Podcasts about The Screwtape Letters

Don't forget to grab your free scripture journal at ⁠⁠⁠PrayingChristianWomen.com/journal ⁠⁠⁠today! Want to know the secret to fighting spiritual battles with more power? Learn how the Enemy thinks and operates. This week’s guest on the Praying Christian Women podcast, Emily Wilson Hussem, helps us do just that in her new book Sincerely, Stoneheart: Unmask the Enemy’s Lies, Find the Truth That Sets You Free. In the spirit of The Screwtape Letters, Emily brings the same behind-enemy-lines insights, but tailored specifically to modern Christian women like you. You will not want to miss this incredible interview that is sure to jump-start your prayer life and arm you for spiritual battle! You can connect with Emily @‌emwilss on Instagram, and get your free group discussion guide for Sincerely, Stoneheart at EmilyWilsonMinistries.com Discover More: Explore additional episodes of Praying Christian Women, Mindful Christian Prayers, and other Christian podcasts at Lifeaudio.com Check out our new podcast, Christian True-Crime Junkies!, on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts! Connect with Us: Stay updated and engage with our community: On Substack @PrayingChristianWomen On Facebook @PrayingChristianWomen On Instagram @PrayingChristianWomen On YouTube: @PrayingChristianWomen Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Modern Challenges of Self-Worth and Lies   Host Curtis Chang talks with author and women's ministry leader Emily Wilson about faith, motherhood, and battling the lies of shame and self-hatred. Drawing from C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters and her new book Sincerely, Stoneheart, Emily explores how screens, productivity pressures, and cultural messages distort our identity—and how the truth of God's love can set us free.   (00:01) - Reimagining CS Lewis for Modern Times (04:54) - Women and Good vs. Evil (08:27) - Women and Men's Unique Vulnerabilities to Evil (13:03) - Did C.S. Lewis Miss Something About Women? (14:53) - C.S. Lewis and Friendship (19:08) - Unveiling Truths About Motherhood and Screens (28:01) - The Lie of Productivity   Join The After Party   Send Campfire Stories to: info@redeemingbabel.org   Donate to Redeeming Babel   Mentioned in this episode: Emily Wilson's Sincerely Stoneheart  Learn more about C.S. Lewis (C.S. Lewis Institute) The Background surrounding C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters  More about Lewis's friendships and the Inklings  Listen to Good Faith Episode 160 - Resetting Your Faith: Exploring the Strength of Biblical Mothers with Tara Edelschick and Kathy Tuan-MacLea authors of Moms at the Well  NIH's Study on depression, screen time, and women (abstract) More from Emily Wilson: Emily Wilson's Website  Find Emily Wilson on Instagram Watch Emily Wilson on YouTube  Find Emily Wilson on Facebook   Follow Us: Good Faith on Instagram Good Faith on X (formerly Twitter) Good Faith on Facebook   Sign up: Redeeming Babel Newsletter

Today, on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly theme of “Walking the Straight and Narrow Path” with discussions about staying focused in our relationship with God to stay on the narrow path. We turned to Proverbs 4:25-26 to see that the Word affirms the importance of keeping our eyes straight ahead and being intentional about the steps we take. We then had Janet Parshall join us to share how the Lord guided her steps to Radio Ministry and how the Lord helped her overcome hardships. Janet is the host of the national program, In the Market with Janet Parshall, which airs weekdays from 4-6 pm CT. She has been broadcasting from the nation's capital for over 3 decades. Janet has also authored several books, including “Buyer Beware: Finding Truth in the Marketplace of Ideas.” Max McLean also joined us to talk about the stage-adapted performance of C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters and how the cast is currently on tour performing across the nation. Max is an award-winning actor and the Founder and Artistic Director of the New York City-based Fellowship for Performing Arts. He is also an internationally known voice-over, radio, and narrative artist. Max has adapted other pieces to the stage, such as C.S. Lewis on Stage: The Most Reluctant Covenant. You can hear the highlights of today's program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps: Janet Parshall Interview (Intentional Steps with God) [03:17] Max McLean Interview (The Screwtape Letters) [34:47 ] Intentional Steps Devotion [42:21 ] Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly theme of “Walking the Straight and Narrow Path” with discussions about staying focused in our relationship with God to stay on the narrow path. We turned to Proverbs 4:25-26 to see that the Word affirms the importance of keeping our eyes straight ahead and being intentional about the steps we take. We then had Janet Parshall join us to share how the Lord guided her steps to Radio Ministry and how the Lord helped her overcome hardships. Janet is the host of the national program, In the Market with Janet Parshall, which airs weekdays from 4-6 pm CT. She has been broadcasting from the nation's capital for over 3 decades. Janet has also authored several books, including “Buyer Beware: Finding Truth in the Marketplace of Ideas.” Max McLean also joined us to talk about the stage-adapted performance of C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters and how the cast is currently on tour performing across the nation. Max is an award-winning actor and the Founder and Artistic Director of the New York City-based Fellowship for Performing Arts. He is also an internationally known voice-over, radio, and narrative artist. Max has adapted other pieces to the stage, such as C.S. Lewis on Stage: The Most Reluctant Covenant. You can hear the highlights of today's program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps: Janet Parshall Interview (Intentional Steps with God) [03:17] Max McLean Interview (The Screwtape Letters) [34:47 ] Intentional Steps Devotion [42:21 ] Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly theme of “Walking the Straight and Narrow Path” with discussions about staying focused in our relationship with God to stay on the narrow path. We turned to Proverbs 4:25-26 to see that the Word affirms the importance of keeping our eyes straight ahead and being intentional about the steps we take. We then had Janet Parshall join us to share how the Lord guided her steps to Radio Ministry and how the Lord helped her overcome hardships. Janet is the host of the national program, In the Market with Janet Parshall, which airs weekdays from 4-6 pm CT. She has been broadcasting from the nation's capital for over 3 decades. Janet has also authored several books, including “Buyer Beware: Finding Truth in the Marketplace of Ideas.” Max McLean also joined us to talk about the stage-adapted performance of C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters and how the cast is currently on tour performing across the nation. Max is an award-winning actor and the Founder and Artistic Director of the New York City-based Fellowship for Performing Arts. He is also an internationally known voice-over, radio, and narrative artist. Max has adapted other pieces to the stage, such as C.S. Lewis on Stage: The Most Reluctant Covenant. You can hear the highlights of today's program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps: Janet Parshall Interview (Intentional Steps with God) [03:17] Max McLean Interview (The Screwtape Letters) [34:47 ] Intentional Steps Devotion [42:21 ] Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly theme of “Walking the Straight and Narrow Path” with discussions about staying focused in our relationship with God to stay on the narrow path. We turned to Proverbs 4:25-26 to see that the Word affirms the importance of keeping our eyes straight ahead and being intentional about the steps we take. We then had Janet Parshall join us to share how the Lord guided her steps to Radio Ministry and how the Lord helped her overcome hardships. Janet is the host of the national program, In the Market with Janet Parshall, which airs weekdays from 4-6 pm CT. She has been broadcasting from the nation's capital for over 3 decades. Janet has also authored several books, including “Buyer Beware: Finding Truth in the Marketplace of Ideas.” Max McLean also joined us to talk about the stage-adapted performance of C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters and how the cast is currently on tour performing across the nation. Max is an award-winning actor and the Founder and Artistic Director of the New York City-based Fellowship for Performing Arts. He is also an internationally known voice-over, radio, and narrative artist. Max has adapted other pieces to the stage, such as C.S. Lewis on Stage: The Most Reluctant Covenant. You can hear the highlights of today's program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps: Janet Parshall Interview (Intentional Steps with God) [03:17] Max McLean Interview (The Screwtape Letters) [34:47 ] Intentional Steps Devotion [42:21 ] Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly theme of “Walking the Straight and Narrow Path” with discussions about staying focused in our relationship with God to stay on the narrow path. We turned to Proverbs 4:25-26 to see that the Word affirms the importance of keeping our eyes straight ahead and being intentional about the steps we take. We then had Janet Parshall join us to share how the Lord guided her steps to Radio Ministry and how the Lord helped her overcome hardships. Janet is the host of the national program, In the Market with Janet Parshall, which airs weekdays from 4-6 pm CT. She has been broadcasting from the nation's capital for over 3 decades. Janet has also authored several books, including “Buyer Beware: Finding Truth in the Marketplace of Ideas.” Max McLean also joined us to talk about the stage-adapted performance of C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters and how the cast is currently on tour performing across the nation. Max is an award-winning actor and the Founder and Artistic Director of the New York City-based Fellowship for Performing Arts. He is also an internationally known voice-over, radio, and narrative artist. Max has adapted other pieces to the stage, such as C.S. Lewis on Stage: The Most Reluctant Covenant. You can hear the highlights of today's program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps: Janet Parshall Interview (Intentional Steps with God) [03:17] Max McLean Interview (The Screwtape Letters) [34:47 ] Intentional Steps Devotion [42:21 ] Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly theme of “Walking the Straight and Narrow Path” with discussions about staying focused in our relationship with God to stay on the narrow path. We turned to Proverbs 4:25-26 to see that the Word affirms the importance of keeping our eyes straight ahead and being intentional about the steps we take. We then had Janet Parshall join us to share how the Lord guided her steps to Radio Ministry and how the Lord helped her overcome hardships. Janet is the host of the national program, In the Market with Janet Parshall, which airs weekdays from 4-6 pm CT. She has been broadcasting from the nation's capital for over 3 decades. Janet has also authored several books, including “Buyer Beware: Finding Truth in the Marketplace of Ideas.” Max McLean also joined us to talk about the stage-adapted performance of C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters and how the cast is currently on tour performing across the nation. Max is an award-winning actor and the Founder and Artistic Director of the New York City-based Fellowship for Performing Arts. He is also an internationally known voice-over, radio, and narrative artist. Max has adapted other pieces to the stage, such as C.S. Lewis on Stage: The Most Reluctant Covenant. You can hear the highlights of today's program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps: Janet Parshall Interview (Intentional Steps with God) [03:17] Max McLean Interview (The Screwtape Letters) [34:47 ] Intentional Steps Devotion [42:21 ] Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly theme of “Walking the Straight and Narrow Path” with discussions about staying focused in our relationship with God to stay on the narrow path. We turned to Proverbs 4:25-26 to see that the Word affirms the importance of keeping our eyes straight ahead and being intentional about the steps we take. We then had Janet Parshall join us to share how the Lord guided her steps to Radio Ministry and how the Lord helped her overcome hardships. Janet is the host of the national program, In the Market with Janet Parshall, which airs weekdays from 4-6 pm CT. She has been broadcasting from the nation's capital for over 3 decades. Janet has also authored several books, including “Buyer Beware: Finding Truth in the Marketplace of Ideas.” Max McLean also joined us to talk about the stage-adapted performance of C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters and how the cast is currently on tour performing across the nation. Max is an award-winning actor and the Founder and Artistic Director of the New York City-based Fellowship for Performing Arts. He is also an internationally known voice-over, radio, and narrative artist. Max has adapted other pieces to the stage, such as C.S. Lewis on Stage: The Most Reluctant Covenant. You can hear the highlights of today's program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps: Janet Parshall Interview (Intentional Steps with God) [03:17] Max McLean Interview (The Screwtape Letters) [34:47 ] Intentional Steps Devotion [42:21 ] Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

