Russell takes a listener's question about how a non-believer can meaningfully engage in a book group with Christians.

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What happens when a 17-year-old's dive into the Chesapeake Bay changes everything—and the healing never comes?

⁠Watch the full conversation on YouTube⁠.

Fifty-seven years later, Joni Eareckson Tada sits across from me with an answer that might undo everything you think you know about strength, suffering, and the strange mercy of God.

In this conversation marking the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, we go where few dare: into the raw, daily reality of quadriplegia, chronic pain that would break most of us by breakfast, and a two-time battle with breast cancer. But this isn't inspiration porn. This is Joni—unflinching, funny, and fiercely honest about what it means when "I can do all things through Christ" meets 4 a.m. despair.

We talk about the crushing loneliness of being the only wheelchair in a room full of chairs. The rage when well-meaning Christians promise healing that doesn't come. The particular exhaustion of advocating for your own existence. And why she tells God some mornings, "I have no strength for today. Can I borrow yours?"

But we also discover something unexpected: how limitation becomes liberation. Why the disabled community might be the most honest place in America. And what happens when churches stop trying to "fix" people and start making room for them.

Fair warning: Joni doesn't do platitudes. She'll tell you exactly what not to say to someone in chronic pain (spoiler: "everything happens for a reason" isn't it). She'll explain why she's terrified of a world that's editing out Down syndrome. And she'll make you rethink whether your church's "all are welcome" sign means anything if there's no ramp to the door.

This is for anyone who's ever wondered where God is when the miracle doesn't come. For those caring for someone who's suffering and don't know what to say. For all of us who suspect our obsession with optimization and control might be making us miss the point entirely.

Come for the practical wisdom. Stay for the kind of hope that only comes from someone who's been asking "How long, O Lord?" for nearly six decades—and still believes the answer matters.

Keep up with Joni’s work through Joni and Friends, here.

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Russell takes a listener's question about whether God can still use prayers, and the conversation broadens to mind-breaking theology about God’s transcendence of time itself.

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Ken Burns says the American Revolution is "the most important event in world history since the birth of Christ." That's a bold claim—especially in a moment when the word "patriot" has become a weapon and the experiment that revolution launched feels more fragile than ever.

In this conversation, Russell Moore sits down with the legendary documentarian to explore what eight years of wrestling with the founders can teach us about our fractured present. How do you love a country—or a church—while being honest about its deep hypocrisies? Can you hold together progress and permanence, hope and clear-eyed realism? And what does faithfulness look like when certainty has replaced faith?

Burns's new series, The American Revolution (premiering November 16 on PBS), attempts something audacious: telling a visual story from an era with no photographs, bringing to life the contradiction-filled men who proclaimed "all men are created equal" while many of them held other human beings in bondage. Using voices including Tom Hanks, Liev Schreiber, and Claire Danes, Burns creates a narrative that refuses both myth-making and cynicism.

Burns discusses with RDM why labels such as “Heritage American” and “Christian America” fail and what the founders actually believed about divine providence (hint: it wasn't what you think).

Along the way: Schoolhouse Rock nostalgia, baseball metaphors, and what it means to be a patriot when the word itself has been hijacked.

Watch the full conversation on YouTube.
Resources mentioned in this episode:

Watch Burns’ “The American Revolution” on PBS for free starting November 16th.

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Russell takes a listener's question about whether the work of fallen songwriters and authors should be used for worship.

Watch the video of this episode on YouTube here.

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What if the biggest changes in your life aren’t sudden at all—but have been building quietly for years?

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In this episode, Russell Moore sits down with pastor and author Mark Batterson (National Community Church, Washington, D.C.; The Circle Maker, Gradually, Then Suddenly) to talk about how transformation, calling, and even faith itself often arrive–as Hemingway once put it–gradually, then suddenly. From hard decisions and hidden preparation to the slow work of God that looks instant only in hindsight, they explore why patience may be the most underrated spiritual discipline of all.

Batterson and RDM talk about the writings of Eugene Peterson on the “long obedience” of a faith journey, the difference between patience and stagnation, how to know when you’re called to something and when you’re released from it, and why celebrity culture in the church short-circuits character formation. They get practical on habits (why 30 days feels like the hardest part), preaching long obedience in a city addicted to immediacy, learning grit without “snowplow” spirituality, and aiming at legacy that’s measured by who others become because of you. 

If you’re looking for wisdom without hurry, conviction without hype, and hope that can take a punch and keep walking, this is the episode for you.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Mark Batterson, Gradually, Then Suddenly 

Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises

Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction 

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Russell takes a listener's question about the Church body convicting each other in love without unnecessary division.

Watch the video of this episode on YouTube here.

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David French checks in on a potpourri of important subjects. 

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For longtime friends Russell Moore and David French, talking about what’s happening and where things are going is virtually an everyday occurrence. This time, though, they decided to let us listen in. RDM refused to write notes to plan out this conversation and said, “Let’s just go on the air–unfiltered.” This is that conversation.

French, New York Times columnist and author, and RDM discuss everything from whether revival is happening among Gen Z to why we’ve seen such a backlash against women in evangelical circles to whether the gender identity disputes are not over to whether we are headed toward a dark place on questions of religious freedom.

Then they get personal—talking about why, after all they’ve each seen, they are still Christians, and what advice they would give to those who wonder if they still can be.

If you’re looking for honesty without despair and candor without cynicism, this is the episode for you. 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Richard Hanania article, ”The Based Ritual”

David’s article about his incurable disease in the New York Times, ”I Believe in Miracles. Just Not All of Them.”

Sign up for David’s newsletter

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Russell takes a listener's question about church membership and the Communion table.

Watch the video of this episode on YouTube here.

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What if the real radicals right now are the ones who refuse to join the outrage mobs?

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Russell Moore talks with pastor and author J.D. Greear about his new book Everyday Revolutionary and the surprising power of grace in an age addicted to “courage” and “clarity.” Starting with the story of how J.D. befriended the man who tried to dox him, the two dig into why Christian conviction without compassion turns hollow—and how ordinary believers can live with the kind of quiet strength that actually changes things.

They explore what witness looks like when the internet never blinks, what evangelism means in a world both secular and spiritual, why pastors burn out, and what might replace the megachurch in twenty years.

Plus: Hear about the one and only time Russell Moore has ever passed out. 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Everyday Revolutionary by J.D. Greear

Molly Worthen’s episode on our show

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