Refining Rhetoric with Robert Bortins

Christian shareholder engagement may be the most overlooked front in the culture war — so who is actually voting the shares in your retirement account? In this episode of Refining Rhetoric, host Robert Bortins sits down with Isaac Willour — Classical Conversations graduate, Grove City College alum, and director of corporate engagement at Bowyer Research — to unpack how America's biggest companies went woke and what investors who share our values can do about it. Isaac explains how decades of conservatives divesting and boycotting, while left-leaning activists showed up and engaged, left Fortune 500 boardrooms tilted one way. He traces how the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index drifted from non-discrimination to scoring companies on transgender medical coverage for minors, then demystifies proxy statements and shareholder ballots — from Presbyterian Foundation proposals at Lockheed Martin and Palantir to a Home Depot proposal on the risks of covering those procedures. He names policy wins at JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Nvidia, Salesforce, Meta and Apple. Then the conversation turns to AI: why Isaac calls it a force multiplier, why unjust laws enforced with AI produce more injustice, why nothing we build can replace the imago Dei, and why data centers need better storytelling (and a better name). Isaac closes with the advice he wishes he'd heard as an eighteen-year-old CC graduate: treat your time and attention as if they're worth as much as the tech companies spending billions to capture them think they are. Whether you're a student, a parent, or an investor who'd rather lean in than check out, this one will sharpen your thinking — share it with someone heading into college or the workforce.   Isaac's X: https://x.com/IsaacWillour

What was Jimmy Stewart really like when the cameras were off — and what did the star of It's a Wonderful Life carry home from World War II? In this episode of Refining Rhetoric, host Robert Bortins sits down with Kelly Stewart-Harcourt — Jimmy Stewart's daughter, a Stanford graduate with a PhD in zoology from the University of Cambridge, and executive producer of Jimmy, the new Jimmy Stewart movie starring KJ Apa — to talk about the untold chapter of her father's life. Kelly shares what it was like growing up with a dad who never brought his fame home, and the piece of advice he gave his twin daughters before college: always be nice to people. She opens up about the wartime diary her sister found in his bedside table after his death — revealing a man full of doubt who wondered whether he was joining up only because people expected it, who longed to make his father proud, and who wrote that he felt like an actor pretending to be a soldier as cameras followed him to his induction. She explains why Jimmy doesn't glorify war, how KJ Apa channels her dad without doing an impersonation, and how television, not the box office, made It's a Wonderful Life a Christmas tradition. For homeschool families who love history and film, this is a rare look at courage that walks hand in hand with fear. Jimmy opens in theaters November 6 — it's family friendly, with no swearing — so make a plan to see it opening weekend, bring a veteran, and share this episode with a friend.   Watch Jimmy in theaters November 6 — tickets and VetTix donations for veterans   Watch the trailer for "Jimmy" 

Which Christian college can you actually trust with your kids' faith — and with how they understand history? In this episode of Refining Rhetoric, host Robert Bortins sits down with Dr. Amanda Aucoin — history professor at Judson College in Wake Forest, North Carolina, PhD in history from the University of Arkansas specializing in U.S.-Soviet cultural relations, and homeschool mom of four sons — to talk about teaching history through a biblical lens without whitewashing the past. Amanda shares how a Russian history class at Ouachita Baptist University led her to research in the former Communist Party archives in Moscow and the National Archives, and what she saw living in Russia in 1998–99, as the post-Soviet "Wild West" brought new religious openness, corruption, and spiritual bankruptcy — and, later, laws against proselytizing. She explains why a biblical view of human nature lets Christians face history's hardest chapters, from Cold War cultural propaganda to the police battalion in Ordinary Men, and why the gospel is the only panacea for the human condition. She also offers practical tips for homeschool moms raising boys who love history — read-aloud biographies, Liberty's Kids, and historic field trips — previews her Women in Church History course featuring Perpetua, Julian of Norwich, Lottie Moon, and Gladys Aylward, and walks through Judson College's growing majors, house system, experience days, and commitment to keeping tuition low. For parents weighing Christian college options and students who want to understand the times, this conversation is a reminder: God began human history, He will end it, and our task is to obey Him in what's right in front of us. Share it with a family asking which colleges they can trust.   Visit Judson College (experience days and overnight visits)   📘 Books mentioned: Ordinary Men and Christian Heroes: Then & Now — Gladys Aylward by Janet and Geoff Benge   This episode of Refining Rhetoric is sponsored by Judson College At Judson College, North Carolina's only four-year accredited confessional Christian institution, we equip passionate students with over 25 majors and exceptional faculty to pursue God's calling in ministry, missions, or the workplace. Experience vibrant community through our unique House System while receiving comprehensive scholarships and special SBC church member discounts to make your divine calling affordable. Ready to answer your calling? Apply to Judson College today and step into God's plan for your life.

Should Christians vote when neither party is popular and the top of the ballot leaves a lot to be desired? In this special episode of Refining Rhetoric, host Robert Bortins makes a short, direct case for why Christians should vote — and why it matters that homeschool families and the classically educated show up this election season. A vote, Robert says, is not a Valentine or a love letter; it's a bet on getting more time. Robert acknowledges the frustration many believers feel with candidates who don't align with all of their values, but argues that staying home simply lets other people decide who governs us. He points down the ballot — judges, county commissioners, state senators, and House and Senate seats — where good candidates are running in every state, and explains why control of the House and Senate will decide whether progress on our biggest issues continues or gets bogged down in hearings. His prediction: this will be a turnout election, decided less by who shows up than by who stays home. The assignment is simple: do the research, make a plan to vote, and bring a friend. Vote your faith, vote your conscience — but whatever you do, go vote. Then share this episode with a friend who's thinking about sitting this one out.

Everyone knows George Bailey — but almost no one knows the war Jimmy Stewart came home from before he played him. In this episode of Refining Rhetoric, host Robert Bortins sits down with Aaron Burns — homeschool graduate, founder of Burns & Co. Entertainment, and producer behind Beyond the Mask, War Room, The Forge, and Sony's The Birthright Outlaw and Legacy Peak — to talk about Jimmy, the new Jimmy Stewart movie starring KJ Apa and made with Stewart's daughter, Kelly. Aaron traces Stewart's path from his 1941 Oscar to being rejected by the Army as too skinny, to commanding B-24 bombing runs with the 8th Air Force — 20 official missions, with a flight log marking 13 planes lost on a single run — and home again with PTSD, until the prayer he cried out on the set of It's a Wonderful Life became his own. He also shares how unstructured homeschool summers spent building a log cabin and shooting short films launched his career, how Stephen Kendrick mentored him on War Room, why Poets' Corner and the original meaning of "propaganda" shape his view of the storyteller's role in culture, and what's next with his film on missionary Hudson Taylor. For Christian homeschool families who love history, film, and faith, this is a behind-the-scenes look at what it means to tell stories worth telling. Catch Jimmy in theaters November 6 for Veterans Day weekend, bring a veteran if you can, and share this episode with a friend.   Watch Jimmy in theaters November 6 — tickets and VetTix donations for veterans. Watch the trailer for Jimmy