← The World and Everything In It
The World and Everything In It
5.6.26 Shifting message on the Strait of Hormuz, political turmoil in Venezuela, and help for struggling marriages
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- [00:06]
Lindsay Mast
Good morning. The Trump administration says that U.S. control of the Strait of Hormuz is now a humanitarian mission.
- [00:12]
Kent Covington
We're the only ones that can do it, and we're going to do it as a favor to the world.
- [00:16]
Nick Iger
That's ahead on Washington Wednesday. Hunter Baker is standing by. Also today, world tour flights return to Venezuela, but is it really safe to go back later? How simple communication skills can save marriages.
- [00:28]
Hunter Baker
70 to 80% of divorces are considered not high conflict. People don't need counseling as much as they need coaching.
- [00:35]
Nick Iger
And world commentator Daniel Ser says for kids, TV knowledge is power.
- [00:47]
Lindsay Mast
It's Wednesday, May 6th. This is the world and everything in it from listener supported World Radio. I'm Lindsay Mast.
- [00:54]
Nick Iger
And I'm Nick Iger. Good morning.
- [00:58]
Lindsay Mast
Up next, Kent Covington with today's news.
- [01:02]
Kent Covington
President Trump hit the brakes Tuesday on a military operation in the Strait of Hormuz. He paused Project Freedom, the effort to guide stranded commercial ships through the waterway. Trump pointed to progress toward an Iran agreement and said the pause gives negotiators room to complete a deal. The US Blockade of Iran's ports, however, will stay in place. The move comes after a tense Monday when US Ships sank six Iranian boats in the Strait. Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones at the United Arab Emirates for a second straight day. Trump says Iran's recent attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz did not break the ceasefire. When asked at the White House what would, he replied, well, you'll find out
- [01:43]
Hunter Baker
because I'll let you know. They know what to do and they know what to do. They know what not to do.
- [01:48]
Kent Covington
More importantly, Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the US Military has accomplished what it set out to do, and what happens next is up to Iran. Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation. I'm not going to, you know, we're not cheering for an additional situation to occur. We would prefer the path of peace. What the president would prefer is a deal. Iran's foreign minister flies to Beijing today. Rubio is hoping China will lean on Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. In Ukraine, five people were killed and at least a dozen others were injured after a Russian glide bomb strike on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk Tuesday. And Authorities say another 12 people were killed in a similar attack in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia. Meanwhile, in Russia, video captured the moment that was reported to have been a Ukrainian drone struck what Russian officials said was a residential building just east of Moscow. Authorities there claim three people were injured in that attack. All of this comes amid rival ceasefire proposals between the two countries. Russian leader Vladimir Putin declared a two day ceasefire on May 8th and 9th to mark Russia's World War II victory over Nazi Germany. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the fighting should stop earlier on May 5, Zelenskyy says Ukraine has to know what kind of ceasefire it's agreeing to. And he says Russia is killing Ukrainian people and then demanding a ceasefire, which he calls flatly unfair. The White House is projecting big savings from the Trump administration's most favored nation drug policies. World's Harrison Waters has more now from the nation's capital.
- [03:28]
Harrison Waters
The White House Council of Economic Advisers now estimates that Americans will save nearly $530 billion on new drugs over 10 years. So far, 17 drug companies have agreed to give the US most favored nation pricing, though the specifics have not been made public. Federal research in 2024 found that Americans typically paid more than three times what patients elsewhere pay for brand name drugs. Many new drugs are launched in the US at premium prices before expanding to markets around the world, often at much lower prices. The estimated savings depend on drug companies lowering prices in the United States while raising prices for other wealthy nations. Reporting for World I'm Harrison Waters in Washington.
- [04:13]
Kent Covington
Push ups and pull ups are coming back to American schools. President Trump on Tuesday signed the new Presidential Fitness Award at his Oval Office desk flanked by cabinet members and kids in sports jerseys.
- [04:25]
Hunter Baker
We're bringing it back. We're bringing it back. My administration is working very hard to defend America's cherished athletic traditions and pass our values of excellence and competitiveness to the next generation. So important.
- [04:39]
Kent Covington
The Presidential Fitness Test was a school fixture for decades, a one mile run, sit ups and other drills with top performers earning a presidential award. President Barack Obama phased it out in favor of a non competitive health program. Trump signed an order last summer to restore it. Pro golfer Bryson DeChambeau chairs the President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition.
- [05:00]
Hunter Baker
Re establishing the golden standard of presidential fitness tests has been a huge deal for me is that these kids now
- [05:06]
Harrison Waters
are going to have a healthy future.
- [05:07]
Kent Covington
After the ceremony, kids putted, kicked soccer balls and tossed baseballs on the South Lawn with pro athletes. The Education Department is investigating one of America's largest all women's colleges for admitting men. World's Kristin Flavin has more.
- [05:23]
Mary Muncie
Federal civil rights officials opened the Title IX probe Monday into Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. The school was founded in 1871 but began admitting males who identify as Women back in 2015. Title IX gave women equal access to education more than 50 years ago and lets colleges keep single sex student bodies. But the Education Department says that exception is rooted in biological, sexual, not gender identity. Investigators want to know whether Smith broke the law by letting men into women's bathrooms and other intimate spaces. The Trump administration has sued or threatened to pull federal funding from several colleges over similar policies. Smith College has not commented. For world, I'm Kristin Flavin.
- [06:12]
Kent Covington
And I'm Kent Covington. Coming up, what has changed in Venezuela since the capture of Nicolas Meru? Plus, simple steps that can help save marriages. This has the world and Everything in It.
- [06:40]
Nick Iger
It's Wednesday, May 6th. Glad to have you along for today's edition of the World and Everything In It. Good morning. I'm Nick Iger.
- [06:48]
Lindsay Mast
And I'm Lindsay Mast. Time now for Washington Wednesday. Yesterday was a Busy day in D.C. press conferences and events featuring the secretary of War, the secretary of Health and Human Services, and the secretary of State.
- [07:01]
Nick Iger
Joining us now to talk about all of this is political scientist Hunter Baker. He is a World Opinions contributor and provost at North Greenville University. Hunter, good morning.
- [07:11]
Hunter Baker
Good morning.
- [07:12]
Nick Iger
Okay, let's begin where the events began yesterday at the Pentagon, Secretary of War Pete Hegner laid out details about Project Freedom. This would be the US Plan to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Let's listen.
- [07:28]
Hunter Baker
We're not looking for a fight, but Iran also cannot be allowed to block innocent countries and their goods from an international waterway. Iran is the clear aggressor, harassing civilian vessels, threatening mariners from every nation indiscriminately and weaponizing a critical choke point for its own financial benefit, at least trying to.
- [07:51]
Nick Iger
Secretary Hegseth said that already two US Commercial ships have passed through the strait and that that is a humiliation for Iran. Hegseth also framing this as a humanitarian effort, using America's strength to help others, protecting global trade routes that hurt many of the world's most poorest people when there are disruptions to the supply chain. Hunter, I wonder what you think about this, because it sounds like a decidedly different messaging tone. We heard a lot about lethality and the power of our military. Now we're talking about humanitarianism. Now you see the polls. Clearly this war is unpopular politically. Is there a connection between these two things? And is the administration, do you think, at risk of looking weak?
- [08:42]
Hunter Baker
I think that they are trying, trying to get control of the narrative. So I think that right now what the narrative has been is that the United States interceded in Iran's affairs, and that it has turned out not to be a short thing, but a long thing, and that it has been very destructive and very costly, and that we are sort of blamed for it. And I think that what's going on now is that we are taking on the mantle of the problem solver, that we have exited sort of the offensive part of this engagement, and we have entered into the solving the problem element. So we recognize that the Strait of Hormuz is the reason why we are all facing these high gas prices, which will then spur on additional inflation and other problems. And we know that this is affecting essentially everybody in the world. And the US Is basically saying, we're ready to intervene. We're going to solve this problem of the Strait of Hormuz. And if anybody, such as Iran, tries to prevent us from solving that problem, then they will be to blame. It will be very clear who the villain is in that situation.
