Why aren’t people talking with their neighbors anymore? In this episode of the Know Why Podcast, Liberty breaks down the reasons for dwindling neighbor connections drawing on research from the American Enterprise Institute. She talks about…
Which age groups interact with neighbors more often
How different groups of Americans define being a good neighbor
And how religious involvement affects someone’s understanding and practice of neighborliness.
If you want to grow your social skills or challenge yourself to interact with neighbors more often, check out the resources below.
Strangers Next Door: The Decline of Neighborhood Socializing and the Class Divide in Belonging (AEI)
The latest World Happiness Report reveals that English-speaking countries are the unhappiest, and sociologist Arthur Brooks theorizes that a major cause for this is the Anglosphere’s social media usage. According to Brooks, hours spent on social media is only part of the explanation.
In this episode of the Know Why Podcast, Liberty breaks down Brooks’s hypotheses and observes other recent research and cultural trends to help us understand why the way we use social media matters for our mental health.
The man behind the robot vacuum has developed something new—”The Familiar,” an AI-powered robot “pet” designed to bond with its owner.
While the product itself is interesting or weird, depending on how you look at it, its existence highlights deeper issues in American society today, including…
The growing loneliness problem
Falling fertility rates and an aging society
The lie that autonomy leads to fulfillment
And more.
Listen to understand how we should think about many of the new AI products being pushed on everyday people and how we can build a society where AI friends, companions, and “familiars” aren’t needed.
More Resources:
The Roomba Guy’s Second Act: A Robot You’ll Want to Snuggle
A recent survey said that 60% of Gen Zers and 50% of Millennials cut someone out of their life in the last year. In the reasons given, many survey respondents listed reasons that had to do with conflict and disagreement.
At the same time, young adults report the highest rates of loneliness and poor mental health.
If we’re cutting out the people who stress us out, shouldn’t our mental health improve?
Liberty argues that young adults were raised in environments that eliminated friction, and that this has harmed expectations about conflict in relationships, and is harming young people today by isolating them from the people they need.
Is the American Dream dead for Millennials and Gen Z? Is there a version of traditional success that’s still attainable? How are young adults redefining their life dreams in the face of economic instability and loss of trust in institutions?
This week on the Know Why Podcast, Cole Douglas Claybourn and Liberty discuss all this and more. A journalist and former English teacher, Cole talks about fighting back against the lies we are prone to believe on his Substack blog “The Road Home” and on his In No Hurry podcast.
Both Millennials with similar backgrounds, Cole and Liberty break down why the traditional American Dream isn’t panning out for many young adults who are still struggling to pay off college loans, buy a house, and start a family.
They also contrast the expectations Millennials and Gen Z grew up with—change the world, go far in life, do great things—with the realities of what makes life more fulfilling, like local connection and a slower pace of living.
In short: Millennials and Gen Z are steeped in what feels like a never-ending hustle culture due to economic pressures and a cultural obsession with productivity. And it’s negatively affecting everything from our diets to our creativity to our families.
If you’re a young adult wondering if you’re the only one struggling to feel successful in life, or if you’re a listener who wants to better understand the challenges facing Millennials and Gen Z, this episode is for you.
First Lady Melania Trump recently asked Americans to imagine a humanoid robot tutor named “Plato.” Meanwhile, many schools are already incorporating AI into the classroom, in some cases eliminating human teachers altogether. Can AI help solve America’s education problems? Or should we draw a line and protect the classroom from AI encroachment?
In this episode, Liberty offers three reasons why AI doesn’t belong in education. First, from a Christian perspective, education is discipleship, and AI can’t disciple. Second, education requires relationship, which research confirms, and AI can’t truly relate. Third, studies are already showing evidence of cognitive decline in AI users, and education technology has, in general, been a large failure.
Learn more about these arguments in the full episode, where Liberty also shares some practical tips for parents to make sure their kids are truly learning to think in the age of AI. Dig in deeper by checking out the resources below, cited in the episode.
More Resources:
Ed Tech is Profitable. It is Also Mostly Useless. (The Economist) https://www.economist.com/united-states/2026/01/22/ed-tech-is-profitable-it-is-also-mostly-useless?utm_campaign=shared_article
James Talarico is a Texas State Representative and senatorial primary candidate, a Democrat, and a Christian. In recent viral podcast interviews with both Joe Rogan and The New York Times’ Ezra Klein, Mr. Talarico sparked some controversy with his claims about religion, Jesus, and the nature of truth.
Mr. Talarico’s comments garnered attention in part because he has made his Christian faith a large part of his progressive political platform. But they’re worth examining, because his comments touch on sincere questions that many people have about faith in general and Christianity in particular.
For instance… Is ultimate truth a mystery, or can it be known? Are all religions ultimately pointing to the same universal truth, just (to use Mr. Talarico’s metaphor) in different languages? What’s most important to understand about Jesus? And what is the point of religion, anyway? Is it to understand the story of reality—or to understand the story within ourselves?
Atheist-turned-Christian apologist Jon Noyes joins the Know Why Podcast to examine these questions closely and reveal that ultimate truth can be known, and share why finding it matters.
“It takes a village.” Parents often hear this old adage, and having a community to help with childcare or call on during emergencies sounds nice. But the reality for many parents today is that their “village” is nowhere to be found.
Author, academic, and homeschooling mother Nadya Williams joins the Know Why Podcast to discuss an overlooked village source that historically played a major role in more Americans’ lives—the local church. Reflecting on the state of parenthood today, Nadya offers practical advice for building a village right where you are. She reminds parents that villages are about more than “insurance friends” to call during an emergency…they’re about thriving.
The Gospel Comes With a House Key: Practicing Radical Ordinary Hospitality in Our Post-Christian World by Rosaria Butterfield https://www.amazon.com/Gospel-Comes-H…
Many young adults are worried that having children will overburden a planet that’s already overpopulated and further damage the environment. They’re also worried about what kind of environment their kids will be born into. Are these valid concerns — and if not, why not?
In this episode of the Know Why Podcast (originally aired in 2023), Liberty takes listeners through research and perspectives from millennials, parents, climate scientists, and more, exploring a question many young adults are asking.
In the three weeks since the assassination of Charlie Kirk, something is rippling across the nation that many are calling the “Charlie Kirk Effect.” On social media, individuals are professing Christian faith, returning to church, or going to church for the first time, citing Charlie Kirk’s life and public death as their inspiration.
While many Christians are celebrating this effect and even calling it a revival, others are wrestling with Kirk’s full legacy, even expressing dissatisfaction with other Christians’ public admiration of Kirk’s life and work.
In this episode, Liberty asks the question: How should Christians think about the “Charlie Kirk Effect?” Looking at Scripture and history can help, because when we look closely at the so-called “heroes” of the faith, what we see are people who have failed again and again…and still been used by God. And maybe that’s the point.
