Leon Podles joins me today to discuss the deep roots of why men don't go to church, focusing on the male quest for honor. He is the author of The Church Impotent and Losing the Good Portion: Why Men Are Alienated from Christianity. Read The Church Impotent for free: https://podles.org/church-impotent.htm Buy Losing the Good Portion: https://www.amazon.com/Losing-Good-Portion-Aliendated-Christianity/dp/158731505X/ Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.aaronrenn.com/...
Apr 08, 2024•37 min
Peter Ostapko joins us to discuss his project Kinsmen Journal, a high quality print magazine for Christian men and broader project to curate conversations around faith, fatherhood, and work. Kinsmen Journal featured original commissioned photography and writing, and the highest quality printing and packaging available. Buy Kinsmen Journal: https://kinsmen.org/
Apr 01, 2024•35 min
This is my interview from two years ago with David Murrow, author of the influential book Why Men Hate Going to Church . Why does the American church skew female? How did he get interested in this topic? How did people receive his book and what changed as a result of it? What is the story arc of the church's attempts to reach men in recent decades? Buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/078523215X/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=theurban-20 Subscribe to my newsletter: https://ww...
Mar 25, 2024•59 min
Paleoconservative military writer William Lind developed a concept he calls "4th Generation War," which is an insurgency conflict similar to Afghanistan or Iraq. 4GW is rooted in a decline of the legitimacy of the state, a fundamentally asymmetric conflict, and the criticality of winning at "the moral level of war." There are interesting parallels to cultural conflict which I explore in this newsletter.
Mar 18, 2024•22 min
Sociologist Brad Wilcox joins to discuss his new book "Get Married." He explains why, despite its decline in our society, marriage remains the best path to success in flourishing in life. Buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/Get-Married-Americans-Families-Civilization/dp/0063210851/ Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.aaronrenn.com/...
Mar 11, 2024•47 min
Georgetown University professor Joseph Hartman joins me to discuss the 20th century theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, and why he still matters today.
Mar 04, 2024•37 min
Sociologist Brad Vermurlen will join me to discuss his new book Reformed Resurgence: The New Calvinist Movement and the Battle Over American Evangelicalism . Vermurlen's book is an excellent overview of the New Calvinist movement, the backdrop of Evangelical fracture in which it developed, and the various strategies the movement implemented. This podcast was recorded two years ago as Youtube only. Read more about the book at: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/reviews/reformed-resurgence-brad-ve...
Feb 26, 2024•1 hr 15 min
Josh Abbotoy joins me to discuss his projects to built intentional communities of likeminded people in Kentucky and Tennessee. Ridgerunner USA: https://ridgerunnerusa.com/ Highland Rim Project: https://www.newfounding.com/highland Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.aaronrenn.com/
Feb 19, 2024•34 min
One of the key events in the Christianization of the Roman Empire was when the children of the existing Roman elites turned aside from the status system of the Roman imperium in favor of new ways of pursuing and achieving elite status within the church. Today, in the Negative World, the church operates as a shadow status system that takes its cues from secular elite culture. It will always be dominated by that culture unless and until it creates its own status system again. The Thiel Fellowship ...
Feb 12, 2024•19 min
Management is about the known. Exploration is about the unknown. Dwight Gibson has studied the techniques of the explorers from the great age of exploration. He will discuss how people and organizations can make use of those oft-forgotten methods to help navigate today's uncertain and unprecedented world. Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.aaronrenn.com/
Feb 05, 2024•1 hr 10 min
John Burtka, president of ISI, joins me to discuss his new book Gateway to Statesmanship: Selections from Xenophon to Churchill. It's a collection of some of the best writing in history about the nature of the statesman. Buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/Gateway-Statesmanship-Selections-Xenophon-Churchill/dp/1684515432/ Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.aaronrenn.com/...
Jan 29, 2024•38 min
Lexi Hudson joins me to discuss her recent book The Soul of Civility: Timeless Principles to Heal Society and Ourselves. Buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Civility-Timeless-Principles-Ourselves-ebook/dp/B0B9KTF7BP/ Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.aaronrenn.com/
Jan 22, 2024•29 min
Too many people today have negative identities - they are defined by what they oppose not by what they are for or hope to create. Negative identities create asymmetries in which you are vulnerable to people with morally expansionist visions. They also make your identity dependent on the very thing you claim to oppose. While there are plenty of bad positive identities, it's much better to base your identity on a positive than negative vision of life.
Jan 15, 2024•15 min
Notre Dame professor Darren Dochuk joins me to discuss his book Anointed with Oil: How Christianity and Crude Made Modern America. Every aspect of modern political, economic, and cultural development of the 20th century was bound up with various strains of the oil industry and Christianity. Dochuk explains this oft-overlooked history. Buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/Anointed-Oil-Christianity-Modern-America/dp/0465060862/ Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.aaronrenn.com/...
Jan 08, 2024•45 min
Pragmatism is about what we can do with our own two hands with the material we see in front of us. It's an important perspective on the world - but very limiting as well. Too much devotion to pragmatism can blind us to the possibilities in the world and life.
Dec 18, 2023•9 min
Brad Littlejohn and Chris Castaldo join me to discuss their book Why Do Protestants Convert?, which examines the psychological, theological, and sociological reasons that evangelical intellectuals often convert to Roman Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy. Buy the book: https://davenantinstitute.org/why-do-protestants-convert Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.aaronrenn.com/...
