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My guest is David French. David is a senior writer for National Review, a senior fellow at the National Review Institute, an attorney (concentrating his practice in constitutional law and the law of armed conflict), and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. We discuss a recent piece he wrote entitled "The Enduring Appeal Of Creepy Christianity." It deals with the recent Roy Moore senate controversy. David is the author or co-author of several books including, most recently, the No. 1 New York Times bestselling Rise of ISIS: A Threat We Can’t Ignore. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School, the past president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), and a former lecturer at Cornell Law School. He has served as a senior counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice and the Alliance Defending Freedom. David is a former major in the United States Army Reserve (IRR). In 2007, he deployed to Iraq, serving in Diyala Province as Squadron Judge Advocate for the 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, where he was awarded the Bronze Star. He lives and works in Columbia, Tennessee, with his wife, Nancy (who is also a New York Times bestselling author), and three children. Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/author/david-french Special Guest: David French.

My guest is Johanna Hartelius. She is a professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Her research focuses on rhetorical theory and criticism with an emphasis on expertise, public memory, and digital rhetoric. She studies the cultural and political implications of experts’ and laypersons’ rhetorical constructions of knowledge and experience, particularly as these constitute points of entry into public discourse, traditional and virtual. She is currently developing a book on experts and the digital commons.Special Guest: Johanna Hartelius .

David Clary is a news editor at The San Diego Union-Tribune and the author of “Gangsters to Governors: The New Bosses of Gambling in America,” published by Rutgers University Press on Oct. 30, 2017. The book explores how and why states have encouraged and promoted the expansion of legalized gambling in America. It is his first book. Before joining the Union-Tribune in 2002, he worked in a variety of editing and design roles at The Plain Dealer in Cleveland. Clary is a native of Central New York, and is a graduate of Syracuse University with degrees in newspaper journalism and political science. He lives in La Mesa, Calif., with his wife, Jackie, and their two children.Special Guest: David Clary.

Babette’s Feast tells the story of how a refugee transforms a closed religious community by sacrificing all she has to throw a lavish dinner party. Through her radical hospitality, this mysterious woman converts her guests’ deeply held notions of scarcity and judgment and opens them up to give and receive abundant grace. My guests, Julia Beardsley O'Brien and Abigail Kileen, have adapted the story for the stage. This adaptation re-imagines the story you thought you knew about Babette’s singular feast: deep, funny, dangerous, sensual, and beautiful.Special Guests: Abigail Kileen and Julia Beardsley O'brien.

My guest is Nathaniel Popkin. Why is Philadelphia the “Hidden City?” What makes it distinctive in the landscape of American cities? And why does it matter? These are the questions Hidden City Daily co-founders Peter Woodall and Nathaniel Popkin and Hidden City Festival photographer Joseph E.B. Elliott seek to answer in the new book, Philadelphia: Finding the Hidden City, just recently published by Temple University Press. As the authors examine the historic reasons Philadelphia is the Hidden City, their essay and Elliott’s 110 photographs draw the reader inside, to discover the complexities and contradictions of Philadelphia’s sometimes misunderstood nature. Elliott’s photographs reveal the essence of 33 places around the city, including some hidden in plain sight. Take a journey to the Hidden City!Special Guest: Nathaniel Popkin.

Tullian Tchividjian is the grandson of Billy Graham. He's written several award winning books. He's been a celebrated preacher and pastor. Then his life fell apart. He lost his marriage and his church and he wanted to end it all. Then he found hope. If hope is what you need, this is the conversation for you. You can connect with Tullian at https://www.tullian.net.Special Guest: Tullian Tchividjian.

My guest is Danielle Strickland. Her newest book, The Zombie Gospel, explores the spiritual and existential themes in the wildly popular television series The Walking Dead. Danielle J. Strickland serves the Salvation Army in Los Angeles as the western territorial social justice secretary. Her books include Just Imagine: the Social Justice Agenda, The Liberating Truth: How Jesus Empowers Women, Boundless: Living Life in Overflow, and A Beautiful Mess: How God Recreates Our Lives. Originally from Canada, Danielle has spent over twenty years serving the marginalized, bringing hope to those caught up in addictions and prostitution in back alleys, and exerting her influence in the halls of government to see laws changed and practices transformed so that people aren't trafficked and children aren't enslaved. She is also an ambassador for Stop the Traffik (a global anti-human trafficking campaign) and Compassion International. Danielle is passionately committed to seeing God's Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. She is married and is the mother of three boys.Special Guest: Danielle Strickland.

David Litt entered the White House in 2011 and left in 2016 as a special assistant to the president and senior presidential speechwriter. Described as the “comic muse for the president,” David was the lead writer on four White House Correspondents’ Dinner presentations and has contributed jokes to President Obama’s speeches since 2009. He is currently the head writer/producer for Funny or Die’s office in Washington, DC. David has also written for The Onion, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Cosmopolitan, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, and the New York Times. He lives in Washington with his girlfriend and their two goldfish, Humphrey and Camille. Full of hilarious stories and told in a truly original voice, his first book, Thanks, Obama is an exciting debut about what it means – personally, professionally, and politically – to grow up.Special Guest: David Litt.

My guest is Darren Moorman. He's produced numerous feature films. His most recent film, Same Kind Of Difference As Me, premiers on October 20th. It stars Renee Zellweger, Greg Kinnear, Djimon Hounsou and John Voight. It's based on The New York Times Bestseller that tells the story of a dangerous, homeless drifter who grew up picking cotton in virtual slavery, an upscale art dealer accustomed to the world of Armani and Chanel and a gutsy woman with a stubborn dream.Special Guest: Darren Moorman.

