"...a vital tradition of the study of religion is the Durkheimian intellectual tradition. Generally dismissed by many in the study of religion because of its supposedly narrow "sociological" bent, the school of scholarship represented by Émile

Harm, AI, and Religion | Discourse! June 2023

Jul 4th, 2023 50m 12s

In our final #RSPdiscourse of the season, editor Andie Alexander, Craig Martin, and Paul-François Tremlett consider the concept of "harm" & religion in recent legislation, Scotland elections, and AI & Religion.

Mediatizing “Evangelicalism”: Authenticity, Identity, and Power

Jun 12th, 2023 40m 13s

In today's episode, Daniel Jones talks with Travis Warren Cooper about Cooper's recent book, _The Digital Evangelicals_, and they discuss how issues of authenticity, authority, and power are deeply intertwined with US "evangelicalism" and its m

What’s Sincerity Got to Do With American Secularism?

Jun 5th, 2023 42m 30s

Join Matt Sheedy and Charles McCrary as they discuss a cultural history of "sincerely held religious beliefs." McCrary explores how SCOTUS has determined who and what gets to count as 'religious' and traces the historical development of America

What’s Happening Down Under? | Discourse! May 2023

May 29th, 2023 44m 55s

RSP discourse heads Down Under once again as 2/3 of the usual suspects—Carole Cusack & Raymond Radford—discuss religion, politics, life and death in the Australian religious sphere. Be sure to tune in!

Charting the Playful & Proper Study of Religion

May 15th, 2023 52m 42s

Andie Alexander is joined by Sam Gill to talk about his recent book _The Proper Study of Religion_, and they discuss questions of comparison, difference, storytracking, and playfulness in the academic study of religion. Be sure to tune in!

Supreme Court to Coulter: Negotiating Religion in the Public Sphere | Discourse! April 2023

May 1st, 2023 48m 20s

Join Matt Sheedy, Tyler Tully, and host Candace Mixon as they discuss the ramifications of the in-progress Supreme Court case Groff vs. Dejoy, the Catholic Church’s decision to rescind the Doctrine of Discovery, and a recent controversial tweet

Keep Hope Alive: Preparing for White Christian Nationalism

Apr 17th, 2023 36m 24s

Tune in this week with Raymond Radford and Bradley Onishi as they discuss white Christian nationalism, evangelicalism, the Jan. 6 insurrection, and much more!

Religion under Attack? | Discourse! March 2023

Mar 27th, 2023 53m

Join host Suzanne Newcombe, Carmen Becker, and Michael Munnik for this month's episode of Discourse! They discuss discrimination in a few European cases, including the SNP, protests at an abortion clinic, and more!

The Church of Saint Thomas Paine: Religion without God

Mar 13th, 2023 46m 49s

Tune in for today's #RSPmonday featuring Leigh Eric Schmidt and Dan Gorman discussing religion without God and the use of Thomas Paine as a symbol of atheism.

Spitting on the Sacred: Politics and Redefining Profanation

Mar 6th, 2023 50m 29s

In this episode, Jacob Noblett talks to Dr. Finbarr Curtis about his recent book, Going Low: How Profane Politics Challenges American Democracy, to help breakdown the rejuvenation of populist political narratives and movements.

Religious Literacy and Its Discontents | Discourse! February 2023

Feb 27th, 2023 41m 52s

Join Benjamin P. Marcus, Paulina Gruffman, and Charles McCrary for this month's #RSPdiscourse as they discuss a recent Pew survey on religious literacy and the so-called Asbury revival. Be sure to tune in!

Navigating the Discursive Study of Religion

Feb 20th, 2023 40m 29s

In today's episode, Teemu Taira and Andie Alexander discuss how social groups negotiate the category 'religion' and the relevance of the discursive methods in the study of religion.

Where was God?: Jewish Theological Responses to the Holocaust

Feb 13th, 2023 43m 52s

Where was God during the Holocaust? There is no straightforward answer to this and there are different viewpoints across the different streams of Judaism. Join Dr. Breann Fallon as she speaks with Dr. Barbara Krawcowicz on her recent monograph

Critical Approaches to Studying Religion in Film

Feb 6th, 2023 29m 8s

Ting Guo chats with Rebekka King and Tenzan Eaghall about their new edited volume, Representing Religion in Film (Bloomsbury 2022), and they explore the “ideological blindspot” of existing studies on religion and film, have a listen!

Oversimplified Binaries | Discourse! January 2023

Jan 30th, 2023 31m 23s

This month's Discourse! features our co-founder Chris Cotter, Lauren Horn Griffin, and Kristi Boone complicating and unpacking oversimplified binaries—be sure to tune in!

Interrogating the Interrogators: Managing Muslims in Germany

Jan 23rd, 2023 39m 31s

In this episode host Candace Mixon and guest Schirin Amir-Moazami discuss Amir-Moazami’s book, _Interrogating Muslims: The Liberal-Secular Matrix of Integration_ as a starting point in discussing topics such state categorizations of religion in

Realities (Altered & Virtual) | Discourse! November 2022

Dec 19th, 2022 1h 1m

Join host Sidney Castillo and guests Jordan Loewen-Colón and Sharday Mosurinjohn for the bumper final Discourse! episode of 2022!

Queens of the World | Discourse! October 2022

Oct 31st, 2022 36m 43s

This month's Discourse! welcomes back Founding Editor Chris Cotter to the host's chair, along with guests Ting Guo and Carmen Celestini. They first discuss Queen Elizabeth II and “mourning” in Hong Kong, and then more broadly. This segues neatl

Secular Spaces? | Discourse! September 2022

Oct 13th, 2022 39m 54s

This month's Discourse! centres on questions of the secular and the religious in the contemporary public square. What does it mean to be a secular space? How do institutions "deal with" religious ideas and identities in such a space? We talk ab

Shifting the Focus of Graduate Education in the Study of Religion

Sep 16th, 2022 31m 41s

Join Carmen Becker and Andie Alexander for the RSP's 400th episode where they discuss the new international MA program at Leibniz University, Hannover.

Reflections on REF 2021

Sep 5th, 2022 39m 12s

In this week's episode, we reflect on the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 report. Gordon Lynch, the chair of the TRS panel, joins David Robertson to outline the process and tell us what it says about the situation for the discipline, a

Presentism and Politics | Discourse! August 2022 (with video)

Aug 30th, 2022 1h 2m

Our first #RSPdiscourse episode for the season features host Emily D. Crews, who is joined by long-time friends of the RSP, Richard Newton and Theo Wildcroft. This excellent and wide-ranging episode addresses present issues of history and ident

Unruly Women: Neocolonialism, Race, and Discrimination

Aug 29th, 2022 42m

For our first episode of Season 12, Falguni A. Sheth joins RSP editor Andie Alexander to discuss issues of liberalism, racial discrimination, religious freedom, and governance with regard to Muslim women of color and Black Muslim women in the U

Authorities and the Past | Discourse! June 2022 (with video)

Jun 27th, 2022 43m 52s

Join Ben Marcus, Lauren Horn Griffin, and Jade Hui as they discuss issues of religious freedom, tradition, and authority in topics ranging from Justice Alito's leaked draft decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization to public ritu