Latest / Culture Brief - Christian perspectives on the week's biggest news, sports & pop-culture stories / Cultural shockwave of Charlie Kirk’s death, America divided, free speech debate, viral revival, Robert Redford & Larry Ellison | Ep. 37

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Cultural shockwave of Charlie Kirk’s death, America divided, free speech debate, viral revival, Robert Redford & Larry Ellison | Ep. 37 · Culture Brief - Christian perspectives on the week's biggest news, sports & pop-culture stories

0:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Hi, I'm Connor Jones, and I'm Mike Atama Sella, and this is Culture Brief, a Dinosaur form podcast where we navigate the constant stream of top stories and news, politics, sports, pop culture and technology, and we're doing it all from a Christian perspective.
0:17
[SPEAKER_01]: Mike, it's been a big week, lots going on, you want to just give us a rundown of what we're going to be hitting on today.
0:22
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I do.
0:23
[SPEAKER_00]: So obviously, the biggest story is surrounding Charlie Kirk's assassination.
0:27
[SPEAKER_00]: We touched on it briefly last week.
0:29
[SPEAKER_00]: We're really going to dive deeply into all of the angles this week.
0:32
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to give you cultural responses to Charlie Kirk's assassination.
0:35
[SPEAKER_00]: The latest on the investigation and official responses, the division that we're seeing in America, political violence, security going forward for public figures who are worried about their safety now, firing's across the nation that we're seeing in the free speech arguments that are coming from it.
0:50
[SPEAKER_00]: his impact through his death, the impact that we're seeing through Charlie Kirk's death has been nothing short of astounding.
0:57
[SPEAKER_00]: And then we're going to give you a couple hot takes, more top headlines, and even more than that.
1:02
[SPEAKER_00]: So let's jump into the brief.
1:04
[SPEAKER_00]: The brief.
1:06
[SPEAKER_00]: All right.
1:07
[SPEAKER_00]: So I just want to give you the latest on the investigation revolving around Charlie Kirk and the assassination.
1:15
[SPEAKER_00]: So, one week after the assassination of conservative influence or Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on September 10, the picture is much clearer.
1:26
[SPEAKER_00]: Tyler Robinson, 22, has now formally charged with aggravated murder and a slate of other offenses with prosecutors announcing they will seek the death penalty.
1:37
[SPEAKER_00]: So according to the charging documents Robinson was apprehended on September 11th, after a spoiler recognized him in photos released by the authorities.
1:46
[SPEAKER_00]: We've learned more about kind of what happened in the Robinson household.
1:50
[SPEAKER_00]: Those kind of 36 hours that it took for him to turn himself in and get captured.
1:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, and so his father recognized him in the photos that were released by authorities at all of a saw when everybody, you know, and there was this massive man hunt.
2:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Utah Governor Spencer Cox confirmed that detail last week, Robinson's father told investigators that when his wife showed him the surveillance image of the suspected shooter on the news, he immediately agreed it looked like their son, and he knew it was his son.
2:17
[SPEAKER_00]: When he called Tyler the young man hinted that he planned to take his own life.
2:22
[SPEAKER_00]: but his parents persuaded him to meet them at their home.
2:25
[SPEAKER_00]: There, they confronted him directly and asked why he had done this.
2:30
[SPEAKER_00]: Robinson allegedly replied there is too much evil and the guy Charlie Kirk spreads too much hate.
2:37
[SPEAKER_00]: The charging documents also note that Robinson's mother told investigators, her son had recently begun a relationship with his roommate, who is transitioning, and that he had grown more politically left leaning in the last couple of years, more pro-gay and transwrites oriented in her words specifically.
2:55
[SPEAKER_00]: authorities have not confirmed whether those views are Kirk's rhetoric on those issues, played any role in his decision, sure does seem like it though, but you know, you can't really confirm it until later.
3:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Prosecutors say DNA evidence ties Robinson directly to the rifle used along with a written note and messages in which he admitted his plan.
3:15
[SPEAKER_00]: So this was a big thing yesterday, unless you were under a rock, you got to see kind of yesterday afternoon that
3:25
[SPEAKER_00]: the entire text conversation between Tyler and his partner was leaked basically when the partner found out that Tyler had shot Charlie Kirk and how he was trying to get the rifle, how he had hit the rifle but he's trying to go get it and you know things like that and it just seemed like Tyler was worried about all the wrong things he was worried about.
3:45
[SPEAKER_00]: Getting the gun back to his, you know, it was his grandfather's gun or something like that and he was worried about oh, like if I lose this my dad's going to be upset Okay, what about he he's thinking he was going to get like he was going to escape like no one was ever going to figure out Yeah, it was him who did this which was Obviously he is not in the right place of mind, but yeah
4:06
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and he had said in those text exchanges that he had been planning it for a little over a week.
4:11
[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, how sometimes you hear people plant things for months, for years, seems like he, right now, seems like he just kind of made the decision somewhat on the fly, which is hard to believe, but then at the same time, when I see something like what he said in the text exchange about how he actually thinks he's going to get away with it.
4:29
[SPEAKER_00]: and how he didn't leave in a DNA and how the gun is the only thing that ties him to it, he just has to go get it and then he'll be scoffery, no one's mentioning him on the news.
4:37
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, okay, well, maybe you weren't really that prepared because you're not going to get away with this.
4:42
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't remember the last time anybody's gotten away with something like this, right?
4:46
[SPEAKER_00]: So, yeah, so anyway, he is being held without bail and a protective order bar sim from contacting Eric
4:54
[SPEAKER_00]: President Trump called the assassination a direct attack on America itself, and pledged swift justice while also noting the rise in political violence in recent years, he acknowledged it, including two attempts on his own life, which have happened and the murder of a Democratic lawmaker.
5:11
[SPEAKER_00]: He compared this moment to the turbulence of the late 1960s with JFK MLK.
5:16
[SPEAKER_00]: Erica Kirk has been the most powerful voice in this aftermath, no matter how you might feel about Charlie Kirk and who he was, whatever it might be, his wife, Erica has been incredible.
5:28
[SPEAKER_00]: And at turning point headquarters, she quoted Psalm 461, declaring, God is our refuge in strength of very present health and trouble, and promised her husband's mission would continue stronger, bolder and louder and greater than ever.
5:40
[SPEAKER_00]: The public memorial service for Charlie Kirk is being held on September 21st at the State Farm Stadium in Arizona, where the NFL's Cardinals play and is expected to draw one of the largest political and faith gatherings of the year.
5:53
[SPEAKER_00]: So the stadium seats just a little over 70,000.
5:55
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not as big as Jerry World.
5:58
[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't seat, you know, 100,000 like AT&T Stadium does, right?
6:01
[SPEAKER_00]: but there's definitely going to be people crowding up on the outside of it as well.
6:04
[SPEAKER_00]: So across the country, we've seen candlelight visuals and campus memorials that have already taken place.
6:09
[SPEAKER_00]: We've seen a mix of grief, worship, reflection in those, some random people, trying to be disrespectful, things like that, trying to destroy visuals or say, hateful things.