My guest today is Robert P. Jones. He's the CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute, and the author of several books, including "The End of White Christian America." The American religious landscape is undergoing a dramatic transformation. White Christians, once the dominant religious group in the U.S., now account for fewer than half of all adults living in the country. Today, fewer than half of all states are majority white Christian. As recently as 2007, 39 states had majority white Christian populations. These are two of the major findingsfrom PRRI’s 2016 American Values Atlas, the single largest survey of American religious and denominational identity ever conducted. This landmark report is based on a sample of more than 101,000 Americans from all 50 states and includes detailed information about their religious affiliation, denominational ties, political affiliation, and other important demographic attributes.Special Guest: Robert P. Jones.

My guests are Deborah and Mark Parker. Deborah Parker is Professor of Italian at the University of Virginia. Mark Parker is Professor of English at James Madison University. They are coauthors of Inferno Revealed: From Dante to Dan Brown, and most recently, Sucking Up: A Brief Consideration of Sycophancy.Special Guest: Deborah & Mark Parker.

My guest is Alan Jacobs. His most recent book is "How To Think: A Survival Guide For A World At Odds." As a celebrated cultural critic and a writer for national publications like The Atlantic and Harper’s, Alan Jacobs has spent his adult life belonging to communities that often clash in America’s culture wars. And in his years of confronting the big issues that divide us—political, social, religious—Jacobs has learned that many of our fiercest disputes occur not because we’re doomed to be divided, but because the people involved simply aren’t thinking.Special Guest: Alan Jacobs.

Karen Wright Marsh is executive director and cofounder of Theological Horizons, a university ministry that has advanced theological scholarship at the intersection of faith, thought, and life since 1991. Her new book is "Vintage Saints And Sinners: 25 Christians Who Transformed My Faith." Karen directs daily programs, writes resources and curriculum, teaches weekly classes, mentors students, leads the staff, and speaks at retreats, churches, and campus ministries. She holds degrees in philosophy and linguistics from Wheaton College and the University of Virginia. Karen lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, with her husband, Charles Marsh.Special Guest: Karen Wright Marsh.

My guest is Herman Portocarero. He is a Belgian-born writer and diplomat of Spanish and Portuguese descent. He has published more than twenty works of fiction and nonfiction, including the Hercule Poirot Prize-winning crime novel New Yorkse Nachten (New York Nights). He is just finished his term as the European Union ambassador to Cuba. His newest book is "Havana Without Makeup: Inside The Soul Of The City."Special Guest: Herman Portocarero.

My guest is Kieran Setiya. He teaches philosophy at MIT, working mainly in ethics, epistemology, and the philosophy of mind. He's the author of "Reasons without Rationalism" and "Knowing Right From Wrong." His most recent book is "Midlife: A Philosophical Guide." It comes out on October 3, 2017. You can buy the book here: bit.ly/midlifeguide.Special Guest: Kieran Setiya.

My guest is Melissa Febos. She's the author of two critically acclaimed memoirs, "Whip Smart" and "Abandon Me". Her work has been widely anthologized and appears in publications including Tin House, Granta, The Kenyon Review, Prairie Schooner, Glamour, Guernica, Post Road, Salon, The New York Times, Elle UK, The Guardian, Vogue.com, Hunger Mountain, Portland Review, Dissent, The Chronicle of Higher Education Review, Bitch Magazine, Poets & Writers, The Rumpus, Drunken Boat, and Goodbye to All That: Writers on Loving and Leaving New York.Special Guest: Melissa Febos.

John Goldingay is the David Allan Hubbard Professor of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary. He has been at Fuller since 1997. He was previously principal and a professor of Old Testament at St John’s Theological College in Nottingham, England. He is also priest-in-charge of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Pasadena. Goldingay says that “For me, being a professor is a subset of being a pastor." He's author of numerous books, including most recently, "Reading Jesus's Bible: How the New Testament Helps Us Understand the Old Testament." He was married to Ann for 43 years until she died in 2009. He is now married to Kathleen and the two of them are well-known in jazz and other clubs in the Los Angeles area. Special Guest: John Goldingay.

My guest is Mike Cosper. He's the author of "Rhythms of Grace" and "The Stories We Tell" (both published by Crossway Books), the co-author of "Faithmapping. His newest book is "Recapturing the Wonder: Transcendent Faith in a Disenchanted World." He's the host of Cultivated: A Podcast about Faith and Work, and is developing The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, a podcast about faith and culture. Prior to launching Harbor Media, Mike served as one of the founding pastors at Sojourn Church in Louisville, Kentucky, and launched Sojourn Music – a collective of musicians writing songs for the church. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky with his wife, Sarah, and their daughters Dorothy and Maggie. Special Guest: Mike Cosper.

My guest is Gregory Coles. He was born in upstate New York, wasraised on the Indonesian island of Java, and is now a PhD candidate studying English in central Pennsylvania. He's the author of "Single, Gay, Christian: A Personal Journey Of Faith And Sexual Identity."Special Guest: Gregory Coles.

The Rev. Kenneth Tanner is pastor of Church of the Holy Redeemer in Rochester Hills, Mich. He writes for numerous websites and magazines, including The Huffington Post and Sojourners. Special Guest: Kenneth Tanner.