Ken joins Ken Fong for a morning after the election review. It’s not so much an autopsy on what went wrong as it is a reflection of their visceral response to the news that the 45th President won a decisive victory. He will become the 47th President of the United States. More than half the nation is celebrating this week - but celebrating what? The other less than half is deeply disappointed, fearful, depressed, and stunned. Once again, pollsters missed it. As a former senator put it, “Fear sells. Anger sells. Retribution and revenge sell. Us versus Them sells.” But an appeal to “the better angels of our nature”? Not so much. The two Kens call on several sources for insight and perspective, including Frank Schaeffer, Nadia Bolz Weber, and Robert Reich.

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Ken welcomes back essayist, teacher, guidance counselor, and ordained minister Nathaniel Manderson from his home in Boston. Last Summer, Nate took thirty days to walk the 500 mile Camino do Santiago pilgrimage tradition says was taken by St. James, the Apostle. It's the same journey memorialized by the Emilio Estevez film starring his father, Martin Sheen called The Way. Nate shares his remarkable journey - the prompting to go, the people he met, lessons along the way, and the intensely emotional climax that final day as he entered the Cathedral de Santiago de Compostela (consecrated in 1211 C.E.) Just a few days before their conversation, Nate's most recent opinion piece was published in the Boston Globe entitled Democrats: Let Me (Re)Introduce You to the Working Class. Even with his advanced academic degrees, he considers himself a member of that working class. Nate is a contributor to the popular news site SALON. His author page makes the introduction:

Nathaniel Manderson was educated at a conservative seminary, trained as a minister, ordained through the American Baptist Churches USA and guided by liberal ideals. Throughout his career he has been a pastor, a career counselor, an academic adviser, a high school English teacher and an advocate for first-generation and low-income students, along with a paper delivery man, a construction worker, a FedEx package handler and whatever else he could do to take care of his family.

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Ken welcomes writer, teacher, preacher and justice advocate, Jim Wallis. Rev. Wallis’ new book, The False White Gospel: Rejecting Christian Nationalism, Reclaiming True Faith, and Refounding Democracy is getting high marks and a wide reading. It’s a timely and prophetic challenge in an era of polarization and worse, the advancement in America of what Jim calls an heretical version of The Gospel. Wallis calls this a “Bonhoeffer moment.” Silence is not an option. Ken and Jim reminisce over their days together at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School where they both earned a Master of Divinity degree. The famed Carl F. H. Henry influenced them both. In 1973, Henry and Wallis framed The Chicago Declaration along with other prominent evangelical signatories, a document that rings true to this very day. Jim has authored more than a dozen books. He is founder and served as chief editor of Sojourner’s Magazine. Today, he holds the prestigious Chair in Faith and Justice at Georgetown University in Washington DC named for his friend Bishop Desmund Tutu. In a wide-ranging conversation, they talk about Wallis’ journey since those seminary days, putting him in the center of the Civil Rights movement, appearing over the years as a regular on CNN, MSNBC, The Today Show, and many other major outlets as a Social Action alternative to the infamous Religious Right. Ken asks Jim why he still considers himself an “evangelical.” Jim shares inside stories about his many friends - Ron Sider, Ron Dellums, Howard Thurman, John Lewis, Barack Obama, Jamie Raskin and many more. SHOW NOTES

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