In theory, I knew that this kind of thing can happen in any family.
Upstanding citizens are always turning out to be secret criminals.
And I wouldn't even call my cousin Alan an upstanding citizen.
But it's one thing to know and another thing to understand.
Alan, murder, me?
What the hell was Alan thinking?
From serial productions and The New York Times, I'm Em Gessen, and this is The Idiot.
Listen, wherever you get your podcasts.
We are looking for an audio engineer that would work closely with this show.
The role will be based in DC,
and notwithstanding this episode will not require an encyclopedic knowledge of the New Testament.
So if you or someone you know may be interested in applying,
the link for the job posting is in the description for this week's episode.
How close do the gospel stories take us to what really happened at the beginning of Christianity?
This is one of the world's great religious debates, and also one of its most intense historical detective stories.
And my guest this week has spent his career as a leading participant,
joining the skeptical side as a New Testament scholar after growing up as a believing Christian.
His latest book is called Love Thy Stranger.
It describes how Jesus' teaching reshaped the moral conscience of the West.
And it proves its own point, you might say,