The Common Good Podcast

Brian celebrates Adam Holz's birthday before diving into a striking review from Plugged In on the horror film Ice Cream Man from director Eli Roth, sparked by Roth's own admission that being traumatized by the movie Alien at age eight inspired his career making horror films. Adam reflects on how deeply entertainment can shape a person's life direction, for better or worse, and why paying attention to what kids and grandkids are watching matters. They wrap up with a review of the new Spider-Man film, discussing its themes of friendship and isolation following the character's memory-erasing sacrifice, along with content notes on violence, language, and suggestive material for parents to weigh.

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Brian reflects on feeling politically homeless amid the rise of the Democratic Socialist movement and the MAGA movement pulling both parties toward the extremes, grounding his hope in Christ rather than any political tribe. He digs into pastor Josh Howerton's conversation on the Sean Ryan Show about the hard, practical steps of biblical forgiveness — including Howerton's own painful experience with leaked personal details from his church. Brian talks about what defines us apart from external metrics like job titles or church attendance numbers, pointing to identity as beloved children of God. He shares a Gospel Coalition piece on finding God's glory in birdwatching, calls out "clown Christianity" — the exhausting habit of painting over inner brokenness with a happy face — and pushes back on the viral "dump them" culture of cutting off relationships at the first sign of conflict. He also shares Randy Alcorn's reminder that every job, not just full-time ministry, is a platform to glorify God, illustrated by the story of insurance entrepreneur Art DeMoss. Brian closes with a rich meditation on "awe" as the fuel of faith and the antidote to spiritual apathy.

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Brian opens reflecting on what to do when life doesn't unfold the way we hoped — leaning on God's unchanging faithfulness even amid disappointment and regret. He wades into WNBA guard Sophie Cunningham's comments on biological males in women's sports and the swift cultural backlash she received, lamenting the loss of civil disagreement in public discourse. A study claiming "true love" requires a six-figure salary gets pushback from Brian, who shares his own experience marrying young and broke. He shares a moving Gospel Coalition piece on the recently uncovered story of Charles Spurgeon's father's imprisonment for debt, and how God used that family failure to shape one of history's greatest preachers. Brian also digs into a fascinating trend piece on young adults ditching smartphones for "dumb phones" to reclaim their mental health and attention, a Relevant Magazine interview with Louis Giglio on how our earthly fathers shape our view of God, a simple "Bible before phone" spiritual discipline from Tyndale House, Tim Chalis on tasting heaven, and closes with a Charles Stanley devotional on the power of praise.

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What does authentic masculinity look like in a culture filled with competing messages about what it means to be a man?

Brian Fromm sits down with pastor and author Seth Troutt to discuss his new book, Authentic Masculinity: Leaving Behind the Counterfeits for God's Design. Their conversation explores why so many young men are drawn to online influencers like Andrew Tate, how Christians can reject cultural extremes without losing biblical conviction, and the virtues that define godly manhood.

Seth also offers practical wisdom on building meaningful male friendships, becoming a more intentional husband, and leading as a father—even if you feel like you've fallen short in the past. Whether you're raising sons, mentoring young men, or simply seeking to grow in your own faith, this conversation provides a thoughtful, hope-filled vision for biblical masculinity in today's world

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Brian welcomes singer-songwriter and author Laura Story to discuss her new book Stand in Awe: How Reverence Transforms Our Worship and Our Lives. Laura unpacks what reverence really means — approaching God with humility and surrender rather than treating Him like "a genie in a lamp" — and walks through four common tendencies that erode it: casual worship, self-focused worship, shallow worship, and distracted worship. She talks about living out that reverence seven days a week, not just on Sunday mornings, and points to Isaiah's vision in Isaiah 6 as a model of awe leading to surrender and mission. The conversation closes with the story behind her hit song "Blessings," written in the aftermath of her husband's brain tumor diagnosis and the lasting brain injury that followed, and how she's stepped back from touring to focus on her four kids while continuing to write and record.

