The World and Everything in It: January 3, 2025

NICK EICHER, HOST: Good morning and thanks to all who supported our December Giving Drive! We are so grateful for your generosity . We don’t have a final count yet, but on Monday we’ll check in with our development staff to find out how it’s going and report back. In the meantime, we want you to know how much we appreciate your support.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: We can’t do it without you but with you we feel like there’s nothing we can’t do. And now, I hope you enjoy today’s program.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Good morning!

Today on Culture Friday: If you’re going to redefine boys and girls, you’re going to have to redefine success for so-called transgender medicine.

NICK EICHER, HOST: They’re certainly working on it, and we’ll talk with John Stonestreet about it and much more.

Later on, we’ll remember notable figures from the world of arts and culture who died in 20-24.

SIMPSON: I ask you to listen to me, and you judge. But I swear to you before my God, I did not commit these crimes.

And Ask the Editor. Today an introduction of a familiar voice.

BROWN: It’s Friday, January 3rd. 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: Speaker Johnson » Members of the 119th Congress of the United States will take the oath of office:

AUDIO [2023]: So help you God? I do. Congratulations, you are now members

Sounds from the last swearing in ceremony two years ago.

House Speaker Mike Johnson today is fighting for his political life. His seat in the House is not in jeopardy, but his speakership most certainly is. Members will vote today on whether to reelect Johnson to the post.

The speaker says he’s had many conversations this week with some undecided or skeptical Republicans.

JOHNSON:  My conversations with my colleagues have gone great and a lot of members have come in very thoughtfully in good faith, you know, with process improvements and things they'd like to see differently.

President-elect Donald Trump has thrown his support behind Johnson. When asked what his message would be to Republican holdouts, Trump responded:

TRUMP:  He's the one that can win right now. People like him. Almost everybody likes him. Others are very good too, but they have 30 or 40 people that don’t like ‘em …

With a razor-thin GOP majority, Johnson will need to win virtually every Republican vote to hang onto the speaker’s gavel.

New Orleans latest » The FBI is no longer looking for additional suspects in connection to Wednesday’s deadly terror attack in New Orleans. Christopher Raia with the bureau’s Division of counterterrorism told reporters today:

RAIA: We do not assess at this point that anyone else is involved in this attack except for Shamsud-Din Jabbar.

That’s a reversal from the bureau's earlier assessment that the attacker likely did not act alone.

The death toll now stands at at least 14, revised slightly from earlier reports that 15 people were killed. Investigators say Jabbar, a 42-year-old Houston native and U.S. Army veteran, rammed a truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans and then brandished a gun and opened fire before police shot and killed him.

RAIA: This was an act of terrorism. It was premeditated and an evil act.

Police found an ISIS flag on the truck.

Las Vegas latest » Federal authorities have also been working to determine if there was any link between the New Orleans attack and a Cybertruck blown up in front Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas:

MAYORKAS:  The Federal Bureau of Investigation that is leading the investigation both in New Orleans and in Las Vegas, Nevada, has not found any connection between those two incidents.

Meantime police have revealed new information about the driver of the Cybertruck.

Authorities believe him to be 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger of Colorado.

Las Vegas County Sheriff Kevin McMahill:

MCMAHILL:  He was indeed in the United States Army. He was also a Green Beret operations sergeant who spent most of his time at Fort Carson, Colorado and in Germany.

The driver apparently shot himself in the head before the explosives in the truck were detonated.

McMahill said the perpetrator likely planned to cause more damage but the explosive was rudimentary and the steel-sided Cybertruck absorbed much of the force.

Israel latest » In Iran:

SOUND: [Chants in Tehran]

Chants of "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" in Tehran yesterday as residents flocked to the Iranian capital to mark five years since the death of General Qassem Soleimani.

Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq in 20-20.

PEZESHKIAN: [Speaking Farsi]

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said it would have been a shame for someone like Soleimani to die in bed instead of—in his words—being martyred. He goes on to call the governments of America and Israel "barbaric, anti-human liars."

China-Taiwan » Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has pledged to strengthen the island’s defenses in the face of escalating Chinese threats. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN: Lai said in a New Year’s address this week that Taiwan was a crucial part of the “line of defense of democracy” globally.

He added that “authoritarian countries such as China, Russia, North Korea and Iran are still collaborating to threaten the international order.”

China claims Taiwan, a self-ruled democracy, is part of its territory and has vowed to annex the island … by force if necessary.

