Hey everybody, 

We have some very exciting news for you all — Season 2 of Shake the Dust is going to start next week! Look out for a short intro in your podcast feed early in the week, and the first episode will drop on Friday! We’re so excited to share what we’ve been recording with you all. We know you’re going to love it! But while you wait with bated breath for that, we will of course tide you over with our weekly highlights. Let’s get to it! 

Sy’s recommendations: 

• This article is a long profile of Marjorie Dannenfelser, one of the best-connected anti-abortion advocates in Washington D.C. The author, Kerry Howley, is firmly pro-abortion. But you can feel throughout this piece how she is doing all she can to understand and empathize with her subject. Howley paints the picture of a laser-focused, strategic, and truly ruthless lobbyist. But she also carefully elaborates the thinking, and more importantly, the emotions and passion behind the pro-life movement that lead so many people to Dannenfelser’s absolutist position. By the time Howley asks Dannenfelser what she would do if implementing pro-life policies came at the price of destroying democracy in America, I felt like I really understood why Dannenfelser responded by calmly weighing the pros and cons. If we’re going to resist sin in the way the Church engages government, it is always helpful to read a piece like this which carefully studies the practical, everyday functioning of political idolatry with deep emotional insight.