- [09:58]
Lindsay Mast
Well, meanwhile, over at the White House, you can just imagine the memes as Secretary of State Marco Rubio took up yet another job standing at the podium usually reserved for the White House press secretary. Now, Caroline Levitt is on maternity leave, so this is likely a temporary post for the administration's Swiss army knife. But let's start first with what did you think about how he handled the press?
- [10:20]
Hunter Baker
You know, when it comes to politics, I am like a person who is a really serious fan of something like football, Right. And so you really enjoy football. And then let's just imagine that you enter into a long period where it just seems like there are so many people who play football and who do it terribly. Today was the opposite of that. Today was watching somebody play the game of politics and doing it really well. The hour or however long it was that he stood in front of the press, it passed very quickly for me. I was deeply impressed because this was not somebody just standing there filibustering or trying to score points. This was somebody answering questions with legitimate knowledge and expertise. And the kind of person where you watch him standing there and you're like, you know what? I'm proud. I'm proud that this is the person who's representing my country in this moment.
- [11:19]
Nick Iger
I want to ask about one question that was asked and answered both in Spanish. I don't think that's ever been done in a White House briefing.
- [11:28]
Hunter Baker
Yeah, that was interesting. I almost wondered if she was testing him. When George W. Bush was in the thick of his political career, you know, there was always this sort of understanding that he could speak Spanish. Now, I think that his brother Jeb was actually better as he was actually married to a native speaker. But I just wondered if they were testing Marco. You know, is he sort of a Hispanic just by virtue of being born to a family of that type of or having that ancestry? Or is he really part of Hispanic culture in some way? Is he a native speaker of the language? And so she asked the question, and he answered in English, and then she insisted on following up in Spanish, and he was able to handle it flawlessly.
- [12:16]
Lindsay Mast
In other matters, Secretary Rubio also took a firm stance that Project Freedom is a defensive measure.
- [12:22]
Kent Covington
The primary responsibility for this Project Freedom is on the United States because we're the only country that can project power in that part of the world the way we're doing now. We're the only ones that can do it, and we're going to do it as a favor to the world. Understand this. This is a favor to the world because it's their ships that are stranded. It's their fuel.
- [12:38]
Lindsay Mast
So it seems to me like he may be developing a theme, maybe advancing the theme that Secretary Hegseth had mentioned earlier in his press conference. What did you think about that?
- [12:49]
Hunter Baker
I think that what Rubio is responding to is this general sense that that the United States may have done something wrong, that we may have been sort of a wrongful or unnecessary aggressor, and that when it comes to international law, if somebody has broken international law, that it's us. And I think that Rubio really wanted to take on that claim. And so he strongly advanced this idea that international waterways are subject to the freedom of navigation, and that by attempting to basically capture or dominate or engage in piracy on the Strait of Hormuz, that actually Iran is the one who has broken international law and has done so in a flagrant way, and that the United States, who has really for a long time been sort of the guarantor of international trade and freedom of the waterways, is stepping in, as we have always done, that this is not strange to try to restore order to that situation.
- [13:53]
Nick Iger
So he was also asked about his meeting upcoming with the Pope. What was your read on that?
- [13:59]
Hunter Baker
It's a good question. I think that he was wary, first of all, of being put at odds with the president. I think he doesn't want to be sort of the nice guy to Trump's bad guy. And so he tried to sort of recharacterize things that Trump had said in a way that I think was reasonable and, you know, to reduce any friction that might exist between Trump and the Pope. And then to express his own long standing commitment to working with the Catholic Church and as a faithful Catholic, to ideas such as religious freedom and humanitarian aid.
- [14:35]
Lindsay Mast
Hunter, I wanted to ask, towards the end of the press conference, he took a couple of questions about the War Powers Act. Now, he and the President have both said, said that Operation Epic Fury has ended and we're now in a new phase. This right around the time that that would have come up for a vote under the War Powers Act. He said he's never supported that, that other administrations have not supported it. What did you think about him ending with those questions and not leading with those answers to begin with?
