In this episode, we welcome back David French, columnist for The New York Times , former constitutional attorney, and author of Divided We Fall . We discuss the current state of American democracy, the challenges of political division, and how we can engage in civil discourse despite deep ideological differences. David also shares a personal update on his family and reflects on the profound trials and growth that come with adversity. 📌 What We Discuss: ✔️ How David and his family navigated the challenges of a serious health crisis. ✔️ The rise of political polarization and the factors driving it. ✔️ Why distinguishing between “unwise, unethical, and unlawful” is crucial in analyzing political actions. ✔️ How consuming different perspectives (even opposing ones) helps in understanding political dynamics. ✔️ The role of Christian values in politics and how they are being redefined. ⏳ Episode Highlights 📍 [00:01:00] – David French’s background and his journey from litigation to journalism. 📍 [00:02:30] – Personal update: David shares his wife Nancy’s battle with cancer and their journey as a family. 📍 [00:06:00] – How to navigate personal trials while maintaining faith and resilience. 📍 [00:10:00] – The danger of political paranoia and the pitfalls of extreme polarization. 📍 [00:18:00] – The "friend-enemy" paradigm in American politics and its influence in Christian fundamentalism. 📍 [00:24:00] – Revisiting Divided We Fall : How America’s divisions have devolved since 2020. 📍 [00:40:00] – The categories and differences of unwise, unethical, and unlawful political actions. 📍 [00:55:00] – The balance between justice, kindness, and humility in political engagement. 📍 [01:00:00] – The After Party initiative: A Christian approach to politics focused on values rather than policy. 💬 Featured Quotes 🔹 "You don't know who you truly are until your values are tested." – David French 🔹 "If we focus on the relational, we can have better conversations even across deep differences." – Corey Nathan 🔹 "Justice, kindness, and humility—if you're missing one, you're doing it wrong." – David French 🔹 "The United States has a history of shifting without repenting. We just move on." – David French 📚 Resources Mentioned David French’s Writing: New York Times David’s Book: Divided We Fall The After Party Initiative – More Info Advisory Opinions Podcast (with Sarah Isgur & David French) – Listen Here 📣 Call to Action If you found this conversation insightful, please: ✅ Subscribe to Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other on your favorite podcast platform. ✅ Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen: ratethispodcast.com/goodfaithpolitics ✅ Support the show on Patreon: patreon.com/politicsandreligion ✅ Watch the full conversation and subscribe on YouTube: youtube.com/@politicsandreligion 🔗 Connect With Us on Social Media @coreysnathan: Bluesky LinkedIn Instagram Threads Facebook Substack David French: 🔗 Twitter | BlueSky | New York Times Our Sponsors Meza Wealth Management: www.mezawealth.com Prolux Autogroup: www.proluxautogroup.com or www.granadahillsairporttransportation.com Let’s keep talking politics and religion—with gentleness and respect. 🎙️💡…
The Writers’ Block Episode 82 David and Phineas catch up on the last month and do a deep dive into college football. Then they discuss finishing up a writing project and play a game. Finally, Phineas and David challenge each other to name their favorite Christmas movies in a new Top Five. If you disagree with David or Phineas, let us know by tweeting us at @auburnMWC with the hashtag #MWCTop5 or e-mail us at askmwc@writersblockradio.com with your own top five. http://wp.auburn.edu/writing/wp-content/uploads/Writers-Block-Episode-82-12_5_17.mp3…
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The Writers’ Block Podcast – Office of University Writing
The Writers’ Block Episode 81 It’s Halloween! David and Phineas catch up on the Halloween weekend and Phineas’ party and his new mustache. Then they discuss horror storytelling and the uncanny and play a game. Finally, Phineas and David challenge each other to name his favorite vampire movies in a new Top Five. If you disagree with David, let us know by tweeting us at @auburnMWC with the hashtag #MWCTop5 or e-mail us at askmwc@writersblockradio.com with your own top five. http://wp.auburn.edu/writing/wp-content/uploads/Writers-Block-Episode-81-10_31_17.mp3…
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The Writers’ Block Podcast – Office of University Writing