 Taiwan's defense ministry said Chinese warplanes and warships had carried out the first “combat patrol of the new year around the island.”

Lai  again expressed his willingness to talk with Beijing. But earlier appeals have been rebuffed.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Trump pre-inauguration rally Donald Trump is expected to hold a big Washington rally the day before he’s sworn in as the nation’s 47th president.

The victory rally, as it’s being billed, will be held at the Capitol One Arena in D.C. on Jan. 19th.

He’ll be inaugurated at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20th.

The arena seats roughly 20,000 people. Trump’s big outdoor events were limited in the months following an assassination attempt.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Culture Friday with John Stonestreet.

Plus, notable figures from the world of arts and culture who died in 2024.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: It’s Friday the 3rd of January.

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

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

It’s Culture Friday. Joining us now is John Stonestreet, president of the Colson Center and host of the Breakpoint podcast. Good morning and Happy New Year to you!

JOHN STONESTREET: Good morning, Happy New Year!

EICHER: This was not widely reported, but it seems hugely significant: A new study in Europe is trying to find a new way to measure the success of so-called transgender medicine.

Now, why would that be important?

In a few words, because there are no success stories. The report is urging the medical community to toss out what it calls the “logic of improvement” that demands measurable benefits in the well-being of patients.

In other words, we’re losing the game, so we need new rules.

I heard about this by way of a social media post by the author J.K. Rowling.

She argued that this shift covers up failure and redefines success to justify pushing these irreversible interventions. Rowling likens the study’s logic to Hannah Arendt’s concept of the “banality of evil,” accusing it of hiding harm in the fog of academic language. I’ll put a link to the report in today’s transcript online if the listener would like to read it.

Remarkable.

STONESTREET: Well, J.K. Rowling has been so good on this issue, and her shout out to the “banality of evil,” that whole concept is so rich worldview-wise.

But you know, this whole thing just hit me in a couple different ways: One is, this is a different age than it was even two years and three years ago. The way this sits is even more offensive than it would have been two to three years ago—and I think with more people.

This also tells you about the shifting norms of culture: when something becomes abnormal, when something gets on the wrong side of the zeitgeist, it’s kind of like that politician whose campaign has turned and everything they say sounds worse and worse. It’s like, “Hey, dude, you’re in a hole. Stop digging.” This is what this sounded like to me.

It wasn’t unlike, although on a much bigger scale after the election, on CNN, when a commentator brought up the fact that, the American people have rejected the men-in-women’s-locker-room thing. Another commentator basically tried to shut down the conversation with an accusation of transphobia, and even the far left-leaning panelists were like, “No, we have to have this conversation.” It just sounded so weird on that day.

I am always fascinated by how cultural norms change, but this is significant.

What’s happening is that this movement has progressed along just fantasy, fairy-tale stuff, the thought that by making up words and creating concepts, we can change reality. It was always absurd, but it sounds more and more absurd almost month by month as we go along.

Again, shout out to JK Rowling for pointing this out. But I, I think for a lot of people, it was just like, “Yeah, this is as bad as we always thought it was.”

Maybe even worse.

BROWN: John, much has been written and said about former president Jimmy Carter. Carter’s legacy, which includes his presidency and his post-presidential life of faith and service is … a little complex.

STONESTREET: Yeah, well, you know, theology matters, and that’s what I think is the fundamental lesson for Christians of this former president. The theological replacement that’s happened in mainstream evangelicalism and Christianity in general reflects what happened in mainline liberalism a generation ago, which is that some form of niceness replaced truth.

One of the last interviews that Chuck Colson and I did together was with the former president, and it was such an interesting conversation. There was no question about, for example, the humanitarian work that Carter did through Habitat for Humanity. It was something that Prison Fellowship had been able to connect with him over the years.

But what emerged in President Carter, both as a president and as a former president, was that he had adopted a view of the world that comes from mainline theological liberalism. It underestimates the fall and the impact of human sinfulness on individuals. It downplays God’s created design and God’s role as a ruler in the universe with moral expectations. Then it assumes things about human nature that is not reflected in it.

I think that’s why his presidency was so marked by so many stark failures. Honestly, a lot of his political work after that was as well.

It’s impossible to deny how nice and kind he was. But as CS Lewis pointed out, even that niceness and kindness can become a source of pride. It’s kind of a false humility—and you actually think, “I’m going to do what I think is right, even if everyone else has rejected it as wrong.” There were so many times in President Carter’s public career that he did that.