#0199 History, Screwtape Letters, and Trivia - Further. Every. Day.

Series looking at "The Screwtape Letters" by C. S. Lewis.

0:30 - Trump at SPACECOM presser on deploying National Guard to Chicago: I have an obligation 9:49 - Morning Joe's "radical" idea for Pritzker 32:37 - Pritzker at presser on imminent deployment of National Guard 58:06 - CDC walkout 01:11:28 - Adam B Coleman, founder of Wrong Speak Publishing and author of The Children We Left Behind: How Western Culture Rationalizes Family Separation & Ignores the Pain of Child Neglect, argues No, we don’t need illegal immigrants to do jobs Americans ‘won’t’ Follow Adam on X @wrong_speak 01:29:32 - Noted economist Stephen Moore: I don’t like Trump’s tariffs but I do like his trade deals. Get more Steve @StephenMoore 01:47:37 - 15th Ward Alderman Ray Lopez, says Chicago should challenge President Trump - “If you can do better, let’s see what you can do” For more on Ray and his work for the 15th ward the15thward.org 02:06:03 - Fellowship for Performing Arts Founder and Artistic Director, Max McLean, previews his upcoming production of “The Screwtape Letters” – September 13 & 14 at the Athenaeum Center, 2936 N Southport, Chicago 60657 - for more info athenaeumcenter.orgSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's impossible to truly believe the Bible and an all powerful God without embracing and living with a supernatural worldview. There is much more to this world and beyond that we can't see, but the Scriptures make it clear this is the case. We discuss this in the newest episode. We also reference several books and podcasts and those are all listed here below for you: Blurry Creatures PodcastHaunted Cosmos Podcast Gospel Project Podcast "Unseen Realm" by Michael Heiser"3 Crucial Questions About Spiritual Warfare" by Clinton Arnold "Powers of Darkness" by Clinton Arnold "Power and Magic" by Clinton Arnold "Eclipse of Heaven" by AJ Conyers "Experience Jesus. Really." by John Eldrege "The Chronicles of Narnia" by C.S. Lewis "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis "Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R Tolkien"The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien "Silmarillion" by J.R.R. Tolkien The Book of Enoch

Today we look at a John MacArthur booklet on suffering and provide some commentary on why does God allow suffering. Booklet: https://shop.gty.org/store/booklets/453014/why-does-god-allow-so-much-suffering Screwtape Letters: https://amzn.to/4lSiq2G James 1:2-4

We are continuing through the Fiction and Philosophy of C.S. Lewis course with The Screwtape Letters and Screwtape Proposes a Toast.Become a patron and/or enroll in a course at patreon.com/mythicmind.Watch the video of this episode here: https://youtu.be/wpM57wego3YListen to all THREE Mythic Mind podcasts:Mythic MindMythic Mind GamesMythic Mind Movies & ShowsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/mythic-mind--5808321/support.

Series looking at "The Screwtape Letters" by C. S. Lewis.

What inspired C.S. Lewis to write The Screwtape Letters?Did you know that Lewis once began an angelic companion to The Screwtape Letters?Did you know that Screwtape was once part of the Ransomverse?We are continuing through the Fiction and Philosophy of C.S. Lewis course with an extended introduction to The Screwtape Letters.Become a patron and/or enroll in a course at patreon.com/mythicmind.Watch the video of this episode here: https://youtu.be/cqLBdUSy_5AListen to all THREE Mythic Mind podcasts:Mythic MindMythic Mind GamesMythic Mind Movies & ShowsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/mythic-mind--5808321/support.

Series looking at "The Screwtape Letters" by C. S. Lewis.  

有些人，總是當那個說「我都可以」的人，他們善良、體貼，努力維持關係的和諧，但久而久之，真正的自己也在這些退讓裡被一點一點地壓抑了。 如果你也曾在關係中感到委屈，卻習慣說沒事，這集【How to人生術】，會陪你一起釐清： 那些你以為的體貼，真的能讓關係更好嗎？ 還是，其實正在悄悄傷害你們之間的連結？ 在這一集中，劉軒談到：「討好」不是性格的缺陷，而是從小為了生存而養成的一種保護策略。 當我們長期壓抑感受、不說清楚，反而更容易讓關係失衡。 節目也分享了幾個練習的方法，幫助你慢慢劃出清楚、溫和又有底氣的界限，不為了對抗誰，而是為了更真實地照顧自己。

Segment 1 • Todd reflects on seeing The Screwtape Letters in Greenville, SC. • The smarter you get in theology, the easier it is to grow prideful. • Scott Aniol becomes G3 Ministries President; reminder to engage secondary disagreements with grace. Segment 2 • Porn remains the top sin struggle listeners report. • Examine your heart: Are you pursuing sin because it's easy? Are you lazy? • Evict the enemy—better to lose comfort than lose your purity. Segment 3 • Phil Johnson joins Thursday to share insights on Dr. MacArthur. • Baptist News attacks MacArthur as a “false prophet”—Todd exposes the absurdity. • Chip and Joanna Gaines criticized for promoting unbiblical messages about love. Segment 4 • Growing trend: People using AI chatbots for relationships and even marriage. • AI companions are programmed to affirm your every thought. • AI will tell you what you want to hear—even if it destroys you. ___ Thanks for listening! Wretched Radio would not be possible without the financial support of our Gospel Partners. If you would like to support Wretched Radio we would be extremely grateful. VISIT https://fortisinstitute.org/donate/ If you are already a Gospel Partner we couldn't be more thankful for you if we tried!

