Leaving the Church, Keeping the Prayer || Lauren Jackson, The New York Times

Leaving the Church, Keeping the Prayer || Lauren Jackson, The New York Times

Author: Scan Media, LLC July 10, 2026 Duration: 1:16:18
She left the church at twenty-five. She never stopped praying, and she still doesn't know who's listening. Lauren Jackson writes Believing, the New York Times newsletter about how people practice faith and doubt now, and she came to the beat by way of her own departure from the Mormon church she was raised in. Corey talks with her about what secularism can't replace, what AI is quietly taking from us, and the question she brings to every hard conversation. Calls to Action ✅ Subscribe to Lauren's newsletter, Believing, at The New York Times ✅ Follow her on Instagram: @laurenchristinejackson ✅ Enjoyed this one? Leave a quick review: lovethepodcast.com/politicsandreligion Key Takeaways Ask what if they're right. Before a hard conversation, Lauren puts that question to herself, then listens. Your position may not move, but you get closer to the humanity of the person across from you, and that turns out to matter more. Secularism won, and it still can't do everything. Religion delivers beliefs, belonging, and behaviors in one place, and nothing secular offers all three at once. The absence shows up as a hunger for community that people describe to her constantly. Belief is spiking. Attendance isn't. Gallup finds a sharp jump in young men under thirty who call religion very important, without the matching rise in showing up anywhere. Religion is increasingly a piece of a packaged identity rather than a practice. Resist the doctrine of efficiency. Father James Martin's phrase, and Lauren's working rule. We lose to machines on volume, so the only place left to win is quality, which requires the slowness that AI is designed to eliminate. She will always seek to humanize. Not condone, and not valorize. Understand what real, human motivations produce behavior we find contestable, which is harder to sit with than a verdict. We are the times. A friend gave her Augustine's line from the sacking of Rome, and it landed as an assignment. Despairing about the age is a way of pretending we are not participants in it. About Our Guest Lauren Jackson is deputy editorial director for newsletters at The New York Times and the host of Believing, a weekly newsletter about how people live religion and spirituality now. Links and Resources 📩 Believing at The New York Times - www.nytimes.com/newsletters/believing 📷 Instagram — @laurencristinejackson 📖 Letters and Papers from Prison — Dietrich Bonhoeffer Connect with Us Substack: coreysnathan.substack.com LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, TikTok, X: @coreysnathan YouTube: youtube.com/@politicsandreligion Our Partners Proud to be part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts examining what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it. Clarity, charity, and conviction can live in the same room. Yes, really. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In a world where discussions about faith and government often devolve into shouting matches, Talkin‘ Politics & Religion Without Killin‘ Each Other offers a different space. This podcast from Scan Media, LLC operates on a radical idea: that we can deeply disagree on fundamental beliefs while still respecting each other as people. It’s a show built for those who feel exhausted by the performative outrage and tribal warfare that dominate news and social media, who suspect there’s more nuance to every story than the extreme voices allow. Each episode models the kind of dialogue that seems in short supply-conversations where curiosity replaces condemnation and listening is the first step, not a lost art. You’ll hear explorations of how spiritual values intersect with civic life, examinations of current events without the predictable partisan spin, and genuine attempts to understand perspectives that challenge the hosts' own. The goal isn’t to reach a bland consensus, but to prove that thoughtful, even passionate, debate doesn’t require personal animosity. If you’re looking for a podcast that tackles the subjects we’re told to avoid, but does so with humility and a commitment to civil discourse, this is that rare find. It’s for anyone who believes these conversations are too critical to be left solely to the screamers and who wants to engage with the messy, important intersections of news, religion, and spirituality without leaving their humanity at the door.
Author: Episodes: 50

Talkin‘ Politics & Religion Without Killin‘ Each Other
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