptation to only seek affirmation for their chosen tribe. With thoughtful listener interaction, theological humility, and honest admissions about their context, the hosts provide a model of principled and nuanced public engagement for Christians on every part of the political spectrum.