After leaving the church that both defined and destroyed her family, Megan Phelps-Roper turned away from the Bible. In this episode, she returns to one of its dark tales to ask what still endures when belief is gone – and why some stories refuse to let us go.

CREDITS:

This episode of Reflector was written by Megan Phelps-Roper and produced by Andy Mills and Matthew Boll

Music for this episode was composed by Cobey Bienert⁠⁠

The Hallelujah artwork by ⁠⁠Jacob Boll⁠⁠

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We are living through one of the most unpredictable periods in recent history. A time of profound, destabilizing social upheaval. A time of barely-imaginable technological advancements. A time of emerging new philosophies that will reshape the world around us (for better or for worse). 

And, it’s a very exciting time to be a curiosity-driven, non-ideological journalist.

But there's a problem: trust in journalism—especially in journalistic institutions—is at an all-time low. We’re seeing a crisis of confidence unlike anything since the days of yellow journalism during the Industrial Revolution. In fact, recent polls show that Americans trust journalists even less than they trust Congress.

When Matt Boll, Megan Phelps-Roper, and I created The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling, we set out to rebuild that trust. And here on Reflector, we’ve been continuing that mission.

Today, we’re here to announce that what began as a small project between Matt and me—recorded in my bedroom in small-town Illinois and Matt’s studio in Chicago—is about to evolve into something far bigger and more ambitious.

For the last few months, we’ve been working behind the scenes to transform this experiment into a full-fledged independent outlet. 

Soon, we’ll be publishing more podcasts and investigative series, continuing to blend rigorous journalism with artful storytelling. With these new resources, we’ll be able to break more stories, dive into more topics, and speak with a wider range of voices—all while bringing clarity and context to the most consequential issues in the world.

For the time being, we're taking a brief hiatus, but when we return, expect new hosts, fresh shows, and a lot more reporting.

If you’re one of our paid supporters, starting today, your payments will be paused. And when we return, we’ll be sure to reach out with details on the expanded subscriber perks we’ll have on offer.

Thank you to all of you who have been with us for this first chapter. Looking forward to seeing you soon in the next one.

Should the U.S. stop giving foreign aid?

This is a question many have been asking long before Elon Musk and Donald Trump launched DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) and began dismantling USAID and its work around the globe.

Critics of foreign aid, like Bill Easterly, author of The White Man’s Burden, and Dambisa Moyo, author of Dead Aid, argue that foreign aid often does more harm than good. They contend that the U.S. and other nations should radically rethink their approach.

But this winter, Donald Trump did something no one expected: he halted nearly all foreign aid and operations worldwide. 

Today, we’re joined by long-time international correspondent and host of NPR’s Rough Translation, Gregory Warner, for a deep dive into why USAID was founded in the first place, how it expanded into the massive program it is today, the consequences of freezing its operations, and an examination of the claims that USAID is part of a U.S. deep-state operation.

For the listener who’d like to hear more from Warner, he publishes a Substack newsletter called Rough Transition. And if you reach out to him mentioning you're coming from Reflector, he’s happy to offer a complimentary six-month subscription.

Thank you to our sponsor Ground News. You can visit them here to learn more:

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Despite its reputation among many on the political left, the United States has welcomed more immigrants than any other nation in history. Today, the U.S. is home to more immigrants than any other country in the world. Even amid a heated political battle over the future of immigration, it’s undeniable that a core part of America’s national identity is its image as “a nation of immigrants.”

Many Americans proudly trace their ancestry to those who migrated to the U.S. in pursuit of the American Dream. Most take pride in knowing that people around the world dream of building a life in the USA.

But immigration in the U.S. has always been complicated. Today, the country is also home to the largest population of unlawful migrants on Earth. In recent years, the U.S. southern border with Mexico has been cited as one of the most porous and chaotic in the world. Additionally, the U.S. has the most backlogged immigration courts globally.

Our episode today examines how the U.S. immigration system became so stubbornly, frustratingly, and dangerously chaotic—from legal loopholes exploited by cartels to the failed legislation of the 1990s aimed at curbing illegal migration, and from the enduring challenges of enforcement to the growing calls for building a wall and mass deportations.

Our guests are David Leonhardt, Senior Writer for The New York Times and author of Ours Was a Shining Future, and John Sandweg, former head of ICE under President Barack Obama.

As always, we’d love to hear from you. Send us an email at [email protected].

Thank you to our sponsor Ground News. You can visit them here to learn more:

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In the wake of the election results, many Democrats are doing some serious soul-searching (and a fair amount of blame-gaming) to understand why they lost. But it’s not just Democrats reckoning with their loss of trust from the American people. New polling from places like Gallup shows historically high levels of distrust in journalists. Meaning that a profession built on the delivery of trusted information is now in the midst of a full on crisis of mistrust. 

How did we get here? What are we doing wrong? And what, if anything, can we—or should we—do to regain that trust?

For today’s episode, we take a frank look at the media’s role in this crisis with Ben Smith and Nayeema Raza.