6:19
[SPEAKER_00]: But at the same time, we've seen misinformation and conspiracy theories swirl online.
6:25
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, of course,
6:27
[SPEAKER_00]: With false alarms about the shooter, his motives, the hours after the attack, authorities warned that while they're investigating Robinson's political shift, the exact motivation is not fully established as what authorities are saying, but you know, you can definitely put some of the pieces together.
6:43
[SPEAKER_00]: So anyway, there's the latest on the investigation corner.
6:46
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, that's thanks for that.
6:48
[SPEAKER_01]: There's still just so many moving pieces and so there was good that you summed up a lot of what we do know.
6:52
[SPEAKER_01]: And yeah, you're right, there are conspiracy theories and there's still a lot of questions.
6:56
[SPEAKER_01]: Everybody's trying to get their takes out there, get their thoughts on what really happened, who's really behind this all the stuff.
7:03
[SPEAKER_01]: I would just say give it time and let the authorities work, their stuff out and then let the DA put together their case, essentially.
7:10
[SPEAKER_01]: And yeah, the DA of Utah did come out.
7:13
[SPEAKER_01]: and say, I am, or the attorney general of Utah said I'm going to seek the death penalty in this.
7:18
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, they're going to go full force into this.
7:20
[SPEAKER_01]: Obviously, it's a massive, massive case.
7:23
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's one of the biggest things.
7:24
[SPEAKER_01]: It's probably ever happened in Utah.
7:26
[SPEAKER_00]: And what we do know, yes, for sure.
7:29
[SPEAKER_00]: And Utah, yeah.
7:31
[SPEAKER_00]: What we do know already a week later is actually kind of astounding.
7:35
[SPEAKER_00]: Uh, I do feel like we have more detail on something this high profile than I can remember in recent years.
7:43
[SPEAKER_00]: Like we're a week out and we have the text exchange.
7:46
[SPEAKER_00]: We know we seem to be able to start piecing together what those 36 hours after he shot Kirk looked like.
7:54
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, what's what the mom is saying, what the dad is saying, what they're telling authorities, what the grandma is saying, what the partner is saying.
8:01
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, uh, we have learned a lot already.
8:03
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just been a week.
8:05
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and, you know, I've seen several of the, like, Dan Bongino, the deputy director of the FBI has been on several media hits.
8:10
[SPEAKER_01]: Cashmeteals have been on media hits.
8:12
[SPEAKER_01]: They're like talking about the case openly on TV.
8:14
[SPEAKER_01]: And they always have the caveat of, we can't say everything because we have to protect it for the case or whatnot.
8:18
[SPEAKER_01]: But either way, they're still, they're still detailing all this stuff.
8:21
[SPEAKER_01]: There's a lot of transparency and you're right.
8:23
[SPEAKER_01]: I, for a high profile case like this, there's usually
8:26
[SPEAKER_01]: months or years before we find out a lot of the answers, and I do appreciate the transparency.
8:31
[SPEAKER_00]: I really do, you start to think about the motivation, I know that Republicans are going to try to flip this into some political momentum.
8:38
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I think that that's a part of it, you know what I mean?
8:42
[SPEAKER_00]: But at the same time, I am thankful for the transparency, our economy, what you got for us.
8:46
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I just want to I kind of want to break down all these cultural sponsors our culture has been just upended in the last week and so that's what we talk about here on culture brief what's going on in our culture will right obviously this jarring event took time to process it took a day or two to just even grasp what happened I mean last Wednesday
9:04
[SPEAKER_01]: We were able to hop on Wednesday night and give a little intro because we were like, we got to talk about this, but we were still just jarred by the events that had just happened a few hours earlier, and I think it will take time for our country to process, but also specifically those close to Charlie, but now that we've had kind of a weak to think through everything, it's now the part of the of the tragedy where people start to really bring out the knives and you see the after effects and the downstream effects of something like this taking place.
9:31
[SPEAKER_01]: where people start to say things.
9:32
[SPEAKER_01]: Society starts to react and all of that.
9:34
[SPEAKER_01]: So I just want to first and foremost say, there's just a recognition that there is a giant hole left in America now with Charlie Kirk's death.
9:42
[SPEAKER_01]: His influence was so big.
9:44
[SPEAKER_01]: I knew he was big and influential in Mike.
9:45
[SPEAKER_01]: I think you did too, but sometimes because we're so ingrained in politics and stuff, I think that certain political figures, and again, he was not an elected official, but he was politics was his life and what he did in his faith as well.
9:58
[SPEAKER_01]: But that's where his influence was.
10:01
[SPEAKER_01]: I wasn't even aware just how influential this guy was, but to see the response and that everybody in America pretty much knew him, at least to some extent because they seem on their social media feeds, all of that, man, what a fixture of just the social fabric of America.
10:16
[SPEAKER_01]: I really liked what Emily Jehinsky tweeted.
10:18
[SPEAKER_01]: She said Charlie Kirk is a fixture specifically of the Gen Z social media diet.
10:23
[SPEAKER_01]: People feel like they know him.
10:26
[SPEAKER_01]: and this is just his death is going to hit very, very close to home in ways that we're not prepared for.
10:30
[SPEAKER_01]: And it didn't matter which side of the aisle we're on, you probably still saw his videos debating.
10:36
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, whether somebody saying they really loved what he was saying or social media account saying this is evil or whatnot, you still saw his face.
10:43
[SPEAKER_01]: He just was that kind of figure.
10:45
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and he may very well have been responsible for bringing in the young voters that were needed to get Trump over the edge in 2024 Wall Street Journal said that he was a master of 21st century mass media and he was man.
10:56
[SPEAKER_01]: He just always on podcasts always on media He's the one who told Trump to go on podcasts in the last election cycle
11:02
[SPEAKER_01]: that probably help push him over the edge to win the election as well, just saying, hey, you got to get in this new media environment, get away from legacy television, just a dead thing for young readers.
11:12
[SPEAKER_01]: And then he, you know, he was always consulting Trump on things that young people, Trump would call him up and ask about the pulse of how young people would feel about certain policy positions, even global affairs.
11:21
[SPEAKER_01]: I know when Trump was considering bombing Iran, he called Charlie Kirk to ask what he thought because he knew Charlie Kirk represented
11:31
[SPEAKER_01]: uh... the white house press secretary kairlin love it said that the president's massive gains with the young americans across the country was in no small part because of the effort to charlie cart and turning point us a charlie's uh... organization right in binchapiro uh... also an influential right wing figure
11:47
[SPEAKER_01]: about 10 years senior of Charlie said that he thought Charlie would want to be the head of the RNC, the Republican National Convention, but that he was wrong instead Charlie ended up building something much bigger and far more important that's been to own words, right?
12:00
[SPEAKER_01]: So all these right wing influencers are very just recognizing how much Charlie mattered and a lot of them including Donald Trump himself said that they thought he would one day be president of the United States of America.
12:12
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
12:13
[SPEAKER_01]: which you know there's no way to know what was gonna happen and there's no way to know if you would ever pursue that but the idea that these people saw that potential in him just makes it sting a little bit differently because you're like man what what was left in his life that could have been done yeah and not just for America and for politics but for faith right and he was trying to start
12:30
[SPEAKER_01]: something big with schools and education, all I had found in turning point USA, faith, a whole different branch of the organization.
