Exvangelical

Dr. Anthea Butler returns to the show (she was a guest on season one of Powers & Principalities) to discuss her new book, White Evangelical Racism. Her book is of utmost importance to helping us understand both our past and our current moment. We discuss the history of white evangelical racism, and how it played a part in the Jan 6th insurrection and the murders in Atlanta in March 2021. I also wr...

Emily Joy Allison returns to the show to discuss her new book, #ChurchToo: How Purity Culture Upholds Abuse and How to Find Healing. Emily launched the #ChurchToo hashtag in November 2017 and it has taken on a life of its own, calling churches to account. You can follow Emily on Twitter and Instagram. I'm also joined by guest co-host Amy Congdon, a clinical mental health counselor in the Kansas Ci...

In this episode, I chat with Andrew Phelan and John Potter from Magnified Pod. Their show focuses on Tooth & Nail era Christian alt music - season 1 focused on the MXPX discography, and season 2 focused on Five Iron Frenzy. In this conversation, we learn about Andrew & John's stories, the power of music and memory even after our beliefs change, and what it was like becoming friends with Five Iron...

Laura Polk returns to the show to discuss the Jan 6th insurrection and the Religious Right. In particular, we discuss three pivotal events in 1980, and how they set the stage for much of what's followed. This interview was recorded on 2/7/2021. Laura Polk is an independent educator and researcher. You can support her via Patreon here. (I do!)  Follow Laura on Twitter @seelolago. You can support Bl...

Chris Stedman is a Minneapolis-based writer, speaker, and community organizer. In this conversation, we discuss his book IRL: Finding Realness, Meaning, and Belonging in Our Digital Lives, how people form and express their identities online, spirituality "fads," and much more! (This conversation was recorded on January 4th, 2021, two days before the insurrection and the rest of the country went to...

It's 2021.  Ossoff & Warnock won the Senate, and the next day Trump supporters stormed the Capitol Building after being incited by the President himself and encouraged by Senators Cruz and Hawley. 5 people died.  White evangelicalism bears much of the burden for this by creating an environment--over decades!--that encouraged this.  This episode is only partly scripted. It's unedited. "Regular" pro...

My guests for this episode are The Dirty Rotten Church Kids, aka Josh Link & Adrian Gibbs. The DRCK has taken exvangelical Instagram by storm over the past year, and their podcast has created its own community that is in their words, equal parts HEAVY and LIGHT. In this conversation we discuss their backgrounds as church kids, church planters, their deconstruction, and parenting. It's a great conv...

In the season 1 finale of Powers & Principalities, I speak with Reza Aslan about what we've learned about the United States in the past four years. In particular, we discuss what it means that 70 million Americans voted for Trump to be re-elected, the cult-like characteristics of Trumpism, the 'geography of identity' of Trumpism, the role of the media, and much more. Reza Aslan is author of severa...

In this episode, I speak with Jeff Sharlet, author of The Family (which was turned into a Netflix documentary series of the same name). We discuss the actions of President Trump and the GOP to undermine the results of the election, the role of QAnon, "police nationalism," and much more. Read Jeff Sharlet's missives from the Trump campaign rallies in Vanity Fair and follow him on Twitter. Follow Bl...

Prof. Bradley Onishi from Straight White American Jesus returns to the show to discuss Election Week. We discuss the historical significance of the election of Vice President Kamala Harris, the decisive victory of Joe Biden & the GOP's refusal to concede, and what comes next.  Follow Brad on Twitter @BradleyOnishi and listen to Straight White American Jesus if you aren't already! Follow Blake @brc...

Some initial thoughts on the 2020 Election. Acknowledging what was accomplished, and the work that still needs to be done. Follow Blake on Twitter and subscribe to The Post-Evangelical Post, where you will find a corresponding transcript, along with some additional links. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/suppor...

We're one day out until the November 3rd election. In this brief episode, Blake reviews this season's guests and the threats that remain regardless of the outcome of election day. If you haven't voted early, please make your plan to vote and make your voice heard. Use the Vote Save America to make your plan to vote. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this p...

