Religion Unplugged

Colby McCaskill and Julia Jensen embark on a journalistic journey through the initial two weeks of the Spring 2023 semester at The King's College. As  Empire State Tribune reporters, they unravel the narrative of their institution's ongoing financial crisis, tracing it from the earliest murmurs of uncertainty voiced from the City Room podium to the announcement of a significant deficit.. W...

Joseph Holmes sits down with Stacey Harkey of Studio C and JK Studios to discuss his new movie "Go West", his LDS faith, coming out, and why we need comedy that brings people together.

Colin Ford sits down with Religion Unplugged to talk about his new film "The Hill", acting alongside Dennis Quaid, and how to discern your dreams from God's call on your life. The film is based on a true story.

In a conversation with Joseph Holmes, Donnie and Nancy Emerson discuss the intricacies of the recently released film chronicling their life journey, titled "Dreamin' Wild." Their discussion encompasses the experience of achieving success later in life, as well as navigating the path of an artist while steadfastly upholding their faith. 

Filmmaker Martin Doblmeier talks with Religion Unplugged about the ins and outs of his new documentary, “Sabbath,” where he explores this ancient practice and concept across the Abrahamic faiths. Doblmeier talks with Rafa Oliveira about the importance of rest in an overworked, overstressed, and consumerist culture, and how the concept of Sabbath is about much more than a nap on Sunday afternoons,...

Religion Unplugged senior contributor Robert Carle speaks with Dr. Karlis Verdins, who teaches literature at the Art Academy of Latvia. Verdins hopes to confront Latvians with an honest reckoning of their complicity in the Holocaust. Verdins obtained a record of the Viktors Arajs’s two year trial in Hamburg, which took place in Hamburg in 1977-79. Verdins turned the story of the trial into a drama...

Religion Unplugged Senior Contributor Robert Carle speaks with Latvia's Israeli Ambassador Sharon Palgi about Latvia's painful history of Nazi and Soviet occupation. Following Germany's invasion of Latvia in June 1941, 85,000 of Latvia's Jews were brutally murdered. Some Latvians participated in Nazi crimes against their Jewish countrymen. Today, fewer than 10,000 Jews live in Latv...

Religion Unplugged Senior Contributor Robert Carle interviews Rabbi Eliyohu Krumers, who leads the Peitav Shul congregation in Riga, Latvia. The Peitav Shul is the only synagogue that survived the Nazi and Soviet occupations of Latvia because it's located in the center of Riga's Old Town, making it too risky to set it on fire without endangering the Old Town. Instead, the Nazis used the sy...

Religion Unplugged Culture Critic Joseph Holmes engages in an insightful conversation with director-writer-producer Craig Lamar Brown, delving into the profound themes of his latest faith-based race drama film titled "Between Mercy and Me." Set to grace the big screen for a limited engagement on June 20th, this thought-provoking masterpiece aims to shed light on the shortcomings of the Chr...

Religion Unplugged Culture Critic Joseph Holmes interviews prolific producer Devon Franklin (Pursuit of Happyness, Miracles From Heavan, Jesus Revolution) about his new film "Flamin' Hot", on Disney+ and Hulu.

Religion Unplugged executive editor Paul Glader speaks with journalist and author Jon Ward about his newest book, Testimony, that evaluates what Ward sees as an “evangelical moment that failed a generation.” Ward says he remains committed to his Christian faith but has rethought many aspects of evangelicalism during his years raised in the faith. Ward is the chief national correspondent at  Yahoo!...

Religion Unplugged culture critic, Joseph Holmes, interviews Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman, writers-directors behind the new faith-based horror movie “Nefarious.” They discuss their careers in the faith-based film industry (spanning "God's Not Dead" and "Unplanned"), working as Catholics in Evangelical spaces, and whether the world is really getting better or worse.

The seven-story temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints looms high above the Interstate 495 Beltway in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. — and someone spray-painted on an adjoining wall “Free Dorothy,” inspired by “The Wizard of Oz.” The six gold-tipped spires of the temple, originally dedicated in 1974, stoke intrigue like Emerald City in the 1939 movie starring Judy Garl...

