Episodes

Feb. 11, 2021

S1.Ep8 (Re-release) If You Believe in Gay People, Please Leave! -with David Gushee

Dan's 2018 interview with ethicist and former AAR president David Gushee, who left evangelicalism after changing his views of LGBTQ relationships.

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Feb. 8, 2021

Christian Nationalism at the 2021 Super Bowl

Brad talks about: 

  • Christian nationalism and Bruce Springsteen's Meet in the Middle ad 
  • Tom Brady's friendship with Donald Trump and White Privilege 
  • Tom Brady and Colin Kapernick: The Center and the Margin 
  • The Kansas City Footba…
Feb. 5, 2021

Weekly Roundup: The Greene New Deal

Brad and Dan talk about the false equivalence the GOP tried to draw this week between Marjorie Taylor Greene and Ilhan Omar. This takes place in the context of a discussion about the generational legacy Trump holds over the Republican party, which is now dominated by extremists, conspiracy theor…

Feb. 4, 2021

S1.E7 (Re-Release): Dating Jesus

On an episode from fall of 2018 Brad and Dan share stories from their experiences with purity culture and provide a primer on gender and sexuality in Evangelicalism. They then interview Reverend Sarah Buteux about her journey from Evangelicalism (where she was told women couldn't be pastors) to min…
Feb. 2, 2021

I Would Have Been at the Capitol Insurrection with author Monica Rodden

Monica Rodden is a novelist and ex-evangelical. She wrote this recent piece in the Boston Globe about how she would have been the type of Christian to be part of the Capitol Insurrection. In her interview …

Jan. 29, 2021

Weekly Roundup: White Supremacist Christians Are Christians

Brad and Dan unpack how religions are what people do. The same goes for political parties. This means that White Supremacist Christians and QAnon Christians are Christians.  They may not be the kind you like or want to be associated with, but it's unhelpful to write them off as lone wolves …

Jan. 28, 2021

S1.Ep.6 (Re-release): Evangelical Cultures of Life and Angel Babies

In an episode from fall of 2018, Brad and Dan discuss the issue of abortion in Evangelical culture and how it became a litmus test for who is a "real Christian." Brad then interviews Dr. Myev Rees, an expert on reproductive rights and abortion in Evangelicalism. She discusses the concept of an "…

Jan. 25, 2021

Religion at the Capitol Siege with Peter Manseau

Dr. Peter Manseau is a curator of American religious history at the Smithsonian and the author of ten books. He started #capitolsiegereligion soon after the January 6 insurrection in order to facilitate a crowdsourced collect...
Jan. 22, 2021

Weekly Roundup: Biden Takes Office While MAGA Nation Wonders What's Next

Brad and Dan discuss the inauguration, including the theological aspects of Biden's speech and the civil religiosity of Biden's approach. 

They then transition to how key members on the Right, including Tucker Carlson and Rand Paul, were "offended" by Biden's call to dismantle White …

Jan. 20, 2021

S1.Ep.5 (Re-release): White Evangelicalism, Nationalism, and Populism

An episode from Season 1 where Brad and Dan discuss nationalism and populism in the White Evangelical subculture. This is a nice primer for understanding what we now call Christian nationalism and its pervasiveness in American politics. 

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Jan. 18, 2021

Hitler, Trump, and the Danger of Failed Coups

Brad is joined by Dr. Richard Steigmann-Gall, a historian and expert in Nazi Germany. They compare Hitler's failed coup of 1923 and the Jan. 6 Insurrection at the US Capitol. The discussion focuses on several themes present i...
Jan. 15, 2021

Weekly Roundup: They Told Us Civil War Was Coming

Brad and Dan begin by recalling their episode from the eve of Trump's first impeachment, when the quoted a number of Evangelical leaders threatening/predicting civil war if Trump was impeached. Then, it seemed hyperbolic. Now, it is terrifying. They relate this to the prevalent "cosmic war" moti…

Jan. 12, 2021

S1.Ep.4 White Jesus (Re-release)

