The World and Everything in It: August 28, 2026

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MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Good morning!

Going “no contact”, the growing trend of cutting family off, and how to handle tense situations.

NICK EICHER, HOST: That’s ahead on Culture Friday, John Stonestreet is standing by.

And the classic animated character Wile E. Coyote takes on corporate America in the new film: Coyote vs. Acme.

KEVIN: It’s not your fault. Acme is evil.

And listener feedback.

BROWN: It’s Friday, August 28th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. Good morning!

BROWN: Up next, Kent Covington with today’s news.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Asia flooding » The death toll continues to climb from catastrophic flooding in Asia. More than 390 people are confirmed dead. Another 14-hundred are missing.

A wall of mud and rock swept down valleys along the Nepal-China border this week

Scientists believe a glacier collapsed and sent ice and rock into a river.

Gopal Sedain is with Tribhuvan University hospital in Kathmandu.

SEDAIN: All the bridges have been washed away and because of the high velocity of flooding it's like a flash flood so people could not protect themselves

Nepal's army has rescued more than 100 people by helicopter. Rescuers found bodies hundreds of miles downstream.

One woman in Nepal said her husband is among the missing.

AUDIO: [Speaking Nepali]

She said, “All I want is that my husband comes back to me safely in one piece. I don't want anything else.”

Among the missing are more than 500 foreigners, many of them pilgrims headed for a mountain in Tibet. The State Department says 90 Americans are unaccounted for.

UN Secretary General António Guterres told reporters Thursday:

GUTERRES: I extend my deepest condolences to families of the victims and express my solidarity with all those affected. The United Nations is mobilizing supplies and humanitarian teams.

But the danger isn't over. The debris dammed a river, and China warns the new lake behind it could give way within days. Nepal has moved people back from the banks.

Russia-Ukraine » Meanwhile in Ukraine:

SOUND: [Firefighters in Ukraine]

Firefighters battled flames after an overnight strike on the city of Sumy. That attack was one of several Russian missile and drone strikes on several cities across Ukraine Thursday.

Ukraine says two people were killed and more than a dozen were injured.

Meanwhile President Trump on Thursday sought to downplay rumors that Russian leader Vladimir Putin was plotting a military move against NATO.

TRUMP: I've had good talks with him. He's not going to be attacking a NATO territory.

Trump's comments came as questions continue to swirl around why CIA Director John Ratcliffe secretly met with Russian intelligence officials in Moscow on Tuesday. Trump previously said the visit was routine, but it's been widely reported that Ratcliffe was there to warn Russia against such an attack.

FBI takes down network of Chinese hackers » The FBI has taken down a network of Chinese hackers that used Americans’ routers and smart devices to hide cyberattacks on the U.S. government.

WORLD’s Harrison Watters has more from Washington.

HARRISON WATTERS: The Justice Department on Wednesday seized control of websites for two hacking platforms called “QScan” and “QTRouter.” Here’s Brett Leatherwood with the FBI’s Cyber Division:

LEATHERWOOD: For nearly a decade, QTFY has exploited software vulnerabilities to launch cyberattacks against U.S. government agencies, power companies, telcos, and major hospital systems.

WATTERS: Agencies that were hacked include NASA, the Federal Reserve, and the Department of Energy. The FBI says China installed malware on thousands of home routers and smart devices like security cameras worldwide and then funnelled cyberattacks through them to cover their tracks.

The company behind the network of remote controlled devices called a botnet makes hacking services for the Chinese government.

The DOJ said the hacking platforms have been disabled, but no word on how much damage was done.

The White House has also declared a national emergency for the U.S. power grid, calling on the government to root out components made by foreign adversaries.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Harrison Watters in Washington.

DOJ Puerto Rico drug arrests » Federal agents made sweeping arrests throughout western Puerto Rico this week.

The Justice Department has arrested 70 suspects … with 11 still at large. The alleged gang members are accused of running fentanyl, cocaine, and other drugs.

Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the bust in San Juan.

BLANCHE: Taking the fight to the cartels with unprecedented force and efficiency makes clear that we, along with our international partners, have zero tolerance for criminal activity.

WATTERS: He also announced more than 20 arrests in Ecuador, working with police there against two gangs the U.S. calls terrorist organizations. Agents seized a ton of cocaine and destroyed multiple hidden airstrips.

Haiti gangs hold more than 50 hostages » Gangs in Haiti are holding more than 50 hostages and threatening to kill them.

Gunmen seized them Sunday when they overran the mountain town of Kenscoff.