12:37
[SPEAKER_01]: So a lot there.
12:38
[SPEAKER_01]: And obviously, Charlie, whether you respected what he said or did not respect what he said, what you cannot deny is one.
12:45
[SPEAKER_01]: He was a big figure in public just speaking and free speech.
12:50
[SPEAKER_01]: But he also had an irreplaceable grit and work ethic, right?
12:54
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
12:54
[SPEAKER_01]: He was he had an irreplaceable ability to debate
12:59
[SPEAKER_01]: he had a deep understanding of the best formats the media formats to present that stuff whether it's on a campus or on a podcast radio or whatnot and man he was just he was just huge in that environment so now the question is how do you fill the shoes of someone like that that had this unbelievable reach an impact on American society and our electoral just voting population right how do you replace that and what happens to the movement
13:26
[SPEAKER_01]: you know, I think it's kind of a time now where a lot of people are trying to figure out how they carry this on, how they carry on Charlie's like see, and all that, and so even the New York Times, who is very left-leaning, they recognize that Kirk's death only crystallizes status as a mobilizing force, right?
13:33
[SPEAKER_01]: The response among supporters of Kirk is really they seem as a martyr, and they seem as a martyr, and they seem as a martyr, and they seem as a martyr, and they seem as a martyr, and they seem as a martyr, and they seem as a martyr, and they seem as a martyr, and they seem as a martyr, and they seem as a martyr, and they seem as a martyr, and they seem as a martyr, and they seem as a martyr, and they seem as a martyr, and they seem as a martyr, and they seem as a martyr, and they seem as a martyr, and they seem as a martyr, and they seem as a martyr, and they seem as a martyr, and
13:47
[SPEAKER_01]: And that his assassination is kind of a watershed moment that will propel their cause and cement both conservative values and conservative Christian values in American life for decades to come.
13:58
[SPEAKER_01]: That's in their own words.
13:59
[SPEAKER_01]: And so the question a lot of people are asking kind of in the vein of Charlie Kirk's organization is.
14:05
[SPEAKER_01]: is his assassination the turning point in America or a turning point whether for better or for worse is it going to cause more division or is this a point where a man there could be a turning point in revival in faith in conservative values or whatnot.
14:19
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean do you have initial thoughts, Micah?
14:22
[SPEAKER_00]: yeah i mean just surveying the landscape you know and i know you're kind of about to talk about some of the division in america and stuff like that but i mean obviously being on social media being on social media a lot is almost never a good thing i would say yeah almost never just because you you can try to build your algorithms by consuming what you want you know let's say you like
14:43
[SPEAKER_00]: So I mean, okay, like what's wrong with crafting on social media right like videos of people doing interior design or crafting or painting or projects like, but you just still can't fully control your algorithm, but being on social media has been one of the most destructive things that I did this last week after Charlie Kirk was assassinated.
15:03
[SPEAKER_00]: It left me feeling unsatisfied and hopeless every single time I left it for the most part, right?
15:11
[SPEAKER_00]: So that was really what struck me because everybody has a strong opinion or some people have no opinion whatsoever, and it's like why are you even?
15:21
[SPEAKER_00]: What are you saying?
15:22
[SPEAKER_00]: You're just talking because everybody else is talking or all of the clips that we're taking out a context or all of the people making it seem like he was perfect in the best guy ever.
15:32
[SPEAKER_00]: Nobody is that's no knock against him right.
15:35
[SPEAKER_00]: I just really saw the gambit in responses.
15:39
[SPEAKER_00]: and I did not leave feeling encouraged that we're going to learn much from this as far as our political divisions go.
15:47
[SPEAKER_00]: Can this unite a movement?
15:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Can this unite a movement?
15:50
[SPEAKER_00]: Can this bring be something that God uses for revival?
15:54
[SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.
15:55
[SPEAKER_00]: But as far as our divisions go, I wasn't left feeling very encouraged and I think that that's kind of my biggest takeaway from when you're kind of giving the responses from the left and right.
16:05
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I agree with that.
16:06
[SPEAKER_01]: It was kind of ugly out there on social media this week.
16:09
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's going to continue that way as people just argue about Charlie Perkin, whether he was a good person or a bad person.
16:14
[SPEAKER_01]: Just some of that does depend on just your political leanings, maybe your values, maybe your algorithms.
16:20
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, that's algorithms are really under fire right now for two things.
16:23
[SPEAKER_01]: One, the division of starring also the just auto play videos of his death that everybody was kind of
16:29
[SPEAKER_01]: subject to when they got on social media, all of the platforms were just unable to quickly put those videos down.
16:35
[SPEAKER_01]: So anyways, there's a lot to think about there.
16:39
[SPEAKER_01]: There's also been some hopeful things.
16:41
[SPEAKER_01]: There were a lot of people posting tributes to Charlie and they were trying to point back to Jesus a lot of influxer a lot of faithful people and then even later on, they would show all the people that unfollowed them.
16:52
[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of people with big following's lost thousands of followers
16:55
[SPEAKER_01]: they spoke out in memorial of Charlie, you know, I'm sure with the opposite way to people who spoke out in hatred of Charlie, I'm sure lost followers as well.
17:03
[SPEAKER_01]: So it's kind of just, yeah, you're right.
17:06
[SPEAKER_01]: There's the there's such a division on social media, but it goes beyond that.
17:09
[SPEAKER_01]: It goes into political violence, obviously that's the topic of conversation this week.
17:14
[SPEAKER_01]: There's been an uptick in political violence, even Trump, he called the Utah Governor Spencer Cox, who by the way,
17:20
[SPEAKER_01]: has been a really good leader in this just tragedy.
17:23
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know if you guys have seen the press conferences with him, but he's been a lot of great just yeah man.
17:29
[SPEAKER_01]: He's really trying to say get off social media.
17:31
[SPEAKER_01]: He's told everybody to go touch grass, let them do their jobs, try to unify you to be with your families all that.
17:37
[SPEAKER_01]: So he's doing a great job.
17:38
[SPEAKER_01]: But Trump called him,
17:39
[SPEAKER_01]: this week and even told him that this is the type of person that he said you know that the type of person who would want to do something like that to Charlie speaking of the assassination would love to do it to us talking to the governor and then Trump also told him statistics about
17:58
[SPEAKER_01]: just political violence and Trump told him that the presidency is actually one of the most dangerous jobs on the planet.
18:04
[SPEAKER_01]: 15% of the men who have held the office of President have been shot, 8% of them have been killed, which is kind of crazy.
18:12
[SPEAKER_01]: Again, it's just political violence is there.
18:15
[SPEAKER_01]: There's been other attempts on obviously Trump's life.
