meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
It's Been a Minute

Interview: Writer Lyz Lenz On 'God Land', Faith And Politics In The Midwest

It's Been a Minute

NPR

Society & Culture, News, News Commentary, Religion & Spirituality, Spirituality

4.79.2K Ratings

🗓️ 10 December 2019

⏱️ 30 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election, writer Lyz Lenz watched a discussion unfold about Midwestern voters, their political views and their religious beliefs. Then, her politically divided marriage ended when she learned she and her husband had voted for different presidential candidates. She found herself questioning the impact of faith on politics in middle America. Lenz's book, ' God Land: A Story of Faith, Loss, and Renewal in Middle America,' explores exactly that: the conversations taking place in churches in the Midwest and their impact on Americans' values. Lenz and Sam Sanders spoke about questioning her faith, how religious institutions shape our personal views and whether Americans can bridge their political and religious divides.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

My name is John Bell. I'm a band director at Germantown High School in Germantown, what's

0:05.6

time?

0:06.6

John Bell has been making this show a big part of his work. He says he wanted something

0:11.3

more for his students.

0:13.2

Something to help bring the kids together more than making music.

0:16.4

Listening to the podcast each week and thought, this best part of your week is a great idea,

0:21.8

so I borrowed it.

0:23.5

John started playing our best thing segment for his band classes and he'd ask his students

0:28.4

to share the best parts of their weeks as well.

0:31.3

College acceptance letters, getting drivers license, good test scores, siblings coming

0:36.4

home from college to visit, they get to know each other better than just come to class

0:40.9

each day and performing concerts together. It's a more personal connection that they didn't

0:45.6

have before.

0:46.8

Public radio is more than just the news. It helps you celebrate the good stuff in

0:51.4

life too. And like John Bell said, it helps build stronger communities. In high school

0:57.1

band halls and across the world.

1:00.4

Support this work. To get started with your donation to an NPR member station, visit

1:05.2

donate.npr.org slash SAM. Or just text the word SAM to the number 49648. We'll send you

1:14.4

a text message with a link where you can find your local station and make your contribution.

1:20.2

Message and data rates may apply. You can visit npr.org slash SMS terms for privacy and

1:26.8

text message terms. This lifelong band nerd. Thanks you.

1:32.9

Hello. Hey. Hi. How are you? Good. How are you? I didn't have the headphones on.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.