At least 47 people were killed, including five children. The gunmen shot 22 of them inside a church compound.

The gang posted video of the captives, warning it will kill them if police keep pressing in.

Haiti's prime minister says the government will take the town back.

Peter Cullen obituary » Peter Cullen has died.

Even if that name doesn’t ring a bell, there’s a good chance you’ve heard his voice:

CLIP (Transformers):  I am Optimus Prime, and I send this message to any surviving Autobots taking refuge among the stars.

He was the voice behind the Autobots leader in Transformers cartoons and movies.

Cullen's career spanned decades, starting with “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” and including roles in “The Smurfs” and “G.I. Joe.” He also voiced Eeyore in many “Winnie the Pooh” cartoons.

CLIP (Winnie the Pooh):  Might be more popular but part of me's a lot colder. Wonder if anyone's even gonna notice

Peter Cullen was 85 years old.

I'm Kent Covington.

Coming up: Looney Tunes’ Wile E. Coyote makes his way to the big screen. We’ll have a review. Plus, your Listener Feedback for August.

This is The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER, HOST: It’s Friday the 28th of August.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. It’s Culture Friday. Joining us now is John Stonestreet, president of the Colson Center and host of the Breakpoint Podcast. Good morning, John.

JOHN STONESTREET: Good morning.

BROWN: John, Dolly Parton’s death at 80 brought tributes from across the ideological spectrum. President Trump ordered flags lowered to half-staff. Franklin Graham praised her, and the Human Rights Campaign celebrated her as an unapologetic ally for the LGBTQ movement.

How should Christians talk about a beloved public figure who also promoted ideas at odds with the biblical worldview?

STONESTREET: Listen, at some level, we just always have to call balls and strikes where we see them.

At least in the last decade or so, she did try to stay out of the political fray. She tried to appeal as a character to all sides of the political aisle, but not just, I think, in a marketing sort of way.

If you look at her life, her career, her songs, her music, her amusement park, and everything in between, she demonstrated a life in which an awful lot of it ended up being nonpolitical and prepolitical. In an age where so much of life has become political, that, to me, is a good role-model thing.

Even if I don’t agree—and certainly where I stand on the issue of LGBTQ demands for rights is pretty clear—I appreciate the idea that much of life needs to get out of the political fray because it just doesn’t belong there. Politics is not big enough to hold that much life.

I think that’s something I appreciated about her. She chose to have an awful lot of life outside of the process, and so many do not, including so many celebrities.

EICHER: John, I’ve been thinking about that, too. As polarized as we are as a nation, it’s important to have figures like Dolly Parton who can cut across every line.

It reminds me of the legendary St. Louis broadcaster Jack Buck. He was not just a St. Louis guy, although he was the Cardinals broadcaster. He was a national figure. He is in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.

He had come to faith late in life, and when he died, his funeral was at our church. I remember the day of the funeral. You had baseball Hall of Famers coming to church, possibly for the first time. The local fire department blocked off one road in front of the church to hang a banner: “We love you, Jack Buck.”

Listeners from every background—from business executives to guys in prison—mourned the same man. He connected with everybody. When you lose someone with that kind of universal pull, it leaves you asking, “Who’s left?”

STONESTREET: There are certainly not many figures or celebrities like Dolly Parton. First of all, she came from that subset of America, so she’s unique in that way.

Her career certainly was based on talent. Few people had the musical range that Dolly Parton did. I don’t know enough about that, but it does show, I think, that excellence can transcend some of these divides.

I think a willingness not just to say, “I love all people,” but then to turn around and love people can also transcend some of these divides.

Of all the tributes, one of the ones I found most moving was Alisa Childers talking about not having a lot of money as a young married mom. Dolly Parton had created a program to provide a certain number of books to children each year. It made a real difference for a family that was not able to buy books.

Suddenly, good books were coming to her house and sparking a child’s imagination. She talked about how important that was to her as a young mom. That’s the sort of thing—not just saying, “I love all people, and I’m an ally to this group or that group,” but actually doing something—that, to me, is pretty impressive.

BROWN: Mmm-hmm, it matters. Family estrangement, John, is increasingly common. Social media influencers promote “no contact,” and The Wall Street Journal reported this week that some therapists are bringing their own biases into treatment, even judging relatives they’ve never met.

But the Fifth Commandment does not come with an expiration date. What does honoring father and mother require when an adult child’s relationship with a parent is deeply strained?

