In this week’s Brief: We start with Trump’s latest Greenland comments, why the island suddenly matters again, and we ask the question: how should Christians think about power, land, and national interest when everything feels like geopolitical brinkmanship?
Then we pivot to one of the best sports stories of our lifetime: Indiana football winning the national championship, why Curt Cignetti’s “Google me” era is already legend, and how quarterback Fernando Mendoza’s faith-forward platform points to a deeper kind of legacy than wins and trophies.
Plus we hit a bunch of the “everything else” that makes Culture Brief what it is: a 2016 photo trend, a rapid-fire military quiz, the latest on Iran and Minnesota. Oh, and where are the rest of the Epstein files?
Through it all, we’re trying to stay informed without being anxious, engage without being cynical, and remember that the earth still belongs to God—so our hope doesn’t rise and fall with headlines.
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Topics
- (0:00) Introduction
- (1:32) Trump’s Greenland speech update
- (3:35) Historical context of Greenland
- (5:37) Strategic importance of Greenland
- (8:06) Trump’s diplomatic moves and tariffs
- (15:26) Christian perspective on power and stewardship
- (20:09) Indiana football’s historic win
- (29:52) Faith and humility in sports
- (34:27) Hot takes and games
- (38:22) Current events and controversies
- (42:57) NFL playoffs and conclusion
Resources
- Send us your thoughts, questions, and topic ideas: [email protected]
- Culture Brief Instagram
- Watch on Youtube
- Sign-up for Denison Forum newsletters: DenisonForum.org/newsletters
Articles on this week’s top headlines:
- Denison Forum: Why is Greenland dominating the news?
- Denison Forum: Is Greenland worth what it will cost the United States?
- Denison Forum: President Trump to speak at the World Economic Forum
- The Free Press: Will Trump Win Greenland or Lose Europe?
- WSJ: Why an Emboldened Trump Set His Sights on Greenland
- Denison Forum: Faith at the center of Indiana’s title victory
- CBS Sports: Where Fernando Mendoza’s legendary fourth-down TD run ranks among greatest national championship game plays
- On3: Curt Cignetti and Indiana have created a world of endless potential and hope for the rest of college football
- X.com video: Fernando Mendoza’s Play of a Lifetime!
- Instagram Reel: This play is straight out of a movie
- Instagram Reel: Indiana’s rise: 2024-2025
About Conner Jones
Conner Jones is the Director of Performance Marketing at Denison Ministries and Co-Hosts Denison Forum’s “Culture Brief” podcast. He graduated from Dallas Baptist University in 2019 with a degree in Business Management. Conner passionately follows politics, sports, pop-culture, entertainment, and current events. He enjoys fishing, movie-going, and traveling the world with his wife and son.
About Micah Tomasella
Micah Tomasella is the Director of Advancement at Denison Ministries and co-hosts Denison Forum’s “Culture Brief” podcast. A graduate of Dallas Baptist University, Micah is married to Emily, and together they are the proud parents of two daughters. With an extensive background in nonprofit work, finance, and real estate, Micah also brings experience from his years in pastoral church ministry.
About Denison Forum
Denison Forum exists to thoughtfully engage the issues of the day from a biblical perspective through The Daily Article email newsletter and podcast, the Faith & Clarity podcast, as well as many books and additional resources.
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
NOTE: This transcript was AI-generated and has not been fully edited.
Conner Jones: [00:00:00] Hi, I’m Conner Jones.
Micah Tomasella: I’m Micah Tomasella,
Conner Jones: and this is Culture Brief, a Denison Forum podcast where we navigate the constant stream of top stories and news, politics, sports, pop culture. You name it, we’re talking about it. We do it all from a Christian perspective. And Micah, my goodness, you received an injury on the pickleball courts last night?
Should we, should we tell everybody what happened?
Micah Tomasella: I forgot about that. I mean, I forgot about it this morning. Yeah, so Connor and I were playing with some friends. We were playing pickleball and Connor and I were on the same team. At this point, Connor hits a ball from, from the back of the court. I’m closer to the net again, we’re on the same team here.
We’re on the same side. I turn around to look and see if, if Connor’s hit the ball yet. Yeah, he definitely hit the ball and instead of hitting the back of my head, it hit my upper lip. Pretty hard. There was a little bit of blood, not too much blood, some swelling. Kind of looked like three Bs, stung me in the same place.
But other than that, we’re doing just fine.
Conner Jones: Dude. I’ve never felt more confident going for the [00:01:00] ball. Like I was ready to spike that thing and I did spike it. It’s just you were in the, you were in the way. That was about to be a point
Micah Tomasella: right in the face. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. That was, that was gonna be a point for us.
But anyway,
Conner Jones: yeah. Sorry
Micah Tomasella: if finally fired up. Anyway, I digress. So here’s, here’s what we’re gonna be talking about today. Greenland. Greenland, Greenland.
Conner Jones: Ooh,
Micah Tomasella: Indiana Football. Where are the rest of the Epstein files? Connor, that and so much more. So let’s jump into the brief.
Conner Jones: The brief.
Micah Tomasella: If that’s not a teaser, I don’t know what is, brother? Alright, so listen, Trump literally just stepped off the stage at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. So just like you know, I have prepared kind of a 92nd update, just a quick update. In regards to what he said, it kind of changes some of the things that we didn’t know, but all of it basically stays the same.
So Connor and I do our best to stay on top of things and be prepared. So I prepared everything yesterday afternoon by the end of yesterday evening, and then Trump [00:02:00] steps up there and, and some things changed. So let me give you a quick update. Since the story moved overnight, Trump and his speech at the World Economic Forum clarified several things about Greenland that matter and matter for the story.
Most notably, he explicitly did rule out using military force to acquire the island. At the same time, he doubled down on why Greenland matters, framing it primarily as a defense issue and clarifying he’s not trying to acquire it for the minerals like people are talking about now. I think that’s a secondary.
Third issue for him, it’s a military one. Trump tied Greenland to a broader vision of continental missile defense, often described as the Iron Dome. The Golden Dome is what he wants to call it, style system that could help protect all of North America. And he made that point and that framing Greenland’s value is about radar coverage, early warning and defense infrastructure.
