Dan Miller unpacks how Republican policy and ideology are converging around harm rather than governance. He begins with healthcare, breaking down how congressional action allowed Affordable Care Act subsidies to lapse and wha...
Josh Hawley suggests that men are tasked with being “leaders.” But what does that mean for him? In what ways does he mix and match his terms to mask his real understanding of leadership and masculinity? And how does it bring ...
Brad sits down with Dr. Rachel Wagner, Professor of Religious Studies at Ithaca College and author of Cowboy Apocalypse , for a sobering and necessary conversation about why guns hold such powerful meaning in American life. P...
Brad and Dan return to unpack another week of chaos, contradictions, and creeping authoritarianism in American politics. They open with what seems like a small story but carries outsized symbolic weight: the State Department’...
In this special episode of 'Straight White American Jesus,' the host introduces the podcast series 'When We All Get To Heaven,' which chronicles the history of the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco during the AID...
Josh Hawley argues that “man’s mission” is to combat evil. Defining men in this way makes evil necessary, and it transforms every political, social, and cultural disagreement into a moral conflict of cosmic significance. In t...
Brad is joined by Alan Elrod, CEO and founder of the Pulaski Institution, for a wide-ranging conversation about what happens to democracy when entertainment values replace empathy. They start with the Olivia Nuzzi scandal and...
Brad and Dan return with a packed Weekly Roundup that cuts through the noise of culture war headlines to get at what is really happening in American politics and religion this week. They start with the bizarre story dominatin...
Josh Hawley builds his account on masculinity and manhood on the idea that men are created in God’s image and, as such, are his representatives on earth. But what is Hawley’s God like? What kind of God does Hawley worship? Wh...
Brad takes a hard look at the American right’s response to the recent shooting of two National Guardsmen in Washington, DC, and shows how the rhetoric around the tragedy signals a shift from overt Christian nationalism to som...
This week Dan talks about the popular praise and worship song, “Give Thanks With a Grateful Heart.” What is the message of this song? Written as a song of solace and hope, how does it also express an attitude that denies the ...
Brad and Dan are back from the American Academy of Religion conference in Boston and kick off this episode with some love for the folks they met there before diving into a wild week in American politics and religion. They sta...
Brad Onishi sits down with Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Starr to dig into his new book, American Contradiction , and the idea that the United States is less a shining city on a hill and more a city built on a fault line. Starr ...
In this episode of 'Straight White American, Jesus,' Brad Oishi discusses the Trump administration's paradoxical treatment of Christianity. Highlighting the arrest of Christian clergy during a protest at the Broadview immigra...
[CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains references to, and discussion of, death by suicide]. In this episode, Dan begins exploring what Josh Hawley calls “a man’s battle.” Hawley argues that what defines men, what gives them ...
Brad takes listeners through two heartbreaking stories that reveal how religion, immigration policy, and selective notions of freedom collide in today’s political climate. He first looks at the attempted deportation of a Hol...
MAGAworld Splinters: Epstein Revelations, Civilizational Populism, and the Future of the GOP In this episode of Straight White American Jesus, hosts Brad O’Ri and Dan Miller discuss the tumultuous week surrounding U.S. politi...
Dan is off this week. So we are pleased to bring you a feature from our new limited series American Unexceptionalism: Global Lessons on Fighting Religious Nationalism with Dr. Matthew Taylor and Rev. Susan Hayward. South Kore...
One of the things small town librarian Amanda Jones values most about books is how they can affirm a young person's sense of self. So in 2022, when she caught wind of a local public hearing that would discuss “book content,” ...
Brad and Dan unpack the historic election of Zohran Mamdani as Mayor of New York City and the predictable right-wing meltdown that followed, complete with claims that he’s somehow both too weak to lead and an existential thre...
Josh Hawley argues that American “liberals” (anyone who isn’t a conservative Christian) don’t have a story to tell about men’s purpose in the world. But it turns out things are a lot more complicated than he lets on. It turns...
Brad Onishi is joined by Dr. Laura Field, author of Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right , for a fascinating look into the intellectual roots of the MAGA movement and its rising political stars, including JD Vance....
Dan’s “demon” costume sets the stage for a serious warning: Americans may not be able to vote freely in 2026. Brad argues that authoritarian tactics and election interference are accelerating, pointing to SNAP benefit cuts, A...
Josh Hawley devotes the second chapter of his book to outlining what he sees as “man’s purpose.” He promises to answer the question of why men are here, and what they are supposed to do. What does he see as this purpose? And ...