STONESTREET: Listen, we’re too quick to cancel family members. You can actually see this in pop culture. The trend line started with sitcoms centered around the family, where the family was where you went when you had trouble. That was the common narrative behind sitcoms in the ’80s.

In the ’90s, the families were all crazy. We all remember George’s dad from Seinfeld, for example. The friends are where you went and found your comfort and your help.

Now it has reached the next stage, in our decade and beyond: “Let’s get rid of anybody who’s considered toxic.” First of all, I think it fosters and cultivates a remarkable level of fragility.

Second, husbands are to love their wives like Christ loved the church. The image there is that, despite what makes us appalling to each other, love is best shown in those situations, not in surface-level attractions.

I think that framework needs to be applied more widely when it’s something like, “Honor your father and mother.” You don’t honor your father and mother best when you agree with them. You honor your father and mother best when you don’t agree with them.

This is the actual love that requires something of us. This is the actual respect that requires something of us. Quitting your family doesn’t. It’s a cop-out. It’s an easy escapism.

Now, we’re going to get letters saying, “Well, what about this, and what about that?” The problem is that these rare exceptions do not justify the general rule now being applied: that if anyone offends you, doesn’t affirm you, or doesn’t agree with you, you should walk away.

That framing, as superficial and surface-level as it is, is having some real, wide cultural impact, particularly as we start talking about things like end-of-life care, what it means to age alone, and what responsibilities we have to honor our father and mother when things really become inconvenient.

If we’re not good at it now, when the worst thing I have to worry about is having my feelings hurt by someone who doesn’t agree with everything I think, then it’s going to be even more difficult when it requires a real sacrifice of care, either financially or in my own time and energy, to take care of someone in my life.

I think this is an indication of the health and well-being of a society: how we treat our children and how we treat the most vulnerable, including the elderly.

EICHER: John, radical change of topic here. I know you’re a big basketball guy, so I know you’ve seen this. I’ve been thinking about it all week and looking forward to our conversation, partly because I have unexpectedly become a big WNBA fan.

Former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White have declared for the WNBA draft, testing the league’s rules by declaring themselves women. ESPN is quoting unnamed sources around the league who say these two guys—sorry, identifying females—are ineligible. But based on what, exactly, nobody knows.

The collective bargaining agreement says only women can play, but it never defines the most important word in the agreement. We’ll save the legal side for Legal Docket if this makes it to court, which I think it will.

But this is a wild story: the WNBA being forced officially to decide what a woman is.

STONESTREET: As big a basketball fan as I am, I’ve talked more about the WNBA in the last three weeks than I ever have before. I was electrified by Caitlin Clark’s college career and by watching her do some of the things she did.

Now, after decades, the WNBA has the potential to be financially solvent, and this is the issue. It’s really something to behold—squandering the golden goose.

It’s fascinating to watch the WNBA “take a stand” against Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White. They don’t have grounds to do so based on what they’ve already put out, and I think they’re in a pickle because they have a very small support base.

A big part of that support base has to do with a particular population that they threaten to ostracize and disenfranchise if they’re not clear in saying, “Trans women are women.”

It’s a gimmick for these two men, but they’re trying to call the bluff. Enes Kanter Freedom declared that he was a woman and eligible for the draft. He then went to a WNBA game wearing a T-shirt that defined what a woman is in a way that clearly did not include him.

I also think there’s a very real possibility of two things. Number one, the WNBA is going to have to solve this problem in the near future.

If you’re an NBA G League player, you are making far less than a contract player on any of the WNBA teams, and you are far better in terms of physical capacity, strength, size, and ability. Any one of those G League players would become maybe the most dominant player in the WNBA.

Why wouldn’t you turn in your five-figure salary for a six- or seven-figure salary? If that means you’ve got to play a role for a little while, why wouldn’t you do it, especially when there’s no taboo associated with that anymore in Western culture?

Listen, it’s a gimmick now. The next person who does this is actually going to try to do it. What is the WNBA going to do, and how are they going to navigate these waters legally?

The other strong possibility is that there are already men in the league. We don’t know this, but there are a couple of players in the WNBA whom I think people have legitimate questions about. What do you do at that point?

Are they hiding something because this threatens to expose something that threatens the collective bargaining agreement and then opens the floodgates to actually losing the league?

It’s just a mess every way possible, and their only path forward to success is now being squandered. We’ll see. This might actually do in the league.

EICHER: All right. John Stonestreet is president of the Colson Center and host of the Breakpoint Podcast. I enjoyed the conversation very much, John. I hope you have a terrific week.