Along with looking at the legal and political issues around obsession with Jeffrey Epstein, political scientist Adam Carrington looks at the Christian faith of American founder Alexander Hamilton who died this month in 1804.  Actor Max McLean of the Fellowship for Performing Arts talks about bringing C.S. Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters" to the stage.   Faith Radio podcasts are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here

In this episode of the CityLight Podcast, Pastor Bo unpacks the timeless wisdom of The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, revealing the subtle strategies the enemy uses to distract and derail us from a passionate, thriving relationship with God. With fresh insight and practical application, Pastor Bo brings these classic truths into our modern context. You'll be challenged, encouraged, and better equipped to recognize—and resist—the enemy’s tactics in your daily walk with Christ.(00:00) Notes From Screwtape(14:07) Overcoming Anxiety and Self-Hatred(26:26) Guarding Zeal and Stewarding Time(33:03) Navigating Healthy Sexuality and Temptations(49:10) Connecting With CityLight Churchwww.citylightnyc.com

In this episode, Jeremy W. Johnston introduces our audience to C.S. Lewis and discusses some of his most important writings. Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963), a British writer and scholar, is best known as C.S. Lewis, the author of the beloved children's series The Chronicles of Narnia, as well as influential works of Christian apologetics like Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters. Born in Belfast and holding academic positions at Oxford and Cambridge, Lewis was a prominent member of the "Inklings" literary group with J.R.R. Tolkien. His conversion from atheism to Christianity profoundly shaped his writing, imbuing his diverse works, ranging from literary criticism to science fiction, with theological and allegorical depth, ensuring his enduring popularity and impact on literature and Christian thought. For more information visit: https://cbtseminary.org

In this episode, Jeremy W. Johnston introduces our audience to C.S. Lewis and discusses some of his most important writings. Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963), a British writer and scholar, is best known as C.S. Lewis, the author of the beloved children's series The Chronicles of Narnia, as well as influential works of Christian apologetics like Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters. Born in Belfast and holding academic positions at Oxford and Cambridge, Lewis was a prominent member of the "Inklings" literary group with J.R.R. Tolkien. His conversion from atheism to Christianity profoundly shaped his writing, imbuing his diverse works, ranging from literary criticism to science fiction, with theological and allegorical depth, ensuring his enduring popularity and impact on literature and Christian thought. For more information visit: https://cbtseminary.org

Jun 29, 2025 GRAND PARKWAY BAPTIST CHURCHNeil McClendon, Lead PastorGrand Parkway Baptist ChurchThe Balance of GodJonah 4:5-111. The direction of disobedience, v. 5 Here are some examples from Genesis of how eastward movement symbolizes departure from God's will… a) Adam & Eve are put out of the Garden on the east side b) Cain settles east of Eden c) The builders of Babel are headed east when they decide to build a tower so as to make a name for themselves d) Lot separated from Abram and traveled east near Sodom and GomorrahHere is how we drift away from God… 1) a fixation on the physical over the spiritual in your priorities 2) a loss of sensitivity“You will say that these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the God. It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one — the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”  - C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters 3) the glorification of feelings2. God acts sovereignly to reveal His nature and our need, v. 6-8Three ways God demonstrates His nature… a) His name- v. 6- “YHWH Elohim” ⁃ YHWH- speaking to Israelites (particular)  ⁃ Elohim- speaking to non-Israelites (universal)  b) His sovereignty- “appointed…” c) His patience- v. 9 Three ways God demonstrates our need… a) provision- v. 5 b) experience- v. 6 ⁃ Matthew 7:1-2 c) isolation- v. 8b3. God is not ashamed of you, v. 10-11 2 Peter 3:9-10Mental worship… 1. What does drifting away from God feel like in your life? 2. Are you biggest priorities physical or spiritual in nature? 3. What is the latest thing you could clearly identify as God's provision? 4. Is there anything you think or feel but you only say to yourself? 5. What are some of your takeaways from the book of Jonah?

By Andrew Lazo

the Screwtape Letters coming to Pgh … GUEST Max McLean … award-winning actor and founder/artistic director of NYC-based Fellowship for Performing Arts, which produces theatre & film from a Christian worldview meant to engage diverse audiences. **Developing a reading habit: there’s some interesting research about how who‘s reading and not … GUEST Joel Miller … Chief Product Officer for FullFocus (they create books, podcasts, articles, courses, & the Full Focus Planner) and host of the substack Miller’s Book Reviews. Drafts and trades in professional sports … GUEST Dr Richard Mouw ... Professor of faith and public life at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA, where he served as president for 20 yrs ... He has written numerous books, including “Adventures in Evangelical Civility,” “Uncommon Decency,” “Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport,”“The Smell of Sawdust,” and the newest “Restless Faith: Holding evangelical beliefs in a world of Contested Labels”.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Join us for Shakespeare Summer!If you've been around the Read-Aloud Revival for a minute, you might know that C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters is one of my all-time favorite books. It's the book I have read and re-read the most, and it's also the source of some of my favorite read-aloud memories with my young adult son.Today's guest has written a book in a similar style with the modern woman in mind, and in this episode we talk about how the enemy is working the hearts and minds of women today. Emily Wilson Hussem is the author of Sincerely Stoneheart: Unmask the Enemy's Lies, Find the Truth That Sets You Free, as well as a speaker and YouTuber who shares her faith around the world. It was a delight to have her on the show. In this episode, you'll hear: How Emily adapted C. S. Lewis's format to get to the heart of the most common struggles in women's livesWhy embracing friendship, connection, and community is key to thriving as women and mothersThe ways distraction, comparison, and dissatisfaction all pull us away from living in the truth of our identities as beloved daughters of God Learn more about Sarah Mackenzie:Read-Aloud RevivalWaxwing BooksSubscribe to the NewsletterFind the rest of the show notes at: readaloudrevival.com/emily-wilson

Patrick encourages men and women grappling with lust to focus on modesty, purity, and self-control in today’s world. He fields a deeply personal call about grief, the ache of unanswered prayers, and the daily effort to pursue virtue, offering compassion, practical wisdom, and the rock-solid hope found in Scripture and community. Sudden moments of humor and heartfelt support blend with advice on modest dress, addiction battles, and the sacred duty to lift up one another—whether that means praying for strangers or connecting a hurting listener with the Knights of Columbus. Laurie - I just wanted to encourage men in custody of eyes. The world, flesh and devil are trying to get us to forget who we are. Men, you are made for this. (01:41) Lisa - The Bible says ask and you shall receive. Did you have any words of comfort for those who don’t get their prayers answered? (06:12) Paul - I agree with you about lust addiction. Praying a daily Rosary and having custody of the eyes helps. I rely on the strength of my guardian angel. (14:07) Katie (email) – Women, please dress modestly. We can help the fight. (20:29) Robert - Custody of the eyes: I turn away and thank God for their beauty instead of ruminating on it. (21:20) Janet – It used to bother me a great deal when I saw women scantily clad. I confessed my anger. I am always praying for them when I see them, it really relieves me of anxiety and angst. (22:08) Ben - CS Lewis’ Screwtape Letters helped me mentally with lust. (24:47) Tom – I have Cerebral Palsy and am being mistreated where I live. How can I deal with this without falling into sin? (28:05) Maria – The friend of my grandson dresses very skimpy. I told him I didn’t like how she was dressed. My family was upset with me for saying this. (39:52) Lisette - My daughter received Voodoo dolls as gift (43:53)

Against the backdrop of C. S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters, author Marlon De La Torre, PhD shows how the catechism can help us recognize temptation and engage in the battle against sin.

In today's episode, I'm sharing a powerful and uncomfortable truth: you can be incredibly productive and still be wildly ineffective. If you've ever felt like your days are full but your life feels stuck — this is for you. I'm drawing inspiration from The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis — a book where the devil teaches his apprentice how to keep someone distracted from living a meaningful, intentional life. One of the strategies? Keep them trapped in their to-do list. Make them believe that daily logistics are real life — and never let them question it. We're talking about: The danger of mistaking motion for progress How the “secondary” quietly replaces the “primary” Why the tasks that feel urgent often aren't important How to reframe your days around what truly matters This isn't about doing less — it's about making room for what's real. Join me inside The Consistency Course

In this episode of Thinking Out Loud, Cameron and Nathan wade into the chaos of current global events—from missile strikes in Iran to plane crashes in India—and ask a critical theological question: how should Christians respond to a world that feels like it's unraveling? Rather than offering false certainty or prophetic guesswork, they reflect on the emotional and spiritual toll of nonstop news and the dangers of distraction, drawing from Scripture, C.S. Lewis's Screwtape Letters, and their own lived experiences. This episode challenges believers to reclaim attention, prioritize the local over the global, and discern the difference between what's simply a problem and what is your problem. For Christians seeking thoughtful, biblically grounded dialogue in a noisy world, this conversation offers clarity, conviction, and grace.DONATE LINK: https://toltogether.com/donate BOOK A SPEAKER: https://toltogether.com/book-a-speakerJOIN TOL CONNECT: https://toltogether.com/tol-connect TOL Connect is an online forum where TOL listeners can continue the conversation begun on the podcast.

