The World and Everything in It: January 10, 2024

PREROLL: The World and Everything in It is made possible by listeners like us. I'm Nichole Sarver from Lowell, Michigan. I am a homeschool mom of seven, and I will be graduating my fifth this spring. I hope you enjoy today's program.

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: Good morning! Republicans prepare to caucus in Iowa, and the front runner is taking no chances.

TRUMP: Pretend you're one point down. OK? You’re one point down! You have to get out, and you have to vote, vote, vote. 

NICK EICHER, HOST: That’s ahead on Washington Wednesday. Also today, World Tour. And a place for adults who need care and caregivers who need a break. Plus, WORLD Commentator Janie B. Cheaney on heroic masculinity.

BUTLER: It’s Wednesday, January 10th, 2024. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Paul Butler.

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

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

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Debate preview » Tonight’s presidential debate in Iowa, now just hours away, will be the first head-to-head matchup. The only two Republicans on the stage will be Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former ambassador Nikki Haley.

Foreign policy is expected to factor strongly in this debate including the issue of sending more aid to Ukraine.

HALEY: Russia said once they take Ukraine, Poland and the Baltics are next. Those are NATO countries. That puts America at war. This is about preventing war.

Haley heard there at a campaign event this week in Iowa.

CNN will host the debate at 9p.m. Eastern from the campus of Drake University.

Donald Trump will also be in Des Moines tonight, but not at the debate. Instead, he’ll hold a separate town hall event hosted by Fox News.

Trump immunity » On Tuesday, Trump was in a Washington courtroom where his lawyers did not appear to have much luck in persuading federal appeals court judges that he was immune from prosecution. As Trump looked on, attorney John Sauer argued:

SAUER: If a president has to look over his shoulder—or her shoulder—every time he has to make a controversial decision — or after I leave office, am I going to jail for this when my political opponents take power — that inevitably dampens the ability of the president.

The hearing was related to a case accusing Trump of plotting to overturn the 2020 election.

Assistant special counsel James Pearce argued:

PEARCE: Never in our nation’s history until this case has a president claimed that immunity from criminal prosecution extends beyond his time in office. The president has a unique constitutional role, but he is not above the law.

The panel of three judges, two of whom were appointed by President Biden, also questioned whether they had jurisdiction to consider the appeal at this point in the case.

That raised the prospect that Trump's appeal could be dispensed with on more procedural grounds.

TONY BLINKEN: Good evening.

Blinken in Israel » Secretary of State Tony Blinken addressed reporters in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.

BLINKEN: This is my fourth trip to Israel since the horrific Hamas attacks of October 7th.

The stop was part of a larger tour through the Middle East. Blinken said the regional leaders he’s talked to in recent days say they want to see a lasting peace in and around Israel, but that a pathway to a Palestinian state is a must.

The secretary also denounced South Africa’s push to charge Israel with genocide against the Palestinian people. He called that accusation “meritless.”

BLINKEN: It’s particularly galling considering that those who are attacking Israel —Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, as well as their supporter, Iran — continue to openly call for the annihilation of Israel and mass murder of Jews.

Pentagon Israel » But Blinken also stressed that Washington continues to urge Israel to take every possible step to minimize harm to civilians in Gaza.

And at the Pentagon, Defense Department Press Secretary Pat Ryder said the U.S. supports Israel’s right to defend itself.

RYDER: But again, we will continue to actively discuss and to expect that they conduct those operations in accordance with international laws of armed conflict and international humanitarian law.

U.S. officials say Hamas could have prevented a war in Gaza from ever taking place by not using civilians as human shields.

White House/Austin latest » Ryder also said the Pentagon is now conducting an internal review of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s failure to notify the White House or Congress of his recent hospitalization for several days.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters at the White House that President Biden was kept in the dark.

KIRBY: He was not informed until last Friday that Secretary Austin was in the hospital. He was not informed until this morning that the root cause of that hospitalization was prostate cancer.

Kirby said the handling of the situation was “not optimal.” But he noted that the Pentagon is taking steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again, and wished Austin well in his recovery.

The defense secretary has reportedly resumed his duties from a private hospital room.

Menendez response » Embattled Democratic Senator Bob Menendez delivered a defiant speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday, framing himself as a victim and calling his prosecution a persecution.

