The World and Everything in It — November 8, 2019

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

Darwinian evolution had a formidable foe in Phillip Johnson, a lawyer who read all the books and poked gaping holes in their logic. He died this week and today we remember him.

JOHNSON: I like to think of myself as the reader for whom all those books were intended and I’m speaking back to the authors and explaining to them what they overlooked.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Phillip Johnson speaks up and ahead today on Culture Friday we’ll talk about the boost he gave to the Intelligent Design movement.

MEGAN BASHAM, HOST: Also today, yes it’s already time to start talking Christmas movies! I’ll review the rom-com, Last Christmas. 

EICHER: And listener feedback.

REICHARD: It’s Friday, November 8th. This is The World and Everything in It from WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

BASHAM: I’m Megan Basham.

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

REICHARD: Now news. Here’s Kent Covington.

China, U.S. move closer to deescalating trade war » The United States and China have agreed to ramp down the trade war as part of an initial agreement. That according to Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng. 

FENG (Mandarin): [Fade in and under]

He told reporters Thursday that negotiators agreed to a “phased cancellation” of tariff hikes … if talks continue to progress.

FENG (Mandarin): [up for a couple of seconds, then back under and slowly out]

It’s part of what the world’s two biggest economies are calling “Phase 1” of a process to de-escalate the trade rift. 

No word yet on exactly when or how much the two sides will reduce tariffs. Gao said that will depend on the agreement. 

Still, the news gave Wall Street another boost. All three major stock indexes hit new record highs in afternoon trading.  

Nine sentenced in Chinese fentanyl bust on U.S. tip » Meantime, cooperation of another sort resulted in a major fentanyl trafficking bust in China. 

A Chinese court sentenced nine traffickers on Thursday … in a case that is the culmination of a rare collaboration between Chinese and U-S law enforcement. 

Chinese investigators worked off a 20-17 tip from U-S officials. 

Austin Moore is the U-S attache to China for Homeland Security. He said DHS investigators got a tip from a defendant in New Orleans.

MOORE: This individual provided the name and contact information for an individual in China from whom he had previously bought narcotics. 

Chinese police then busted a drug ring based in northern China that shipped illegal synthetic drugs to the U-S and other countries. 

Two convicted Chinese citizens received prison sentences ranging from six months to life in prison. Courts sentenced one man to death with a two-year reprieve. But death sentences in China are almost always commuted to life in prison after the reprieve.

Judge orders Trump to pay $2M in foundation case » A New York judge has ordered President Trump to pay $2 million dollars to resolve a lawsuit involving The Trump Foundation. WORLD Radio’s Leigh Jones has that story.

LEIGH JONES, REPORTER: The suit alleged that Trump misused his charitable foundation to further political and business interests. After the ruling Thursday, the Trump Foundation said that money raised by the penalty will go to several charities. Those include the U-S Holocaust Memorial Museum and the United Negro College Fund.

It called the lawsuit politically motivated … but said it’s happy the matter is resolved.

New York’s attorney general filed the lawsuit last year alleging Trump and his family illegally operated the foundation as an extension of his businesses and his presidential campaign.

Attorney General Letitia James called the court’s decision a “major victory” … though she initially asked for close to $3 million dollars in restitution.

Reporting for WORLD Radio, I’m Leigh Jones. 

Congolese warlord sentenced for war crimes, crimes against humanity » A notorious warlord in Congo learned his fate on Thursday. 

SOUND (ICC NATS-1): The International Criminal Court is now in session.

Earlier this year, the I-C-C found Bosco Ntaganda guilty on 18 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. That stemmed from his role as a military commander … overseeing atrocities in a bloody ethnic conflict in the early 2000s. 

On Thursday, the court handed it harshest ever sentence to Ntaganda. 

SOUND (ICC NATS-2): The overall sentence imposed on you shall therefore be 30 years of imprisonment. 

The court convicted the warlord, know as “The Terminator” … of crimes including murder, rape and sexual slavery. His victims included many children.

The court’s maximum sentence is 30 years, although judges also have the discretion to impose a life sentence. Lawyers representing victims in the case had called for a life term. Ntaganda does plan to appeal the sentence. 

Comedian John Crist cancels performances amid harassment allegations » Christian Comedian John Crist has canceled his tour and upcoming appearances … in response to a report accusing him of sexual harassment. WORLD Radio’s Sarah Schweinsberg reports. 

