Secularism

Secularism

episodes

Interviews with scholars of secularism about their new books.

Stephen Bales and Wendi Arant Kaspar, "Serapis: The Sacred Library and Its Declericalization" (Library Juice Press, 2023)

October 12, 2023

Serapis

Stephen Bales and Wendi Arant Kaspar
Hosted by Jen Hoyer
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The Greco-Egyptian syncretistic god Serapis was used by the 3rd century BCE Ptolemaic pharaohs to impose Greek cultural hegemony and consolidate polit…

Rik Peels, "Life without God: An Outsider's Look at Atheism" (Cambridge UP, 2023)

October 2, 2023

Life without God

Rik Peels
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In Life without God: An Outsider's Look at Atheism (Cambridge UP, 2023), Rik Peels explores atheism from a new perspective that aims to go beyond the …

The Future of Secularization: A Discussion with Ryan Cragun

September 11, 2023

The Future of Secularization

Ryan Cragun
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The statement ‘we live in a secular age’ is open to the obvious challenge that in some parts of the word, religion is a growing force in society. And …

Sharada Sugirtharajah, "Religious and Non-Religious Perspectives on Happiness and Wellbeing" (Routledge, 2022)

August 17, 2023

Religious and Non-Religious Perspectives on Happiness and Wellbeing

Sharada Sugirtharajah
Hosted by Raj Balkaran
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Sharada Sugirtharajah's edited volume Religious and Non-Religious Perspectives on Happiness and Wellbeing (Routledge, 2022) explores the theme of happ…

Renny Thomas, "Science and Religion in India: Beyond Disenchantment" (Routledge, 2022)

August 10, 2023

Science and Religion in India

Renny Thomas
Hosted by Raj Balkaran
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Science and Religion in India: Beyond Disenchantment (Routledge, 2022) provides an in-depth ethnographic study of science and religion in the context …

Michael Muhammad Knight, "Sufi Deleuze: Secretions of Islamic Atheism" (Fordham UP, 2023)

June 28, 2023

Sufi Deleuze

Michael Muhammad Knight
Hosted by Adam Bobeck
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“There is always an atheism to be extracted from a religion,” Deleuze and Guattari write in their final collaboration, What Is Philosophy? Their claim…

Anna Della Subin, "Accidental Gods: On Race, Empire, and Men Unwittingly Turned Divine" (Metropolitan Books, 2021)

June 25, 2023

Accidental Gods

Anna Della Subin
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Ever since 1492, when Christopher Columbus made landfall in the New World and was hailed as a heavenly being, the accidental god has haunted the moder…

J. Barton Scott, "Slandering the Sacred: Blasphemy Law and Religious Affect in Colonial India" (U Chicago Press, 2023)

June 22, 2023

Slandering the Sacred

J. Barton Scott
Hosted by Raj Balkaran
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Why is religion today so often associated with giving and taking offense? To answer this question, Slandering the Sacred: Blasphemy Law and Religious …

Socialist Cultures and Politics of Secularism and Atheism

June 13, 2023

Socialist Cultures and Politics of Secularism and Atheism

Todd Weir and Victoria Smolkin
Hosted by Stephen Bittner
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Two new books on secularism and atheism in German and Soviet socialist cultures are reshaping scholarly understandings of the relationship between soc…

Patrick J. Corbeil, "Empire and Progress in the Victorian Secularist Movement: Imagining a Secular World" (Palgrave MacMillan, 2022)

May 26, 2023

Empire and Progress in the Victorian Secularist Movement

Patrick J. Corbeil

Empire and Progress in the Victorian Secularist Movement: Imagining a Secular World (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) by Dr. Patrick Corbeil is the first ext…

Justine Ellis, "The Politics of Religious Literacy: Education and Emotion in a Secular Age" (Brill, 2022)

May 14, 2023

The Politics of Religious Literacy

Justine Ellis
Hosted by Zalman Newfield

Religious Literacy has become a popular concept for navigating religious diversity in public life. In The Politics of Religious Literacy: Education an…

Elaine H. Ecklund and David R. Johnson, "Varieties of Atheism in Science" (Oxford UP, 2021)

April 27, 2023

Varieties of Atheism in Science

Elaine Howard Ecklund and David R. Johnson

Not all atheists are New Atheists, but thanks in large part to the prominence and influence of New Atheists such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Danie…

David Edmonds, "Parfit: A Philosopher and His Mission to Save Morality" (Princeton UP, 2023)

April 15, 2023

Parfit

David Edmonds
Hosted by Mark Klobas

Derek Parfit (1942-2017) is the most famous philosopher most people have never heard of. Widely regarded as one of the greatest moral thinkers of the …

Stephen Bullivant, "Nonverts: The Making of Ex-Christian America" (Oxford UP, 2022)

February 26, 2023

Nonverts

Stephen Bullivant

The United States is in the midst of a religious revolution. Or, perhaps it is better to say a non-religious revolution. Around a quarter of US adults…

David Newheiser, "The Varieties of Atheism: Connecting Religion and Its Critics" (U Chicago Press, 2022)

January 31, 2023

The Varieties of Atheism

David Newheiser

The Varieties of Atheism: Connecting Religion and Its Critics (University of Chicago Press, 2022), edited by Professor David Newheiser reveals the div…

Secular Salvations: Can Atheists be 'Saved?'

January 9, 2023

Secular Salvations

Craig Calhoun, Sean Kelly, and Angie Thurston
Hosted by Zachary Davis

The decline of organized religion in the West has opened up new paths for individuals to pursue what once was once understood to be salvation. Guests…

Joel Robbins, "Theology and the Anthropology of Christian Life" (Oxford UP, 2020)

January 3, 2023

Theology and the Anthropology of Christian Life

Joel Robbins

Anthropological theory can radically transform our understanding of human experience and offer theologians an introduction to the interdisciplinary na…

Donovan O. Schaefer, "Wild Experiment: Feeling Science and Secularism after Darwin" (Duke UP, 2022)

January 2, 2023

Wild Experiment

Donovan O. Schaefer
Hosted by Alison Renna

In Wild Experiment: Feeling Science and Secularism after Darwin (Duke UP, 2022), Donovan O. Schaefer challenges the conventional wisdom that feeling a…

David Newheiser, "The Varieties of Atheism: Connecting Religion and Its Critics" (U Chicago Press, 2022)

December 13, 2022

The Varieties of Atheism

David Newheiser
Hosted by Gregory Soden

David Newheiser is a senior research fellow in the Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry at Australian Catholic University. He is the author of …

Teemu Taira, "Atheism in Five Minutes" (Equinox Publishing, 2022)

December 3, 2022

Atheism in Five Minutes

Teemu Taira

Atheism in Five Minutes, by Professor Teemu Taira, is part of Equinox Publishing’s “Religion in 5 Minutes” series. It offers insights into a number of…