I think that points to a really important lesson for all of us, how we live out our faith, how we treat other people really matters, but what the substance of that faith is matters as well—maybe more so. Because if you have a wrong understanding of the gospel, it’s because you have a wrong understanding of God and a wrong understanding of people.

That is the big failure of theological liberalism everywhere it has been tried. What’s unique about President Carter is that he applied it to the public square, and it does not have a good record.

It’s been interesting to watch various voices and publications of evangelicalism that sound so much like mainline liberal Protestantism, including voices that would have denounced that just yesterday—and using the former president’s story as a way to do that.

So evangelicalism, when it’s untethered from truth, theological truth, risks the same way forward as does mainline Protestant liberalism, and I think his life should warn us about that.

EICHER: Over in WORLD Opinions, A.S. Ibrahim writes on the New Year’s morning terror attack in New Orleans. He highlights the ongoing presence of Islamic extremism in the United States. Quoting now, “[The dead attacker’s] full name indicates his Arabic-Islamic heritage: Although he was born in Texas, his name is Arabic with a distinctly Islamic meaning, as ‘Shamsud-Din’ means the bright star of the religion, while [the surname] ‘Jabbar’ is a name of Allah, which means ‘the mighty one.’”

The writer Ibrahim is from Egypt. He is a Christian and holds two PhDs on Islam and its history. He writes that Jabbar’s actions were apparently inspired by ISIS and reflect the group’s Salafi and jihadist ideolog y: one that seeks to impose Islam globally using violence.

He says the New Year’s attack should raise alarms about radicalization within Western societies, emphasizing the need to address extremist preaching while safeguarding freedoms. He writes: “Unless the preachers of hate and the ISIS sympathizers … are identified and controlled, and at times deported, we will always live with a bomb ready to detonate.” End of quote. That’s a bit alarming.

STONESTREET: Well, I agree with just about all that analysis. I think at some level, with some of the other global conflicts over the last 10 years or so, the role that radical Islam is playing on the world stage was forgotten by people in the West—especially in the United States.

This goes back to Samuel Huntington’s thesis in The Clash of Civilizations, which hasn’t proven to be completely correct. But he got that part right: the real clashes that we’re going to face in our current age are not between nation states, although that would still be there, he said, but it would really rise to the level of civilizations. Sometimes those fault lines between civilizations run within a particular nation state, and the mass movement of people through migration over the last decade is going to expose that on a big scale.

I also think that there needs to be at least some reckoning with the dominant narrative through which we see these things. It immediately popped up in the wake of this terrible evil, the emphasis being placed on the fact that he was an American citizen and was in the military, as if that was the dominant thing that drove his behavior, his values, his worldview.

When more details continue to emerge—and, you know, even as we’re talking right now, there’s more details emerging: How big is this network? Is it a network? Is that the right thing to call it and all of that?

[The narrative points away from] any sort of radicalization within the United States. Of course, those on the left have pointed to things like Christian nationalism and white supremacy as the, and I quote, “biggest danger in terms of terrorism that our nation faces.”

It’s just not playing out in real life at any level. It’s a narrative looking for a story, but this story is pointing to the fact that Islam as a worldview, particularly in its more radicalized forms, is a great threat to the world order. It’s a great threat to national sovereignty, peace, and the safety of individuals. So I think the analysis of WORLD Opinions was right on.

BROWN: John Stonestreet is president of the Colson Center and host of the Breakpoint podcast. Thanks, John!

STONESTREET: Thank you both.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Friday, January 3rd.

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

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

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

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: remembering some prominent figures from the world of arts and culture. Here’s WORLD reporter Emma Perley.

SINGING: [Sisters Suffragette - Mary Poppins]

EMMA PERLEY: British actress Glynis Johns is best known for her role as Winifred Banks in Mary Poppins. She frequently took on roles where she danced and sang and often performed in comedy musicals. And although she suffered from stage fright—it didn’t stop her from appearing in 30 plays and 60 films. For the Broadway play A Little Night Music, she earned a Tony and Drama Desk Award for her song, “Send in the Clowns.” Audio from Sony Music Entertainment.

SINGING: [A Little Night Music — Send in the Clowns]

Johns was married four times, and once remarked that she was not as good at being married as she was at acting. Johns died of natural causes at 100 years old on January 4th.

Shigeichi Negishi also passed away at age 100 on January 26th. Although he’s not a household name, his invention certainly is: the karaoke machine.