MENENDEZ: The sensationalized allegations are now creating a rising call for my resignation, despite my innocence and before even a single piece of evidence has been introduced in a court of law.

The New Jersey lawmaker faces a slate of felony corruption charges. He tearfully denied the most recent accusations that he took bribes from the government of Qatar.

He already stood accused of working as an unregistered foreign agent for the government of Egypt.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Getting ready for the Iowa caucuses on Washington Wednesday. Plus, World Tour.

This is The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER, HOST: It’s Wednesday the 10th of January, 2024.

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

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: And I’m Paul Butler. First up, Washington Wednesday.

Or perhaps today Iowa Wednesday.

The first-in-the-nation caucuses are now just five days away. And the fifth presidential debate of the primary cycle takes place in just a few hours in Des Moines.

EICHER: As we await the only poll that matters, here’s what the others have said so far:

An average of recent national polls has former president Donald Trump up 50 points on Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley who are now essentially tied for second place barely in double digits at about 11 percent support.

As for polls of Iowa voters, well, the margins are smaller, but still not what pollsters would call close. Trump enjoys 51 percent support, and Governor DeSantis is second with 19 percent, despite winning the endorsement of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Joining us now to talk further is Mark Caleb Smith. He’s a political science professor at Cedarville University, a Christian school in Cedarville, Ohio.

BUTLER: Good morning, professor, welcome back.

MARK CALEB SMITH: It's always a pleasure to be with you. Thank you.

BUTLER: Let’s start with this perennial question ahead of the Iowa caucuses: What is the difference between a caucus-based nominating process and a conventional primary election?

SMITH: It's different, no question about that. And certainly, if you talk to the people from Iowa, they will highlight those differences for you. A primary is just like any other election, you know, you show up, they check to see whether your name is on the right list, they may check for ID or whatever the state and local regulations are. And then you'll just simply go cast a vote and you'll be done with it and walk out the door. A caucus is a little bit more involved. There have been different stages of caucuses over the years, and so some are more elaborate than others. But at minimum, you need to show up and be prepared to hear speeches, be prepared to hear representatives from the campaign's talk at length about the virtues of their preferred candidate. And then you will be given an opportunity to sort of sort yourself into the group that you want to sort yourself into. So there is a public nature of a caucus, that makes it a little bit different than sort of your traditional secret ballot approach to a primary. 

There's also obviously some persuasion that can take place within that caucus setting, and maybe even some group effects where you, you know, sort of see friends and family go one direction, and maybe you decide to head that direction as well. Or maybe you're one of those obstinate Midwesterners who says, You know what, I'm gonna go my own way. And you just choose to do that. And so there are differences. Now, historically, there would be more, there'll be several meetings, potentially. But generally, for this Iowa caucus, we're looking at the one set of meetings, it will take longer, it'll be speeches, and just a little different format than what you're used to.

EICHER: So do you think that this process, the caucus process is one that should be more emulated? I mean, it seems like they're a bit more politically active or informed in the process, then, perhaps some of our more traditional primary voters?

SMITH: I kind of like the idea. I mean, I'm not going to pretend that my answer is politically correct, so let's be very clear about that. But I kind of like the idea of putting some barriers in the place of participation in these kinds of contests. So you know, I'm not a big fan of you being able to just show up on the day of a primary, for example, and register as a Republican or register as a Democrat, and then just walk in and choose a presidential nominee. And so a caucus-like setting in my mind, that requires a little bit of effort and intentionality, and some deliberation, I think that would be all for the good. Now, of course, you measure that against the other values that are at work, where we're looking for equal access, we want to lower the barriers as much as possible, provide as many votes as possible, well, that's where you see tension in how we approach the the nomination process. So I kind of liked the caucus format, personally. But I'm under no illusion that it's going to spread like wildfire, from Iowa to the rest of the country.

BUTLER: Some pros and cons there. So in a caucus in Iowa, is that a winner-take-all situation?

SMITH: No, it's not a winner take all. They distribute delegates based on a percentage of votes. And so it isn't just as if Donald Trump wins one more vote than DeSantis, he walks away with 100% of the outcome. They'd be proportionally divided up there. So there are benefits to coming in second, at least in terms of the overall delegate counts. Obviously, from a media perspective, coming in second, or coming in third, or coming in first, can carry a very different kind of weight. And so a large victory, for example, may actually be more important in the media environment than it is in terms of the number of delegates you do or don't get. And so yeah, not a not a winner take all system, and how those are distributed can have a pretty significant effect.

