ISKCON And When New Religions Aren’t So New Anymore
A roundtable discussion considering the future of ISKCON and what happens when religions are no longer ‘new’.
As a follow-up to our interview with Kim Knott on ISKCON in Britain, this podcast is a roundtable discussion at the ISKCON 50 conference at Bath Spa University, 2016.
ISKCON In Britain
Kim Knott provides an overview of the Hare Krishna movement in Britain, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
The “Axial Age”: Problematising Religious History in a Post-Colonial Setting
In the latest #RSPpod from our friends in Australia, Dr Jack Tsonis gets fired up about the “Axial Age” as well as the difficulties the immediate post-PhD years. Karl Jaspers created the term “Axial Age” in 1949 after considering that the Bhagavad Gita, the Pali Canon, the Book of Isaiah,…
BDSM as Religious Practice
Alison Robertson gives an insight to her doctoral research on BDSM as religious practice.
In this interview Alison Robertson gives an insight to her doctoral research on BDSM (Bondage, Dominance, and Submission) as religious practice. Throughout her research, Robertson has examined the relationship between BDSM and religiosity,
Permutations of Secularism
In this interview, we first focus on the origins of the term “secularism,” the proliferation of its meanings, and the uses to which it is put in Anglo-American contexts. Then we discuss the uses of the terms secularism and the secular today, particularly using a specific case study from Joe’s research on American nonbeliever organizations.
UFOs, Conspiracy Theories… and Religion?
Area 51, Ancient Aliens, endemic child abuse at the BBC, and Reptilians,… This interview begins with David’s own journey to this research field, before considering some basic questions such as “what is a conspiracy theory?”
Popular Culture, Dr. Who, and Religion
Go back to 2013 to discuss Religion & Pop Culture (and #DoctorWho) with James F. McGrath! It’s a big universe, and sometimes things get lost in time and space.
Conversion and Deconversion as Concepts in the Sociology of Religion
For this interview with Lynn Davidman, we focus on the concepts of conversion and deconversion, illustrations of these processes in various contexts, what each term means and how each is experienced in someone’s life, the histories of these terms and their use in scholarship, and issues that arise from their conceptualization or use.
Descriptions of Religion as Explanations of Religion
This week’s podcast features Kathryn Lofton and John Modern on the entanglement of description and explanation, the importance of self-reflexivity, and answering the “so what?” question In this week’s podcast, Kathryn Lofton and John Modern join Adam Miller for a conversation that hovers around the relationship…
DEATH, Religion, and Terror Management Theory
Psychologist Dr. Jonathan Jong draws on experimental research utilizing terror management theory to discuss the role of religious and other worldviews in assuaging the fear of the inevitable—DEATH.
One year before his own death in 1790, Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to the French scientist Jean-Baptiste,
Music, Marketing and Megachurches
Music is a big part of a new “mediapolois”, part of a marketing matrix of people, places and industries. Today, music’s meaning is more often part of a branded ecosystem, not limited to entertainment, but part of the experience of everyday life, including religion.
From the Ku Klux Klan to Zombies
Many of us only know about the white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan through film and television, and much of what we see blurs fact and fiction. Distinguishing each side of that messy divide is the prolific Kelly J. Baker, exploring how media portrayals of the hate group have influenced audiences and, in turn, fed back on its own members.
Nature alive: Amazonian religion in Peru
In this podcast, Dr Jaime Regan Mainville, a leading researcher in the anthropology of religion and linguistics, discusses his ethnographic research among some of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon basin.
The Amazon rainforest has always been a land filled with mystery since its ‘discovery’.
Identity and Capitalism
This interview with Craig Martin explores the limits of identity formation under modern Capitalism. Martin’s work Capitalizing Religion: Ideology and the Opiate of the Bourgeoisie focuses on the ways in which culture and religion are produced for consumption.
Popular Culture Studies and Bruce Springsteen: Escaping and Embracing Religion
“There’s always the risk in popular culture studies – first of all, it’s so fluid, you know, things change so fast – that the minute you’ve said something, it’s obsolete. And there’s always the risk that the material can’t bear the weight of analysis,” said Kate McCarthy in 2013, shortly after the re-release of her co-edited volume God in the Details. However, …