It’s odd that one of our listeners’ favorite frequent guests is an atheist: Jonathan Haidt. And yet, it’s not really that unusual because Haidt, though not a believer, is perhaps the world’s foremost thinker on issues Christians face every day: the digital war on our attention spans, how technology is making us anxious, how removing obstacles and pain-points from our children hurts them, and why we all seem to hate each other so much.

This week, Dr. Moore welcomes back social psychologist Jonathan Haidt to ask him how things have changed in recent months in the rapidly evolving landscape of technology and its impact on faith communities. Haidt—author of The Anxious Generation, The Coddling of the American Mind, and The Righteous Mind—shares his latest observations and updated insights since we last spoke.

This is a fresh new conversation, building off of the previous ones. As the digital world shifts at breakneck speed, Haidt offers new analysis on what he's witnessing on the front lines: how smartphones and social media are reshaping our capacity for prayer and Bible reading, the escalating influence of TikTok and short-form video, and emerging concerns about AI in church settings.

From practical questions about phone-free churches to broader concerns about protecting children in digital environments, this conversation bridges scientific insight with pastoral care.

You'll hear Haidt's surprising predictions about AI's future, discover which social media platform he considers most harmful, and learn his single most important piece of advice for church leaders seeking to preserve human connection in our high-tech age.

This is an essential dialogue for anyone concerned about reclaiming our ability to pay attention,  think deeply, pray meaningfully, and build authentic community in an era of endless digital distraction.

See more from Jon Haidt:

Anxious Generation website: AnxiousGeneration.com

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion

The Coddling of the American Mind (with Greg Lukianoff)

Politico Article: There’s Only One True Bipartisan Issue Left

Derek Thompson’s Atlantic article: The Anti-Social Century

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Russell answers a listener's question: How can I be friends with atheists? 

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You may know Philip Yancey as the bestselling author of What’s So Amazing About Grace?, Where Is God When It Hurts?, and The Jesus I Never Knew. We’ve even had him on the show a few times to talk about these books and more. For decades, his writing has guided Christians who are wrestling with disappointment, doubt, and suffering. But in recent years, his own life has required deeper study into such things.

In this episode, Philip Yancey joins Russell Moore for an honest conversation about suffering, lament, and the God who meets us in our pain. Yancey opens up about his own story, from the trauma of losing his father to living with cancer and Parkinson’s. He reflects on how those experiences have shaped his faith and why simplistic religious answers so often do more harm than good.

Together, they talk about what the Book of Job does—and doesn’t—say about suffering, and why Jesus didn’t “solve” pain during his earthly ministry. Yancey explains why lament is not only permitted but essential, and what it means for the church to be a place of comfort rather than clichés.Plus: what surprising things led him to see the graciousness of God before writing the book(s) on it.

If you’ve been sitting in the silence of God, or are grappling with the problem of pain in your own life, you may find comfort in this conversation.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

Where Is God When It Hurts? by Philip Yancey

What’s So Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey

The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

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A reading of the latest from Russell’s weekly newsletter. Sign up for the newsletter, Moore to the Point, where Russell shares thoughtful takes on big questions, offers a Christian perspective on life, and recommends books and music he's enjoying.

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Today we put the “Sho” in the Russell Moore Show with Sho Baraka, Christianity Today’s director of the Big Tent Initiative.

Five years after the murder of George Floyd, many wondered if the United States—and the church—was headed toward lasting change. Talk of a “racial reckoning” filled headlines, pulpits, and boardrooms. But where do things stand now, in 2025?

Sho joins Russell to reflect on the promises and disappointments of the past half-decade. The child of a Black Panther, Sho shares thoughts about race and reconciliation but also the deeper struggles of spiritual disillusionment, even in his own life.

Sho speaks candidly about his own journey through spiritual dryness over the last 5-7 years as he navigated attitudes of cynicism which gave way to a time of terrible decisions that left his life in freefall. He and Russell explore what repentance and renewal can look like—not only for individuals, but for communities and institutions that have lost their way.

Together, they discuss why conversations about racial justice often stall, how and why multi-ethnic churches struggle, and how Moses is an example of endurance in radically changing a broken institution. Plus: hear which book of the Bible Sho would take with him to a desert island that no other guest has chosen before.

