Standing Athwart History: An NRI Podcast

A death by a knee to the neck. Riots. Fires. Broken windows. Missed opportunities for prayer and reconciliation. It’s been quite the week. After quite the months. In the latest “virus-free” conversation from the National Review Institute, I talk with Louis Brown, executive director of the Christ Medicus Foundation. He’s a lawyer, he’s worked on Capitol Hill, and, most recently at the Department of Health and Human Services. A Michigan native, he lives in Washington, D.C. And among the reasons I wanted to talk to him is he lives in the world like we all do, and is one of the grounded ones. Prayer is important to him, as you’ll hear as he talks about his kind of rally in the wake of all of this — a Rosary Walk for reparation for the sins of racism and violence.

Do you find yourself frustrated with these coronavirus times? Spiritually or emotionally lost or angry or confused or otherwise suffering and trying to find the meaning in it? A book by Gary Jansen called 'Station to Station: An Ignatian Journey through the Stations of the Cross' -- which is currently being offered for free as an e-book -- may help. It is a meditative walk through the suffering of Christ in the Passion. Jansen, executive editor at Loyola Press, with longtime experience in religion publishing, is the latest conversant in this occasional “virus-free” offering with faith, culture, and civil-society leaders during these coronavirus times.

Naomi Schaefer Riley is the latest guest on our occasional virus-free forum series from the National Review Institute’s Center for Religion, Culture, and Civil Society. Naomi has made herself a leading expert on child-welfare issues in recent years. She is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum. Among other things, she’s author of six books, including, most recently, 'Be the Parent: Stop Banning Seesaws and Start Banning Snapchat.' (We talk about getting off screens -- even/especially now, too.)

Kathryn Jean Lopez interviews Charlie Camosy.

We had over 100,000 children in foster care before this coronavirus business sent so many to shelter in place, lose their jobs, and live with the fears and anxieties of this time. Schools are closed, and so it’s harder for teachers to observe things. You’ve heard all this, I trust. So how and why should it be more than another depressing news story for all of us in some way? Sharen Ford has been working in child welfare for decades and currently runs the foster-care and adoption programs at Focus on the Family. She talks about some of what it takes to be a foster parent, and the other roles we can play in helping children, especially older children, who are the hardest to place. This is National Foster Care Month, and it’s also a time when there’s a great danger that we are being culturally conditioned to be suspicious of other people. Let’s fight against that. Take a listen to my conversation with Ford, a little of a download of her wisdom. I’m always better for talking with her, I hope you feel similarly.

How can we better protect human life? That’s been the question of these coronavirus times. And for the blessing of a family, it may mean asking: Can we welcome a child who needs a home into our home? Kelly and John Rosati have done that five times. Their family includes children with serious mental illness, so days are far from perfect, but there is love. Can one of the lessons of these coronavirus times be: Show love. Right now. To someone. And can one of the prayers be: How is God asking me to show more love? Could it be helping a family heal by fostering? Could it be providing a home for a child through adoption? Kelly talks from her own experience of her life and advocacy. Kelly also talks about her work with the Flying Horse Foundation, which provides equine therapy for children who have experienced trauma.

Today on 'Standing Athwart,' Kathryn Jean Lopez interviews Luanne Zurlo.

Today on 'Standing Athwart,' Kathryn Jean Lopez interviews Sr. Magdalene Teresa and Sr. Mariae Agnus Dei from the Sisters of Life.

Today on 'Standing Athwart,' Kathryn Jean Lopez interviews Elizabeth Kirk and Lisa Wheeler.

Today on 'Standing Athwart,' Kathryn Jean Lopez interviews Robert Nicholson of the Philos Project.