In an interview from 2018, Brad and Dan talk to Dr. Glenn Bracey of Villanova University about his experiences in White churches as a Black man. Dr. Bracey unpacks racialized dimensions of the Evangelical culture that shed light on what's happened during the the last four years--and even the las…

Jan. 11, 2021

A White Christian Nationalist Coup Long in the Making - with Dr. Kelly J. Baker

Dr. Kelly J. Baker, author of Gospel According to the Klan: The KKK’s Appeal to Protestant America, 1915-1930, stops by to discuss how the January 6 insurrection was long in the making. Using the 1920s Klan as a historical precedent, she and Brad discuss White supremacy in American cult…

Jan. 8, 2021

Weekly Roundup: Trump's Insurrection

Brad and Dan analyze the January 6 Insurrection at the United States Capitol. 

They begin by discussing the unprecedented aspects of the events. 

Then, a discussion of Christian nationalism and its manifestation through insurrectionists, the actions and rhetoric of Senato…

Jan. 5, 2021

S1.Ep3 (Re-Release): The History of the Religious Right

What if I told you the Religious Right formed on the basis of racism and not abortion? What if segregation was the real issue and the unborn were used later to justify it? That's what we discover on this episode. Brad and Dan trace the history of the Religious Right from the 60s to the present. …

Dec. 29, 2020

S1.Ep.2 (Re-release): 81% WTF

Think of this as a SWAJ primer. We cover many of the major themes of the show in a relatively brief conversation. 

On our second ever episode, we put the White Evangelical support for Trump in historical perspective. Brad lays out the details on how more White Evangelicals supported …

Dec. 22, 2020

S1.Ep.1 (Re-Release): Why Straight White American Jesus?

After many requests, we begin the re-release of Season 1! On this first episode Brad and Dan introduce themselves and tell their stories of being evangelical youth group kids, ministers, and seminarians, and then leaving the movement. They also explain why it was necessary to start Straight Whit…

Dec. 18, 2020

Weekly Roundup: American Insurrection and Beth Moore's Anti-Christian Nationalism

On the last Weekly Roundup of the year, Brad and Dan discuss: 1) the myth of the stolen election and how it has gained legitimacy through support from GOP leaders 2) comparing it to the lasting nature of the Birther controversy 3) examining the consequences of the myth, including the radicalizat…

Dec. 15, 2020

Ken Kemp on White People Doing the Work

Ken Kemp is not the person you'd expect to be leading small groups and table talks helping White folks understand the histories of racism and strategies to combat it. He's a White male Boomer. Someone born into evangelical culture. A guy who went through seminary and was almost ordained twice. B…

Dec. 4, 2020

Weekly Roundup: Christian Privilege and Raced Religion

Brad and Dan briefly touch on three stories: MAGA rebellion in Georgia, Obama on "Defund the Police," and the federal government's abandonment of the American people in the face of COVID. 

We then dig deeper into two stories about religion and politics: 

-the attacks on R…

Dec. 1, 2020

Sophie Bjork-James on the Similarities Between White Nationalists and Christian Nationalists

Dr. Sophie Bjork-James is an anthropologist at Vanderbilt University. She is a specialist in race, gender, and religion with a focus on White nationalism and White evangelicalism. One of her recent projects is a close reading of the Left Behind series and the Turner Diaries, th…

Nov. 24, 2020

Anne Nelson on the Shadow Network Behind Trump's Coup, ACB's nomination, and the Coming Cold Civil War

Brad speaks with journalist Anne Nelson whose book Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right outlines in vivid detail the network of organizations, media empires, and churches that sync the Radical Right. She explains how groups such as the NRA, Susan B. Anthony List,…

Nov. 20, 2020

Weekly Roundup: Frederick Douglass on a Divided Nation, Whose Faith Counts as Really American?, and American Exceptionalism in Religious Terms

Brad and Dan begin by drawing on a famous speech by Frederick Douglass in order to put the nail in the coffin on the idea that it is the Democrats' job to reach across the aisle. They then explain why Republicans think it is okay to attack the faith--including the sermons--of Raphael Warnock, bu…