EICHER: Iowa has long been known as the kick-off state for both Republicans and Democrats for the presidential nomination process with its caucus, followed by the New Hampshire primary the following week, but that is no longer the case within the Democratic party.

Last year, they restructured their calendar so its first primary is now South Carolina on February 3rd, although Democrats in New Hampshire contest that decision and are sticking to their January 23rd primary date. Now Mark, how did these two small states become so important in presidential elections?

SMITH: You know, for those of us of a certain age, we can't think of a world where Iowa and New Hampshire weren't this kind of dominant role in our nomination season, but that really started in 1972, and it cemented in 1976. The 1968 Democratic Convention was tumultuous, there was a police riot that took place in Chicago. The convention itself was violent inside and outside. And so the Democrats decided to revise their entire system, and they created a brand new approach, the McGovern Frasier framework, which the Democrats embraced, and it created a primary/caucus kind of system. And Iowa and New Hampshire just were sort of there, and they were the first ones that were scheduled. And they've been first since then. The Republicans adopted the same format. And I, you know, for a while it didn't really cement to people how much influence this really gave Iowa, New Hampshire because on its face, you're just like, well, it's just a few delegates, and we're looking at a lots of contests that unfold. But what we find out is those first couple of ones are really important for momentum, and really critical for setting the stage for the rest of the contests. And so this is a matter of historical almost accident. And as you can imagine, New Hampshire and Iowa jealously hang on to, or at least are trying to jealously hang on to their accidental role.

BUTLER: Turning our attention now to this year's election. As we mentioned, Trump has a huge lead in the polls. It would seem that for any of his challengers to have a chance of beating him, this has to become a two-person choice. One candidate has to consolidate the non-Trump vote, if you will. So is that what this race is about for the challengers?

SMITH: Yeah, I think that it is. I mean, I think that everyone's kind of known that this is how this is going to unfold for quite a few months, now. There was a moment earlier in 2023, where the president, former president, I should say, was vulnerable. And it looked like DeSantis may actually be eclipsing him in the polls. But that has long since passed. And so now we really are looking for a consolidation of some sort. And we're really early in the process to be talking about consolidation. 

But I think the fear is for those who are challenging former President Trump that if they don't consolidate quickly, there just won't be enough time to really take him on and win enough delegates to have a significant effect. And so I think Iowa, in particular, is a race for second. My guess is if Ron DeSantis finishes third, he's out of the contest, probably altogether at that point. If Nikki Haley doesn't at least finish a strong second in New Hampshire, she's probably out of the contest, at least effectively out of the contest, I think at that point, as well. And so you can kind of see a lane for each of them to win this thing. But it's a really narrow lane, and things have to break the exact right way, and has to start in Iowa, New Hampshire.

EICHER: So looking ahead to tonight’s debate, Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley are the only challengers who qualified to be on the stage, and Trump is once again sitting out. What do DeSantis and Haley need to accomplish tonight as they make their pitch to Iowans and Republicans across the country?

SMITH: I think when you look at how they've conducted their campaign so far, both of them started with the understanding that they could take out the other people, and then turn their targets on Trump. And so I think for the most part, you've seen them do that for most of these debates up until now. Within the last week or two, you get a real sense, I think, from DeSantis and Haley, that they do recognize if they're ever going to make any progress, they're gonna have to peel away some Trump supporters. And so they've been more aggressive in their approach to Donald Trump, while they're still being aggressive toward one another. And so I expect that to continue to be the case in the upcoming debate. It'll be combative. It'll be feisty. They're going to argue they're in the best position to beat Joe Biden. But I think when we look back on this, and let's if we assume that President Trump goes forward to win the nomination, we're going to all question that strategy up front, you know, really, should they have been so cautious in their approach to Trump while really targeting one another? I would argue that was not the right approach, but we'll see.

BUTLER: Mark Caleb Smith from Cedarville University. Professor, thanks so much!

SMITH: It is always my pleasure. Thanks to you and thanks to your listeners.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: World Tour with our reporter in Africa, Onize Ohikere.

ONIZE OHIKERE: Gambian trial begins —We start today’s roundup at a federal criminal court in Switzerland where a former minister from The Gambia is facing charges of crimes against humanity.

