Trump Talk Is Relentless. It’s Not Always Newsworthy.

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Christianity Today

Religion, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.3 • 622 Ratings

🗓️ 18 January 2018

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“This is Your Brain on Trump TV,” is the title of a recent piece at The American Conservative published in between the president’s incendiary tweets about North Korea and his leaked disparaging remarks about those from African countries and Haiti. While the former comments caused concern, the latter led to what has now become a routine cycle of debate, criticism, analysis, and pushback. “Trump fascinates all Americans, it seems,” wrote Gracy Olmstead. “We hate him or love him, fear him or idolize him.” Christians are not immune to these reactions, a state that can often leave news consumers exhausted, burned out, and unclear about how to separate inflammatory but ultimately unsubstantial reports from stories reporting on news with severe or dire consequences. “The style of Trump’s comments are like something you’d expect to see out of a soap opera or something on TV and yet they’re happening in the real world, so how are supposed to react to something that in essence seems too incendiary or sensational to take seriously but could threaten nuclear war?” said Olmstead. “What’s the wise and measured stance to take as a media person? As a citizen?” Olmstead joined associate digital media producer Morgan Lee and editor in chief Mark Galli to discuss how to avoid news burnout, the media’s particular challenge in the Trump era and internet age, and the extraordinary prescience of Neil Postman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is brought to you in part by The Apologetics Guy Show, the podcast that helps you find clear answers to tough questions about Christianity.
0:11.0	Learn to explain your faith with courage and compassion.
0:14.5	Join Moody Bible Institute professor Dr. Mikhail del Rosario at apologeticsky.com.
0:28.8	Music Michael Del Rosario at Apologeticsguy.com. You're listening to Quick to Listen.
0:30.9	Each week we go beyond hashtags and hot takes to discuss a major cultural event.
0:35.7	I'm Morgan Lee, an associate digital media producer here at Christianity today,
0:39.8	and I'm joined by Editor-in-Chief, Mark Galley.
0:42.6	Cold editor-in-chief, Mark Galley.
0:44.5	Three degrees at when I left home this morning.
0:46.5	So not co-editor-in-chief.
0:48.3	Cold?
0:49.0	Okay, I'm just making sure.
0:50.3	Okay.
0:50.7	I was like, wait, new title?
0:52.2	No.
0:52.9	Okay, yeah, it was three degrees. Even though it said it was going to be like 15 today, I think it was forecasted. However, I'm still a fan of all the snow and I hope it snows again sometimes soon. Okay. All right, Mark's like I don't share that opinion. No, I actually do this winter. I've been trying to embrace the cold and the snow and it's worked. Yes. These are our These are blessings if you just think about it for a little bit.
1:12.2	Exactly. Exactly. And also it's a blessing that we have a warm office in the warm house.
1:16.6	All right. It is joining us today.
1:17.7	Gracie Olmsted. She is a writer and journalist from the Washington, D.C. area.
1:21.9	She writes regularly for the American conservative. She's written for The Washington Times, the Federalist, and most important of all, of course, Christianity today. And she's, when I see her byline, especially in the American conservative, I stop what I'm doing and I read what she has to say. She's just a very thoughtful writer that I'm glad we can have on our show today. Welcome, Gracie.
1:40.4	Well, thank you so much for both the kind words and for having me on the show. Absolutely. I know Mark feels the same even when you write about Harry Potter.
1:50.1	It's the best topic to write about, right? Okay. Well, we'll have to agree to disagree on that.
	...

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