STONESTREET: Thank you both.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Friday, August 28th.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Myrna Brown.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: The Looney Tunes are back in theaters for a new film called Coyote vs. Acme. Film critic Joseph Holmes has a review.

JOSEPH HOLMES: 2026 has been a banner year for family-friendly entertainment. Whether it's Project Hail Mary, Sheep Detectives, or Toy Story 5, Hollywood studios seem like they’ve finally cracked the code on making movies that are safe for kids while also being thoughtful and quality works of popular art. The latest example is Coyote vs. Acme: a 2D animation/live action hybrid film that’s both a love letter to Looney Tunes-style old cartoons and a profound social satire.

KEVIN: Have you ever set a stack of TNT on the road, hoping to blow up your nemesis, but the detonator itself explodes? Have you ever pulled the ripcord of your parachute, and only a bunch of silverware comes out? It’s not your fault. Acme is evil.

After decades of being mangled, battered, trampled, and blown to bits by malfunctioning Acme Corporation products, Wile E. Coyote finally fights back. He teams up with billboard accident lawyer Kevin Avery, played by Will Forte, to take on ACME, Inc., the profit-obsessed conglomerate behind every one of the Coyote’s chaotic catastrophes, and its slick corporate counsel Buddy Crane, played by John Cena.

Coyote vs. Acme largely nails the underutilized Who Framed Roger Rabbit animation-live action hybrid genre, which recontextualizes classic animated characters as living in the real world. In Coyote vs. Acme, the human protagonists are a ragtag group of accident lawyers led by full-time weary loser Kevin. The world is one where cartoon characters live alongside humans who treat them and their cartoon antics predominantly as nuisances. After all, cartoons constantly blow things up and have anvils fall on them and others, but they always recover. Kevin has to learn compassion for people he has trouble liking and the courage to fight losing battles the way Wile E. does.

KEVIN: Mr… Coyote? Coyot-ey? Alright, well, how can I help you? Oh? One of my billboards. Cost a lot of money to put those up. So you’ve… been in an accident? …Do you not talk? Oh, but you have signs.

The deadpan way Kevin and other humans react to Wile E. and the other toons’ antics is pitch-perfect, often laugh-out-loud funny and a perfect grounding mechanism for Looney Tunes' traditionally straightforward gags. Kevin’s arc of courage and compassion is genuinely moving. And the thoughtful way the film uses cartoons as a metaphor for marginalized groups who are easy to ignore when they’re exploited really lands.

JUDGE: The name of the case is Coyote vs. Acme.

BUDDY CRANE: Wile E. Coyote. He is reckless. We all know who’s responsible. And all his injuries are self-inflicted.

Families with small children may want to be warned that the material does get intentionally dark at the level of classic Disney films. Watching cartoons in a lab get repeatedly experimented on with devices that injure them isn’t technically more violent than normal cartoon injuries, but recontextualized, it is unsettling and may be too much so for the youngest viewers. Particularly when we meet one of them later who’s been driven “daffy,” so to speak, by his experiences. But the film makes sure to show him largely recovered at the end.

TWEETY BIRD: I tawt I taw–

BUDDY CRANE: You tawt you taw? I don’t pay you to tink you tee. I pay you to taw.

TWEETY BIRD: I did! I did taw!

BUDDY CRANE: What did you tee? What did you taw?

Families should likewise discuss together both the good and bad of the film’s social commentary. For example, it’s natural for a movie about cartoons fighting a corporation to portray that corporation as cartoonishly evil. But there are moments where the film claims anyone who doesn’t treat corporations as mustache-twirling villains is gullible and naive. And they further code those people as Christian and conservative. In an age where we all too quickly reduce our ideological opponents to caricatures, it's worthwhile pointing out how that framing can be problematic.

KEVIN: Acme has knowingly been making dangerous products for decades!

FOGHORN LEGHORN: Is there anyone in the whole world who cares what happens to the Coyote at all?

KEVIN: Yeah. I do.

For years, families have felt like they were fighting a losing battle for quality family entertainment. But as Coyote vs. Acme reminds us, you keep fighting, you eventually make a difference. It’s gratifying that we live in a world where increasingly families don’t have to choose between safe movies and good movies. And if they keep watching ones like Coyote vs. Acme, that will keep being true.

I’m Joseph Holmes.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.
And I’m Myrna Brown. Time now for Listener Feedback for the month of August.

