Religion Unplugged

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...

Professor Robert Alter was translating portions of the Bible when Roberta Ahmanson asked him, "Are you going to do the whole thing?" Years later, Robert Alter has completed and published the full Bible with a complete new translation and commentary. Senior Contributor and Board Member Roberta Ahmanson Interviews Robert on the process of creating the new translation, why it was needed and w...

Ministry Watch: Episode 115 On today’s MinistryWatch EXTRA episode I’m pleased to welcome back to the program Paul Glader. Paul is the editor-in-chief at Religion Unplugged and the director of the journalism program at The King’s College in New York City. His journalism experience includes a long tenure with the Wall Street Journal. We begin with a story by Ryan Burge on the Decline of the Mainlin...

Inflated concerns about transporting victims on airplanes, and the fear that "it could happen to anybody" has in some cases overtaken the actual needs and concerns of sex trafficking victims. Elsa Cruz interviews Ava, a victim and advocate for sex trafficking victims about what Christians have gotten wrong about how sex trafficking works, and what Christians can do better to help improve t...

Mitchell West (Street Hymns) is one of the founding members of the Christian battle rap group Four Horsemen. Senior Contributor and Board Member Roberta Ahmanson interviews Street Hymns on his role and history with Christian rap, battle rap and the interconnected ways that faith and rap have influenced one another.

As the United States prepares for gathering in public again, the fractures in politics, technology, personal faith, and institutional trust are at a crossroads. Clemente Lisi talks to Director of Program Outreach at The Acton Institute, Dan Churchwell about the potential future of these divides and what the Acton Institute is working towards on all fronts.

Ministry Watch: Episode 104 On today’s MinistryWatch EXTRA episode I’m pleased to welcome back to the program Paul Glader. Paul is the editor-in-chief at Religion Unplugged and the director of the journalism program at The King’s College in New York City. His journalism experience includes a long tenure with the Wall Street Journal. To find out more about Religion Unplugged and the stories we disc...

In the third and final episode of our series on the Equality Act, Ryan Anderson, president of the conservative think tank Ethics & Public Policy Center (EPPC) and author of "When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment”, interviews Carlo Lancellotti, mathematics professor at CUNY with an expertise on Italian philosopher Augusto del Noce. Lancellotti translated and edited D...

In the second episode of our series on the Equality Act, Ryan Anderson, president of the conservative think tank Ethics & Public Policy Center (EPPC) and author of "When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment”, interviews Margaret McCarthy, a professor at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute and editor of the quarterly “Humanum: Issues in Family, Culture, and Science”. M...

Ryan Anderson, president of the conservative think tank Ethics & Public Policy Center (EPPC) and author of "When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment”, interviews Mary Hassan, a Catholic fellow at EPPC who testified for the Republican side at the recent Senate hearing on the Equality Act. Hasson discusses the impacts and legal questions the Equality Act raises for relig...

In a difficult year in 2018, Tish Harrison Warren started writing "Prayer in the Night: For those Who Work or Watch or Weep," a new book which now in the context of a host of unprecedented upheaval has the potential to carry helpful messages for Anglicans and people of faith in many liturgical traditions. Executive Director, Paul Glader interviewed Warren to discuss the creation of the boo...

Senior Programs Manager for The Media Project Melissa Harrison interviewed author, podcaster and co-founder of African Mission Healthcare, Mark Gerson, about his upcoming book. In “The Telling”, Gerson investigates Passover, the Seder and the meaning of life in some of the earliest Jewish traditions.