And so Trump was pretty explicit about. What he wants the island for. Markets responded positively, and I wanted to say that because the markets had one of their worst days in a while [00:03:00] yesterday, and markets and stocks are already rallying. Just Trump’s Ally Tuesday speech this morning.
Conner Jones: Tuesday
Micah Tomasella: is
Conner Jones: when it went down, right?
Micah Tomasella: Tuesday and now it’s kind of 20th. On Wednesday
Conner Jones: morning.
Micah Tomasella: Yes. Tuesday, January 20th. Allies heard reassurance on force, even as real disagreements about sovereignty and you know, should Denmark come to the table and negotiate. So what you’re about to hear was wrapped yesterday afternoon in my preparation, but it still holds.
And if anything, this update sharpens the focus. So with that in mind. Let’s walk through why Greenland matters, what’s at stake, and how people of faith might think about this issue with clarity and humility. So greenland’s sudden prominence in the news can feel random, but it is not. It is not random. It feels like it, but it’s not.
The island has been strategically important to the United States for decades. So during World War ii, after Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany, and Trump actually said this in his speech, Denmark fought for about six hours. Then surrender to Germany. And so from that point, the US stepped in to [00:04:00] help defend Greenland.
That wartime arrangement involved into a long-term security relationship that still exists today. The US maintains a permanent military presence, which plays a key role in the missile warning and space defense. And so that’s kind of been the argument against this as you can already pretty much do a lot of the things that you want.
I think there’s more that America wants to do there. There is a very good agreement even right now between America and Denmark in terms of the defense that can actually take place in, you know, the collaboration between the two nations. In other words, the US is already deeply invested in Greenland security.
What has changed is not American interest, but the global environment around it is the point that I wanna make. So Greenland is a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. So you’ve got Greenlanders who are. Greenlanders, I think Greenland.
Conner Jones: Yeah, I would guess Greenland. Greenland,
Micah Tomasella: green.
I
Conner Jones: don’t, man,
Micah Tomasella: Greenlanders.
Conner Jones: There’s only, what, like 50,000 of them?
Micah Tomasella: Yeah, it’s a, it’s small, so [00:05:00] they’ve, I mean, not a lot of, it’s actually like habitable. A lot of it’s inhabitable, but you’ve got Denmark who controls it, but then Greenland is self-governing and if anything, Greenland’s been kind of fighting for their own independence.
But then now America’s. Potentially wanting to try to negotiate to take it over. So there’s just a lot of things at play with growing autonomy and an active internal debate about its future. So inside Greenland, conversations about greater independence have been happening from Denmark and all this stuff.
So any discussion about Greenland status ultimately centers on Greenlanders themselves, not necessarily Washington or Copenhagen, right? You gotta kind of convince the Greenlanders. So why Greenland matters. Now let’s talk about this. There are three forces that. Converged at once that maybe kind of explain why Trump is so bullish on this, what feels like all of the sudden, but has been on the radar of America for a long time.
First, the Arctic is opening melting ice is making new shipping routes viable, shortening. Global trade lanes and increasing military mobility. Second, [00:06:00] Greenland holds significant rare earth minerals. Trump is saying that this is not a factor, of course, it’s a factor. Third, global competition has moved north, so China and Russia have been bulking up their military presence in the Arctic, right?
And so Greenland sits at the geographic crossroads between North America. And Europe that makes it incredibly strategically valuable. And this is a lot of what Trump’s argument is. And again, I’m not, I’m not giving you, I’m not even sure exactly what my opinion is. I’m saying from what Trump is saying that NATO is not capable of defending fortifying, protect.
The island. That’s kind of been Trump’s point the whole time, is that these NATO countries in Europe have to start stepping up their own defenses and at the same time, they’ve had control of Greenland this whole time and haven’t fortified the defense. Now, China and Russia have not explicitly tried to take over Greenland.
This is Trump projecting that if something is not done, they could eventually do that. IE all of the buildup that those countries have done in that area already. [00:07:00] Connor, any thoughts so far?
Conner Jones: I just think you’re right. Everything you just listed out, Greenland does have strategic value. Is it worth going through everything that Trump is taking Europe through?
Because will this just strain relationships with our greatest allies over in Europe? Will this rip apart nato? I think that’s why so many people were just on pins and needles for the speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. All the world leaders are there. All the biggest CEOs
Micah Tomasella: in the world are there.
A lot of deep breaths were taken after this speech. It was still a very Trump speech, but he did rule out all the things that people were most concerned about.
Conner Jones: People were just so worried he was gonna do a full on military invasion and take the island and
Micah Tomasella: worried. I was worried about that. I was like, how?
How can you do that? Like, how does that even make sense? So barring any changes there. That itself reframes the entire conversation.
Conner Jones: That does what doesn’t is I, I don’t know what he said about if he, if he said anything about the tariffs he’s willing to impose on these countries that are,
Micah Tomasella: I didn’t see any
Conner Jones: on that at all.
I, us taking gland.
Micah Tomasella: Yeah.
Conner Jones: Which I did you, did you say something about those? Because isn’t he trying to force like a 10% tariff on these European countries [00:08:00] that are trying to support Denmark and say you can’t have Greenlands?
Micah Tomasella: Yeah, it’s, it’s actually in my next section here.
Conner Jones: Oh, great.
Micah Tomasella: I’m gonna talk about the tariffs.
Yeah. So let’s talk about Trump Truth, social. Davos and diplomacy. So this context helps explain why DJT Donald Trump has once again raised Greenland publicly, and why this time it landed with more weight. So a couple nights ago, Trump went on this truth, social barrage. It’s very normal. He goes on that.
Two or three times a week stays up all night and just does truth social posts.
Conner Jones: It’s just incredible.
Micah Tomasella: Okay. But this has not been limited to social media. The administration has threatened tariffs on several European countries unless Denmark agrees to sell Greenland to the United States. These tariffs are starting at 10%.
He threatened 200% on France because of something that Emmanuel Macron said. So a special US envoy focused on Greenland policy has also been appointed prompting sharp pushback from Danish leaders. The timing matters as well. These developments are unfolding alongside the World Economic Forum. This [00:09:00] was the most anticipated speech by far.
Trump just got done delivering it at the time of our recording of Wednesday, January 21st in the morning. Okay, so we’ve already talked about the rare earth minerals, all that stuff, but then also at the same time, it’s important to be clear, there is still no formal treaty purchase agreement or legislative process underway.