18:17
[SPEAKER_01]: There's been the
18:19
[SPEAKER_01]: assassination in Minnesota of the state lawmaker there has been a fire set to governor Shapiro in Pennsylvania's his house was set on fire in arson and then you know there's just so much happening it's reminiscent of 1968 that's the last time there's so many acts of official political violence since uh and and kind of a 14 month span so that was 1968 and we're kind of back there in a way and we'll see if it dies down and hopefully it does I hope there's no more political violence
18:46
[SPEAKER_01]: We don't need that.
18:47
[SPEAKER_01]: That is not the answer.
18:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I mean, because it'll just go back and forth.
18:53
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, we mentioned the Democratic lawmaker that got shot, that was killed.
18:59
[SPEAKER_00]: We mentioned that earlier this year too.
19:00
[SPEAKER_00]: That was really sad.
19:01
[SPEAKER_00]: It's done in a different way.
19:02
[SPEAKER_00]: It was in a more private way.
19:04
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's still awful.
19:05
[SPEAKER_00]: Kirk was literally assassinated in front of 3,000 people.
19:08
[SPEAKER_00]: And he was assassinated in front of his family.
19:10
[SPEAKER_00]: So there's just something much different about that in all of the videos of it.
19:14
[SPEAKER_00]: Just have really riled people up and caused some very visceral reactions.
19:18
[SPEAKER_00]: And us being able to see that is emblematic of 2025.
19:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Our nose and our phones, our social media algorithms, the fact that we saw that, is emblematic of it.
19:29
[SPEAKER_00]: But you know something that I want to point out, this is a quote from Charlie Kirk that I really do believe the majority of Americans would agree on this quote, the vast majority.
19:39
[SPEAKER_00]: And his own words, Kirk said, when people stop talking, that's when you get violence.
19:44
[SPEAKER_00]: That's when civil war happens, because you start to think the other side is so evil and they lose their humanity.
19:51
[SPEAKER_00]: Charlie Kirk was not killed for what he did.
19:55
[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't hurt anyone per se.
19:58
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, he was killed for what he said, and there is this weird juxtaposition where people are arguing and some are believing that hateful words actually is like a hateful action or actually doing something to someone.
20:13
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, I believe that there's a distinction like if you take something as
20:18
[SPEAKER_00]: a hateful or hurtful word, that doesn't necessarily mean that you're actually doing something bad to me.
20:24
[SPEAKER_00]: You're saying something, but it's different than doing it.
20:27
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think that that's kind of where the argument's been coming in.
20:29
[SPEAKER_00]: But that quote, we've got to keep talking is very, very powerful.
20:34
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's so true.
20:35
[SPEAKER_01]: And honestly, I know he said things that probably really arc people and rub them the wrong way, but when you look at the majority of what he was saying, and if you've seen so many of the clips that have gone, you've seen this last couple of years as he was growing.
20:48
[SPEAKER_00]: He was working through his faith more.
20:51
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
20:51
[SPEAKER_01]: He started to try to point more people to faith and families, specifically young people who's like, don't focus on the things that the world want you to focus on.
20:59
[SPEAKER_01]: go love God, go to church, get married, have kids, buy a home, settle down, spend time together.
21:04
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what's important in your life, and you call them men, men specifically to lead in their homes, and in their work, and in their communities, and their church, all of that, right?
21:12
[SPEAKER_01]: He was trying to help raise up a generation of young men who were being told they were not.
21:17
[SPEAKER_01]: good enough like that's part of why Trump won this past years because young men felt a need to bring in a different type of leader because they felt like they were being ostracized and it's dark spoke into that very frequently and so that's why so many young men really respected him right that's and he was trying to bring biblical values to that so I think he's a piece of why we're seeing Gen Z at least in America really coming more in tune with the Christian faith I think he's a piece of it there's way more to that and obviously God is the biggest piece of
21:48
[SPEAKER_01]: All that to say back to the political violence saying real fast security, this is a concern for a lot of people, Congress is talking about uping their security funding for just government officials, so that they've got more security, you're seeing campus tours that were scheduled staying on schedule, Megan Kelly, Ben Shapiro, other right wing people that do these tours on campuses, some of the visits were going to be alongside Charlie Cart, they're saying they're not canceling, they're not backing down, they're not going to do that.
22:12
[SPEAKER_01]: They're going to continue Charlie's work and they're going to just move things indoors and crease security, all of that, but they're they're going to continue to go out and speak.
22:19
[SPEAKER_01]: So, but you can't blame people for being a little like, oh man, we got to be more conscious for sure.
22:24
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm sure you will see more security around these people as well, just in daily life.
22:29
[SPEAKER_01]: The other thing that's happening, this has been a big, just kind of topic of conversation is some would say to a clamp down on free speech, others would say this is just the free
22:42
[SPEAKER_01]: and they get fired from their jobs or they get quote unquote canceled and it's it's caused quite a problem there have been lots of people who have been publicly fired or shamed on social media this week their companies are now seeing they're going to fire their university that they work at their sports team that they work for whatever it is lots of people have been fired for basically celebrating Charlie Kirk's death.
23:05
[SPEAKER_01]: is essentially kind of what's happening there.
23:07
[SPEAKER_01]: There have been websites and social media pages set up to reporting these people one website as brand-end themselves as the largest firing operation in history as they have built a searchable database that now has get this 50,000 submissions of people saying things publicly on social media.
23:23
[SPEAKER_01]: So we have seen teachers, pilots, professors.
23:26
[SPEAKER_01]: sports team employees.
23:27
[SPEAKER_01]: They're all getting suspended or fired.
23:29
[SPEAKER_01]: And all these companies have made public statements.
23:32
[SPEAKER_01]: And then vice president Vance.
23:34
[SPEAKER_01]: He hosted the Charlie Kirk Show on Monday, the first episode since his death.
23:38
[SPEAKER_01]: And was kind of the fill in hosts and did a memorial episode for him.
23:42
[SPEAKER_01]: But even on that while hosting it, he said,
23:46
[SPEAKER_01]: If you see someone celebrating Charlie's murder, call their employer.
23:50
[SPEAKER_01]: So he's behind it, too.
23:52
[SPEAKER_01]: And the government's kind of like, yeah, that's part of it.
23:54
[SPEAKER_01]: But my question is, and what a lot of people are calling out is, is this hypocritical?
23:58
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm saying that because just a few years ago, a lot of people remember kind of that big period where lots of people were getting canceled specifically on the right for things they were saying on social media or in a comedy special or whatnot,
24:11
[SPEAKER_01]: they were saying these things and then the left would just be like your canceled we're getting you fired or de-platforming you or making sure you're getting pulled off YouTube off your podcast platform off whatever it is off the TV network you're on we want to make sure you are canceled and cannot come back now a lot of those people have come back uh and actually found big audiences on the right but the question is is this hypocritical like if cancel culture was coming for the right several years ago are they doing
24:42
[SPEAKER_00]: maybe it's a little hypocritical.
24:44
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it's really hard in moments like this where people are kind of trying to grieve and then you see people getting out there just actually celebrating it.
24:52
[SPEAKER_00]: Like they're truly, I've just seen so many things have seen leaders of school boards who set curriculum and teach teachers how to teach kids, getting on social media and making statements, celebrating the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
25:09
[SPEAKER_00]: I really would love to believe that the majority of people, like if you're conservative, you would be just as upset if a superintendent for a school that are forming the future minds of America would have come out and celebrated the death of Melissa Hortman, who is the Minnesota live lawmaker who was murdered.
