Ken welcomes back essayist, teacher, guidance counselor, and ordained minister Nathaniel Manderson from his home in Boston. Last Summer, Nate took thirty days to walk the 500 mile Camino do Santiago pilgrimage tradition says was taken by St. James, the Apostle. It's the same journey memorialized by the Emilio Estevez film starring his father, Martin Sheen called The Way. Nate shares his remarkable journey - the prompting to go, the people he met, lessons along the way, and the intensely emotional climax that final day as he entered the Cathedral de Santiago de Compostela (consecrated in 1211 C.E.) Just a few days before their conversation, Nate's most recent opinion piece was published in the Boston Globe entitled Democrats: Let Me (Re)Introduce You to the Working Class. Even with his advanced academic degrees, he considers himself a member of that working class. Nate is a contributor to the popular news site SALON. His author page makes the introduction:

Nathaniel Manderson was educated at a conservative seminary, trained as a minister, ordained through the American Baptist Churches USA and guided by liberal ideals. Throughout his career he has been a pastor, a career counselor, an academic adviser, a high school English teacher and an advocate for first-generation and low-income students, along with a paper delivery man, a construction worker, a FedEx package handler and whatever else he could do to take care of his family.

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Ken welcomes writer, teacher, preacher and justice advocate, Jim Wallis. Rev. Wallis’ new book, The False White Gospel: Rejecting Christian Nationalism, Reclaiming True Faith, and Refounding Democracy is getting high marks and a wide reading. It’s a timely and prophetic challenge in an era of polarization and worse, the advancement in America of what Jim calls an heretical version of The Gospel. Wallis calls this a “Bonhoeffer moment.” Silence is not an option. Ken and Jim reminisce over their days together at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School where they both earned a Master of Divinity degree. The famed Carl F. H. Henry influenced them both. In 1973, Henry and Wallis framed The Chicago Declaration along with other prominent evangelical signatories, a document that rings true to this very day. Jim has authored more than a dozen books. He is founder and served as chief editor of Sojourner’s Magazine. Today, he holds the prestigious Chair in Faith and Justice at Georgetown University in Washington DC named for his friend Bishop Desmund Tutu. In a wide-ranging conversation, they talk about Wallis’ journey since those seminary days, putting him in the center of the Civil Rights movement, appearing over the years as a regular on CNN, MSNBC, The Today Show, and many other major outlets as a Social Action alternative to the infamous Religious Right. Ken asks Jim why he still considers himself an “evangelical.” Jim shares inside stories about his many friends - Ron Sider, Ron Dellums, Howard Thurman, John Lewis, Barack Obama, Jamie Raskin and many more. SHOW NOTES

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Ken welcomes historian, author, and media commentator Martyn Whittock from his home across the Pond just outside London. Martyn read Ken’s Substack series on Biblical Authority and reached out with some comments. It prompted this lively conversation - and led to another focus: Martyn’s article recently published in the UK - How US Evangelicals Could Affect the Entire World. Whittock, a licensed minister in the Church of England, is a self-described “Evangelical.” For years, he has been a student of American Evangelicalism. He gives us a fascinating insight into the differences between our two countries: in America - the preponderance of MAGA Evangelicals, and in Britain - a very different sort of evangelical. Martyn expresses his deep concern over the prospect of a second term for the 45th President not only for the USA. He believes a second Trump Presidency will have an egregious adverse effect on Europe and the entire world. He explains this in considerable detail. Then, Ken asks Martyn about two recent appearances on British television as a history specialist. In the first, Martyn comments on the recent terror attack in Moscow that killed over one hundred in a large theater. In the second, he is asked about the Princess of Wales and the conspiracy theories that surrounded her hospital stay and absence from public life. You can see those clips by clicking on the links. SHOW NOTES

Martyn Whittock on British TV: CBN LIVE on The Princess of Wales | Talk TV with Trisha Goddard on the Moscow Terror Attack (11-22 minutes into the program)

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