The Revealer

LGBTQ Republicans and LGBTQ conservatives are more common than many people may realize. Neil Young, author of Coming Out Republican: A History of the Gay Right, joins us to discuss LGBTQ conservatives and their place within the Republican Party. We discuss how gay Republicans responded to the rise of the anti-queer religious right in the GOP, how they worked to convince church-going Americans that it is okay to be gay, how they are responding to the current barrage of anti-trans legislation, and what they want for America as we head into the 2024 election.

What are the religious and political messages the massive Contemporary Christian Music industry broadcasts? Leah Payne, author of God Gave Rock and Roll to You: A History of Contemporary Christian Music, joins us to discuss why evangelical leaders invested so heavily in this industry and why they especially wanted it to resonate with teenagers. We discuss the racial, religious, and nationalistic ideas this music promotes, the music’s messaging about gender, and what Christian pop culture reveals about what evangelicals, Pentecostals, and other conservative Protestants envision for the United States and what they want in the 2024 election.

What is contributing to the growing and prominent movement of ex-evangelicals in the United States? Sarah McCammon, a National Political Correspondent for NPR and author of the forthcoming book The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church, joins us to discuss why so many people are leaving white evangelicalism and how that exodus impacts the broader culture. We discuss ex-evangelicals’ insights about why so many evangelicals are primed to accept “alternative facts,” why most white evangelicals remain loyal to Trump, and what all of this portends about the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

How has Russia used religion as a tactic and justification for its invasion of Ukraine? Dr. Nicholas Denysenko, author of The Church’s Unholy War: Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine and Orthodoxy, joins us to discuss the place of Orthodox Christianity within Russia’s war against Ukraine. How has Russia used the Orthodox Church to influence life in Ukraine? How have Russian Orthodox Church leaders justified the invasion and the horrific violence? And what can Orthodox Christians and other concerned people around the world do to help bring an end to this war?

How do your sexual behaviors reflect and influence your broader social interactions? Ethicist Dr. Rebecca Epstein-Levi, author of When We Collide: Sex, Social Risks, and Jewish Ethics, joins us to discuss sexual ethics for today’s world. What does it mean to be sex positive? What might the rabbis of the Talmud, writing more than a thousand years ago, have to say about social risks that could help us think about sexually transmitted infections and other sexual risks? And in a world that seems to be falling apart from climate change, war, and right wing politics, why is it especially important to pay attention to sexual ethics now?

The fight to make abortion access legal, just like the fight to outlaw abortion, is one replete with religious voices. For this episode, two experts on religion and reproductive rights join us to discuss these issues. First, we chat with Dr. Gillian Frank about religious leaders, like Reverend Elinor Yeo, who helped thousands of people in the U.S. get abortions before and after Roe v. Wade. Then, we chat with Dr. Sophie Bjork-James about pro-life evangelicals and connections between their opposition to abortion and their approach to climate change. – This episode is part of The Revealer’s 2023 special issue on “Religion and Reproductive Rights” that goes live October 4 at therevealer.org.

What is the spiritual birthing movement? Ann Duncan, author of Sacred Pregnancy: Birth, Motherhood, and the Quest for Spiritual Community, joins us to discuss the organizations and businesses that imbue pregnancy with a sense of the sacred. What do these groups offer pregnant people that they aren’t finding in traditional medical settings or traditional religious communities? How do they use spirituality and rituals to help with pregnancy, parenting, and the loss of a child? And what does the presence of these companies reveal about social inequalities among pregnant people throughout the United States today?

Why are some Muslims using female pronouns for God? Hafsa Lodi, author of The Revealer article, “The Muslim Women Using Feminine Pronouns for Allah,” joins us to discuss a growing trend among Muslim women. We explore Islam’s teachings about God’s gender, why Muslims have primarily used male pronouns for Allah, what some believe using female pronouns for God can achieve, and how discussions about pronouns reveal broader issues of gender within Islam, including the place of modest fashion industries around the globe.

What were Ronald Reagan’s religious views, how did they shape his politics, and how did they transform the United States? Diane Winston, author of Righting the American Dream: How the Media Mainstreamed Reagan’s Evangelical Vision, joins us to discuss how the media normalized Reagan’s conservative Christian influence on American politics. We explore how his evangelical ideas about welfare and communism became “normal” American perspectives, how religious rhetoric informed the AIDS epidemic, and what role Reagan played in shaping today’s Republican Party and the interplay of religion and politics in the United States.

How did summer camps become such an important aspect of the American Jewish experience? Sandra Fox, author of The Jews of Summer: Summer Camp and Jewish Culture in Postwar America, joins us to discuss what led to the growth and popularity of sleepaway camps for Jewish adolescents. We explore why Jewish communities invested so heavily in summer camps, the camps’ goals, and why Jewish leaders saw sleepaway camps as key places to protect the future of Jewish life in the United States.

