Hope in a Distracted Culture: Kathleen Cooke (Part 1)

Hope in a Distracted Culture: Kathleen Cooke (Part 1)

What drives someone to seek a deep relationship with Jesus in a culture glued to screens? This conversation between Jenny Bushkell and media executive Kathleen Cook offers a straight-talking look at faith in a distracted age. Kathleen shares how years in Las Vegas and Hollywood shaped her understanding of what happens "behind the bright lights" and why she now sees Hollywood as a mission field.

As founding partner of Cooke Media Group and co-founder of The Influence Lab and Influence Women, she's all about supporting Christians working in media so they can tell important stories well and "change the culture for Christ." A big theme here is "cultural Christianity" – people who wear the label but don’t personally engage with God.

Kathleen doesn’t sugar-coat it: "If you're not engaging with God four or more times a week, you'll make no significant choices or changes any different from someone who never reads their Bible." She talks practically about fitting scripture and prayer into a busy life, even joking that you might need to schedule time with God on your phone.

You’ll also hear them chat about life in the Bible Belt versus Los Angeles, raising grandkids in a media-saturated world, and the reality that "the cell phone is going to parent that child today" if adults don’t step in. Kathleen urges parents and grandparents to protect kids’ attention and help them learn to hear God’s "still small voice" before endless content grabs their hearts.

Jenny’s audience includes people wrestling with faith, life decisions, and sometimes addiction or grief, and this episode fits right in by pointing them back to a steady, daily walk with Jesus rather than a surface-level church routine. If you’ve ever felt your faith getting lost between newsfeeds, streaming shows and constant notifications, this honest chat might nudge you to ask: how often are you truly engaging with God?