It’s In the Code Ep. 51: Right Where God Wants You to Be – Or Not
In the previous episode, Dan looked at what’s going on when people tell us we are “right where God wants us to be.” But what does it mean when those same people DON’T tell us that? Why do they seem to say this at some times, but not others? What does it mean, and what […]
An Asian American Apostate Tells All
Brad interviews writer Scott Okamoto, author of Asian American Apostate, his wry and ironic story of leaving religion while teaching at an evangelical university. Okamoto’s often-chilling accounts reveal that such schools, where prayer and trite theological debate erupt in any lecture, demonstrate anything but higher education. Stories range from a classroom declaration against interracial marriage […]
Weekly Roundup: Proud to Be Boys
Brad and Dan begin with a thorough breakdown of why the Texas bill to post the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms is unconstitutional and un-American. They discuss parental rights, hypocrisy, and the dangerous escalation of religious supremacists – and where we are headed next. Rep. Talarico: https://youtu.be/we0b04Qbbvc In the second segment, Dan discusses all […]
Special Episode: Series Release of ONE NATION, ALL BELIEFS
Today we are launching a new limited series called One Nation, All Beliefs. produced in partnership with Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. This is the series intro. You can subscribe by going here: https://open.spotify.com/show/0HIjnVZjUwY8H1PD0M7F04?si=2653997c43cf442f Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus episodes, ad-free listening, access to the entire 500-episode archive, Discord […]
It’s In the Code Ep. 50: Right Where God Wants You to Be
What does it mean when someone assure you that you are “right where God wants you to be”? Is it intended as a word of encouragement? As an affirmation that God is control? As a message of empowerment? Or is the aim manipulative, or controlling? And regardless of the intent, what are the possible effects […]
The Slow Civil War with Jeff Sharlet
Brad speaks with Jeff Sharlet about his NYT bestseller The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War. Jeff talks about everything from his long conversations about MLK Jr. with Harry Belafonte, to the lustful feeling of the first Trump rallies in 2015, to the desire for vengeance felt among MAGA nation in the wake of […]
Weekly Roundup: Protecting Kids to Death
Ten Commandments in Schools = religious freedom? In this economy? Brad and Dan discuss Tucker Carlson’s ouster at Fox News – and what it means in the short and long terms. Dan takes us through the situation in Montana, where Rep. Zooey Zephyr, the only trans legislator in the state, has been locked out of […]
Special Re-Release: The Great American Pornography Wars
On the day that the Pornography Wars is released, we re-release Brad’s interview with the author Dr. Kelsy Burke, a sociologist from the University of Nebraska. https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/pornography-wars-9781635577365/ Burke spent the last five years researching and interviewing internet pornography’s opponents and its sympathizers. She does a deep dive into the long history of pornography in America […]
It’s In the Code Ep. 49: Public Confession
What is “public confession,” and what is its relation to the practice of sharing one’s testimony? When and how does sharing a testimony verge into public confession? Why does public confession have to be “public,” and what concerns does this raise? In this second of a two-part pair of episodes, Dan explores these and other […]
Beyond Whiteness: Conservatism and Fascism in Asian American Evangelical and Catholic Communities
Many are wondering how and why religious minorities in the USA adopt conservative – and even fascist – political identities when it seems that the American Right is anti-immigrant and in many cases explicitly racist. Scholars Dr. Jane Hong (Occidental) and Dr. Adrian de Leon (USC/NYU) argue that Asian American (religious) conservatism should be understood […]