Religion Unplugged

The Media Project
  • 5.0 (13)
  • Society & Culture
  • Updated Biweekly

Religion explored through candid conversations and original reporting. This podcast is powered by The Media Project, a network of more than 1,000 journalists worldwide. TMP acknowledges that religion is growing and becoming more, not less important in the world.

  1. 2d ago

    Inside The Growing Jewish Movement Shaking Up Tradition

    Most practicing Jews in the United States fall into one of three categories. There are the Orthodox Jews--who are committed to following Jewish law to the letter and who uphold all the traditions set by rabbis over the centuries. 
Then there are the Conservative Jews, who still believe in following the law, but allow for a bit more freedom of modern interpretation of that law. And then there are the Reform Jews who emphasize the spirit of the law over the letter of the law—often appreciating the deep moral tradition of the Torah, while leaving ritual practice up to the individual.  Now, these are just umbrella terms—all of these forms of Jewish practice operate on wide spectrums--but 63% of American jews were able to identify as one of the three in a 2019 Pew Research Survey. And the majority of Jews who did not identify with one of these three categorizations also do not identify as religious. 
But that still leaves around 16% of American Jews as actively religious, but unable to align themselves with Orthodox, Conservative or Reform Judaism.  So, who are they? Well, the answer is, of course, complicated. There are endless reasons one might not want to ascribe to these three classifications. But, while we can’t discern the spiritual complexity of each individual, one new Jewish movement can help account for a growing number of American Jews who don’t quite identify with mainstream Jewish communities. They call themselves the Ivri, an ancient word for Hebrews—a name which is fitting for this form of Jewish practice which seeks to call back to ancient traditions and rituals, while also doing something new. On this week’s episode I spoke with Mira Fox, reporter and culture critic at The Forward, who recently wrote about the thriving new community in an article entitled: There’s a new Judaism in town — or maybe it’s very, very old.

  2. Aug 25

    Is Utopia At All Possible?

    As conflicts rage on in the Middle East, Africa and Europe, it seems we are living through a time of war. This reality does not distinguish us all that much from the rest of human history. Our species has always been interested in conquest and defense. But what may make our time a bit more unique in its embattlement is the average person’s ability to fight not just with weapons and warfare, but with words and ideas. While many of us will never be soldiers or law enforcement officers, we experience on a daily basis the fiery condemnations hurled across the lines of political parties, religious identities, ethnicities or socioeconomic statuses. In a time of war, the presiding question of the age is no longer: “how do we create the best society possible,” but instead “how do we survive together?” How do we solve the problem right in front of us and then how do we solve the next one? Instead of dreaming big, our impulse is to seek solutions in painfully precise increments—not wanting to upset the delicate balance required to get us to agree with one another. But what if we’ve been going about it wrong? What if the solution to our constant back and forth—what if lasting change were possible only if we do shoot for the stars? What would it look like to try to build a utopia? On today’s episode, my guests are David Albertson and Jason Blakely. Albertson and Blakely are co-authors of “Utopia for Our Century.” A book which investigates the 500-year-old work of Catholic Martyr Thomas More who called on Christians to take action toward building a better world. Albertson and Blakely explain what Utopia actually means, how people of all religious backgrounds can help pursue it and why many modern Christians became anti-utopia and anti-humanist despite both of these ideas having Christian roots.

    Is Utopia At All Possible?

