A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall
Dark MAGA, Mitch McConnell, and Bob Dylan
Welcome to this week’s edition of Headliner, a news digest from The Bulletin podcast by Christianity Today. Each week, we read many more news stories than we could ever feature on the show, and we’re glad for this space where we can share what catches our eye and engage in these topics with you. Comment and let us know what provokes your thinking and inspires you to dive deeper into the news. Thanks for being part of our Bulletin community!
What’s Catching Our Eye
It’s Gettin’ Dark, Too Dark to See. Dark MAGA is on the rise as Elon Musk continues to exert unprecedented influence over the federal government. Mr. Musk popularized a black version of the ubiquitous red MAGA hats while traveling the campaign trail with Mr. Trump back in 2024, and Jonathan Last writes this week at The Bulwark that this darker version of a Trump icon may have darker implications for American government in the days ahead.
I’ll Just Say, “Fare Thee Well.” After seven terms as Kentucky senator, Mitch McConnell announced last week that he will be retiring next year. At 83 years old, he’s the third-oldest within the Senate and has been a prominent actor in the GOP for his entire career. Moira Donegan over at The Guardian says “good riddance,” while Jeffrey Blehar at National Review calls McConnell, “the most effective leader Senate Republicans every had.”
It’s Either Fortune or Fame. The hit Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, became available for streaming this week, prompting all kinds of news goodies about the film and Dylan’s life and work. We particularly liked this one about the evolution of jeans in the movie.
(And, yes, we’ll be impressed if you can name all of the Dylan songs these bulleted titles come from. Stick them in the comments below for a chance to win some swag!)
Dive Deeper
In this week’s deep dive episode, Clarissa Moll and Nicole Martin talk with veteran journalist Frances (Toni) Murphy Draper, publisher of the 133 year old Black newspaper, The Afro. The Afro has a deep heritage of both journalistic integrity and Christian activism for Black advancement.
Here’s how you can understand this topic better …
Learn more about Black + Evangelical, a new feature-length documentary by Christianity Today and Wheaton College. Narrator and co-creator Vincent Bacote explains the premise behind the film here.
CT writer Brandon Washington explains why he still calls himself a “Black evangelical.”
Bulletin regular Justin Giboney conjures Coltrane as he reflects on the Civil Rights Movement and Martin Luther King Jr. in “The Truth of a Love Supreme.”
Our Latest at The Bulletin
In Episode 149, Mike, Russell and Clarissa talk about tradwives and theobros, Trump’s rejection of Ukraine, and prosecutor resignations in the Eric Adams corruption case.
Check out our YouTube channel where you can watch videos of us recording the show each week.
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Knocking on Heavens door.
Don't think Twice, It's Alright
The last one I knew was from the album Highway 61... but I had to look up which song so I'll leave it for someone else.
To make up for that I got a rewritten Bob Dylan parody to reflect this weekend's difficult news (written by a former Hibbing area songwriter) "Masters of Peace"
https://open.substack.com/pub/snowhopebones/p/masters-of-peace?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=4diwl5