Sergei Chapnin is a senior fellow at the Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University in New York City. He’s also an art curator and journalist. He was once the executive editor at The Journal of The Moscow Patriarchate before he had a falling out with leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church over his concerns that the church was becoming too close to the state and to Vladimir Putin. Chap...

Some of the most exquisite stained glass windows in the United States filter light at the Saint Vincent De Paul Church in Bayonne, NJ. The Catholic church was predominantly constructed by Irish men and women in this working-class town, situated across the river from Manhattan, in 1894. During the 1920s, an innovative priest at the church hired a craftsman named Harry Clark from Ireland to design t...

Brent McCorkle’s ‘Jesus Revolution’ Can It Inspire A Repeat Of The ‘Jesus Movement’? By Joseph Holmes Religion Unplugged’s culture critic, Joseph Holmes, discusses Brent McCorkle’s new film “Jesus Revolution” and whether this movie can inspire a repeat of the “Jesus Movement” revival of the 70s.

Georgetown University professor Joshua Mitchell talks with  ReligionUnplugged.com  about his new book, “American Awakening,” where he explores how identity politics in America bear a some resemblance to Christianity but miss vital concepts such as forgiveness. Mitchell speaks with Paul Glader and Paul Marshall about the book thesis and Mitchell’s observations and concerns about American life. 

In this podcast, Chris Broussard of Fox Sports works as an NBA analyst who is passionate about basketball. He’s also passionate about being a Christian, helping Black youth, combating racism and making the world a better place. He sounds like a preacher, someone who oozes passion. There aren’t too many people out there who could speak with ease about God, Jesus and St. Paul one minute, then pivot...

In this podcast, Jehu Kitoli, a Kenyan member of the Nairobi Hebrew Congregation, describes his long journey to Judaism. Jehu grew up Anglican. As a teenageer, Jehu began to read the Bible and found contradictions between the Hebrew scriptures and the teachings of Paul. “I discovered that the Bible was a document given to Jews and addressed to the children of Israel, who were to be in a covenant r...

Brother Colm O’Connell, the “godfather of Kenyan Running,” is a Patrician monk from Cork County, Ireland. Brother Colm came to St. Patrick’s High School in Iten, Kenya in 1976 to teach geography. Brother Colm knew little about running or coaching when he volunteered to coach St. Patrick’s athletics team. In the 46 years he has lived in Iten, Brother Colm has coached scores of world record holders...

Senior Religion Unplugged Contributor Dr. Robert Carle is in Kenya for this episode, interviewing the Israeli Ambassador to Kenya, Michael Lotem. Lotem–along with several other ambassadors to countries in Africa and Asia– is a part of a broad expansion in foreign affairs by Israel to countries in Africa and Asia. Other recent ambassador appointments include ambassador Eitan Na’eh in Bahrain, Micha...

Religion Unplugged Executive Editor Paul Glader interviews Czech journalist Daniel Raus on the complicated dynamics of assessing religious affiliation in former Soviet nations such as the Czech Republic, which is arguably the most atheistic country on earth. We also learn about Raus’ history in radio, audio production at Radio Free Europe, Czech Radio and his recent freedom of the press award from...

Senior Religion Unplugged Contributor Dr. Robert Carle is in Baringo, Kenya for this episode, interviewing world record-holding long distance runner, Mary Keitany. She won her first world record in 2010, at the Berlin 25 kilometre race, with a time of 1:19:53. She also has won world records for races in 2011 and 2017. Now retired, Keitany talks to Dr. Carle about her history in racing, the importa...

Religion Unplugged Contributor Dr. Robert Carle is in Eldoret, Kenya for this episode, interviewing Pastor John Miaka and Pastor Philip Kipkurgat Yiego. They are accomplished runners who have competed internationally for Kenya, winning marathons in Madrid, Valencia, the European Indoor Games, the 10k road race. They have since retired from running to focus on their faith and being pastors of Pente...

Religion Unplugged Contributor Robert Carle talks to Bishop Mudenyo, who oversees a fellowship of fifty-six East African Pentecostal churches, about Kenya's 2014 regulations to crack down on scam miracles and fake pastors.  These regulations failed because they sharply curtailed the freedom of real pastors and religious leaders to serve their congregants. Mudenyo instead proposes new methods o...