SARAH SCHWEINSBERG, REPORTER: John Crist is a popular comedian, and the son of a pastor. His jokes often poke fun at artifacts of evangelical culture … things like crowded church parking lots and celebrity pastors. He has millions of followers on social media and a Netflix special scheduled to debut later this month.

But this week, Crist canceled his upcoming performances … after admitting inappropriate behavior toward women. Crist said—quote … “Those closest to me—my family, team, and close friends—have known about this battle for some time, and now you do too.” He made the statement to Charisma News, which published accusations against him. Crist added … “I’m ashamed of my behavior, and I’m so sorry for hurting so many people.”

Reporting for WORLD Radio, I’m Sarah Schweinsberg.

MEGAN BASHAM, HOST: It’s Friday, November 8th, 2019. 

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

MARY REICHARD, HOST: I’m Mary Reichard.

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

We’ll add a fourth voice in just a moment, that of John Stonestreet, who’s back from a trip overseas.

It’s Culture Friday, and today we want to remember a towering intellect: Phillip Johnson, a law clerk for a Supreme Court justice, a law professor at U-Cal-Berkeley, a convert to Christianity, and a critic of Darwinian evolution. He had no training in science, but he did bring a lawyer’s logic to the premises and arguments upon which the architecture of Darwinism relies. Let’s hear Professor Johnson in his own words.

JOHNSON: If you ask these people, ‘How do you know that mutation and selection’—the Darwinian mechanisms—‘have the power to create complex organs?’, the answer they give will be some variation on, ‘well, everybody knows that. That’s common knowledge. We settled that long ago.’ All of these things that say, ‘We’ve just decided not to think about that, but simply to assume it.’ So that’s what a lawyer brings to this, is the ability to recognize things like that and bring them out in the open. And that’s of course why the outsider’s so unpopular with the insiders.

REICHARD: Phillip Johnson the outsider died this week at age 79.

WORLD honored him as Daniel of the Year in 2003 for his outsider crash of the Darwinian party. He was a notable champion of intelligent design, and as you said, Nick, a law professor. He applied legal tools of evidence to argue that the theory of evolution had tremendous holes in it. With its lack of logic and proof, he argued Darwinian evolution was really folly. He put his arguments into a book published in 1991 called Darwin on Trial.

EICHER: John Stonestreet is president of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Good morning, John.

JOHN STONESTREET, GUEST: Good morning.

REICHARD: John, what really strikes me about Johnson is that he wasn’t a scientist. Yet he wasn’t intimidated by widely accepted scientific expertise. He used his convictions based on Scripture and basic common sense to kind of say, hey, this emperor has no clothes. And he ended up sparking a movement that would eventually see lots of scientists who were experts backing up his argument.

What does his example tell us about how Christians ought to approach these cultural arguments today?

STONESTREET: I think the thing that strikes me most about Phillip Johnson is really two things. The first thing is that for many Christians that are academic professionals, the rules of the discipline stay in your lane and you can’t bring conclusions from other disciplines into your discipline and you can’t really speak outside of that unless you have a PhD. But as a person of faith, he understood that there was this unifying factor of Christ. So that meant that there was a way that a Christian worldview had to speak to every area of life. And you know, that’s one of the things that’s frustrating for many of us who critique Darwinian evolution is, is not even so much the evidence within the field itself, but its broad implications to other disciplines, especially to issues of morality and anthropology, what it means to be human and what that has to do with sexuality. And I mean all kinds of other things. And that’s really one of the areas that I think Johnson I know influenced Chuck Colson was this, look, if, if this is the story of world, this is the implication of morality. We don’t have a rock solid place to put our feet and to say, this is right and this is wrong. And because of that, it led him to kind of point to the emperor and say, look at emperor has no clothes. And at a time when really it was very unpopular to do so. And those that were doing, so we’re certainly kind of relegated, uh, outside of the scientific community in these kind of private interest groups. So that’s the first thing that that struck me. And in doing so, he really kind of undermined, I think, the key worldview challenge, which is something that, you know, Abraham Kuyper before him and James Orr before him, some of the fountain heads of worldview thinking brought up, which is, you know, at the end of the day, this is a battle between naturalism, uh, the vision of life that says, uh, that there’s nothing but natural forces and processes and work and supernaturalism that there’s something else bigger that’s guiding this whole process and writing the story of the world. And so he was one of those in that line. A second thing of course just had to do with courage. I mean I always go back and think, good heavens, this guy was at Cal Berkeley, Cal Berkeley. That’s not a place where you often, uh, expect the uh, the, the scientific consensus or the, you know, the progressive consensus of the day to be questioned. And he inspired an awful lot of people because he was willing to do that.

