For the Good of the Public

About For the Good of the Public

For the Good of the Public brings you daily news and weekly conversations at the intersection of faith and civic life. Monday through Thursday, The Morning Five starts your day off with scripture and prayer, as we catch up on the news of the day together. Throughout the year, we air limited series on Fridays to dive deeper into conversations with civic leaders, thinkers, and public servants reimagining public life, for the good of the public. Every episode, you’ll learn from respected and influential leaders about some of the most pressing issues facing our society today, and consider what Christian resources might have to offer in light of those challenges, for the good of the public. Look for a new episode every Wednesday this Summer!

Publisher

The Center for Christianity & Public Life

Category

news · religion & spirituality · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

4 Jun 2024

Latest episode

10 Oct 2025

Latest episodes

1 of 30 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   10 Oct 2025

   Spiritual Formation for Activists

   Michael and Phebe wrap up this season of For the Good of the Public podcast with a talk by James Catford, founding board chair for the CCPL. James shares how spiritual practice is not at odds with activism and public leadership, but rather our spiritual formation is about the very well we have to draw on for our public engagement. He shares practical wisdom to remind us to listen to the longings of the heart and remember the motivations of our service in the first place. Watch the video recording of this talk on YouTube! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOn5k-57Znw) “Ending on this talk is hopefully something that reminds you that you are more than the work that you do. While your work is so valuable, you are a person and a human first.” -Phebe [01:43] “I think what James gets at here is a level of integration… You take your spirit with you when you protest. You take your spirit with you when you’re knocking on doors or drafting that policy or having a conversation around the dinner table, around politics and civic issues.” -Michael [03:03] “Well don’t leave your hunger, your longings, unsupervised. Don’t allow your longings to be put to one’s side. Listen to the longings of the heart. Because if you don’t, you will hit what some people have called the wall.” -James [15:15] TIMESTAMPS [00:00] Intro [05:23] Who formed you? [11:32] Black and white vs Color [14:24] Listen to the longings of the heart [19:22] The importance of spiritual formation [23:02] How activists can practice spirituality [28:34] Pray with me [29:47] Outro REFERENCES For the Good of the Public Summit (https://www.ccpubliclife.org/summit) James Catford (https://www.ccpubliclife.org/plf-mentors/mindy-belz-7j3hf-zf2p3), founding board chair for the CCPL British Bible Society (https://www.biblesociety.org.uk/) Theos (https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/) Renovaré (https://renovare.org/) SPCK Publishing (https://spckpublishing.co.uk/) Public Life Fellowship (https://www.ccpubliclife.org/public-life-fellowship) The Colour of Time: A New History of the World, 1850-1960 (https://marinamaral.com/books/colour-of-time/) by Dan Jones and Marina Amaral Richard Foster (https://renovare.org/people/richard-foster/bio) CONNECT WITH US: Website: www.ccpubliclife.org (http://www.ccpubliclife.org) X: @CCPublicLife (https://x.com/CCPublicLife) Facebook: Center for Christianity & Public Life (https://www.facebook.com/ccpubliclife) Instagram: @ccpubliclife (https://www.instagram.com/ccpubliclife/) Podcast: For the Good of the Public (https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/TSF7809756736) Mentioned in this episode: For the Good of the Public Summit 2025 For the Good of the Public Summit '25 (https://for-the-good-of-the-public.captivate.fm/summit25) New Updated Feed...

2. 

