Episodes

In the first episode of 'Red State Religions,' host Dr. Gillian Frank explores the progressive religious communities in conservative areas, focusing on the Unitarian Universalist ministers and LGBTQ couples who participated in same-sex marriage ceremonies in Birmingham, Alabama. The episode highlights Reverend Luna Jensen Boad's and Reverend Lne Broussard's roles in these historic events, detailing the political and religious struggles leading to and following the legalization of same-sex marria...

Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 800-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ Practitioners of high-control Christianity present the “core” teachings of the tradition as being about God’s unconditional love and acceptance of human beings. This is the “public-facing” presentation of high-control Christianity. But when we take a deeper look within high-control Chris...

Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 800-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ In this final installment of the series, Brad discusses the concept of 'toxic empathy' as introduced by Ali Beth Stuckey in her book and critiques its impact on empathy within Christian and nationalistic contexts. He explores how empathy is being demonized by figures such as Elon Musk an...

Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 800-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ This episode of 'Straight White American Jesus' explores recent major political scandals, specifically the SignalGate scandal involving members of the Trump administration inadvertently adding journalist Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal chat containing sensitive military information. Brad a...

On April 16th of 2021, Clay Clark, a far-right conspiracy theorist and self-proclaimed "alpha toxic male," from Tulsa, Oklahoma held his first "ReAwaken America" tour—an event that began in Oklahoma as a protest against COVID-19 restrictions and quickly grew into a nationwide platform for nationalism, so-called "patriotic streetfighters," and prophetic politics. In the buckle of the proverbial Bible belt, Clark created a cavalcade of Trumpian support, attracting actor Jim Caviezel, former U.S. n...

Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 800-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ "Subscribe to Red State Religions here" What is “love-bombing,” and how does it operate to reinforce high-control Christianity? How is it used in an attempt to discredit those undergoing faith deconstruction, whose questions and critiques threaten to undue high-control religion? And ho...

Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 800-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ Brad speaks to Professor Anthea Butler, a captain in the Biden campaign's "Catholics for Biden" initiative, and chair of the Religious Studies department at the University of Pennsylvania. They discuss the details of Trump's COVID diagnosis and how his recklessness is fueled by four thin...

Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 800-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ In this episode of Straight White American Jesus, we explore the troubling idea—promoted in some evangelical circles—that empathy is a sin. The conversation centers around Joe Rigney’s book The Sin of Empathy, unpacking its flawed biblical and theological claims. We examine how this pers...

Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 800-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ In this episode of Straight White American Jesus, Brad and Dan discuss a range of controversial issues. They start with the ongoing mass deportations of Venezuelan nationals under the Trump administration, ignoring a judge's injunction. They talk about the use of tattoos as markers for ...

On October 12, 2024, tens of thousands of Christians gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., answering a call from charismatic activist Jenny Donnelly and pastor Lou Engle. The event, held on Yom Kippur, blended prayer political mobilization as speakers urged believers to take action ahead of the 2024 election. With banners reading #DontMessWithOurKids, the rally tapped into fears about gender and sexuality, echoing similar movements abroad. The results of the 2024 election suggest Do...

Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 800-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ “Are you mad at God?” This is a question that will almost certainly be posed to anyone undergoing faith deconstruction. It might come from someone who means well and who cares about the person deconstructing. Or it might come from a partisan advocate of high-control religion. What is hap...

Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 800-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ In this episode, Brad breaks down the troubling rhetoric from Christian nationalist pastors—and even figures like Elon Musk—who claim that empathy is a sin and a societal weakness. He critically examines Pastor Joe Rigney’s book, The Sin of Empathy, which argues that empathy is particular...

Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 800-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ When The Wolves Came / Series Description Over the last decade, large swaths of evangelicals in the U.S. have embraced an extremist politics that threatens to turn our democracy into a theocracy. Through the eyes of one pastor in Phoenix, WHEN THE WOLVES CAME shows how some evangelicals a...

Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 800-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ In this special episode of Straight White American Jesus' Brad and Dan delve into the recent indictment of Robert Morris, a former evangelical leader and advisor to Donald Trump. They discuss the intersection of patriarchy, purity culture, and the disturbing allegations against Morris, re...

One Sunday morning in Georgia, a family walks into their Pentecostal church ready for worship. They're unaware that outside something life changing is about to unfold. During the service, ICE arrests a man just outside the church doors while his family sits inside. A moment of worship and community suddenly turns into a moment of fear and uncertainty. This is the reality for many facing immigration enforcement in unexpected places today. This week on Spirit and Power: Apocalypse Now - how Pente...

Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 800-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ “You’re confusing Christians with Christianity.” This is another response that those undergoing “faith deconstruction” often receive when engaging with the partisans of high-control religion. This response reflects widespread cultural understandings of religion, so it has a ring of plausi...

Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 800-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ Brad interviews Zach Mack, host of NPR's Alternate Realities. Zach shares his personal journey with his father, who became radicalized by online conspiracy theories and New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) prophecies. Through a unique bet involving 10 conspiracy predictions, Zach and his fathe...

Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 800-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ This episode of Straight White American Jesus focuses on the removal and censure of Representative Al Green during the State of the Union, highlighting the symbolic image of Green confronting Donald Trump, with JD Vance and Mike Johnson standing behind Trump. Hosts Brad Onishi and Dan Mil...

Why does Donald Trump look and sound like a Prosperity Gospel preacher? What are the actual ties of the president to this tradition of Christian healers and televangelists? In​ this episode of Spirit & Power, Dr. Leah Payne speaks with Dr. Gabriel Raeburn - Senior Research Fellow, Harvard Slavery Remembrance Program, Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery Initiative - about the health and wealth preachers who love Donald J. Trump, and their ​affinities with tech billionaires like Elon Musk & Peter T...

Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 800-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ Linktree: https://linktr.ee/StraightWhiteJC In this bonus episode of 'Straight White American Jesus,' hosts Brad Onishi and his cohost delve into a critical analysis of a tumultuous press conference between President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky. They explore how the event sheds...

Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 800-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ If someone is working through faith deconstruction, it’s a virtual guarantee that they will be confronted with this dismissal of their questions and critiques at some point. But what exactly is going on when a partisan of high-control Christianity says this? What response are they trying ...

Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 800-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ This episode explores a disturbing incident in Northern Idaho where activist Teresa Borrenpohl was forcibly removed from a town hall meeting by unidentified men, believed to be part of a private security team, raising concerns about the erosion of democratic norms and the rise of extraleg...

Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 800-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ Brad and Dan discuss a range of pressing issues under the Trump administration, focusing on the controversial 'Golden Visa' proposal. Donald Trump's plan would allow wealthy foreigners to purchase U.S. citizenship for $5 million, raising questions about who is deemed valuable in America. ...

Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 800-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ “Why do you always focus on the negative?” “Why are you so negative all the time?” If you have posed hard questions about high-control religion, or if you have undergone (or are undergoing) “faith deconstruction,” it is a virtual guarantee that you have been confronted by questions like t...