This week, Coyle and Ed offer up Part II of their discussion of the Executive branch and the Presidency. In Part I, they discussed the powers and responsibilities of the executive. In today's episode, they wrap up some questions about those powers from the last episode, and turn to the kind of personalities that hold the office, looking at James Bryce's classic, "Why Great Men are not Chosen Presidents."

We are dropping two episodes this week looking at the kinds of considerations that might lead a Christian to voting for either of the major party candidates. In this episode, we speak with Nick Rodriguez, a policy consultant in Washington, DC working on educational policy and government reform. Nick authored a blog entry on the Gospel Coalition website that received a lot of attention in which he urged Christians to vote for Hillary Clinton. In this episode, he elaborates on those reasons and talks about why Donald Trump is a uniquely dangerous presidential candidate.

We are dropping two episodes this week looking at the kinds of considerations that might lead a Christian to voting for either of the major party candidates. In this episode, we speak with Rebeccah Heinrichs, a fellow at the Hudson Institute and an expert on issues of national security and nuclear deterrence. Rebeccah has been a congressional advisor, as well as providing briefings to Republican presidential aspirants. Her writings have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The LA Times, The Washington Times and Politico, and she is a frequent guest on Fox News. Listen to why Rebeccah thinks that, despite his flaws, Trump is worthy of support.

In this episode, Ed and Coyle discuss, not the current presidential election, but rather the office of the presidency itself, the nature of the powers of the executive as they are outlined in our founding documents, and the way that those powers have evolved over time.

Coyle and Ed interview Thabiti Anyabwile, the pastor of Anacostia River Church in Washington, DC, council member and blogger at The Gospel Coalition, and author of several books, including The Decline of African American Theology. Thabiti talks to us about his own background, race in the United States, and the Black Lives Matter movement.

In today's episode, Ed and Coyle discuss the "Benedict Option," Rod Dreher's much discussed call for Christians to "withdraw from the mainstream, for the sake of sheltering one's faith and family from corrosive modernity and cultivating a more traditional way of life." We talk about the intellectual roots of this idea that Dreher has popularized, and some of the criticisms that it has received. Is BenOps the future of how Christians should engage the world?

In this episode, Coyle and Ed talk about the challenges of contemporary American political discourse, and the alleged "smugness" of liberals.

In this episode, Coyle and Ed offer their reflections on the themes and issues at the Democratic National Convention, and talk about who we will vote for and how we hope the election will turn out.

In this episode, Coyle and Ed offer their reflections on the Republican Convention and the official nomination of Donald J. Trump.

In Part 2 of this series, Ed and Coyle conclude their discussion of the recent North Carolina bill concerning gay and transgender persons focusing on issues of religious conscience.