What we’re seeing is pressure and leverage not executed policy. This is all talk, every single part of it is all talk, and so we can’t get ahead of ourselves. Like even with Trump’s tariffs. Connor, you and I have said this, we were incredibly concerned about it personally. Everyone that we knew, you know, Trump unveiled it.
Certain things were scaled back, certain things were kept, and let’s be honest, the tariffs did not deliver the type of blow to the economy that most people predicted. In some ways, they’ve worked and the American economy is still chugging along. Some would argue because of them. Some would argue well in spite of them.
So in the same way, we’ve gotta remember that this is a common tactic that Trump uses. [00:10:00] He will take the stance of I’m gonna build up the most possible leverage as possible so I can cut a deal in the middle and then call it a win. Read his book. You and I have talked about this. Read the book. He just follows his own playbook pretty much every single time.
Conner Jones: The Art of the Deal book? Is that the one you’re referencing? Yeah. Art of
Micah Tomasella: the Deal.
Conner Jones: He really, and he’s doing it again. I mean this is all, he’s gonna talk really big, make all these threats and then he’s probably gonna pull back, make some sort of deal. We get to put bases on Greenland, wherever we want.
Do the Iron Dome there stays with Denmark. It’s interesting. Yeah. But I don’t know, we’ll just see what happens. It’s
Micah Tomasella: interesting ’cause he did scale back in this speech, right? He literally just scaled back the ominous threat of, because he always said, you know, all. The reporters, can you rule out military force?
He would just never answer the question.
Conner Jones: He always just says, we’ll see.
Micah Tomasella: Yeah. But
Conner Jones: keeps everybody
Micah Tomasella: on their toes. That’s, that’s, that’s to build leverage. But then now I’m thinking, is there some sort of already deal in the works? If there’s not, he must have really had some pressure from his cabinet.
Scott Bessett. Hey man. The markets, they’re [00:11:00] freaking out. Scale it down, right? And I mean, we’ve seen him pivot, but I’m just thinking he did just turn down the temperature a little bit and I didn’t expect him to do that until he had a deal in place. So we’ll see.
Conner Jones: He also said while he was on stage, I think he said he want, he’s got like these meetings lined up and he wants to meet with more European countries and negotiate while they are all there.
Can meet in the same room in Davos. So by the end of today we might have a better understanding. He,
Micah Tomasella: he doesn’t sleep, doesn’t guy. He does not sleep. My goodness. Okay, so let’s talk about what supporters and critics are saying. Alright, so supporters argue Greenland’s, location is essential for us and NATO security in the Arctic.
Okay? Rare earth minerals access could reduce Western dependence on China. You and I have talked about rare earth minerals, a lot rare earth mineral mining. I’m a big believer. In any possible way to lessen us Dependences on China, they can pull the plug anytime that they want. And China feels the same way about the us.
For example, the semiconductors, the US could all of a sudden tell Jensen, Huang, and Nvidia to stop selling the semiconductors [00:12:00] and China needs those right now because China is lagging behind and the AI battle it seems, right? Both countries need each other, but you don’t wanna depend on each other in that way either.
And then supporters also argued that it could be deeper US involvement, which could bring investment infrastructure and economic opportunity there. And then it would just be a stronger Western presence that counters Chinese and Russian aggression. Critics are arguing this, and these are all fair points.
Greenland is not for sale. They’re saying this over and over and over and over and over again, right? You can’t really negotiate to sell it until the other side agrees to at least negotiate to sell it. So as of now, it’s not for sale legally or morally. Secondly, sovereignty and greenlandic. Greenland, maybe.
Greenlandic. Anyway, consent must come first. Okay? And then treating land in people in transactional terms is risky. Maybe you could call it dehumanization. Maybe you could say, Hey, is this a good look for midterms Trump?
You know, there’s so much in [00:13:00] the news about what’s happening internationally.
What about all the issues in Minnesota right now? What about all the unrest here? What about all the people that feel like they can’t afford groceries and electric costs here at home? I mean, it’s a real point and it matters. And then finally, this strains, alliances. Longstanding alliances, you know, and I go back and forth on that, you know, just like this concept of I do not want to strain alliances because at the end of the day, nato, European countries in America, they should stay strong.
They should stay committed to one another. But it is not one for one. And I think that we need to acknowledge that a lot of NATO’s strength is the United States is the foundation for nato. And so there is this concept that you and I have both been saying. Europe should be doing their fair share.
Asking European countries to step up their defense spending is not unrealistic and countries should learn to defend themselves. But this is kind of me coming back to, I don’t necessarily feel like the US needs to be the world’s police all the time. And so how do you [00:14:00] fix these things? Will you get countries to start taking care of themselves is a thought that I’m having.
But I also feel like it’s a very fair point to say this is being taken too far.
Conner Jones: True. Yeah. Nato, I mean, there’s, you’re right. Every country should pay their fair share. The US is really the, just the backer of nato. Without the US it’s not nearly as powerful, right? And so all the European countries wanna maintain that relationship with the US and honestly, we want our European allies.
Should we ever end up in a conflict with Russia or China? Like you’re gonna want the support of these nations. They have powerful militaries, big economies and everything too, and correct technology, all that. We’re gonna want that. So I think everybody realizes that and is trying to come to the table here and say, let’s slow down.
Let’s keep the peace here. Let’s not divide ourselves. We need unity within
Micah Tomasella: this. Yeah, I think you’re right. This is more of a rupture as opposed to a fracture. Like a complete
Conner Jones: rupture
Micah Tomasella: fracture.
Conner Jones: Great word. That’s what Canadian Prime Minister said in Davos yesterday. He said the US is causing a rupture.
Like he’s saying, we’re not completely destroyed yet, but [00:15:00] Trump has ruptured.
Micah Tomasella: It’s, it’s funny, Trump, ’cause I was, I was reading the transcript and like watching a few clips like just before we were recording, but he referenced Kearney specifically and he was like, mark. Canada literally would not be here if it wasn’t for the us.
Remember that? He said something along those lines. Oh gosh. Just in reference to him, which you could debate if that’s true, but goodness gracious. That is a little aggressive, but what’s new? Okay. Alright. Lemme give you a Christian perspective on power. So this is where scripture helps us slow the conversation down.
