The Convocation Unscripted

You’re invited! The Post-Election TCU+LIVE Show, This Wednesday

Robert P. Jones — Tue, 03 Nov 2026 20:21:43 GMT

Hi, TCU community,

First, if you haven’t done it yet, please vote!

And a heads up—the Convocation Unscripted team is going to convene for a post-election conversation this Wednesday, November 4, at 5pm ET. Chances are, we’ll still be waiting for some of the closest races to be called, but we’ll have a sense of the electoral winds by then, and we will take your questions and talk about what’s next.

We’ll be back on the Zoom webinar format. NOTE: This will mean that you will need to click the button below to register and receive the link for the show.

If you haven’t joined us before, this is a chance to ask us your questions directly and connect with a warm and encouraging community in the chat.

The Latest from TCU

ICYMI, here’s our final recorded show before the midterms from last week.

How You Can Support Our Work

Many of you have asked how you can support our work, especially in these challenging days. One of the best ways you can support our work is by buying our books.

You can order books from The Convocation Unscripted podcast team at a curated bookshelf on Bookshop.com. (Note: If you purchase from the links below, a portion of your purchase goes to support this newsletter).

Browse TCU Bookshelf

Here’s the latest book from each of us:

Kristin, LIVE LAUGH LOVE: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made (A NYT Bestseller)
Robby, BACKSLIDE: Reclaiming a Faith and a Nation After the Christian Turn Against Democracy
Diana, A Beautiful Year: 52 Meditations on Faith, Wisdom, and Perseverance (WINNER OF THE 2026 WILBUR AWARD)
Jemar, The Spirit of Justice: True Stories of Faith, Race, and Resistance

Our Take: How Religion Will Impact the Midterm Elections and Beyond

Robert P. Jones — Sun, 01 Nov 2026 19:17:55 GMT

Due to travel schedules—including Robby and Kristin returning from attending a conference commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Belhar Confession in South Africa—we’re publishing a day late. Thanks for your patience.

This week’s episode is our last before the consequential midterm elections here in the U.S. So we’ve devoted this week to bringing you our collective take on how religion will impact the midterm elections and beyond. We kick things off with the latest analysis from PRRI’s American Values Survey, released recently in partnership with the Brookings Institution. But we also unpack the messy history of the American religious landscape and how that complexity is often missed in the political punditry around elections. Finally, we talk about how important it is that we all make sure our voices are heard by voting this week. Typically, less than half of eligible voters vote in midterm elections, but this week is an opportunity to change that and elect representatives that will protect democracy while there is still time to correct our wayward course.

The Latest from Team TCU

The Cottage

Sunday Musings

TODAY IS ALL SAINTS’ DAY…

3 days ago · 155 likes · 28 comments · Diana Butler Bass

Footnotes by Jemar Tisby

What Could Happen After the Midterms?

All this energy leading up to the midterms—do you think it ends on November 3? I’m still committed to bringing you historically informed insights. Support this work by becoming a paid subscriber today…

4 days ago · 57 likes · 1 comment · Jemar Tisby, PhD

Du Mez CONNECTIONS

In case of a contested election

If you’re like me, you’ve probably been tracking growing expectations of a “blue wave” in the midterms. But history teaches us that nothing is guaranteed. In the midterms, especially, everything comes down to turnout…

12 days ago · 304 likes · 38 comments · Kristin Du Mez

And one from Robby published at .

How You Can Support Our Work

Many of you have asked how you can support our work, especially in these challenging days. One of the best ways you can support our work is by buying our books—especially pre-ordering new books (Kristin and Robby both have books coming out in September).

Browse TCU Bookshelf

Here’s the latest book from each of us:

TCU+Live: Your Questions on Religion and Politics Answered

Robert P. Jones — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 18:48:58 GMT

Hi, all, thanks to the approximately 200 of you who joined us last night for our live show and shared your questions with us. As is our custom, we covered a lot of ground: the Trump administration canceling the scheduled public execution of Nidal Hasan by firing squad after cross-religious and bipartisan outcry; Trump and white evangelical connections with Russia; our own journeys as authors; how showing up can matter at the upcoming No Kings march and as volunteers at the midterm polls; where we’ll be on the road; and so much more. Tune in below.

The Latest from Team TCU

Footnotes by Jemar Tisby

How to Tell Stories About Justice Without Sounding Preachy

Have you ever tried to talk to someone about injustice, only to realize they stopped listening because they felt you were preaching at them…

14 days ago · 26 likes · Jemar Tisby, PhD

Du Mez CONNECTIONS

When the Christian Right comes to Canada

The Globe and Mail broke this story yesterday, and it’s been all over my Canadian friends’ social media feeds: the report of US Trump supporters working with the Alberta separatist movement to build a database to secure enough votes to bring about the province’s secession. Alberta would then be welcomed with open arms by the Trump administration—or at l…

a month ago · 238 likes · 19 comments · Kristin Du Mez

The Cottage

The Emperor Is Naked - And Everybody Knows

Dear Friends…

15 days ago · 275 likes · 65 comments · Diana Butler Bass

How You Can Support Our Work

Many of you have asked how you can support our work, especially in these challenging days. One of the best ways you can support our work is by buying our books.