Cooper and his cousin, Hayden, discuss their summer reading so far. The books they talk about include but are not limited to: The Once and Future King by T.H. White, What it Means to be Protestant by Gavin Ortlund, and two of C.S. Lewis's works: the Screwtape Letters and Miracles. Listen and enjoy!FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM:@bookinitpodCHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE:https://412podcasting.comSUPPORT US HERE:https://patreon.com/bookinit TEXT US HERE!

The Pentagon confessed to decades of deliberately spreading UFO conspiracy theories to cover up secret military programs (03:46) CS Lewis' ‘The Screwtape Letters’ heading to big screen in adaptation from Max McLean (12:31) Josh – Is burning incense,ok? Can I work on music on Sundays? (22:35) Jose – What are the rules of Sunday obligation? Is it a sin to masturbate? (25:52) Isabella (10-years-old) - If there is no sorrow in heaven, why is Mary the Queen of Sorrows? (38:24) Jessica - Patrick helped me avoid getting my tubes tied and now I’m having a baby boy! (44:46)

Dr. Marion De La Torre joins Jim and Joy to speak about his book “The Screwtape Letters and the Catechism,” tying together the significant resources for growing spiritual courage.

When a skeptical professor steps into the mind of a former student's fiancée, he discovers a surreal landscape shaped by vanity, obsession, and alarming emptiness. A sharp and unsettling exploration of how our inner worlds reveal far more than we intend. The Shoddy Lands by C. S. Lewis. That's next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.Clive Staples Lewis, one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1898. In 1917, during the height of World War I, he enlisted in the British Army and was wounded in combat less than a year later.Though best known for his beloved children's series, The Chronicles of Narnia—seven books published throughout the 1950s—Lewis also made a lasting mark with The Screwtape Letters in the 1940s, and his philosophical sci-fi epic, The Space Trilogy, written in the 1930s and '40s.While he authored more than 30 books in his lifetime, Lewis rarely ventured into short fiction. Today's featured tale marks a special occasion: his first story published in an American fantasy and science fiction magazine. From the February 1956 issue of Fantasy and Science Fiction, beginning on page 68, The Shoddy Lands by C. S. Lewis.…Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, A brief tale of the dismal success of a scientist's experiment. Anton's Last Dream by Edwin Baird.☕ Buy Me a Coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/scottsV===========================Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TheLostSciFiPodcastTwitter - https://x.com/LostSciFiPodInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/lostscifiguyThreads - https://www.threads.net/@scottscifiguy=========================== ❤️ ❤️ Thanks to All Our Listeners Who Bought Us a Coffee$200 Someone$100 Tony from the Future$75 James Van Maanenberg$50 Anonymous Listener$25 Someone, Eaten by a Grue, Jeff Lussenden, Fred Sieber, Anne, Craig Hamilton, Dave Wiseman, Bromite Thrip, Marwin de Haan, Future Space Engineer, Fressie, Kevin Eckert, Stephen Kagan, James Van Maanenberg, Irma Stolfo, Josh Jennings, Leber8tr, Conrad Chaffee, Anonymous Listener$15 Every Month Someone$15 Someone, Carolyn Guthleben, Patrick McLendon, Curious Jon, Buz C., Fressie, Anonymous Listener$10 Anonymous Listener$5 Denis Kalinin, Timothy Buckley, Andre'a, Martin Brown, Ron McFarlan, Tif Love, Chrystene, Richard Hoffman, Anonymous Listener Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

