Talkin‘ Politics & Religion Without Killin‘ Each Other

Kevin D. Williamson says the saving grace of Donald Trump is that he’s stupid and lazy. And that’s just one of the things he says on this episode that will make somebody mad.Kevin D. Williamson of The Dispatch joins Corey to talk about growing up in Lubbock, learning to write from Tom Wolfe and the back pages of National Review, and why his reporting method amounts to “send Kevin someplace he doesn’t belong.” Fresh off a week in the Rio Grande Valley and elsewhere in Texas covering the midterms, Kevin explains why Texas Democrats are courting a new constituency: normal people. Then the conversation turns to impeachment, corruption, Catholic and evangelical America, and why your politics shouldn’t be your religion.Calls to Action✅ Rate and review the show: lovethepodcast.com/politicsandreligion✅ Subscribe on Substack: coreysnathan.substack.com✅ Watch on YouTube: youtube.com/@politicsandreligion✅ Share this episode with a friend who treats politics like a religionKey TakeawaysTexas Democrats changed their slate. Outside of James Talarico, the party nominated boots-and-cowboy-hat Tejano candidates who talk about healthcare and gas prices instead of identity politics.Corruption is becoming a kitchen-table issue. Kevin argues voters connect $6 diesel to the grifting they see from people in power, and it’s showing up in the polls.Impeachment depends on the Senate. If Democrats win the Senate, Kevin expects impeachment plus a long run of oversight investigations, which he calls how the constitutional system is supposed to work.Politics has replaced church for a lot of people. Bitter political tribalism has grown as participation in religious life has declined. If politics is your religion, Kevin says, you should try to fix that about yourself.About Our GuestKevin D. Williamson is national correspondent at The Dispatch, where he writes the Monday newsletter Wanderland. He spent 15 years as a writer and editor at National Review, served as theater critic for The New Criterion, and is writer in residence at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. His books include The Smallest Minority: Independent Thinking in the Age of Mob Politics among several others.Links and Resourcesthedispatch.comBordering on Sanity, Kevin D. Williamson, The Dispatch: thedispatch.com/newsletter/wanderland/texas-democratic-candidates-midterms-talarico-normalWanderland newsletter: thedispatch.com/newsletter/wanderlandConnect with Talkin’ Politics & Religion Without Killin’ Each OtherSubstack: coreysnathan.substack.comYouTube: youtube.com/@politicsandreligionInstagram, Threads, Bluesky, X, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn: @coreysnathanPartnersProud to be part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts examining what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.“If Christians believed their own dogma, the world would look different from the way it looks.” Now go talk some politics and religion with gentleness and respect.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Terms of Service with Future CaucusA Vermont Democrat and a South Carolina Republican, both young parents in legislative leadership, on what it takes to raise small kids while serving in the statehouse.Terms of Service is a limited series from Future Caucus and TP&R, hosted by Future Caucus CEO Layla Zaidane. People run for state legislature to serve their communities, then find the fine print. This episode brings together Rep. Mary-Katherine Stone (D-VT) and Rep. Brandon Newton (R-SC), assistant majority leaders in their chambers, on bringing a baby to the House floor, scheduling around daycare pickup, and why legislatures need people living through the issues they vote on.This series is a partnership between SCAN Media and Future Caucus. Executive Producers: Future Caucus and Layla Zaidane.CALLS TO ACTION✅ Leave a rating and review: lovethepodcast.com/politicsandreligion✅ Subscribe on Substack: coreysnathan.substack.com✅ Watch and subscribe on YouTube: youtube.com/@politicsandreligionKEY TAKEAWAYSThe norms are built around the 90. When only 10 of 100 lawmakers have small kids, defaults like a 5 p.m. call get built for everyone else. In South Carolina, committee chairs now aim to wrap by 5 p.m., a change in culture rather than in the rules.A baby on the floor lowered the temperature. Stone brought her son Salem to the Vermont House every day of session, starting 10 weeks postpartum. Colleagues from both parties thanked her, and she says it helped her bipartisan bill banning toxic chemicals in baby food.Fixes for parents help everyone. Vermont lets members vote remotely in committee up to three times a session, and older members used it during flu season as much as parents did. Small changes like that make the job workable for anyone with something else going on.ABOUT OUR GUESTSRep. Mary-Katherine Stone (D) represents Burlington in the Vermont House and serves as an assistant majority leader, first elected in 2022. She is an occupational therapist at the University of Vermont Medical Center.Rep. Brandon Newton (R) represents District 45 in Lancaster County, South Carolina, first elected in 2016 at age 22. He serves as an assistant majority leader and teaches as a college professor. Host Layla Zaidane is president and CEO of Future Caucus.LINKS AND RESOURCESWatch on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@FutureCaucusFuture Caucus: futurecaucus.orgCONNECT WITH USSubstack: coreysnathan.substack.comYouTube: youtube.com/@politicsandreligionInstagram, Threads, Bluesky, X, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn: @coreysnathanPARTNERSProud to be part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts examining what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.Clarity, charity, and conviction can live in the same room. Yes, really.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Two weeks out, Silver Bulletin's forecast gives Democrats a 75% chance to win the Senate. But as our guest reminds us, one in four chances happen all the time.Corey sits down with Eli McKown-Dawson, senior elections analyst at Silver Bulletin, to look under the hood of the midterm forecast. They cover how polls get weighted, why a four-point lead can mean a 90% chance to win, and go state by state through the Senate map, from Texas and Maine to Kansas and Nebraska.Calls to Action✅ Leave a rating and review: lovethepodcast.com/politicsandreligion✅ Subscribe on Substack: coreysnathan.substack.com✅ Watch and subscribe on YouTube: youtube.com/@politicsandreligion✅ Share this episode with the friend who says the polls are always wrongKey Takeaways- Polls are snapshots, forecasts are probabilities. A poll captures opinion at one moment. The model combines polls with fundamentals and simulates the election many times.