How Charlie Kirk’s memorial service galvanized the Christian nationalism movement
Here & Now Anytime
NPR
4.1 • 953 Ratings
🗓️ 22 September 2025
⏱️ 22 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
And, we speak with former Washington Post opinion columnist Karen Attiah, who lost her job for comments she made after Kirk's death. She joins us to share more about her termination.
Then, for the first time in 98 years, an organized swim has taken place in the Chicago River, with the race raising money for ALS research. Here & Now's Chris Bentley reports.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Support for here and now anytime comes from MathWorks, creator of MATLAB and Simulink software for technical computing and model-based design. |
| 0:09.2 | MathWorks accelerating the pace of discovery in engineering and science. Learn more at mathworks.com. |
| 0:18.0 | WBUR Podcasts, Boston. |
| 0:29.1 | He always said to me, if we could just figure out how to bring the Holy Spirit into a Trump rally, think you've done it. |
| 0:36.4 | Charlie Kirk's funeral was part memorial service, part Trump rally, and part religious revival. |
| 0:40.1 | And that's a pretty telling blend for today's politics. |
| 0:54.4 | It's Monday, September 22nd, and this is here and Now Anytime from NPR and WBR. |
| 0:55.4 | I'm Chris Bentley. |
| 1:07.7 | Today on the show, opinion columnist Karen Atia says she was fired for speaking out against political violence after Charlie Kirk's killing. |
| 1:12.0 | I haven't changed. The Washington Post has. |
| 1:13.0 | We'll hear from her. |
| 1:17.2 | Also, for the first time in nearly a century, |
| 1:20.3 | hundreds of people dived into the Chicago River for an organized swim. |
| 1:22.2 | It was warm, it wasn't too murky. |
| 1:24.5 | It was a great time. |
| 1:25.7 | Not too murky, huh? |
| 1:28.4 | That story coming up in about 15 minutes. |
| 1:32.4 | But first, tens of thousands of people turned out from the memorial of Charlie Kirk on Sunday. |
| 1:39.0 | They filled an entire football stadium in Arizona. |
| 1:42.8 | Kirk's widow, Erica, addressed the man accused of the murder. |
| 1:46.6 | I forgive him because it was what Christ did and is what Charlie would do. |
| 1:53.8 | The answer to hate is not hate. |
... |
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