Republicans and Evangelicals I Boardroom Jacobins

Republicans and Evangelicals I Boardroom Jacobins

Author: Chris Staron June 3, 2025 Duration: 30:42
Give to help Chris make Truce. A little goes a long way! In November of 1965, a young lawyer published a book called Unsafe at Any Speed about the dangers of driving a Chevy Corvair. The car could become unstable and possibly flip if driven in poor conditions or without proper training. The lawyer? Ralph Nader. It took a while for the book to find its audience, but soon it was on bookshelves across the US and made a celebrity our of Nader. Soon he and his "Nader's Raiders" were on a spree, advocating for consumer safety. This movement was met with skepticism and fear in the industrial community. Who did this guy think he was? Americans didn't need "big government" looking over their shoulders! Well, that's what big corporate leaders thought. They set out to dismantle the consumer safety movement and to convince conservative religious people that safety was actually creeping government interference. My special guest for this episode is Rick Perlstein, author of The Invisible Bridge and Reaganland. Sources: Chevy Corvair ad Reaganland by Rick Perlstein Road and Track article about the Corvair Washington Post article about the UAW strike One Nation Under God by Kevin Kruse Article with fun pictures from the Ad Council campaigns Christian Reconstruction by Michael McVicar Reagan's "I'm From the Government and I'm Here to Help" Listen, America! by Jerry Falwell p73, paperback, Bantam edition, August 1980 Discussion Questions: What do you think about the government involvement in the Chevy Corvair? How has product safety impacted your life? Is the government small, big, or somewhere in between? Do you remember Ralph Nader? Is it okay for big business to use advertising to change American minds about the government and economics? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Chris Staron, Truce-History of the Christian Church is a deep, journalistic look into the forces that have shaped American evangelicalism. This isn't a simple timeline of events; it's an investigation into the surprising intersections of faith, culture, and power. Staron digs into movements from fundamentalism's roots to modern political campaigns, and even examines connections to phenomena like pyramid schemes, revealing a complex history many listeners may never have encountered. Each episode is built on thorough research and thoughtful interviews, aiming to understand not just how the church arrived at its current moment, but how that story might inform a better path forward. The current season focuses specifically on the rise of the Religious Right, meticulously tracing the evolving alliance between evangelicals and the Republican Party. To tell this story, the podcast features conversations with notable guests like historians Rick Perlstein and Frances Fitzgerald, or journalist Jesse Eisinger, who bring their expertise to this nuanced narrative. Listening to this podcast feels like joining a rigorous yet accessible conversation, one that respects the subject's gravity while pursuing clarity and truth. For anyone curious about the real stories behind today's headlines concerning faith and society, this series offers essential context.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Truce - History of the Christian Church
Podcast Episodes
Republicans and Evangelicals I The Late Great Planet Earth [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:00
Give to help Chris make the Truce Podcast Hal Lindsey published The Late Great Planet Earth in 1970. It was a HUGE hit, selling over 35 million copies by 1999. It was also produced into a film narrated by Orson Welles. T…
The Camino del Norte part 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:21
Support the work of the Truce podcast at www.trucepodcast.com/donate In the last episode, Chris and his brother Nick started their journey along the Camino del Norte, part of the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain. Now…
The Camino del Norte part 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:16
Give a little help Chris make Truce On this bonus episode, Chris takes you along with him as he hiked 250 miles on an old Catholic pilgrimage route called the Camino de Santiago. The Camino has a complex history and is a…
Republicans and Evangelicals I The Failure of Supply-Side Economics [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:30
Give to help Chris make Truce Gerald Ford's administration was in trouble. The country was experiencing stagflation, where prices were going up but employment was going down. What could he do? He announced his desire to…
Republicans and Evangelicals I The New Right [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:03
Give to help Chris continue making Truce A small group of men calling themselves The New Right had a major role to play in bonding some evangelicals to the Republican Party. Yet many Christians don't know who these guys…
Bonus: Compelled: A New Song [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:41
Give to help make Truce more sustainable The Compelled podcast is hosted by my friend Paul Hastings. It's a testimony show that walks listeners through people's lives so that we can hear how God continues to set people f…