Speaking of, let’s slow the conversation down. World leaders. You know, let’s chill out a little bit. We should all be on the same side here. Psalm 24, 1 says, the earth is the lord’s and the fullness thereof the world, and those who dwell therein. That verse reframes everything. In my opinion, land does not ultimately belong to nations.
Resources do not belong to markets. People do not belong to power. Everything belongs to God [00:16:00] ultimately, right? We have to remember that sometimes leaders are stewards. Not owners influence is a responsibility before. It’s a tool whether if these leaders acknowledge their creator or not. Again, we’ve talked about this doesn’t change the truth that I just said, whether if it’s acknowledged by them or not, it all belongs to God.
So Christians should be cautious about cheering strength without asking how it’s used. Strategic interest matters, but moral stewardship I think, matters More. Power without humility does carry a cost even when it appears effective, and we just have to remember that as believers. So here’s the takeaway.
Greenland does matter. The Arctic does matter. Global competition is real. Safety and security for our nation and our allies is important. I’m gonna say that right off the top, but if I’m honest, I don’t have all the answers here. Connor, I see the arguments on both sides. I gave you what people are arguing for and against it.
I understand why some see [00:17:00] this as necessary leverage, and I understand why others see this as a dangerous overreach or at least causing an issue where there doesn’t need to be one. I’m watching this play out in real time just like you are, Connor, just like you are loyal culture, brief audience, okay?
What I do know is this, not every moment requires certainty. Some moments call for clarity, restraint, and humility, and I think that this is one of those moments. Okay, so before we rush to conclusions, let’s take a deep breath. Let’s say a prayer, and remember who ultimately holds the world together. And remember that our God has a plan and purpose for all this.
We can stay informed without being anxious. Yes, you can do it. You can stay informed without being anxious, we can engage without being cynical. We can trust that even when leaders posture and nations compete, and, and there’s all this rhetoric and all this talk and all this competition, all this political theater, the earth still belongs to God and he still has a plan for it, and he still [00:18:00] has a plan for us.
So from there, we move forward with wisdom, patience, and with an open hand to God and say, I’m gonna trust you. You have a plan for this?
Conner Jones: Yeah. Good. God has a plan for everything. And I, I guess we’ll just see how this all plays out. It is happening day by day and you know, what they say about Davos? No time.
What happens in Davos impacts the whole rest of the world because deals are made. What
Micah Tomasella: happens in Davo Davos stays in Davos. Nope,
Conner Jones: it
Micah Tomasella: not
Conner Jones: true. It doesn’t, dude. It’s, it’s, it’s behind closed door meetings with the world’s elite, most powerful CEOs and world leaders, and then it goes and impacts the rest of the world.
So
Micah Tomasella: that’s interesting too. That the world’s most powerful business leaders
Political donors, people who are really shaping things and the world’s most powerful leaders of nations.
Conner Jones: Yep. And they are.
Micah Tomasella: They’re
Conner Jones: all meeting together.
Micah Tomasella: They’re all there. It’s actually unbelievable. I’m sure they have really good security.
Hopefully,
Conner Jones: oh, the security’s insane there and the private jet industry loves it.
Micah Tomasella: Oh, I bet they do.
Conner Jones: [00:19:00] Also, the the other big thing in Davos is ai, a lot of AI talk this week. All the AI companies and leaders are there. Yeah. Because they’re all trying to figure out what’s next. Okay. Micah, thank you for that.
Greenland is an interesting thing and if we ever take it over, I’m just trying to figure out how they’re gonna get Americans to move over to Greenland to start doing all this mining and stuff. ’cause it’s literally just a big, you wanna move a big chunk, wanna move, you wanna go? It’s not for me. It looks like hath from Star Wars and just not, not my cup of tea.
We’re in Texas for a reason.
Micah Tomasella: Some people will go
Conner Jones: for sure. I bet there’s gonna be a lot of, if you can go up there and do mining and, and work that, there’s gonna be a lot of money in that for
Micah Tomasella: sure. A lot of free spirits in America. You know, all this rare earth stuff. I’m gonna let you get to your next one, but it’s almost it almost kind of feels you know, you start doing something like this, it could become like the next California gold rush.
All the, all the oil that people were drilling for and finding just people wildcatting out there, you know what I mean? Like true. Just finding that next pocket of oil, finding that gold in the same way you could see Americans searching for new opportunity in like rare earth mineral mining, which would be.
Interesting. [00:20:00] Who knows?
Conner Jones: It would be, especially in just the coldest place on earth. It would just be so different than California, you know?
Micah Tomasella: Yep.
Conner Jones: Totally.
Micah Tomasella: Okay.
Conner Jones: Indiana football guys, they won the national championship on Monday night and. I don’t think it’s wrong to say it’s one of the biggest and best sports stories in sports history.
It’s just an unreal story. I’m gonna tell you why here in just a minute, but
Micah Tomasella: yes,
Conner Jones: Micah ha. Do. Is there like a nickname for this yet? Are we calling them like the Indiana Impossible or the Indiana Miracle or something like
Micah Tomasella: that? I haven’t seen, I, I haven’t seen anything yet, but I mean, we were just talking.
I, I think this is probably the. The best sports story of of our lifetime. I’m likening it to like the miracle on ice when the American Hockey Team 1980 beat the Soviet Union and they had like never beat them before or something like that. You know, I’m just thinking it’s that level. There will be movies and kids will grow up hearing about this in the future.
Conner Jones: Yeah, they absolutely will. So just so y’all are aware, the final score of the game was 27 to 21. Indiana Hoosiers, [00:21:00] and it’s Indiana University, not the University of Indiana. We have been corrected on that. They beat, yes, we have Miami University and it, I mean, truly it got down to the wire. Miami had a chance to win there at the, in the last minute of the game.
But Carson Beck, their quarterback, threw an interception right into Indiana’s hands and that ended it. And the people went wild. And America just sat in shock because Indiana is one of the losing hist worst programs in college football history. I mean, just abysmal. They have not played in a bowl game.
One since 1991, and before that, they’d only been in five of them. I mean, it, it’s in a
Micah Tomasella: bowl game. And they, I mean, if you go 500, six and six, you’ll get put in a, a bowl game. You’ll get put in the Marty’s pretzel stick bowl. I mean, seriously, Memphis and, and, and. Jiffy Lube oil change bowl. I mean, seriously, so you, they didn’t win anything.
