News with Nuance: Jan. 24, 2025
Your Friday dose of News with Nuance: the week's biggest stories, unpacked + more ..
Hi Readers,
Welcome back to News with Nuance.
I’m writing this on Thursday evening - but let me tell you - this week has felt more like a month, and this month more like a year.
In addition to Trump’s inauguration, our kids were off school Monday (and today: Friday), and they had an additional day off due to a snow day, plus a musical performance (during the work day, of course - on one of their two school days this week). One of the worst parts about being a working parent today is the way I feel when my kids are off school, but I’m not off work. There just doesn’t seem to be a good way to do everything at once. Maybe it triggers memories of COVID … maybe I need to re-read
’s great post about the Myth of a “Good” Mother …All that to say - my head feels a little disconnected from my body at the moment, and the world feels like it’s spinning a little bit faster on its axis.
One of my biggest needs on weeks like this is to find a way to sort through the noise and gather some sense of a central narrative, a way to put the truth together and find my way back to hope. I get the sense we are going to need to do this even more over the next four years, as the media generally (regrettably) continues its lamentable practice of setting the agenda by dutifully following Trump’s tweets (truths? 1984 much?)
All that being said - let’s get to the news …. with nuance …
And hey - if you missed the last News with Nuance post - you might want to read it here before jumping into this one. I am shaking up the format/focus a bit …
The Headline: Surgeon General Urges Americans to 'Rethink How We're Living Our Lives' in Closing Letter to the Country
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy on Oct. 10, 2023.
I am going to miss U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy. Regrettably, his messages to the country seemed often to get little attention, despite the fact that he seemed to have his finger on the very pulse of what ails America, and he would deliver his messages with such a rich sense of love for his country and for Americans in general.
It seems a truism of our current culture and state of information/media, that the messages most important for us to read are often buried underneath an avalanche of angry noise (hey, don’t miss the next article on who to blame for this!) But if you can get to the heart of Murthy’s message, you’ll find that his longing for community fits many of the themes that we return to again and again in this News with Nuance newsletter. He speaks plainly and clearly of the emptiness, pain, and despair at the center of far too many American lives, a truth that his boss (President Biden) seemed ill-equipped to address or admit, insisting instead again and again on American exceptionalism (while ignoring the expressed pain of voters).
The Quote:
My father told me he never felt emptiness — that painful, gnawing feeling that something is missing in your life — until he left his farming village in rural India. It was a remarkable statement from a man who grew up with no running water or electricity and whose family scarcely had enough to put food on the table each night.
But in the village, people took care of each other. They shared food, looked out for each other’s kids, and helped out in a crisis — like when my father’s mother died when he was just 10 and neighbors stepped in like surrogate parents. People also knew each other, not just their names, but their stories and families, and they chose to spend time with each other over meals, games, and celebrations for the many festivals that dotted the calendar.
I have found myself coming back to my father’s story as I’ve grappled with a central question during my two terms as Surgeon General: What are the deeper root causes of the pain and unhappiness I encounter so often across our country? Answering this question is urgent because the status quo is harming our physical and mental health, robbing us of our optimism, and contributing to division and polarization.
Written by Vivek H. Murthy, for PEOPLE
The Headline: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg to attend Trump's inauguration
I took the Facebook app off my phone a few weeks after the presidential election. I could feel myself sliding into a space where social media became unhelpful for me, and I felt despairing, isolated, and vengeful. But - because so many pastors and writers (and family and friends) still share information on Facebook (which I joined back in 2005 when your college was listed after your name, and people “poked” each other) - I still visit the website to share my writing work, and occasional basketball videos/photos with family and friends.
Anyway - I opened the Facebook in my phone’s browser after Monday’s inauguration, and the first post at the top of my feed was from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who I once had affection for as a fellow millennial. As I wrote about here, it has been weird to watch Mark descend into the manosphere/bro-ligarchy. Monday’s post was even worse. It was a smiling, slightly awkward photo of Mark and his wife, Priscilla Chan, at Trump’s inauguration. He wrote a caption like: “Optimistic and excited about the future.” Followed by a photo of an American flag.
For Trump to have won the wealthy maybe means little at all. These rich men were of course always the ones he wanted to impress most of all. But as a writer/”content-creator,” - someone who practices public theology - it’s terrifying to think that these platforms, which wield so much journalistic power over what news Americans know - are firmly in the back pocket of a wannabe autocrat, and his administration, which is filled with fellow wannabe autocrats and Christian Nationalists who understand much better than Trump how to actually enact policy (paging J.D. Vance).
The Quote:
Their combined net worth: $885 billion as of Monday, according to Bloomberg.
