Religion Unplugged

Dr. Frank Wilczek is a theoretical physicist who recently received the 2022 Templeton Prize, adding to his Nobel Prize and MacArthur fellowship. He spoke with ReligionUnplugged.com executive editor Paul Glader about his religious upbringing and how it positively affected his approach to science. He also talks about how and why he became disillusioned with the religious teachings he experienced in...

Amid the leak of a U.S. Supreme Court opinion that likely overturns Roe v. Wade, ReligionUnplugged Executive Editor Paul Glader spoke with journalist and author Joshua Prager about his ground-breaking book, The Family Roe, that reports deeply on the battle over abortion in American history by telling the story about Norma McCorvey, the woman behind “Jane Roe.” Prager explains his reportorial journ...

Dr. Philip Jenkins of Baylor University shares about his research into the correlation between trends of institutional religious practice and trends of fertility. Dr. Jenkins discusses how religious participation particularly among young couples are a factor in driving fertility rates around the globe, and how this kind of statistical analysis can potentially predict global trends. Emceed by The M...

Executive Editor Paul Glader interviews Prison Fellowship's Director of Government Affairs, Heather Rice-Minus  to discuss the longevity of prison reform at a time when some conservatives and Christians are concerned about crime rising in some categories and cities. Rice suggests criminal justice reform isn’t a lost cause for conservatives, Christians or anyone. She outlines how steps towards...

Dr. Scott Kenworthy, a professor in the Department of Comparative Religion at Miami University, spoke with ReligionUnplugged’s Managing Editor Meagan Clark about the religious aspects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the complex history of Russian Orthodoxy. Kenworthy's research interests focus on the history and thought of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, particularly in modern Russia. His r...

On a stage inside a Texas megachurch worship center, a Muslim man wearing a traditional North African thobe that hung to his feet took a deep breath and began reciting passages from the Quran. The Islamic ritual in a Protestant santuary was part of a conference organized by the Multi-Faith Neighbors Network, a group co-founded by a Christian pastor, a Muslim imam and a Jewish rabbi to promote inte...

Mariya Kapinos is a Ukrainian journalist and game designer normally based in Kyev. She fled her city in recent days as Russia prepared to invade. As tanks rolled into her home country, Kapinos spoke with  ReligionUnplugged.com  executive editor Paul Glader about the military, political and religious conflicts between her homeland, Ukraine, and its neighbor to the East. An alumna of The Media Proje...

Indepreet Singh volunteers with the Hemkunt Foundation, a Sikh philanthropy which during the pandemic in India works to construct makeshift clinics and oxygen-supplying centers. Singh tells his story about what running these clinics in Delhi, India looks like on the ground. Produced by Anupama Chandrashekaran with Newsreel in partnership with ReligionUnplugged.

Syed Azharuddin is part of the Students’ Islamic Organization or SIO. During the pandemic many college students studying out of hostels away from home were stranded by the lockdowns. The SIO works to provide food, funds and transport to students irrespective of their religion, in an effort to combat Islamophobic inequalities along the way. Produced by Anupama Chandrashekaran with Newsreel in partn...

Delhi, India-based Jesuit Refugee Services work with refugees from Afghanistan and Myanmar. Like many refugee communities, they face extreme anti-immigrant discrimination. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many have spiraled into deeper poverty. Jesuit Refugee Services started a women's tailoring group to help the refugees find income and safety. With earnings trickling in from hand-stitched masks...

Published from The Media Project's virtual conference, Board Member and Islam expert Dr. Paul Marshall examines the use of blasphemy laws. In his lecture, Dr. Marshall discusses how blasphemy law is used to prevent religious reformation and theological discourse, and stop popular human rights-focused policymaking from progressive Muslim politicians in Muslim majority nations through cycles of...

Dr. Robert Carle interviews Director and CEO of The Bowery Mission, James Winans to discuss how the Mission has managed the pandemic, shifted strategies to avoid community spread and partnered with the city government to help a growing population of homeless people find temporary housing.