They didn’t go to any,
Conner Jones: no, man. That’s how bad they’ve been all this time. That’s what makes it so shocking is this school [00:22:00] that just was terrible showed up. In two years went from a three and nine record in their season to going 16 and oh this year. Completely. Yeah, I, I mean, just utter domination.
Unbelievable. In winning the national championship and there’s a lot behind that and that’s kinda what I wanna dive into. And if you’re not a sports fan, that’s fine. I think you’ll still find some interesting stuff here. ’cause this is about dedication and grit and working hard and recognizing what legacy is and having faith at the center.
Love it of what you’re working towards. Love it. I mean, it’s just really cool. This is a unique story specifically around the head coach Kurt Ti. He is just a bulldog man. He, he came in and he turned this program around and everybody in his locker room and on his staff respects him. He’s got the college football world to step down and respect him.
He’s, he’s kind of taken the place of a Nick Saban, who, everybody just in a way. Feared. Revered. Revered,
Micah Tomasella: yeah.
Conner Jones: Respected, but also loved like just the guy loves the game, loves his players, but you [00:23:00] also respect him and vere him because of the way he carries himself and the way he expects you to do what you’re supposed to do as your job on the team or on the staff.
Just kind of point out also, Fernando Mendoza. This is the quarterback who won the Heisman this year, which is another crazy thing to say that Indiana would have a Heisman winner, but Mendoza. Was definitely the best player in college this year. And then he really proved it in these playoff games. They played several of these playoff games and he just showed up in each one dominated and then specifically in a risky play with nine minutes left to go in the game.
It’s fourth and five, they’re down towards the end zone, and Kurt Signi says, we’re gonna go for it. We’re gonna try to at least get the first down, but maybe we will score a touchdown. And he calls his quarterback Run. And Fernando Mendoza, and one of the most glorious plays I’ve ever seen. Probably up there with the Vince Young run in back in, what was that, oh five for ut?
Micah Tomasella: Yep.
Conner Jones: Dude, he just, he gets pounded by defenders all the way. 12 yards. He rushes 12 yards, getting pounded by defenders, one of the best defenses in the country. And [00:24:00] leaps, dives crossed the goal line into the end zone. And it was clear at that moment. Yep. They got this. Yep, they got one. The best quarterback in the country.
Two, they got this national championship in the bag and three, just so much hope like it, it, it’s just unreal. I’m gonna post some links to some videos of that place specifically with you know, some cinematic music behind it that just gives it that drama.
That you love to see. But yeah. Micah, were you just shocked?
I mean, by this game,
Micah Tomasella: I think we talked about it like. Last week and kind of giving a quick prediction. I had already kind of succumbed to the reality that Indiana football is spectacular all of a sudden, and that this was magical, this was miracle like, and I had no doubts that they were gonna beat Miami.
But at the same time, I did think it was gonna be a close game because Miami just has such a good defense and is such a well-coached team. College football, even with all the NIL stuff, it’s just so magical. Man. The college football playoffs were. Awesome. We got so many good games outta the college football playoff.
Now that it’s 12 teams playoff, like you get all of these rounds. I mean it was [00:25:00] just incredible. Just a great year for college football and just a great year for like just parody in the league. You know, it’s not like one of those blue chip programs that you’d expect at one at all. It’s Indiana and weren’t we talking about how Indiana University has like the largest alumni network in the country?
Conner Jones: In the country. Largest alumni base in the country
Micah Tomasella: and they still so you know, somebody. Who probably went to Indiana. So just start talking about Indiana University, and I’m sure somebody will walk up to you and gladly tell you who they are now. Maybe a couple years ago they would’ve kept it to themselves, but now they’re on top of the world.
Congratulations, Hoosiers.
Conner Jones: Yeah, they’re coming out. The woodworks, I saw a lot of videos of, of people sitting in their homes when the interception got caught and they all flip out in their homes, you know, they’re so excited. Yeah. It’s the first time they’ve ever had a moment like this.
It’s kind of crazy.
But this is the new world, man. This is N-I-L-N-I-L. The name, image, and likeness deals that these college players are able to sign. Transfer
Micah Tomasella: portal. Yeah,
Conner Jones: transfer portal. It’s changed the game Coaches. Can build teams differently and they can be more kind of just dedicated to who [00:26:00] they pick and bring them in and say, you, you’re a part of this team, but you’re gonna do your role.
And if you don’t, you can transfer out, you know, it’s, it’s a different world and we can pay you a little bit or none at all, but we’re gonna go for a championship. And that’s really what Sign Netti did. Yeah. Yeah. So sign Netti himself. He got up on the stage, he said, we’re now 16 and oh, we’re national champions at Indiana University, which I know a lot of people thought was never possible.
He came into this program, man, and just was expected to turn around a program and at least just become a winning program. But in two years he did this. He took a team that went two in 10, two years ago, lost to Akron University, Akron in quadruple over time, and now is won a national championship.
Obviously that changes the game for a lot of other schools. They want to coach who can come in and do the same thing. Even NFL teams are looking at this and saying, what did this guy do to bring a team in? And in two years, no,
Micah Tomasella: there’s something to it. This is unbelievable. 16 and oh. I mean, there is something to what he did.
It needs to be studied and replicated.
Conner Jones: You’re exactly right. You know, they were laughed off. Sign Netti himself was laughed off [00:27:00] at his opening press conference when he first got hired two years ago. He said, I win. Just Google me. And people laughed at him. They thought he was being
Micah Tomasella: legendary,
Conner Jones: ridiculous, and cocky.
And he came from
Micah Tomasella: absolute legend status. Put the sunglasses on, brother. You are cemented. Just, just a legend,
Conner Jones: dude. There’s a, all these Indiana fans got these shirts that just say Google me. That’s, it’s like a, it’s like a phrase that they live by now, like they know what that means. Oh, love it. Which is really cool and great for sign netti.
Yeah, it was a little cocky, but also he was saying, I have a craft, I’ve, I’ve pretty much mastered it down in the lower levels of the college ranks at James Madison University, Elon University, some other small schools where he just built his way up to finally getting hired to a bigger school. But the expectation was never this.
