The Magnificast

Everyone's been talking about wages and the labor shortage and we know you've been wondering what we think. So, in this episode, we're embracing James 5 and illuminating the ongoing conversation about wages and why Christians need to be advocates for workers. Intro Music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by St. Lenox https://theillalogicalspoon.bandcamp.com/track/hoods-up-the-low-down-technified-bl...

Héctor Acero Ferrer is back to talk to us about the ongoing wave of protests and Colombia and to tell us about his work on memory and liberation theology. This is an episode you don't want to miss! Intro Music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by St. Lenox https://theillalogicalspoon.bandcamp.com/track/hoods-up-the-low-down-technified-blues *Support The Magnificast on Patreon* http://patreon.com/th...

This week on the show, we talk with Margaret Randall. Margaret Randall is a legendary poet, activist, and many other things! In addition to plenty of poems, she’s written a ton of books, including Christians in the Nicaraguan Revolution, which is a series of interviews she did with Christian Sandinistas, and Exporting Revolution (just to name a few). She spent her life in revolutionary moments, fr...

We're always talking up a storm about Ernesto Cardenal, but this time around we're talking with Stephen Henighan, a real scholar on Latin American literature! In this episode, we learn more about Cardenal's background, influences, and his lasting impact on the politics of Nicaragua.

When people think of religion, they think of miracles. A bush miraculously burning, a baby being born to a virgin, someone rising from the dead, etc. But sometimes seem miraculous without being quite so fantastic. We get into all of this and more with a conversation with Andrew Choi, from the band St. Lenox. You can find all of Andrew's music here: https://stlenox.bandcamp.com/ Intro Music by Amar...

In this episode, we talk with Daniel Saunders about his new essay on commodity fetishism and Christianity. You can find his essay here: https://danielsaunders.blog/2021/04/16/ideology-fetishism-apophaticism-marxist-criticism-and-christianity/ Intro Music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by Paul Robeson https://theillalogicalspoon.bandcamp.com/track/hoods-up-the-low-down-technified-blues *Support T...

A thought we've been sitting with a lot recently is "Where do we see crucifixion in the world today?" Though with Easter in the rearview mirror, we thought it might be helpful to think about a related question "Where do we see resurrection in the world today?" In this episode, we think through resurrection as a political idea. You can read the article from Lydia Wylie-Kellerman that we mentioned i...

Everyone's talking about the Amazon union drive, so we decided to talk about it to. This week, we're giving you the scoop on what's going on where things stand at the Amazon union in Bessemer, Alabama from Jacob Morrison, the co-host of The Valley Labor report. We also get into the recent Mineworkers strike, and even some very on-brand religious content. Find more from The Valley Labor Report here...

Some of our best episodes have been talking about solidarity with Jim Hodgson, well this time around we've got one of Jim's incredible colleagues, Patti Talbot, to talk about peace and solidarity movements that focus on the Korean Peninsula. Northeast Asia is a complicated place, but this interview gives some good handles for thinking about a very complex situation! Intro Music by Amaryah Armstron...

How does money work? If you tithe, will you get more money? What's a commodity? Why is a holographic Charizard worth so much? These questions and more will be answered in this week's episode of The Magnificast. This week, we're tackling the political economy of money and the Christian criticism of money as idolatrous. Intro Music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by theillogicalspoon https://theill...

This week on the show, we're talking with Lydia Wylie-Kellerman about her new book The Sandbox Revolution: Raising Kids For A Just World. Maybe you have kids, maybe you don't, maybe you just know some kids––either way this episode is for you. Lydia has so much wisdom and powerful intuitions about family and community life and you need to hear them. Pick up Lydia's book here: https://www.broadleafb...

Things happen so much. Too much some might say. Just the same, it's important to know what's happening outside of the US and Canada. To help us learn more about the world and what solidarity looks like, we brought back Jim Hodgson to talk about the ongoing wave of protests in Haiti with a special eye toward the historical context behind it all. You can find Jim's recent writing here: https://unwra...

We've mentioned the Christians for National Liberation and the ongoing struggle in the Philippines before on the podcast, but this time we've got some great guests who actually know what they're talking about. This week we're talking with Ariel, a doctoral student from the University of Toronto, studying the Christians for National Liberation and also Pastor Jeanelle Ablola, a United Methodist pas...

