“Founding friend” David French returns to wrap up 2023 (we’re taking a break for a few weeks). He and Curtis look back at the year through the lens of two core spiritual values of The After Party: Humility and Hope. We discuss what happened in 2023 that grew our humility, reminding us of the need to recognize complexity, to grow, and to learn. We also talked up the signs of hope from the year, including many that are hidden or counter-intuitive.

Climate change is a major long term threat to our world. Yet, we find very few evangelical Christians voices or mass engagement on this issue. Why this disturbing gap? To explore this question, Curtis is joined by Bruce Huber who teaches about environmental law as Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame. Together, they explore the deep reasons why many Christians struggle even to make proper sense of climate change.

The wave of immigrants and refugees at the border has filled the news, and will most likely influence the next presidential elections. But what’s really happening there? And how should American Christians make sense of this issue? In the second of two episodes on this topic, Curtis is joined by someone with a unique perspective, Michael Debruhl. Michael is a former agent and executive in the Border Patrol who felt disturbed at the widespread misconceptions on the topic. Upon leaving the agency, he started volunteering at the Sacred Heart Shelter, one of the main church based programs receiving migrants at the border. 

The wave of immigrants and refugees at the border has filled the news, and will most likely influence the next presidential elections. But what’s really happening there? And how should American Christians make sense of this issue? In the first of two episodes on this topic, Curtis is joined by Bri Stensrud, Director of Women of Welcome, a ministry that helps American evangelical women understand what’s happening at the border in light of Scripture and current reality. They talk about why Christians should care about the border, the common misconceptions in play, and how opening our minds and hearts on this topic changes us.

We’re living in a cultural moment where so many people feel unseen and unheard. What if the answer is not some big government or nonprofit program, but rather something as intimate as this: a meaningful conversation. David Brooks joins the podcast to talk about his new book, “How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen.” He and Curtis discuss the art of connecting with another person, and why our society so deeply needs to revive the skills involved.

The Gaza crisis has sent out shock waves that extend to America. In this podcast, we explore how different communities and institutions in the US are responding. Rabbi Michael Holzman and David French join Curtis to examine what is happening for Jewish American communities,  college campuses, the progressive movement, American evangelicals, and wider public support for Israel. 

American youth who grew up in Christian families are leaving the church at a massive pace.  Curtis talks with Kara Powell, executive director of The Fuller Youth Institute, about the complex  reasons for this trend - and what can be done. They discuss why any understanding of the causes – and therefore the necessary response – must include parents and churches doing the hard work of self-examination and self-transformation.

Some churches seek to exploit political controversy for self-serving ends. But many more churches instinctively avoid controversy, and steer away from topics that may reveal differences. In this episode, Curtis is joined by Chuck Mingo to explore a different route: treating this upcoming election season as an opportunity for spiritual growth. They make the case that the same spiritual muscles that get built in politics apply also to marriages, parenting, employment and other areas of discipleship. Curtis and Chuck also talk about the practicalities involved: what should happen on Sunday morning (and what shouldn’t); the top rookie mistakes made when first trying to engage in politics; how the posture of the “wounded healer” is necessary for pastors; and much more.

In the diagnosis of the epidemic of anxiety sweeping through society, the examination has tended to focus on individual risk factors or macro-social trends (like social media and smartphone adoption among teens). But this misses something going on at the intermediary level between individuals and mass society: the state of the institutions that shape so much of our daily life. Curtis is joined by renowned scholar Yuval Levin in exploring the concept of “the anxious institution.” They make the case that institutions both externally cause and internally experience anxiety in fascinating and important ways.

In a wide ranging conversation, founding friend David French takes over the reins for Curtis Chang and discusses the new book, The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Jim Davis, Michael Graham, and Ryan Burge. David and coauthor Graham discuss all the reasons for “the great dechurching”  with a particular emphasis on the more surprising results, as well as the difficulty reversing the decline in church attendance.