Karwan e Mohabbat is an organization in Uttar Pradesh, India fighting bigotry with empathy and solidarity for families of people killed or lynched in the name of religion. During a complete shutdown of the country at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, they began to feed a forgotten group — thousands of migrant workers who were walking thousands of kilometers home with only the clothes on their ba...

The city of Franklin, Tennessee has newly erected a statue to honor the United States Colored Troops (USCT), the segregated soldier regiments of primarily Black and formerly enslaved people who fought for the Union during the Civil War. Though there are several of these statues in the U.S., none have previously been installed directly outside a town hall like this statue in Franklin. Rev. Chris Wi...

As schools in India moved online in the pandemic, poor children without smartphones felt abandoned by the system. Charter For Compassion’s Anjali Gurmukhani Sharma works to ensure that underprivileged school girls, at risk for being married or being buried in housework, get phones to continue with online schooling. Produced by Anupama Chandrashekaran with Newsreel in partnership with ReligionUnplu...

A Jain temple in India’s western metropolis, Mumbai, urgently pedals to vaccinate as many people as it can - caste, religion no bar. Jinesh Shah who started this initiative has worked tirelessly to accommodate vaccination camps for even the homeless. Produced by Anupama Chandrashekaran with Newsreel in partnership with ReligionUnplugged.

The Springtide Research Institute's new annual study is released today. Religion Unplugged Contributor, Anna Carlson interviews the executive director of the Institute, Dr. Josh Packard to discuss the insights of the new report and the trends of the religious habits of young people in America.

Mercy Angels is a philanthropy based in the south Indian city of Bangalore, run largely by members of the Muslim community who help perform the last rites of people who have died from the Coronavirus. Volunteers like Tanveer Ahmed have helped bury and cremate the dead of all religions when their families cannot do so. Ahmed shares his experiences with Anupama Chandrashekaran with Newsreel in partn...

Jon Seidl's anxiety was originally considered by his church and by him as just a trait of his personality. Managing Editor Meagan Clark interviews Seidl about being diagnosed with anxiety, depression and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and about the ways some Christian traditions misunderstand the realities of mental health. Seidl's new book “Finding Rest”, about these struggles and th...

With radical changes to the political, religious and cultural environment in Afghanistan all at once, the norms for how the Afghan people are discussed particularly by western journalists is currently under construction. Senior Contributor and Board Member Roberta Ahmanson and Senior Contributor Terry Mattingly discuss what the future of journalism and religion coverage in Afghanistan might look l...

Jan Bradley and her husband, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. John Bradley, run the Lamia Afghan Foundation, one of the non/governmental organizations working to get Afghan refugees to safety. Religion Unplugged columnist Bobby Ross Jr. and Christian Chronicle correspondent Cheryl Bacon interviewed Jan and John about the status of the families they know, the real life Lamia and what's next for the A...

Religion Unplugged visited the Orange Country Rescue Mission in California to learn more about one of the most innovative approaches to homelessness in America. We spoke with Jim Palmer, the president and CEO of the Rescue Mission at the Village of Hope, a unique college campus-like facility that trains homeless men and women in life and job skills while treating other aspects of the whole person.

Executive Editor Paul Glader interviews Fernando Arroyo about his time as a soldier in Afghanistan, dealing with the trauma of war, the loss of friends and what rehabilitation can look like at the Orange County Rescue Mission after the 20 year conflict. Content Warning: This episode contains descriptions of graphic violence, PTSD, Suicide and trauma. Caution is recommended for children or listener...

The Media Project and the Acton Institute, in partnership with the Center for Early African Christianity and a host of other excellent partner organizations hosted the third lecture in a series regarding what historic Christianity in Africa can teach us about racial justice in America today. This lecture featured Lisa Fields, Founder and President of the Jude 3 Project. It was hosted LIVE in Octob...

Data by Springtide Research shows that Gen Z felt exceptionally lonely and purposeless in 2020, and yet participation alone in religious groups did not help them. Managing Editor Meagan Clark spoke with Springtide’s Executive Director Josh Packard about their report’s findings that are particularly applicable to parents, religious leaders, college professors and anyone else with members of Gen Z i...