BASHAM: John, this is Megan. I want to turn to another case of a bad argument. We heard what seems like a bit of a whopper from ABC this week. Good Morning America and 20/20 anchor Amy Robach was caught on a hot mic complaining that she had the goods on convicted sex offender and alleged under-age sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein three years ago. But ABC management decided to spike the story. 

Let’s listen to Robach.

ROBACH: I’ve had the story for three years. I’ve had this interview with Virginia Roberts. We would not put it on the air. First of all, I was told, ‘Who’s Jeffrey Epstein? No one knows who that is. This is a stupid story.’ … She told me everything. She had pictures. She had everything. She was in hiding for 12 years. We convinced her to come out. We convinced her to talk to us … Brad Edwards, the attorney, three years ago, saying, like, ‘There will come a day when we will realize Jeffrey Epstein was the most prolific pedophile this country has ever known.’ I, I had it all, three years ago.

EICHER: Wow, I just want to reiterate, if what Robach said on that tape is accurate, ABC not only had a credible accuser willing to go on record, but they had other women who would corroborate her claims, as well as photos to back her up.

ABC and Robach quickly put out a statement claiming that they didn’t air the interview with Epstein’s victim because Robach, quoting here, “could not obtain sufficient corroborating evidence to meet ABC’s editorial standards about her allegation.”

BASHAM: Yes, and that’s frankly difficult for me to believe because as plenty of critics are pointing out, the network was perfectly willing to air stories and interviews with Brett Kavanaugh’s accusers based on much weaker evidence.

And you know, this follows on the heels of NBC burying similar stories on big Hollywood movie producer and alleged rapist Harvey Weinstein in 2017. So that’s two of the big three legacy broadcasters caught seeming to protect powerful–and maybe I should add politically-connected–predators.

Now, John, it seems like there are plenty of Bible verses that would tell us we shouldn’t be at all surprised by this kind of thing. But you have to wonder, first, what will be the fallout for American journalism as a whole after these scandals?

STONESTREET: I mean, it kind of is hard to believe that American journalism can become more disreputable than it already is. But I think this is an additional blow, um, to it because, you know, look there’s this kind of pride and wokeness, uh, particularly in standing up for victims. And this is taking the form of Me Too. But look, it was the center of progressive cultural power that was hiding this for so long. It was what was happening in DC and what was happening in Hollywood and New York. I mean, you, and in these industries, journalism, uh, entertainment and so on that was hiding, uh, this bad behavior, uh, you know, from the most notorious of offenders between Epstein and Weinstein. So it’s a, it’s a huge fallout. It’s a huge credibility, uh, scandal. And, and,  what you hear though is kind of these organizations go on without apology. Everybody’s expected to issue an apology and then no one’s supposed to believe it. But the only people not expected somehow to issue an apology or those that were complicit with the things that literally, you know, lifted the lid on this, uh, incredible, these incredible stories of sexual mistreatment. And so I think we should call our institutions to better behavior. We shouldn’t let them get away with it. Um, and I think they’re going to see this, their ongoing credibility uh hurt heard even more.

REICHARD: And then, two, what can Christians who do journalism take from it? I mean, this seems like opportunity served up on a silver platter for those of us in Christian journalism.

STONESTREET: We got to play by different rules, but that’s always been the case. Um, you know, this is why I, I, if we go back to Philip Johnson, he was willing to break the rules that were embraced in the discipline, because he realized that the rules were underscored by a worldview that was not true. And you start with the worldview of what Christianity says for the world, and it affects every area of life. And it should give us different rules for Christian journalism as well. Uh, first of all, not to think that there are some good guys and some bad guys. As Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn said, the line of good and evil, right runs right down the, you know, the middle of every human heart. And  to not say that, you know, that, uh, our side needs to be protected, uh, otherwise we’re gonna lose quote unquote the culture war because we actually need to remember that the battle ultimately belongs to the Lord. We have to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time, uh, and be able to point out problems on our side as well as on the other side, whatever, you know, ours and other actually mean. So in every area of life, uh, the Christian worldview gives us different rules to play by. And when we see the failure from other worldviews to properly ground behavior, uh, from journalist or scientist or whatever else we want to point to, we should be really careful to rethink not only how we behave, but also what it is that’s guiding our thinking about the work that we do.

