“Spiritual Warfare 2.0” How do appeals to “spiritual warfare” relate to the social and political struggles of the flesh-and-blood world? How do different kinds of Christian communities and traditions understand the relation b...
From the archives, an episode from 2019 centered on how fundamentalist religions are prone to violence. This episode has renewed relevance given the recent discussions of civil war in the wake of the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago:...
Brad and. Dan begin by discussing the week's GOP primary results, nothing that the GOP remains the Party of Trump. They juxtapose these results with the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, the Trump Org tax case in NY, and the other on...
“Spiritual Warfare 1.0” What is “spiritual warfare”? Why do some Christians understand their faith and practice in terms of spiritual warfare? And what are some of the concrete effects of understanding Christianity in terms o...
Brad speaks with journalist and pastor Angela Denker about the updated version of her book, Red State Christians. Denker spent a year traveling across the United States, interviewing the Evangelical Christian voters who suppo...
In this episode, Dan revisits the claim or aspiration to be “biblical.” If such claims or aspirations involve efforts to control religious adherents, what are the consequences of this? What claims or attitudes, or actions doe...
What does it mean when a Christian says something is “biblical?” Why do some Christians talk this way, while others don’t? What do “biblicist” claims tell us about Christians’ understanding of religious authority and social c...
On a special episode, Brad is joined by Dr. Thomas Lecaque to discuss the likelihood that Trump will face criminal charges for his role in the Insurrection. Brad begins by recounting the late breaking news that Trump is repor...
In this episode, Dan takes his lead from listeners who’ve written in about hearing that “God hates divorce,” that “the family that prays together, stays together,” and so forth. What does this language mean? How have theologi...
Brad and Dan begin by discussing last night's J6 hearing, focusing on the 187 minutes between when violence erupted at the Capitol and when Trump finally released a video telling his followers to go home. They focus on the ca...
“Church Family” What does it mean when a church or spiritual community refers to itself as a “family”? If this is intended as a statement of support and affirmation, why does it make some people feel uncomfortable? And how do...
Brad and Dan discuss immigration, refugees, and White evangelicals with Dr. Janelle Wong, Core Faculty in Asian American Studies and Professor of American Studies at the University of Maryland. Professor Wong discusses her ne...
This week’s episode focuses on the intersections of cultural and political debates about race, history, sexual violence, and abortion. Dan and guest co-host Professor Sara Moslener discuss a Fox new claim that "wokism" has ta...
What does it mean when cultural and religious conservatives proclaim that they affirm a “culture of life?” We know it means that they oppose abortion and abortion access. But what else does it mean? In this episode, Dan dives...
Brad speaks with Stanford scholar of religion Dr. Kathryn Gin Lum about her new book Heathen. They discuss how White American Christians have used the label "heathen" in order to name those they deem not only different, but i...
Brad is joined by guest co-host Dr. Leah Payne. They begin by discussing how many White Americans - especially White Christian nationalists - view the national body as straight, White, patriarchal, and American-born. This fra...
What does it mean when Christians say that we “live in a fallen world”? Where does that language come from? Most importantly, what to different kinds of Christians do with that language? Dan tackles these topics in this episo...
Brad speaks with Dr. Kelsy Burke, a sociologist from the University of Nebraska, who discusses her new book The Pornography Wars: The Past, Present, and Future of America's Obscene Obsession. https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/por...
