Episodes

SWAJ Rewind: Stand for the Flag, Kneel for the Cross
Dec. 31, 2025

SWAJ Rewind: Stand for the Flag, Kneel for the Cross

Is the slogan, “stand for the flag, kneel for the cross” a harmless expression of the conviction that good Christians can also be good citizens? Or if we decode it, do we find that a meaning that’s much more pernicious than t...
Ex-Evangelical Apologetics: Are Leavers Broken and/or Just Giving Up? (SWAJ Rewind)
Dec. 29, 2025

Ex-Evangelical Apologetics: Are Leavers Broken and/or Just Giving Up? (SWAJ Rewind)

Brad revisits the idea that exvangelicals are just broke and giving up on faith. He responds to an interview at the Remnant Radio with Skillet's John Cooper. Topics discussed: Do non-Evangelicals allow culture to shape them, ...
SWAJ Rewind: The Colonized God: Reflections on Christian Nationalism and Jesus by Dr. Matthew Taylor
Dec. 26, 2025

SWAJ Rewind: The Colonized God: Reflections on Christian Nationalism and Jesus by Dr. Matthew Taylor

In this special episode, Brad introduces an audio essay by Matt Taylor titled 'The Colonized God.' Taylor, known for his work on the New Apostolic Reformation, explores the complex relationship between Christians who are not ...
SWAJ Rewind: "Who Owns Christmas?"
Dec. 24, 2025

SWAJ Rewind: "Who Owns Christmas?"

Who “owns” Christmas? When Christians tell non-Christians that they need to “remember the reason for the season,” or accuse them of engaging in a “war on Christmas,” do they have a right to do so? Is Christmas “theirs” just b...
A Year That Nearly Broke Us—and Why We Keep Going
Dec. 22, 2025

A Year That Nearly Broke Us—and Why We Keep Going

In this end-of-year episode of Straight White American, Jesus , Brad Onishi steps away from headlines, interviews, and analysis to offer something closer to a sermon—a reflection shaped by grief, exhaustion, and defiance at t...
Weekly Roundup: Cruelty as Policy, From Healthcare to Trans Panic
Dec. 19, 2025

Weekly Roundup: Cruelty as Policy, From Healthcare to Trans Panic

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...
It's in the Code ep 173: “They Just Hate Men”
Dec. 17, 2025

It's in the Code ep 173: “They Just Hate Men”

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 ...
Myths of Violence: How Guns Became Sacred in America
Dec. 15, 2025

Myths of Violence: How Guns Became Sacred in America

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...
Weekly Roundup: A Battle of Fonts and Freedoms: Analyzing Trump's Authoritarianism and Growing Unpopularity
Dec. 12, 2025

Weekly Roundup: A Battle of Fonts and Freedoms: Analyzing Trump's Authoritarianism and Growing Unpopularity

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’...
Special Episode: When We All Get to Heaven Ep 1
Dec. 11, 2025

Special Episode: When We All Get to Heaven Ep 1

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...
It's in the Code ep 172: “Projecting Enemies”
Dec. 10, 2025

It's in the Code ep 172: “Projecting Enemies”

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...
Olivia Nuzzi, Mormon Wives, and the Death of Democracy
Dec. 8, 2025

Olivia Nuzzi, Mormon Wives, and the Death of Democracy

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...
Weekly Roundup: Cultural Crusades: From Hegseth's Boat Attacks to Oklahoma's Classrooms
Dec. 5, 2025

Weekly Roundup: Cultural Crusades: From Hegseth's Boat Attacks to Oklahoma's Classrooms

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...
It's in the Code ep 171: “A Man Like God”
Dec. 3, 2025

It's in the Code ep 171: “A Man Like God”

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...
National Guard Shooting Reveals the Right's Dangerous Western Supremacy
Dec. 1, 2025

National Guard Shooting Reveals the Right's Dangerous Western Supremacy

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...
SWAJ Rewind: Give Thanks
Nov. 28, 2025

SWAJ Rewind: Give Thanks

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 ...
Weekly Roundup: Kristi Noem Implicated, Erika Kirk’s Love Language, and Bill McKibben on the Tragedy of American Christianity
Nov. 26, 2025

Weekly Roundup: Kristi Noem Implicated, Erika Kirk’s Love Language, and Bill McKibben on the Tragedy of American Christianity

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...
Pulitzer Winner on How the 90s Created Trump
Nov. 24, 2025

Pulitzer Winner on How the 90s Created Trump

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 ...
Short Weekly Roundup: Donald Trump is the Anti-Christian President
Nov. 21, 2025

Short Weekly Roundup: Donald Trump is the Anti-Christian President

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...
It's in the Code ep 170: “Order, Chaos, and Evil”
Nov. 19, 2025

It's in the Code ep 170: “Order, Chaos, and Evil”

[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 ...
ICE is Detaining Holocaust Survivors
Nov. 17, 2025

ICE is Detaining Holocaust Survivors

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...
Weekly Roundup: MAGAworld Splinters: Epstein Revelations, Civilizational Populism, and the Future of the GOP
Nov. 14, 2025

Weekly Roundup: MAGAworld Splinters: Epstein Revelations, Civilizational Populism, and the Future of the GOP

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...
American Unexceptionalism: K-Pop Demon Hunters IRL Korea
Nov. 12, 2025

American Unexceptionalism: K-Pop Demon Hunters IRL Korea

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...
The Librarian Who Fought Christian Nationalist Book Bans and Won
Nov. 10, 2025

The Librarian Who Fought Christian Nationalist Book Bans and Won

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,” ...