BASHAM: Well. And you know, talking about not covering up for people on our side, there was a big breaking story just in the last two days. Christian comedian John Crist and some sexual misconduct there. And it sounds like John, maybe some people did cover up for him because they saw him as one of our own.

STONESTREET: You know, as the story breaks and I think it’s still a, you know, being uncovered, but the story that came out in Charisma Magazine pointed out that, yeah, I mean, a whole lot of people knew about, um, the, uh, the behavior of John Crist. And some of them disassociated themselves but did not actually play that role of the Christian brother that we need to play.  Especially in when we’re talking about someone who is so public. I mean, that’s what we’ve seen with high profile pastors is that people knew, but they didn’t want to, you know, harm the mission or harm the ministry. And John, Crist’s, you know, the case, I don’t know if it was harm the ministry or harm the bottom line, I don’t know. But I, but I do know, again, we got to play by different rules. We can’t just protect our own selves. And here’s the thing that we’re seeing consistently over and over and over again in these stories. And, and if the Charisma account of this is accurate, here’s what we’re seeing is that people are disassociating themselves, shaking their heads, and then retreating into their own, you know, next plans for whatever their work is. We’re not running to the victims. And, um, throughout history, Christians have always had the most powerful cultural witness and done what Jesus did when we run to the victims. Uh, and so yeah, there are victims. Everyone knew there were victims, but people weren’t running to them. And in that case, what ends up happening, effectively— and that’s what we’re seeing coming out of major, you know, scandals out of big denominations and this ongoing work of Rachael Denhollander and others to point out, we have to run to the victims. and that’s something that Jesus would do. It’s something that we have to do as well.

EICHER: John Stonestreet is president of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. John, thanks so much.

STONESTREET: Thank you.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Here’s some news that might help you get out of a jam … especially if you have some jam or some jelly, and you’ll get my meaning in a minute.

At the University of Alaska, officials there have an innovative program for satisfying parking tickets. You can pay cash, check, credit card … or as campus parking services officer Glenna Muny told television station KTUU … you can pay with a good old PB&J.

You might ask why peanut butter and jelly? That was actually identified by the food bank as food bank gold.

That’s right, students can pay their parking tickets by donating food. Freshman student Gracie O’Farrel thinks it’s a great idea.

O’FARREL: It’s absolutely amazing because I haven’t paid them and I have like $150 bucks due.

MEGAN BASHAM, HOST: That’s nuts!

EICHER: Yeah! Peanuts. Five 16-ounce jars of jelly or peanut butter gets parking violators a $60 credit. And the food bank gets all of it to help students in need.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Friday, November 8th. 

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

Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

MEGAN BASHAM, HOST: And I’m Megan Basham.

Next on The World and Everything in It, a new romantic comedy that I think will help you get into the holiday spirit.

NOW, among the many genres that have suffered in our age of superhero domination, perhaps none has been harder hit than the romantic comedy. Films like You’ve Got Mail, Love, Actually, and The Holiday were once yuletide staples. These days, fans of lighthearted love stories have to look to the Hallmark Channel for all those Christmas feels. I’d be the last person to discourage binge-watching from the couch while sipping hot cocoa. But the writing, acting, and production values of made-for-TV movies usually aren’t quite the same as a theatrical release.

If anyone can bring holiday romance back to the big screen in a big way, it’s screenwriter and actress Emma Thompson. She not only co-wrote her latest, Last Christmas, she steals every scene she’s in as domineering, immigrant mother, Petra. 

As the story opens, we learn that Petra and her husband had to flee war-torn Yugoslavia for Britain with their two daughters.

Flash forward 15 or so years and the youngest daughter Katarina has changed her name to Kate. She’s also picked up some decadent habits while living in her wealthy adopted country.

DOCTOR: Are you keeping up with the fruit and veg?

KATE: Yeah, fine.

PETRA: She is eating rubbish when she is outside; when she is at home she is eating my food and is good.

DOCTOR: What about sleep?

KATE: It’s all right.

PETRA: She never sleeps.

DOCTOR: Exercise?

KATE: Religiously.

PETRA: Not at all.

DOCTOR: Alcohol?

KATE: Every once in a while.

PETRA: She is drinking like the pirate.

DOCTOR: You say you’re OK and your mother says the opposite. Who do I believe?

KATE: Me, obviously.

PETRA: The mother, of course.

DOCTOR: Alright, alright.

