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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 …
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
Brad speaks with Sarah Posner, author of Unholy: Why White Evangelicals Worship at the Altar of Donald Trump. They discuss how Trump is the result of strategies used by GOP operatives in other countries. The approach is simple: label liberal democracy as an assault on family, faith, and nation; …
Dan begins by explaining why Biden didn't underperform and why emotionally this should feel like a big win
He and Brad also discuss the White religious voters who fled Trump for Biden and why it is/and is not a big deal
They touch on SCOTUS and the Affordable Care Act, …
As we process the unfolding events related to the election, Brad and Dan discuss:
In the week before the election, Brad and Dan begin with another chapter of Falwell's Follies. Dan then explains why the polls are similar, but different from 2016 and how Trump's surrender to COVID has hurt his reelection chances. Brad expands on his explanation of why the Supreme Court should …
Dan speaks with Dr. David Gushee, Professor of Ethics and Director of the Center for Theology and Public Life at Mercer University. The former president of the American Academy of Religion, he is a prolific author who writes often about his journey out of evangelicalism. He and Dan discuss his n…
Opener: Brad and Dan each get 2 minutes uninterrupted on the last debate
Explainer: Hunter Biden non-scandal mularkey
Explainer: Pope announces he is in favor of same-sex couples having civil unions (but not marriages?)…
The episode that started it all! On one of our very first shows, we went to the historical record to quote all the evangelical leaders who did everything possible to decry Bill Clinton after his sex scandal/impeachment. They called for integrity, morality, and virtue in the White House. They fea…
Dan briefs us on the dueling presidential town halls before he and Brad explain the tenets of Constitutional Originalism, a legal philosophy Amy Coney Barrett claims to hold. They compare it to a separate, but related issue--biblical literalism. In both cases, conservative actors claim to hold t…
Brad speaks with Sarah Levin, the Co-Chair of the DNC's Interfaith Committee and the Founder of Secular Strategies, a firm dedicated to mobilizing secular voters. They discuss the values that matter to non-religious voters and how they can be mobilized politically. Perhaps most importantly, they…
Some major announcements! We are now a proud partner of the Capps Center at UCSB! Capps is dedicated to ethics, religion, and public life in a way that matches up seamlessly with our approach on SWAJ. Check out their new series on indigenous religions!
We begin this episode by discu…
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 things: …
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, and other autocratic regimes as the City Upon a Hill that the USA used to b…
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 might be souring on the president, the new documentary that shows how the Wh…
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, Behold, America (Bloomsbury 2018) she explores the entangled history of America First and the American Dr…