- Not every poll counts the same. Silver Bulletin weights pollsters by track record, recency, and transparency, and adjusts for partisan house effects.- The Labor Day shift was real. Once pollsters moved to likely voter models, the generic ballot went from about D+6 to D+9, reflecting Democrats' recent turnout edge.- Candidates still matter. Maine is competitive mainly because of Susan Collins, and Ken Paxton's weaknesses help explain why Texas leans toward Talarico.- Try to understand why people believe what they do. Eli's advice is to separate someone's politics from how you feel about them as a person, and to bring some intellectual humility.About Our GuestEli McKown-Dawson is a senior elections analyst at Silver Bulletin, where he writes about polls, politics, and elections and develops polling averages and election forecasts. He previously contributed to YouGov's U.S. politics team.Links and ResourcesSilver Bulletin: www.natesilver.netEli on X: @emckowndawsonVotebeat, "Experts say the midterms could face challenges, but are less concerned than in the spring": www.votebeat.org/national/2026/10/15/fall-2026-election-expert-survey-troops-polls-seize-ballots-voting-fraud/Connect with TRP&RSubstack: coreysnathan.substack.comYouTube: youtube.com/@politicsandreligionInstagram, Threads, Bluesky, X, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn: @coreysnathanPartnersProud to be part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts examining what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it."One in four chances happen all the time." – Eli McKown-DawsonNow go talk some politics and religion with gentleness and respect.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Twenty years in the pulpit. Ten years of disillusionment. He says he’s better for it.Pat Kahnke cast his first vote for Ronald Reagan, spoke on behalf of the pro-life movement, and picked his church because he walked in on Pro-Life Sunday. Then 2016 sent him back to rethink all of it. In this Substack Live conversation, Corey and Pat talk about why the “binary choice” argument falls apart in the primaries, what “if love is obedience” says about authoritarian faith, the Somali community and the ICE occupation in Minnesota, and Pete Hegseth’s push to livestream an execution.Calls to Action✅ Leave a rating and review: lovethepodcast.com/politicsandreligion✅ Subscribe on Substack: coreysnathan.substack.com✅ Watch and subscribe on YouTube: youtube.com/@politicsandreligion✅ Share this episode with someone who’s been told voting is a binary choiceKey TakeawaysDisillusionment can be a gift. Pat has lost his illusions about the movement he came from, about the average voter and even about Minnesota. Seeing what actually is helps him get past most of the anger and try to be useful.The binary choice is a myth. White evangelicals chose Trump over every other Republican in the primaries. Pat says that blows the “lesser of two evils” excuse out of the water.Earned authority vs. positional authority. Pat’s biggest fights with his own church elders were over whether authority is owed or earned. He sees an authoritarian kind of Christian who will back anyone willing to exercise power over the people they fear.Pick one issue. Instead of arguing with friends and family about everything, Pat suggests learning one issue well and discussing it calmly, with facts. For him, that issue is immigration.About Our GuestPat Kahnke is a retired evangelical pastor who spent 20 years in ministry in the Twin Cities, including a church he planted in St. Paul’s Frogtown neighborhood. He’s the author of MAGA Seduction: Resisting the Debasement of the Christian Conscience (2020) and A Christian Case Against Donald Trump (2024), and he hosts Culture, Faith, and Politics on YouTube and Substack.Links and Resources Culture, Faith, and Politics on Substack: culturefaithandpolitics.substack.comCulture, Faith, and Politics on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@culturefaithandpolitics“Religious Groups Differ Widely in Their 2026 Midterm Preferences” (Pew Research Center): www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/10/13/religious-groups-differ-widely-in-their-2026-midterm-preferences/Connect with Talkin’ Politics & Religion Without Killin’ Each OtherSubstack: coreysnathan.substack.comYouTube: youtube.com/@politicsandreligionInstagram, Threads, Bluesky, X, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn: @coreysnathanPartnersProud to be part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts examining what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.“Find something that you care passionately about.” Now go talk some politics and religion with gentleness and respect.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Last time we promised unreasonably irresponsible midterm predictions and got sidetracked. This time we actually make the calls.Chip is back at Doc’s Inn for another round of “To the Republic... To the Pub.” First comes a fight over whether the polls lean left, what Nate Silver actually said in 2016, and whether 2024 Trump voters are staying put. Then the House, and the Senate map race by race, from Georgia to a wild card in Nebraska. Also featured: a Kalshi bet, a Montblanc pen, and a shot riding on the outcome.On the MapThe House, plus Senate races in Georgia, Minnesota, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Kansas, Ohio, Maine, Texas, Alaska and Iowa. Corey also brings a wild card: Nebraska. Some calls we agree on. Some we definitely don’t.Calls to Action✅ Leave a rating and review: lovethepodcast.com/politicsandreligion✅ Subscribe on Substack: coreysnathan.substack.com✅ Watch and subscribe on YouTube: youtube.com/@politicsandreligion✅ Share this episode with the friend who already knows exactly how the midterms will goConnect with UsSubstack: coreysnathan.substack.comYouTube: youtube.com/@politicsandreligionInstagram, Threads, Bluesky, X, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn: @coreysnathanPartnersProud to be part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts examining what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.Pull up a stool. Folks we disagree with? It’s more fun to talk to ’em than to talk about ’em.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.