Religionish

This episode originally came out in November 2016. Guest, John Howell, and Ashley discuss The Great American Novel as it relates to nation building, Americaness, and a national civic religion. View show notes and reading list at religionish.com.

We kick off Season 4 with a new series on the podcast—the Religionish Bookshelf. In this first episode of the book club series, I talk with Rebecca L. Davis about her latest book Public Confessions: The Religious Conversions that Changed American Politics.

In this scholar profile, we talk with Marla Frederick, a religion scholar and the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Religion and Culture at Emory University. Dr. Frederick talks about her experience growing up Baptist, how she became an academic, and her research on Black Christianity, media, and HBCUs. Dr. Frederick also participates in this episode's Book Corner. The #ReligionNerd moment is about...

Three religion podcasters discuss origins, self-realization, racial justice, and spirituality. Back in August 2018, I organized and moderated a roundtable discussion about religion podcasting. The session, called Streaming the Word, took place in Boulder, Colorado for the conference of the International Society for Media, Religion, and Culture. Three great podcasters agreed to speak with me -- Joh...

Ashley speaks with Drew Proctor about religion and the Democratic Party. Does the party have a religion problem? How are race and religion connected when it comes to politics?

Learn about the Persian holiday Nowruz, which celebrates the new year at the spring equinox. Ashley talks with Samira Rajabi to learn the customs of the holiday and how COVID-19 has impacted celebrations this year.

The show is back! And under a new name, Religionish! This clip introduces you to the new segments of Religionish. Look for the first episode in April 2020.

Kevan Feshami joins the show to discuss another side of white nationalism, it's counter culture, in this follow up to episode 10. Find out what Norse gods have to do with white supremacy and learn a bit about the music of white nationalist movements.

Guest A. David Lewis speaks about the different ways religion appears in our comic books, from god-like superheroes to comics as religion.

In this scholar profile, we speak with Krissy Peterson about her work on the use of digital media by young Muslims and the job of the academic to work for the public good.

In this episode of (w)Holy Media, I speak with Kelly J. Baker on the historical relationship between Protestantism and white nationalism and how it relates to the current political climate.

The inauguration of the 45th president of the United States included some religious firsts. It also echoed a tradition of American civil religion. On this episode of (w)Holy Media we explore religious language at the Inauguration.

Why does Christmas always seem to bring about debate each year in the U.S.? What's the deal with the jolly, red-suited Santa Claus? In the last episode of 2016, Ashley explores the history of Christmas and how Santa Claus helped to make a lesser holiday a national celebration.

Is there such a thing as The Great American Novel? Can literature be a national scripture? John Howell and I explore these questions.

This episode of (w)Holy Media offers a personal reflection about the 2016 Election through my story about why I study religion. Photo of the National Shrine of the Little Flower in metro-Detroit mentioned in this episode.

Why are we drawn to the malevolent and the evil? And….most curiously, what is evil? In this extra long Halloween episode, Sophie Day and Ashley explore religion in horror movies.

Is virtual reality a good journalistic medium for religion stories? KC McGinnis, a visual journalist based in Iowa, joins me to explore this question. From empathy to artifice, we examine the pros and cons of virtual reality media.

The 2016 political conventions to nominate Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump revealed more about the U.S. than just each party's political drama. The Conventions displayed how each party engages religion. In this episode, Jim Wallace joins Ashley in discussing the relationship between religion and the American political parties during this year's RNC and DNC.

Religion seeps into pop culture at every turn and can be found in comic books from Thor to Preacher. In this episode, Jeremy and Ashley explore how comic books wrestle with faith and spirituality.

What makes a movie "religious?" Has the idea of a "religious" film been co-opted? Jeremy and Ashley explore these questions in the first episode of (w)Holy Media.

Jeremy and Ashley welcome you to their new podcast all about religion and media! Learn all about their nerdy interest in religion and what exciting topics they'll explore this year on the show! (w)Holy Media is a nerdy podcast about religion in media, from Twitter to TV and politics to pop culture