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Back from vacation, Brian reflects on a week away with his family in Wisconsin — soaking up time together before his son leaves for college and his daughter departs on a Fulbright — and uses it to talk about the spiritual importance of disconnecting and Sabbath rest as an act of trust in God. He shares a Christianity Today study on how U.S. churches have grown more ethnically diverse while pastors talk less about it from the pulpit, and reflects on unity as the deeper biblical goal. Brian also digs into a fascinating piece on the disappearance of America's "third places" — bars, bowling alleys, movie theaters — and what it means for community life, plus a beautiful clip from 82-year-old apologist John Lennox on what he's most looking forward to in eternity. After a detour through a viral "plane preacher" story on Alaska Airlines as a cautionary tale in bad evangelism, he closes with a thoughtful Desiring God piece on how to process hypocrisy in Christian leaders without losing your own faith, and a Tim Chalis reflection on whether anyone can harden their heart beyond God's reach.

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Brian opens reflecting on an upcoming family vacation and the bittersweet reality that change is the only constant, then turns to a Christianity Today piece on First Church in Charlestown — a 400-year-old congregation now down to two members — as a warning about what happens when a church drifts from the gospel. He talks candidly about feeling overwhelmed by life's decisions, leaning on 49ers linebacker Fred Warner's return from a gruesome injury to make the case for living fully in the present since nothing is guaranteed but Christ. Brian also touches on Gen Z's budget-friendly approach to dating, a bizarre AI deepfake video of former NYC mayor Eric Adams, and pushes back on podcaster Jennifer Welch's viral criticism of Christian homeschooling, encouraging listeners to choose what's best for their own family without shame. He closes with a rich double feature: John Stonestreet on how churches can unintentionally shrink the gospel into something private and small, and a Gospel Coalition piece on how God's best work is "cross-shaped" — using unlikely, ordinary people (fishermen, tax collectors, a table-busser named Stephen) to change the world, and using suffering as the soil for resurrection life.

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Brian catches up with Adam Holz of Plugged In for their weekly look at movies and streaming through a Christian lens. They dig into swirling controversy over whether Rotten Tomatoes scores for Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey are being manipulated, and why inflated IMAX ticket prices may be masking softer actual attendance. Adam reviews Netflix's full reboot of Little House on the Prairie, a faithful if lower-stakes retelling of the Ingalls family's move to Kansas. They also cover The Dink, a PG-13 pickleball-versus-tennis sports comedy on Apple TV with plenty of sensuality and language to watch for, and Bad Counselors, an unusual Fathom Events satire that mashes up Christian camp culture with a hungover-college-kids premise — irreverent but ultimately well-intentioned for a high-school-and-up audience.

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Brian welcomes Kim Trobee from Focus on the Family for a conversation timed to National Aunt and Uncle Day (July 26). Kim explains why aunts and uncles occupy a unique space in a child's life: one step removed from the parent-child conflict, able to ask questions, share humanizing stories, and reinforce a family's rules without becoming "the bad guy." She also warns against the real danger of aunts and uncles undermining parents, especially in blended or divorced families, and offers practical ways to stay close across long distances — social media, birthday cards, and simply showing up as a steady, loving presence. Brian and Kim close with an encouragement for any aunt or uncle listening to reach out this week.

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Brian opens with a reflection on Prince George's thirteenth birthday to unpack how quickly we label people — by politics, by past mistakes, by tribe — and makes the case that Christians are called to trade every label for one: child of God. From there he turns to a Russell Moore piece on C.S. Lewis, unpacking Aslan's line to Edmund in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe — "there is no need to talk to him about what is past" — as a picture of how Christ receives us after failure. Brian also shares a middle-age TV-and-brain-health study, his own decision to step back from social media before vacation, a Tim Chalis story about a boy's first taste of an orange as a metaphor for tasting heaven, and a look at overcrowding at Yosemite this summer. He closes with reflections on prioritizing date nights in marriage, a Wall Street Journal piece on adults cutting off their parents, a Gospel Coalition piece on finding hope amid "doomerism," and a classic Tim Keller clip on faith being filled with thinking rather than opposed to it.

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