But this is crazy. Yeah. So I was curious how he did it. What’s the science here? And one person that I found interesting spoke into this, their largest donor to the football program is a former alumni. You might know him, Mr. Mark Cuban. Of course. Former owner of the Dallas Mavericks Multi-billionaire.
And he’s
Micah Tomasella: still, he’s a minority [00:28:00] owner. He’s not of the ma. Yes. A fully former owner. He just has a minority stake. Anyway.
Conner Jones: This is correct, but he’s not, he’s not what he once was with the Mavericks. Yeah, correct. Nonetheless, he’s given a good chunk of change to the NIL program at Indiana because he was like.
I see something with Sign Netti, and I want to help him do this. They still had a much smaller budget than all the other teams with their NIL deals, including Miami. Miami had doubled the budget, essentially of their NIL roster, which is crazy. So Mark Cuban was asked, how did Sign Netti do this? And he said He doesn’t look for the most hyped players.
He doesn’t get into bidding wars. He focuses on players who will know their role, have the right mental focus and produce. Players do Google him. They know. He knows how to put together a winning team. It becomes a confirmation of their abilities when he recruits you. That has a lot of value, particularly for players who are not highly ranked.
Yeah. So he’s finding these guys that are getting overlooked and he’s saying, I think you’ve got something, but if you’re gonna come here. You’re gonna do your role, you’re not gonna become your own personality here. Even Fernando Mendoza, who just won the Heisman and will likely be the [00:29:00] number one pick in the NFL draft, understands he has a role.
This is not just him and his team. He’s gonna be a part of what’s gonna happen here. Yep. And he played his part, man, and he played it perfectly. But yeah. And even after the game, signi said, I think we sent a message to society that if you keep your nose to the grindstone and work hard and you’ve got the right people.
Anything is possible. We’ve got the right people on our staff in the weight room, in the locker room, and we have great senior leadership and togetherness.
Micah Tomasella: Yeah.
Conner Jones: There’s just something about coming in. Everybody’s on the same mission, same page, and they’re ready to work and do their part and work hard towards this goal.
And they had that goal in their head all season. And you know, I think we can apply that to our own lives with either our work or our families. Yeah. Or our faith. Yeah. What is our end goal and set our mind on it and really just. Chug away at that. Make it happen. Go towards that goal. That’s right. Make it happen.
Another thing, faith man, some of these guys on this team and then this coaching staff are just faithful and not just them. I also point out that the [00:30:00] Miami team, man, they got some faithful guys too. Mario Cristobal, their head coach, he is a weekly attender to the St. Augustine Parish there in Miami. His family is always around that.
Their church. And then Carson Beck, the quarterback. You know, he is controversial in some of the things he says, but he’s also declared that he feels like God has a plan in everything that he does. So even in losing, you know, God’s plan is still taking place.
Micah Tomasella: Yeah.
Conner Jones: When your team loses Miami, God’s plan is still taking place.
He’s gonna take care of you, but you also get to see that in winning as well. You know, one Corinthians 10 31 says, so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God. And I’m saying that because. After the game, after they just won the national championship and they had the opportunity to point all the glory back to themselves, specifically the quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, who is now the star of just football right now.
First thing he says is, I want to give all the glory to God in this moment. And even earlier this week, he was answering questions at a press conference, and he said, no one is perfect. The only person I [00:31:00] think is perfect is my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I know I have a lot of flaws. Yeah. Which is really cool to hear from a guy who, man, from a quarterback perspective, this dude’s got like the perfect arm body mentality, but he’s recognizing I’m not perfect.
Only God is humility. I’ve got all
Micah Tomasella: this flow. Humility at the pinnacle, he has humility at the pinnacle because he recognizes he has a creator, he has a God, and he’s created for a specific purpose. It does humble you. It does humble You.
Conner Jones: Yeah. It, it really does. There’s just so much to humility. There’s so much to recognizing that God has blessed you with whatever position he’s placed you in, whether that’s a football team with a massive platform, and these guys are using their huge platform to point back to Christ.
I think that’s gonna have a massive impact.
Micah Tomasella: That’s awesome.
Conner Jones: And it, it makes me think, you know, as I, I’m looking at this and I’m like, these guys, they’ve pulled off something incredible, this miracle. There’s probably gonna be a movie made one day about this. Hopefully more success for Indiana down the road.
This isn’t just a one time thing. They might become a so blue blood program now. It’s very possible. But what will we be remembered for is something I think a lot of people question, including [00:32:00] these guys. They’re probably saying, what are we gonna be remembered for? Yeah, this national championship in this season, they’re gonna be remembered for that.
Of course, earthly accomplishments are something that our loved ones will recall one day when we pass, right? They’re gonna be like, oh, he did this and this and this. But Micah, I, I just always think about this. Those things do fade soon. Like you can remember earthly accomplishments, but they don’t stick around in people’s minds forever.
And quite honestly, unless we’ve made some massive mark on history, our names are likely to be forgotten in just a few generations. Let me put it this way, can you name the Heisman winner from 1964?
Micah Tomasella: No. Or
Conner Jones: what about the head coach of the national championship team in 1977? I know somebody listening to this is probably a massive college football fan or was around then and does have that ability to pull those names out from their mind, but majority of people they can’t.
That’s just Kurt Signi 50 years from now. That’s a name that will mean something to those of us who were here. He’ll be forgotten. That’s just the, that’s just the nature of the business, right? So when we hear Mendoza give all the glory to God, I [00:33:00] just think it’s awesome. He recognizes he’s on that massive stage and that incredible influence is there ’cause God put him there.
And so he is living in that moment that God has placed him in and he’s faithfully living in that moment. Because Mendoza will likely be forgotten a hundred years from now. That’s just the truth of the matter, but the eternal impact that he’s gonna have through declarations of his faith to millions of people who are seeing this guy at the pinnacle of his career and of his stage saying, I give all the glory back to God.
That’s gonna have an eternal impact that will be remembered in eternity, which I think is so cool. If someone comes to Christ through that, that’s gonna be incredible, man. Yeah, that would be so cool if that’s, that’s the seed being planted, right? That’s what True Legacy is. I’ll just leave us with this.