Story by Jake Traylor and David Ingram, NBC News
Bonus Image:
(I’m not going to link to X in this newsletter anymore, but I will occasionally post screenshots)
A few more must-read stories since our last News with Nuance …
Too little too late, but … glad he said it? In farewell speech to nation, Biden warns of threat of ‘extreme wealth, power and influence’
More from POLITICO on Biden’s farewell
As I wrote about here, fast fashion is not worth the savings: Inside the Chinese factories fuelling Shein's success
Mangled trees, charred homes and ashen land: inside a community leveled by the Palisades fire
Disciples of White Jesus: Tracking down those who are weaponizing radicalization and a masculine identity that’s dangerous for men and boys
Every edition in this section of the newsletter, we’ll look at stories from around the U.S. and the world that lift up the ways in which this trend of hawking radicalization and violence to young white men and boys (often in the guise of Christianity and conservative politics - with dog whistles of white supremacy) is leading to anger, chaos, disenfranchisement, and fear for everyone. You’ll notice that many of the storylines and main characters here overlap with my previous research (and this newsletter’s previous focus) on Christian Nationalism. You’ll also read stories of the impacts of this kind of messaging on ordinary men and boys who can’t measure up to this fabricated ideal: especially financially, in a global economy that’s emphasizing massive inequality and greed.
But don’t worry - because after this section - we’ll focus on stories of hope, ways masculine identity for young men and boys is being found in compassion, care, diversity, and - when it comes to Christianity - a story closer to the gospel of Jesus himself, rooted in truth, kindness, justice, and love.
This Edition:
I have a feeling Pete Hegseth is going to find his way into this section for a number of editions to come (but still hoping he will not be confirmed …)
New allegations about Pentagon nominee Hegseth circulated to members of U.S. Senate
And more: Takeaways from Pete Hegseth’s contentious confirmation hearing
Part of the movement of militant masculinity touts a return to blue-collar jobs that most likely are gone for good … but also Big Steel wants in on the oligarchy, from Aaron Brown
Cruelty is part of the plan: Exclusive: Trump to pull nearly 1,660 Afghan refugees from flights, say US official, advocate
A god of their own making: on Trump’s messianic inaugural address
This one needs no introduction: Elon Musk appears to make back-to-back fascist salutes at inauguration rally
Meanwhile, while white Christian Nationalism attempts to break down religious freedom laws in America while claiming religious persecution, Christians around the world are facing real and dangerous religious persecution, often from governments with U.S. right-wing backing
And the pattern continues: in congregations who resist inclusion policies, clergy abusers are promoted: Minister accused of sex abuse landed one high-profile job after another
From CNN’s John Blake, who has done a great job covering the depth of Christian Nationalism with nuance and heart, with quotes from
: White Christian nationalists are poised to remake America in their image during Trump’s second term, author saysAs I mentioned above, one of the biggest threats regarding ongoing radicalization of violence - specifically for and from men and boys - comes from the concentration of media in online spaces and failure to safeguard against white supremacist groups crowding out mainstream media outlets (instead, they’re accommodating white nationalists): The Washington Post Would Like to Sell You Some "Riveting Storytelling" from
here on Substack.Watch out for more book bans: Minnesota DOC restricting how incarcerated adults in the state can purchase books
By the way, you can sign a petition against that one here
Speaking of book bans, this fight is also being fought at the schools, and further entrenching the traditional gender roles that leave little space for boys to explore healthier, more emotive versions of masculinity: On a Mission From God: Inside the Movement to Redirect Billions of Taxpayer Dollars to Private Religious Schools (the end goal? To remove First Amendment protections for freedom of religion)
And finally … speaking of too little, too late … Trump would have been convicted on election interference charges, says special counsel … but I also think it’s important to consider how Trump is redefining criminality in his presidency, and explicitly linking it to race and class and political party rather than to actual crimes committed. This has long been the case in America - but he’s making it even more explicit.
Hopeful stories of a more excellent way forward for boys, men, and all of us:
I’m going to share a couple of Disciples of White Jesus-specific updates here at the top, if you’ll indulge me - because my goal with doing this research and work is truly to do what is listed above in bold.
First, DWJ got a great review from Publisher’s Weekly! That’s huge, because PW (like everything?) is doing fewer and fewer reviews. I’m grateful they took the time to write something so thoughtful, which resonates strongly with me as capturing the book’s essence.
It was also listed by Englewood Review of Books as one of the Top 10 Most Anticipated Books for Christian Readers AND as one of the 12 Essential Books of 2025 for Church Leaders
I’m excited to share that we’ve confirmed locations for my Minneapolis Launch Event on March 25 - and my NYC Launch Event (with conversation partner and prolific author and journalist Anne Nelson). Still confirming conversation partner for Minneapolis! Check out all of my upcoming events here. The schedule is filling up, and I’d love to see you in-person.
I also have a quick ask, inspired by my book publishing hero,
… could you request your local library or bookstore to carry Disciples of White Jesus? Would love to see this happen in every state. Again - copying Jo - I made a spreadsheet of all 50 states. You can find your state and add your local bookstore or library where you’ve requested them to carry DWJ. I’ll keep track of this and follow-up with some kind of fun thank-you (working on this!) You can call, email - but going in-person is a great option, too. Here’s the link to the sheet! We’ll give this a shot. And a huge thank-you to everyone who has already pre-ordered. If all the subscribers pre-order — we’d actually have a good shot of hitting the bestsellers list, I believe!OK - on to more hopeful news …
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