 Santi: Hi, this is a special episode of Statecraft. I've got a wonderful guest host with me today. Kyla Scanlon: Hey, I'm Kyla Scanlon! I'm the author of a book called In This Economy and an economic commentator. Santi: Kyla has joined me today for a couple reasons. One, I'm a big fan of her newsletter: it's about economics, among many other things. She had a great piece recently on what we can learn from C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters, which is a favorite book of mine.Kyla's also on today because we're interviewing Wally Adeyemo, who was the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury in the Biden administration. We figured we each had questions we wanted answered.Kyla: Yeah, I've had the opportunity to interview Wally a couple times during the Biden administration, and I wanted to see where he thinks things are at now. He played a key role in implementing the Inflation Reduction Act, financial sanctions on Russia, and a whole bunch of other things.Santi: For my part, I'm stuck on Wally's role in setting up the IRS's Direct File program, where you can file your taxes for free directly through the IRS instead of paying TurboTax a hundred bucks to do it. “Good governance types” tend to love Direct File, but the current admin is thinking of killing it. I wanted to understand how the program got rolled out, how Wally would respond to criticisms of the program, and what he learned from building something in government, which now may disappear.Kyla, you've talked to Wally before. How did that conversation go? Kyla: I actually was able to go to his office in D.C., and I talked to a couple of key people in the Biden administration: Jared Bernstein, the former chair of the CEA, and Daniel Hornung, who was at the National Economic Council.We're talking to Wally on the day that the House passed the one big beautiful bill. There's also so much happening financially, like the bond market is totally rebelling against the US government right now. I'm really curious how he thinks things are, as a key player in the last administration.Santi: Wally, you've spent most of your career in Democratic Party institutions. You worked on the Kerry presidential campaign in 2004. You served in the Obama admin. You were the first chief of staff to the CFPB, the president of the Obama Foundation, and, most recently, Deputy Treasury Secretary in the Biden admin.30,000ft question: How do you see the Democratic Party today?My view is that we continue to be the party that cares deeply about working-class people, but we haven't done a good job of communicating that to people, especially when it comes to the things that matter most to them. From my standpoint, it's costs: things in America cost too much for a working-class family.I want to make sure I define working class: I think about people who make under $100,000 a year, many of whom don't own homes on the coast or don't own a significant amount of stocks (which means they haven't seen the asset appreciation that's led to a great deal of wealth creation over the last several decades). When you define it that way, 81% of Americans sit in that category of people. Despite the fact that they've seen their median incomes rise 5-10% over the last five years, they've seen the cost of the things they care about rise even faster.We haven't had a clear-cut agenda focused on the standard of living, which I think is the thing that matters most to Americans today.Santi: There are folks who would say the problem for Democrats wasn't that they couldn't communicate clearly, or that they didn't have a governing agenda, but that they couldn't execute their agenda the way they hoped to in the time available to them. Would you say there's truth to that claim?Most people talk about a communications issue, but I don't think it's a communications issue. There are two issues. One is an implementation issue, and the second is an issue of the actual substance and policy at the Treasury Department. I was the deputy secretary, but I was also the Chief Operating Officer, which meant that I was in charge of execution. The two most significant domestic things I had to execute were the American Rescue Plan, where $1.9 trillion flowed through the Treasury Department, and the Inflation Reduction Act. The challenge with execution in the government is that we don't spend a lot on our systems, on making execution as easy as possible.For example, the Advanced Child Tax Credit was intended to give people money to help with each of their children during the pandemic. What Congress called on us to do was to pay people on a monthly basis. In the IRS system, you pay your taxes mostly on an annual basis, which meant that most of our systems weren't set up to pay a monthly check to Americans. It took us a great deal of work to figure out a way to recreate a system just to do that.We've underinvested in the systems that the IRS works on. The last time we made a significant investment in the IRS's digital infrastructure was the 1960s; before we had an ATM machine, before we sent a man to the moon, before we had a personal computer. So that meant that everything was coded in a language called COBOL.So execution was quite hard in the American Rescue Plan. People were left out and felt that the government wasn't working for them. If you called the IRS, only 13% of your calls were being answered. We got that back up to 85% before we left. Ultimately, I think part of this is an execution challenge. In government we want to spend money coming up with new policies, but we don't want to pay for execution, which then means that when you get the policy passed, implementation isn't great.When Jen Pahlka was on your show, she talked about the need to focus on identifying the enablers to implementation. Direct File was one of the best examples of us taking implementation very seriously.But also, on some policy issues that mattered most to Americans, we weren't advancing the types of strategies that would've helped lower the cost of housing and lowering the cost of medicine. We did some things there, but there's clearly more that we could have done, and more we need to do going forward to demonstrate that we're fighting to bring down those costs. It's everything from permitting reform — not just at the federal level, but what can we do to incentivize it at the state and local level — to thinking about what we can do on drug costs. Why does it cost so much more to get a medicine in America than in Canada? That is something that we can solve. We've just chosen not to at the federal level.At the end of the year, we were going to take action to go after some of the middlemen in the pharmacy industry who were taking out rents and large amounts of money. It dropped out of the bill because of the negotiations between the Republican Congress and then President-elect Trump. But there are a lot of things that we can do both on implementation, which will mean that Americans feel the programs that we're passing in a more effective way, and policy solutions that we need to advance as a party that will help us as well.Kyla: Some people think Americans tend to vote against their own self-interest. How can your party message to people that these sorts of policies are really important for them?Ultimately, what I found is that most people just understand their self-interest differently, and for them, a big part of this was, “Who's fighting for me on the issues that I care most about?”From my standpoint, part of the problem we had with Direct File, which I think was an innovative solution, was that we got to implementing it so late in the administration that we didn't have the ability for it to show the impact. I'm hoping future administrations will think through how to start their implementation journey on things like Direct File sooner in the administration, when you have a great deal of political capital, so people can actually feel the impact over time.To your question, it's not just about the messaging, it's about the messenger. People tend to trust people who look like them, who come from the places they come from. When it came to the Child Tax Credit and also to Direct File, the biggest innovation wasn't the technology: the technology for Direct File has been used by the Australians, the British, and other countries for decades.The biggest innovation was us joining that technology with trusted people in communities who were going out to talk to people about those programs and building those relationships. That was something that the IRS hadn't done a great deal of. We invested a great deal in those community navigators who were helping us get people to trust the things the government was doing again, like the Child Tax Credit, like Direct File, so that they could use it.We often think that Washington is going to be able to give messages to the country that people are going to hear. But we're both in a more complicated media environment, where people are far more skeptical of things that come from people in Washington. So the best people to advocate for and celebrate the things that we're doing are people who are closer to the communities we're trying to reach. In product advertising today, more companies are looking to influencers to advertise things, rather than putting an ad on television, because people trust the people that they follow. The same is true for the things that we do in government.Santi: I've talked to colleagues of yours in the last administration who say things like, “In the White House, we did not have a good enough sense of the shot clock.” They point to various reasons, including COVID, as a reason the admin didn't do a good enough job of prioritization.Do you think that's true, that across the administration, there was a missing sense of the shot clock or a missing sense of prioritization? No, because I'm a Lakers fan. These are professionals. We're professionals. This is not our first rodeo. We know how much time is on the shot clock; we played this game. The challenge wasn't just COVID. For me at Treasury — and I think this is the coolest part of being Deputy Secretary of the Treasury — I had responsibilities domestic and international. As I'm trying to modernize the IRS, to invest all my time in making the system work better for customers and to collect more taxes from the people who owe money, Russia invades Ukraine. I had to turn a bunch of my attention to thinking about what we were going to do there. Then you have Hamas attacking Israel.There was more we should have done on the domestic end, but we have to remember that part of the presidency is: you get to do the things you want to do, but you also have to do the things you have to do. We had a lot of things we had to do that we weren't planning for which required all-of-the-administration responses.I think the most important lesson I've learned about that is that it comes down to both being focused on the things that matter, and being willing to communicate to the American people why your priorities have to change in light of things that happen in the world.But the people I'm sure you've talked to, most of them work on domestic policy alone, and they probably never have been in a National Security Council meeting, where you're thinking about the risks to the country. The president has to do both of those things. So I get how difficult it is to do that, just given where I sat at the Treasury Department.Santi: Looking back from an implementation perspective, are there things you would've done differently during your time at Treasury?The most important thing that I would've done differently was to immediately set up a permanent implementation and delivery unit in the Treasury Department. We always like to pretend like the Treasury Department is just a policy department where we make policy, we collect taxes. But in any crisis the country ever has, a great deal of responsibility — for execution or implementation of whatever the response is — falls to the Treasury Department. Think about the financial crisis, which is clearly something that's in the Treasury's domain. The vast majority of money for COVID flowed through the Treasury Department. You think about the IRA, a climate bill: the vast majority of that money flows through the Treasury Department.And Treasury doesn't have a dedicated staff that's just focused on implementation: How do we do this well? How do we make sure the right people are served? How do we make sure that we communicate this well? We did this to a degree by a team that was focused on the American Rescue Plan. But it was only focused on the American Rescue Plan. If I could start again, I would have said, “I want a permanent implementation structure within the Treasury Department of people who are cross-cutting, who only think about how we execute the policies that we pass through Congress and that we put together through an executive order. How do we do that extremely well?”Kyla: What you're talking about is very people-centric: How do we get an implementation team, and how do we make sure that the right people are doing the right jobs? Now we have DOGE, which is less people-centric. How do you reconcile what Doge is doing relative to what you would've done differently in this role that you had?As you would suspect, I wasn't excited about the fact we had lost the election, but initially I thought DOGE could be helpful with technology. I think marrying technology with people — that's the key to success for the government. We've never really been great at doing technology in the government.Part of the reason for that is a procurement process that is very slow because of how the federal acquisition rules work. What we are trying to do is prevent corruption and also waste, fraud, and abuse. But what that does is, it leads to slowness in our ability to get the technology on board that we need, and in getting the right people.I was hoping DOGE would bring in people who knew a great deal about technology and put us in a position where we could use that to build better products for the American people. I thought they would love Direct File, and that they would find ways to improve Direct File and expand it to more Americans.My view is that any American in the working class or middle class should not have to pay a company to file their taxes. We have the ability in this country, and I think Direct File was proving that. My goal, if we'd had more time, was to expand this to almost any American being able to use it. I thought they'd be able to accelerate that by bringing in the right people, but also the right technology. We were on that path before they took those two things apart.My sense is that you have to reform the way that we hire people because it's too hard to hire the right people. In some cases, you don't need some of the people you have today because technology is going to require different skills to do different things. It's easier to break something, I found, than it is to build something. I think that's what they're finding today as well.Santi: When I talk to left-of-center