AUDIO: [Karaoke]

As a Japanese engineer, Negishi built the first prototype in 1967. He called it the “Sparko Box” and distributed it with cassette tapes and a little book of lyrics.

He eventually ran into manufacturing issues and had to shut down his business. But the idea became popular as other companies put out their own versions of karaoke. Negishi never patented his prototype, but he is credited with being the first to invent it.

Infamous football star Orenthal James—or O.J.—Simpson also died this year at age 76. He was one of the best running backs in the NFL, but his highly publicized murder trial overshadowed his football achievements. The jury controversially acquitted Simpson for the crime of murdering his wife and her friend.

Audio here from a 1996 press conference with Simpson.

SIMPSON: I ask you to listen to me, and you judge. But I swear to you before my God, I did not commit these crimes.

He believed that the media purposely targeted him for sensational headlines, and maintained his innocence until his death on April 10th.

Atheist author and philosopher Daniel Dennett who praised evolution in his 1995 book, Darwin’s Dangerous Idea, also died in April. Fellow atheist Richard Dawkins interviewed Dennett in 2009.

DENNETT: It shows us how over eons, natural processes have generated the design improvements that make this all possible.

Dennett tried to make the point that Darwin’s “dangerous idea” was that creation did not need an intelligent designer—even if evolution might be false. The book caused controversy among scientists and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Dennett wrote many books on philosophy throughout his lifetime. He died of lung disease at age 82.

Next, an actress who made her mark in Hollywood as a stunt double. Audio here from a 1979 CBS Sunday Morning interview with Jeannie Epper.

EPPER: Something sort of comes over you, a sense of peace, a sense of … you know you can do it. You know you’re not going to get killed doing it.

Epper’s parents were also stunt performers, and she continued their legacy. In the 70s, she was the stuntwoman for the TV series Wonder Woman and the movie Charlie’s Angels. And the job came with plenty of challenges. Once, she accidentally caught on fire.

But Epper said she always felt fulfilled and she paved the way for many other women to join the stunt industry. Epper died on May 5th at 83 years old.

Next, a documentarian who gained 24 pounds to prove a point about fast food.

SPURLOCK: I will only super size it if they ask me. I can only eat things that are for sale over the counter at McDonalds. Water included. If McDonalds doesn’t sell it, I can’t eat it.

In 2004, Morgan Spurlock set out to eat 3 McDonald’s meals a day for 30 days—and filmed himself doing it. The documentary—called Super Size Me—became popular for its honest depiction of America’s obesity problem.

Spurlock produced and directed several other documentaries. He later admitted to sexual misconduct against his coworkers, which largely ended his career. He died from cancer complications on May 23rd at 53 years-old.

MUSIC: [M*A*S*H title song]

Actor Donald Sutherland’s rise to stardom began with his performances in the film The Dirty Dozen and the war sitcom M*A*S*H. Audio here from a 2001 BBC interview.

SUTHERLAND: I think what you need in your life is a little bit of talent, some chance, some good luck, and an extraordinary amount of hard work and a wonderful partner. And I have been blessed with those things. And my life has been a happy one.

Sutherland also took on the role of President Snow in the Hunger Games trilogy, and played Mr. Bennet in the 2005 Pride and Prejudice. Although he was never nominated for an Academy Award, he was presented with an honorary Oscar in 2017. His son Kiefer followed in his father’s footsteps and also became a well-known actor.

Donald died on June 20th, aged 88.

Next, James Earl Jones started as an actor specializing in Shakespeare plays. He overcame a childhood stutter to become a widely known stage performer. But the job didn’t come with much money.

Then Jones joined the cast of Star Wars in 1977. George Lucas paid him $7,000 to voice Darth Vader.

JONES: I was broke, and for me that was good money. I got lucky.

Jones went on to star in Field of Dreams, a critically acclaimed sports film. And he lent his baritone voice to several roles, including Mufasa in Disney’s The Lion King. He also narrated the King James Version of the New Testament.

JONES: And seeing the multitude, he went up into the mountain. And when he was set, his disciples came unto him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Jones earned an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony Award during his long career. Jones passed away from diabetes complications at 93 years old on September 9th.

Finally, another legendary actor also passed away in September.

CLIP: Welcome to Hogwarts! Now, in a few moments you will pass through these doors and join your classmates.

Maggie Smith is most known for her role as Professor Minerva McGonagall in Harry Potter, or as the Dowager Countess in Downton Abbey.