Colossians 3 23 and 24 says, whatever you do, work hardily as for the Lord and not for men. Knowing that from the Lord, you’ll receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. So
Micah Tomasella: awesome.
Conner Jones: As we go about our week, as we go toward and put our, our nose on the grindstone like Indiana did towards whatever our work is and our family and our [00:34:00] church and our friends and all that, would we remember that this is all for the glory of God.
It’s not for our own glory, you know? I know a specific individual, you just talked about, the most powerful person in the world that could probably use a dose of that truth because it would change everything. Yahoo. Honestly, probably a lot of people at Davos Yeah. Specifically could, could hear that. Yeah.
But
Micah Tomasella: no, totally. I’m with you. Thanks for taking us through that, Connor. That was great, man. Yeah, the Indiana story is, is a beautiful one, and there’s a lot of lessons that we can learn from it. Okay, so let’s jump into our Hot Takes games section. Ooh. All right. So Connor, there’s that 2016 trend going around right now.
Should we post a picture of us together in 2016 when we were in college? Should we do that? Should we give that to our loyal culture, brief audience on Instagram?
Conner Jones: Man, dude, we were, this is kind of like right as our friendship was like burgeoning, right? We, we, yeah, were freshmen. I was a freshman in college.
You might’ve been a sophomore. And we were starting to get to know each other
Micah Tomasella: in 2016. We would’ve been.
Conner Jones: Yeah, [00:35:00] so junior
Micah Tomasella: or sophomores, I think that was
Conner Jones: at least in the spring semester. Yeah. All right. We’re gonna have to, we’re gonna have to go and dig back and see if we can find a picture of the two of us together in 2016.
But yeah, I, I, I’ll post one. Let’s say if we find one, I’ll post it on Friday on our Instagram story Sounds. So go follow us on Instagram. I’m at Culture Brief Podcast.
Micah Tomasella: I’m sure there’s one, we’ll,
Conner Jones: one, we’ll
Micah Tomasella: find one. Cool.
Conner Jones: For sure.
Micah Tomasella: Alright, I’m gonna do a quick military might quiz for you. I’m, I’m a quiz you, Connor
Conner Jones: oh.
Micah Tomasella: Quick thing, quick intro to this ranking. Okay. This ranking comes from a, a website called Visual Capitalists. It’s very cool. They do a lot of these different types of rankings and use all these different criteria using data from the Global Firepower Index that evaluates military strength using more than 60 factors to create a single.
Power index score. The lower the score, the stronger the military. So it looks at manpower, equipment, firepower, defense spending, logistics, geography, industrial capacity, access to resources like oil. And it doesn’t factor in outside things, right? It’s all of those things. Okay, so I’ve got a list here of the top 10 most powerful militaries.
Connor has [00:36:00] promised to not look at this beforehand. Connor, how many of the top 10 can you name go?
Conner Jones: The top militaries? I think clearly the United States,
Micah Tomasella: they’re, they’re number one.
Conner Jones: That’s gotta be number one
Micah Tomasella: by far,
Conner Jones: I would guess.
Micah Tomasella: Yep.
Conner Jones: I would guess. China’s number two.
Micah Tomasella: China’s number three.
Conner Jones: Number three.
Okay, so then Russia’s number two,
Micah Tomasella: correct?
Conner Jones: I would put the UK up there.
Micah Tomasella: UK’s number six.
Conner Jones: Number six. Oh man. Is India in there?
Micah Tomasella: Yep. India’s number four
Conner Jones: solely for manpower. There is, is my thought. Is Turkey in there?
Micah Tomasella: Turkey’s number nine. Good
Conner Jones: news. Really? Okay. Wow.
Micah Tomasella: Yeah. Number nine.
Conner Jones: How about Brazil?
Micah Tomasella: No, no.
Brazil,
Conner Jones: no. Oh, no.
Micah Tomasella: No.
Conner Jones: What about France?
Micah Tomasella: France is number seven.
Conner Jones: Okay. Is Germany in there?
Micah Tomasella: Germany is not in there.
Conner Jones: Really, man. What a,
What a change of the times. That’s not how it used to be. Yeah. Japan. Are they in there?
Micah Tomasella: They’re in there. Number eight.
Conner Jones: Number eight. How many left do I have?
Micah Tomasella: I think you have two left.
Conner Jones: Two left. Oh, Australia.
Micah Tomasella: So you got South Korea at number five and [00:37:00] Italy at number 10, GU to the rest.
Conner Jones: I gotta tell you what, Italy, that’s a shocking one to me. I’m,
Micah Tomasella: yeah, that they would be in there and Germany wouldn’t be, but again, you know, there’s a lot of different things. I’m sure it kind of, its access to the ocean probably plays a part in that.
But fun fact, China has the largest military in the world by active personnel by a lot to a certain extent, but it does not rank number one. The index weighs balance and sustainability, not just your troop count. So factors like global logistics, air enable power and force readiness keep the US in the top spot.
So there you go.
Conner Jones: One thing I know China’s trying to do is build more aircraft carriers because their Navy is not as powerful as ours.
Micah Tomasella: They’ve got, they got a long way to go, but you know, we’ll see.
Conner Jones: We sure will. That was fun. I’d learned a lot. I didn’t know all those countries were in the top 10.
That’s Italy, man. That one’s gonna throw me off for a while. Uhhuh. I’m just shocked by that. Okay. Something else, like I said, I might post a picture of us on, on our Instagram story, if we can find one from 2016. Do the trend there, but also how
Micah Tomasella: can they [00:38:00] find our Instagram Connor?
Conner Jones: It’s at Culture Reef Podcast.
Just go find at Culture Reef Podcast on Instagram. You’ll find us posting stories. I’m gonna try to post some polls on there. Look for one on Friday. We’ll post a fun poll there and try to get some opinions. So go find us there or email us culture [email protected]. If you ever have any questions or topic ideas, we love to hear from you guys.
Alright, let’s jump into check in real fast. Iran, this is other thing we spoke on last week. Was everything bubbling up over there? The near revolution that was happening and Trump saying he was. Sending help, help was on the way. We recorded last Wednesday and it really seemed like there was an attack by the US about to happen on Iran, and apparently Trump gave the stand down order at some point during Wednesday because they were prepped and ready.