Browse TCU Bookshelf

Here’s the latest book from each of us:

Kristin, LIVE LAUGH LOVE: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made
Robby, BACKSLIDE: Reclaiming a Faith and a Nation After the Christian Turn Against Democracy
Diana, A Beautiful Year: 52 Meditations on Faith, Wisdom, and Perseverance (WINNER OF THE 2026 WILBUR AWARD)
Jemar, The Spirit of Justice: True Stories of Faith, Race, and Resistance

You’re invited! Ask Us Anything at TCU+LIVE This Thursday

Robert P. Jones — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 20:16:11 GMT

Hi, TCU community,

With book tours in full swing for Kristin and Robby, our schedules have been a bit off. But we’re all going to be together Thursday afternoon at 5pm ET.

We’ve heard from some of you that the Substack Live platform hasn’t been ideal, so we’re going to return this month to Zoom webinar format. NOTE: This will mean that you will need to click the button below to register and receive the link for the show.

If you haven’t joined us before, this is a chance to ask us your questions directly and connect with a warm and encouraging community in the chat.

The Latest from TCU

How You Can Support Our Work

Many of you have asked how you can support our work, especially in these challenging days. One of the best ways you can support our work is by buying our books.

Browse TCU Bookshelf

Here’s the latest book from each of us:

Kristin, LIVE LAUGH LOVE: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made (A NYT Bestseller)
Robby, BACKSLIDE: Reclaiming a Faith and a Nation After the Christian Turn Against Democracy
Diana, A Beautiful Year: 52 Meditations on Faith, Wisdom, and Perseverance (WINNER OF THE 2026 WILBUR AWARD)
Jemar, The Spirit of Justice: True Stories of Faith, Race, and Resistance

Hegseth’s Disturbing New Office of Religious Affairs at the “Department of War”

Robert P. Jones — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 21:09:53 GMT

Dear TCU readers,

Here’s the latest episode, along with some updates on the schedule ahead:

Next week, three of us (Jemar, Kristin, Diana) will be at Theology Beer Camp and will be doing a fun “recorded before a live audience” edition of TCU from the main stage there in Kansas City. Robby won’t be joining because he’s being inducted into the 2026 class of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in Boston! We will post that recording likely Sunday or Monday as soon as we have it.
Our next TCU+LIVE (later than usual because of travel schedules) will be on October 15 at 5pm ET. We’ll be just a couple of weeks before the midterm elections, so mark your calendars and plan to bring your questions.
And if you are in the Atlanta area on Saturday, Kristin and Robby will be on stage together at the Decatur Book Festival. Come see us at the Decatur Baptist Church venue at 1pm ET, with book signing afterward, and tell your Atlanta friends.

Here’s this week’s episode:

This week, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s used a newly invented “State of the Force” speech to announce that he was establishing a new Office of Religious Affairs inside of his so-called “Department of War” that would “'oversee research, technology, and analytical tools to support and assess spiritual fitness, spiritual readiness, and spiritual resilience” of soldiers. While that language may sound innocuous, Hegseth clearly plans to make this one more mechanism for entrenching Christian nationlism within our military. The new office would be overseen by a senior official who would report directly to Hegseth and have direct control over the military chaplaincy program. The order also mentioned funding Christian homeschooling programs for military families and quoted Bible verses to justify its existence.

We also reflect on the upcoming funeral on Saturday for Pierre Damas Bel, a Haitian college student from Springfield, Ohio, who, his family says, died by suicide weeks after ICE outfitted him with an ankle monitor. We note that this young man would still likely be alive today were it not for our government’s intentionally cruel and inhumane immigration policies and tactics. We wrap with a hopeful shout out to a new PRRI study showing that the opponents of Christian nationalism outnumber its supporters by two to one.

The Latest from Team TCU

The Cottage

The Archangel and the Secretary of War

Yesterday, as I listened to reports about Pete Hegseth’s “State of the Force” address to the military, something unexpected came to mind…

a month ago · 243 likes · 48 comments · Diana Butler Bass

Footnotes by Jemar Tisby

How to Get Your Neighbors to Vote

Do you believe we should be learning from the past to meet the crisis of democracy in the present? If you do, then recognize articles like this are labor. Support the work…

a month ago · 60 likes · 4 comments · Jemar Tisby, PhD

Du Mez CONNECTIONS

Minnesota churches

When my publicist and I were putting together my book tour, we had more invitations and possible destinations than we could manage. (Apologies to the West Coast—WA, CA, OR, and to Boston and Philadelphia and Madison, AL, and AZ, and several other places I’d still love to visit…

a month ago · 89 likes · 5 comments · Kristin Du Mez

How You Can Support Our Work

Browse TCU Bookshelf

Here’s the latest book from each of us:

Kristin, LIVE LAUGH LOVE: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made (A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER)
Robby, BACKSLIDE: Reclaiming a Faith and a Nation After the Christian Turn Against Democracy
Diana, A Beautiful Year: 52 Meditations on Faith, Wisdom, and Perseverance (WINNER OF THE 2026 WILBUR AWARD)
Jemar, The Spirit of Justice: True Stories of Faith, Race, and Resistance

Where are the Conservative Patriots?

Robert P. Jones — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 20:13:51 GMT

This week, we celebrate the launch of Kristin’s new book, Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made. If you haven’t gotten your copy yet, there are links below!

Amid the continued visible destruction of symbolic institutions, the Convocation Unscripted team asks, “Where are the conservative patriots?” You know, those who have so loudly professed a commitment to CONSERVING not only things like our most beloved public spaces like the Kennedy Center and the White House but cherished values like public service, ethics, and respect for the rule of law. There are signs that the facade is cracking—with Karl Rove stating he’s voting for a Democrat in Texas and Rep. Thomas Massie introducing articles of impeachment against Pete Hegseth—but these remain lone voices shouted down by their fellow Republicans. We express some hope that more former Trump supporters will realize the danger in which they’ve put both the country and Christianity and then change course; and we note the importance of welcoming them back into the democratic fold when they do. We close with a reflection on a community based on covenant and care rather than self-serving transactions.

