World Cup tourists love America, Iran deal explained, Knicks win & SpaceX soars | Ep. 74

Conner Jones: [00:00:02] Hi, I'm Conner Jones.

Ryan Denison: [00:00:04] And I'm Ryan Denison.

Conner Jones: [00:00:05] And this is Culture Brief, a Denison Forum podcast where we navigate the constant stream of top stories and news, politics, sports, pop culture, technology, and so much more. And this week, Ryan, I feel like it's sports Palooza. I am overwhelmed. I'm I'm drowning in the sports chaos of our nation right now. We've got NBA, we've got NHL, we've got World Cup, we've got golf. Man, what a week, what a time to be alive. Ryan, welcome to the show.

Ryan Denison: [00:00:31] Thank you very much. And no chaos like sports chaos. It's the best kind.

Conner Jones: [00:00:35] It's the best kind of chaos. Yep. And yeah, we're grateful that Ryan is here in Micah's stead. He is joining us today. You've heard Ryan on here before. He was on here a few weeks ago with Micah. And so Ryan, we're grateful for your time. Thanks for joining us. Do you want to give us a quick rundown of what we're talking about on today's episode?

Ryan Denison: [00:00:51] Yeah, absolutely. So we're going to start by looking at the latest details from the deal with Iran. Going to talk about what this actually means and whether the war is actually over like people are saying or if this is just another in a long line of kind of false starts on the path to peace. And so we'll take a look at that, see what's going on. We're also going to talk about one of the coolest parts of the World Cup so far, which has been just the response of Europeans to the American South and America in general and just some of the really cool things that have come out of there, some of the really fun parts of that and just a chance to look at our country through another set of eyes. After that, we'll wrap up with some things to keep an eye on. But yeah, that's going to be our story for today.

Conner Jones: [00:01:33] Great. Let's jump into the brief. The brief. Okay, Ryan, yeah, you you wrote a great edition of your newsletter, The Focus. If you guys have not subscribed to The Focus, make sure to go to denisonforum.org/newsletters to subscribe to that. Ryan writes every Tuesday, deep dives on the biggest topics each week and gives us some news worth knowing as well and always a God is good moment. But Ryan, your topic this week was the Iran deal. So figured you'd be perfect to come in and tell us what do we and do we not know about this deal? There seems to be a lot of mystery.

Ryan Denison: [00:02:08] Yeah, mystery is a great way to put it. But the good news is that the war is over. Kind of, maybe, sort of, not really, but at least there's signs of progress towards a deal. More signs and more progress than we've had for a while. It started on Sunday when leaders from the US and Iran digitally signed what they're calling a memorandum of understanding, which is an ironic title considering there's still not a whole lot of understanding and the competing visions of what this thing actually means shows that there's not even a lot of mutual understanding between the different parties. But either way, it's an agreement to actually stop shooting missiles and drones at each other for the next 60 days while they negotiate what is hopefully a real end to the war. Before we get into the details, Connor, I was curious, what were your initial reactions when you heard about the deal?

Conner Jones: [00:02:52] Well, I mean, it's just we've been tiptoeing along this line for really two months. Trump has been saying a deal is around the corner, a deal is around the corner. The Iranians say it, different mediating countries say it. And then there's, you know, launching back and forth of missiles or drones or what not that delays it. I'm just happy we're finally at a point where it's like, hey, something has been signed. Now, here's the problem and you're kind of pointing it out. We don't really know what's in this document. There are leaks that are coming out telling us about different things that are apparently in the document and in the memorandum of understanding. But really, it seems to me that this is just kind of a a temporary next step. Like it's saying we're going to stop shooting at each other, but we really don't know the full facts of what's going to come down the line, what the agreement is. We're going to try to just extend our period of time to negotiate those details. But for now, we've got technically a ceasefire. We're not supposed to shoot anymore. I don't know. I'm glad there's progress that has been made. I'm glad there's something kind of somewhat official, but I'm still very curious to see where this is all going.

