The Russell Moore Show

What if the justice we rely on to bring closure is actually keeping us from it?

Watch the video of this episode on YouTube here.

*At 23 minutes, a question is asked about the physical realities of the death penalty. That section is over by 26 minutes.*

Malcolm Gladwell joins Russell to discuss his recent 8-part podcast series, The Alabama Murders (from the Revisionist History podcast), which tells the story of a church leader who hires two men to kill his wife. In the search for closure, their judgment–penalty by death–is stretched out over decades. Gladwell believes forgiveness would have been the better option. 

What becomes clear in this conversation is that justice, as we often imagine it, doesn’t resolve things nearly as cleanly as we think. And in that waiting, we’re forced to confront something deeper: whether we really believe in the possibility of redemption, or whether we’ve quietly decided that some people are simply beyond it.

This conversation may invite you to think more carefully, to see more clearly, and to wrestle honestly with what it means to seek both justice and mercy in a broken world.

Russell also asks Malcolm about his favorite Revisionist History episode King of Tears, which tells the back story of the famous George Jones song “He Stopped Loving Her Today”.

Resources mentioned in this episode:


The Alabama Murders from Revisionist History

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Russell answers a listener question about trusting God when your anxiety won’t go away.

Watch the video of this episode on YouTube here.

Submit your own question for the show! Email [email protected] — and remember: attach a voice memo!

Keep up with Russell:


Sign up for the weekly newsletter where Russell shares thoughtful takes on big questions, offers a Christian perspective on life, and recommends books and music he's enjoying.

Subscribe to the Christianity Today Magazine: Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: Click here for 25% off a subscription

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In this special Easter edition of the Russell Moore Show, Russell draws from past episodes to explore how the resurrection of Jesus reframes everything: from scientific belief and intellectual doubt to embodied life, unexpected joy, and suffering. Featuring clips from episodes with Francis Collins, Michael Wear, David Taylor, Christian Wiman, Kate Bowler, and Tim Keller, this episode draws out our Christian hope: if Christ is raised, then reality itself is different. 

Across stories of cancer diagnoses, intellectual conversions, poetic insight, and quiet moments of joy, the episode insists on a central truth: the resurrection is not metaphor. And if it happened, then even in grief, uncertainty, and death—everything is going to be okay.

Keep up with Russell:


Sign up for the weekly newsletter where Russell shares thoughtful takes on big questions, offers a Christian perspective on life, and recommends books and music he's enjoying.


Submit a question for the show at [email protected] 


Subscribe to the Christianity Today Magazine: Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: Click here for 25% off a subscription.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Russell answers a listener question about whether commercialization has ruined country music.

Watch the video of this episode on YouTube here.

Submit your own question for the show! Email [email protected] — and remember: attach a voice memo!

Keep up with Russell:


Sign up for the weekly newsletter where Russell shares thoughtful takes on big questions, offers a Christian perspective on life, and recommends books and music he's enjoying.


Subscribe to the Christianity Today Magazine: Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: Click here for 25% off a subscription.

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The American experiment has never been about achieving perfection, but facing a task always unfinished.

Watch the video of this episode on YouTube here.

At a moment when many Americans feel fearful, exhausted, or tempted to despair, Russell Moore welcomes Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Jon Meacham for a conversation about the moral and spiritual meaning of democracy. Drawing from Meacham’s new anthology, American Struggle: Democracy, Dissent, and the Pursuit of a More Perfect Union, Meacham argues that the American experiment has never been about achieving perfection, but about the difficult and unfinished task of seeking a more perfect union.

Throughout the conversation, Moore and Meacham discuss the 1619 Project, the myth of an idyllic Christian nation, the Scopes Trial, the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s, and the recurring temptation to treat political opponents not as rivals but as enemies. Meacham makes the case that democracy depends on humility, compromise, and a willingness to resist the politics of destruction.

Together, he and Meacham consider whether reconciliation is still possible in a culture shaped by vengeance, fear, and performative power. Even so, the conversation does not give way to fatalism. Their exchange is a sober but hopeful reminder that history is not destiny, that political renewal remains possible, and that the future of the republic depends on ordinary people choosing courage over cynicism.

Resources mentioned in this episode:


American Struggle: Democracy, Dissent, and the Pursuit of a More Perfect Union — Jon Meacham

Keep up with Russell:


Sign up for the weekly newsletter where Russell shares thoughtful takes on big questions, offers a Christian perspective on life, and recommends books and music he's enjoying.


Submit a question for the show at [email protected] 


Subscribe to the Christianity Today Magazine: Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: Click here for 25% off a subscription.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices