How “Woke” Is Your Textbook?: Introducing Religious Studies in the 2020s
RSP co-founder Chris Cotter and Paul Hedges discuss the construction of introductory textbooks in the contemporary world, including issues of positionality, criticality, and decolonization.
Ukraine Invasion, Philippine Elections, and Misinformation | Discourse! March 2022 (with video)
Tune in for this month’s Discourse! with Andie Alexander, Daniel Gorman, Jr., and Paul-François Tremlett as they discuss the upcoming elections in the Philippines and the Russian Orthodox church response to the invasion of Ukraine.
Religious Legal Activism: Abortion Rhetoric Among British Evangelicals
In this episode, Dr. Méadhbh McIvor joins Savannah Finver to discuss her recent book Representing God: Christian Legal Activism in Contemporary England. Dr. McIvor provides our listeners with the background for her project; the method of ethnography, as well as its challenges and implications for the study of religion; and how the belief in a certain kind of afterlife impacts the kinds of legal and political activism that her interlocutors are willing to engage in.
The Wilderness of Mirrors: Nationalism, Religion, and Secret Intelligence
You’ve heard of the CIA, but did you know that they’re just as interested in religion as we are? Join Dr. Michael Graziano and Jacob Noblett as they discuss the impact of the OSS and CIA’s religion-oriented intelligence operations across the globe!
The Devil is in the Details! | Discourse! February 2022 (with video)
This month’s episode of Discourse! features Candace Mixon, Craig Martin, and Suzanne Owen discussing issues of religious freedom and rhetoric—you won’t want to miss it!
The Insider/Outsider Problem: An RSP Remix
Visit our archives to explore the insider/outsider problem in the study of religion. We explore questions such as “What is an ‘insider’ or ‘outsider’?” and “How do scholars of religion study and engage ‘insiders’?” to begin unpacking what all is at stake in this process of group formation.
Spiritual Abuse Roundtable
Join host Theo Wildcroft and panelists Wendy Dossett, Dawn Llewellyn, Suzanne Newcombe, and Lisa Oakley as they discuss scholarship and academic approaches to issues of ‘spiritual abuse’.
The Critical Humanist Study of Islam
What sort of discursive traps to we fall into when talking about ‘Islam’ or ‘the West’? How might we reframe our discussions with a critical humanist approach? In this episode, Khurram Hussain joins Andie Alexander to discuss his recent book, The Muslim Speaks (Zed Books, 2020) explore the benefits of critically engaging these issues in a way that takes seriously the human-focused study of religion.
When Religion Doesn’t Behave | Discourse! January 2022 (with video)
The first Discourse! of 2022 is hosted by Michael Munnik (Cardiff), who is joined by guests Beth Singler (Cambridge) and Richard Newton (Alabama) to discuss how the media is talking about “religion” this month.
Questioning the Silver Bullet: Critical Approaches for the Study of Ayahuasca
How can we approach the study of ayahuasca critically? In this RSP episode, join and hear Sidney Castillo talk with Bernd Brabec de Mori and Olivia Marcus on their research about indigenous and mestizo use of ayahuasca in the Peruvian rainforest.
The Strange Charm of Gnosticism
For our last interview of 2021 (not to worry, the Mid-Year special is coming!), our co-founder David G. Robertson is back in the interview seat discussing his new book Gnosticism and the History of Religions with our co-editor Andie Alexander. Tune in to learn more about the ‘strange charm of gnosticism’!
Genealogy of the Jewish Notion
Dr. Breann Fallon sits down with Professor Daniel Boyarin to discuss the difficulty of defining Judaism and Boyarin’s new book Judaism: Genealogy of a Modern Notion
Religious Freedom, Exemption, and Festivals in Australia | Discourse! November 2021 (with video)
In this Aussie episode of November Discourse, Professor Carole Cusack and Ray Radford sit down with Dr. Breann Fallon to discuss religion as in Australian current affairs.
The World Religions Paradigm: An RSP Remix
This RSP Remix answers the question “What is the world religions paradigm?” with an abridged version of our 2013 interview with James Cox.
Religious Symbols, Secularism, and Culture Wars
In this episode, Matt Sheedy joins RSP co-editor Andie Alexander to discuss his recent book Owning the Secular: Religious Symbols, Culture Wars, Western Fragility and unpack common assumptions about secularism and religion in the public sphere.