Ryan Denison: [00:03:48] 100%. And this one does feel different from when they've announced ceasefires in the past. So I have hope that it's going to come to something. But I mean, the previous ceasefires have essentially been more a reduction in conflict rather than a stop to the conflict. And so if one of the things that this actually accomplishes is giving us a couple months where we're not killing each other, then or where there's not bombs, there's not drones, maybe we can get the straight of Hormuz back open, then it could lead to real progress. And it does seem like from what we know at least, that there have been enough concessions on both sides to actually have a conversation. And while there is still a lot we don't know, we're recording it Wednesday morning and details continue to come out. It seems like every few hours we learn more. And so going to try and keep this kind of a broader view rather than get into the specifics because the specifics keep changing and we just don't know them yet. But on a broader level, Bloomberg published what they claimed to be a version of the memorandum that seems pretty legit. And while some of the details have been contested, most of those kind of disagreements come more on the scheduling and the details rather than the general aspects of it. And so some of the things that seem clear at this point is that it does not appear that Iran will receive any of their frozen assets up front. They've got about $100 billion in frozen assets that the US and other countries currently hold. And there have been some initial reportings, Iran started to claim that they were going to get those right away or some of that right away. The US side has made it abundantly clear that's not the case. And if the memorandum that's been released is true, then they're not going to get any of their frozen assets right away. But what they will get is the ability to start selling oil on the global market. A lot of the sanctions that have been imposed on their oil markets that have caused them to have to use shadow fleets and sell to countries like Russia and China almost exclusively because the rest of the world can't buy it. A lot of that's getting lifted. And there was reporting that during the war, as soon as the US kind of imposed that blockade that shut down just their illegal sale of oil, they were losing about $4 billion a day. And so the sanctions could actually be more money in the short run, which is I think why they've been able to get Iran to the negotiating table maybe in ways that they haven't in the past. But at the same time, it's important to note that part of the reason the US wanted to go with sanctions, even though it means more money for Iran up front, is that the sanctions can be reimposed at any point in time. And while the straight of Hormuz is opening, the blockade is going away, the Navy is not. And so all of America's forces that have been situated to fight this war in Iran, they're still there. And so while the negotiations are continuing, while the ceasefire goes on, it does feel like the hot war could start up again at any moment if they choose. And another aspect of this that I didn't really get into in the focus and we're still kind of one of the most contentious areas is that Israel is kind of saying this deal doesn't speak for them. And we're really not sure what that's going to look like. So there's still a lot of questions there, a lot of questions in general, but it does look like for the most part, what we're seeing is that there is at least the framework of something that could provide the chance to have a genuine negotiation. And the other aspect of that that keeps coming up is the nuclear side of it, where Iran keeps saying like, we're not going to give up, we will not pursue a nuclear weapon was kind of the big concession there, which is a quasi concession considering their public stance for a while has been we will not pursue nuclear weapons. We just don't want to get rid of the materials we would theoretically need to build them. So they kind of want to keep that threat even if they're publicly saying we're not going to actually pursue it. And so a lot of the details that are going to be most important over the next couple months to really iron out are what that looks like with their existing materials, especially the highly enriched stuff that's currently buried under their former facilities, or at least is supposed to be buried under their former facilities. And one of the biggest changes on the US side has been where the US used to be pushing to be able to take those or export them out of Iran. Now they just want them destroyed or diluted. And so that's a a bit of a lower bar as well for what might work there. But Connor, given what we know so far, how do you think all this is going to turn out?

Conner Jones: [00:07:47] Man, I who knows? That's the real question is who knows how this all turns out. Obviously, the hope is it brings some sort of stability and peace to the entire Middle East region. It brings American forces back home out of that region and into any sort of violent conflict is great. And we've been praying for that for peace to come about within Iran, for peace to come about within the entire Middle East, within Israel and Palestine and Gaza and all the just warring factions over there. Man, I I've got so many questions still. You're right. Israel feels like they've been left out of the conversation here. And they're part of the memorandum, right? It's basically saying they're not going to attack Lebanon anymore where they believe that Hezbollah is still, well, they know a lot of Hezbollah militants are still hiding out and they're trying to rid Lebanon of Hezbollah militants essentially. And so yeah, they do strikes and they send troops up into Lebanon occasionally, Southern Lebanon to do that. And so they're being told, you can't do that anymore, but they were not consulted at all on this memorandum. So they're not happy about that. But also, Netanyahu and the leadership in Israel recognizes they've got to respect what the United States is saying and wants to do. Otherwise, they're in bad stance with the US. And that is a very, very important relationship for Israel. And, you know, a lot of US people would say it's an important relationship for us. So there's a lot of stake even there. Will Israel abide by a memorandum that they were not consulted on? We will see. But I know Iran is very eager to keep them out of Lebanon, which is very interesting. That goes back to the proxy wars with Iran, why this might have started in the first place. But when I look at this whole thing, Ryan, I'm sitting here, I'm wondering, what changed from the beginning of this conflict to today with this memorandum of understanding? Did this war accomplish any of the goals that Trump and the United States and Israel set out to do? I would say probably somewhat. I definitely got rid of a lot of the top leadership on day one, you know, that we threatened and said, you got to get out of the way, you need to make a deal with us, you need to make a deal with us. That was Trump saying that back in January and February. They never did. And so Israel and the US worked together to go ahead and knock out those people. And they also knocked out a bunch of military facilities and strengths that Iran had. They took out their navy. So Iran is a weakened state for sure, but they're also still so hardened in their mindset, the leadership there is. And when I think about what the goals were for this war, if it was some sort of regime change, if it was making sure Iran never got nuclear weapons again, if it was to make sure the straight of Hormuz is completely free going forward, I don't know that any of those things were fully accomplished. I know that they're saying that this is going to be negotiated further. There's 60 days remaining to find some sort of agreement on nuclear dust, nuclear materials, all of that. But we're sitting here saying we got to trust the Iranian government, a government that we have not found trust with for the last 50 years and has been attacking us through proxies. I don't think you can fully trust their word to say we're not going to we're not going to pursue a nuclear weapon. Yeah, they can put that in writing on a piece of paper and everybody can sign it, but you got to find a way to check that or make sure they give up their nuclear capabilities. That's the hard part. And that's what the whole thing was set out to do. So I think a lot of people are still pretty disappointed. I know we don't know the final language yet, but from what is being leaked out there so far, I think a lot of people are pretty disappointed and saying, what was the point of this war? Did we come out on the other side with any benefit? And in the meantime, we lost 13 US soldiers in this conflict. Our gas prices shot up, the world economy kind of got wrecked for a little bit there because of the oil crisis over there in the Middle East. What was the point of this? I think there's a lot of questions still to be answered. We'll be able to look back a few months from now and say, yeah, those things were actually solved or they were not solved. But right now, man, I think it's fair to ask a lot of a lot of big overarching questions here.

