Lukewarm Churches, Renting Barbecue Friends & the Dark Night of the Soul

The Common Good Podcast · Jul 14, 2026 · 59m

In Russia, you can now rent a barbecue companion for $15 to $65 a day — jokes and anecdotes included, no lasting friendship expected. Brian From opens with that story as a window into something both funny and genuinely heartbreaking about the loneliness epidemic. Then a personal story: getting pulled over late at night with his son in the car, expired plates, and the surprisingly rich spiritual parallel — what happens when those lights come on behind you, and do you repent or make excuses? Former congressman Ben Sass is walking his terminal cancer diagnosis publicly and with…