And if you’ve enjoyed this episode, can you share it with 2-3 friend and on social media?

It’s book launch weeks for Robby and Kristin—Can you lend a hand today?

Last week and this week are the respective launch weeks for Robby’s book BACKSLIDE and Kristin’s book LIVE LAUGH LOVE.

Could you help us leverage the power of community to launch Robby and Kristin’s books out strongly into the world?

There are certainly enough of us gathered here to make a difference. I hope you’ll consider buying a copy for yourself or as a gift today. And please help us spread the word about the book by forwarding this email to two or three friends.

Buy from Bookshop

Buy from Barnes & Noble

Buy from Amazon

Buy SIGNED from People's Book

Buy from Bookshop

Buy from Barnes & Noble

Buy from Amazon

The Latest from TCU Team

Du Mez CONNECTIONS

LLL Book Club Discussion Guide

I’ve already heard from so many people that you’re reading Live Laugh Love with friends, starting up book clubs, and connecting with other readers over Zoom to discuss. This is exactly what I recommend doing with this book…

a month ago · 41 likes · 9 comments · Kristin Du Mez

The Cottage

Sunday Musings

TODAY IS THE SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST…

2 months ago · 171 likes · 38 comments · Diana Butler Bass

Footnotes by Jemar Tisby

Support for this President Is Pushing People Away from Church

Have you read that report about Gen Z and the church…

a month ago · 124 likes · 2 comments · Jemar Tisby, PhD

Book Launch Weeks for Robby and Kristin - Can You Lend a Hand?

Robert P. Jones — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 14:03:57 GMT

Dear Convocation Unscripted readers,

When the four of us — Robby, Kristin, Diana, and Jemar — launched the Convocation Unscripted more than two years ago in May 2024, we had no idea that this experiment between friends would turn into this amazing online community. After nearly 100 formal episodes and live shows, more than 18,000 of you have found your way to us and to each other here on Substack and on YouTube.

We’re so moved and grateful. We’ve heard from many of you that listening to the show has been sustaining in these difficult days. Each of us on TCU team have also felt that these conversations and community have been a source of strength for us as well. Thank you!

It’s book launch week for Robby and Kristin—Can you lend a hand today?

Today marks the final day of the book launch week for Robby’s book BACKSLIDE and the beginning of book launch week for Kristin’s book LIVE LAUGH LOVE.

As you know, the first week of sales (which end for Robby today and for Kristin next Saturday) are critical for the success and future trajectory of a new book. It helps determine how many bookstores stock them, how strongly they get promoted, and most importantly, how many people read them early and spread the word.

Could you help us leverage the power of community to launch Robby and Kristin’s books out strongly into the world?

Buy SIGNED from People's Book

Buy from Bookshop

Buy from Barnes & Noble

Buy from Amazon

Buy from Bookshop

Buy from Barnes & Noble

Buy from Amazon

From the Archive

The Long Shadow of 9/11

Jemar Tisby, PhD — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 00:46:05 GMT

The twin towers fell twenty-five years ago, but the outrage that moment spurred is still shaping life in the U.S. and beyond.

Kristin Du Mez, Diana Butler Bass, and Robert P. Jones sit with the anniversary and ask: What became of this country that morning?

You’ll hear where each of them was, including Kristin standing in a blood donation line that evening that turned out to be unnecessary, because there were almost no survivors.

Then, Robbie brings PRRI’s tracking of American attitudes toward Islam, where the country as a whole has barely moved while the two parties have pulled further and further apart.

Diana argues the goodwill drained the moment the president stood on the rubble and chose revenge over imagination. Robbie points to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. And the fact that the first community ICE went after was Somali refugees who were Black and Muslim.

As we often do, we end with small signs of hope.

Earlier in the hour you’ll get Wild Goose, book launch season, and the books that changed their lives.

If you have wondered how we ended up in the country we are living in, this conversation is a large part of the answer.

Listen, then send it to someone who still can’t trace the line from the past to the present.

What Vance’s and Thiel's Talk of the Antichrist and End Times Really Reveals

Robert P. Jones — Sat, 05 Sep 2026 00:01:50 GMT

This week, TCU came to you live across multiple platforms--via the Convocation Unscripted substack plus our own individual substack platforms. In this episode, we talk about a recent interview given by J.D. Vance in which he discusses his views of the Antichrist and the end times, echoing themes from his tech bro benefactor Peter Thiel. The actual theology is internally inconsistent and somewhat incoherent, but it does reveal a disturbing world of limitless power for the few chosen ones who literally imagine the possibility of escaping human finitude and even death through wealth and technology. By contrast, we reflect on the deep biblical stories that warn against such hubris and callous disregard for the impacts of such elite aspirations on the vast majority of the rest of us. And we take questions from the hundreds of you who joined us live: on climate change and extreme weather, the midterm elections in the US, and what these times demand for all of us.

We also highlighted the new books coming out from Kristin (LIVE LAUGH LOVE, on 09/15) and Robby (BACKSLIDE, on 09/08). And a note from Robby—you can order a signed, personalized copy of Backslide from his local indie bookstore People’s Book here.

The Latest from Team TCU

Du Mez CONNECTIONS

Picturing Live Laugh Love

A few weeks ago, The New York Times reached out to ask me to write an essay on how popular Christian women’s culture might explain what we should expect to see with respect to the white Christian women’s vote in the midterms. It was an incredible opportunity to introduce some of the themes of…

2 months ago · 211 likes · 49 comments · Kristin Du Mez

The Cottage

Creation Matters

Dear Cottage friends…

2 months ago · 210 likes · 24 comments · Diana Butler Bass

Footnotes by Jemar Tisby

Now We Call It White Christian Nationalism. It Used to Just Be Called the KKK - Footnotes Classic

Less than five percent ✋🏾 of readers financially support me through Substack. Their contributions make articles like this and all my other work (like our growing slate of films) possible. Become a paid subscriber today…

2 months ago · 179 likes · 6 comments · Jemar Tisby, PhD

How You Can Support Our Work

Browse TCU Bookshelf

Here’s the latest book from each of us:

Kristin, LIVE LAUGH LOVE: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made (AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER, publishes 09/15)
Robby, BACKSLIDE: Reclaiming a Faith and a Nation After the Christian Turn Against Democracy (AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER, publishes 09/08)
Diana, A Beautiful Year: 52 Meditations on Faith, Wisdom, and Perseverance (WINNER OF THE 2026 WILBUR AWARD)
Jemar, The Spirit of Justice: True Stories of Faith, Race, and Resistance

You're Invited! Our Next TCU+LIVE Session on September 3

Robert P. Jones — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 01:27:57 GMT

Dear Convocation Unscripted community,

This Thursday, September 3 at 5:00 PM ET, we’re holding our next regular TCU+LIVE webinar. We hope you will join us for this discussion of religion and the ongoing threats to our democracy.

Trying Something New (Again) - No Registration Needed

We hope you can join us LIVE on September 3 at 5:00 PM ET. We’re going to try something new (again!)—convening via Substack Live instead of Zoom. You’ll get a notification via the Substack app when we go live, and you can also tune in on the home page of The Convocation Unscripted or any of our four Substack pages. We’re hoping this will be a more convenient way to bring all of you together. You can also bookmark this link:

TCU+Live Stream Page

If you haven’t joined us before, this is a chance to ask us your questions directly and connect with a warm and encouraging community in the chat.

In the meantime, we’re sharing our most recent episode below.

Robby, Diana, Jemar, and Kristin

P.S. Robby’s and Kristin’s books are almost here (BACKSLIDE on 09/08; LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE on 09/15). If you haven’t gotten your copy yet, you can purchase yours here:

Buy Kristin's LIVE LAUGH LOVE

Buy Robby's BACKSLIDE

ICYMI, Our Most Recent TCU Episode

How You Can Support Our Work

The Convocation Unscripted is FREE, but you can also support us by becoming paid subscribers to our individual publications:

The Cottage - Diana Butler Bass

Du Mez Connections - Kristin Du Mez

Redeeming Democracy - Robby Jones

Footnotes - Jemar Tisby

TCU+LIVE: The Important of Strengthening Community Ahead of the Midterms

Robert P. Jones — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 18:06:12 GMT

Thank you , , , , , and many others for tuning into our live video yesterday afternoon!

This month, we conducted an experiment to increase the visibility of our monthly live conversation—streaming it simultaneously here at The Convocation Unscripted and to each of our individual Substack newsletters. We’re still working out the tech bugs, but we managed to get it streamed to Kristin’s and Jemar’s pages, but not Robby’s or Diana’s. No matter what, you’ll be able to tune in here, but next month we’ll try to get it live on all five platforms.

Speaking of the schedule ahead, we’re going to take the next two weeks off from the podcast to rest ahead of a busy fall, but MARK YOUR CALENDARS: We’ll be back with you LIVE on September 3rd at 5pm ET. And in the meantime, we’ll post some past episodes you may have missed.

Now, on to this week’s recording.

In this TCU+LIVE episode, the Convocation Unscripted team talked about the challenges of finding rest amid the ongoing assaults on our democracy and American decency--from the $100 billion spent on the unjust and unnecessary war in Iran to $20 million for new “shock gloves” that will be issued to ICE agents across the country, which are exactly what they sound like. Diana reminded everyone of the power of beauty and poetry, even--and especially--when they feel dissonant against the destructive background noise. Thanks to all the live subscribers who joined us with insightful questions, which lead us to wrap the conversation about the importance of building local community and connections in these critical months ahead of the challenging midterm elections.

The Latest from Team TCU

The Cottage

Sunday Musings

TODAY IS ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST…

3 months ago · 183 likes · 24 comments · Diana Butler Bass

Footnotes by Jemar Tisby

When Black People Wrote the Constitution

This publication runs on paid subscriptions. No ads, no institution behind it, no one telling me what history is safe to write about. If Footnotes has given you something worth having, become a paid subscriber…

3 months ago · 168 likes · 14 comments · Jemar Tisby, PhD

Du Mez CONNECTIONS

To understand our country, look at our stuff

Last week The New York Times published an illustrated opinion piece by Emily Keegin, “Welcome to my Museum of America…

3 months ago · 161 likes · 78 comments · Kristin Du Mez

How You Can Support Our Work

Browse TCU Bookshelf

Here’s the latest book from each of us:

Kristin, LIVE LAUGH LOVE: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made (AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER)
Robby, BACKSLIDE: Reclaiming a Faith and a Nation After the Christian Turn Against Democracy (AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER)
Diana, A Beautiful Year: 52 Meditations on Faith, Wisdom, and Perseverance (WINNER OF THE 2026 WILBUR AWARD)
Jemar, The Spirit of Justice: True Stories of Faith, Race, and Resistance

You're Invited! Our Next TCU+LIVE Session on August 13

Robert P. Jones — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 21:24:57 GMT

Dear Convocation Unscripted community,

This Thursday, August 13 at 5:00 PM ET, we’re holding our next regular TCU+LIVE webinar. Thanks for your patience—we usually hold these on the first Thursday of each month but had to push due to August vacations. We hope you will join us for this discussion of religion and the ongoing threats to our democracy.

Trying Something New - No Registration Needed

We hope you can join us LIVE on August 13 at 5:00 PM ET. We’re going to try something new—convening via Substack Live instead of Zoom this time. If all the tech works correctly, you’ll get a notification via the Substack app when we go live, and you can also tune in on the home page of The Convocation Unscripted or any of our four Substack pages. We’re hoping this will be a more convenient way to bring all of you together. You can also click on or bookmark this link:

TCU+LIVE Link

If you haven’t joined us before, this is a chance to ask us your questions directly and connect with a warm and encouraging community in the chat.

In the meantime, we’re sharing our most recent episode below.

Robby, Diana, Jemar, and Kristin

ICYMI, Our Most Recent TCU Episode

How You Can Support Our Work

The Convocation Unscripted is FREE, but you can also support us by becoming paid subscribers to our individual publications:

The Cottage - Diana Butler Bass

Du Mez Connections - Kristin Du Mez

Redeeming Democracy - Robby Jones

Footnotes - Jemar Tisby

Updates - And Join Us for TCU+Live Next Week on August 13

Robert P. Jones — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 11:04:13 GMT

Hi, everyone,

Apologies for the uneven scheduling these last two weeks. With summer travel schedules, we’ve been a bit off the beat. We’re taking this week off, as well as the last two weeks of August, to rest and be with family.

BUT MARK YOUR CALENDARS for our monthly LIVE conversation next Thursday, August 13 at 5:00 pm ET. We’ll be on Substack Live right here in the desktop or mobile app, plus some other new ways to participate that we’ll share next week. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, we’re sharing the most recent TCU episode (a duet episode with Jemar and Diana) and the latest from our writing.

The Latest from Team TCU

The Cottage

History and Slavery

I spent most of July in Ireland…

3 months ago · 150 likes · 39 comments · Diana Butler Bass

Footnotes by Jemar Tisby

Here's What Congress Did When Members Had a Spine

Introducing History Rhymes: Democracy and Voting Edition…

3 months ago · 101 likes · 13 comments · Jemar Tisby, PhD

Du Mez CONNECTIONS

When women change the story

I didn’t decide to study women’s history until I was already in graduate school. My initial plan was to study religious and intellectual history—the history that really mattered, or so I thought. But my very first semester, one of my professors, Gail Bederman, introduced me to the study of women and gender, and I was hooked…

3 months ago · 245 likes · 30 comments · Kristin Du Mez

How You Can Support Our Work

Browse TCU Bookshelf

Here’s the latest book from each of us:

Kristin, LIVE LAUGH LOVE: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made (AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER)
Robby, BACKSLIDE: Reclaiming a Faith and a Nation After the Christian Turn Against Democracy (AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER)
Diana, A Beautiful Year: 52 Meditations on Faith, Wisdom, and Perseverance (WINNER OF THE 2026 WILBUR AWARD)
Jemar, The Spirit of Justice: True Stories of Faith, Race, and Resistance

The Smithsonian, the State, and the Spirit of Freedom

Jemar Tisby, PhD — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 23:13:53 GMT

Why do we keep talking about history on The Convocation Unscripted? Especially when there are midterms coming, immigrants under attack, and a hundred other fires burning right now?

Aside from the obvious—we’re three historians and an honorary historian (😄).

There’s another reason we keep coming back to history…and who gets to tell it.

Why We Keep Coming Back to History

On July 4, the White House released a report on the Smithsonian, then came two congressional hearings about the museums, and now the administration wants warning signs posted outside the National Museum of American History.

Diana said it plainly: “the stories we tell create the possibilities we can imagine.”

If you change the story a nation tells about itself, then you change what that nation believes it can become.

It is also why this administration keeps attacking museums and historians.

The regime wants to define who belongs in America, so it has to narrow the story of the nation.

Yale historian David Blight put it this way in his congressional testimony:

“Historians are not the voices of the state. We are keepers of memory.”

So the fight over the Smithsonian is not a quarrel between two political readings of the same facts. It’s more consequential than that.

As Diana put it, “history becomes an act of whose memory counts.”

Whose stories get saved, and whose get erased, decides who we understand ourselves to be, and who we are willing to fight for.

That is why we keep coming back to history.

Control the past, and you set the boundaries of the future.

History, and whose version we tell, set the bounds on what we are permitted to imagine.

Remembering is not an act of nostalgia but resistance.

In This Episode

The White House’s Saving America’s Story report and its attack on the National Museum of American History
The two July congressional hearings on the Smithsonian, and the push to fire its leadership
Trump’s order to post “inaccurate information” warning signs outside the museum
Why the stories a nation tells shape what it believes it can become
David Blight’s testimony: historians as keepers of memory, not voices of the state
Whose memory gets saved and whose gets erased as the real stake in the history wars

Why Steven Miller’s Chilling Speech Matters

Robert P. Jones — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 19:04:16 GMT

Did you miss Steven Miller’s chilling speech at a recent counter-terrorism conference with European officials in Washington, where he evokes Nazi tropes abt the deformed physical appearance of his political enemies? The Convocation Unscripted team unpacks the dehumanizing rhetoric and the Nazi echoes we’re hearing from Trump and the MAGA movement. This is not new--Kristin and Robby each point to this dangerous rhetoric in their forthcoming books (LIVE LAUGH LOVE and BACKSLIDE)--but this rhetoric is getting louder and becoming more central to MAGA messaging. Miller’s speech should be a warning bell. It’s time for all of us to get beyond denial, get involved, and project a more inclusive view of the good, the true, and the beautiful that is rooted in an ethic of love rather than demonization.