This is a thoughtful, vulnerable conversation about failure, repentance, and the possibility of restoration—for leaders, for churches, and for the witness of the gospel.

—

Keep up with Russell:

Sign up for the weekly newsletter where Russell shares thoughtful takes on big questions, offers a Christian perspective on life, and recommends books and music he's enjoying.

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Russell answers a listener's question: Should church leaders be transparent about finances?

Submit your own question for the show! Email [email protected] — and remember: attach a voice memo!

Keep up with Russell:

Sign up for the weekly newsletter where Russell shares thoughtful takes on big questions, offers a Christian perspective on life, and recommends books and music he's enjoying.

Subscribe to the Christianity Today Magazine: Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: Click here for 25% off a subscription

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What does it mean to have character in a world that doesn’t care? Or even worse: platforms and incentivizes a LACK of character? 

If anyone should know, it’s a retired four-star General whose career ended in resignation.

In this episode, Russell talks with General Stanley McChrystal, former commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan and author of On Character: Choices That Define a Life. They discuss the Rolling Stone article that ended McChrystal’s military career, why his wife’s single-word reaction changed the trajectory of his life, and how character is shaped over decades by family, mentors, mistakes, and moral decisions under pressure. 

Along the way, McChrystal shares his thoughts on why the U.S. needs a mandatory service year as a way to heal divisions, how leadership choices prevented a hostile environment toward Islam in the United States, and his process for making difficult decisions of national importance. Plus, hear a retired four-star general give his take on the tensions in the Middle East and what should be done to ease them.

You don’t need to be weighing options of national security to appreciate this conversation — If you’re weary of living in an era that excuses a lack of integrity and honor in its leadership, this conversation may give you hope that it’s possible to bring those back.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

On Character: Choices That Define a Life by Stanley McChrystal

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

Carl Sandburg’s six-volume biography of Abraham Lincoln

Listener question: Where are all the mature single Christian men?

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Russell answers a listener's question: Where Are All the mature, single christian men?

Listen to the recent episode with Christine Emba about porn’s contribution to relational intimacy.

Submit your own question for the show! Email [email protected] — and remember: attach a voice memo!

Keep up with Russell:

Sign up for the weekly newsletter where Russell shares thoughtful takes on big questions, offers a Christian perspective on life, and recommends books and music he's enjoying.

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Even where nobody talks about it, porn is everywhere--so much so that many, even those who think it's immoral, have concluded that it's an inextricable part of 21st century digital culture. But what if that attitude is leading us to levels of brokenness we never even imagined?

In this episode, Christine Emba joins Russell to talk about what she calls a “quiet catastrophe”: the normalization of pornography in an era marked by loneliness and disconnection.

Drawing from her widely read New York Times essay, “The Delusion of Porn’s Harmlessness,” Emba offers a pointed and profound look at what pornography is doing not just to our minds, but to our relationships, our desires, and our sense of self.

Emba and Moore explore why the idea of intimacy feels threatening, and how a generation raised on digital pleasure might struggle to imagine and practice real relational connection. They also talk about how porn shapes our expectations of each other, why Christians often mishandle this issue, and what it might look like to recover a deeper, more beautiful ethic of intimate relationships.

Emba even shares ways she sees society combatting our perceived defeat and possible despair when it comes to AI’s influence on porn–and the good news is, she has a positive outlook.

This is not a frantic conversation about culture war panic. It’s a thoughtful and sobering conversation about what kind of restoration is possible when desire is distorted, but not beyond healing.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

C.S. Lewis letters, Yours, Jack: Spiritual Direction from C.S. Lewis

“The Delusion of Porn’s Harmlessness” by Christine Emba (The New York Times)

Rethinking Sex: A Provocation by Christine Emba

Kate Julian’s “The Sex Recession” (The Atlantic)

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Russell answers a listener's question: Am I Being Disciplined—or Just Legalistic?

Submit your own question for the show! Email [email protected] — and remember: attach a voice memo!

Keep up with Russell:

Sign up for the weekly newsletter where Russell shares thoughtful takes on big questions, offers a Christian perspective on life, and recommends books and music he's enjoying.

Subscribe to the Christianity Today Magazine: Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: Click here for 25% off a subscription

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