Dec 11, 2023•52 min
Ben Merkle, president of New St. Andrews College, joins me to discuss the broken financial model of higher education in America. Read Big Ed, Too Big to Fail: https://nsa.edu/blog/big-ed-too-big-to-fail Subscribe to my newspaper: https://www.aaronrenn.com/
Dec 04, 2023•32 min
Nancy Pearcey, a professor at Houston Christian University, joins me to discuss her book The Toxic War on Masculinity: How Christianity Reconciles the Sexes . Pearcey was named one of the top five women apologists by Christianity Today and hailed in The Economist as America's preeminent evangelical Protestant female intellectual. Buy The Toxic War on Masculinity : https://www.amazon.com/Toxic-War-Masculinity-Christianity-Reconciles-ebook/dp/B0B6Q3BCG8/ Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.aar...
Nov 27, 2023•32 min
For this month's newsletter, John Seel shares an essay on masculinity and the quest to become a "holy man." He examines who a holy man is, the tools he uses, and the product he produces. Subscribe to my newsletter at: https://www.aaronrenn.com/
Nov 20, 2023•44 min
John Seel joins me to discuss his thoughts on cultural engagement in today's negative world. Dr. Seel holds a Ph.D from the University of Maryland, and is a cultural renewal entrepreneur. Download Dr. Seel's white paper on The Challenge of Cultural Engagement: https://www.exploradelphia.com/publications Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.aaronrenn.com/...
Nov 07, 2023•1 hr 1 min
Long time missionary Andrew Brunson joins me to talk about his two year nightmare in a Turkish jail after being falsely imprisoned by the government for spying. Wavestarters, a Ministry of Andrew and Norine Brunson: https://www.wavestarters.org/ Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.aaronrenn.com/
Oct 30, 2023•55 min
John Lovell joins me to discuss his new book The Warrior Poet Way: A Guide to Living Free and Dying Well. Lovell is a former Army Ranger, combat veteran, and missionary. He runs the popular Youtube channel The Warrior Poet Society. Buy The Warrior Poet Way: https://www.amazon.com/Warrior-Poet-Way-Guide-Living/dp/0593541847/ John Lovell's Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@WarriorPoetSociety Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.aaronrenn.com/...
Oct 23, 2023•40 min
Why do men turn to online influencers instead of the church? One reason is that evangelicals promote a vision of masculinity that is so bleak and unappealing it turns men off. They sum this up under the heading “servant leadership” Properly defined I believe servant leadership is important and something we should all aspire to. But evangelicals use it as a term of art that ends up defining a man’s mission is life as catering to the needs and desires of his wife and kids. They use a highly curate...
Oct 16, 2023•23 min
Gen Z Youtuber "Redeemed Zoomer," a member of the PCUSA, joins me to discuss his case for why Christians should not abandon mainline denominations. Visit Redeemed Zoomer's Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@redeemedzoomer6053 Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.aaronrenn.com/
Oct 09, 2023•46 min
Eric Lefevre joins us to discuss the Concordia-Seminex Affair, in which the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod reversed a trend towards liberal theology in its flagship seminary and the denomination as a whole.
Oct 03, 2023•1 hr 16 min
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida joins me to discuss his new report, "The State of the Working (and Non-Working) Man," issued by his office as part of his Project for Strong Labor Markets and National Development. Read the report: https://www.rubio.senate.gov/rubio-releases-labor-report-the-state-of-the-working-and-non-working-man/ Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.aaronrenn.com/...
Sep 25, 2023•11 min
Presbyterian minister Daniel Howe joins us to discuss his new book Worship, Feasting, Rest, Mercy: The Christian Sabbath. Link to Buy: https://crownandcovenant.com/products/worship-feasting-rest-mercy-the-christian-sabbath Aaron Renn's Newsletter: https://www.aaronrenn.com/
Sep 18, 2023•30 min
This month's newsletter looks at lessons from two contemporary novels, Guadalupe Nettel's Still Born and Vigdis Hjorth's Will and Testament . Buy Still Born: https://www.amazon.com/Still-Born-Guadalupe-Nettel-ebook/dp/B0BQ3ZRSK1 Buy Will and Testament: https://www.amazon.com/Will-Testament-Vigdis-Hjorth-ebook/dp/B07LDSXBTD/ Newsletter #39 on forged families: https://www.aaronrenn.com/p/newsletter-39-we-can-only-go-forward My thoughts on the film "The Worst Person in the World": https://www.aaron...
Sep 11, 2023•14 min
Sohrab Ahmari joins me to discuss his book Tyranny, Inc: How Private Power Crushed American Liberty - and What To Do About It . Buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/Tyranny-Inc-Private-American-Liberty/dp/0593443462/ Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.aaronrenn.com/
Aug 28, 2023•46 min
Washington Post columnist Christine Emba joins me to discuss her viral feature essay, "Men are lost. Here’s a map out of the wilderness." "Men Are Lost" Article link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/07/10/christine-emba-masculinity-new-model/ Reader feedback on how to be a man article link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/08/14/readers-react-christine-emba-masculinity/ Subscribe to Christine Emba's Substack: https://christineemba.substack.com/ Follow Christine Emba on T...
Aug 21, 2023•28 min
