Straight White American Jesus

Brad and Dan begin with a discussion about the new bill in Florida that would outlaw referencing gender and sexual identity. This new "Don't Say Gay Bill" is an attempt to create a patriarchal safe space in which all those who are not straight are considered outside threats to children. It shows how, despite all their ire toward the idea of safe spaces, Christian nationalists and conservatives att...

Contemporary critics on both the right and the left essentially accuse those who politically mobilize around social identities of being fundamentally selfish in nature. The charge is that their politics reflects only personal interest, that they seek special treatment or privilege on the basis of an identity that isn’t shared with others, and that they fragment any shared political vision. But non...

Dr. Dana Lloyd is an expert on Native American religious traditions and faculty at Villanova University. She speaks to Brad about how the QAnon Shaman's appropriation of Native American symbols extends a long lineage of White people "playing Indian." According to Dr. Lloyd, "playing Indian" is a means of eliminating indigenous peoples by using their symbols, rituals, and traditions while leaving t...

Brad and Dan begin this episode with a discussion of the new profile of Jerry Falwell Jr. at Vanity Fair. In their view, Falwell is a type for contemporary Christian nationalism. He describes himself as not particularly religious while subscribing to a vision of the United States wherein White Christian men hold power. He was formed politically by Rush Limbaugh. He lavished praise on Donald Trump....

If all of politics involves “identity,” and if we all possess identities, why do so many feel like contemporary “identity politics” is something new and experience it as threatening? If identity has always been a fundamental part of shared social and political life, why does identity figure so prominently in that shared life now? In this episode, we explore this question, looking at three signific...

Dr. Leah Payne is a historian of Pentecostalism and other Christian traditions in the United States. She speaks with Brad about the overwhelming presence of charismatic Christians at the Insurrection. Drawing on her insider-scholar perspective, Dr. Payne helps decode some of the religious elements at at J6: the shofars (the horns used as instruments to declare war), the flags, and other symbols. S...

Brad and Dan lay out the timeline and details of the fake electors the Trump campaign organized in order to overthrow the election. If you thought the details of Trump’s coup couldn’t get worse, wait until you hear the full scope of the plan to commit election fraud throughout the country in order to overturn the will of the people.  They then discuss a new article at Christianity Today that maint...

What is identity? It isn’t something limited to particular social groups claiming equal rights or something that only applies to minority groups of different kinds. On the contrary, “identity” is something we all have and it’s how we categorize and sort individuals and groups to shape our shared social life. It’s also fundamental to our shared political life, which means that the concept of “ident...

What is identity? It isn’t something limited to particular social groups claiming equal rights or something that only applies to minority groups of different kinds. On the contrary, “identity” is something we all have and it’s how we categorize and sort individuals and groups to shape our shared social life. It’s also fundamental to our shared political life, which means that the concept of “ident...

Brad interviews Phil Gorski, Professor of Sociology at Yale, and the author of the new co-authored book with Sam Perry, The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to Democracy. Gorski breaks down how the rioters thought about the Insurrection–it was not about right or wrong. It was about us vs them. This explains how the various spiritualities on display at J6 worked to for...

Brad and Dan begin this MLK weekend show by going over the outlines of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the Selma marches, and King’s missives to White moderates. They link this to the current fight for voting rights and the misugided logic of Senator Synema, who continues to stand in the way of new voting rights legislation. They then transition to new scholarship that shows White Christian nationalis...

What do politicians like Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders have in common? They’re critical of “identity politics.” In this episode, we’ll take a closer look at how people on both the political left and the political right are critical of identity politics and the unexpected similarities of their perspectives. We’ll also talk about some of the obvious problems with these perspectiv...

Brad speaks with journalist and researcher Teddy Wilson, who has spent a decade covering the Radical Right in the United States. Teddy describes the J6 rioter network map he has built, showing the connections among the 725+ rioters who have been arrested in the year since the Insurrection. He paints a picture of how radical right groups like the Proud Boys, Oathkeepers, and 3 Percenters were alrea...