- [15:04]
Hunter Baker
Well, I think that he really tried to respond to what he was asked. He was really good about that. He was really good about not kind of just answering the question he wished he had been asked, but instead to respond very directly to the things that were raised as they were brought up. And so this question of the War Powers act came up and he was eager to jump at it and to express his opinion, which is, you know, he characterized it that there have been no American administrations, no American presidents who have ever accepted the constitutionality of the War Powers Act. And the reason that this is important is this again goes to this idea that the United States is not some rogue on the international stage, that he believes that the United States is acting lawfully and responsibly.
- [15:55]
Lindsay Mast
Well, in other Cabinet news, President Trump signed a proclamation reviving the Presidential fitness test, declaring this month National Physical Fitness and Sports Month. He was flanked by Cabinet officials, several pro athletes, a room full of kids in athletic gear. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Says this is about more than gym class. He's tying it to national strength, even echoing his Uncle Jack's warning. Listen.
- [16:22]
Hunter Baker
And he published an article before his inauguration called the Soft American, in which he said that this is a national security issue. It threatens our economy. We need a vigorous population that is in good shape, spiritually, morally, physically, if we're going to continue to exercise leadership around the world. And he lodged the physical fitness test, which became a milestone for my generation.
- [16:48]
Lindsay Mast
Kennedy pointed out that we have gone from 5% to 20% of children who are classified as obese. He explicitly linked the phaseout of the test to rising childhood obesity. Do you think that's a fair connection or is that overstating what a school program can do?
- [17:08]
Hunter Baker
I don't know if it's a fair connection. I think the reason for rising childhood obesity is largely in the difference in how children spend their time. I think a lot of us of a certain age. Remember the period when you came home from school, maybe you did your homework first, maybe not. And then you immediately set out upon the neighborhood, you know, in your bikes or to play touch football or sandlot baseball or basketball or whatever. Very, very active all the way up to dinner. And I think that that's less the case now. The kids come home, they do stuff on their phones or they play video games or they sit in front of the super wide screen. It's just a different world. And my understanding is that there are real impacts to this, including on our military readiness. I understand that they have difficulty finding people who can actually pass even sort of the basic physical tests to be considered for the armed forces. So yes, it's a school program, but I do think that we probably need to have the government pushing here not only for military readiness and things like that, like that, but also just for the general health of the population. We all know that we're spending an astounding amount on health care at this time. And it's simply the fact that if Americans were healthier, those costs would be lower.
- [18:26]
Nick Iger
Political scientist Hunter Baker, our regular guest on Washington Wednesday. Thanks, Hunter.
- [18:31]
Hunter Baker
Thank you.
- [18:46]
Harrison Waters
Additional support comes from Pensacola Christian College Academic Excellence, Biblical Worldview, affordable cost go pcci.edu world from ambassadors Impact Network, where faith is driven investors find financial and spiritual support from private investors ambassadorsimpact.com and from homeschool Diploma elevating graduation for home and private schools with custom diplomas, Regalia invites and more. Homeschool diploma.com
- [19:25]
Lindsay Mast
Up Next World Tour Production of Venezuelan oil and gas is set to ramp up after US Companies sign new contracts with interim President Delsey Rodriguez. It's just one change following the capture of former President Nicolas Maduro, but some Venezuelans say the country needs much more. World's Mary Muncie reports.
- [19:50]
Mary Muncie
Cheers marked last week's first direct flight from the US to Venezuela in six years. In 2019, the previous Trump administration ordered an indefinite suspension of commercial flights and shut down the US Embassy, saying the country was too dangerous. The US Reopened the embassy in March. The developments paved the way for new oil and gas agreements. Despite years of corruption surrounding Venezuela's oil market. Interim President Delsey Rodriguez says this is where the interests of the US And Venezuela converge. Venezuela sits on the Orinoco Belt, which holds the largest known oil reserves in the world. In the past few years, Chevron has been the only foreign oil producer in the country. But last week, representatives from large oil companies like ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips along with smaller operators, met with Rodriguez. That's a big turnaround from earlier this year, when Exxon said the country was uninvestable. But on the ground, Venezuelans say a lot still needs to change. On Monday, relatives of political prisoners continued protesting, saying their loved ones are being kept unjustly. In February, Rodriguez made headlines for implementing an amnesty law for politicians, opposition leaders and military personnel. Her administration says it's released more than 8,000 people, but at least one NGO says it can only verify about 400 releases with about 600 people still detained. This activist and relative of a prisoner says prisoners are being tortured and families are waiting for a response from the government. On top of that, Rodriguez ended the amnesty law last week.