Quite a few of you have sent us voice memos about our special Saturday episodes. Matt Brown of Tucson Arizona had this to say about how we started the month, with Mary Reichard’s interview with Ryan Bomberger:

BROWN: Yall are just selecting such an incredible cast of folks to interview and he really is a rock star in the world that the prolife movement and the it was just done with a lot of thought and hes just an incredible person and a hero of mine over the years and yeah just so thank you for thankful to have these kinds of interviews that are going to be found in nowhere else.

EICHER: David McCafferty from Yorba Linda California enjoyed the August 8th Doubletake episode regarding autism by WORLD Senior Reporter Mary Jackson.

MCCAFFERTY: The information and presentation that you guys gave about autism was fanciful, and it was fantastic. The experiences of those kids visiting the hill seemed to bring me just right into their world. I just had to let you know that I loved it. It's funny, I kind of remember having some somewhat similar, bizarre experiences as a child that I just could never explain as well. Strange. But thank you so much. I really appreciate all you do. Keep up the great work, you guys.

And here’s Scott Roberts from Walnut Shade, Missouri on the same episode:

ROBERTS: I do mission works overseas, and there's a lot of things that we can't explain. And it's difficult because you don't really know what is real and what's not. And I appreciate the way that you presented it, and not in a declarative way, but just something for people to think about. And I really appreciate what you guys do at WORLD. Big supporter.

BROWN: Paul Gebel from Edmond Oklahoma says he’s gotten a lot out of Hunter Baker’s political analysis:

GEBEL: I regret not commending him sooner week after week Hunter gives insights and observations that are insightful wise and noteworthy. Thanks for your work Hunter and whatever else your day job is please don’t leave Washington Wednesday anytime soon. I hope others see you as an integral part of our news intake each week.

And he isn’t the only one, Laura Edwards from Fairhope Alabama called in about a specific moment that affected her from our segment with Hunter on August 12th.

EDWARDS: I wanted to comment on a very subtle but powerful moment that quite literally took my breath away. I've been reflecting on it, and I'm so grateful for Hunter Baker's bold statement about the valorization of abortion, as well as hearing Lindsay Mast's gut reaction to it. The inclusion of her long pause and heavy sigh gave the moment the weightiness it deserved. It was beautiful and thoughtful. Thank you and well done.

EICHER: Kate Montean’s August 12th story about a 102-year-old World War II veteran got a similar reaction from Shannon in Decatur, Georgia:

SHANNON: That was such a precious, precious story. I actually cried because… Bill reminds me so much of my relatives, my ancestors, and even my own personal views, having grown up Baptist and how the Presbyterians, which I now am, have more slow hymns. His determination to live life to the fullest, even though he's elderly, his appreciation for his life. His wonderful determination to meet other people and not stay lonely and to give back. I'm just very touched by this precious man. And I thank you so much for sharing such a story.

BROWN: Finally, it was good to hear from new listener Bill Cisco from Long Island:

CISCO: Having done work in radio, I so appreciate the professionalism of it. It is technically, it is outstanding as a podcast the way you do the programs bite size but with content is excellent. I'm impressed with each one of your journalists, and I especially appreciate the Saturday programs that you do that give a little more depth. Of the one with Eric Metaxas was outstanding. It just gave insights into our founding fathers we all need to hear. So our praise of WORLD, The World and Everything in It is right through the roof. Keep up the great work. Keep up your Fidelity to the Word of God. Press On.

Press on indeed. We’d love to hear your thoughts on our reports as well. Send in your voice memos to editor@wng.org That’s editor@wng.org.That’s this month’s Listener Feedback.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Now it’s time to name the crew who helped with this week’s programs:

Jenny Rough, David Bahnsen, Mary Reichard, Lauren Smyth, Joanna Insco, Mary Muncy, Daniel Suhr, Will Hoogendyk, Hunter Baker, Janie B. Cheaney, Josh Schumacher, Theresa Houghton, John Stonestreet and Joseph Holmes.

Thanks also to our breaking news crew: Kent Covington, Mark Mellinger, Steve Kloosterman, Travis Kircher, Daniel Devine, and Christina Grube.

And thanks to the technical production team: Benj Eicher, Carl Peetz and Josh Goniea.

Harrison Watters is Washington producer, Kristen Flavin is features editor, Emma Eicher is assistant producer, Lindsay Mast is Producer. I’m Executive Producer Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

The World and Everything in It comes to you from WORLD Radio. WORLD’s mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires.

The Bible says, “And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” —1 Thessalonians 5:14–18

God wants you in church, too! So be sure to worship with your brothers and sisters in Christ, in church this weekend.

And we’ll meet you right back here on Monday.

Go now in grace and peace.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.