Ryan Denison: [00:11:24] Yeah, and I think part of what makes that so hard is that it feels like 90% of the accomplishments happened in the first two weeks. And that for the better part of three months, three plus months, it's just been kind of a a stalemate. And so while I think the US came out on top in terms of the changes in leadership, I think are substantial. The undermining of their leadership's capacities, I think is substantial. If it does end up with having a more permanent or at least a more easily monitored nuclear capacities of Iran, then that's progress. But again, most of that would have been possible after the first two weeks, it feels like. And everything since just feels different. It feels almost not not like a waste necessarily, but it it's felt like a stalemate. And I think that's what makes it hard. And it's also why I think you see the messaging, especially around this deal, become so important for the people that are like on both sides. You see Iran kind of just putting stuff out there that the US will come out and say, no, that's not true. And there's just this fight to control the narrative to where you don't really know which side to believe if either. And a lot of what we're seeing is that a lot of the disagreement is in the details that the memorandum doesn't address. And so it's hard to really know who to trust in that. And that kind of led me to the spiritual side of this. It made me really long for a time when I felt like we could trust people. When I felt like when I heard something on the news, I could trust it. Maybe that was never the case and this disillusionment gets us closer to reality. I think that's quite possible. But I also think on just a personal side, it it made me wonder like, am I constantly someone that people can trust? And it made me kind of appreciate that part of the reason I have so much trouble trusting Iran, trusting our own government, trusting some of the reports you see in the media is that over time that trust has just been eroded in a lot of ways. I think we see statistics that point that that's not just a me thing. Like there's a lot of people in our culture that struggle with that. But as Christians, I think it highlights how much we need to be trusted because especially if you grew up in the in the church, grew up in a Christian home, the aspects of the gospel probably seem almost second nature or just true by default. But if you step back and think about what our message is to people, what we're asking people to believe that God became man, that he lived a sinless life, that he died for our sins and was raised from the dead, and now he wants us to place our faith in him for eternal life and dedicate our lives to him. That is the core of the gospel message that rolls off our tongue if we grew up in the church. If you didn't, then that's kind of crazy in a lot of ways. Like that's it's a hard message. I think it's easy to underestimate how difficult that message is to believe. It's true. And but kind of one of the things that really stuck out to me is that the credibility of the gospel is heavily dependent on the credibility of Christians. And I think that's so important for us to keep in mind as we look at all this, whether we're talking about Iran and the war there or any other news stories or even just in our daily lives, the importance of being someone that people can trust and that when we say something, they can believe it's true. I think it's rarely been more important than it is today. And that was kind of one of my spiritual takeaways from this is just the importance of making sure that when I speak, when I share the gospel, I'm not giving people reasons to not believe. Doesn't guarantee they will, but if I'm the reason people don't believe, then that's a problem. And I think as Christians, we have a remarkable opportunity and responsibility to be people that when we share the gospel, others can trust us. That's kind of one of the things that I'm taking away from this. But we'll see how the story turns out. Hopefully in a couple months time, we can talk about the story again and have some really good news to share. But until then, I think the right response is to have hope, but not much certainty and just kind of take a wait and see approach with it.