The Latest from Team TCU

Footnotes by Jemar Tisby

Why "Objective" History Is a Myth

Less than five percent of readers financially support this publication. Lately that number has been dropping. You can change that. Become a paid subscriber today…

Listen now

3 months ago · 78 likes · 2 comments · Jemar Tisby, PhD

Du Mez CONNECTIONS

Which way, Christianity Today?

Over the past year, there has been significant turnover at Christianity Today…

3 months ago · 475 likes · 113 comments · Kristin Du Mez

The Cottage

Parables & Pentecost

Last Friday, the Cottage summer series, Parables & Pentecost, concluded with a truly generative conversation on parables and poetry featuring Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer…

4 months ago · 79 likes · 14 comments · Diana Butler Bass

How You Can Support Our Work

Browse TCU Bookshelf

Here’s the latest book from each of us:

Kristin, LIVE LAUGH LOVE: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made (AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER)
Robby, BACKSLIDE: Reclaiming a Faith and a Nation After the Christian Turn Against Democracy (AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER)
Diana, A Beautiful Year: 52 Meditations on Faith, Wisdom, and Perseverance (WINNER OF THE 2026 WILBUR AWARD)
Jemar, The Spirit of Justice: True Stories of Faith, Race, and Resistance

When ICE is Killing Innocent People in Our Streets

Robert P. Jones — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 20:07:37 GMT

Just this week, ICE has killed two more innocent people in our streets. Despite public outcry, ICE continues to kill while wearing masks and not wearing body cams. We cannot be numb to this reality--that our own government is killing people with impunity. If we care about the rule of law, family values, and the integrity of law enforcement, we must recognize these acts as a direct assault on these principles and values. Instead of reassessing these outrages, President Trump has urged ICE on and Tom Homan has promised more bloodshed. We call these out as bright moral lines that have been crossed and emphasize the importance of not normalizing this violent behavior by our own government. We also look ahead to Trump’s national address on the integrity of U.S. elections and talk about the head spinning fact that nearly two-thirds of Republicans continue to believe that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump (while simultaneously believing that the 2024 election was fine). We warn that the declaration of an imaginary emergency is the likely action that will set the table for undermining the integrity of the midterm elections.

ICYMI, Our Impromptu Trump Speech Watch Party

Late yesterday afternoon, after our weekly taping of The Convocation Unscripted, I threw out a wacky idea: What if we watched Trump’s speech about “election security” and we did it live on Substack?

Kristin and Jemar somehow agreed to the idea (Diana is five hours ahead of us in Ireland, so she was off the hook), and we responded in real-time to the speech.

We had over 1,200 of you join us last night, but if you missed it, you can check it out below.

The Latest from Team TCU

The Cottage

Parables & Pentecost

Last Friday, the Cottage summer series, Parables & Pentecost, concluded with a truly generative conversation on parables and poetry featuring Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer…

4 months ago · 73 likes · 14 comments · Diana Butler Bass

Footnotes by Jemar Tisby

How to Stop ICE from Killing People

Most outlets will report an ICE shooting and move on. Footnotes is where I put the numbers they skip, like the 2,000-arrests-a-day quota, next to the long history of how movements actually win. Subscribe so the next injustice finds you ready to act instead of numb…

Listen now

3 months ago · 44 likes · 2 comments · Jemar Tisby, PhD

Du Mez CONNECTIONS

Summer Reads

I have a stack of new books on my floor—my summer must-reads. Some are written by friends, some by people I’ve never met. Now that I’m finally at a place where I can start to pick them up, grab a jalapeño limeade, and head out to my hammock chair…

3 months ago · 122 likes · 42 comments · Kristin Du Mez

How You Can Support Our Work

Browse TCU Bookshelf

Here’s the latest book from each of us:

Kristin, LIVE LAUGH LOVE: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made (AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER)
Robby, BACKSLIDE: Reclaiming a Faith and a Nation After the Christian Turn Against Democracy (AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER)
Diana, A Beautiful Year: 52 Meditations on Faith, Wisdom, and Perseverance (WINNER OF THE 2026 WILBUR AWARD)
Jemar, The Spirit of Justice: True Stories of Faith, Race, and Resistance

Trump Plots Midterm Chaos

Jemar Tisby, PhD — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 02:53:10 GMT

With just two hours notice, Robby threw out a wacky idea.

What if we watched Trump’s speech about “election security” and we did it live on Substack.

Kristin and I somehow agreed to the idea (Diana is five hours ahead of us in Ireland, so she was off the hook), and we responded in real-time to the speech.

For all the mirth we experienced planning this impromptu episode, the subject couldn’t be more serious.

What we witnessed is nothing less than the President of the United States laying the groundwork to rig the midterm elections.

In this episode, we give tons of book recommendations, practical steps for taking action, and our own analysis of the gravity of this moment.

Listen to the episode, but don’t stop there. Share this with someone you think needs to hear it, too.

We’ll see you soon on the next, Convocation.

What did you think of Trump’s speech? Let us know in the comments?

