This week, we unpack the U.S. military operation in Venezuela and the capture of Nicolás Maduro, not as a breaking-news spectacle, but as part of a much longer story.

We talk about America's history of intervention in Latin America and beyond, why so many people are cheering this moment as "strength," and what gets ignored when power replaces diplomacy. From oil and sanctions to immigration narratives, drug trafficking claims, and selective outrage about legality, we ask what it means when the rules suddenly don't matter—and who pays the price when they don't.

This conversation connects history, faith, empire, and memory: how quickly we forget past interventions, how language is used to sanitize violence, and why "no U.S. casualties" is never the whole story. We also wrestle with the moral questions underneath it all—what responsibility looks like, what loving your neighbor actually demands, and why long-term consequences rarely factor into short-term celebrations.

As always, this isn't about defending dictators or excusing abuse. It's about refusing to flatten complex realities into slogans—and insisting on critical thinking when it matters most.

Books, article, and poem mentioned:

How to Hide an Empire

Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present

Grenada Revisted

Mark Twain's The War Prayer

For our final episode of the year, we step back from the headlines to focus on the people who've been showing up anyway. Inspired by John Lewis's call to make "good trouble" and Fred Rogers' reminder to look for the helpers, we reflect on the groups and individuals who have resisted harm, protected their communities, and quietly done the work of care in a hard year.

We talk about parents, students, clergy, librarians, journalists, judges, organizers, and everyday neighbors who stepped in when systems failed—especially around immigration, free speech, public knowledge, and basic human needs. Along the way, we wrestle with what faithful resistance actually looks like, the limits of persuasion, and why actions matter more than statements.

We end by reflecting on faith, courage, and responsibility—what it means to call yourself a Christian in moments that demand more than comfort, and how change often happens slowly, relationally, and out of sight. As we look toward the year ahead, we ask a simple but challenging question: what are the things we can no longer accept, and how are we willing to help change them?

Bless your heart—we made it to the end of the year.

SHOW NOTES:

Christian Century - When Caesar Gets Demanding

Christian Century - Imagining the Grace to Come

Christian Century - Auschwitz Absolution poem

Matthew's blog posts:

The Quotidian and the Reproduction of Hate

How Do We Look at Ourselves in the Mirror? Action vs Apathy in Claire Keegan's Small Things Like These

This week on This Ain't It, we dig into health care—how we got here, why it works the way it does in the United States, and who gets left behind when coverage is treated as optional instead of essential.

We talk through the current news around expiring ACA subsidies, rising premiums, and what it actually means for families who already live paycheck to paycheck. From there, the conversation zooms out into the history of American health insurance, how employer-based coverage became the norm, and why the U.S. broke from other developed countries that chose universal care.

We also wrestle with the moral and theological questions underneath it all: what Scripture says about caring for the sick, why GoFundMe has become a stand-in for compassion, and whether health care should be considered a human right or a market privilege. Along the way, we reflect on our own experiences with insurance, life abroad, and the disconnect between political talking points and real-world consequences.

It's a conversation about policy, power, faith, and what it says about a society when access to care depends on employment, income, or luck.

SHOW NOTES:

History.com - How Health Insurance Got Its Start in America

Matthew's blog posts:

The History Kept Hidden from Me

The Costs of Graduate School and Healthcare