The Writers’ Block Episode 80 David and Phineas catch up on the week and Phineas talks about his trip to Virginia to his brother and David reflects on the losses of Auburn football and USA National Team soccer. Then they discuss revision and play a game. Finally, David challenges Phineas to name the worst superhero movie in a new Quick Take. If you disagree with Phineas, let us know by tweeting us at @auburnMWC with the hashtag #MWCQuickTake or e-mail us at askmwc@writersblockradio.com with your own quick take. http://wp.auburn.edu/writing/wp-content/uploads/Writers-Block-Episode-80-10_17_17.mp3…
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The Writers’ Block Podcast – Office of University Writing
The Writers’ Block Episode 79 David and Phineas catch up on the week and Phineas talks about his trip to Atlanta to see comedian John Mulaney perform and to encourage people to see the new Netflix show American Vandal . Then they discuss rhetorical context and how it is shaped by the cultural moment. Finally, Phineas challenges David to name his favorite animated shows in a new Top Five. If you disagree with David, let us know by tweeting us at @auburnMWC with the hashtag #MWCTop5 or e-mail us at askmwc@writersblockradio.com with your own top five. http://wp.auburn.edu/writing/wp-content/uploads/Writers-Block-Episode-79-10_3_17.mp3…
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The Writers’ Block Podcast – Office of University Writing
The Writers’ Block Episode 78 David and Phineas catch up on the week and reflect on the Emmy’s. Then they discuss research strategies and play a game. Finally, David challenges Phineas to name his favorite teen movies in a new Top Five. If you disagree with Phineas, let us know by tweeting us at @auburnMWC with the hashtag #MWCTop5 or e-mail us at askmwc@writersblockradio.com with your own top five. http://wp.auburn.edu/writing/wp-content/uploads/Writers-Block-Episode-78v2-9_26_17.mp3…
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The Writers’ Block Podcast – Office of University Writing
The Writers’ Block Episode 77 David and Phineas catch up on the summer after an unintended break and David shares stories about his daughter and Phineas tells the story of how he proposed to his girlfriend. Then they discuss the writing process and play a game. Finally, Phineas and David answer listener questions. If you have a question for The Writers’ Block, you can tweet to us @auburnMWC with the hashtag #AskMWC or e-mail us at askmwc@writersblockradio.com . Your questions may be read on the air and answered live. http://wp.auburn.edu/writing/wp-content/uploads/Writers-Block-Episode-77-9_19_17.mp3…
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The Writers’ Block Podcast – Office of University Writing
The Writers’ Block Episode 76(a): The Fate of the Furious Guardians of the Galaxy With the radio station closed, David and Phineas saw some movies and wanted to talk about them. They saw The Fate of the Furious and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 . If you disagree with our assessment of the films, you can tweet to us @auburnMWC with the hashtag #AskMWC or e-mail us at askmwc@writersblockradio.com . http://wp.auburn.edu/writing/wp-content/uploads/Writers-Block-Episode-76a-5_15_17.mp3…
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The Writers’ Block Podcast – Office of University Writing
The Writers’ Block Episode 76 David and Phineas catch up on the week and discuss white supremacist Richard Spencer’s anticlimactic visit to Auburn and David tells tales from his plague-ridden family. Then they discuss how to study for and tackle exams as finals week approaches. Finally, Phineas and David answer listener questions. If you have a question for The Writers’ Block, you can tweet to us @auburnMWC with the hashtag #AskMWC or e-mail us at askmwc@writersblockradio.com . Your questions may be read on the air and answered live. http://wp.auburn.edu/writing/wp-content/uploads/Writers-Block-Episode-76v2-4_25_17.mp3…
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The Writers’ Block Podcast – Office of University Writing
The Writers’ Block Episode 75 After some brief technical difficulties, David and Phineas sleepily catch up on the week and David shares his thoughts on the ending of Girls while Phineas shares his thoughts on the movie Get Out . Then they discuss the campus drama related to white-supremacist and alt-right face Richard Spencer’s visit to Auburn, before they examine and challenge the rhetoric of white supremacy. Finally, Phineas challenges David to name his favorite movie music moments in a new Top Five. If you disagree with David, let us know by tweeting us at @auburnMWC with the hashtag #MWCTop5 or e-mail us at askmwc@writersblockradio.com with your own top five. http://wp.auburn.edu/writing/wp-content/uploads/Writers-Block-Episode-75-4_18_17.mp3…
