It’s been a week of surprises since election day on Nov. 8th. While control of both houses of Congress still hang in the balance, conventional wisdom suggests Christian nationalism, election denial and conspiracy theories turned out to be far less effective than feared.

The wisdom our guests bring to this week’s State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, however, is anything but conventional – and their take on what happened in the midterms, as well as what our leaders need to do next, makes for compelling listening!

In conversation with State of Belief host Interfaith Alliance President Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, Joshua DuBois brings a wealth of expertise on how and where politics and religion meet. After years leading the Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships in the Obama White House, today he’s CEO at two cutting-edge consultancies, Values Partnerships and Gauge.ai, and is one of our country’s top voices on community alliances, issues impacting African Americans, and religion in the public square.

Joshua has a lot to say about the US Senate race in Georgia between Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock and challenger Herschel Walker, and shares insights about how progressive faith communities and voters turned out on Nov. 8th. It’s encouraging to hear him recognize that voters seem ready to turn their backs on the extremism and alternate reality that have permeated our politics in recent years. At the same time, he points out we certainly couldn’t take for granted a peaceful election day.

And don’t miss the cameo appearance from Joshua’s small son, who thought dad might have gotten hungry doing all these interviews and brought him some bread!

Cheryl Contee is another prominent civic and business leader with deep knowledge of messaging as well as of organizing and empowering marginalized persons. She’s CEO of The Impact Seat Foundation as well as founder and Chair of the digital agency Do Big Things.

Recognizing how reproductive rights affect not just women but entire families and communities, Cheryl also shares the additional hurdles that continue to make it harder for women, specifically, to run for elected office. Like Joshua DuBois, she believes real-life solutions to real-life problems clearly motivate voters more than ideological and hyperbolic messages do.

Beyond sharp analysis, Cheryl’s got concrete, cutting-edge ideas on how progressive faith communities can leverage the potential of technology and social media to create real change in an era when people simply no longer trust organizations.

We can’t wait to have you hear it!