My guest this week is Jack Jenkins, national reporter for Religion News Service and author of the book American Prophets: The Religious Roots of Progressive Politics and the Ongoing Fight for the Soul of the Country (Amazon, Bookshop). We discuss how one defines "the religious left," how the religious left differs from the religious right, the historical predecessors of the current religious left,...

In this episode, I chat with Anne Helen Petersen about her book Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation (Amazon, Bookshop). We discuss her spiritual & religious background, her viral essay on BuzzFeed that led to this book, how the way we use social media contributes to burnout, how our economic systems fail us, and more.  You can follow Anne on Twitter @annehelen and subscribe t...

My guest this week is Dr. Anthea Butler, associate professor of religion and Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and author of the upcoming book White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America. In addition to her upcoming book (to be released in March 2021), we discuss her experience as a public scholar, how the media covers religion & Trump, and many of the trends and...

My guest this week is Luke Barnett, writer and star of the new film Faith Based, which is available now on demand. Faith Based is a comedy about two friends who want to strike it rich by making a Christian film, and its cast includes Jason Alexander, Margaret Cho, David Koechner, and Lance Reddick (listed alphabetically by last name).  We talk about Luke's own life story, the lucrative Christian f...

On this week's episode, I am joined by Bradley Onishi of the Straight White American Jesus podcast to answer your questions about white evangelicalism and Christian nationalism. You all had some really wonderful questions, and it was equally wonderful to have an opportunity to answer them alongside Brad. Bradley Onishi is associate professor of religion at Skidmore College. If you enjoy this show,...

My guest this week is Robert Jones, founder and CEO of PRRI (The Public Religion Research Institute), and author of the recent book White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity (Amazon, Bookshop). In this discussion, we talk about how his book reveals the ways white American Christianity's history of white supremacy pervades all denominations - white evangelicals, mainlin...

My guest this week is Sarah Posner, author of the book Unholy: Why White Evangelicals Worship at the Altar of Donald Trump (Bookshop, Amazon). In her book, Sarah details the intellectual and social connections between the New Right, the Religious Right, and alt-right - and the ways in which white evangelicals provide moral and political cover for the Trump administration. Further, her work indicat...

We're taking a brief break to allow a little more time for production, but we're ready to take your questions. Brad Onishi (of Straight White American Jesus) & I will be taking your questions and answering them on the air in an upcoming episode. Submit your questions by Monday October 5th to be considered. Use the link in the show notes to send a Voice Message in Anchor, or send me a voice memo at...

My guest this week is Julie Ingersoll, professor of religious studies at the University of North Florida and author of the book Building God's Kingdom: Inside the World of Christian Reconstruction (Amazon, Bookshop.org). Christian Reconstruction is a movement that can be hard to both explain and identify, but has considerable influence - especially in the realm of Christian education and homeschoo...

My guests this week are Sam Perry & Andrew Whitehead, authors of the book Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States (Amazon, Bookshop.org). Perry & Whitehead are sociologists, and have published their data about America's relationship to Christian nationalism. They help define a framework for Christian nationalism, and why it is valuable to distinguish it from white e...

My guest this week is Kristin Kobes Du Mez, author of the new book Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation (Bookshop.org, Amazon).  Her book examines the role that cultural ideals of evangelical masculinity have been influenced more by John Wayne than by Jesus of Nazareth. If you've spent time in white evangelical circles, much of this will ring true;...

This week's episode features a conversation with Katherine Stewart. Katherine Stewart is the author of The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism (Bookshop.org, Amazon.com).  Her book provides a comprehensive overview of the tactics and strategies Christian nationalists have employed in American politics:  teaching false historical narratives about American history (...

In this very first episode of Powers & Principalities (termed Episode 0, because it acts as a bridge between Exvangelical & this show), I talk with Diana Butler Bass about the early history of fundamentalism in white evangelical Protestant Christianity in America. You can subscribe to the new show feed right here on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and elsewhere. Diana Butler Bass is the author of several...