Countless people find Vodou meaningful as a spiritual tradition and as a source of inspiration within a white supremacist world, and yet the tradition remains largely misunderstood. Eziaku Nwokocha, author of Vodou En Vogue: Fashioning Black Divinities in Haiti and the United States, joins us to discuss Vodou practices, especially as they relate to issues of gender, sexuality, and race. We explore how Vodou transcends gender and sexual binaries, how the gods of Vodou inhabit people’s lives and influence their decisions, and how Vodou helps Black Americans and others counter racism today.

Why do so many white evangelicals, despite holding tremendous political power, feel threatened by feminism, LGBTQ progress, and movements for racial justice? Sarah Diefendorf, author of The Holy Vote: Inequality and Anxiety Among White Evangelicals, joins us to discuss how evangelicals’ anxieties shape their political involvement. We explore their image problem among people who are turned off by their reactions to societal changes, how they are recruiting new members to their churches, and how white evangelicals are responding to issues like Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ equality today.

What is the connection between comedy and American Jews? Jennifer Caplan, author of Funny, You Don’t Look Funny: Judaism and Humor from the Silent Generation to Millennials, joins us to discuss the place of humor within American Jewish communities. How did Jews become disproportionately represented in comedy fields like standup and television writing? For what reasons have American Jews developed a reputation as a funny people? How has Jewish humor changed over time? And, as the image of American Jews continues to expand to include more people of color and queer people, how will Jewish humor change in the future?

How did the Federal Bureau of Investigations contribute to the rise of white Christian nationalism? Lerone A. Martin, author of The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover: How the FBI Aided and Abetted the Rise of White Christian Nationalism, joins us to discuss the place of religion and race at the FBI. Why did J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI’s long-serving director, believe a Christian America was a safer America and what did he do to make that vision a reality? How did the FBI form partnerships with conservative Christian leaders and institutions, and what religious activities took place at the FBI for its special agents? And how does knowing this history about religion and race at the FBI help us make sense of the rise in white Christian nationalism today?

Why are corporations and billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos invested in space exploration? Mary-Jane Rubenstein, author of Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race, joins us to discuss the corporate space race and its connections to religion. We explore why the corporate space race is so concerning, what religious ideas undergird Americans’ beliefs that we have a right to colonize the cosmos, and how Indigenous religious teachings could help us think differently about our relationship to outer space in ways that could also help our planet.

In what ways are atheists stigmatized, and what are some reasons for social divisions among atheists? Chris Stedman, author of Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious, joins us to discuss the 10th anniversary of his landmark book. We explore how atheists have partnered with religious communities to address social issues, why some atheists have been drawn to right-wing politics and white supremacy, and how atheists can respond to rising Christian nationalism in the United States.

This episode explores gender diversity in present-day Islam and in Jewish history. We chat with Dr. Katrina Thompson to learn how transgender and nonbinary Muslims are transforming Islam and creating spaces specifically for trans and queer Muslims. And we chat with Dr. Max Strassfeld to learn about the eight gender categories the rabbis of the Talmud devised during the first six centuries of the common era, and what their awareness of bodily gendered diversity can tell us about transgender politics and equality today.

What is religious cultural appropriation, and how might many of us be engaged in it right now? Dr. Liz Bucar, author of the forthcoming book Stealing My Religion: Not Just Any Cultural Appropriation, joins us to discuss why religious appropriation is so common. We explore prominent examples of religious borrowing, from non-Muslim women wearing a “solidarity hijab” to white Americans teaching yoga. And we discuss how one can respectfully borrow from religious communities in responsible ways.

What connections can be made between horror films and novels where Catholicism is prominent to actual horrors committed by the Catholic Church? Three experts of American Catholicism – Drs. Jack Downey, Matthew Cressler, and Kathleen Holscher – join us to discuss Catholic horror, both fictional and real. We explore why Catholicism has been such a popular source of inspiration for horror filmmakers and writers, what horror can reveal about contemporary society, and why examining horror can help us make sense of the clergy abuse crisis and other atrocities committed by the Catholic Church.

Why are various religious communities, as well as some non-religious Americans, deeply concerned about the place of pornography in the United States? Dr. Kelsy Burke, author of The Pornography Wars: The Past, Present, and Future, of America’s Obscene Obsession, joins us to discuss longstanding battles over pornography. We explore why various religious communities oppose pornography, why evangelical Protestants in particular are anxious about masturbation and sex addiction, and what disputes over pornography reveal about today’s political climate.