The Mainstreaming of Doug Wilson, Self-Described Christian Deceiver

Robert P. Jones — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 20:11:47 GMT

This week, we reflect on the anticlimactic America250 celebrations in Washington, DC, and around the country. We also talked about the tragic, suspicious death of African American 18-year-old Nolan Xavier Wells, whose body was found after he disappeared during a boat trip with a group of white friends on Horn Island over the Fourth of July weekend, and why so many Black Americans are reacting differently than white Americans to this story.

Finally, we talk about the mainstreaming of Doug Wilson, an extremist self-described Christian nationalist who leads a small denomination of churches to which Pete Hegseth belongs. In addition to the openly extremist views he holds about slavery, women, and theocracy, he also explicitly believes that he is justified in misrepresenting his true beliefs when speaking to those outside the Christian fold. In the past year, he’s landed high-profile interviews from CNN, New York Times, and most recently NPR. But his rising influence is mostly due to the failure of mainstream white evangelicalism to defend itself from incursions from the far right. Today, mainstream white evangelical leaders are not only failing to condemn his dangerous, illiberal views, they are inviting him into their circles and joining him on his own platforms. If we needed one more piece of evidence of the complete moral and theological collapse of the white evangelical world, the embrace of Wilson is it.

The Latest from Team TCU

Du Mez CONNECTIONS

When Doug Wilson says he lies, believe him

This week, NPR’s Leila Fadel interviewed Doug Wilson. Excerpts aired on the radio, but you can catch the whole video interview here, all 42 minutes of it…

4 months ago · 496 likes · 22 comments · Kristin Du Mez

Footnotes by Jemar Tisby

What Mainstream Media Keep Getting Wrong about Douglas Wilson

I do what mainstream media will not or cannot do: name white Christian nationalism for what it is and point to the people resisting it. Become a paid subscriber so you never have to rely on Doug Wilson’s explanation of Christianity…

Listen now

4 months ago · 101 likes · 15 comments · Jemar Tisby, PhD

The Cottage

The Parable of the Talents

WELCOME TO THE FINAL SUMMER SERIES WEDNESDAY…

Listen now

4 months ago · 98 likes · 21 comments · Diana Butler Bass

How You Can Support Our Work

Browse TCU Bookshelf

Here’s the latest book from each of us:

Kristin, LIVE LAUGH LOVE: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made (AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER)
Robby, BACKSLIDE: Reclaiming a Faith and a Nation After the Christian Turn Against Democracy (AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER)
Diana, A Beautiful Year: 52 Meditations on Faith, Wisdom, and Perseverance (WINNER OF THE 2026 WILBUR AWARD)
Jemar, The Spirit of Justice: True Stories of Faith, Race, and Resistance

The Fourth of July We Didn't Get

Jemar Tisby, PhD — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 22:44:44 GMT

The most damning thing about America 250 is not what happened. It is what didn’t.

For ten years, a bipartisan committee chartered and funded by Congress planned the nation’s 250th birthday. It was supposed to belong to all of us.

Then the current administration sidestepped the whole project, stood up the White House’s “Freedom 250” initiative in its place, and turned a national milestone into a partisan rally.

Musical artists withdrew. States refused to staff their booths. The crowds never came.

What was left was a fenced-off Mall, a warping vinyl arch, and a reflecting pool drained and lined in cheap plastic until the algae bloomed.

That pool is the whole story in miniature.

Take something authentic and functioning, spray a veneer over it, watch it warp in the heat, then blame someone else when it fails.

It is a Home Depot (or maybe Hobby Lobby as a listener suggested) version of the Gilded Age: plenty of people getting rich, plenty of people getting hurt, and a tawdriness underneath it all.

The tragedy is that any barely competent leader could have thrown a party that drew this country together.

The bar was that low, and it was still missed. We only get one 250th. And this administration squandered the once-in-a-generation anniversary for unity that we will never get to relive.

So what do we do with a country that keeps breaking our hearts?

We do not cede it. We demand the nation live up to its ideals.

Come with your despair. Stay for the truth. Grow in community.

Catch the full episode, including a lengthy stretch where the four of us take your questions live from the Q&A box, on the Convocation Unscripted.

In This Episode:

Why America 250 landed as a partisan Trump event instead of a national celebration: the sidestepped bipartisan committee, the withdrawn artists, and the empty booths on the Mall.
The real tragedy of the 250th: not what happened, but the once-in-a-generation chance for unity that was missed and will not come again.
Gerald Ford in 1976 versus Trump in 2026: two Republican presidents, two opposing theologies of history, and the ongoing whitewashing of America’s story.
The green, plastic-lined reflecting pool as a metaphor for the administration: authentic things cheapened, then blame deflected onto someone else.
Reclaiming the flag: why Dr. Tisby argues progressives shouldn’t cede it to the far right, and what Black patriotism has always understood about contested symbols.
Diana Butler Bass on “second naïveté”: how you can hold clear-eyed grief and stubborn love for your country at the same time.
Fresh PRRI data on American pride, democratic malaise, and the two-thirds consensus for a pluralistic, good-neighbor nation the party in power refuses to celebrate.
Masks off: the birthright-citizenship backlash, the attacks on Amy Coney Barrett’s family, and what a fully realized white Christian nationalist vision actually intends.

If this gave you language for what you have been feeling, don’t keep it to yourself. Share it this weekend; someone you love may need a truer way to spend the Fourth of July.

Du Mez CONNECTIONS

The Christian Past That Wasn't

Warren Throckmorten has been fighting this battle for a long time…

4 months ago · 250 likes · 25 comments · Kristin Du Mez

The Cottage

Dear Mr. Whitman...