  3. Aug 18

    How Evangelical Apocalypticism Hurts the Planet

    It’s been a hot summer.  Heatwaves have persisted across North America, Australia, Asia and most notably, Europe—where an estimated 25,000 people have died as a result of the extreme heat. In fact, heat levels in July of this year tied with the levels of the hottest month in recorded history. As summer vacationers head to exotic destinations, they find that things are not as they should be—such as coral reefs having greatly deteriorated or more talk of endangered species.  At home, here in New York, I experienced thick, almost suffocating smoky air just a few weeks ago due to wildfires in Canada. We are experiencing the realities of a broken earth in real time. The temperature, the sea, the air—all are being affected greatly by our planet’s changing climate. And as we deal with the fear, confusion and discomfort of a rapidly changing environment, the impulse is to find the root of the problem and dig it out. We would like to find somebody to blame.  Is it corporate greed—big businesses draining natural resources and polluting the air with manufacturing processes? Or is it you and me—with our daily consumption of cheap goods and reliance on fossil fuels? Or is it a mix of both—have we all just been taking too much for too long without thought toward future generations? My guest on this week’s podcast, anthropologist Susannah Crockford, asks whether part of the root cause may be buried deep inside of evangelical christianity. Her new book “A Perturbed System” explores how religious language influences climate discourse, how christianity has impacted the earth negatively and how christian ideas may now be able to be a part of the solution. SHORT DESCRIPTION: On this week's podcast, anthropologist Susannah Crockford explains why she believes part of the root of climate change may be buried deep inside of evangelical christianity.

    How Evangelical Apocalypticism Hurts the Planet

  4. Aug 4

    The Quest To Visualize The Bible

    The Bible is by no means a picture book. But, for its lack of illustrations, it still presents many powerful images. A burning bush. A giant fish. An angel army. A pillar of fire. A snake. A harp. A wall. A fruit tree. A lamb. A tomb. A fishing net. The Bible seizes the visceral realities of what it means to be human—in all that gore, grief and glory—by connecting its ideas and its characters to natural elements we interact with daily (even if, in some cases, those elements are acting very differently than how we typically experience them). So, to bridge this gap between the descriptions of the world found in scripture and our physical experience of it, we have artwork. Christian artwork has spanned every generation of believers, with Christ himself being depicted through a multitude of ethnicities, time periods and artistic mediums. But is “Christian” artwork the only art through which Christians can see reflections of scripture? Ben Quash, Director of The Visual Commentary on Scripture doesn’t think so. The Visual Commentary on Scripture is an online resource from King’s College London which combines theology, art history, and Biblical scholarship to pair artwork from all across the stylistic and historical map with different sections of scripture. These pairings are called exhibits and feature high-quality scans of art pieces tied together with Biblical commentary. After over a decade working on the project, Quash is taking a step back. He was interviewed on this show 6 years ago when the project was still relatively young. So we wanted to have him back on the show as his time ends to talk through what he accomplished, why the internet needs the VCS site, and what’s next. You can find the Visual Commentary on Scripture at thevcs.org. You can also sign up for their new newsletter called Bible and Art Daily, which will send artwork and an audio scripture commentary straight to your inbox every day. You can also find them on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and X.

    The Quest To Visualize The Bible

  5. Jul 28

    Does "The Odyssey" Understand Ancient Greek Religion?

    Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” hit theaters a little over a week ago. The film earned an estimated $124 million on its opening weekend and, at the time of this recording, received a score of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and 4.4 stars on Letterboxd. While Nolan’s mastery of his craft and a well-loved cast have certainly done their part in making the film a success, the credit must still go where it is due—to the architect of the source material: Homer. Tradition says that Homer was a blind, rambling poet. However, most historians agree that it is unlikely that one man put the epic together. Instead, The Odyssey was likely built on hundreds of years of oral tradition—with each poet adding their brick to the masterful wall that is the tale of Odysseus. And today, through this new film, our century adds its own brick to the wall. And through the centuries of this poem’s adaptation and evolution, the amalgam of worldviews the different poets brought to the story exposed the spiritual beliefs of an entire age. For readers coming from an Abrahamic faith background, the way deities are presented in the tale is both familiar and foreign. The power checks out—as does the relational element and the blessings. But the foolishness, the pettiness—the humanity of the gods—feels foreign and even blasphemous. So how does this new rendition, made by people living in a society dominated by Abrahamic faiths and secularism deal with the devout, but perplexingly hubristic character of Odysseus? Is faith treated thoughtfully and with respect? Or is it made out to be as fantastical as the strange creatures of Greek myth? To find out how religion is and isn’t represented in The Odyssey, I spoke with Religion Unplugged’s very own culture critic and frequent host of the podcast, Joseph Holmes.

    Does "The Odyssey" Understand Ancient Greek Religion?