Ousman Sonko served as interior minister under The Gambia’s former leader Yahya Jammeh.

Prosecutors say Sonko deliberately killed, tortured, and raped people between 2000 and 2016.

Swiss authorities detained him in 2017 after he sought asylum.

Ramzia Diab is a former lawmaker and one of nine plaintiffs present at the trial.

DIAB: And he's bringing back all my emotions all over again! Because I was right there, I was tortured, I was molested, everything happened to us!

The trial began Monday and will run through the rest of the month. Sonko faces a maximum life sentence if found guilty.

AUDIO: [Opposition chants]

Bangladesh vote — In Bangladesh, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina clinched a fourth consecutive term in office after a weekend vote boycotted by the opposition.

Hasina has held the office for a total of 20 years, including an earlier term. In the election, her Awami League party also scored a parliamentary majority.

AUDIO: [Chanting protesters]

Opposition party members boycotted the vote with protests on Sunday.

The party said that security officials have detained more than 20,000 opposition members since October. Authorities have disputed the real count as about 10,000.

MAN: [Speaking Bengali] 

This voter said he didn’t bother going to the polls, because he didn’t expect the election would be fair.

This voter said he didn’t bother going to the polls, because he didn’t expect the election would be fair.

The electoral commission put voter turnout at 40 percent.

AUDIO: [Chanting]

Nicaraguans in Costa Rica — Over in Costa Rica, several dozen exiled Nicaraguans are demanding an end to persecution against Roman Catholic leaders in their home country.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s government has detained at least 14 priests and three seminarians since Christmas.

Tensions between Ortega’s government and the Catholic Church have grown since 2018 when authorities clamped down on anti-government protests.

The government has expelled priests and nuns and sentenced other priests on treason and cybercrime charges.

At the weekend demonstration, protesters in Costa Rica’s capital of San José read out the names of all the detained clergy and the dates of their arrests.

Yaritza Mairena is a representative of a union for Nicaraguan political prisoners.

MAIRENA: [Speaking Spanish]

She says here that the regime will not allow the Church to serve as a symbol of unity or a source of criticism.

AUDIO: [Procession]

Orthodox Christmas celebrations — We wrap up today at an Orthodox Christmas procession in Georgia—a country that straddles Eastern Europe and West Asia.

Hundreds of people, dressed in costumes depicting nativity scenes, marched through the streets of Tbilisi on Sunday.

Participants collect donations for orphans during the procession.

Many Western churches that follow the Gregorian calendar celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25. Orthodox Christians mark the birth of Christ on Jan. 7, keeping with the Julian calendar.

AUDIO: [Church singing]

In Bethlehem, Christians huddled inside the Church of the Nativity for a midnight Mass led by Patriarch Theophilos III. Christians in Gaza City also worshiped together at the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius.

AUDIO: [Singing]

And in Ethiopia, thousands of worshippers prayed outside the Medhane Alem Cathedral in Addis Ababa.

That’s it for today’s WORLD Tour. Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Ohikere in Abuja, Nigeria.

NICK EICHER, HOST: A retiree in the U-K noticed his tool shed in the mornings was unusually tidy, and it wasn’t his wife picking up after him.

Rodney Holbrook told SkyNews:

HOLBROOK: So I thought I'm gonna, I'm gonna set up a night camera, a trail camera and that's what I done.

And what the camera done was catch the intruder on tape. Turns out, the quick picker-upper was a mouse scampering around picking up all sorts of nick-nacks: clothespins, lids, corks, nuts and bolts.

HOLBROOK: The mouse was putting the, all the items, well, most of them into the box.

Holbrook says the mouse has come out and tidied nearly every night for several months.

But the real test will be Spring cleaning, whether he knows how to get rid of things. Is he merely a tidy-house mouse, or a really organized pack rat?

It’s The World and Everything in It.

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: Today is Wednesday, January 10th, 2024. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Paul Butler.

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

This week on Concurrently: The News Coach Podcast, co-hosts Kelsey Reed and Jonathan Boes welcome the editor of God’s Big WORLD, Amy Auten. God’s Big WORLD is for our very youngest readers. This week, they talk about ways that parents can cultivate literacy and liturgy.