The US military was getting basically on the edge of, of the idea of an attack, and so they told everyone at the Pentagon they couldn’t go home, but then they. They said, nevermind everybody go home. After evacuating some bases in the Middle East, they started sending people back to there. So I don’t know if anything’s gonna happen now [00:39:00] there’s some more military equipment and an aircraft carrier on their way to the region.
At this moment. And so maybe in the next few days or weeks, something does happen. We’ve seen Trump slow play some of these things before, including with Venezuela, but the protests have really stopped so. At the end of the day, this whole thing that happened in Iran of two weeks of massive protests may not have been, there’s gonna be
Micah Tomasella: revolution after all.
Conner Jones: It really needed something else from the outside to be the catalyst, I think, to get them to the next phase. And that’s why people thought Trump was gonna do it, and Israel was gonna help out with that too. And it just didn’t happen. Maybe it does now and the people are more enthused to come back out. But since the Internet’s been opened up a little bit more from, I ran, we’re getting some more videos of what was actually happening.
It was really bad, man. They were really just slaughtering people in the streets. It was terrible. Just awful. So we’ll see. Yeah. Something else. Micah, where are the Epstein files? I mean, genuinely question, like we got some, but the Justice Department has said they, they’ve really only made available like 1% of the files that they have.
Micah Tomasella: Yeah,
Conner Jones: the deadline was December 19th and people are starting to call this out and they’re saying a lot [00:40:00] of people think that this whole Greenland thing in Venezuela and everything is just one big distraction to try to get everybody off the Epstein files thing. ’cause that was really hot in December.
Micah Tomasella: Yeah.
Conner Jones: And now it’s kind of died down, man. I’m just like. Is anybody gonna enforce this law? If so, who does it right? How do we make sure the victims are still out there trying to say, guys? Help us here. We gotta get these, we gotta get these files out and, and bring justice to the people Yeah. Who are abusing us.
Micah Tomasella: Well,
Conner Jones: so we’ll see, man.
Micah Tomasella: We’ll see. I, I do think they’ll eventually be released, but it is taking a while and then whenever they’re fully released, again, like I’ve said, I don’t think people are gonna be satisfied because conspiracy theorists never are, but they should release them. I mean, even legally, they’re being obligated to release them.
So hopefully it’s sooner rather than later. Last thing to kind of check in on. You know, we’ve talked a lot about what’s going on in Minnesota. I’ve got just a few things that are happening there still. So first of all, tensions in Minnesota remain elevated as, as all of these protests continue following recent ice related incidents prompting the Pentagon, they’ve placed roughly 1500 soldiers [00:41:00] from the Army’s 11th Airborne Division on standby and a precautionary move amid the talk of invoking the Insurrection Act.
Trump has floated it, but said he’s probably not going to do it, and at the same time, the Department of Justice. Is pursuing subpoenas or indictments actually tied to the protest activity and is investigating the storming of a church? Yeah, that was in the middle of its worship service where demonstrators interrupted services over alleged immigration enforcement connections.
Don Lemon, I mean it was the, these crazy video storming in on people in the middle of their worship service. That is not good. That is one step too far. That is not good at all. There is. A lot of that tied into the First Amendment and a lot of arguments around it that is illegal from what I’m understanding, and just personally did not like seeing it at all.
That is too far.
Conner Jones: Yeah. And Don Lim is getting a lot of heat ’cause he’s saying, I was just there as a journalist.
Micah Tomasella: He should, he should get a lot of heat.
Conner Jones: He was taking coffee and donuts to the, to the protestors who he knew were,
Micah Tomasella: and he also walked right up to the pastor when he was giving a sermon. You know what I
Conner Jones: mean?
Yeah. The, you know what was just
Micah Tomasella: there,
Conner Jones: there’s people [00:42:00] shouting in their, in their sanctuary and he’s trying to interview this pastor who’s just trying to get order back into his church. He’s trying to protect his flock and he’s what is going on here? These people are, have just invaded this church service.
I do not like at all. I can’t imagine sitting in Sunday church service. No. No. And these protestors just come in and think they own this situation and that their protest matters more than God. That’s ultimately what it comes down to. And some of the things they were saying to these people in the pews was awful.
Micah Tomasella: Kids in there.
Conner Jones: Yeah. Kids are crying. It was,
Micah Tomasella: yeah.
Conner Jones: Not a good scene, man. I, I don’t know what’s gonna come out that, but it definitely not great. Not a good look. You know what else I saw about Minnesota right before we hopped on this? With this big weather system coming in that I like half the country’s about to get blanketed with ice and snow this weekend.
So stay warm everybody and stay safe. But I just saw that Minnesota has a warning out for exploding trees from the coldness.
Micah Tomasella: No,
Conner Jones: they have to be worried about trees exploding
Micah Tomasella: as if Minnesota doesn’t have enough going on. Goodness gracious. God bless women sodas out there.
Conner Jones: Yeah. Shout out to you Minnesotans.
Alright guys. Tune in real fast. [00:43:00] The only thing I think that we’ve got going on this weekend, besides this massive weather storm, I, I think we’re all gonna be indoors all weekend, is obviously the A FC and the NFC Championships and the NFL playoffs. Micah, your Super Bowl prediction lives on you. The one from last week, not our preseason predictions.
Micah Tomasella: Yeah,
Conner Jones: I think you said the Seahawks Patriot
Micah Tomasella: versus
Conner Jones: the Patriots.
Micah Tomasella: The Patriots. Patriots,
Conner Jones: yeah. That lives on mine. I had the bills and the bears. The Bears game was incredible. Caleb Williams, you
Micah Tomasella: literally picked. No one,
two
Conner Jones: teams that
Micah Tomasella: lost who’s, who’s gonna make it, right? So you’ve got the A FC, you got the Patriots versus the Broncos on Sunday at two o’clock Easter time, and then on Sunday you got the NFC Championship.
Los Angeles Rams versus the Seattle Seahawks Sunday at five 30 Eastern Time. So tune in for that. Enjoy some football. Thank you for joining us for this week’s episode of Culture Brief, a Denison Forum podcast. All articles, videos mentioned will be linked in the show notes. If you enjoy today’s episode, please please subscribe and rate and review the show and share it with a friend, and check our Instagram for an old photo of Connor and I and we’ll see [00:44:00] you next Thursday.
Conner Jones: See ya.
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