Bookworm Room's Podcast

Minnesota's election laws are supposed to protect the integrity of the vote, but do they instead invite fraud? I look at the state's astonishing voter-vouching system, James O'Keefe's undercover investigation, and the decision to prosecute O'Keefe and Cam Higby. Thanks to the Streisand effect, that prosecution may have exposed Minnesota's election practices to far more scrutiny than the authorities ever intended. I also explain why I believe election practices in one state can undermine the voting rights of Americans everywhere.

Then it's on to San Francisco, where city officials are busy renaming César Chávez Street while thousands of people remain homeless. That leads me to the city's astronomical cost of living, including a new program offering childcare assistance to families earning as much as $325,000 annually. Finally, drawing on my own experiences growing up, working, and raising a family in California, I consider whether young Americans really have it harder than previous generations—or whether their expectations about what constitutes a good life have become wildly unrealistic.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Andrea Widburg speaks with Troy A. Miller, president and CEO of NRB, an association of Christian communicators, about why so many Christians stay on the political sidelines despite holding strong moral convictions. They explore the misunderstood separation of church and state, the chilling effect of the Johnson Amendment on political speech from the pulpit, and why religious values are no less legitimate in the public square than secular ones.

The conversation also examines the growing influence of Christian media, younger Americans' search for faith, truth, and authentic relationships, and the cultural and political divide between young men and women. Looking ahead to the midterm elections, Miller explains why he believes Christians must become more politically engaged—not simply to protect their own values, but to preserve America's freedoms for future generations.

In this podcast, I explore two defining weaknesses of the modern left: a lack of nuance and a failure of imagination. Beginning with a Scottish museum's absurd decision to remove ancient Egyptian mummies out of respect for the dead, I examine how progressives increasingly ignore context, intention, and human complexity.

From gun control and Obamacare to Islamism and identity-obsessed academic psychology, I argue that people who pride themselves on empathy and tolerance are often astonishingly incapable of imagining that other people might think, believe, or want something entirely different. And that failure has consequences far beyond political correctness.

In today's podcast, I start with the growing violence in Europe, where the alliance between Islamists and leftists raises troubling questions about whether Europeans still have the will to defend their civilization.

Then I turn to American politics, where J.D. Vance's suggestion that he might sit out the 2028 presidential race makes me wonder whether Marco Rubio's rising star—and Vance's continued association with Tucker Carlson—might have something to do with that decision.

I've realized that I've become a single-issue voter—but probably not for the reason you'd expect. In this podcast, I explain why antisemitism, abortion, euthanasia, statism, and the value of individual human life all connect for me, and why that connection now shapes how I look at politics.

It's a blunt argument about life, death, liberty, and the moral divide between the parties—and why I think that divide matters more than any one candidate.

What happens when a culture celebrates sexual freedom but leaves young people without a moral compass? I revisit the Cornell fraternity controversy to explore shame, personal responsibility, and the double standard surrounding intoxication and consent. Then I consider young people's search for traditional faith—and troubling polling about their attitudes toward Sharia law. If the next generation is hungry for meaning and clear standards, what are we offering them?

Sources:

The New York Times's "How a Cornell Student Went From Shame to Action": https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/nyregion/cornell-rape-accusation-reporting.html

Rasmussen Reports' "Sharia Law: 43% of Youngest Voters Like It": https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/partner_surveys/sharia_law_43_of_youngest_voters_like_it

Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture: https://www.amazon.com/Female-Chauvinist-Pigs-Raunch-Culture-ebook/dp/B000FCKCDS/ref=sr_1_1?sr=8-1

Anony Mee archive: https://www.americanthinker.com/author/anonymee/

If everyone involved is drunk, drugged, and making terrible decisions, why is one person presumed incapable of consent while the others are presumed fully responsible?

Using the Cornell rape allegations and the Brock Turner case, I challenge the double standard surrounding intoxication, sexual consent, and personal responsibility—and ask whether our culture has confused bad judgment with criminal intent.

The 2019 ABC News report is here: https://abcnews.com/US/humiliated-chanel-miller-survivor-brock-turner-sex-assault/story?id=65821466

The only thing that will help Republicans win this fall is if the hardcore political types—the types who read political sites all year long, not just in the lead-up to presidential elections—vote. In other words, this is a vote for the base. However, too often, Republicans are so caught up in the need for political perfection that they take their marbles and go home rather than vote.

This podcast concedes that those of you unhappy about Republicans, whether regarding the economy, foreign policy, immigration, or anything else, are absolutely right. Trump and the Republicans, I admit, solely for the sake of argument, have blown it. They've done a lousy job. But then, I remind you—effectively, I hope—that refusing to vote for them is still the worst thing you can do.

Last Friday, Trump kicked CNN, POLITICO, and MS-NOW out of the White House press briefing for their long history of erroneous reporting. Today, the four major network news outlets—CBS, NBC, ABC, and FOX News—announced that they are boycotting the White House until the outcasts are returned to their seats.

The White House and the media are now in a standoff, so the question is, which matters more to the American people: The White House, which can reach them directly through alternative outlets, or the media, which few Americans even watch anymore?

Contrary to the doom-and-gloom feeling that pervades America, the economy is roaring and, on average, Americans are doing very well. Moreover, when compared to prior times in America—and again, I look back at the 1950s, a time of both atomic threats and boundless optimism about the future—we're getting more bang for the buck than ever.

I wouldn't say anything as facile as "don't worry; be happy," but I would say that happiness is a reasonable choice now. The only caveat is that we must fight to preserve that happiness by voting. No matter how much you dislike Trump and the weak-willed Republicans in Congress, they are still infinitely better than the Democrats.