Here’s a preview:

AMY AUTEN: A word that keeps coming back was intention. For example, there's a default after dinner, we all go to our phones, because we're tired. We'll often say to each other, let's give each other 30 minutes to relax and then we'll regroup and often that 30 minutes goes to an hour and then they have to take showers and I've missed, I've missed a window. If I want them to linger with me, I have to be intentional. So last night, we sat on the sofa, and we read aloud. I instigated that and it worked out sometimes that doesn't work out. You know, sometimes people don't really want to do it. You have to kind of cajole or bring cookies into the mix.

KELSEY REED: If you give a teen a cookie, they'll, they'll want to sit and read a book with you.

JONATHAN BOES: That's really the whole thing. Just involve food and the whole routine thing falls into place.

AUTEN: It's true though, there's something to breaking bread. Like if I, if I read aloud a book while we're still at the dinner table. They stay at the table. And again know your know your kids know your audience because my kids love books. I love accents. They've done theater and so this is a natural, organic fit. Other things might be late at night, go look at the stars together. This is an excellent time here even though it's cold. So just know your audience, know your kiddos, be intentional. Even if it's only only 10 minutes, that 10 minutes matters.

You can hear the entire episode of Concurrently today wherever you get your podcasts. And find out more at concurrentlypodcast.com.

BUTLER: Coming next on The World and Everything in It: bearing one another’s burdens.

As costs rise for elder care, more Americans are once again choosing to age at home, but that can put a strain on caregivers.

So some people are trying to fill that need by offering adult daycare. These services provide an option for caregivers to have a much-needed break while their loved ones still get quality care.

EICHER: WORLD Radio’s Mary Muncy paid a visit to one of these centers and she has our story.

AUDIO: [COFFEE POT STARTING]

MARY MUNCY: It’s 9 a.m. and DayStay director Kathy Long starts the first pot of decaf coffee. DayStay is a senior social club for older adults who need someone to watch out for them for a few hours while their caregivers do other things.

LONG: You doing okay this morning?

CLIENT: Yes.

LONG: Good.

The daycare is in the basement of Hominy Baptist Church in Candler, North Carolina. There are two rooms. The main room has a long table for lunch and an open area for games. The side room has several tables and chairs sitting around. That’s where the puzzling happens.

LONG: We come in in the mornings, we like to work on puzzles, and they have coffee and pastries.

Before becoming a caregiver, Long was a nurse for 40 years, mostly working with geriatric patients.

When Long started working with DayStay, she was there just a few days a week. But last year, they asked her to be the director.

LONG: I enjoy just making them feel safe, and happy and enjoying the fact that they're here for the day. And so I've just stayed because it's where my heart is.

Long knows firsthand how hard caregiving can be.

LONG: My dad had Alzheimer's, and I helped care for him. For 10 years he had it. And then there was nothing. There were no programs like this. There wasn’t anywhere you could take them.

A 2016 study in the Journals of Gerontology found that adult day services can help lower stress hormones in chronically stressed caregivers. Other earlier studies show similar results and caregivers are noticing.

The National Adult Day Services Association says there are about 7,500 adult day service centers in the U.S. and that number is rising.

But Long isn’t just trying to help caregivers. She wants to give her participants a chance to socialize, exercise, and even volunteer.

LONG: If they're not here, they sit in front of the TV, or they sleep. So they’re not very active at home if they're not here. And a lot of times family just doesn't know what to do.

So Long and her team take time to observe their clients—figure out what they can and can’t do and what brings them joy.

LONG: It doesn't take you long to realize, okay, well, Bill can do this, or Fred can do that or Jane can do this. And then we'll focus on things that they’re good at, and they enjoy it and makes them feel good and important.

But it’s not always easy to help clients find something they enjoy or even to keep them in the building.

LONG: I have had participants who are very exit-seeking. They don't want to sit, they don't want to stay and they're constantly trying to get out.

One time she stopped to take a phone call and one of her participants slipped out the door before she turned back around. They found him walking down the road outside the church.

LONG: We go, you got to come back with us. You can't be out here. It's not safe.

Most of her clients aren’t that exit-seeking, or they’re relatively easy to redirect. Instead, she’s usually trying to come up with creative ways to get her clients moving—not the other way around.

One of her favorite ways to do that is noodle ball.

AUDIO: Noodle ball? I love that game. Woo.

Long and two staff members set out 11 chairs in a circle. As clients take a seat, they select a halved pool noodle.

AUDIO: This is your lucky noodle?