- [21:41]
Harrison Waters
It solely released people from prison, but it did not relieve them of the charges against them.
- [21:48]
Mary Muncie
Eduardo Gamara is a professor of international relations specializing in South America at Florida International University. The law also gave amnesty to people currently in power, protecting them from future accusations. Right now, it's unclear how much longer Rodriguez will remain president. Venezuela's court says Nicolas Maduro is still officially in power, though he's incapable of governing while in jail in New York. The country's constitution says the vice president takes over for 90 days in the event of a temporary absence of the president. That deadline passed in April.
- [22:24]
Harrison Waters
If you read the constitution strictly, if it continues after 90 days, she needs to call elections. She can be in power for another 90 days, but there need to be elections in those 90 days. And what she has recently declared is some kind of sarcastic comment about, well, there'll be elections someday.
- [22:43]
Mary Muncie
Exiled opposition leader Maria Corinna Machado remains popular among voters. But both Machado and Guamara say Venezuela's entire political system needs an overhaul to make elections fair. Machado says about 40% of eligible Venezuelan voters are not on the electoral roll. The country would need to register everyone, change the electoral assembly and revamp the country's election laws. She says that will take around nine months. Gamara thinks that's optimistic. He says so far, the old regime is still effectively in place. A few people have moved to different positions. A brutal military leader moved to agriculture, and the leader of the Bolivian National Intelligence Service took his place.
- [23:34]
Harrison Waters
That's like, I don't know, like changing one thug for another.
- [23:38]
Mary Muncie
He says the only way change will come is if the Trump administration stops working with Rodriguez and demands elections. Venezuelan immigrants aid director Nicura Melendez fled the country in 2016. She says the lingering questions mean many don't feel safe enough to return, even with the new flights, almost three decades
- [23:58]
Hunter Baker
of building this horror and this criminal system cannot be gone even within six months.
- [24:06]
Mary Muncie
She says when she left, neighbors would report on each other for politically incorrect speech. That, plus Venezuela's economic devastation means it will likely take time for people to get back to normal.
- [24:17]
Hunter Baker
Hey, guys. Hey. We don't need to cut the napkins in half. We can buy a napkins without any fear that we won't have the napkins tomorrow.
- [24:28]
Mary Muncie
For now, Melinda says she wants her country to understand that fear is not normal and democracy is about more than voting.
- [24:36]
Hunter Baker
Democracy is the freedom of your mind and be able to talk the way I'm talking to you, Mary, without feeling fears.
- [24:45]
Mary Muncie
Because hearings for Maduro and his wife have been rescheduled multiple times since their capture, their next court date is set for June. Reporting for world I'm Mary Muncie.
- [25:10]
Nick Iger
Well, you know the old saying, where there's smoke, there's fire, and sometimes where there are burns, there's an arsonist. Firefighters in Columbus, Ohio, responded to a call involving fuel storage containers. The evidence showed someone removing fuel from storage tanks and putting them into a truck. That's when a flash fire occurred and spread. Video of the theft led authorities to a suspect. And when they called him in, the evidence got even stronger. Burns on his cheek and earlobe, singed eyebrows and a bandaged burn on his arm. Don't worry, it wasn't that bad. But once he was confronted, he said, yeah, you got me. Turns out he was a former employee and you will not be surprised to find out he didn't quit. He was. Wait for it. Fired. It's the world and everything in it. Today is Wednesday, the 6th of May. Thank you for turning to World Radio to help start your day. Good morning. I'm Nick Iker.
- [26:20]
Lindsay Mast
And I'm Lindsay Mast. Coming next on THE WORLD and everything in it, marriage and divorce. Recent studies show divorce is on the decline, but it's still an issue that touches many American families. In 2023 alone, more than 1.8 million Americans got divorced.
