<p>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 Trum…
<p>Brad explores the alliance between the alt-right and the Religious Right in and through Trump's presidency. In tracing this story, he uncovers how and why the Religious Right now looks to Putin's Russia, Orban's Hungary, …
<p>On an abbreviated Weekly Roundup Brad discusses the first presidential debate, the media's inability to call out Trump's threats of violence and election delegitimization, the ways White Catholics and young Evangelicals m…
<p>Sarah Churchwell is Professor of American Literature and Chair of Public Understanding of the Humanities at the School of Advanced Study, University of London. In her book, <em>Behold, America (</em>Bloomsbury 2018<em>) <…
<p>Brad and Dan discuss four main stories on this week's roundup: </p>
<p>1. The passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg has led to Amy Coney Barrett as the frontrunner to replace her. Brad outlines the history and contours of t…
<p>Brad speaks with historian Ricard Steigmann-Gall, author of the <em>Holy Reich: Nazi Conceptions of Christianity 1919-1945</em>. They discuss how the Nazi party used a Christian social identity as a way to signal who the …
<p>Brad and Dan discuss a coterie of stories at the intersection of race, nation, and religion. First, they dissect the president's announcement of a new commission on "patriotic education" as a thoroughly Christian national…
<p>Brad speaks with Dr. Sara Moslener, author of Virgin Nation: Sexual Purity and American Adolescence from Oxford University Press. Dr. Moslener outlines the history of purity culture from the 19th century to the present, h…
<p>Brad and Dan begin by discussing how 9/11 is an event marked by acts of civil religion--ceremonies, rituals, and symbols that enable the nation to remember and mourn. Brad asks why we haven't had such things implemented t…
<p>During the first half of this episode Brad and Dan trace the racist and nationalistic origins of white evangelical politics. On the second half, Brad talks with Dartmouth scholar Randall Balmer, who is perhaps the world's…
<p>Brad interviews Dr. Leslie Dorrough Smith about her new book, <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/compromising-positions-9780190924072?cc=us&lang=en&">Compromising Positions: Scandals, Politics, and A…
<p>Dan confesses that 1st grade on Zoom is more intimidating than translating French philosophy or reading Hebrew. He and Brad then discuss the bombshell report on Trump calling soldiers losers, his defense of white national…
<p>On the series finale, Brad reflects on his departure from Orange County and evangelicalism. This provides a jumping off point for reflecting on what we've learned through the series, and, perhaps most importantly, how Ora…
Brad and Dan discuss the vagaries of the new semester and the apocalyptic challenges posed by Zoom and Outlook. They then dissect the events in Kenosha, WI during the last week--from the shooting of Jacob Blake, the vigilant…
On this re-released episode, which takes on new significance in light of the Falwell scandal, Brad and Dan discuss how sexuality and gender are viewed in evangelical purity culture, including the notion that men are sexual …
Brad and Dan discuss the latest of Falwell's Follies. They then analyze the presence of religion and faith at the Democratic convention, the fallout from the president's affirmation of QAnon, the GOP's problematic future, th…
Some just want to watch the world burn. But for others, the end of the world is an opportunity to rebuild it in their image. On this penultimate episode, Brad explores how global kleptocrats, Donald Trump, and Christian Reco…
Dan laments the end of our favorite segment, Falwell's Follies. Then he and Brad discuss the interfaith and mixed-race background of Kamal Harris, Birtherism 2.0, the attempt to steal the election at the post office, Kanye W…
Brad talks to Dr. Diana Butler Bass, distinguished scholar of American Christianity, about Jerry Falwell Jr's. demise. Last week, racy pictures posted by Falwell on social media led to him being put on indefinite leave from …
Brad speaks with Marc-André Argentino, a PhD candidate and public scholar at Concordia University in Quebec, and an Associate Fellow with the Global Network on Extremism and Technology (GNET) at King's College London. They d…
Brad tells a story about a mishap during a colonoscopy. He and Dan then cover the myriad of stories from a crazy news week:
-Eric Metaxas thinks Jesus is White
-Tom Cotton: slavery was a necessary evil
-Herman Cain dies f…
If you want to take the country back for God, if you want to have dominion over every level of society, if you want to ensure a white Christian patriarchy rules over the land--you have to start with the children. Christian s…
Dan talks about his house, or at least television, being struck by lightning. He and Brad then discuss Trump's messaging failures, Biden's candidacy as an appetizing saltine cracker, the scary situation in Portland, a baseba…
You might be surprised to learn that the history of sex ed in the USA is a religious history. Christians were not always the enemies of science-based sex education programs. But during the 1960s, the Religious Right began a …