We don’t see Kate being promiscuous, but we know that she is from the morning-after effects of her behavior. This, along with some language, gives the movie it’s PG-13 rating. But the movie portrays this as all of a piece with her other bad choices. She also drinks to excess, eats nothing but fast food, and treats her friends and family with selfish disregard. Then she meets Tom, played by Crazy Rich Asians’ dashing lead, Henry Golding.

TOM: I really enjoyed our walk today.

KATE: Ditto.

TOM: Would you like to repeat the experience?

KATE: Would you like to give me your number?

TOM: I don’t have a phone.

KATE: I was just beginning to think you’re not as weird as you look.

TOM: Before you throw me in the bin with the rest of your battered conquests, it’s not completely true. I do have a phone. It’s just locked in a cupboard.

KATE: Why?

TOM: Well, I got tired of staring at my hand all day. I mean, you should try it.

KATE: That’s like saying you should try death.

TOM: I think somebody really wants to get a hold of you.

KATE: Yeah, I know, and someone really isn’t going to get the chance. No.

TOM: Ditch that, and all of your stress will just melt away.

KATE: Oh, but I just like stress.

DRIVER: Oy, you getting on?

KATE: Yeah.

TOM: Your chariot awaits.

KATE: Indeed.

Refreshingly, this prince charming isn’t wealthy or famous. He’s just a sweet bike messenger with an especially important message for Kate: Stop worrying about figuring out who you are and start worrying about how much of yourself you’re giving to others.

Unlike most romantic comedies, almost nothing in Kate’s life changes to make her happy. Except that under Tom’s influence, she begins to treat people with more generosity. She starts volunteering in a homeless shelter and takes her lonely mother out on the town. Meanwhile, her relationship with Tom unfolds almost solely in long walks through nighttime London. Their physical affection is limited to brief kisses and hand-holding.

Emilia Clarke may be best-known for playing a warrior princess on Game of Thrones. But as she proves here, she’s shaping up to be, perhaps, the most winsome actress of her generation. Even when the story lags, she lights up the screen with her crinkle-eyed smile. Aside from some silly scenes with her boss who runs a Christmas store and brief pro-LGBT messaging through another minor character, it doesn’t lag often though.

Those who don’t enjoy the above-mentioned Hallmark Christmas movies might find it all a bit cloying. But the nicely acidic jokes land often enough to off-set the sweetness.

TOM: That is truly horrific. I mean, who buys this stuff?

KATE: Santa. She’s Chinese so she’s got access to some really freaky outlets. She just loves Christmas more than anything else.

TOM: More than taste or sanity.

KATE: Yes exactly. And that isn’t even the nastiest thing we sell.

TOM: Inconceivable.

KATE: Hang on. Check it out.

TOM: What is it? Is that donkey actually smiling at me?

KATE: Yeah, and that baby has a full set of teeth. I sold four of these last week, I’m that good.

TOM: Oh it’s a technomanger.

KATE: It’s a disco nativity scene.

Same goes for a few moments that threaten to turn political. Just when it feels like themes about welcoming the stranger are going to go from universal to pushing an agenda about Brexit, Thompson comes in with a zinger. She hilariously reminds us it’s human nature to blame others for our problems. As if to underscore the open-armed nature of the story, no one, not even a xenophobic ranter, is ultimately left out in the cold.

Thankfully, it does little to diminish the overall feeling Last Christmas leaves us with—good will toward men.

MEGAN BASHAM, HOST: Today is Friday, November 8th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Megan Basham.

NICK EICHER, HOST: I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. It’s time now for your listener feedback!

EICHER: Alright, let’s jump right in with a few corrections. 

I’ll start with the misidentification of an interviewee. About a month ago, we referred to Alberto Fernandez as the former U.S. Ambassador to Syria. That’s not right. He was a diplomat in Syria. And also was a U.S ambassador, but it was to the nation of Equatorial Guinea.

REICHARD: I was the one who said that, and while I’m on a roll here, on Monday’s Legal Docket, I said Paul Clement sounded like Jimmy Stewart, but it was actually Malcolm Stewart speaking. Too bad, because the real name fit the comparison better! 

BASHAM: Yeah, and I’ve got one, too. I referred to Martyn Lloyd-Jones as a Scottish pastor, but several listeners pointed out he was actually a Welsh pastor.

REICHARD: Smart listeners!

EICHER: And for our last correction, …I’ll do my best impression of Rod Serling …well, let’s just let the master host say it himself: 

“Submitted for your approval, one Max Phillips, who is soon to discover that man is not as wise as he thinks. Said lesson to be learned, in the Twilight Zone.