- [26:37]
Nick Iger
That's why author JP DeGant started a program that helped to drive the divorce rate down by 24% in the city of Jack, Jacksonville, Florida. But de Gans also finds it troubling that the number of marriages is on the decline. He argues that decline is more than a cultural trend. It's at the root of weakening faith, rising fatherlessness and growing social instability. Our colleague Mary Reichard spoke with Deganz recently.
- [27:07]
Mary Muncie
JP you said that churches stepped back from strengthening marriage or even talking about It. So where did we go wrong? Where did the churches get it wrong?
- [27:16]
Hunter Baker
You know, I think biblically speaking, we got away from the simple reality that marriage is the covenantal sign of salvation. Okay? It's there in the beginning of salvation history, in Genesis, and all salvation history points to it at the end of time in the book of Revelation with the eschatological wedding feast of the Lamb. It's everywhere. The nuptial meaning of scripture is dripping from the minor to the major prophets, from Hosea to Isaiah. And you see it in the apostle Paul's writings where he elevates it and he identifies that great mystery that the sacrificial love between husband and wife is that living icon of Christ's love for his bride, the church. And I think at a fundamental level, we backed away from it out of fear. We don't talk about it in a helpful way. We don't preach about it, we don't run ministry for it. Largely, I think the most common is, I'd say fear of offending those who are from a non marital home, those who've had family and relationship trauma. And that fear has led the church to abdicate its role to form and catechize its people. And as a consequence, that, and in the absence of that, the world is forming and discipling our young people on marriage.
- [28:24]
Mary Muncie
You know, I read that in Jacksonville, Florida, after using your intervention model, the divorce rate dropped 24%. Now why is that? How did that happen?
- [28:35]
Hunter Baker
Yeah, look, we have a lot of agency here. You know, I think one of the giant opponents we have is this idea that success in marriage is just, you know, a coin flip. You know, the reality is the vast majority of first time marriages will last a lifetime. That's between 60 and 65 of those who marry today. And so what happened in Jacksonville was there's an entire academic field of marriage and relationship education. There's skills to be good and successful at marriage. And so we scaled through the local church, the number of people who consumed that kind of Christian marriage relationship skills education. We had a phenomenal partner in Live the Life ministries, providing boots on the ground with 93 churches. We saturated the area with digital outreach targeting those who are at highest risk for divorce. The net net was that the divorce rate dropped 24 because we moved so many people through it again, 58,900 through that, that kind of ministry over just a three year period.
- [29:29]
Mary Muncie
What would be a concrete example of one thing that really made a difference?
- [29:35]
Hunter Baker
Oh, okay. So I'll point to Adventures in Marriage as A really great program that has four tools in it that teaches most of the interpersonal skills and 5 of the interview trapersonal skills. And so zeroing right in, you've got something like the daily temperature reading that was part of that particular tool. And it was a simple exercise where people learn how to have a daily touch in with these mobile devices that we have. With the busyness of today, a lot of people are not able to share expectations of their day, what happened, new things that are happening as a consequence. They also frequently have conflict over those expectations and they don't have the skills to resolve those conflicts in a healthy way. So that daily temperature reading, which was one of the four tools that were part of that program, became actually taught, I think it was 27,000 times to people in the county as one, for instance. And based on the exit surveys that we're running in these particular programs, we know of concrete marriages that were saved over and over again.
- [30:43]
Mary Muncie
Well, that sounds like it boils down to communication.
- [30:47]
Hunter Baker
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, look, a big challenge that we have is 70 to 80% of divorces are considered not high conflict. People don't need counseling as much as they need coaching. They need to learn the tools and skills for them to communicate better to share expectations, better to resolve conflict in a more healthy way. When you learn those skills and the tools that work in your marriage to practice those skills, people by and large are able to resolve their own challenges and get out of them. A minority of folks can't. Right where there's higher conflict and there's bigger, deeper seated issues like addiction or physical abuse. But the vast majority of marriages are not in that situation. So there's a big part that the church can play in being leaven in a solution here.
