Church & Culture Podcast

In this week’s conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the world of online sports betting, which is becoming more and more popular each year. In fact, nearly a quarter of Americans claim to have personally bet money on sports in the past year. So does the Bible have anything to say about this? And about gambling in general? Today’s episode digs into these questions.

Episode Links

Dr. White wrote a blog on this topic that we’d suggest you go back and revisit. It’s called “Gambling on the Game,” and you can find it on the Church & Culture website HERE. The topic of gambling was also an installment of an incredibly popular series that Dr. White gave at Mecklenburg Community Church. The title of the series was “Is it okay for a Christian to…,” and the installments filled in the blank with a host of topics that people have questions about when it comes to the Christian faith. You can find that series HERE.

There are a number of articles that served as sources for the content in today’s conversation. If you’d like to find out more about what’s happening with this culturally, how it’s impacting people’s lives, and how the church is beginning to weigh in, you can click the titles below to read the article:

McKay Coppins, “Sucker: My Year as a Degenerate Gambler,” The Atlantic.

Will Gottsegen, “A Bet That Young People Are Willing to Make,” The Atlantic.

McKay Coppins, “Churches Are Finally Making the Moral Case Against Sports Betting,” The Atlantic.

Kimberly Adams & Alex Schroeder, “What are sports betting apps doing to help problem gamblers?” Marketplace.

Jake Pearson, “I Deliberately Bet Like a Problem Gambler. DraftKings Made Me a VIP.” ProPublica.

Max Read, “How Everything Became Gambling,” The New York Times.

Windsor Johnston, “With the Surge in Sports Betting, the Risk of Gambling Addiction Rises Too,” National Public Radio.

Katia Riddle, “As Sports Betting Has Soared, More People Search Online for Help with Gambling Addiction,” National Public Radio.

Finally, if you or something you know is struggling with an addiction to gambling, you can contact the National Problem Gambling Helpline Chat either by phone or by text HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we’d love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News. We’d also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you’d like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week’s conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a recent NPR article focusing on the common thread that's present in the midterm campaigns of multiple Democratic candidates. Several office-seekers have made their Christian faith central to their campaign, using it to either explain or justify their positions or postures, or in order to display how important their faith is to their public life. What is causing this rise in the Democratic candidates appealing to their faith, and how does this trend square with the rise of the “nones” in the U.S.?

Episode Links

As both Alexis and Dr. White noted, this is not the first time that our conversation on the podcast has turned to the world of politics. Here are a number of past episodes (some of which were referenced), that you may be interested in going back to listen to if you missed them:

CCP201: On Christian Nationalism (Summer Rerun)

CCP168: On Pastors Promoting Political Candidates

CCP129: On the 2024 Election Results

CCP112: On January 6 and the Fastest Growing Christian Movement in America

CCP83: On Christians and Government

CCP82: On Christians and Politics

Above we mentioned the rise of the “nones.” For those who may not know, Dr. White wrote an entire book on this demographic and their impact on our culture. You can find The Rise of the Nones on Amazon HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we’d love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News. We’d also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you’d like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week’s conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the culturally hot topic of polygamy. A new series on Netflix has been gaining a lot of attention. It’s called The Polygamist, and it follows the story of a woman named Joyce Gomora whose husband had three other wives and a mistress. While globally only ~2% of the population lives in a polygamous household, it’s most widely practiced in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, here in the U.S., we seem to have a fascination with this lifestyle, and there’s even been an increase in the number of people who view polygamy as morally acceptable.
Episode Links
As Alexis mentioned at the top of the podcast, we took a break the past two weeks to release two of the interviews from last year’s Church & Culture Conference. We hope that you enjoyed them, and we’d love to invite you to join us this year. You can get all the details and register HERE.
Dr. White noted early in the conversation that it’s difficult to have a conversation about polygamy without also discussing Mormonism. For a deeper dive into this topic, we’d suggest you check out a past podcast episode: CCP18: On Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses. Another past episode that may be of interest on a related subject is: CCP93: On Polyamory.
Finally, there are several articles that are relevant to today’s conversation that we’d encourage you to take the time to read if you’re interested:
Emmanuel Nwachukwu, “Christians Debate Polygamy After Netflix Show Hits No. 1,” Christianity Today.
“Psychological impact of polygamous marriage on women and children: a systematic review and meta-analysis,” PubMedCentral of the National Library of Medicine.
Stephanie Kramer, “Polygamy is rare around the world and mostly confined to a few regions,” Pew Research Center.
Lindsay Whitehurst, “Utah lawmakers get tough on porn, ease up on polygamy,” Religion News Service.
For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we’d love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News. We’d also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you’d like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

