Kresta in the Afternoon

Frederick Douglass was a former slave who became one of the greatest abolitionists of his time. He was a man of strong Christian faith who never hesitated to condemn American churches for their support of - or lack of action against - slaveholding. He often felt like an Israelite in exile amongst the Babylonians, and in one Fourth of July speech spoke to the crowd of "your independence, your freedom, your Founding Fathers" and so forth. We'll look at his faith and influence with DH Dilbeck.

During Black History Month, you’ll probably hear discussion of the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. he character Uncle Tom is a very rare example of a black Christ figure – a role typically reserved for characters such as Steinbeck’s Jim Casy, O’Connors Hazel Motes and of course Aslan the lion. We’ll discuss the role of Christ figures in literature and in the novel with John Han.

There are many challenges to marriage in the world today – the breakdown of the family, the widespread availability of pornography, the me-first mentality of the culture and more. But you can build a strong marriage, and Dr Richard Fitzgibbons advises doing so by building on positive psychology, focusing on the growth of virtue in you and your spouse. We talk with Dr Fitzgibbons about habits for a healthy marriage.

Satan is constantly at work disturbing our peace, corrupting our thoughts, demoralizing us in our weaknesses, and diverting our attention away from God. His goal: to paralyze our spiritual efforts and mire us in a life of sin. How can we overcome these sinful thoughts? Fr. Thomas Morrow joins us.

Hulu has produced a documentary series that continues the work of the 1619 project. In an episode entitled Capitalism, the writers contend that capitalism “is based on the exploitation of labor” and that “American slavery can never be separated from the history of capitalism.” We get some analysis from Phillip Magness.

For several months we’ve been following the German Synod, and many Catholics are understandably concerned with what seems to be an inevitable schism. Michael Warsaw has written his own memo to the Germans – he joins us.

It seems like every time we check the news, there’s another story about the US shooting down another foreign object. Most fingers are pointed at China, and some people online even think aliens are behind it. We get an update from Victoria Coates.

Last night’s Super Bowl was, once again, a spectacle. The Chiefs and Eagles gave us one of the greatest games in recent memory, but much more is being said about what happened outside the field of play. Al shares some thoughts on the “Black national anthem,” the all-female flyover, the halftime show and more.

Archbishop Charles Chaput was recently asked to weigh in on the German Synodal way. His response was that "The only worthy agenda for the synod is the one given to us by Jesus in the Gospels. The Church right now is a divided house, both the ecclesial left and right have agendas. Church gatherings should be about proclaiming the Gospel and not about advancing a particular ideology or sociological analysis." Matthew Bunson joins us with more

This weekend the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles square off in Super Bowl LVII. Outspoken Christians can be found on both teams. Al shares some of their stories.