LITERALLY* millions of emails have been pouring in with listeners asking, "Matt and Dean, what episode of your podcast should I have my very conservative Christian Uncle Jerry listen to?" Well, dear listener, here it is. This is the intro episode to why Christianity and socialism make a whole heck of a lot of sense together that even your Uncle Jerry can listen to. Intro Music by Amaryah Armstrong...

In the past month or so, we've talked a lot about nationalism and Christianity, but what if there's actually a nationalism that is good? It's hard to believe, but in this episode, we turn to leftist Christian movements that grappled with nationalism and patriotism in ways that will probably make Intro Music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by theillogicalspoon https://theillalogicalspoon.bandcamp....

Have you heard about the cool new Liberation Theology podcast on the block? No? Well, let us tell you! This week, we're joined by David Inczauskis SJ, the host of The Liberation Theology Podcast. Give David a follow on twitter @LibTheoJesuit and check out his pod! Intro Music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by theillogicalspoon https://theillalogicalspoon.bandcamp.com/track/hoods-up-the-low-down-...

This week, Matt and Dean talk with Josiah Daniels about his essay Because we Dared to Exist: After Generations of Racist Trauma Black Gun Ownership is on the Rise. In the episode, we talk through Josiah's work and zero in on some big distinctions about violence, pacifism, sexy pacifism, and why violence is bad. Read Josiah's article here: https://religiondispatches.org/because-we-dared-to-exist-af...

Before the election, we talked a lot about how to think about electoral politics, but just because the election is over doesn't mean we should stop thinking about it. In this episode, we're talking about liberal Christian nationalism and adding some nuance to the advantages and disadvantages of a Biden presidency. Also, here's the article about the PRO act we mentioned on the show https://brandonm...

This week on The Magnificast we've got Connor Lewis, one of the Strikewave crew to talk to us about labor, unions, politics, and Catholocism. You're not going to want to miss this good union content! Also, check out the links below to check out the books and articles we mentioned in the show. thestrikewave.com Mindy Isser - The Union Members Who Voted for Trump Have to Be Organized—Not Ignored htt...

Since we talked with Richard Gilman-Opalsky a few weeks ago, we've focused a bit on the idea of morality and communism as a relationship between people. To keep riding that theme, we talked with Taylor Genovese about his essay The Necessity of Communist Morality!  You can find Taylor's article here: https://www.peacelandbread.com/post/the-necessity-of-communist-morality Intro Music by Amaryah Arms...

When there's an attempted coup, what can you do but make a podcast about it? This week, we're bringing you some takes on the religious angles on this week's insurrection at the US Capitol. We give some special attention to Dorothee Sölle's framework of Christofascism You can find the articles we talked about here: https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2021/01/06/us-capitol-trump-riot-ra...

We all know and hate the COVID-19 pandemic, but what do we do about it? There's a vaccine on the horizon, but what kind of systemic steps might we take to write the massive inequalities that COVID has revealed? This week, we take a look at some of the platforms and campaigns that advocate for a "Just recovery" from our own Christian-Marxist perspective. Intro Music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music...

The most famous Christian leftist podcast meets the most famous Christian leftist youtube: Damon Garcia. Damon has been making rad Christian leftist content on youtube for a long time and we finally have him on the podcast! In this episode, we talk with Damon about Christmas, Christianity and the left, and youtube. Don't sleep on this episode! You can find all of Damon's stuff here youtube.com/Dam...

Back in 2018, we made this special episode with Hannah Shanks about Mary, materiality and bodies. It's a rad episode! To celebrate Christmas we're bumping this classic episode to the top of the list! Mary did you know that your baby boy would be the king of kings? Yeah, she knew. In this extra credit episode of the Magnificast, Matt talks with Hannah Shanks author of This Is My Body: Embracing the...

"Love is a power, and for that reason we cannot sequester it from all politics or keep it trapped in theological and mystical privacy. Love is not a neutral power that agrees with everything. But love lives precariously in a world that vacillates between not knowing what it is and subjecting it to the values of capital." This week, Matt and Dean talk with Richard Gilman-Opalsky about his new book...