folks about the DOGE push, they tend to be skeptical about the idea that AI or modern technology can replace existing federal workers. I think some of that is a natural backlash to the extreme partisan coding of DOGE, and the fact that they're firing a lot of people very quickly. But what's your view? After DOGE, what kinds of roles would you like to see automated?Let me say: I disagree with the view that DOGE and technology can't replace some of the things that federal workers do today. My view is that “productivity enhancing” tech — it's not that it is going to make employees who are currently doing the job more productive. It is going to mean you need fewer employees. We have to be honest about that.Go to the IRS, for example. When I got there, we had a huge paper backlog at the IRS because, despite what most people think, millions of people still file their taxes by paper, and they send them to the IRS. And during the pandemic, the commissioner, who was then working for President Trump, decided to shut down the IRS for public health reasons — to make sure employees did not have to risk getting COVID.There were piles of paper backing up, so much so that they had filled cafeterias at the IRS facilities with huge piles of paper. The problem, of course, is that, unlike modern systems, you could not just machine-read those papers and put them into our systems. Much of that required humans to code those papers into the system by hand. There is no need in the 21st century for that to happen, so one of the things that we started to do was introduce this simple thing called scanning, where you would scan the papers — I know it sounds like a novel idea. That would help you get people's tax returns faster into the system, but also get checks out quickly, and allow us to see if people are underpaying their taxes, because we can use that data with a modern system. But over time, what would that mean? We'd need fewer people to enter the data from those forms.When we get money for the IRS from Congress, it is actually seen as revenue-raising because they expect it to bring down the debt and deficit, which is completely true. But the model Congress uses to do that is reliant on the number of full-time employees we hire. One challenge we have with the IRS — and in government systems in general — is that you don't get credit for technology investments that should improve your return on investment.So whenever we did the ROI calculations for the IRS, the Congressional Budget Office would calculate how much revenue we'd bring in, and it was always based on the number of people you had doing enforcement work that would lead to certain dollars coming in. So we got no credit for the technology investments. Which was absolutely the opposite of what we knew would be true: the more you invested in technology, the more likely you were to bring in more revenue, and you would be able to cut the cost of employees.Santi: If the CBO changed the way it scored technology improvements, would more Congresspeople be interested in funding technology?It is just a CBO issue. It's one we've tried to talk to them about over the last several years, but one where they've been unwilling to move. My view is that unlocking this will unlock greater investment in technology in a place like the IRS, because every dollar you invest in technology — I think — would earn back $10 in additional tax revenue we'd be able to collect from people who are skipping out on their taxes today. It's far more valuable to invest in that technology than to grow the number of employees working in enforcement at the IRS. You need both, but you can't say that a person is worth 5x their salary in revenue and that technology is worth 0. That makes no sense.Kyla: When we spoke about Direct File many months ago, people in my comment section were super excited and saying things like, “I just want the government to tell me how much money I owe.” When you think about the implementation of Direct File, what went right, and how do you think it has evolved?The thing that went right was that we proved that we could build something quite easily, and we built it ourselves, unlike many technology projects in government. We didn't go out and hire a bunch of consultants and contractors to do it. We did it with people at the IRS, but also with people from 18F and from GSA who worked in the government. We did it in partnership with a number of stakeholders outside the government who gave us advice, but the build was done by us.The reason that was important — and the reason it's important to build more things internally rather than hiring consulting firms or other people to build it — is that you then have the intellectual capital from building that, and that can be used to build other things. This was one product, but my view is that I want the IRS home page to one day look a lot more like the screen on your iPhone, so that you can click on the app on the IRS homepage that can help you, depending on what you need — if it's a Direct File, or if it's a tax transcript.By building Direct File internally, we were getting closer to that, and the user scores on the effectiveness of the tool and the ability to use it were through the roof. Even for a private sector company, it would've been seen as a great success. In the first year, we launched late in the filing season, mostly just to test the product, but also to build stakeholder support for it. In the limited release, 140,000 people used it. The average user said that before Direct File, it took them about 13 hours to file their taxes, and with Direct File, it took them just over an hour to file their taxes.But you also have to think about how much money the average American spends filing their taxes: about $200. That's $200 that a family making under $100,000 could invest in their kids, in paying some bills, rather than in filing their taxes.Even this year, with no advertising by the Trump administration of Direct File, we had more than 300,000 people use it. The user scores for the product were above 85%. The challenge, of course, is that instead of DOGE investing in improving the product — which was a place where you could have seen real intellectual capital go to work and make something that works for all Americans — they've decided to discontinue Direct File. [NB: There has been widespread reporting that the administration plans to discontinue Direct File. The GOP tax bill passed by the House would end Direct File if it becomes law. At the time of publication, the Direct File has not been discontinued.]The sad part is that when you think about where we are as a country, this is a tool that could both save people money, save people time, improve our ability to collect taxes, and is something that exists in almost every other developed economy. It makes no sense to me why you would end something like this rather than continue to develop it.Santi: People remember the failure of healthcare.gov, which crashed when it was rolled out all at once to everyone in the country. It was an embarrassing episode for the Obama administration, and political actors in that administration learned they had to pilot things and roll them out in phases.Is there a tension between that instinct — to test things slowly, to roll them out to a select group of users, and then to add users in following cycles — Is there a tension between that and trying to implement quickly, so that people see the benefit of the work you're doing?One of my bosses in the Obama administration was Jeff Zients, the person who was brought in to fix healthcare.gov. He relentlessly focused on execution. He always made the point that it's easy to come up with a strategy to some degree: you can figure out what the policy solution is. But the difference between good and great is how you execute against it. I think there is some tension there, but not as much as you would think.Once we were able to show that the pilot was a success, I got invited to states all over the country, like Maryland, to announce that they were joining Direct File the next year. These members of Congress wanted to do Direct File events telling people in their state, “This product that's worked so well elsewhere is coming to us next.” It gave us the ability to celebrate the success.I learned the lesson not just from Zients, but also from then-professor Elizabeth Warren, whom I worked for as chief of staff at the CFPB. One challenge we had at the CFPB was to build a complaint hotline, at that point mostly phone-operated, for people who were suffering. They said it would take us at least a year to build out all the product functions we need. We decided to take a modular approach and say, “How long would it take for us to build the system for one product? Let's try that and see how that works. We'll do a test.”It was successful, and we were able to use that to tell the story about the CFPB and what it would do, not just for mortgages, but for all these other products. We built user interest in the complaint hotline, in a way that we couldn't have if we'd waited to build the whole thing at once. While I think you're right that there is some tension between getting everyone to feel it right away and piloting; if the pilot is successful, it also gives you the opportunity to go out and sell this thing to people and say, “Here's what people who did the pilot are saying about this product.”I remember someone in Texas who was willing to do a direct-to-camera and talk about the ways that Direct File was so easy for them to use. It gets back to my point on message and messenger. Deputy Secretary Adeyemo telling you about this great thing the government did is one thing. But an American who looks like you, who's a nurse, who's a mom of two kids, telling you that this product actually worked for her: That's something that more people identify with.Healthcare.gov taught us the lesson of piloting and doing things in a modular way. This is what companies have been doing for decades. If it's worked for them, I think it can work for the government too.Santi: I'm a fan of Direct File, personally. I don't want this administration to kill it. But I was looking through some of the criticism that Direct File got: for instance, there's criticism about it rivaling the IRS Free File program, which is another IRS program that partners with nonprofits to help some folks file their taxes for free.Then there's this broader philosophical criticism: “I don't want the feds telling me how much I owe them.” The idea is that the government is incentivized to squeeze every last dollar out of you.I'm curious what you make of that, in part because I spoke recently to an American who worked on building e-government systems for Estonia. One of the things that has allowed Estonia to build cutting-edge digital systems in the government is that Estonia is a small and very high-trust society. Everybody's one degree of separation from everybody else.We're a much bigger and more diverse country. How do you think that affects the federal government's ability to build tools like Direct File?I think it affects it a lot, and it gets back to my point: not just the message but the messenger. I saw this not just with Direct File, but with the Advanced Child Tax Credit, which was intended to help kids who were living in poverty, but also families overall. What we found initially in the data was that, among families that didn't have to file taxes because they made too little, many of them were unwilling to take advantage of Direct File and the Advanced Child Tax Credit because they couldn't believe the government was doing something to just help them. I spent a lot of time with priests, pastors, and other community leaders in many of the communities where people were under-filing to try and get them to talk about this program and why it was something that they should apply for.One of the challenges we suffer from right now in America, overall, is a lack of trust in institutions. You have to really go local and try to rebuild that trust.That also speaks to taking a pilot approach that goes slower in some cases. Some of the criticism we got was, “Why don't you just fill out this form for us and then just send it to us, so that Direct File is just me pressing a button so I can pay my taxes?”Part of the challenge for us in doing that is a technology challenge: we are not there technologically. But the other problem is a trust problem. If I were to just fill out your taxes for you and send them to you, I think people, at this stage, would distrust the government and distrust the technology.Direct File had to be on a journey with people, showing people, “If I put in this information, it accurately sends me back my check.” As people develop more trust, we can also add more features to it that I think people will trust. But the key has to be: how do you earn that trust over time?We can't expect that if we put out a product that looks like something the Estonian government or Australia would put out, that people would trust it at this point. We have to realize that we are on a journey to regain the trust of the American people.The government can and will work for them, and Direct File was a part of that. We started to demonstrate that with that product because the people who used it in these communities became the spokespeople for it in a better way than I ever could be, than the Secretary or the President could be.Everyone knows that they need to pay their taxes because it's part of their responsibility living in this country. The things that make people the most upset is the fact that there are people who don't pay their taxes. We committed that we were going to go after them.The second frustration was: “Why do you make it so hard for me to pay my taxes? Why can't I get through to you on the phone line? Why do I have to pay somebody else to do my taxes?” Our goal was to solve those two problems by investing money and going after the people who just decided they weren't going to pay, but also by making it as easy as possible for you to pay your taxes and for most people, to get that tax refund as quickly as possible.But doing that was about going on a journey with people, about regaining their trust in an institution that mattered to them a great deal because 90 something-percent of the money that funds our government comes in through the IRS.Kyla: You have a piece out in Foreign Affairs called “Make Moscow Pay,” and what I found most interesting about that essay is that you said Europe needs to step it up because the United States won't. Talk through the role of Treasury in financial sanctions, and your reasons for writing this piece.People often think about the Treasury Department as doing a few things. One is working with Wall Street; another one is collecting your taxes. Most people don't think about the fact that the Treasury Department is a major part of the National Security Committee, because we have these tools called financial sections.They use the power of the dollar to try and change the behavior of foreign actors who are taking