The Russell Moore Show

What if the most important questions people are asking about Christianity are no longer about whether it's true, but whether it can make sense of their lives? ⁠Watch this conversation on YouTube  When Alister McGrath arrived at Oxford as a young atheist, he assumed Christianity was on its way out. He wasn't alone in that assumption. For much of the past century, the prevailing idea among intellectuals was that science and reason would eventually make religious belief obsolete. But McGrath ended up becoming a Christian, and over the decades since, he's noticed something interesting in his conversations with students. Where skeptics once came to him convinced that Christianity was intellectually indefensible, many now come wondering whether it might offer something that secularism hasn't been able to provide. Russell Moore has been reading McGrath since he was a teenager, and his books have occupied a good deal of space in Russell's library ever since. A theologian, scientist, and one of the world's leading Christian apologists, McGrath has spent decades thinking about the relationship between faith and reason. His new book, Rethinking Christianity: A Thoughtful Guide to a Life-Changing Faith (out October 27), grows out of years of conversations with people trying to figure out what they believe and why. Together, Russell and McGrath discuss whether renewed interest in Christianity amounts to anything like revival, why artificial intelligence is raising questions about human dignity, and what Christians can learn from C. S. Lewis and the remarkable growth of Pentecostalism around the world. It's a conversation about the limits of argument, the importance of empathy, and the possibility that the Christian faith offers not simply a set of answers but a place to belong. Keep up with Russell: Subscribe to Russell on Substack Sign up for the weekly Moore to the Point newsletter  Submit a question for the show at [email protected]  Subscribe to the Christianity Today Magazine: Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: Click here for 25% off a subscription. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What would we learn if we listened to the people who have left our churches? ⁠Watch this conversation on YouTube  Emilee Hackney had never written a book before. She doesn’t have a substack or a social media following, nor does she write op-eds for the New York Times or The Atlantic. But her debut memoir, All That’s Unseen, has become a New York Times bestseller, was named a finalist for the 2026 Southern Book Prize, and had feature reviews in the Wall Street Journal, Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and more.  The topic? Appalachia, faith, poverty, and her journey from Virginia coal country to Harvard.  Remarkably–despite having left the Christian faith as an adult–Hackney doesn’t speak poorly of the church, instead she remembers the beauty and freedom she experienced growing up in a Pentecostal tradition. And yet, she recounts the devastating failure of that same community when she found herself in an abusive relationship as a teenager engaged to an older man.  Hackney’s story is indeed complex, but familiar for so many of us who once had genuine spiritual experiences in a church home, but were failed by that same community when it seemed to really matter. While some continue in the Christian faith despite the devastation, many choose to leave. You might know some of them. You might be one of them. This shared experience is part of what drew Russell to Hackney’s story, especially with her tone of hospitality and high regard for a tradition in which she experienced great devastation.  Emilee joined Russell from her office in Virgina, with a Dolly Parton poster peeking over one shoulder, and a Loretta Lynn poster above the other. Their conversation spreads from church hurt to class and belonging, even to parenthood. Through it all, Emilee resists the invitation to dilute or flatten Appalachia, her family, or even the church that wounded her into something easily dismissed. Instead, she asks what it might mean to see the people and places we think we already understand.     Keep up with Russell: Subscribe to Russell on Substack Sign up for the weekly Moore to the Point newsletter  Submit a question for the show at [email protected]  Subscribe to the Christianity Today Magazine: Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: Click here for 25% off a subscription. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From the Moore to the Point newsletter: A system that scares you can sometimes keep you compliant, but whatever can ultimately direct your life is your god. Watch the episode here. Keep up with Russell: Sign up for the weekly newsletter where Russell shares thoughtful takes on big questions, offers a Christian perspective on life, and recommends books and music he's enjoying. Subscribe to the Christianity Today Magazine: Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: Click here for 25% off a subscription. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From the Moore to the Point newsletter: AI tech bros seem like awful, broken people. And they might be telling us the truth. Watch the episode here. Keep up with Russell: Sign up for the weekly newsletter where Russell shares thoughtful takes on big questions, offers a Christian perspective on life, and recommends books and music he's enjoying. Subscribe to the Christianity Today Magazine: Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: Click here for 25% off a subscription. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From the Moore to the Point newsletter: The Joker Is Our Spiritual Director Now Watch the episode here. Keep up with Russell: Sign up for the weekly newsletter where Russell shares thoughtful takes on big questions, offers a Christian perspective on life, and recommends books and music he's enjoying. Subscribe to the Christianity Today Magazine: Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: Click here for 25% off a subscription. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do you have what it takes to thrive in the era of AI? Watch the video of this episode on YouTube Playlist We talk a lot about AI on this show. And at a time when everyone is questioning the ethics of it all, David Brooks is more interested in what kind of people we should be no matter what happens with AI. His latest for The Atlantic, “The People Who Will Thrive in the AI Age” starts with a comforting bit of research: AI is not necessarily taking our jobs or lessening our workloads. Instead, it’s changing the way we relate to our work. And, the way we respond to this change will have more to do with our success in an AI era than anything else. Brooks says that the future doesn’t belong to those who optimize every task, but to those who continue pursuing the uniquely human work of enthusiasm and volition. If you’ve been wondering what kind of person will succeed in the onslaught of AI technology, how to be the kind of person that weathers the perceived storm, or what the development of AI means for the modern Christian: this conversation is for you.  Resources mentioned in the episode: “The People Who Will Thrive in the AI Age” by David Brooks What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami The Hungry Mind: The Origins of Curiosity in Childhood by Susan Engel Keep up with Russell: Subscribe to Russell on Substack Sign up for the weekly Moore to the Point newsletter  Submit a question for the show at [email protected]  Subscribe to the Christianity Today Magazine: Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: Click here for 25% off a subscription. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What would it look like if Christians were known less for winning political battles and more for being good neighbors? ⁠Watch this conversation on YouTube . And now for something a little different! On the occasion of Lee C. Camp’s paperback release of his book Scandalous Witness, he invited Russell to interview him for his own podcast, No Small Endeavor. Since the conversation included topics like Christian nationalism, how Christians have been neighbors both good AND bad, and how Christian witness can actually recover some humility, it felt appropriate to share the episode here too. This conversation explores what it would mean if, in this divided and exhausted era, Christians (and others) stopped despairing and allowing themselves to be held captive to tribes and ideologies, and instead, actually did the patient work of loving God and neighbor. Keep up with Russell: Subscribe to Russell on Substack Sign up for the weekly Moore to the Point newsletter  Submit a question for the show at [email protected]  Subscribe to the Christianity Today Magazine: Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: Click here for 25% off a subscription. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices