Things Not Seen Podcast

Author and journalist Susan Katz Miller is both an interfaith child and an interfaith parent. Her book, Being Both: Embracing Two Religions in One Interfaith Family, is both a memoir and a call to action for intentional interfaith community.  We talk about how her experiences have shaped her approach to family and religious practice, and the politics of raising interfaith families. Also on the sho...

On Palm Sunday in 1990, attorney Jeanne Bishop received a phone call with the news that three members of her family - including her sister - had been brutally murdered. We take the full hour of our show this week to hear Bishop's account of her twenty-five-year journey towards firgiveness and reconciliation with her sister's killer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Heidi Neumark spent twenty years as the pastor of Transfiguration Lutheran Church in the South Bronx in New York City, and has spent the past decade at Trinity Lutheran Church in Manhattan. At both posts, she has encountered the same need: people on the margins - cast out and unwanted - who need to hear the Good News that they are wanted, needed, and valued. So Reverend Neumark has focused her min...

Part 2 - In this conversation, David Dault speaks with scholar and author Reza Aslan about his recent bestseller, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. Along the way, the discussion includes the current state of academic teaching, navigating land mines on Fox News, and a pretty awesome Beatles reference. Also on the show, producer Maxwell Grant reviews the 'Magicians' series, a trilogy...

In this conversation, David Dault speaks with scholar and author Reza Aslan about his recent bestseller, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. Along the way, the discussion includes the current state of academic teaching, navigating land mines on Fox News, and a pretty awesome Beatles reference. Also on the show, senior producer Katy Scrogin reviews the recent documentary "Punk Prayer,"...

In the year 2000, against strong opposition, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act passed Congress by unanimous vote. It's supporters proclaimed that "God worked a miracle" that day on Capitol Hill. Our guest, John Mauck, was instrumental in crafting the ideas and language that became the Act. He tells us the story of how it became law. Also on the show, Mary Morrison discusses...

In the year 2000, against strong opposition, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act passed Congress by unanimous vote. It's supporters proclaimed that "God worked a miracle" that day on Capitol Hill. Our guest, John Mauck, was instrumental in crafting the ideas and language that became the Act. He tells us the story of how it became law. Also on the show, our producer-at-large, N...

The conclusion of our conversation with S. Brent Plate, author of A History or Religion in 5 1/2 Objects. Plate is the founding editor of the journal Material Religion. Also on the show, journalist Natasha Alford reflects on Ferguson, and the death of Martin Luther King. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first of two conversations with S. Brent Plate, author of A History or Religion in 5 1/2 Objects. Plate is the founding editor of the journal Material Religion. Also on the show, we give an audio preview of the new Chicago Sunday Evening Club immigration documentary, "Divided Families" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part 2 of our interview with Rev. Kat Banakis, author of Bubble Girl: An Irreverent Journey of Faith. Also on the show, Mary Morrison reviews the BBC sci-fi series Orphan Black Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part 1 of our interview with Rev. Kat Banakis, author of Bubble Girl: An Irreverent Journey of Faith. Also on the show, David Dault reviews True Detective Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We continue our series of conversations recorded last year at the Wheaton College confeence on the Bible and Democracy in America, co-sponsored with the American Bible Society. Rev. Lillian Daniel is the author of When Spiritual but Not Religious is Not Enough. In part 2 of our conversation, we discuss her book, as well as the influence congregationalism had on the formation of American democracy....

We continue our series of conversations recorded last year at the Wheaton College confeence on the Bible and Democracy in America, co-sponsored with the American Bible Society. Rev. Lillian Daniel is the author of When Spiritual but Not Religious is Not Enough. In part 1 of our conversation, we discuss her book, as well as the influence congregationalism had on the formation of American democracy....

Part two of a far-ranging interview with Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. We discuss misconceptions of Islam, the spirituality at the core of all religion, and the importance of religious identity in the modern world. Also on the program, Katy Scrogin discusses Brad Kallenberg's book, By Design: Ethics, Theology, and the Practice of Engineering Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part one of a far-ranging interview with Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. We discuss misconceptions of Islam, the spirituality at the core of all religion, and the importance of religious identity in the modern world. Also on the program, Katy Scrogin discusses the book, The Man who Gave Up Money. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Wheaton College professor Amy Black discusses the Constitution and religious freedoms in America from a historical perspective. Also on the program, we present "Jesus the Muslim," produced by the UK podcasters Things Unseen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Wheaton College professor Amy Black discusses the Constitution and religious freedoms in America from a historical perspective. Also on the show, Katy Scrogin discusses The Reason I Jump: an Account of a Thirteen Year Old Boy with Autism, by Naoki Higashida Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last October, Things Not Seen Radio went on-location to Wheaton College to speak to participants in their conference on the Bible and Democracy in America, co-sponsored by the American Bible Society. Our guest this week is University of Chicago professor, historian Catherine Brekus. Also on the show, Katy Scrogin discusses Martha C. Nussbaum’s book, Political Emotions: Why Love Matters for Justice...

In Thursday's Religion Moment, Katy Scrogin discusses the Caliphate of Cordoba. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part 2 of our interview with Phyllis Tickle, we look at the relationship of science and faith, and why new seminarians might want to have a background in physics rather than theology. According to Tickle, our present epoch - referred to by some as "The Great Emergence" - has the potential to yield a new Christianity distinct from Protestantism, Catholicism, and Orthodoxy. Also on the program, K...

In part 1 of our interview with Phyllis Tickle, we explore the idea that our culture has been shaped by roughly 500-year cycles, which have helped define our major religious traditions for the past two millennia. According to Tickle, our present epoch - referred to by some as "The Great Emergence" - has the potential to yield a new Christianity distint from Protestantism, Catholicism, and Orthodox...

Rachel Held Evans grew up in Dayton, TN, the town made famous by the Scopes Monkey Trial. From the heart of the Bible Belt, where faith at first seemed certain and simple, she grew more comfortable with questions and doubt.  Now considering herself a more progressive (but still evangelical) woman, she tries to live her beliefs, as she puts it, with her "head and heart fully engaged." Rachel Held E...