steps that aren't consistent with our national security interests. A great example of this is what we did with regard to Russia — saying that we're going to cut off Russian banks from the US financial system, which means that you can't transact in US dollars.The problem for any bank that can transact in dollars is that the backbone of most of the financial world is built on the US dollar. It increases their cost, it makes it more difficult for them to transact, and makes it harder for them to be part of the global economy, nearly impossible.And that's what we've done in lots of cases when it comes to Russia. We have financial sanction programs that touch all over the world, from Venezuela to Afghanistan. The US government, since 9/11, has used sanctions as one of its primary tools of impacting foreign policy. Some of them have gone well, some of them I think haven't gone as well, and there's a need for us to think through how we use those policies.Santi: What makes sanctions an effective tool? Positions on sanctions don't line up neatly on partisan lines. Sanctions have a mixed track record, and you'll have Republicans who say sanctions have failed, and you'll have Democrats say sanctions have been an effective tool, and vice versa.The way I think about sanctions is that they are intended to bring change, and the only way that they work is that they're part of an overarching foreign policy strategy. That type of behavior change was what we saw when Iran came to the table and wanted to negotiate a way to reduce sanctions in exchange for limits on their nuclear program. That's the type of behavior change we're trying to accomplish with sanctions, but you can't do it with sanctions alone. You need a foreign policy strategy. We didn't do it by the United States confronting Iran; we got our allies and partners to work together with us. When I came into office in 2021, Secretary Yellen asked me to do a review of our sanctions policies — what's worked, what hasn't — because it had been 20 years since the 9/11 attacks.And the most important lesson I learned was that the sanctions programs that were the most effective were the ones we did on a multilateral basis — so we did it with our friends and allies. Part of the reason for this is that while the dollar is the most dominant currency around the world, oftentimes if you can't do something in dollars, you do it in a euro, or you do it in a Japanese yen, or pound sterling.The benefit of having allies all over the world is that the dominant, convertible currencies in the world are controlled by allies and partners. When we acted together with them, we were more effective in curtailing the economic activity of our adversary, and our pressure is more likely to lead to them changing their behavior.We had to be very cautious about collateral damage. You might be targeting an individual, but by targeting that individual, you might make it harder for a company they're affiliated with to continue doing business, or for a country that they're in to get access to banking services. Let's say that you're a huge bank in America, and you're worried about sanctions risk in a small country where you do little business. Why not pull out, rather than having to put in place a huge compliance program? One of the challenges that we have is that the people who make the decisions about whether to extend sanctions don't necessarily spend a lot of time thinking about some of these economic consequences of the sanctions approach.Whenever I was around the table and we were making a decision about using weapons, there was a process that was very elaborate that ended up with something going to the president. You'd often think about kinetic force very seriously, because you were going to have to get the president to make a decision. We didn't always take that kind of rigor when it came to thinking about using our sanctions policy, but the impact on the lives of people in these countries was just as significant for their access to not only money, but to food and to the resources they needed to live.Santi: What do you make of the effectiveness of the initial sanctions on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine? I've heard mixed reviews from folks inside and outside the Biden administration.Sanctions, again, to my point, are only a tool. They've had to be part of a larger strategy, and I think those sanctions were quite effective. I think the saving grace for the Russians has been the fact that China has largely been able and willing to give them access to the things they need to continue to perpetuate.There was a choice for Ukraine, but when you think about Russia's economy today vs. Russia's economy before the sanctions were put in place, it's vastly different. Inflation in Russia still runs far higher than inflation anywhere else in the world. If you were a Russian citizen, you would feel the impacts of sanctions.The challenge, of course, is that it hasn't changed Vladimir Putin's behavior or the behavior of the Kremlin, largely because they've had access to the goods and supplies they need from China, Iran, and North Korea. But over time, it means Russia's economy is becoming less competitive. They have less access to resources; they're going to struggle.I think everyone hoped that sanctions would immediately change the calculus of the Kremlin, but we've never seen that to be the case. When sanctions are effective, they take time, because the economic consequences continue to compound over time, and they have to be part of a larger strategy for the behavior of the individual. That's why I wrote the article, because while the Kremlin and Russia are under pressure, their view is that ultimately the West is going to get tired of supporting Ukraine, financially and politically, because the economic consequences for us — while not as significant as for Moscow or for Kiev — have been quite significant, when you think about the cost of living issues in Europe.I think it's important to write this now, when it appears that Russia is stalling on negotiations, because ultimately, US financial support is waning. We just know that the Trump administration is not willing to put more money into Ukraine, so Europe is going to have to do more, at a time when their economic situation is quite complicated as well.They've got a lot to do to build up their economy and their military-industrial base. Asking them to also increase their support for Ukraine at the same time is going to be quite difficult. So using this money that Russia owes to Ukraine — because they owe them compensation at this moment — can be quite influential in helping support the Ukrainians, but also changing Russia's calculus with regard to the ability of Ukraine to sustain itself.Kyla: On CNBC about a month ago, you said if we ever have a recession over the next couple of months or so, it would be a self-inflicted one. Do you still resonate with that idea? To build on the point I was making, the economy has done quite well over the course of the first few months of the year, largely because of the strength of the consumer, where our balance sheets are still quite strong. Companies in America have done well. The biggest headwind the US economy faces has been self-inflicted by the tariffs the president has put on. Part of what I still do is talk to CEOs of companies, big and small. Small businesses feel the impact of this even more than the big businesses. What they tell me is that it's not just the tariffs and the fact that they are making it more expensive for them to get the goods that they need, but it's the uncertainty created by the off-again, on-again, nature of those tariffs that makes it impossible for them to plan for what supplies they're going to get the next quarter. How are they going to fulfill their orders? What employees are they going to need? It's having a real impact on the performance of these companies, but also their ability to hire people and plan for the future.If you go to the grocery store, you're going to start seeing — and you're starting to see already — price increases. The thing that Americans care most about is, the cost of living is just too high. You're at the grocery store, as you're shopping for your kids for the summer, you're going to see costs go up because of a self-imposed tax we've put in place. So I still do think that if we do find ourselves in a recession, it's going to be because of the tariffs we've put in place.Even if we don't enter a technical recession, what we're seeing now is that those tariffs are going to raise the cost for people when they go out to buy things. It's going to raise the cost of building homes, which is going to make it harder for people to get houses, which is ultimately going to have an impact on the economy that isn't what I think the president or anyone wants at this point.Kyla: Is there anything else we haven't asked about? I think the place where we continue, as a country, to struggle is that, given the federal system we have, many of these problems aren't just in Washington — they're in state and local governments as well. When you think about the challenges to building more housing in this country, you can't just solve it by doing things at the federal level. You have to get state and local governments unified in taking a proactive approach. Part of this has to be not just financial or regulatory from the federal government, but we have to do more things that force state and local governments to get out of the way of people being able to build more housing. I think that the conversations that you've had on your show, and the conversations we're having in government, need to move past our regular policy conversations of: “Should we do more on LIHTC? Should we try to fix NEPA?” Those, to me, are table stakes, and we're in the middle of what I'd say is a generational crisis when it comes to housing. We have to be willing to treat it like a crisis, rather than what I think we've done so far, which is take incremental steps at different levels to try and solve this. That's one thing that I wanted to make sure that I said, because I think it's the most important thing that we can do at the moment.Kyla: Absolutely. During your time there, the Treasury was doing so much with zoning reform, with financial incentives. What I really liked about our last conversation was how much you talked about how important it is that workers can live close to work. Are you optimistic that we will be able to address the problem, or do you think we are sinking into quicksand?I'd say a little bit of both, and the thing that I'm doing now is getting hyperlocal. One of the projects I'm working on in my post-administration life is I'm working with 15 churches in D.C., where they have vacant land and want to use it to build affordable housing as quickly as possible.I'm learning that even when you have the land donated for free and you're willing to work as quickly as possible, it's still quite hard because you have regulations and financial issues that often get in the way of building things. Part of what we have to do now is just launch as many natural experiments as possible to see what works.What I've learned already from this lived experience is that even cities that are trying to get out of the way and make it easier to build housing struggle because of what you all know to be true, which is that the local politics of this is quite complicated. Oftentimes, the way that you get them over the line is by creating incentives or disincentives.In the past, I talked a lot about incentives in terms of “giving people money to do things.” I'm now in favor of “not giving money to people who don't do things” — if you don't take steps to fix your zoning, some of the federal money that you regularly get is not coming to your jurisdiction. I'm going to reallocate that money to places that are doing this activity. I think we have to take those types of radical steps.It's similar to what we did with the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, where if you didn't spend your money, we could take your money back and reallocate it to people who were giving away emergency rental assistance money.That motivates people a lot — when they feel like something's going to be taken away from them. I'm of the view that we have to find more radical things that we can do to get housing built. If we don't, costs will continue to rise faster than people's incomes.Santi: Wally, I have to ask after that point you just made: did you read the paper by my colleague Chris Elmendorf on using LIHTC funds? The idea is to re-allocate those federal funds away from big, expensive cities and into other places in a state, if the cities don't commit to basic zoning reforms.I completely agree with him, and I think I would go even further than just LIHTC money. I would reallocate non-housing money as well, because from my standpoint, if you think about the most important issue for a family, it's being able to find housing that is affordable near their place of work and where their kids go to school. I said that on purpose. I didn't say “affordable housing.” I said “housing that is affordable,” because affordable housing is, in lots of ways, targeted towards a population of people who need it the most. But for even people who are middle income in this country, it crowds out their ability to pay for other things when housing costs continue to creep higher.The only way we solve that problem is if you get rid of restrictive zoning covenants and fix permitting. The natural thing that every city and state is thinking about right now is throwing more money at the problem. There's going to need to be money here, just in light of some of the headwinds, but it's going to be more costly and less effective if we don't fix the underlying issues that are making it hard to build housing where we want it.Right now in California, we're having a huge debate over what we do with infill housing in urban areas. A simple solution — you don't have to do another environmental review if one was already done in this area— is taking months to work through the California legislature, which demonstrates that we're going too slow. California's seeing an exodus of people. I just talked to a CEO who said, “I'm moving my business because the people who work for me can't afford to live in California anymore.” This is the kind of problem that you can solve. State legislatures, Congress, and executives have to get together and take some radical steps to make it easier to build housing.I appreciate what you said about what we were doing at Treasury, but from my standpoint, I wish we had done more earlier to focus on this issue. We had a lot going on, but fundamentally, the most important thing on housing is taking a step to try and build housing today, which is going to have an impact on the economy 10, 20, 30 years from now. We just have to start doing that as soon as possible.Thanks to Emma Hilbert for her transcript and audio edits. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.statecraft.pub