Conner Jones: [00:15:08] Yeah, I think that's all really good points. Ryan, thanks for that spiritual application too. Trust is so important with the gospel, with our daily lives, with anything we're talking about. I mean, do you want people to see you as a person that they can always lean on or do they see you as like a snake oil salesman who's always slimy and getting away with different white lies and all that. Hopefully they can find trust in you and in the way you approach the gospel and in the way you approach everything in your life. And that represents Jesus because Jesus was the person we trust the most. While the Pharisees were trying to shape some false narrative about Jesus and everything that he was doing with his ministry here on earth, Jesus was out there just preaching truth. And I think that's always fun to to reflect on and remember. So, yeah, thanks Ryan for that. We're just going to have to keep tabs on what's going on with this whole thing with Iran. I know people are just fed up and they're done with it and they're ready to move on. So we'll see if that's what this is the first step towards is an end to this conflict, a peaceful resolution. Hopefully that's the case and then we'll be able to move on. But for now, let's talk about some stuff that's going on within our own country because I don't know if you are proud to call yourself an American or not, but I hope you are. And we're going to talk about why you should be because if there's anything that's happened in the last week and a half, it is these foreign tourists coming over for the World Cup and making sure they know or making sure that they're essentially that they're sharing to America, hey, your country is amazing. Like you guys have it made over here. We are just enthralled by everything that you have, everything that goes on, the way y'all's life goes about. And I think I really want to harp on this today because it's a great refresher, Ryan. I mean, I just feel like our country has been divided or at least we are being told it's divided. And this is the whole thing with narrative, right? That we were just talking about like the media, talking heads, our government can make us always feel like our nation is at war with itself. And yes, there are aspects of that that are true. People do disagree on things, but I think, and Ryan, Micah and I have talked about this multiple times on this podcast. If you walk outside and talk to your neighbor, you will have disagreements on big philosophical things, maybe on politics, maybe on religion. But at the end of the day, you're going to recognize, hey, we're just trying to be neighborly friends here. We're trying to, you know, we're trying to build community. We're either Americans together, we are Christians together, we are neighbors together, our kids go to the same school or on the same soccer teams, all of that stuff. And you can easily be told that that's just not how life is in America. But I think these foreign tourists are reminding us that actually that is how life is in America and we have things to be proud of and things that we should enjoy, things that we normally just look right past as great amazing things about this nation that we take for granted. And so I love that they're calling this out. I love that they're documenting their travels across the country. Many of them are road tripping the south. You called that out earlier, Ryan. Some of them are up north, some of them are staying in one city. They're just doing Boston or New York or whatever and they're like, this place is crazy. I want to just point out and I want to hear what you've got, Ryan, too. Some of the things that I've seen on social media the last week and a half, a lot of these videos or posts have gone extremely viral. You're probably seeing them in Tik Tok and Instagram and Twitter of these tourists saying, this is awesome. So here's a couple of things that I've personally just seen that crack me up. They love drinks that are served with ice because that is just not something that they get in a lot of these people are European, but we're also seeing people from Africa coming over, South America and Asia, a lot of the Japanese people here in Dallas were pointing this stuff out. They also love free chips and salsa, free bread before a meal comes out at a restaurant, free refills. Again, things that we just normally would not give a second thought about, but this is like life-changing for them. Man, they love 7-Eleven big gulps and slushies and Buckies and Bass Pro and Chick-fil-A and In-N-Out and Chipotle, chicken fried steak. Man, they're mind-blown by chicken fried steak and biscuits and gravy and tater tots. Some of them are calling out country music, especially Ella Langley. That guy Freddy from Germany is like an Ella Langley fan. They're getting brought to the concert now with Ella Langley next week in Oklahoma. It's blowing their minds. They're blown away by the size of the trucks in America, like cement trucks and dump trucks and trash trucks and high school football stadiums, the size of our grocery stores, specifically like Walmart and Costco. They are blown away by the neighborhoods where houses have yards and sidewalks that they walk down and they're just like everybody has a landscape and an American flag hanging on their front porch. They are blown away by yellow school buses, Ryan. This one gets me because they say it looks like the school buses in the movies. They said the same thing about our neighborhoods. It looks just like the movies. And then, you know, the friendliness of everyday people is something else they're calling out. They're like, everybody here is so nice and hospitable and friendly, especially in the south, like overly nice down here, right? And then some of them have even called out just how they feel safe walking in the streets. There was a guy from South Africa, he was recording himself walking down the side of a highway at a truck stop a few nights ago. It was like the middle of the night. He's like, I don't feel like I'm going to be attacked or mugged or anything. Like I feel safe out here. And then a lot of them are calling out car culture. This is a problem we have in our country. Everybody just drives cars. They're like, why can't you walk anywhere? Also, why is everything so far apart? This country is huge. Ryan, are you are you seeing this too? Are you like amazed by these small things to us, but are big things to these foreign tourists?

Ryan Denison: [00:20:03] Yeah, I mean, I think some of my favorite things are what you've talked about as well. Like the Bucky's ones always get me. And it's cool. It's like even people from the north that come down and see those, they're like, what are you doing south? And it's fantastic in the best of ways. But yeah, like I I love the videos aspects of this as well because I think there's one thing when you hear it, but when you actually watch someone eat biscuits and gravy for the first time and just see their life change, there's something about that that's just wonderful. So I do think it's cool. And the other aspect of it is it's not just people from Europe, like you were saying, it's people from all over the world, which kind of reinforces that it really is just a uniquely American things that they're finding amazing. It's not just something that they're missing in Europe or something they're missing in Africa or missing in Japan. It's it's stuff that just the US has and things that we take for granted because they are everyday occurrences. But no, I mean, that's been one of some of my favorite stories with the World Cup. And it's just it's really cool to be able to see our country through the eyes of someone else and kind of fully appreciate the things we take for granted. But yeah, I think of the things you listed, Bucky's and biscuits and gravy have been my favorite ones that I've seen so far.

Conner Jones: [00:21:07] Yeah, one of my favorite videos too has been this British family that went to Chick-fil-A for the first time. And the mom ordered the, she said jalapeno chicken Chipotle club or whatever, the chicken ranch club. But jalapeno cracked me up. And then she got it and she's filming herself like eating it. She's like, I've got a chicken burger here. It just cracks me up the the kind of phrases, the the pronunciations are different too, but they were just in love with Chick-fil-A. And who isn't? Yeah, I I just can't stop thinking about like wait till July 4th for all the tourists who are still here and they're experiencing like Americana at its fullest and especially when they get to watch the Nathan's hot dog eating contest and they see that's how we celebrate July 4th over here. But fireworks and everything, they're going to love that. Wait for the tweets on that day.