   3 Oct 2025

   Africa’s Bright Future

   In this episode of For the Good of the Public podcast, Michael and Phebe present a talk by Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli, President and CEO of ONE Campaign. Ndidi shares the vision she sees for the future of Africa and the role the ONE Campaign has played to ensure that everyone has a seat at the table. She takes us through the organization’s history of fighting for justice and equity and her personal motivation that is grounded in humility, curiosity and upholding the dignity of all people. Watch the video recording of this talk on YouTube! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rb1HVIBRaMk) “(Ndidi’s) really one of the most compelling social entrepreneurs that I’ve come across in my life.” -Michael [00:26] “So much of the advocacy and the wins that the ONE Campaign has had over the last two decades of their work have been grounded in faith-based activism and have been the result of faith leaders, pastors, Christian artists coming together to advocate for the end of global poverty.” -Phebe [02:29] “What we want to do under my leadership is really invite people who are sitting across the aisle to connect in a deeply human level. A level where we see each other, where we trust each other, but where we also believe we’re here on assignment. And where we are here because we have a legacy that is bigger and deeper than our own.” -Ndidi [12:20] TIMESTAMPS [00:00] Intro [04:43] History of ONE Campaign [08:07] Ndidi’s vision for Africa [13:30] Humanity and equity [17:06] Outro REFERENCES For the Good of the Public Summit (https://www.ccpubliclife.org/summit) Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli (https://www.one.org/us/person/ndidi-okonkwo-nwuneli/), President and CEO of ONE Campaign (https://www.one.org/us/) Drop the Debt campaign (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drop_the_Debt) President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) (https://www.cgdev.org/page/overview-president%E2%80%99s-emergency-plan-aids-relief-pepfar) TED Talk: The role of faith and belief in modern Africa (https://www.ted.com/talks/ndidi_nwuneli_the_role_of_faith_and_belief_in_modern_africa) CONNECT WITH US: Website: www.ccpubliclife.org (http://www.ccpubliclife.org) X: @CCPublicLife (https://x.com/CCPublicLife) Facebook: Center for Christianity & Public Life (https://www.facebook.com/ccpubliclife) Instagram: @ccpubliclife (https://www.instagram.com/ccpubliclife/) Podcast: For the Good of the Public (https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/TSF7809756736)

3. 

   26 Sept 2025

   Creating a Culture of Care Panel

   In this episode of For the Good of the Public podcast, Liz Tenety, co-founder of Motherly and Founding Women, moderates a conversation on creating a culture of care with Elissa Strauss, journalist and author of “When You Care: The Unexpected Magic of Caring for Others,” Joe Waters, co-founder and CEO of Capita, Tim Carney, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and Dr. Charles Daniels Jr., founder and CEO of Fathers’ Uplift. The panelists explore what it means to have a culture of care in this country and how it relates to today’s concept of care, drawing from their professional experiences and personal journeys with parenthood. They dig into the practical solutions that would approach care in a more humane way, both on a policy level and a community level. Watch the video recording of this talk on YouTube! (https://youtu.be/oZb-upXnq2Y?feature=shared) “Caregiving is a hot topic. It’s on the campaign trail right now. It’s in the headlines, but there’s such depth to what we need around caregiving.” -Liz [07:44] “I believe that care consists of various peoples–aunties, uncles, teachers, coaches–that contribute to the being of one person. And I believe that it’s mutually beneficial. I think members of their culture have someone to contribute to their being. None of us arrive to this place of love and care by ourselves. It takes a village.” -Charles [13:35] “Caring for others is self care. It is challenging and stressful and hard, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not nourishing us in other ways.” -Elissa [21:20] “If we want to support stay-at-home parents, if we want to empower choices by parents to care for their children in the ways that they think best and align with their values, one of the most important things we can do is address the cost of housing.” -Joe [45:32] “It’s really tough to fix this because what we have on one hand is parents who can’t afford safe, clean, reliable childcare, and the biggest input into that is the wages.” -Tim [52:15] TIMESTAMPS [00:00] Intro [04:04] About the panelists [07:36] The deeper meaning of caregiving [14:10] America’s concept of care [21:29] Economic and cultural pressures [25:43] The role of women [32:05] Learning from other countries and cultures [41:25] A more human approach to care [51:12] Questions from the audience [1:08:39] Outro REFERENCES For the Good of the Public Summit (https://www.ccpubliclife.org/summit) Liz Tenety (https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethtenety/), co-founder of Motherly (https://www.mother.ly/) and Founding Women (https://www.foundingwomen.co/) Elissa Strauss (https://www.elissastrauss.com/) “When You Care: The Unexpected Magic of Caring for Others” (https://www.elissastrauss.com/when-you-care) by Elissa Strauss Joe Waters (https://capita.org/person/joe-waters/), CEO and co-founder of Capita (https://capita.org/) Tim Carney (https://www.timothypcarney.org/), journalist at the Washington Examiner (https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/) and senior fellow at the American...

Inside a recent episode

A Conversation on Justice and Character

Published 12 Jun 2024 · Transcript excerpt

[…] I've heard you speak quite often, the work looks like waiting outside a courthouse for hours. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I'm trying to remember who wrote the song. The Book of Love is Long and Boring. Peter Gabriel, I think he's redoing, he's covering someone else's, wrote it, but he does a lovely song called The Book of Love is Long and Boring. The work of justice is long and boring, it turns out. So what is gonna equip you to do long and boring work for a long time? is really what the work of justice is about. And I think that the tediousness, the heartache, the difficulty, we need spiritual resources, I think, to take those struggles on for a long time. […]

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