As you heard last week, we’re taking a break from our usual format on the podcast since we’re gearing up for the 2026 Church & Culture Conference on Thursday, October 15. Last week, we featured an interview between Dr. White and Dr. Christian Smith. In today’s episode, we’re airing the conversation between Dr. White and author and illustrator John Hendrix. They’re exploring the friendship that formed between two men who have gifted so much to the world through their writings - C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.

Episode Links

John wrote an exceptionally well-informed and researched book, creatively presented as a graphic novel, on their lives titled The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. It explores their personal biographies, their friendship, their creativity, their thinking, their motivations, and, of course, their faith. In this conversation, they discuss the key revelations, insights and ongoing significance of their lives. And specifically, the great ideas of the "myth that came true" from Lewis and Tolkien's shared project.

You can get all of the details about this year’s Church & Culture Conference, including the six conference sessions, tiered pricing and more, by visiting the conference website HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we’d love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the Church & Culture blog and to check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We’d also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you’d like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

We’re taking a break from our usual format on the podcast this week. In case you haven’t heard, we’re gearing up for the 2026 Church & Culture Conference on Thursday, October 15. We thought it would be fun for the next two weeks to give you a peek into the type of learning that comes from this annual event. In today’s episode, we’re featuring a conversation between Dr. White and Dr. Christian Smith - one of the leading sociologists of our day - on how Americans seem to be losing their faith in traditional religion.

Episode Links

The conversation focused on Dr. Smith’s latest book, which may be his tour de force. While the “rise of the nones” is now commonly understood, what Smith did in his most recent book - Why Religion Went Obsolete: The Demise of Traditional Faith in America - is to examine “why” this has happened. Drawing on extensive survey data and hundreds of interviews, Smith offers the best analysis to date of why so many Americans have lost their faith in traditional religion. You can find his book HERE.

You can get all of the details about this year’s Church & Culture Conference, including the six conference sessions, tiered pricing and more, by visiting the conference website HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we’d love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the Church & Culture blog and to check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We’d also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you’d like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week’s conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss how more and more families are facing questions regarding the religious upbringing of their children, particularly when they don't share the same faith. According to the most recent Religious Landscape Study (RLS), 26% of married US adults say their spouse has a different religious identity from their own. This can lead to more complexities than people may realize.

Episode Links

In addition to the Pew Research Center article looking at the results of the RLS (which you can find HERE), they discussed another article at the top of the podcast titled “Maine’s high court rules father can restrict daughter’s church attendance.” This serves as just one example of how complicated the dynamic can get between parents who don’t share the same faith - especially if the marriage ends.

Dr. White mentioned the importance of passing on your faith to your children, particularly for those who would consider themselves Christ followers. He is currently in a six-week series at Mecklenburg Community Church called “iParent: The New Challenges of Family in an Online, Non-Stop, Information-Overloaded, Broken, Unchurched World.” Among the installments is one titled “Rise of the Nones,” which would be helpful for a deeper dive into today’s topic. You can find that series on Church & Culture HERE.

The conversation turned to marriage, and how important it is - again, especially if you are a Christian - to find a partner who shares the same faith. There are a number of series that Dr. White has given at Mecklenburg Community Church on the topic of marriage and relationships (you can find those all HERE), but there are two series in particular that we would like to suggest. The first is called “Significant Other” and explores the levels of intimacy you should be looking for in a partner. The second is called “Holy Matrimony,” which focuses on what makes that bond more than simply a marriage through the lens of the Bible.

Finally, Dr. White mentioned a book written by Lee and Leslie Strobel, which he explained has so many helpful takeaways for people who are wrestling with an interfaith marriage. It’s titled Spiritual Mismatch: Hope for Christians Married to Someone Who Doesn’t Know God, and you can find it on Amazon HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we’d love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News mentioned above. We’d also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you’d like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a news story that was recently posted to Church & Culture's Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe shared each weekday. This story was an opinion piece written by Peggy Noonan for The Wall Street Journal titled “Socialism Is Here—and It's Serious.” Not surprisingly, many people in today's culture don't really seem to have a clear understanding of what socialism is.