25:29
[SPEAKER_00]: I really would hope that there would be that same vitriol and repercussion for that person if they were gonna do the same thing there, right?
25:38
[SPEAKER_00]: So, I don't know, this is tough.
25:41
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, I do see some hypocrisy with it.
25:44
[SPEAKER_00]: However, first amendment rights and your right to free speech doesn't give you the right to keep your job in the private sector.
25:52
[SPEAKER_01]: Correct.
25:53
[SPEAKER_00]: So, these private institutions get to make their own decisions
26:00
[SPEAKER_00]: I would say practice some, I don't know, think twice before you post it on social media, especially if it's controversial, whatever the topic might be, because you do not just represent yourself.
26:11
[SPEAKER_00]: You represent your family, you represent your faith, and in a lot of times with these companies, you're representing that company.
26:17
[SPEAKER_00]: You've got in your bio where you work.
26:19
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, if you're going to say something like that, no matter what it might be, you might be subject to being like, go.
26:24
[SPEAKER_00]: So I don't know, man.
26:26
[SPEAKER_00]: It's tough.
26:27
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe.
26:27
[SPEAKER_01]: It is a tough one.
26:28
[SPEAKER_01]: I will say a lot of people are just saying, this is, you know, you get fired from a company.
26:31
[SPEAKER_01]: That's just the free marketplace.
26:32
[SPEAKER_01]: Like companies have that decision.
26:35
[SPEAKER_01]: People have the decision to unfollow you for saying things.
26:38
[SPEAKER_01]: there is no legal thing which has gotten now a attorney general hand-bondy in trouble because she suggested there is uh... uh... ability for the government to clamp down on people who are saying these hateful things even the office depot employer employee who went viral over the weekend for refusing to print out Charlie Kirk Memorial posters she's saying we could come up for that person i do not know i'm not a legal expert based off things i'm reading i do not think that that is true she's getting flag from the left and the right
27:04
[SPEAKER_00]: She should retract that, the first amendment protects hate speech, but that employee who works for office depot, their job is not predicted because they didn't do their job.
27:17
[SPEAKER_00]: So therefore, they can be let go of their job, but we don't want the justice department going after somebody.
27:22
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, come on, man, that's that's too far.
27:25
[SPEAKER_00]: Everybody's just riled up right now, really hoping things calm down.
27:28
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, even right wing commentator Matt Walsh, he sent out this tweet about the whole thing.
27:33
[SPEAKER_01]: He said, we need the attorney general focus on bringing down left wing terror cells, not prosecuting office depone boys.
27:38
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
27:38
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's yeah.
27:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
27:40
[SPEAKER_01]: Kind of a weird one there.
27:42
[SPEAKER_01]: I just want to hit on one last thing here of the cultural response, Micah before diving to kind of a spiritual application.
27:47
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's just that Kirk is having an impact even after his death.
27:51
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.
27:51
[SPEAKER_01]: He is
27:52
[SPEAKER_01]: seen immense growth in his popularity, his wife, Erica had that speech and she's gotten more popular.
27:59
[SPEAKER_01]: His Instagram accounts have TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, he's gained millions of followers across the board.
28:04
[SPEAKER_01]: There were 3500 chapters of Turning Point USA on high school college campuses last week.
28:10
[SPEAKER_01]: This week, there are now 54,000 requests to start new chapters on campus as a country.
28:16
[SPEAKER_01]: His life goal was 20,000.
28:18
[SPEAKER_01]: There are 54,000 now after his death requests.
28:21
[SPEAKER_01]: So this could get close to 60, 70,000, you know, by the end of it.
28:25
[SPEAKER_01]: But even more importantly, I think we've seen a spiritual movement.
28:30
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm sure many of you listening to this have seen stuff on social media and online of people saying,
28:35
[SPEAKER_01]: They were going to vigils.
28:36
[SPEAKER_01]: There were worship moments at these vigils.
28:38
[SPEAKER_01]: There was beautiful moments, even in the midst of tragedy.
28:42
[SPEAKER_01]: The gospel is being heard.
28:44
[SPEAKER_01]: Lots of clips of Charlie and those around him sharing the gospel have been shared all across social media and they're getting millions and millions of views and going viral again, which is really even the White House posted a video.
28:56
[SPEAKER_01]: It's 60 second video.
28:57
[SPEAKER_01]: They're kind of memorializing him and then at the end of the video is literally
29:05
[SPEAKER_00]: plan to be accounts playing as day it was cool eight million views on that video on excellent and it was the gospel like when when he explains his faith journey it is biblical it is the Roman road to salvation it is
29:20
[SPEAKER_00]: not of our works, but what God's done for us, Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, and our trust in that changes everything, and we put our faith in trust in Jesus.
29:29
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's just like, I mean, there was no convolution there.
29:33
[SPEAKER_00]: There was no addition there.
29:36
[SPEAKER_00]: It was spot on every time.
29:38
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think it's having a grander impact.
29:39
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know if you've seen this as well, Mike, but for sure, lots of people on social media saying that they for the first time last week and either their lifetime or in many years, we're going to go back to church.
29:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, church is where packed.
29:50
[SPEAKER_00]: This last week.
29:51
[SPEAKER_00]: Church is a lot of shows.
29:52
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
29:54
[SPEAKER_01]: I drive the parking lot golf cart on Sundays at my church and love to pick people up that are parked out far away.
29:58
[SPEAKER_01]: Let me tell you what, our church parking lot was full.
30:01
[SPEAKER_01]: I do not know that that is fully because of this event, but either way, there is a movement happening in America.
30:06
[SPEAKER_01]: And I do think that this spurred a lot of people to
30:09
[SPEAKER_01]: turn back to their faith.
30:10
[SPEAKER_01]: They're seeing incredible videos and they're seeing their spots of Christians who are saying, man, our hope is not in this world.
30:16
[SPEAKER_01]: And when a tragedy like this does happen, we have so much more that we can cling to and Charlie and his family said that.
30:23
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, when Erica can stand up on Friday night, two days after her husband has been killed and say, I have a faith and I'm going to move forward because
30:31
[SPEAKER_01]: one, that's what Charlie would want us to do.
30:32
[SPEAKER_01]: And two, that's what we are called to do.
30:34
[SPEAKER_01]: And we have a grander hope.
30:35
[SPEAKER_01]: And we know where Charlie is at.
30:36
[SPEAKER_01]: That changes your perspective on life and everything in purpose and all of that.
30:40
[SPEAKER_01]: So I think a lot of people felt that this past week.
30:42
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, absolutely.
30:44
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, to wrap this up with a more specific spiritual application and challenge from this, you know, guys, it's been a heavy week.
30:54
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that you've all felt it.
30:55
[SPEAKER_00]: I have definitely felt it.
30:56
[SPEAKER_00]: It's been
30:58
[SPEAKER_00]: I've just had different waves of emotions through this process, where I have been just very discouraged.