Ben Smith is the co-founder of Semafor, a news organization with ambitious goals to redefine global journalism. He’s the former media columnist for The New York Times and was the founding editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News, leading it from a scrappy startup to a Pulitzer Prize-winning newsroom. Ben’s journalism roots trace back to the late 1990s and early 2000s, where he covered crime and New York politics for local papers. He was part of the early journalism blogging era online, reported on the 2008 Obama campaign for Politico, and embodies a no-nonsense ethos to journalism that I’ve come to admire over the years.

Nayeema Raza is (alongside Ben) the co-host on Semafor’s media podcast Mixed Signals, which explores how money, culture, and politics shape everything we read, watch, and hear. She has worked as executive producer at The New York Times Opinion and frequently guest-hosts Open to Debate. With a background in film and documentary, Nayeema often draws fascinating parallels between newsroom trends and what’s happening in Hollywood and beyond.

As you’ll hear, the three of us don’t always agree. In this episode, I’m a bit more open with my views than usual—we even scrutinize some of my past work. Together, we wrestle with the causes and context of the current trust crisis in journalism, explore historical parallels, discuss the disruption of the internet and influence of social media, and unpack lessons from the Trump era so far.

Thank you to our sponsor Ground News. You can visit them here to learn more:

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To support our work please consider becoming a paid subscriber.

Here comes the much-anticipated (maybe dreaded? Obnoxiously over-covered?) 2024 US presidential election, and no one knows who will emerge as the next President of the United States.

Today’s episode was inspired by a conversation I had last week with a former colleague from The New York Times. She shared her concern that we in the media might have done it again. That just like in 2016, we may have failed to capture why Donald Trump, one of the least popular presidents in US history and an undeniable outlier, could be so close to winning another term in the White House. 

So with the election just days away, we’re diving in to unpack that story. Our guests are Mike Pesca, a veteran of NPR and host of The Gist, the longest-running daily news podcast. Mike has covered presidential campaigns and politics for over two decades. While he’s been a sharp critic of Trump, he’s done an excellent job of explaining why so many Americans see a vote for Trump as a vote for their own self-interest. We’re also joined by Emily Jashinsky, a Washington correspondent for Unherd, co-host of the Undercurrents podcast, and someone who reports from within the conservative media ecosystem. She does a fantastic job documenting the rise of the New Right and its split from the fading conservative establishment.

No matter who you are planning on voting for - or even if you aren’t going to vote at all - we’d love to hear from you. You can always reach us at [email protected].

Thank you to our sponsor Ground News. You can visit them here to learn more:

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Wars—like the one between Israel and Hamas—are not only fought on the battlefield, but they are also fought through stories. In today’s episode, I interview Eman Abdelhadi, an American academic, activist, and organizer in the Free Palestine movement. Abdelhadi shares a perspective on Israel that, while controversial, is gaining influence across the United States, particularly on college campuses.

A recent Pew survey revealed that 34% of Americans under 30 find Hamas' reasons for fighting Israel to be valid, and only 16% of Americans support continued U.S. military aid to Israel. If you align with the Free Palestine movement, Eman’s story may resonate deeply. If you support Israel, it may be challenging and even frustrating to hear. But regardless of where you stand, I believe there is value in listening to a view that is shaping more and more of the American discourse on this issue.

If you’d like to share your feedback on this or any episode, you can reach us at [email protected].

Thank you to our sponsor Ground News. You can visit them here to learn more:

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To support our work please consider becoming a paid subscriber.

Today: Fears of another world war, a high stakes presidential election and the very divisive subject of American support for Israel. We speak with progressive voters who are considering staying home in November, even if it could lead to another Trump presidency. We unpack our reporting from the 2024 March on the DNC, examining the ways it compares—and doesn’t—to the 1968 March on the DNC.

We also mention that a short video I took at the march went viral on Instagram, receiving millions of views and thousands of revealing comments about our divided country and how some Americans view the protesters.

Andy’s viral instagram video from the DNC: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-3pPrkMwTX/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Thank you to our sponsor Ground News. You can visit them here to learn more:

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To support our work please consider becoming a paid subscriber.

We are hard at work on several stories that we hope to share with you soon, but today we’re trying something a bit different. We're bringing you a roundtable discussion with Sarah Isgur and Mike Pesca on why politicians and world leaders lie—and what those lies reveal about the state of our society.

Sarah Isgur is a lawyer, senior editor at The Dispatch, host of the legal podcast Advisory Opinions, and co-host of Left, Right & Center. She’s previously worked in all three branches of the federal government, including a few years in the Trump Administration, and has been involved with three different presidential campaigns.

Mike Pesca, a veteran of NPR, is the host of The Gist, the longest-running daily news podcast, and has covered presidential campaigns and politics for over two decades.

We dive deep into whether we’re living in an era of especially egregious lies, the incentives for politicians to lie, how we classify and fact-check lies, and much more. I’ll also add that by the end, we wind up in a place I didn’t expect.

LINKS:

Listen to Mike Pesca on The Gist

Listen to Sarah Isgor on Advisory Opinions, Left, Right & Center and follow her writing at The Dispatch. 

Thank you to our sponsor Ground News. You can visit them here to learn more:

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To support our work please consider becoming a paid subscriber.