Sometimes when we talk, we don't know what the f***

So we have to call and ask a friend

I want to know the things you know

It'll make a better show

You're the one on whom we all defend Hey, everybody, welcome to UNFTR.

This is a special episode of Phone a Friend because we get to do another in-studio version of Phone a Friend.

And this time is with a real friend, like a genuine friend, somebody that I've known for now more than 20 years.

Although neither one of us really wants to admit that we've known each other for that long.

This is one of my best friends in the whole world. And I'm really excited to have this conversation today because we've been talking a lot about some issues that really intersect with the things that we talk about in our friendship.

So the, some of the things that we focus on on this pot, obviously, the intersection of politics and socioeconomics.

And over the last couple of years, we've dipped a toe into religion.

We've dipped a toe into the role, especially that the evangelical strain

of the right, has played in shaping and crafting policy, some economic policies, certainly

some foreign policy, but also the nature of the candidacies that we see on the Republican

Party and how the steady rise of conservatism to radical conservatism on the right has been

fueled by evangelical fervor. And so we've talked a lot about that. I've revealed where I stand on the impact of religion, on society, and on politics,

and I've been chastised by several of our listeners for being a little too casual and a little too flip about religion in general. And part of that is informed by my atheism, for sure.

Part of that is informed by my frustration at the lack of separation between church and state,

but also the acknowledgement that I understand that some things have always kind of been this way.

And there's always been a tension between faith and

politics in this country and in every country, in every nation state, and every empire from time immemorial.

So I know it's nothing new to the United States, but I've allowed my frustration to kind of seep

...