Brad and Dan begin this J6 anniversary episode by zooming in on certain religious elements manifest at the Insurrection. Dan decodes the various Braveheart references and signs on display, connecting them to a form of Christian nationalist masculinity via work by Kristin Kobes du Mez. Brad talks about how and why the rioters prayed as they crossed every boundary and threshold of the Capitol. It wa...

On the first episode in this series, Dan Miller explains why identity politics gets a bad rap and why that's a mistake. He introduces basic concepts in identity formation, group dynamics, and cultural identity in order to explain how identity is at the core of everything we do--including politics. It's not a matter of doing away with identity politics. It's a matter of understanding how they work...

In the first installment of J6 One Year Later, Brad speaks with the journalist Sarah Posner. Sarah discusses the various aspects of Christian supremacy and myth that provided a basis for the religious dimensions of the Insurrection. She and Brad touch on the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, and the Jericho March in order to uncover how and why the Insurrection was saturated with Christian imagery and sym...

Brad and Dan kickoff this New Year's Day roundup with a look at the false binary anti-vaxxers use to criticize the COVID vaccine and put forth a bad argument as to why they shouldn't get it. Dan discusses the case of NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers, while Brad uses the binary reference point to show why anti-vaxxers are natural allies to those who adhere to fundamentalist religions. They then discus...

In an interview from early 2020, Brad talks with Dr. Samuel Perry, co-author of Taking America Back for God and a leading scholar on the phenomenon of Christian nationalism. They discuss the principles, structures, statistics, and threat of Christian Nationalism. For Perry, Christian Nationalism isn't just theocracy. As they discuss, it's a code word--a dog-whistle--used to signal xenophobia, raci...

Brad speaks with scholar Mark Fugitt whose recent work explores the various sources and factors in evangelical opposition to the COVID vaccine. He provides the historical context for this movement, showing that it is half a century in formation. He explains to Brad how everything from creationism, to Christian wellness, to anti-abortion sentiment, and the apocalypse play into fear-mongering around...

Brad and Dan begin by discussing how Joe Manchin is giving everyone coal for Christmas, even though coal workers want him to vote for the Build Back Better Act. It shows that his actions are based on corporate lobbying, rather than looking out for his voters. They then discuss Americafest--the event put on by Turning Point USA where Kyle Rittenhouse was given celebrity treatment. The episode finis...

In an interview recorded in 2019, Brad talks with Dr. Kelly J. Baker, author of the award-winning book "Gospel According to the Klan." They talk about how and why the Klan's story is THE story of white Protestant America and how the Klan is an important antecedent to the modern-day Religious Right. Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus episodes, ad-free listening, access to the entire 500-episo...

Brad speaks with Aaron Griffith, Assistant Professor of History at Whitworth University. They discuss his book, God's Law and Order: The Politics of Punishment in Evangelical America. Griffith links the rise of the American carceral state to shifts in evangelical theology and anthropology on the 20th century, showing that the individualistic and punitive ethos of evangelical thinking influenced th...

Brad and Dan begin by discussing the text messages to Mark Meadows revealed by the J6 Select Committee. They dig into why this confirms all the worries we had about the plot to overthrow the election. They also underscore the callousness of the then Commander in Chief who ignored the pleas of fellow citizens to stop an attempted coup in progress. Brad then does a deep dive into Kyrsten Sinema in o...

Brad responds to pastor Matt Chandler's claim that deconstruction is only for those who were never real Christians in the first place. Brad dissects Chandler's blithe reference to Derrida (and moral relativism), explains why this is a convenient straw man that skips over the devastating process of leaving one's faith, and then explains why Chandler's response comes from a place of helplessness at...

Robert Mason is a biblical scholar whose recent work focuses on Romans 13. This passage of the New Testament has been frequently used (and abused) by authority figures trying to manipulate their subjects into obeying the law. It was used by Jeff Sessions to justify separating migrant kids from their parents. It was used to justify slavery. And the Holocaust. And the divine right of kings. But, Mas...