When Christians Meet Each Other: The Saint Thomas Christians of Southwest India in the Early Modern Period
What happens when Christianities meet each other? Find out in this week’s episode of the RSP, where Sidney Castillo talks with István Perczel on his research of the Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala, and their encounters with Catholic missionaries and Western colonial powers in the early modern period.
Discourse Analysis & Ideology Critique in the Study of Religion
In this episode, Dr. Craig Martin joins Savannah Finver to discuss his forthcoming book, Discourse and Ideology: A Critique of the Study of Culture. Dr. Martin shares with us his motivations for writing this book, describes his primary methodologies and the key concepts he introduces in the text, and explains some of his thoughts on the utility of religion as a category of analysis in religious studies scholarship.
Religion, Bodies, and the State | Discourse! October 2021
Join Emily D. Crews, Alison Robertson, and host Theo Wildcroft for a collection of topical stories on how religion mediates how the state treats human bodies in different ways. And Jesusween!
RSP Remix
#RSPremix video episodes draw on our archive of over 390 episodes to address common questions and themes in the study of religion.
Focus on Fieldwork: An RSP Remix
In the first RSP Remix, Dave McConeghy guides us through recent RSP discussions of fieldwork and its impact on scholarship. This episode features excerpts from conversations with Christopher R. Cotter, Spencer Dew, Liz Bucar, Alyssa Maldonado-Estrada, Robin Veldman, Elizabeth Pérez, and Cristina Rocha.
Mapping the Digital Study of Religion
Dan Gorman speaks with Christopher Cantwell and Kristian Petersen about the future of the digital study of religion.
Deconstructing ‘Religion’ in Contemporary Japan
In this episode, Dr. Mitsutoshi Horii joins Andie Alexander to discuss his recent book, The Category of ‘Religion’ in Contemporary Japan: Shūkyō & Temple Buddhism, where he demonstrates the necessity for understanding how and why certain groups come to be classified as ‘religious’ in contemporary Japan.
#ClassificationMatters | Discourse! September 2021 (with video)
Kicking off our first episode of Discourse!, RSP co-founder David Robertson, Ting Guo, and Jacob Barrett discuss the effects of classification in vaccination resistance, the Texas abortion ban, and the equation of the hijab with oppression. It’s an exciting episode—be sure to tune in!
History Repeated: Religious Conspiracy Theories Then and Now
In this episode, Maxinne Connolly-Panagopoulus explores a range of Dr. Carmen Celestini’s work on conspiracy theories, Christian apocalyptic thought and its impacts on political systems in America. They discuss early antimasonic movements, white supremacists from Christian Identity Organisation and discuss the parallels between old and new conspiracy thought and try to understand what is driving people to these movements.
Law, Religious Racism, and Religions of the African Diaspora
Danielle N. Boaz sat down with Benjamin Marcus to discuss her new book, Banning Black Gods: Law and Religions of the African Diaspora. She examines the legal challenges faced by adherents of the most widely practiced African-derived religions in the 21st century.
How Critical Race Theory became a Moral Panic | Discourse! June 2021 (with video)
For our final episode of Season 10, join Andie Alexander, Ishanika Sharma, and K. Merinda Simmons as they talk all things Critical Race Theory—or at least what can be covered in one episode!
Sovereignty and Spiritual Warfare
Join Savannah H. Finver and Dr. S. Jonathon O’Donnell as they talk demons, American politics, interdisciplinary methodologies, and the critical study of religion.
South American Austral Religions in an Ethnohistorical Comparative Perspective
In this episode, Boris Briones talks with Sidney Castillo on his comparative research of the Mapuche and Selk’nam of austral South America. Check it out to learn a thing or two about ethnohistory and scientific divulgation!
Islam, Politics, and Identity: The (Im)possibility of Sudan’s Islamic State
Is the Islamic state simply a reaction against the modern secular nation-state, or is there more to it? Join us as Noah Salomon answers this question among many more as he talks about his book For Love of the Prophet: An Ethnography of Sudan’s Islamic State.
On Human Remains | Discourse! May 2021 (with video)
It’s a bumper episode of Discourse this month, as four (count them, four!) RSP editors sit down to discuss how the media are talking about religion this month. First, Breann, David, and Dave introduce Andie as the RSP’s new Managing Editor, before we discuss mass COVID cremations in India, a new synagogue at the site of a Nazi massacre in the Ukraine, protests over a new telescope in Hawaiʻi, and the scandal over the remains of the victims of the MOVE bombing in Philadelphia. It’s not our most lighthearted episode.