Ryan Denison: [00:21:47] I've also seen a few things where people are kind of like, if you are still here in July and near in the south, like prepare, it gets worse on the on the weather side of it.

Conner Jones: [00:21:54] Oh, the weather side. Yeah. Yeah, a lot of them are complaining about the heat, but that's just part of it. Well, in turn, we as Americans are also getting to see these other cultures come over here and show us some of what they're about, which has been really cool too. So like the Scottish fans, for instance, they played in Boston. So a bunch of Scottish fans came over. They have been taking over the streets of Boston, chanting and singing their songs. They're taking over the pubs in Boston, chanting and singing the songs. They took over Fenway Park, chanting and singing the songs. So all the videos have been really cool. They are just so ecstatic to to show us what they're about, what the life is like in Scotland, especially at the the soccer games there and bringing that to baseball and and the streets of Boston has been awesome. We've seen Europeans around the country leading restaurants and bars in song and chants, taking over like any city, even here in Dallas where we've got games, the the British fans have been taking over. We saw the Netherlands fans take over. We've seen the Japanese fans show up and clean after themselves at the stadium in Dallas, AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Really, they watched the game and then they all picked up the trash after the game and showed us what it means to be respectful of the places that host you. It was really cool to see that and Americans helping them out once they realized what was going on. They all carried around a bag and picked up their trash. They pick up after themselves. There's this town of Lawrence, Kansas where the University of Kansas is at. They are the host city for Algeria, which is really cool. This town has like adopted the Algerian soccer team and they have made them kind of their own. They've started playing their national anthem for them with the University of Kansas band. The players are going around the campus and seeing different things. They're field goal kicking, they're shooting hoops on the court at the campus and the people of the town have come into the football stadium to watch them do their practices and they've just got kind of this cool, unique adoption going on where the Algerians are going to share their culture and the fans are coming to Lawrence, Kansas. The most random thing. Can you imagine a bunch of like a few months ago saying a bunch of Algerians are going to land in Lawrence, Kansas for a week? That's amazing. You know, you tie all this in with this like just massive US win that we had on Friday against Paraguay, which was the first game for the United States and it was a huge win, big boost for the team, obviously, but I even I would think for our culture, like everybody's like, whoa, America, hey, maybe maybe we're not that bad of a team. We got a shot here to go a little bit further than this group stage, right? And it feels like the vibes are just high in America. That's what I'm just seeing and I'm feeling. I'm feeling this like immense pride, right? So, why do I bring all of this up? Because this seems like just kind of a nonchalant thing. It's not like a massive massive news story that, you know, we like to cover here at at Culture Brief. But I bring it up because prior to the World Cup, there was a lot of talk that, you know, that foreigners had a bad, bad impression of America and would not even travel over here. The Los Angeles Times had an article about this whole thing this week and they said, President Trump's aggressive immigration and terror policies, general and continual dismissal of NATO, and especially his decision to join Israel in a war against Iran, prompted many calls to boycott this year's World Cup tournament, which the US is co-hosting, of course, with Mexico and Canada. As recently as last month, the combination of those concerns, as well as high ticket prices, were blamed for the many unbooked hotel rooms and unclaimed seats in various host cities. Well, that was about a month ago, but what we're actually seeing, Ryan, is the opposite of what they were stating there. If there's a lack of hotel room bookings or ticket sales, it's really probably because FIFA and corporations way up ticked the price and made it unobtainable for a lot of people, including Americans.

Ryan Denison: [00:25:09] No doubt there.

Conner Jones: [00:25:10] Right? That's kind of their fault. But foreigners are, in fact, traveling here in droves, documenting, really, their awe of our nation and feeling deeply welcomed by Americans. Yeah, they might have their qualms with Trump and our government, but they're coming over here and they're they're experiencing America at its fullest. Even here in Dallas, we've seen these other countries come in and just, again, take over the streets, lead chants, stand with Americans side by side, singing songs, waving flags. It's amazing with the Japanese and the Netherlands and Croatia and England. That's just here in Dallas where we are. We're seeing all that. So it's in a time when it feels like Americans, like I said earlier, are being told by institutions that we're bad. We're a bad country. Everybody hates us. I think this is proving that that's not entirely true. That same LA Times article I just mentioned also said it perfectly. They said, just in time for America's 250th birthday, the turning waves of social media discontent have parted and given us a glimpse of how these United States look and taste to wide-eyed World Cup attendees, and it is glorious. And I got to say, I agree, right? It's been a breath of fresh air to see people come to America and experience what we get to experience literally every single day of our lives. You know, if you're in America. Now, some of you listening to this might not be in America, you might be overseas. We'd love to hear your perspective of what you think of America and Americans. I know we've got some Canadian listeners and I think they're seeing some of this too. Foreign tourists are coming to the the games in Canada and they're going to experience Canada at its fullest, which is really awesome. It's just a fresh breath of air for for me at least. I I and I think Ryan, maybe you feel the same way. We've talked about this a little bit offline. Is that how you're feeling too?

