Religion on the Mind

Rev. Greg Farrand joins me to talk through his journey from high school burnout to PCA minister to Episcopal priest to his current gig as the executive director of Second Breath, an organization that promotes ancient Christian spiritual practice in a variety of contexts. Greg wanted an experiential faith, but found himself in a highly doctrine/reason-heavy tradition. His love for a wonderful lesbi...

A frank discussion about two highly contentious issues in one episode -- what could possibly go wrong? I'm grateful to be joined by my dear friend, theologian Sarah Lane Ritchie, a person who shares my love of nuance to discuss these really tricky issues one after the other. You might as well save up all the hate mail for one episode, right? (This episode is two shorter conversations put together,...

Today I am joined by emerging scholar Heather Griffin to talk through some language of hers that I have found *so* helpful in understanding white Evangelical culture. Terms of hers like "Bible truths," "sanctified common sense," "magic knowledge receptor," "sincerity culture," and "Evangelical insta-trust" all come up in our conversation. Perhaps most impressive, however, is the way she links all...

John Sanders joins me to drop one of the single most helpful distinctions I have ever heard in discussions of religion and culture. His identification and explanation of Nurturant and Authoritative approaches to religion, politics, parenting, and more has been kicking around my head daily for 6 weeks now. You should not skip this episode. And you should probably support indie publishers and buy hi...

I'm joined by PEW Research's Besheer Mohamed to discuss their recent fabulous deep-dive into the religious lives of Black Americans. We discuss why they decided on the topic, what was known previously, what they've been able to add, the role of religion in the lives of Black Americans, differences between Islam and Christianity in the Black community, the deep relationship to justice movements, an...

This week, I spoke with Joanna Daigle Sawatsky and Rebecca Lindenbach about their incredible research work for the new book by Sheila Wray Gregoire (their boss) "The Great Sex Rescue." This research involved surveying over 22,000 (!!!) Evangelical women about sex, reproductive issues, gender roles, and more. We break down what they found in their survey, as well as in popular Evangelical marriage/...

I am re-joined by YHP all star guest Greg Cootsona (California State University, Chico) to talk through what we know from all the social science research on whether and how religiosity and church involvement are good or bad for people. We touch on physical and mental health, resilience and happiness, meaning-making, trauma healing, prosocial behavior, and more. We also talk through the ways that i...

Another installment of one of my favorite types of episodes, where I chat with people who don't identify as Christian. Often times, I also don't believe in the God that they don't believe in. Joey Holman (ex-Cool Hand Luke) is one half of the Polyvinyl Records duo Man on Man, alongside his boyfriend Roddy Bottum (Faith No More). He grew up in a broken home outside Atlanta, found Evangelical Christ...

I'm joined by Lillian Daniel and Tony Jones to play a kind of a podcast game with simple rules: we take turns going through some of the MOST and LEAST PLAUSIBLE Christian claims we were told growing up in the church. Sometimes funny, but more often insightful (especially coming from Tony and Lillian), this was a pleasure to record. Tony's site: https://reverendhunter.com/Lillian's site: https://ww...

My guest is Robert Kunzman, managing Director of the International Center for Home Education Research. He is a professor at Indiana University, where he teaches courses in curriculum, pedagogy, and philosophy of education.  His research explores the intersection of citizenship, religion, and education, with a particular focus on homeschooling. Listeners of YHP asked almost every question in this e...

I had the immense privilege of speaking with Dr. Lisa Oakley, one of the leading researchers in the field of spiritual abuse. We talk about many aspects of SA, and then we move on to some of her newer research, focused on healthy communities in which such abuse does not thrive. World Relief Refugee petition: https://worldrelief.org/petition/Lisa’s 3 Questions:1. Would I want to be led by me?2. Aft...

In the first of what I hope are many conversations with those more conservative than myself about progressive Christianity, Brad Jones shares his worries and concerns, both personal and theological. This is a very open, frank, kind, and curious conversation between two people who agree on a good chunk of things but also disagree on a lot. I really enjoyed it and found it very helpful in understand...

This is a delightful conversation with the anonymous Twitter personality and podcaster known as Trans Regret Snoopy whose podcast Trans Regret Snoopy Presents the Bible is one of the best-named religious podcasts ever to exist, in my opinion. We talk about her (re)conversion, theology from the margins, why she is anonymous, trans activism, and more. My episode of TRS Presents the Bible: https://po...