Long then throws a balloon into the middle of the circle and the game begins. The goal is to try to keep it off the floor… though some are just trying to bean the staff members instead.

AUDIO: [Laughter]

Long believes laughter is some of the best medicine—topped only by feeling useful. So, at 11:30 Long announces lunch and most of them move to the table.

But a few get up and start putting ice into cups and pouring drinks. They help throughout the meal and afterward they start picking up trash and wiping down tables. Long says that does more than just help the process go smoothly.

LONG: That also helps make them feel important and needed. A lot of times they don't feel needed anymore.

Long has seen firsthand how losing a sense of purpose often precedes a fast downward spiral and she knows how hard that is on caregivers.

LONG: It's stressful for families. And when you have the care 24/7 It's really stressful. So this helps take some of that stress off.

Long tries to put some of their responsibility on her shoulders—trying to help her clients age with purpose, while giving caregivers space to breathe so they can enjoy their time with their loved ones when they come back.

Long says her job isn’t really work. It’s just trying to help some people laugh for a few hours.

AUDIO: [Laughter from noodle ball]

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Mary Muncy in Candler, North Carolina.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Wednesday, January 10th, 2024. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: 

And I’m Paul Butler. Up next, so-called toxic masculinity.

WORLD Commentator Janie B. Cheaney now explains the difference between toxic and heroic.

JANIE B. CHEANEY: My one grandson may be the most affectionate of our four grandchildren. He was the only one who would get up early in the morning to cuddle with me—just cuddling at first, and later talking things over and making jokes. But he’s also what we used to proudly call “all boy.” One of his favorite events of the year is Rendezvous, when he and his dad and a few of their guy friends go to a remote area to shoot guns and skin small animals. My son-in-law still builds and remodels houses even though he’s only a few years younger than me, and he’s determined his little all-boy will grow up to be a man’s man.

That’s kind of a derogatory term now, isn’t it? About seven years ago Dr. Joel Wong at the University of Indiana defined nine benchmarks of hyper-masculinity for a study on male mental health. They include winning, emotional control, risk-taking, violence, dominance, self-reliance, primacy of work, and power over women.

I know toxic men exist--sadly, even in the church. But for the majority of men, Dr. Wong leaves out some key elements that could modify the picture. For instance, his label “emotional control” probably refers to the “real men don’t cry” cliché. But anger and fear are also emotions–shouldn’t they be controlled? As for “risk-taking,” what great thing is ever undertaken without risk? Instead of “dominance”, a better word for most men might be “competition.” Dr. Wong includes “self-reliance” on his list. But opposed to what—welfare-reliance? And it’s true some men may desire “power over women”, but in the past, well-brought-up boys were taught to use their power in defense of women.

Some writers and academics are beginning to wonder if we’ve overdone the “toxic masculinity” stereotype. Maybe one reason for underachieving young men and suicidal older men that they are seldom valued as men in an information-based, sedentary, air-conditioned, risk-averse culture. In fact they are often mocked and disdained. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, recently tapped to direct an upcoming Star Wars movie, told Jon Stewart in 2015 that she liked “to make men feel uncomfortable” through her films. That discomfort, she added, might make them look into the mirror “and not like the reflection and then say, maybe, there is something wrong with the way I think . . .”

Are women ever told to look in the mirror and not like what they see?

Caitlin Flanigan, on the Atlantic website, writes that it’s time to counter “toxic” with a more positive adjective. Such as “heroic.” We owe a lot to the high-achievers, risk-takers, deep thinkers, bold adventurers, and everyday working stiffs who pull on their boots to do what needs to be done in all kinds of weather.

On the same website, staff writer Ross Andersen posted a touching tribute to “My Father, the Giant,” who toiled for decades as a house-painter, raised two boys, nursed two wives through cancer, doted on his grandchildren, and loved and protected his family. That’s its own kind of heroism, and I hope my grandson grows into a man like that.

I’m Janie B. Cheaney.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: What is the U.S. doing to counter rising attacks on American forces in the Middle East? We’ll talk about it with an expert.

And, adopting dogs from shelters has its own economic challenges depending on where you live. We’ll hear about canine supply and demand. That and more tomorrow.

I’m Nick Eicher.

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: And I’m Paul Butler.

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

Jesus says: “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.” Jesus concludes: “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” —Matthew 12:33-34

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.