Today's Topics: 1) Trump says the Vatican is “very interested” in hosting peace talks between Russia and Ukraine https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-trump-says-vatican-very-interested-in-hosting-peace-talks-between-russia-ukraine/ 2, 3, 4) Jeff T. Jones, a retired US Air Force Intelligence Analyst on his new spiritual warfare Catholic psychological thriller fiction book “Unforeseeable.” This book is a Catholic hybrid of C. S. Lewis' “Screwtape Letters.”

Today's Topics: 1) Trump says the Vatican is “very interested” in hosting peace talks between Russia and Ukraine https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-trump-says-vatican-very-interested-in-hosting-peace-talks-between-russia-ukraine/ 2, 3, 4) Jeff T. Jones, a retired US Air Force Intelligence Analyst on his new spiritual warfare Catholic psychological thriller fiction book “Unforeseeable.” This book is a Catholic hybrid of C. S. Lewis' “Screwtape Letters.”

Actor, writer, and founder of Fellowship for Performing Arts, Max McLean will be our guest. Max is the voice behind some of the most widely heard audio versions of the Bible and has captivated audiences across the globe with his powerful stage work. He's best known for bringing to life the diabolically clever demon in The Screwtape Letters, the hit theatrical adaptation of C.S. Lewis's classic satire—and now, it's coming to the Orpheum Theater for one day only: Saturday, June 7th at 4:00 p.m.

In this episode of Thinking Out Loud, we dive deep into the crisis of attention in the digital age and its profound implications for Christian witness, spiritual formation, and intellectual integrity. Are we losing our ability to think deeply, listen well, and discern truth amidst the noise? Join us as we explore how Sabbath, solitude, intentionality, and community can help reclaim a Christ-centered focus in a world of distraction. With references to Dallas Willard, Joseph Pieper, and the Screwtape Letters, this conversation equips Christians, apologists, and thoughtful believers to pursue meaningful theology, cultural analysis, and spiritual disciplines that resist the algorithm and restore the mind. Perfect for Christians seeking more than hot takes—subscribe for rich theological dialogue on faith, culture, and formation.DONATE LINK: https://toltogether.com/donate BOOK A SPEAKER: https://toltogether.com/book-a-speakerJOIN TOL CONNECT: https://toltogether.com/tol-connect TOL Connect is an online forum where TOL listeners can continue the conversation begun on the podcast.

"There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to vbelieve, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors."--C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters, 15.

Satan desires to corrupt every aspect of a woman's life—from her relationships and friendships to her self-perception, empathy, and even her motherhood. In this podcast, Scott Brown and Jason Dohm discuss this battle with Tilly Dillehay, author of Dear Hemlock. Her new book—which is modeled after C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters—offers an eye-opening exploration of the struggles women face, shedding light on how feminine virtues can mask hidden vices whenever they fall for the Devil's lies, as Eve did in the Garden. Rather than succumb to Satan's deceptions, women must conquer them with a clear-eyed commitment to God's Word.

Basic Bible Study | Matthew, Mark, Luke & John (Part 6) This is part 6 of 7 In today's podcast, join Amy and Robyn as they continue their discussion in Matthew, Mark, Luke & John. Here is a breakdown of what was discussed: - John baptizes Jesus in the Jordan River - Jesus is tempted by the devil - "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ABOUT Opening a Bible for the first time can be intimidating. Join Amy & Robyn in an easy-to-follow discussion. This Basic Bible Study is perfect for beginners & those who have never read the Bible. Look for new podcasts every Tuesday & Friday! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BIBLE RESOURCES https://biblehub.com/ https://www.bible.com/ http://betterdaysarecoming.com/bible/pronunciation.html https://biblespeak.org/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/mybasicbiblestudy WEBSITE http://www.mybasicbiblestudy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can contact us via e-mail or regular old snail-mail: Basic Bible Study 7797 N. 1st St. #34 Fresno, CA 93720 basicbiblestudy19@gmail.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emily Wilson isn't afraid to call out the real enemy. After years in women's ministry and her own battles with shame, insecurity, and toxic relationship patterns, she's seen the devil's playbook up close. Inspired by C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters, Emily flips the script with a bold new book written from the perspective of a senior demon training a junior one—exposing how the enemy targets women with lies about their worth, their bodies, their relationships, and their calling. In this interview, Emily shares how to stop playing defense and start fighting back—offering powerful, practical ways to trade stress for surrender and silence the voice that says, you're not enough.Emily's book: https://www.amazon.com/Sincerely-Stoneheart-Unmask-Enemys-Truth/dp/1400249724Emily's channel: https://www.youtube.com/@emwilss/featuredNEW: Join our exclusive Rose Report community! https://lilaroseshow.supercast.com - We'll have BTS footage, ad-free episodes, monthly AMA, and early access to our upcoming guests.A big thanks to our partner, EWTN, the world's leading Catholic network! Discover news, entertainment and more at https://www.ewtn.com/ Check out our Sponsors:-Cozy Earth: Better Sleep, Brighter Days - Get the highest quality sleep essentials for 40% OFF at https://cozyearth.com/lila!-Good Ranchers: https://go.goodranchers.com/lila Purchase your American Meat Delivered subscription today and get a free add-on of beef, chicken, or salmon! Use code LILA for $40 off! -We Heart Nutrition: https://www.weheartnutrition.com/ Get high quality vitamin supplements for 20% off using the code LILA. 00:00 - Intro02:02 - Emily's new book: Sincerely Stoneheart06:36 - The Deafening Silence In Our Lives09:11 - We Heart Nutrition10:21 - How Emily Chose the Devil's Temptations13:06 - How this book helps men:17:12 - Hardest letter to write?19:34 - Cozy Earth20:27 - Mothering out of confidence22:21 - Devil loves to confuse women29:14 - intro - keys are here30:50 - Good Ranchers31:52 - ‘Allergic to Depth' chapter35:43 - Easiest chapter to write?40:12 - Temptation for women to take instead of give

How do demons attack/tempt women differently than men? Is spiritual warfare different for women than it is from men? How can women be aware of how Satan and his demons might seek to influence them? A conversation with Tilly Dillehay.

Why is propaganda and empty rhetoric so appealing to some people? In this midweek episode, Frank explains how the first of 'The Screwtape Letters' by C.S. Lewis perfectly illustrates the way demons manipulate human beings, now and throughout history. He'll also explore the recent power struggles between the Trump Administration and the lower district court judge who blocked Trump's transgender military ban. Frank will answer questions like:Why is using "jargon" instead of evidence-based arguments not good thinking?What specific tactics does C.S. Lewis say demons use to tempt humans and where do we see evidence of this happening in our culture today?Do all people have the right or privilege to serve in the military?Was Trump's decision to say transgender people are not qualified to serve in the military unconstitutional?Why is it so difficult to impeach judges, and do we really have only three branches of government?What do a lot of people get wrong about Islam?Frank also tackles some listener questions about who will be resurrected (is it only Christians?) and whether an old-earth contradicts biblical genealogies. Plus, he'll reveal details about his numerous speaking events coming up this spring—so listen closely to see if he's coming to a city near you!Resources mentioned during the episode:The ScrewTape Letters by C.S. Lewis - https://a.co/d/7F6GSTMFederal Judge Appoints Himself President - https://bit.ly/4hLAjOISeven Days that Divide the World - https://a.co/d/0VxGRz6The Case for Old-Earth Creationism (Genealogy Info) - https://bit.ly/4l0QTghSystematic Theology by Wayne Grudem - https://a.co/d/38DqgSZ

Read between the theological lines of C.S. Lewis' classic masterpiece and religious satire, penned from the POV of a demon serving in the bureaucracy of Hell. Ben explores the wildly comic and strikingly original letters from one demon to another, as the pair seek to undermine the Christian faith and tempt man into extravagantly wicked and deplorable sins. - - - Today's Sponsor: PureTalk - Exclusive discount for our listeners at: https://www.PureTalk.com/Shapiro