31:03
[SPEAKER_00]: A few moments where I felt very encouraged, but ultimately the point that I want to drive home today is that I really do pray and I pray that you would all join us in praying for this.
31:13
[SPEAKER_00]: that this would not mean a bigger movement where the left would get more votes, that Democrats would get more votes, that Republican would get more votes.
31:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, I just really want the response from this to not be more policy and legislation.
31:30
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not saying that those things hurt.
31:32
[SPEAKER_00]: I want this to be a true spiritual awakening.
31:34
[SPEAKER_00]: We've already touched on all of these different things.
31:37
[SPEAKER_00]: of how Gen Z is turning to Jesus and how there's a hunger for the spiritual nature, or which Jesus brings, and then this happens, and it's like, wow, like, this could really be something, but that's the only thing that's going to change.
31:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Anything is the eternal, the eternal that Jesus offers, the truth that's offered through His Word.
31:56
[SPEAKER_00]: So I believe there's a crisis in our soul, not just in our politics, because when a person like Charlie Kirk, who was so public, who was so influential, so polarizing even,
32:05
[SPEAKER_00]: his life was taken in such a tragic way a brutal way in front of the whole world to see.
32:09
[SPEAKER_00]: It reveals how much we have drifted spiritually.
32:12
[SPEAKER_00]: It's almost like this happened.
32:13
[SPEAKER_00]: And then you see the responses, and then you're like, the veil is lifted.
32:16
[SPEAKER_00]: Anything that you any, you know, rose-colored glasses you had on about the state of where we are in our country.
32:22
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it's gone.
32:24
[SPEAKER_00]: There's more of a recognition of
32:26
[SPEAKER_00]: Things are not so great right now.
32:27
[SPEAKER_00]: We're more divided than we should be, right?
32:30
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, I want to point us back to scripture, Proverbs 1434, righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.
32:38
[SPEAKER_00]: We keep trying to patch our problems with political fixes, with better laws, with stronger rhetoric, with different leaders, but none of that heals the human heart.
32:47
[SPEAKER_00]: Which is where division, bitterness, fear, and hate begins.
32:51
[SPEAKER_00]: These are spiritual issues.
32:52
[SPEAKER_00]: And what this moment shows is that revival is not optional right now.
32:56
[SPEAKER_00]: It has to be urgent.
32:58
[SPEAKER_00]: It has to be urgent on the heart of every believer.
33:00
[SPEAKER_00]: We keep talking about all these new believers going to church.
33:02
[SPEAKER_00]: These people who are interested tend to rise up Christians.
33:06
[SPEAKER_00]: Understand your call to love and to serve to love God and to love others and open your life in your heart to what God is doing clearly in our nation.
33:14
[SPEAKER_00]: Right now, let's turn this evil for good.
33:16
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's partner with God and transformation and revival that could take place from this.
33:22
[SPEAKER_00]: I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.
33:26
[SPEAKER_00]: I will remove the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh, only God can do that.
33:31
[SPEAKER_00]: Only God can do that.
33:33
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a beautiful thing.
33:33
[SPEAKER_00]: When Erika Charlie's wife, when she said she will keep his legacy alive and that the tour will go on, that
33:41
[SPEAKER_00]: that movement is not going anywhere.
33:43
[SPEAKER_00]: She was not just talking about politics, which she was talking about a movement.
33:47
[SPEAKER_00]: She was testifying that there's a spiritual fire lit in her a conviction that the work is bigger than this moment, that what Charlie stood for, whether you believed in him or not, touched something eternal in people.
33:59
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, that's why so many people felt it and are feeling it so deeply.
34:02
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not merely that killing a voice
34:05
[SPEAKER_00]: often it magnifies the message.
34:07
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's exactly what's happening.
34:09
[SPEAKER_00]: It forces us to reckon with what we believe with this kind of nation and community that we want to be.
34:15
[SPEAKER_00]: It also reminds us of our own mortality.
34:18
[SPEAKER_00]: I think when something like this happens.
34:19
[SPEAKER_00]: Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build at labor in vain, Psalm 1271.
34:24
[SPEAKER_00]: So here's what revival might look like, Connor.
34:27
[SPEAKER_00]: people who stop trusting their party first and start trusting God.
34:32
[SPEAKER_00]: Communities who care less about winning arguments and more about loving people, serving people, churches, full, not just have already committed, but of those who are coming back, asking for help, wanting peace and purpose in their lives, a faith that is not comfortable, but a faith that is costly.
34:50
[SPEAKER_00]: a willingness to call out injustice, but also just love our neighbor who disagrees, love people, give them grace.
34:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus said in John 1335, by this, all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another, that is the test, are we going to love one another through this?
35:10
[SPEAKER_00]: Because at the end, what last is not who controls the Senate or the ballot box or who's president, right?
35:18
[SPEAKER_00]: It's really, it's about the man's soul.
35:20
[SPEAKER_00]: It's about our soul.
35:22
[SPEAKER_00]: The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever, first John 217, and our only hope is revival in our hearts, our communities, our nation, and that anchor is the eternal in Jesus.
35:36
[SPEAKER_00]: It's eternal.
35:38
[SPEAKER_00]: We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure, Hebrews 6, 19, so here's the challenges I wrap up.
35:46
[SPEAKER_00]: The momentum is already here.
35:48
[SPEAKER_00]: Churches are filling up as we've talked about, worship is breaking out, people who have not prayed in years are praying for the first time they're turning to God.
35:56
[SPEAKER_00]: That is not a coincidence.
35:57
[SPEAKER_00]: This is the moment to share Jesus like never before, whatever was holding you back.
36:01
[SPEAKER_00]: Whatever was, whatever fear was controlling you.
36:04
[SPEAKER_00]: It's time to let that go and trust and faith and share the gospel with somebody this week.
36:09
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm taking that challenge to share the gospel with somebody.
36:12
[SPEAKER_00]: Tell your neighbor, tell your coworker and your family where true hope is actually found in this because the answer is not another politician or another platform.
36:21
[SPEAKER_00]: The answer is Jesus.
36:22
[SPEAKER_00]: It always has been and it always will be.
36:25
[SPEAKER_00]: So let me leave you with the marks of a true Christian from Romans 12 9 through 21.
36:30
[SPEAKER_00]: This is from nearly 2,000 years ago, guys, and the application could not be any more relevant.
36:36
[SPEAKER_00]: And I really believe it's a blueprint for how we need to be operating as believers in this time.
36:43
[SPEAKER_00]: marks of the true Christian, let love be genuine, a poor, what is evil, whole fast to what's good, love one another with brotherly affection, outdo one another in showing honor, do not be slothful and zeal, be fervent and spirit, serve the Lord.
36:58
[SPEAKER_00]: Rejoice and hope, be patient and tribulation, be constant and prayer, contribute to the needs of the saints, and seek to show hospitality, bless those who persecute you.
37:10
[SPEAKER_00]: and bless and do not curse them.
37:13
[SPEAKER_00]: Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep, live in harmony with one another, do not be hotty, but associate with the lowly, never be wise in your own eyes.