… This is Dan Beatty calling from Huntsville, Alabama. Been a long time since I’ve called, but I haven’t missed you guys listen up as often as I can. I’ll see you in Nashville, too. 

And just a small thing. But Paul Butler made me smile and laugh this morning. Paul, Paul, Paul, Paul, you may indeed have a silvery voice, but Mr. Sterling was never the host of The Twilight Zone. Love what y’all do. See you in Nashville.

EICHER: Well, two good points there. First, he’s right, Rod Serling was host of The Twilight Zone. I knew that. And second, come along with Dan and see us in Nashville on November 21st! 

REICHARD: Yeah, tickets are free, but you need to reserve your seat because space is limited. Go to worldandeverything-dot-org, hover over the engage tab, and click “events” from the dropdown menu. You’ll find all the details there. 

BASHAM: Yeah, really looking forward to seeing everyone there! Well, next up, we have an email from Scott Cottrill. He said he appreciated Al Mohler’s message on complementarianism, but Scott thought he didn’t take it far enough. In his opinion, “it’s the doctrine of patriarchy [in the evangelical church] that has led to abuse of women.” And he says he thinks that’s happened because of teaching that claims men are “more equal” than women, which has led to male domination in some Christian circles. 

EICHER: And now back to our listener feedback line. Mark Putney is a cattle rancher and farmer in northeast Iowa. He called in to take issue with a statement in our recent story about the trend of meatless burgers.

One of the people that were being interviewed talked about how going to vegan is better for the environment, and there’s just a lot of misinformation out there regarding that. Cattle are actually really really good environmentally friendly conservation tool that God has provided. … Obviously we are very concerned about the environment. It is God’s land that we get the steward for the time that we have on this Earth. And so, we take that very seriously. And I don’t think that there’s a cattle producer out there that that would say that they want to destroy their land.

EICHER: Well, Mark, you weren’t alone in calling or writing about that. The source in our story was explaining why meat alternatives have become so trendy. Concern about the environment was just one issue she mentioned. But it certainly was the most controversial. And we probably shouldn’t have let it go unchallenged.

REICHARD: But, hey, that gives us the opportunity for another story!

BASHAM: That’s right! 

OK, next we have a call from listener Paul Clark from Greer, South Carolina. He called in after hearing our segment on false accusations of racism at a Christian school in Virginia.

I would say after my time alone with the Lord in the morning, my highlight of the day is getting to listen to The World and Everything broadcast every morning on my way into work. Really appreciate the balance that you all bring to a Christian worldview and especially against the the noise that we get in the the regular media out. And no better example, I think than the interview that I heard Nick and Mary do on Friday of this past week with Jesse Johnson from Immanuel Bible Church. Such a terrible story. But what a beautiful biblical balance of forgiveness and grace and truth. And so I just really want to thank you and the team for never stopping speaking the truth in love for us.

REICHARD: And here’s a tweet from listener Brooke Medina. I remember meeting her at our Raleigh event back in the Spring! She said:

In a time when ABC, NBC, and New York Times give us many reasons to question their trustworthiness, World News Group provides reliable, reputable news. And I highly recommend their half hour morning podcast.

EICHER: Before we go, I’d also like to read an iTunes review for The Olasky Interview. This one says the program features “interviews with real people” who have “humble attitudes despite their impressive credentials.” 

And specifically this reviewer points to the interview with author Min Jin Lee as a favorite and says it “prompted me to listen to her book,” which was “excellent.” 

BASHAM: Yeah, and remember all those Season 1 episodes are still available, if you haven’t had a chance to check them out. And do that soon, because we have more on the way! We’re working on Season 2 now. That’ll release in 2020. 

REICHARD: Now if you’d like to get in touch with us, you can email feedback-at-worldandeverything-dot-com. Or you can call our listener feedback line at 202-709-9595.

Please also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Well, that wraps up another week and it’s time to thank the folks who put it all together: 

Joel Belz, Paul Butler, Kent Covington, Kristen Flavin, Kim Henderson, Anna Johansen, Leigh Jones, Trillia Newbell, Onize Ohikere, Sarah Schweinsberg, Cal Thomas, John Vence, Steve West, and Emily Whitten.

MEGAN BASHAM, HOST: Audio engineers Johnny Franklin and Carl Peetz stay up late to get the program to you early. Managing Editor J-C Derrick and editor-in-chief Marvin Olasky keep all of us on track.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Proverbs teaches above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. 

We’ll be back on Monday, Lord willing, and we hope you have a restful weekend.

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