The Jim Wallis Podcast

Protecting the right to vote is an act of loving your neighbor—and Rev. Dr. Katie Sexton is putting that conviction into practice in Arizona.The executive director of the Arizona Faith Network joins Jim Wallis to discuss how interfaith communities are responding to voter intimidation, political violence, and disinformation with trained volunteers, trusted relationships, and nonpartisan election protection.Sexton describes the work of Poll Chaplains and Peacekeepers, the importance of staying calm and knowing where to turn for help, and the power of bringing joy back to voting. She also shares practical steps congregations can take—from providing rides and ballot education to speaking against dehumanizing rhetoric—without endorsing candidates.Their conversation connects voting rights with the everyday struggles of families facing hunger and housing insecurity, while exploring how relationships across religious and political differences can strengthen both faith and democracy.Download The Soul of the Nation with Jim Wallis for a grounded, hopeful conversation about protecting our neighbors, resisting fear, and turning concern for democracy into action.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A grandmother raising three teenage boys lost $700 a month in food assistance after submitting the wrong year’s income statement. She called 100 times in one month to correct the mistake—and never got through.New York Times poverty reporter Jason DeParle joins Jim Wallis to bring the human consequences of SNAP cuts into focus. Drawing on his reporting in Arizona, where enrollment fell by roughly half in a year, DeParle describes eligible families shut out by paperwork demands, unanswered calls, and overwhelmed agencies.They examine why payment errors are not the same as fraud, how new state funding obligations can create incentives to restrict access, and what the 2027 SNAP cost shift could mean for the program’s future. DeParle also explains why food assistance protects more than grocery budgets: it helps families pay rent, maintain health, and withstand financial shocks.Download The Soul of the Nation with Jim Wallis for a candid conversation about hunger, human dignity, the moral responsibility to feed our neighbors, and the power of journalism to make hidden suffering visible.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Matthew D. Taylor joins Jim Wallis for a searching conversation about his new book, Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists.Taylor, an authoritative voice on the dangers of Christian Nationalism and avisiting scholar at Georgetown University’s Center on Faith + Justice, examines what happens when Christians harm others in Jesus’ name while claiming divine authority for political power. He traces the long history of Christianity’s entanglement with empire—from Constantine’s conversion through today’s Christian Nationalist Movements—and calls the church back to the anti-authoritarian way of Jesus.Jim and Matthew discuss the New Apostolic Reformation, the Seven Mountains Mandate, the “gospel of Caesar,” the difference between conquest and service, and why Christian discipleship requires both caring for the victims of empire and defying the empire itself.Defying Tyrants is a call to reject religious supremacy, confront the abuse of power, and follow Jesus in solidarity with “the least and the lowest.”See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Congressman Jared Huffman, author of No Prophets: A Fight to Save Democracy from Christian Nationalism, joins Jim Wallis for a candid conversation about the growing power of Christian nationalism in American public life.Huffman, the founder of the Congressional Freethought Caucus and the only openly non-theistic member of Congress, describes a movement he believes has moved from the margins to the highest levels of government. He and Wallis discuss Christian nationalism’s role in January 6, the New Apostolic Reformation, the Seven Mountains Mandate, attacks on public education and science, and the danger of using government power to impose religious belief.Wallis and Huffman also explore the difference between true prophetic faith and religious extremism, the constitutional importance of church-state separation, and why people of every faith and no faith at all must work together to defend religious freedom, democratic pluralism, and equal citizenship.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this special live episode of The Soul of the Nation with Jim Wallis, recorded September 22, 2026, at Georgetown University, Jim Wallis convenes civil-rights and democracy leaders Maya Wiley, Mary McCord, and Vanita Gupta for an urgent conversation about protecting the vote—and protecting the democracy that makes civil rights possible.The panel confronts the legal, structural, and civic threats facing the 2026 elections: voter intimidation, disinformation, threats to election workers, attacks on voting-rights organizations, the weaponization of federal power, and fears that immigration enforcement or armed federal agents could suppress turnout. They also offer a grounded response: know your rights, vote early, support election workers, resist intimidation nonviolently, and refuse to be a bystander.Wallis explores the essential role that faith communities can play—not as partisan actors, but as trusted, peaceful, moral presences. Through Faith United to Save Democracy, clergy and community leaders are being trained as “poll chaplains” and peacekeepers to help voters feel informed, safe, and welcome at the polls.As Maya Wiley says, “You have power. Use it.” This is a conversation about the work of democracy, the duty to protect one another’s right to vote, and the deeper calling to build not merely a restored past, but a more just future.Recorded live at Georgetown University’s Center on Faith + JusticeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.