The Reading Wheel Review

Latest Episodes:

Ep. 29 | Interview with Thomas Kidd | Thomas Jefferson: A Biography of Spirit and Flesh Aug 27, 2026

Show notes

In this edition of the Reading Wheel Review, CRCD Executive Director Dr. Jordan Ballor interviews Dr. Thomas Kidd, who serves as Research Professor of Church History and the John and Sharon Yeats Endowed Chair of Baptist Studies at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. In this conversation, they discuss Dr. Kidd’s book: Thomas Jefferson: A Biography of Spirit and Flesh, and explore Jefferson’s perspective on Christianity, championing of religious freedom, and flawed character. We hope you’ll enjoy this conversation about one of America’s most legendary yet tragic founding fathers.

Ep. 28 | Interview with Mark David Hall | Did America Have a Christian Founding? Jul 23, 2026

Show notes

In this edition of the Reading Wheel Review, CRCD Executive Director Jordan Ballor interviews Mark David Hall, who serves as a professor in Regent University’s Robertson School of Government, director of the CRCD’s Religious Liberty in the States project, and a senior research fellow at CRCD. This conversation centers around Dr. Hall’s book Did America Have a Christian Founding? Separating Modern Myth from Historical Truth. Dr. Ballor and Dr. Hall explore the influence of Christian ideas on the founding, the founders’ views on the separation of Church and state, and the nature of religious freedom.

Ep. 27 | Interview with Kirstin Anderson Birkhaug | Phillis Wheatley's Complete Writings Jun 25, 2026

Show notes

In this edition of the Reading Wheel Review, CRCD Executive Director Dr. Jordan Ballor interviews Dr. Kirstin Birkhaug. Dr. Birkhaug serves as a research fellow at the Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy and an assistant professor of political science at Hope College. Her conversation with Dr. Ballor centers around the life and work of the outstanding poet, Phillis Wheatley.

Ep. 26 | Interview with Matthew Spalding | The Making of the American Mind May 28, 2026

Show notes

In this edition of the Reading Wheel Review, Dr. Jordan Ballor, executive director of First Liberty’s Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy, interviews Dr. Matthew Spalding, the Kirby Professor in Constitutional Government and the Dean of the Van Andel Graduate School of Government at Hillsdale College’s Washington, D.C., campus. Their discussion focuses on Dr. Spalding’s book, The Making of the American Mind: The Story of Our Declaration of Independence. Their conversation examines the formation, argument, and significance of that revolutionary text from 1776, whose 250th anniversary we celebrate this year.

Ep. 25 | Interview with Jeff Polet | The Federalist Papers Apr 23, 2026

Show notes

In this edition of the Reading Wheel Review, Dr. Jordan Ballor, executive director of First Liberty’s Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy, interviews Dr. Jeff Polet, Director of the Ford Leadership Forum at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation. Their discussion focuses on The Federalist Papers, which is the text of the month for April 2026 at the Reading Wheel Review. Their conversation covers the motives for publishing the papers, the context of the US Constitution and debates over its ratification, as well as enduring challenges to liberty and union faced by America over the previous two and a half centuries.

Ep. 24 | Interview with Erik Matson | The Wealth of Nations Mar 26, 2026

Show notes

In this edition of the Reading Wheel Review, Dr. Jordan Ballor, executive director of First Liberty’s Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy, interviews Dr. Erik Matson, Gibbons Fellow in Economics at the Catholic University of America and co-director of the Adam Smith Program at George Mason University. March marks the 250th anniversary of the publication of Adam Smith’s magnum opus, The Wealth of Nations, and Jordan and Erik discuss the significance of the great Scottish philosopher who has been called “the father of modern economics.”

Ep. 23 | Interview with Jana Novak | Washington's God Feb 26, 2026

Show notes

In this edition of the Reading Wheel Review, Dr. Jordan Ballor, executive director of First Liberty’s Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy, interviews Jana Novak, co-author of Washington’s God: Religion, Liberty, and the Father of Our Country. Continuing the Reading Wheel Review’s year-long celebration of the American semiquincentennial, Jordan and Jana discuss the religious beliefs and expression of America’s first president, George Washington, and his understandings of divine providence, civil liberty, and religious freedom.

Ep. 22 | Interview with Daniel L. Dreisbach | Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers Jan 29, 2026

Show notes

In this edition of the Reading Wheel Review, Dr. Jordan Ballor, executive director of First Liberty’s Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy, interviews Dr. Daniel L. Dreisbach of American University in Washington, D.C. They discuss Dreisbach’s book, Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers, which examines in detail the different ways that Christian scripture influenced and was used by leading figures in the revolutionary era. This discussion opens the Reading Wheel Review’s year-long celebration of the American semiquincentennial, and there is no better way to begin than with a conversation about the Bible and the American founding.

Ep. 21 | Interview with Paul Marshall | Called to Be Friends, Called to Serve Nov 27, 2025

Show notes

In this edition of the Reading Wheel Review, Dr. Jordan Ballor, executive director of First Liberty’s Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy, interviews Dr. Paul Marshall, Wilson Professor of Religious Freedom at Baylor University. They discuss Marshall’s book, Called to Be Friends, Called to Serve, which documents the long and fruitful friendship of John Perkins and Howard Ahmanson Jr. These two men from different backgrounds model friendship based on an authentic Christian faith and vision of social life, offering inspiration for those seeking to promote peace and reconciliation in a world fraught by conflict and injustice.

Addendum | Decadence and Renewal in the Higher Learning Oct 30, 2025

Show notes

In this special “addendum” edition of the Reading Wheel Review, Dr. Jordan Ballor, executive director of First Liberty’s Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy, interviews Dr. Jenna A. Robinson, president of the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. They discuss Russell Kirk’s book, Decadence and Renewal in the Higher Learning. Their conversation explores Kirk’s insights into the challenges facing authentic schooling in wisdom and virtue in the twentieth century as well as today. Kirk’s book is nearly a half-century old, but in it we see both the origins as well as the consequences of the corruption of the purposes of higher education.

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