Kresta in the Afternoon

In a primetime address last night, President Biden lambasted so-called “MAGA Republicans” for being “determined to take this country backwards.” What did a president elected on the promise to bring America together hope to accomplish from a speech entitled "The  Battle for the Soul of the Nation?" Al discusses.

September is the Month of the Seven Sorrows of Mary, with the official feast falling on September 15. Most of us probably can’t name those sorrows of the top of our heads. Steve Ray joins us to discuss them and takes it one step further – looking at the unknown sorrows of Mary.

When the Dobbs decision was announced, several large corporations announced they would help financially assist any employee seeking an abortion. Peter Rex is taking a different approach - his company has pledged to support any pregnant employee who wants to keep their child and seek an adoption. He explains how he came to make this decision.

In this Sunday's Gospel we are presented with another tricky command from Jesus - that in order to be his disciple we must hate our fathers, mothers, children and even our own lives. What does He mean? Peggy Stanton joins us.

What is American political conservatism? Is it the movement defined by William F Buckley and Ronald Reagan? The Tea Party movement that arose in the mid-2000s? That which is identified by allegiance to Donald Trump? All of the above? Something else? We’ll talk it over with Matthew Continetti.

It's been just over a year since the US officially left Afghanistan. At this time last year, Emily Belz told us the story of James, an Afghan who had worked for seven years as a translator for US Forces, and was essentially left behind to face the Taliban. This weekend, he landed safely in the US. Emily returns to tell the rest of the story.

Yesterday the Russian media announced the death of Mikhail Gorbachev, the final president of the Soviet Union, whose resignation on Christmas Day 1991 "officially" marked the end of the USSR. Gorbachev had a complicated relationship with the USSR's legacy and, despite some reports that he was a believer, never publicly professed a faith in God. We discuss more of his legacy with Paul Kengor.

Ever since Elizabeth Warren declared pro-life pregnancy centers to be “fake clinics,” tech giants like Google have been working to reinforce that message. Google will modify its search results to add tags to pregnancy centers stating that they do not provide abortion services. Clare Kosmalski joins us with more on this story and other pro-life news. 

In January of 1956, five young evangelical missionaries were speared to death by a band of the Waorani people in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Two years later, two missionary women--the widow of one of the slain men and the sister of another--with the help of a Wao woman were able to establish peaceful relations with the same people who had killed their loved ones. The story has becoming a defining moment in the history of modern American evangelicals. Kathryn Long joins us with more.

How are Christians viewed in the broader culture? We blush at the possibilities. Brainwashed fanatics? Out-of-touch dogmatists? Buffoons? The task of bearing faithful witness to Jesus is complicated by persistent―and not altogether baseless―cultural stereotypes.  Tim Muehlhoff joins us to discuss interacting with a culture that has rejected us and our message.