Ryan Denison: [00:26:38] Definitely. And it's such a good reminder because at times, I think we all have the desire to be proud of our country and to be proud of who we are, to be proud of being an American. But there is just so much you see sometimes that makes you almost feel guilty or wrong for having those emotions. And I think stuff like stories like this are a good reminder. It's like, no, it's we live in an amazing country. It has its problems. Every country does, but the core of who we are is good. The core of what we have here is something we need to appreciate and something we're not wrong for appreciating. Yes, the negatives exist, but they don't outweigh the good. And I think it's really easy at times to feel like they do. And so this story has been and all these cool videos, all the fan experiences have been an just a really encouraging reminder that America is pretty great and we are right to think it is. What's really interesting as well is like a lot of times the things that they appreciate most are the aspects of American culture that maybe we're not always great at showing to one another. I think a lot of kind of the friendliness, a lot of the welcomeness, we're willing to offer that to foreigners before we are to Americans. And I think that's something where maybe this is also a good reminder that the best of America is when we're kind to everybody, not just our guests, but to our neighbors and the people in our community and the people we disagree with, that we look for those areas of commonality and try and be as hospitable to one another as we are to the people coming from the outside.

Conner Jones: [00:28:02] Yeah, and I think that's a great point. That's honestly a great segue because I was going to say the same thing and it's kind of a call for the church, right? What we're seeing here of these foreign tourists coming over and saying, wow, this place is amazing. Now we see why everybody raves about it and why Americans have so much pride. You know, I hope that's a step towards healing of the division that we do have. And there is division. I just I think sometimes it's overstated how much division we have and especially to the rest of the world and even to Americans themselves. I'm hoping this is a step towards healing. Like, hey, actually our country is kind of great and others are telling us it is. Maybe we should listen. So I'm right there with you, Ryan. I think it is not just okay to be proud to be American, it's good to be proud to be American. Show the world why we're proud and what we're proud of. Yeah, there are moments in our history we are not proud of and we we have to talk about that. But for the most part, it's really cool to to give these people a taste of why we've got so much pride. And a lot of them are even noting how many American flags there are. They're everywhere, right? Like another thing we just look past all the time, but they're like, there are flags for America and some especially the people in Texas, they're like, there's Texas flags everywhere. Yes, that's because Texas is a whole another breed down here. But it's really cool. Ultimately, all the online discourse and the news desks that are on media every night or the Washington DC people, they're not fully reflective of the everyday reality of most of our lives, right? You know what is reflective of everyday life here? It's that Chick-fil-A dinner with a family, with your family. It's it's a stop at Bucky's or 7-Eleven to get a big gulp on your way to a beach, lake or mountain because we have all of those beautiful pieces of nature here in our country. It's helping a stranger reach something on a shelf that they can't reach in Walmart or Costco. It's mowing your neighbor's lawn when they're sick. It's holding a door open with a welcoming smile, right? It's a friendly conversation at a neighborhood block party with somebody that you would not normally associate with, but you're like, hey, nice to meet you. And most importantly, I would say this, it's that freedom to express our faith boldly like you were saying, Ryan. Because if there's one thing I hope that the foreigners are truly seeing, I hope they're seeing the love of Christ from many, many people over here. Because many of the values in our culture stem from deeply rooted Christian values. That's the way it's gone through history is Christianity helped found the way we see morality and values here in our nation. And so there's an inherent sense of community and morality in the hearts of Americans that comes straight from scripture. Romans 15:7 says, therefore, welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God. And Jesus welcomed everyone in the culture, even those that were rejected, such as the tax collectors, the sick, the lame, the poor, the elderly, the children, the widows, the foreigners. He welcomed all of those people and he loved them and he showed them that he loved them. And that's our call too. You know, if you run into a foreigner this week, or like you were saying, Ryan, if you run into another fellow American, don't treat somebody differently just because they're foreign. Treat Americans the same way. But if you were to run into a foreigner this week who's here for the World Cup or for any other reason, will you be seen by them as impatient and rude or will you be seen as welcoming and loving? How would a World Cup tourist feel if they walked through the doors of your church on Sunday? Are you going to be happy to see them there and welcome them or are you going to be like, why is this person here? They don't belong here. Hopefully you choose the first option there, right? Because there's this call to love, to love anyone and everyone that we encounter, be it someone from our community or someone from the other side of the world. I'll just leave us with this. Galatians 3:28. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. So that's on us to welcome and love everybody, no matter where they are from, no matter their history, no matter their past, and to love them and share the gospel with them. So that is our call this week as we talk about and see all these people from around the world come here. Yeah, be proud to be American, but more so, be proud to be with Jesus and share that, share that with them. That's where our true pride lies. We've got the Holy Spirit, which is really cool. So if you've got thoughts on this whole thing, if you are here from overseas, if you are seeing tourists in your town, if you are loving the World Cup and all these things, please let us know your thoughts, let us know your experiences. Shoot those to our email, [email protected] or shoot us a message on Instagram @culturebriefpodcast. Go follow us and DM us there. I want to hear your stories. Ryan wants to hear your stories. Micah wants to hear your stories. Let us know. Yeah, any last thoughts there, Ryan?