Today is the Fourth of July holiday in the United States…

4 months ago · 75 likes · 8 comments · Diana Butler Bass

Footnotes by Jemar Tisby

How Gerald R. Ford Celebrated Black History During America's 200th Anniversary

I’m connecting the past to the present using my training as an academic historian. This is my commitment to truth. I can’t face this onslaught of misinformation alone. Become a paid subscriber today…

4 months ago · 111 likes · 7 comments · Jemar Tisby, PhD

You're Invited! Register Now for Our Special Independence Day TCU+LIVE Session on July 2

Robert P. Jones — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 14:07:02 GMT

Dear Convocation Unscripted community,

This Thursday, we’re holding our next regular TCU+LIVE webinar held on the first Thursday of each month. This one falls just ahead of Independence Day weekend. We know many of you, like us, are struggling to know how to observe the day. We hope you will join us—we’ll talk about it all, from lament to celebration. And we can crowdsource ways to celebrate the best of our nation even in these challenging days.

Registration for the next Convocation+LIVE

You’re invited! Come join The Convocation Unscripted team for our monthly LIVE webinar, where we’ll discuss the ongoing threats to our democracy, bringing our combined expertise in religion, history, and politics to the discussion. We hope you can join us LIVE on July 2 at 5:00 PM ET. It’s free, but you’ll need to register below to receive the Zoom link.

If you haven’t joined us before, this is a chance to ask us your questions directly and connect with a warm and encouraging community in the chat.

In the meantime, we’re sharing our most recent episode below.

Robby, Diana, Jemar, and Kristin

ICYMI, Our Most Recent Episode

We had some technical issues with this last episode, but they are now fixed. If you missed it, we invite you to tune in.

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld President Trump’s order to remove Temporary Protected Status from hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian immigrants. The lead opinion, written by Justice Alito, declared that Trump’s derogatory language about these groups (“they’re eating the pets”) and their country of origin (“sh*thole countries”) was not “OVERTLY” racist and therefore not a factor in discerning his motivation for the order. Justice Sotomayor, in a blistering dissent, declared that “the references—of filth, disease, and primitiveness—are shot through with racial stereotypes.” Meanwhile, Trump is giving white South African refugees welcome bags with a PragerU children’s book on so-called reverse racism, and a document that defends the country’s founding on slavery. We talk about how these moves violate not only basic moral decency but Christian teaching about treating immigrants with hospitality and respect and, well, just not bearing false witness against your neighbor. We close by reminding listeners of the need to pay attention to the bright lines being crossed and to not cede the flag or patriotism to the Christian nationalists who distort their meaning.

How You Can Support Our Work

The Convocation Unscripted is FREE, but you can also support us by becoming paid subscribers to our individual publications:

The Convocation Unscripted

You’re invited! The Post-Election TCU+LIVE Show, This Wednesday

The Latest from TCU

How You Can Support Our Work

Our Take: How Religion Will Impact the Midterm Elections and Beyond

The Latest from Team TCU

How You Can Support Our Work

TCU+Live: Your Questions on Religion and Politics Answered

The Latest from Team TCU

How You Can Support Our Work

You’re invited! Ask Us Anything at TCU+LIVE This Thursday

The Latest from TCU

How You Can Support Our Work

Hegseth’s Disturbing New Office of Religious Affairs at the “Department of War”

The Latest from Team TCU

How You Can Support Our Work

Where are the Conservative Patriots?

It’s book launch weeks for Robby and Kristin—Can you lend a hand today?

Could you help us leverage the power of community to launch Robby and Kristin’s books out strongly into the world?

The Latest from TCU Team

Book Launch Weeks for Robby and Kristin - Can You Lend a Hand?

It’s book launch week for Robby and Kristin—Can you lend a hand today?

Could you help us leverage the power of community to launch Robby and Kristin’s books out strongly into the world?

From the Archive

The Long Shadow of 9/11

More from The Convocation team:

What Vance’s and Thiel's Talk of the Antichrist and End Times Really Reveals

The Latest from Team TCU

How You Can Support Our Work

You're Invited! Our Next TCU+LIVE Session on September 3

Trying Something New (Again) - No Registration Needed

ICYMI, Our Most Recent TCU Episode

How You Can Support Our Work

TCU+LIVE: The Important of Strengthening Community Ahead of the Midterms

The Latest from Team TCU

How You Can Support Our Work

You're Invited! Our Next TCU+LIVE Session on August 13

Trying Something New - No Registration Needed

ICYMI, Our Most Recent TCU Episode

How You Can Support Our Work

Updates - And Join Us for TCU+Live Next Week on August 13

The Latest from Team TCU

How You Can Support Our Work

The Smithsonian, the State, and the Spirit of Freedom

In This Episode

Why Steven Miller’s Chilling Speech Matters

The Latest from Team TCU

How You Can Support Our Work

When ICE is Killing Innocent People in Our Streets

ICYMI, Our Impromptu Trump Speech Watch Party

The Latest from Team TCU

How You Can Support Our Work

Trump Plots Midterm Chaos

What did you think of Trump’s speech? Let us know in the comments?

The Mainstreaming of Doug Wilson, Self-Described Christian Deceiver

The Latest from Team TCU

How You Can Support Our Work

The Fourth of July We Didn't Get

In This Episode:

If this gave you language for what you have been feeling, don’t keep it to yourself. Share it this weekend; someone you love may need a truer way to spend the Fourth of July.

You're Invited! Register Now for Our Special Independence Day TCU+LIVE Session on July 2

Registration for the next Convocation+LIVE

ICYMI, Our Most Recent Episode

How You Can Support Our Work