Weird Religion

Conservatives take on Super-Conservatives. Major drama just went down at the annual convention for the nation’s most prominent Protestant “denomination,” the Southern Baptists. Who are “Baptists”? And how did Joe Baptist create the modern Baptist movement? What is happening with Moore and Moore? Brian interviews Leah and if you listen to this, you will have a decent starter kit to understanding Ba...

Back with a full episode next week; for now, we provide a not-ominous-at-all programming note.

Bob Ross: Soothing TV painter, guru to Millennials, and a ghost hawking Mountain Dew. A postmodern capitalism horror show. Purity. Sounds. Avoidance and/or acceptance of darkness. The roaring 20s will lead to a new war. Bob Ross paints and then drinks a bottle of Mountain Dew: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRrWjdO9NVQ Paula Abdul dances with Gene Kelly for Diet Coke: https://www.youtube.com/watc...

A religion in the news roundup with some surprising stories. Mother Theresa a cult leader. Interpreting the Torah. Your face will become a skull. Rachel Hollis is out of touch. Zaprudurian. This UFO thing is not going away and Brian is getting excited. A lot going on. Links below to each story. Some covered more in depth, and some in the lightning round. Was Mother Theresa a cult leader? https://w...

We’re talking about conspiracies: Is the world only what it seems to be on the surface, or is there some theory about what is really happening behind the scenes? Are Americans particularly into conspiracy theories, or do we just think we’re the best at everything? We interview psychologist Dr. Michael Wood (at the time a lecturer at the University of Winchester in the UK) about who has the best co...

The Mark of the Beast strikes again. We break down a 53-second Facebook rant by congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene in which the claim is made that vaccine passports are Joe Biden’s satanic plot. And we affirm the enduring power of the Book of Revelation. The video: https://twitter.com/RightWingWatch/status/1376900032184586245?s=20 The Late Great Planet Earth : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_L...

A new segment on recent religious-themed stories in the news! Fasting, Foxmania, halal tacos, mummified bodies, Trump worship, exvangelicals, the spiritual weirdness of airports, politics as religion, the Gates divorce, ancient goddesses and emotional men. Links to our stories: Orange County mosques, tacos, and vaccinations: https://religionnews.com/2021/04/28/how-a-halal-taco-truck-is-helping-vac...

To celebrate the end of the academic year in the university calendar, we discuss student evals, internet review culture, negativity bias, the Iran Contra Affair, depression, and religious authority in an age of reviews. Footnotes: (1) Ronald Reagan’s Oval Office address on the Iran Contra Affair: https://youtu.be/rYdvBZxPhLY (2) Gottman research on magic ratio of good vs. bad interactions between...

A Weird Religion mystery : Why does a particular episode of the X-Files, “Beyond the Sea,” have subtitles for a song playing in the background that are actually from a different but similar song? We investigate. The X-Files, S1E13, “Beyond the Sea” : https://www.hulu.com/watch/17db9bbb-aa0e-4973-8099-b277c2bd1312 Spoiler alert (only read this after listening to our ep!!): Calum Marsh, NYT (23-Apri...

Here we discuss the Netflix series The Crown ( https://www.netflix.com/title/80025678). And: The religious dimensions of monarchy, etiquette rituals, and our social class insecurities. The Crown , Season 3 finale scene (Queen Elizabeth walks to the carriage): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpUSil0_0zU Etiquette expert reacts to The Crown : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWo6pG9AXQ4 The Kennedys...

The 2020 election and the inauguration have come and gone, leaving the predictions of the QAnon prophets…hanging in the air. What happens to a religious movement when its key prophecies fail to come true in real time? Are adherents disappointed? Is/was Q a “religion”? Did they ever care in the first place? And did the biblical prophet Ezekiel make a false prediction, and then try to correct it? Ch...

The spirit of Buffalo Man reveals himself as the leader of America at the dais of power. ”Buffalo Man” Jake Angeli Buffalo Man flexing in the capitol Viral video of Elizabeth who got maced (the opera version)

Our 2020 holiday special has arrived. Surprises and revelations abound.

A hex and a counter-hex. Witches vs. Paula White. A spiritual showdown for the ages.

We have a crossover episode with the good scholars from " Bioethics for the People " to talk about the Amazon show Upload and a host of related religious and bioethical concerns. It's weird.

What happens behind the scenes at a “men’s retreat”? Sexualized sermons and high-stakes confrontations. Two stories, here at the return of the Kitsch Corner segment. With guest Simon Trautmann. And here is the story about the drug cartel using the men's retreat classic book .

You should totally watch the YouTube cooking show Grandpa Kitchen . Why? A sweet Indian grandpa cooks huge dishes of food for orphans . And when he dies, they make an episode of his funeral . What about this Western gaze upon the food rituals of others, though?

In this episode we begin by discussing the hit TLC series 90 Day Fiancé and meander into topics such as Biblical marriage patterns in the book of Genesis, sexist stereotypes about the attractive lady + the less attractive guy, and how women get exoticized on the show and in real life.

Charismatic pastor Rick Joyner sees militias sprouting up like mushrooms in a dream and tells us we now need to go to war based on that dream

In which Brian suggests a rising career field for his daughters to enter, and Leah comments on how Pentecostal and charismatic churches are handling the pandemic

In which we discuss the Amazon TV show Counterpart, parallel universes, and so forth

In which Leah takes on the mantle of dream interpretation and Brian recounts a mysterious saying from Heraclitus.

In which Brian checks in on his first viewing of the TV series Battlestar Galactica and reveals views that leave Leah in total horror

In which we try to talk ourselves into feeling guilty about feeling excited about the apocalypse

In which we discuss a fateful encounter at the local grocery store