Ryan Denison: [00:32:10] No, I mean, I think that's great. And amen to that. I mean, if we can be known for being Christians first and American second, like that's I think what we're called to do. But those two things don't have to be in conflict either. And so the best being the best Christian makes us the best Americans. That's been part of the Christian message from the first 100 years of the church. That's been the idea is like we're the best people our culture needs when we're the best versions of who Jesus made us to be.

Conner Jones: [00:32:35] Yep, yep. It's really cool to see all the world pride. Like I just people come from all over the world so proud of their nation. The Japanese are here and the the Germans and the Croatians and the Algerians and everybody's just it's really cool to see every country step up and show their pride. And I'm cannot wait for the next few US games to to just go all out again. All right, let's jump into our check-in section. So, we've got several news stories that have happened this week. We're going to hit on this as a lot with sports, but first off, I just kind of want to hit on a little bit of a somber thing here. There were three aircraft crashes over the weekend going into Monday and I just want to point these out because several people definitely, man, lost their lives here. So on Sunday, two helicopters collided over Rio de Janeiro down in Brazil and it killed all six aboard. This normally probably would not make the news up here in America, but one of the people on board the helicopter was pop artist Oliver Tree. He was on a world tour and you might not recognize the name Oliver Tree. Some of you will, but you would probably recognize his most popular song, Life Goes On. That song, I went back to listen to it. I was like, oh man, I hear this song all the time. You're walking through a store or something and it's always playing. It has over 479 million views on YouTube and 713 million streams on Spotify. So really big artist, really sad him and the others that lost their lives in this helicopter collision. Very sad about that. Also on Sunday, a skydiving plane crashed in Butler, Missouri shortly after takeoff and it killed 11 skydivers and the pilot. You know, one of those things where sometimes the actual aircraft is more dangerous than the jump in skydiving. I think more people have died, I'm not sure of this, I would need to double check, but I think more people have died in America in the planes crashing on skydives than actually jumping accidents. So really tragic there as more comes out about that and the the people who lost their lives. And then on Monday, a US Air Force B-52 also crashed shortly after takeoff at Edwards Air Force Base in California. It killed eight crew members, which was made up of military, the pilots were military, maybe a couple of the other crew members. There were some government employed civilians and contractors on board as well. So massive crash and explosion came out of that and just really tragic to see. Hate that and we're just praying for all those families, everybody who lost loved ones this week in those crashes. Be grateful sometimes when, you know, your plane lands safely and you're like, you just walk off. It's sometimes it's it's cool to be like, God, thanks for landing us safely. I I think about that when I get off a plane sometimes. like, thanks for that safe flight, Lord. That was good. You know.

Ryan Denison: [00:34:52] Amen. I'm flying this week, so it's Oh, well. Yeah, you know, pray for safe travels and we'll pray for your safe travels, Ryan. And then I think it's good to be grateful sometimes when you get off a plane or when you get out of your car and you got back home safely. All that. Travel is something to be grateful for.

Conner Jones: [00:35:06] No doubt.

Ryan Denison: [00:35:07] And so another interesting thing that's been going on in the culture is just the launch of SpaceX. Stock opened last Friday and kind of boomed, made Elon Musk the first trillionaire. And most people thought maybe this is like an initial boom and then it's going to bust, but that has not been the case. It closed Tuesday at $201.68 a share, which puts the company up to roughly $2.64 trillion. That means in less than a week of public trading, it's behind now only Nvidia, Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon. And is actually kind of like keeps switching places with Amazon as to what the most valuable companies are. And so what's interesting is like SpaceX has not been profitable. I think its best year is like $19 billion or something in revenue. And so it's really people are betting on Elon Musk more than the company. And given his history, that's that doesn't seem like a bad bet, but we'll see how it goes. And next story is kind of getting into the sports. The Carolina Hurricanes for the first time in two decades are Stanley Cup champions after they beat the Las Vegas Golden Knights 4 to 2 in that series. And I didn't watch much of the Stanley Cup finals, but there really is nothing like playoff hockey in terms of just like the emotions behind it, how tense it can be, especially at the end of close close games. So congratulations to any Hurricanes fans out there.

Conner Jones: [00:36:22] Yeah, I saw the I caught the end of that last game and man, seeing the team celebrate together, lifting up the big Stanley Cup trophy is always really cool. So congrats to the Hurricanes. You know, it would be nice to see the stars up in there winning one. We've been to the Stanley Cup a couple of times here in the last few years, but have not actually lifted the trophy. So that would be really cool. Yeah, and to the Elon Musk thing, it is interesting. You you mentioned the profitability. I was doing some research on this. We talked about this in depth last week, why SpaceX is or is not worth the trillion plus dollars. It's apparently worth 2.6 trillion now with the stock shooting up. And I know it's going up and down every single day and you're like you're saying with Amazon, it's surpassing or falling under it. Either way, it's up there in that territory with those top five companies in the world in terms of revenue. And the thing you got to remember is even Amazon about a decade ago finally reached profitability. They spent those first really 15ish years not making a profit. They had the plan, hey, it's a long-term plan. We will not just make profit, we will make insane profits if you trust us. And they did. And, you know, like their investors did and it ultimately paid off for a lot of people. So that's the hope here with SpaceX too is sometimes you don't make profit until you get the influx of cash that you need, which is what this IPO is doing, so that they can start building more spaceships and satellites and internet connectors and everything and AI models. So all that to say,

Ryan Denison: [00:37:38] I think there's a lot of people looking at Tesla as sort of an example. They they jumped up 40% when their IPO went public, then after a few days, it dropped down below the initial price. And now if you invested $1,000 in Tesla at their launch, it would be worth, I think it's like $358,000 today. That $1,000 investment. And so I think you got a lot of people that are not going to make the same mistake this time. And I think that's going to give SpaceX a lot more rope to play with in terms of just their the patience from their investors.