Listener, patron, and Roman Catholic convert Jack Huber interviews me about my history with Catholicism in all its forms and the time that I got very close to becoming a Catholic. Follow Dan on IG: https://www.instagram.com/dancoke/Or Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanKochFaith deconstruction resources: soyouredeconstructing.comEdited by Josh Gilbert (joshgilbertmedia@gmail.com -- he is accepting mo...

A difficult (but not as difficult to listen to as you might think!) conversation with philosopher, sociologist, and theologian Elaine Storkey about the state of woman-directed violence worldwide in all its forms, including:- selective abortion and infanticide- genital mutilation- early and enforced marriage- honor killings- domestic violence- trafficking and prostitution - rape- war and sexual vio...

Continuing the series with those who have had experience in "Christian music," I speak with Joy Williams, known for both her solo career and her work with The Civil Wars. We talk about her upbringing and how it shaped her, the seedy underbelly of the Christian circuit, working in both Christian and general market scenes, her recent divorce, how she is raising her kids, how she sees God today, and...

Politics. Identity. Tribalism. Woke culture. Partisanship perceptions. Racial resentment. "Holding their nose" for Trump. Immigration Rural/urban divide. All of these are more are touched upon in this wide-ranging data-fueled conversation between myself and Ryan Burge: professor, author, data analyst and ordained American Baptist pastor. We are both center-left sociopolitically, and we have a lot...

I'm joined by author and Old Testament scholar Pete Enns to talk about certainty: why we want it, what it does for us psychologically, how he got interested in writing about it, what it has to do with "biblical" faith, and more. Peteenns.com -- his books, his podcast, and moreFollow Dan on IG: https://www.instagram.com/dancoke/Or Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanKochFaith deconstruction resources:...

I'm re-joined by Dr. Paula Swindle to go through the details of Ravi Zacharias's various abuses of power throughout his career as a Christian apologist. Specifically, Paula and I focus on these findings through the lens of religious or spiritual abuse, searching through the wreckage with an eye toward what each of us has found in our own research (hers much more extensive than my own!), as well as...

My first act of peaceful engagement and deescalation in the budding culture war between conservative/traditional and progressive/deconstructing Christians. May we be humble and kind peacemakers even as we disagree on important issues. May we reject tribalism in all its forms, embracing God in every one of God's creatures. The interview from which I pulled the clips:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...

Sarah Lane Ritchie joins me for our regular chat to talk through two related topics: (1) a longing for the "deep magic" that used to move our Evangelical souls in tales like the Chronicles of Narnia, and (2) our own anxiety about death and the possibility that we will simply cease to exist (even though as Christians we hope that isn't the case). This episode is dedicated to Blake Beaver, beloved m...

** Please take my Varieties of Church Experience Survey, and share with friends and family (especially more conservative ones!): https://northwestupsych.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3r3jgp1f2oqDJNc **As someone paying some attention to the news, I was not surprised that Trump was acquitted a second time in the Senate. But back on January 6th, I was somewhat surprised to see so much Christian imag...

** Please take my Varieties of Church Experience Survey, and share with friends and family (especially more conservative ones!): https://northwestupsych.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3r3jgp1f2oqDJNc **One of my most popular guests, Mark Karris (episode 45: "Toxic Christianity" & Its Damaging Claims), returns to talk about his book Religious Refugees. Specifically, we talk through the five symptoms...

Please take my Varieties of Church Experience survey, and share with friends and family: https://northwestupsych.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cXX09dWdzBtxtOeI'm joined by Luci and Jordan, the hosts of the Two Feminists Annotate the Bible/Beatified Podcast. We talk through the feminist hermeneutic, the Anglican and Episcopal traditions, liturgy and "canon within a canon", the documentary hypothesi...

To celebrate 100 episodes -- that is, 101 episodes -- my friends join me to talk about a subject that everyone else seems to love a lot more than I do: the Enneagram! The 5 of us, 4 short of the holy number of 9 (myself, Sarey Martin Concepcion, Myron Penner, Sarah Lane Ritchie, and Tripp Fuller), take various positions on the Enneagram and have a lively debate/discussion about its usefulness (or...