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The Writers’ Block Podcast – Office of University Writing
The Writers’ Block Episode 74 David and Phineas catch up on the week and reflect on the resignation of former Governor Robert Bentley and David shares stories from his trip to Birmingham. Then they explore buddy comedies and play a game. Finally, David challenges Phineas to name his favorite buddy comedies in a new Top Five. If you disagree with Phineas, let us know by tweeting us at @auburnMWC with the hashtag #MWCTop5 or e-mail us at askmwc@writersblockradio.com with your own top five. http://wp.auburn.edu/writing/wp-content/uploads/Writers-Block-Episode-74v2-4_11_17.mp3…
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The Writers’ Block Podcast – Office of University Writing
The Writers’ Block Episode 73 After an unexpected month off the air, David and Phineas catch up and David shares his PhD accomplishments and Phineas discusses the merits of the new film, Kong: Skull Island . Then they explore diegesis and play a game. Finally, Finally, Phineas challenges David to name the fictional universe he would want to live in in a new Quick Take. If you disagree with David, let us know by tweeting us at @auburnMWC with the hashtag #MWCQuickTake or e-mail us at askmwc@writersblockradio.com with your own quick take. http://wp.auburn.edu/writing/wp-content/uploads/Writers-Block-Episode-73v2-4_4_17.mp3…
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The Writers’ Block Podcast – Office of University Writing
The Writers’ Block Episode 72 David and Phineas catch up on the week and discuss Ben Carson’s odd statements about slavery and immigration, and David shares his thoughts on the series Hannibal . Then they explore reluctant action heroes and play a game. Finally, Phineas and David answer listener questions. If you have a question for The Writers’ Block, you can tweet to us @auburnMWC with the hashtag #AskMWC or e-mail us at askmwc@writersblockradio.com . Your questions may be read on the air and answered live. http://wp.auburn.edu/writing/wp-content/uploads/Writers-Block-Episode-72v2-3_7_17.mp3…
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The Writers’ Block Podcast – Office of University Writing
The Writers’ Block Episode 71 David and Phineas catch up on the week and the Oscars, and Phineas shares his thoughts on the Netflix original series, The OA . Then they explore video game design/mechanics and play a game. Finally, David challenges Phineas to name his favorite video games in a new Top Five. If you disagree with Phineas, let us know by tweeting us at @auburnMWC with the hashtag #MWCTop5 or e-mail us at askmwc@writersblockradio.com with your own top five. http://wp.auburn.edu/writing/wp-content/uploads/Writers-Block-Episode-71v2-2_28_17.mp3…
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The Writers’ Block Podcast – Office of University Writing
The Writers’ Block Episode 70 David and Phineas catch up on the week and their trip to Ole Miss for SWCA, a writing center conference, and Phineas shares his thoughts on the new film John Wick Chapter 2 . Then they explore video game storytelling and play a game. Finally, Phineas challenges David to name his favorite video games in a new Top Five. If you disagree with David, let us know by tweeting us at @auburnMWC with the hashtag #MWCTop5 or e-mail us at askmwc@writersblockradio.com with your own top five. http://wp.auburn.edu/writing/wp-content/uploads/Writers-Block-Episode-70v2-2_21_17.mp3…
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The Writers’ Block Podcast – Office of University Writing
The Writers’ Block Episode 69 It’s Valentine’s Day and David and Phineas reflect on the day and discuss the relevance of the Grammy Awards. Then they explore the death of print with the rise of media, and what is lost in that transition. Then Field Correspondent Jakob Geiger sits down with Auburn University’s Dr. Scott Simkins in a new Writer Spotlight. Finally, Phineas and David answer listener questions. If you have a question for The Writers’ Block, you can tweet to us @auburnMWC with the hashtag #AskMWC or e-mail us at askmwc@writersblockradio.com . Your questions may be read on the air and answered live. http://wp.auburn.edu/writing/wp-content/uploads/Writers-Block-Episode-69-2_14_17.mp3…
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