The Jim Wallis Podcast

On this episode of the Jim Wallis Podcast, Jim Wallis speaks with Melissa Rogers, former executive director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships under President Obama, about the opening of the Obama Presidential Center and what it means for moral values, leadership, hope, democracy, and faith in public life.Rogers describes the Center as a living work, not simply a museum, one that highlights dignity, empathy, bridge-building, religious freedom, and the importance of bringing people together across differences. The conversation also connects Obama’s legacy to current challenges, asking how courage, love, conscience, and the refusal to weaponize religion can guide the country forward.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Leadership expert and former Medtronic CEO Bill George joins Jim Wallis to talk about what he calls “the most difficult time to be a leader” in his lifetime, as Minneapolis faces an “invasion… of 3,000 ICE agents.” He describes children being taken off the streets, small businesses forced to close, and thousands of neighbors peacefully stepping up to protect one another. Although the Trump administration now touts a ‘smaller, more focused’ presence in Minnesota, federal judges have documented hundreds of violations of court‑ordered releases, migrants in active legal proceedings are still being detained and stripped of their documents, and DHS’s quiet tactical tweaks have done little to change a system that remains lawless, unaccountable, and brutal in practice.Jim and Bill explore what “true north” leadership looks like in this crisis, why “the test of any leader is what you do in a crisis,” and how ordinary people are being called to lead with “purpose, values, and courage” in the face of fear and intimidation.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

John Carr joins Jim Wallis to look back on five decades at the intersection of faith, politics, Catholic social teaching, and public life. From working with bishops, presidents, and popes to launching Georgetown’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life, John has spent 50 years helping people connect what they say they believe with what they do in the world.​He tells stories of pressing President Obama with Matthew 25 to protect “the least of these,” explains why human dignity, solidarity, and the common good offer an alternative to our “deeply broken, almost meltdown” politics, and proposes replacing a “sanity caucus” with a dignity caucus that puts the image of God at the center of public life. John also speaks candidly about surviving clergy sexual abuse, living 20 years in recovery from alcoholism, and what the serenity prayer, community, and Catholic social teaching have taught him about vocation, conversion, and courage in this moment.​See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jim Wallis talks with Minnesotan civic leader and Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative CEO Chris LaTondresse about how neighbors are stepping up amid ICE crackdowns, killings, and the climate of fear in Minnesota. From overnight vigils and mutual aid to churches inside security perimeters, they explore what it means to “bear witness,” follow a higher law of loving our neighbors, and resist the normalization of cruelty and lies. Chris reflects on raising his sons just blocks from active enforcement, his formation as a missionary kid in post-Soviet Russia, and why Minnesota has become “the beating heart of the nation” in the struggle for truth, decency, and democracy. Together, they invite people of faith and conscience everywhere to reclaim civic trust, rebuild community, and remember that “we the people” — not any political party or charismatic leader — will save America by showing up for one another.​See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Minnesota is mourning. These days, Minnesota has become ground zero in a national immigration battle, with ICE deployments escalating under the second Trump administration. Just days ago, a community volunteer observer, Renee Nicole Goode, was shot and killed by an ICE agent while aiding immigrants, unleashing both heartbreak and “absolute terror and chaos” in immigrant communities.​Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan, running for the U.S. Senate, joins Jim Wallis to explain what is happening on the ground, how Minnesotans and multi-faith leaders are responding, and why she calls this a Matthew 25 moment. She contrasts that faith-rooted resistance with the politics of mass deportations, including her critique of Rep. Angie Craig’s vote for the Laken Riley Act and Democrats who “praise ICE” while immigrants are being kidnapped from school graduations.​See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Christian ethicist David Gushee joins Jim Wallis for a sobering Advent conversation on moral empathy in an age of school shootings, antisemitic violence, and Trump’s callous public rhetoric. They discuss the Hanukkah massacre in Australia, the Brown University shooting, Trump’s vile response to the murder of Rob Reiner and Michelle Singer, the rise of authoritarian reactionary Christianity, and how to resist moral numbness while practicing “healthy politics” and Kingdom-of-God ethics in a deeply polarized nation.​See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.