Our guest is actor, comedian, writer, political commentator, pod-caster and television host, John Fugelsang. His range is very wide … from hosting America’s Funniest Home Videos in the 1990s to his current show, Tell Me Everything, on Sirius XM Insight since 2015. His unpretentious, natural charm enabled him, for example, to lengthen his interview with George Harrison and Ravi Shankar, which led to Harrison’s impromptu last public performance at the VH1 Studios in NY city.

His book, SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND HATE: A Sane Person’s Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds, was published in early September, 2025 and quickly became a NY Times best seller. At a time when Christian Nationalist extremists have taken control of many of our institutions in government, education, and information, claiming that what they do is in the name of Jesus, Fugelsang’s book is timely and crucial in reclaiming what Jesus actually preached. Whether one is religious, atheistic, or indifferent, one can’t escape the impact on our lives, our democracy and the health of our biosphere of their machinations.

I keep thinking of a statement by Gandhi, “To see the universal and all-pervading Spirit of Truth face to face, one must be able to love the meanest of creation as oneself. And a man who aspires after that cannot afford to keep out of any field of life. That is why my devotion to Truth has drawn me into the field of politics; and I can say without the slightest hesitation, and yet in all humility, that those who say that religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion means.”

John Fugelsang has the gift of seeking and telling truth with an open heart and in a humorous way that helps his message get through. As he says at the very beginning of his book, “I’ve come to view Jesus the way I’ve come to view Elvis. I love the guy, but some of the fan clubs terrify me.”
We spoke with him on October 6, 2025 via Zoom.

Articles, etc. pertinent to this interview:

‘ICE Goes Masked for a Single Reason’ https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/opinion/ice-masks-immigration.html

George Harrison July 24th 1997 VH1 Studios New York City NY. VH1 News Special “The Last Performance” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ1ytZo88IQ

‘Vertical Morality’ Might Describe Why MAGA Christians Seem So Unchristian https://www.huffpost.com/entry/vertical-morality-maga-christians_l_68dc8386e4b0b11989f00fb8?origin=home-life-unit

Pope Leo Issues Pointed Message About Immigrants After Donald Trump Critique https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pope-leo-donald-trump-immigration_n_68e38176e4b08634f761fd72?origin=home-whats-happening-unit

Sarah Mullally is named as first female archbishop of Canterbury https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/03/sarah-mullally–named-first-female-archbishop-of-canterbury

Bishop Budde Expected More Pushback After Asking Trump for ‘Mercy’ https://sojo.net/articles/interview/reconstruct/bishop-budde-expected-more-pushback-after-asking-trump-mercy

Christian group ‘deceived’ supreme court about LGBTQ+ research, cited scholars say https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/06/alliance-defending-freedom-supreme-court-conversion-therapy

He’s Young, Talented and Openly Religious. Is He the Savior Democrats Have Been Waiting for? https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/opinion/james-talarico-religious-left.html

Why MAGA Evangelicals Can Cheer Love and Hate at the Same Time https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/opinion/erika-kirk-charlie-trump-miller.html

Pope Leo Breaks Down Why MAGA Is ‘Not Really’ Pro-Life https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pope-leo-breaks-down-why-maga-is-not-really-pro-life_n_68dd802ae4b0c450ba64c434?origin=home-zone-c-unit

Transgender Americans are seeing a wave of hate unleashed by Charlie Kirk’s killing https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/sep/25/transgender-americans-are-seeing-a-wave-of-hate-unleashed-by-charlie-kirks-killing

Autistic people could teach Donald Trump a thing or two about focus, facts and empathy https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/sep/28/autistic-people-donald-trump-autism-us-president-rfk-jr

Oklahoma superintendent who put Trump Bibles in classrooms resigns https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/25/oklahoma-superintendent-resigns-ryan-walters

We Need to Think Straight About God and Politics https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/opinion/kirk-trump-christianity.html

The Republican Effort To Remake Schools In God’s Image https://www.huffpost.com/entry/texas-republicans-christianity-public-schools_n_68d6b186e4b0185d00688d38

Trump’s NSPM-7 Labels Common Beliefs As Terrorism “Indicators”
New directive targets “anti-Christian,” “anti-American,” and “anti-capitalism” opinions https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/trumps-nspm-7-labels-common-beliefs

Ann Fagan Ginger, Tireless Defender of Civil Liberties, Dies at 100 https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/us/ann-fagan-ginger-dead.html?searchResultPosition=1

John Trudell on the Christian World View https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhpYEvZ-Oz4