CLIP: Sybill, vulgarity is no substitute for wit.

Her career spanned seven decades, and she was known for her versatile performances. Among many other awards, Smith earned the Triple Crown of Acting. That’s an Oscar, an Emmy, and a Tony Award and it’s something only fifteen women have ever achieved. Smith died at 89 years old.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Emma Perley.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Friday, January 3rd. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

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

Up next: Ask the Editor. And taking that new responsibility is Les Sillars. He’s not new to WORLD, having been around since 1999 as a writer, editor, and producer. Lately he’s been host of our long-form narrative podcast Doubletake. And now, WORLD’s Editor-in-Chief, a position that came about when several months back I called him and put a question to him. Editor-in-Chief Les Sillars now will answer yours.

LES SILLARS: If I were listening to this program right now, I’d have a few questions myself. “Sillars? Name sounds kind of familiar, but who is he, exactly?”

Well, I grew up in Red Deer, Alberta. I went to Bible college in Saskatchewan in the late 80s where I met and married Jennifer. Then we headed off to seminary because I wanted to be a basketball coach. I wanted to teach at a Bible college and coach the team. Along the way, we had our two kids.

In 1993 I stumbled out of seminary and, providentially, into the newsroom of a conservative Canadian news magazine. It was called The Alberta Report.

I’d never wanted to be a reporter. Never read a newspaper, except the comics. I knew nothing about politics, culture, or history. I didn’t know what “pro-life” meant. But I needed a job.

I was soon covering “the news” in Calgary: murder trials, scandals, culture, and sometimes politics. At first I was neither conservative nor liberal. Just uninformed.

But I quickly began to see the effects of progressive politics and policies on Canadian society. I’d never heard of Richard Weaver’s famous book, Ideas Have Consequences. But I distinctly recall thinking, “You know, ideas have consequences. And these are some really bad ideas.”

In 1999 I left the Alberta Report to start my graduate journalism program at the University of Texas at Austin. I thought maybe I could teach journalism at a Christian college. Also, WORLD’s editor was teaching at Texas at the time and invited me to join the staff.

There I first encountered the idea of Biblical journalism. The phrase defines WORLD and what we do. This is how I understand it: The Bible is the only authoritative source of key truths about God, humanity, and reality. Therefore, a reporter can tell the whole truth about this world only insofar as Scripture shapes his or her reporting and writing.

I started teaching at Patrick Henry College in Virginia in 2002 and graduated from Texas soon after that. After 30 years doing and teaching journalism, this is what I tell my students:

Journalism is a profoundly noble and deeply Biblical calling. To do it faithfully requires the gifts of the storyteller, historian, philosopher, and theologian. And sometimes scientist or economist. To live rightly as believers, we must understand the times in which we live, the culture that shapes our imaginations, and the people God calls us to serve. Our neighbors.

We have a terrific group of reporters, editors and producers here at WORLD. There are lots of news outlets. But nobody else in the world offers what we do: Journalism that is Biblically faithful. Truthful. Stories that are important and touch you deeply. Stories that help us all see the world more clearly. Stories that help us live rightly.

I’m excited to help tell great stories. I’m honored to be here. And I’m looking forward to hearing from many of you! Send me your questions at Les@wng.org That’s Les@wng.org.

I’m Les Sillars.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Well, it’s time to say thanks to the team members who helped put the program together this week:

Jenny Rough, David Bahnsen, Lindsay Mast, Mary Reichard, Leah Savas, Mary Muncy, Steve Watters, Carolina Lumetta, Leo Briceno, Onize Oduah, Myrna Brown, Cal Thomas, Steve West, Anna Johansen Brown, John Wilsey, John Stonestreet, and Emma Perley.

Thanks also to our breaking news team: Kent Covington, Mark Mellinger, Lynde Langdon, Travis Kircher, Lauren Canterberry, Josh Schumacher, and Christina Grube.

Thanks to the guys who stay up late to get the program to you early: Johnny Franklin, Carl Peetz, and now, joining the Moonlight Maestros … Benj Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Kristen Flavin is our features producer, and Harrison Watters our Washington producer, with editorial assistance from Lauren Dunn.

Paul Butler is our executive producer, Les Sillars is WORLD editor-in-chief, and Nick Eicher is chief content officer for WORLD News Group.

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: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” —Matthew 5:14-16.

Be sure and worship with your brothers and sisters in Christ in church on the Lord’s Day! And, Lord willing, 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.