You heard Dr. White mention some data from the Harvard Caps/Harris poll in the episode. Much of this is fleshed out in another article in The Wall Street Journal written by Mark Penn and Andrew Stein titled “Socialism and the Dumbest Generation.” The subtitle of this article is very telling: “Young people embrace an ideology that goes against everything they actually believe.”

It's hard to touch on a conversation about politics and not also have it bleed into religion these days, and that's not the first time this has been a part of the podcast. We'd encourage you to go back and listen to two very helpful episodes: CCP82: On Christians and Politics and CCP83: On Christians and Government.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News mentioned above. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a term that may be new to many of our listeners - “larping.” Larping has been adopted by Gen Z and redefined as a slang word that refers to people who are inauthentic or performative. And the use of this slang term speaks to how highly Gen Z values authenticity in others; that is, how much they long for people who are genuine.

There are two articles that were referenced in today's conversation. Here they are if you'd like to do some more reading on this topic:

Rachel Hale, “All of Gen Z is larping. It's not what you think it is,” USA Today.

Rachel Hale and Owen Carry, “'Polyester' is Gen Z's newest viral insult. Here's what it means.” USA Today.

Gen Z is big on assigning labels (like larping) to people, but, ironically, they often struggle with their own self-identity and seemingly want to reject labels that culture would put on them. This is part of what led to the trend discussed last week on the podcast. If you missed it, be sure to check out CCP209: On the Rise of Bisexual Men.

Finally, if you want to go to school on Gen Z, we'd encourage you to check out Dr. White's book called Meet Generation Z, which you can find on Amazon HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the latest gender-related topic on the podcast - the rise of bisexual men. This is a somewhat new face of masculinity that is dominating Hollywood in particular, as evidenced by an article in The Wall Street Journal titled “Why the Bisexual Man Is Hollywood's Breakout Star.” So why is bisexuality becoming so dominant in today's culture and media? And why is it being specifically targeted at Generation Z?

As Alexis mentioned, this is not the first time that a conversation on or related to gender has been featured on this podcast. Here are some past episodes that we'd encourage you to go back and listen to :

CCP21: On Gender

CCP72: On Toxic Masculinity

CCP78: On Trad Wives

CCP156: On a Theology of Sexual Identity

CCP200: On Masculinism

In addition to the article from WSJ above, there was another article highlighting the latest shows that feature bisexual men: “The Bi Renaissance: 21 shows with amazing bi male representation.” And as noted above, Gen Z has become the cohort that Hollywood seems to want to influence the most, probably because one of the marks of Gen Z is their sexual fluidity. Dr. White explores this and other culturally relevant marks of this generation in his book Meet Generation Z, which you can find on Amazon HERE.

Finally, Dr. White mentioned some statistics about the rise of LGBTQ+ in the U.S. You can read the article titled “LGBTQ+ Identification in U.S. Now at 7.6%” from Gallup HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss one of the most dominant cultural medical news stories over the last several months - GLP-1 weight-loss drugs. In the U.S., 42% of adults and nearly 20% of children are clinically obese. And if you incorporate factors such as waist measurement and fat distribution, then the rates of obesity go up even higher. Being overweight is linked to more than 40 chronic conditions including diabetes, heart disease, stroke and various cancers. So how are we to consider the impact of these drugs from a Christian worldview?

As Dr. White mentioned, here are the links to a number of articles that are related to today's conversation that we suggest you take a moment to read:

Christopher Rowland, “Americans are taking GLP-1 drugs in record numbers,” The Washington Post.

Ariana Eunjung Cha and Aaron Steckelberg, “13 surprising ways GLP-1s may benefit the body, according to science,” The Washington Post.

Christopher Rowland, “3 ways GLP-1 drugs could be getting better,” The Washington Post.

Kelsey Kramer McGinnis, “Christians Debate Drugs vs. Discipline in the Age of Ozempic,” Christianity Today.

Shelby Grad, “Why we've become so suspicious of people who lose weight. John Goodman's trending moment,” Los Angeles Times.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.