Conner Jones: [00:38:06] Yeah, I think the biggest question is how much will Elon dedicate to it? Will he pull off the Tesla thing or is he going to go the doge route and leave after three months? We'll see. Okay, something else, guys, the Knicks, they did it. The New York Knicks did it. They won. That was so fun to watch. The city of New York is just elated. I mean, they partied all night. I saw videos all night. I mean, there there were the videos also of some people destroying things and setting a bus on fire and all that. That's not great. The majority of the city went out and just went crazy. They partied all night. They celebrated this 53-year drought ending of championships. All the celebrity row, you know, was having the time of their lives as well. Really, I'm just happy for the Knicks and the Knicks fans because I feel it, man. Ryan, you feel it. We're Cowboys fans. We get the idea of being like the biggest name brand in a sport and not being able to capitalize, not being able to make it to just to the next phase. And they did it. And so congratulations to them. And Jalen Brunson, former Maverick, traded away, goes to New York and just dominates. And he's probably he might be the best player in the league right now. I mean, he got the MVP award for the finals and all that, but yeah, the Spurs just could not keep up. So they the Knicks won four to one. They really kind of dominated the series. So congratulations.

Ryan Denison: [00:39:16] They were behind in almost every one of those games by double digits and just kept coming back and kept coming back. And it's so they're they're a unique team in a lot of cool ways.

Conner Jones: [00:39:26] They're really unique. Congratulations to them. All right, let's talk a little bit of soccer because yeah, the the US men's, we won. I mean, everybody thought we could beat Paraguay, but not as not as dominantly as we did. We won four to one, which is huge. So congratulations to the US men's soccer team. We are so ready. We are so alive. Everything is thriving over here in America. We got foreign tourists reminding us of how great our nation is and our team is just looking good, man. I I'm pumped. We got another game on Friday, 3:00 p.m. Eastern, 2:00 p.m. Central. It's going to be great. We are playing Australia, dude. It's going to be awesome. Are you excited for that one?

Ryan Denison: [00:39:58] I am. It's going to be fun. It's going to be a tougher game than Paraguay, but in some ways that just could make it a more fun game.

Conner Jones: [00:40:04] Yeah, it could. It could. I was watching with some friends including Micah last week and I was like, well, you know, the suspense is kind of gone by like minute 60 because we had such a dominant lead. It was like, I like that we have this lead, but also there's no suspense. Maybe we'll have a little bit of suspense with some of these future games. Something else going on is the US Open in golf is this weekend. So make sure to tune in to that. They're playing at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, New York, where this is the exciting part, Ryan, even if you're not a golf fan, you'll understand how difficult this is. The winds are projected to get between 40 and 50 miles per hour during this tournament. Can you imagine golfing in that? And now you're asking the world's best players to come out here, play along the Atlantic Ocean there in New York, the Hamptons essentially, and try to hit a golf ball to a small little hole 400 yards away. Good luck, guys. I'm excited to watch. I'll be tuned in all weekend to that. Another thing is, you can catch both Ryan and I on this week's Faith and Clarity podcast episode. We had the opportunity to talk with Dr. Mark Turman. Ryan, you talked about AI and the Pope's encyclical and everything that he was warning about and where we're going with government regulations on AI and taxes and everything. We really got to dive into AI and will it become sentient in some sort of form? How should Christians respond to that? And then we also talked about Spielberg and his latest movie, Disclosure Day, all about UFOs and aliens. And if they were real, would it shatter the Christian faith? So there there's a lot to take in there. A lot of people are asking that. In the movie, you know, I got to see the movie this past weekend. And I thought the movie was fine. I didn't think it was like an existential thing. But Spielberg does pose the question, what does the revelation of alien life out there? What does that do to the church and its foundational beliefs? So Ryan, Mark and I had that discussion. I would encourage you to go tune in over there. We'll link that in the show notes. Faith and Clarity podcast. Check that out. We love a little alien talk around here, don't we, Ryan?

Ryan Denison: [00:41:50] No doubt.

Conner Jones: [00:41:51] Well, guys, that's it for today. Ryan, thank you for joining us and taking the time to just share your thoughts, share your expertise on everything going on with Iran. Make sure to go tune in to that episode that I mentioned and make sure to subscribe to Ryan's newsletter, The Focus. And we'll see you all next week. Thank you for joining us on this week's episode of Culture Brief, a Denison Forum podcast. All articles and videos mentioned in this episode will be linked in the show notes. If you want to help us reach more believers with truth in today's chaotic culture, please share this podcast around and leave a five-star rating and review. All episodes are produced by Sound of a Rose. For more information, you can visit soundofarose.com. See you next Thursday.