A few of you have asked what’s next for me since my exit from Christianity Today. I thought I’d send out a quick note and update you. The truth is… I’m not entirely sure. I have a couple of interesting options opening up, but given the nature of what I do best — long form audio storytelling — it’s a unique role to find the right fit. I do plan on doing some more work at Substack in the near term, and likely far less on social media, where one can rarely articulate fully-formed ideas. I am considering doing some video content for YouTube in the vein of news analysis, pop culture commentary, and historical reflections. I am also in conversations with a couple of friends about possibly launching a news and ideas podcast, and given that these are two extremely brilliant and much-better-credentialed persons than me, I think the idea has promise. Much has to be worked out there (including funding, which is always tricky) but if you’re appreciate my work at all, you’ll love this… should it come together. I’m also still working on a manuscript I hope to finish shortly, and I’m excited to share more about that in the next few months. I’m grateful for the encouragements and prayers. It’s been a surprising and surprisingly difficult few months, going back to last fall and all our family has been through, as well as my exit from CT, and many bumps along the road in between. I would be grateful for your prayers for provision for our family. To that end, two quick comments: First, on a limited and short-term basis, I’m taking on some consulting clients to help them think through and refine their podcast concepts. Also, if any readers might be interested in sponsoring or underwriting or being a patron to a larger a Substack initiative, including this news and ideas podcast, please reach out. I can fill you in in more detail. You can reach me here where my DM’s are open, or at mikecosper.net, where I have a contact page. In the meantime, I’m grateful for your encouragement and support, and I look forward to whatever comes next.

Chris Rock got slapped. Will issue.

I thank God for the witness of Ben Sasse in this awful season. May he bless him and his family.

Hey folks, if you appreciate my work, please consider subscribing to the newsletter linked in my bio. I have some exciting news coming soon, but I'm going to keep the newsletter going regardless. Next release is tomorrow.

I dunno, maybe @bariweiss knows what she’s doing…

If Pittman is in that receiver corps in OT, the Colts win. Not because he’s inevitable, but he changes the D’s game plan.

If Indy had kept Pittman, they'd have scored on that possession. And yes, indeed, I have almost no voice left. I'd decided I wasn't getting attached (per the pastoral guidance of @DerwinLGray ) and wasn't even watching, and then enough texts came, the flesh was weak, and I'm yelling at the TV again. Sorry pastor, I did my best.

Duncan Sheik... oh man. What sad, sad news. Most people know him for "Barely Breathing," which is a fantastic song, no doubt, but Sheik was a phenomal songwriter beyond that. Honestly, a top-ten show for me was when he was touring on his record "White Limousine" and played WFPK's Waterfront Wednesday series years and years ago. Gerry Leonard ("Spooky Ghost") was on guitar. I'll never forget the amazing sounds of that band, the sun setting, and those great songs. He quit rock and roll and turned to musical theater, and he won two Tony awards for "Spring Awakenings." He also wrote the music for a show based on "American Psycho" and another based on "Because of Winn Dixie" that never made it to Broadway. He is one of those unsung hero songwriters, where when you dig in you discover gem after gem. Seriously, listen to the album White Limousine today. You'll be glad you did. It's melancholic, beautiful, and intimate. It's also kind of hypnotic. You get drawn into the mood of it and it's a great listen. One of my favorite things I've ever heard an artist say was from Duncan Sheik. He was on World Cafe, and about to play his last song — this was during the release of White Limousine — and David asked him what he'd close out with. Duncan said, "Barely Breathing, of course." David asked, "Do you ever get sick of playing the hit? Some artists get resentful of it and wear out playing them." Duncan said (I"m paraphrasing from memory), "Look, I wouldn't be here today without that song. I wouldn't fill a venue without that song. It's given me so much. I'd have to get really cynical to resent playing it." And then he said this — my favorite part: "And then some nights, if you're lucky, you reconnect with why you wrote it in the first place, that feeling you had in that moment. And it's like you're right back where you were in that moment.And you and this audience get to connect over it again." I think that's beautiful. A real loss to hear this news.

Or Holy the Firm. Or The Writing Life. Or literally anything by one of the greatest writers to grace us with her meditative, sober, clear-eyed voice. Goodness, this guts me.

"Pilgrim at TInker Creek" and even more so "Holy the Firm" are among the most profound, beautiful, and heart-wrenching things I've ever read. To lose Wendell Berry and Annie Dillard in a matter of weeks... the world is a poorer place as a result.

I wrote about learning the wrong lessons from 9/11 in today's newsletter. Here's an excerpt: The distinction we need is not between two tidy kinds of Islam, one peaceful and one violent. Islam is a vast religious civilization with multiple schools, traditions, reform movements, and political visions. The more useful distinction is between Islam as a religion lived in all that variety and Islamism: the modern political project that seeks to order the state and society according to a particular vision of Islamic law and sovereignty. Within Islamism, jihadist movements such as al-Qaeda and ISIS embrace revolutionary violence as a means to that end. That does not mean Islamism is simply an alien corruption of Islam. Islamist thinkers draw on real materials within the tradition—scripture, jurisprudence, the history of Muslim empires, ideas about jihad, and memories of the caliphate. But the modern Islamist project was also shaped by modern conditions: European colonialism, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the rise of the nation-state, secular nationalism, authoritarian regimes, and the ideological battles of the 20th century. Thinkers such as Abul A’la Maududi and Sayyid Qutb did not merely retrieve an unchanged medieval program; they reworked parts of the tradition into a modern, totalizing political ideology. At the same time, encounters with Western modernity produced other Muslim responses. Reformers and modernists sought ways to reconcile Islamic faith with science, constitutional government, pluralism, and the institutions of modern life. Some narrowed the legitimate scope of armed jihad; some emphasized its moral and spiritual dimensions; many Muslim communities in the West developed forms of religious life that fit comfortably within liberal democracy. None of that requires pretending that the harder texts or histories are not there. It simply means the tradition has never spoken in only one political voice. check the link in my bio for the full article, and please consider subscribing if you appreciate my work.

ICYMI — Some further thoughts from me on the reascendance of Mark Driscoll. mikecosper.substack.com/p/on…