37:23
[SPEAKER_00]: repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all, if possible so far as it depends on you live peaceably with all.
37:33
[SPEAKER_00]: beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God for it is written.
37:38
[SPEAKER_00]: Vengeance is mine.
37:40
[SPEAKER_00]: I will repay," says the Lord.
37:42
[SPEAKER_00]: To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him.
37:46
[SPEAKER_00]: If he's thirsty, give him something to drink.
37:49
[SPEAKER_00]: For by doing so, you will heat burning
37:58
[SPEAKER_01]: yeah that's good stuff that's a great playbook and man there's so much for every Christian in this society to take this week and go and live out the gospel live out like Jesus did and that includes you and me that includes all of us so hopefully we can and we can carry on a legacy first and foremost of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and we do that and then also do what Charlie was doing and share the gospel and do it lovingly.
38:23
[SPEAKER_01]: Yep.
38:23
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
38:24
[SPEAKER_01]: That's a lot to take in.
38:25
[SPEAKER_01]: That's a lot of heavy stuff.
38:26
[SPEAKER_01]: The cultural continuity respond, but I kind of think we need a little palette cleanser and let's just jump into some other cultural things to happen in this week.
38:35
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, my guy, I got a question for you.
38:38
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm sure you have no context for this and that's okay, but I'm just going to ask you something and I'm sure some of our listeners will know and they'll have opinions.
38:45
[SPEAKER_01]: Are you Team Jeremiah or Team Conrad, maybe Team Belly?
38:50
[SPEAKER_01]: Does any of those teams stick out to you and are you on one of those teams?
38:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, maybe Team Jeremiah, you know, there's, there's a biblical basis for that.
39:01
[SPEAKER_00]: Team, Team Conrad, Team Belly.
39:04
[SPEAKER_00]: I can tell you, I know clue what I'm talking about.
39:06
[SPEAKER_00]: I have no idea what you're talking about.
39:07
[SPEAKER_01]: Perfect.
39:08
[SPEAKER_01]: I did not know what this meant until 24 hours ago.
39:10
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, I was okay.
39:12
[SPEAKER_01]: I have been talking to some of our female listeners and they have been asking why we aren't talking about the show the summer I turned pretty.
39:28
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, show is like the biggest show happening right now everybody seems to be watching this at least in the female population of the United States Which Mike and I you know, we don't watch everything.
39:36
[SPEAKER_01]: We try to watch a lot But Brad bridge this gap my wife is watching it and she was filling me in on this who the team Jeremiah and Team Conrad are like why you should be on each team All that to say if you're watching the show let us know what team you're on because maybe maybe it'd be helpful for us to know But I don't know Mike if you're even into these kind of romance shows that are Like it's it's not like
39:59
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know, like juicy romance, it's like teen romance that they're falling in love and growing up together or whatnot, but it's not really my cup of tea.
40:06
[SPEAKER_00]: I feel like oftentimes, if I am, it's because my wife gets into it and I love hanging out with my wife.
40:11
[SPEAKER_00]: So if she gets into it, I am not too big a man, too strong a man to get into something like that.
40:18
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, but as far as this goes, I have no idea about it.
40:21
[SPEAKER_01]: I did sit down last night, I was eating dinner and my wife had an on in the background.
40:24
[SPEAKER_01]: And so I caught about five minutes of the show and I was like, I can see why this is appealing.
40:28
[SPEAKER_01]: But I still have these, my cup of tea, you know, you know.
40:31
[SPEAKER_01]: hey guys we also want to keep hearing from you all and we got some cool comments this week on social media posted a clip last week of it was honestly Mike it was you sharing about everything you were saying about hope and mindset and everything from last week's episode we got some cool comments I just want to read a couple of these Michael commented in terms of having hope and Jesus he said I spent years thinking the world was against me once I figured out I had the power to change everything changed I went from homeless and addicted to homeowner and father
40:57
[SPEAKER_01]: There is a way.
40:59
[SPEAKER_01]: My goodness.
40:59
[SPEAKER_00]: It's an award.
41:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Praise.
41:01
[SPEAKER_00]: Committed.
41:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
41:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Praise God.
41:02
[SPEAKER_00]: That's so cool.
41:03
[SPEAKER_00]: That's amazing.
41:04
[SPEAKER_00]: We're an amazing comment.
41:05
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for leaving that comment, Michael.
41:08
[SPEAKER_00]: Amen, brother.
41:09
[SPEAKER_01]: And then Ward said the devil wants you to be alone and tired.
41:12
[SPEAKER_01]: He wants you warm and weak.
41:14
[SPEAKER_01]: He can defeat you that way.
41:16
[SPEAKER_01]: But together, we can be strong.
41:18
[SPEAKER_01]: He won't be able to wear us down and amen to that, right?
41:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's good.
41:21
[SPEAKER_01]: We are.
41:22
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what we were just talking about, unity.
41:24
[SPEAKER_01]: If the church and come together and unify, the devil can't take us down.
41:28
[SPEAKER_01]: All right, we got several things happening this week in culture.
41:31
[SPEAKER_01]: Mikey, you want to kick us off and check in here about some stuff happening around the world.
41:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, let's jump into check in.
41:37
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, so Israel has launched another ground defensive in Gaza City.
41:42
[SPEAKER_00]: And I say another because they've done small things.
41:44
[SPEAKER_00]: This is truly their role and in this is drawn a lot of international backlash.
41:50
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of different reporting about the starving in Gaza and who's actually causing the starving in Gaza.
41:55
[SPEAKER_00]: It's really hard to kind of get a clear picture.
41:59
[SPEAKER_00]: But what I do know is that Israel isn't a tough place because they want to ensure their safety get the hostage to back as they're surrounded by enemies.
42:06
[SPEAKER_00]: But they're kind of losing in the court of public opinion around the world.
42:11
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's just something that they're having to balance.
42:14
[SPEAKER_00]: But goodness gracious prayers that that conflict would end and people can live peacefully and innocent people can stop dying on both sides there.
42:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Another thing, the US performed another drone strike on a Venezuelan drug boat in the Caribbean killing three men.
42:30
[SPEAKER_00]: So they did it a couple weeks ago, killing 11.
42:33
[SPEAKER_00]: They released the video.
42:35
[SPEAKER_00]: there's people who get upset about it.
42:36
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think I haven't seen as much of a firestorm about the second one as I did the first one.
42:42
[SPEAKER_00]: It seems to be a gray area if they can just do this or if they're just supposed to arrest them and you know, all this stuff.
42:47
[SPEAKER_00]: So who knows on that front?
42:48
[SPEAKER_00]: But they did it again and they took out another drug boat.
42:52
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
42:52
[SPEAKER_00]: All right.
42:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Russian drones were shot down over Romania this past week.
42:56
[SPEAKER_00]: This is another aggressive step that Russia has taken, specifically against NATO member countries.
43:02
[SPEAKER_00]: So they did the same thing to Poland about a week ago.
43:05
[SPEAKER_00]: So this is not an accident.
43:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Russia's trying to be more aggressive.
43:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Obviously, Ukraine wants to join NATO, and Ukraine and Russia are at war right now.