- [31:35]
Mary Muncie
Well, I want to ask about you personally. I believe I read that you're the father of eight. Is that true?
- [31:41]
Hunter Baker
Yes, I am. I am.
- [31:43]
Mary Muncie
Okay, so you've been around the block. What is the one habit that couples should adopt right now that would strengthen their marriage?
- [31:52]
Hunter Baker
Okay. Take 10 minutes of every day and set aside time with no devices, with no tv, no computer, and be situated that you are face to face and able to talk in that situation. Take a few moments for appreciation. Say one thing to your spouse that you appreciate that she did over the last day, the last week, and then flip that around. Have your spouse do the same thing. Just being able to hear someone say what they're grateful for is so important. We know in the Christian walk, a huge part of a healthy Christian spirituality is spending time to be grateful to God for for all that we've been given and actually God has given us the spouse to be our help and aid in our journey to heaven. And so cultivating that 10 minutes start off with something that you're grateful for over the last day. And I think setting aside that 10 minutes will change your marriage.
- [32:51]
Lindsay Mast
You can hear more from JP Degan on a special weekend edition of the World and Everything in It. You can find it Saturday wherever you get this podcast. Good morning, this Is the World and Everything in It from Listener Supported World Radio. I'm Lindsay Mast.
- [33:19]
Nick Iger
And I'm Nick Iker. The Federal Communications Commission is taking a fresh look at TV ratings and whether parents are getting clear information about what's in children's programming. World commentator Daniel Serr says this FCC debate is about more than labels.
- [33:38]
Harrison Waters
At issue is simple transparency. Are parents being clearly told what's in the shows their children are watching? Or is important context getting lost or left out? That question goes back nearly 30 years. In the 1990s, Congress on a bipartisan basis, pressed the television industry to address concerns about sex and violence on TV. That led to the 1996 Telecommunications Act. The deal was simple. The industry would regulate itself or Washington would step in. So broadcasters created a voluntary rating system modeled on movie ratings. But the system still relies on companies to rate their own content, and critics say that is part of the problem. There is supposed to be a monitoring board including parent representatives, but some argue that today that board is dominated by industry insiders and advocacy groups, not families. That disconnect is what the FCC is now examining, and it comes at a moment when cultural debates over children's content have intensified. In recent years, themes around gender identity have moved into mainstream entertainment, including programming aimed at younger audiences. You see it in shows like ABC's Modern Family, Nickelodeon's EarthSpark, Disney's Baymax series, and even PBS Kids. Work it out, Wombats. For some families, that shift raises concerns about age appropriateness and about whether those themes are being clearly labeled. The stakes are higher because the audience is younger, and none of that is happening by accident. Back in 1989, a book called after the Ball laid out a media strategy for reshaping public attitudes towards homosexuality. Over the following decades, American opinion did shift dramatically from state level fights over marriage to the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell. Culture, especially entertainment, played a powerful role. Today, many see a similar dynamic unfolding around gender identity. That is part of what makes the FCC's inquiry more than just a technical review it is a question about who decides what children see and how much parents are told. Glaad, an LGBTQ advocacy group focused on media issues, calls the inquiry discriminatory and a threat to the First Amendment. Parents groups say if parents are going to trust the rating system, they need clear disclosure about the themes in children's programming. And that brings us back to the central issue. This is not about banning content. It is about labeling products accurately. In a world of constant screens, parents are not asking to control everything, but they are asking for something far more basic to know what their children are watching. For World, I'm Daniel Sir.
- [36:41]
Lindsay Mast
Tomorrow have a report from Georgia on the wildfires burning there and the message Jewish followers of Christ in Jerusalem have for Western churches. That and more tomorrow. I'm Lindsay Mast.
- [36:53]
Nick Iger
And I'm Nick Iker. The world and everything in it comes to you from World Radio. World's mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates and inspires. The Bible says, the Lord has remembered us. He will be bless us. He will bless the house of Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless those who fear the Lord, both the small and the great. May the Lord give you increase you and your children. May you be blessed by the Lord who made heaven and earth. Verses 12 through 15 of Psalm 115. Go now in grace and peace.