Show Notes
This week, President Trump posted on Truth Social that more ICE agents will be present at airports to address the long waits caused by the Department of Homeland Security partial shutdown. Elizabeth Neumann and Harvest Prude join us to discuss this and the ramifications of the shutdown. Then, a Georgia jury convicts a parent whose son murdered multiple people in a school shooting of second degree murder. Shooting survivor Taylor Schumann and breaking news reporter Jack Panyard help us understand these new prosecution strategies. Finally, a Los Angeles court ruled that Facebook, Instagram and YouTube are knowingly creating products that cause addiction and harm to children. Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen and parent technology coach Krista Boen join to share about these technologies and the implications for families.
REFERENCED IN THE EPISODE:
Stop Being Anxious About Your Anxiety - Russell Moore
ABOUT THE GUESTS:
Elizabeth Neumann is a national security expert who has served across three presidential administrations: on the inaugural staff of the White House Homeland Security Council under President George W. Bush, as an advisor to the office of the director of national intelligence during the Obama Administration, and as the Department of Homeland Security’s deputy chief of staff and assistant secretary for counterterrorism and threat prevention in the first Trump administration. Neumann is also a national security contributor for ABC News.
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.
Taylor Schumann is a writer, activist, and survivor of the shooting at New River Community College in Christianburg, Virginia in 2013. She wrote the book When Thoughts and Prayers Aren’t Enough.
Jack Panyard is a multimedia journalist covering breaking news, courts, crime, politics, education, and health for LNP and Lancaster Online. He has reported on Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes in the podcast Broken: Jeffrey Epstein.
Frances Haugen is an advocate for accountability & transparency in social media. In 2021 after becoming alarmed by the choices Facebook was making to prioritize their own profits over public safety, she disclosed tens of thousands of Facebook's internal documents to the SEC and The Wall Street Journal. Since then she has testified in front of Congress and has engaged with lawmakers internationally on how to best address the negatives of social media platforms.
Krista Boan is the co-founder of Screen Sanity, an international non-profit that equips families and communities to maximize technology's benefits while minimizing negative side effects. Her upcoming release, Tidbits of Truth About Social Media and You, offers middle school girls a calm, trusted roadmap to understand social media's hidden dangers -- before they experience them firsthand.
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 P
More from The Bulletin
This week, President of the Trinity Forum Cherie Harder shares about what healthy political discourse looks like and what we can keep in mind as we approach the midterm elections. Then, Courtney Blair sits down at The Museum of the Bible with Christianity Today President and CEO Nicole Martin for a discussion about where CT has come from, where we’re going, and what remains at our core.
This week, Frances Haugen drops by The Bulletin to discuss the events in her life that inspired Aaron Sorkin’s new movie The Social Reckoning. Frances shares what she learned as a data scientist at Facebook that led her to become a corporate whistleblower, as well as how we can think about integrity in the workplace. Then, CT contributor Brad East joins the show to talk about his piece ‘Why Christians Should Delete Social Media’ and the value of living an offline life.
Theobros are a new genre of Internet influencer who discuss theology on podcasts. They have been gaining an online following by saying the Bible supports their segregationist and antisemitic views. Bob Smietana from Religion News Service reported on these Theobros, and spoke to The Bulletin about their beliefs. Then, as the mid-term elections approach, we discuss the phenomenon of pastors, seminarians and former clergy running as Democratic candidates. We re-air a conversation with Mockingcast’s David Zahl, diving specifically into the rise of Texas’s Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico. Lastly, Charlie Sykes and Russell Moore discuss how to interpret polling data around the 2028 election, if they think JD Vance or Marco Rubio is more likely to become the Republican candidate, and what to value when thinking about who to vote for.
This week, President Trump welcomed China’s president Xi Jinping to Washington, D.C. for a two-day summit. Knox Thames joins to discuss Chinese religious liberty violations and why the two world leaders will most likely avoid the issue. Then, President Trump signed an agreement with Denmark and Greenland regarding the US’s military presence in Greenland. We re-air a segment in which Noah Rothman, Mike Cosper, Russell Moore, and Clarissa Moll discuss Trump’s comments from January about wanting to claim Greenland, and the harm that those comments may have caused. Finally, amidst the AI alarmism in the media cycle, we re-play a conversation featuring Meghan Sullivan from Notre Dame’s Institute for Ethics and the Common Good. She discusses some ways we can approach the AI issue, and what is in store for our work.
In June, the FDA authorized the nicotine pouch brand Zyn to advertise themselves as a lower-risk option than cigarettes. With Zyn has been growing in popularity with younger folks, it threatens to become a gateway into nicotine addiction. Luke Simon joins Russell Moore and Clarissa Moll to discuss whether using Zyn is a sin, and how addiction to nicotine pouches can develop. Then, Phylicia Masonheimer shares about overcoming her addiction to erotic novels, and how “romantasy” books warp our sense of the good and beautiful. Finally, Yale psychiatrist James Kimmell Jr. shares about neuroscience research on revenge, and how it looks very similar to an addiction.