43:14
[SPEAKER_00]: So this is very unique how this is going to play out.
43:19
[SPEAKER_00]: But that has been very interesting.
43:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Any thoughts on that one corner?
43:22
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, they're just trying to push their the buttons of NATO and NATO has had a response and jets up and shoot missiles down and stuff.
43:27
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's not what you want of when somebody dies in one of these countries that's a NATO country, then it becomes a whole other ballgame and that's, yeah, that's supposed to technically drag NATO, including the U.S.
43:38
[SPEAKER_01]: into the war.
43:39
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know what will happen if that actually happens.
43:41
[SPEAKER_01]: And if the U.S.
43:42
[SPEAKER_01]: will fulfill its end of the bargain.
43:44
[SPEAKER_01]: But we'll see, hopefully, it doesn't happen.
43:46
[SPEAKER_01]: We need to continue to pray for a peaceable ending in this conflict as well.
43:51
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, okay.
43:52
[SPEAKER_00]: And then we lost a good one.
43:54
[SPEAKER_00]: Robert Redford died Tuesday.
43:56
[SPEAKER_00]: This past Tuesday at age 89.
43:58
[SPEAKER_00]: Truly a Hollywood legend.
44:00
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, even even young people, even Gen Z, Connor and Iron Millennials, but I mean, at even very young people seem to know who he was.
44:08
[SPEAKER_00]: Marvel movies.
44:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, true.
44:10
[SPEAKER_00]: Like just a true legend who stayed famous throughout
44:13
[SPEAKER_00]: star of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid and all the presidents men classic movies great movies won the Oscar for best director in 1981 for ordinary people and founded the Sundance film festival himself he was also an environmentalist and he was very passionate about that.
44:31
[SPEAKER_00]: Rest in peace Robert.
44:32
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, hey, just so y'all know the last week Elon Musk was not the richest man for a few hours Uh, you got overtaken for a little bit by Larry Ellison, which is not a name as familiar as like Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos and stuff, but Larry Ellison was the richest man on the planet for a few hours there And that's because his stock just took off and uh, he's the founder of Oracle software if you didn't not know he's also the owner of an entire Hawaiian island So if that tells you about his wealth, there you go.
44:58
[SPEAKER_01]: He owns island and Hawaii, which is just insane
45:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
45:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Last Wednesday, that stock took off.
45:04
[SPEAKER_01]: It shot up $101 billion in his net worth because Oracle stock just was having a day.
45:11
[SPEAKER_01]: It pushed him past Elon Musk to a $382 billion net worth.
45:14
[SPEAKER_01]: It's going to continue to grow and he's having a big week because he's also supposedly the guy who's about to buy a TikTok.
45:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, and he's a big chunk of TikTok him.
45:23
[SPEAKER_01]: It's several other people.
45:24
[SPEAKER_01]: He's going to be a part of the TikTok purchase.
45:26
[SPEAKER_01]: That's being saved.
45:28
[SPEAKER_01]: There's a deal that's been worked out with China, Trump's talking to President Cheez this week.
45:32
[SPEAKER_01]: So we'll see what happens there.
45:32
[SPEAKER_01]: And his son is apparently going to try to, he's a son who just bought Paramount CBS.
45:36
[SPEAKER_01]: We talked about that a few weeks ago, David Ellison, and he's also going to try to take over Warner Brothers Discovery, which is a whole lot of Hollywood entities, including CBS being part of the whole thing.
45:49
[SPEAKER_01]: and speaking of CBS, the Emmys were this past week.
45:52
[SPEAKER_01]: We kind of previewed that last week.
45:54
[SPEAKER_01]: We were excited to see Nate Bargazzi host because he's a good clean comedian.
45:59
[SPEAKER_01]: He's actually really funny.
46:00
[SPEAKER_01]: He was not funny on this broadcast.
46:02
[SPEAKER_01]: In fact, it felt really flat and there was kind of sad to see how it was a little disappointed.
46:06
[SPEAKER_01]: Either way.
46:06
[SPEAKER_00]: Watched it.
46:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you actually.
46:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Watched it.
46:08
[SPEAKER_01]: I was what I had the, you know, I had the split screen going.
46:11
[SPEAKER_01]: I had the Sunday night football on the left side, Amy's on the right side when most on commercial I'd go back and forth.
46:16
[SPEAKER_01]: But yeah, I did watch it.
46:17
[SPEAKER_01]: And part of this, because a lot of the shows that won, I'd seen the studio Severance Penguin hit.
46:24
[SPEAKER_01]: They all won most of the awards, not surprising at a lesson was a big winner, including Owen Cooper, the kid in that show man.
46:30
[SPEAKER_01]: He won Best Supporting Actor and Noah Wiley.
46:33
[SPEAKER_01]: Hollywood style work.
46:34
[SPEAKER_01]: He just finally got his dues by winning best actor for the pit.
46:38
[SPEAKER_01]: Just an incredible performance on that show.
46:40
[SPEAKER_01]: I would suggest watching that show if you have not.
46:43
[SPEAKER_01]: And then hey guys, tune into something.
46:46
[SPEAKER_01]: Last week, Micah was on faith in clarity.
46:48
[SPEAKER_01]: The podcast, the other innocent form podcast we had, he got the chance to interview Darren Babcock, is that his name over at Bond Down Farms and Dallas?
46:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Over at Bond Tom Farms, yeah, an incredible mission, an incredible guy.
47:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Please go and listen to the faith in clarity podcast with Dr. Mark Termin, the latest episode.
47:05
[SPEAKER_00]: Going and visiting Bond Tom Farms and hearing his story and how transformations taking place in the lives of people who are so disenfranchised and struggling,
47:14
[SPEAKER_00]: uh, was just an absolute pleasure for me, and Darren's just the kind of guy that you talked to for a little bit.
47:22
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, you talked to him for a little bit and you're like, what am I doing?
47:25
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, this guy is the hands-in-feet of Jesus and is mobilizing so many others to do the same exact thing and to change not only a neighborhood but like a community.
47:36
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, what he's doing is being replicated in other places, so yes, go listen to that episode.
47:41
[SPEAKER_00]: It was incredible.
47:43
[SPEAKER_01]: All right, and we'll link that we will link that in the show notes so you can see it and the articles that we've mentioned today as well.
47:50
[SPEAKER_00]: Yep, absolutely.
47:50
[SPEAKER_00]: So thanks for joining us for this week's episode of Culture Brief Adinison Forum podcast.
47:55
[SPEAKER_00]: I know we went a little long today, but thanks for hanging in with us a lot going on and we're.
47:59
[SPEAKER_00]: We're very grateful for the place that we have in your life to be able to bring you the biggest topics and working it all out together, submitting it to God and saying what would you have me do about this as we think critically through the news and we do not take that trust lightly.
48:12
[SPEAKER_00]: So thank you for spending every week with us.
48:14
[SPEAKER_00]: All articles and videos mentioned will be linked in the show notes.
48:17
[SPEAKER_00]: If you enjoyed today's episode, please like, please subscribe and rate and review the show and share it with a friend.
48:22
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll see you next Thursday.