Religion

Religion

episodes

Interviews with scholars of religion about their new books.

Jörg Matthias Determann and Shoaib Ahmed Malik, "Islamic Theology and Extraterrestrial Life: New Frontiers in Science and Religion" (I. B. Tauris, 2024)

March 19, 2024

Islamic Theology and Extraterrestrial Life

Jörg Matthias Determann
Hosted by Roberto Mazza

Over the last thirty years, humanity has discovered thousands of planets outside of our solar system. The discovery of extraterrestrial life could be …

Rachel Gordan, "Postwar Stories: How Books Made Judaism American" (Oxford UP, 2024)

March 18, 2024

Postwar Stories

Rachel Gordan
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

The period immediately following World War II was an era of dramatic transformation for Jews in America. At the start of the 1940s, President Roosevel…

Myisha Cherry, "Failures of Forgiveness: What We Get Wrong and How to Do Better" (Princeton UP, 2023)

March 15, 2024

Failures of Forgiveness

Myisha Cherry
Hosted by N'Kosi Oates

From religion to popular culture, institutions and people have shaped how we conceive forgiveness. Myisha Cherry, associate professor of philosophy, a…

SherAli Tareen, "Perilous Intimacies: Debating Hindu-Muslim Friendship After Empire" (Columbia UP, 2023)

March 15, 2024

Perilous Intimacies

SherAli Tareen

Friendship—particularly interreligious friendship—offers both promise and peril. After the end of Muslim political sovereignty in South Asia, how did …

Pankaj Jain and Jeffery D. Long, "Indian and Western Philosophical Concepts in Religion" (Rowman and Littlefield, 2023)

March 14, 2024

Indian and Western Philosophical Concepts in Religion

Pankaj Jain and Jeffery D. Long
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

Philosophical concepts are influential in the theories and methods to study the world religions. Even though the disciplines of anthropology and relig…

Religious Minorities Online

March 13, 2024

Religious Minorities Online

Erica Baffelli, Alexander van der Haven, and Michael Stausberg
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

Religious Minorities Online (RMO) is the premier academic resource on religious minorities worldwide, reflecting the state of the art in scholarship. …

Janine Giordano Drake, "The Gospel of Church: How Mainline Protestants Vilified Christian Socialism and Fractured the Labor Movement" (Oxford UP, 2023)

March 13, 2024

The Gospel of Church

Janine Giordano Drake
Hosted by Matt Simmons

In 1908, Unitarian pastor Bertrand Thompson observed the momentous growth of the labor movement with alarm. "Socialism," he wrote, "has become a disti…

Sofia Rehman, "Gendering the Hadith Tradition: Recentering the Authority of Aisha, Mother of the Believers" (Oxford UP, 2024)

March 12, 2024

Gendering the Hadith Tradition

Sofia Rehman
Hosted by Tugrul Mende

Gendering the Hadith Tradition: Recentering the Authority of Aisha, Mother of the Believers (Oxford UP, 2024) presents for the first time a partial tr…

Aizaiah G. Yong, "Multiracial Cosmotheandrism: A Practical Theology of Multiracial Experiences" (Orbis, 2023)

March 11, 2024

Multiracial Cosmotheandrism: A Practical Theology of Multiracial Experiences

Aizaiah G. Yong
Hosted by Gregory Soden

In Multiracial Cosmotheandrism: A Practical Theology of Multiracial Experiences (Orbis, 2023), Aizaiah G. Yong critically considers how the lives and …

Laurie L. Patton, "Who Owns Religion?: Scholars and Their Publics in the Late Twentieth Century" (U Chicago Press, 2019)

March 7, 2024

Who Owns Religion?

Laurie L. Patton
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

In Who Owns Religion?: Scholars and Their Publics in the Late Twentieth Century (U Chicago Press, 2019), scholar and noted university administrator La…

Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler, "The Jewish Annotated New Testament" (Oxford UP, 2017)

March 4, 2024

The Jewish Annotated New Testament

Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler
Hosted by Ari Barbalat

First published in 2011, The Jewish Annotated New Testament (Oxford UP, 2017) was a groundbreaking work, bringing the New Testament's Jewish backgroun…

David P. Gushee, "Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies" (William B. Eerdmans, 2023)

March 2, 2024

Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies

David P. Gushee
Hosted by Meghan Cochran

Why do some devout Christians support authoritarian leaders who threaten the very democracies that protect religious freedoms? The resounding suppor…

Ina Marie Lunde Ilkama, "The Play of the Feminine" (HASP, 2023)

February 29, 2024

The Play of the Feminine

Ina Marie Lunde Ilkama
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

In Tamil Nadu, the nine-night autumnal Navarātri festival can be viewed as a celebration of feminine powers in association with the goddess. Ina Marie…

Vernon James Schubel, "Teaching Humanity:  An Alternative Introduction to Islam" (Palgrave MacMillan, 2023)

February 27, 2024

Teaching Humanity

Vernon James Schubel
Hosted by SherAli Tareen

In his splendid new book, Teaching Humanity: An Alternative Introduction to Islam (Palgrave MacMillan, 2023), Vernon Schubel makes a compelling case f…

Charles B. Jones, "Chinese Pure Land Buddhism: Understanding a Tradition of Practice" (U Hawaii Press, 2019)

February 26, 2024

Chinese Pure Land Buddhism

Charles B. Jones
Hosted by Lina Verchery

Today’s guest is Charles B. Jones, Associate Professor and Director of the Religion and Culture graduate program in the School of Theology and Religio…

Jeffery D. Long, "Perspectives on Reincarnation: Hindu, Christian, Scientific" (MDPI Books, 2019)

February 22, 2024

Perspectives on Reincarnation

Jeffery D. Long
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

What happens after you die? The book brings together fascinating theological and religious studies perspectives on a controversial yet pervasive idea:…

Knut A. Jacobsen, "The Oxford History of Hinduism: Hindu Diasporas" (Oxford UP, 2023)

February 22, 2024

The Oxford History of Hinduism

Knut A. Jacobsen
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

Knut A. Jacobsen's edited volume The Oxford History of Hinduism: Hindu Diaspora (Oxford UP, 2023) presents the histories and religious traditions of H…

Jonathan A. C. Brown, "Slavery and Islam" (Oneworld Academic, 2019)

February 21, 2024

Slavery and Islam

Jonathan A. C. Brown
Hosted by SherAli Tareen

In his majestic and encyclopedic new book Slavery and Islam (Oneworld Academic, 2019), Jonathan A. C. Brown presents a sweeping analysis of Muslim int…

Robert Louis Wilken, "Liberty in the Things of God: The Christian Origins of Religious Freedom" (Yale UP, 2019)

February 20, 2024

Liberty in the Things of God

Robert Louis Wilken
Hosted by Ian Drake

Robert Louis Wilken, the William R. Kenan Professor Emeritus of the History of Christianity at the University of Virginia, has written an intellectual…

Christiane Gruber, “The Praiseworthy One: The Prophet Muhammad in Islamic Texts and Images" (Indiana UP, 2019)

February 18, 2024

The Praiseworthy One

Christiane Gruber

In our most recent public memory, images of the Prophet Muhammad have caused a great deal of controversy, such as satirical cartoons of Muhammad in Fr…