  6. Jul 21

    Investigating Religious Bias in Artificial Intelligence

    Back in May, Brigham Young University published the results of a study about AI and religion. The study found that all major AI chatbots would not mention faith in responses to questions in which a well-rounded response probably ought to have included religious or spiritual ideas.  Questioning AI about ethics, human suffering and morality will almost never result in a response that includes a religious perspective. In addition to a lack of religious references, the study also determined that the AI models had clear biases against certain religious groups. Among the tested models, the researchers found that Grok had the strongest biases, holding a more negative view of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Baha’i, and Hindus. On the flip side, the researchers found that Meta and Anthropic had the least biased models. So what do we do with all of this? At the rate AI is developing, it’s increasingly more difficult to see a world where it doesn’t affect the way we think and talk with each other—actually, there’s data to show that it already is affecting our language. And, though it is changing our speech, its foundation is still deeply human. AI models have actually built themselves on combing through our communication—our articles, our books, our encyclopedias and our social media comments. So, if AI has certain biases, is it merely reflecting the biases of the human species? Or are the developers to blame for influencing its opinions? Or, perhaps most eerily, has AI really come to certain conclusions on its own about how faith ought to operate in our societies? And, if we want to change the way AI speaks about religion, it immediately becomes difficult to conclude how we avoid giving preferential treatment to certain faiths over each other while still being intellectually honest about when certain religions may be more contextually significant to answering a question. To help wade through the messy waters of AI and religion, I spoke with Arizona State ethics professor Ben Hurlbut. Hurlbut specializes in the intersection of faith, technology and ethics and helped me better understand how we have grown to trust the internet and why bias in AI might not be as bad as it sounds.

    Investigating Religious Bias in Artificial Intelligence

  7. Jul 14

    The Evolution of Islam and The American Right

    Later this year, Americans will recognize September 11, 2026 as the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center back in 2001. The attack was enacted by Al-Qaeda, a radical Islamic organization. And while countless Muslims decried the violence as both a tragedy and as an anti-Islamic act, the following years saw many Muslims (and people suspected to be Muslims) severely mistreated. Right after 9/11, there were nearly 20 times the amount of assaults on muslims every year as there had been in the 90’s. And, while that figure has risen and fallen in the decades since, in certain circles, a suspicion of Muslims in the U.S. and even an all out hatred of the Islamic faith has lingered. One of the circles in which Islam has often been called into question has been the far right. Speaking of Muslims back in 2015, Trump said “Without looking at the various polling data, it is obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension.” He said this in connection with his plans to prevent Muslim Immigration into the United States. A plan which, when elected, he partially saw through, by banning refugees from seven predominantly Muslim nations from entering the country. And it wasn’t just Trump calling out Islam. In 2019, Muslim Advocates called on FOX News to fire Tucker Carlson for what he said about Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar and her Muslim faith. In a much more grave instance, also in 2019, a man killed nearly 50 people in a Christchurch, New Zealand Mosque. In his manifesto, he named conservative commentator Candace Owens as the person who had most radicalized him. Candace, of course, did not endorse these killings. But her stance on Islam at the time was certainly more negative. 
But in 2026, a quick look through the talk shows and podcasts of Carlson, Owens and other right-wing commentators, will paint a very different picture of how these groups feel about Muslims. The same pundits who once criticized Islam, are now defending it. To better understand the right’s evolving relationship with Islam, I spoke with Matthew Schmitz. Schmitz is the editor of Compact Magazine and the Religion Editor for the Washington Post Opinion Section. He is also Cohost of the Against The Grain podcast. Schmitz wrote an article back in May about the phenomenon of conservative influencers who have radically changed the way they talk about Islam online. We talked about this trend, how Trump measures up and what it might mean for the future of the Republican Party.

    The Evolution of Islam and The American Right

  8. Jul 7

    What Was American Religion Really Like in 1776

    Earlier this year, Pew Research published the results of a study on religious diversity around the world. While the U.S. didn’t even break the top 10 for most religiously diverse when all nations studied were taken into account, it ranked #1 in religious diversity out of the most populous countries. The United States certainly has a Christian tilt and a sizable population of nones. But, go to any major U.S. city and you’ll spot kippahs, hijabs, turbans, and houses of worship for every major belief system on the planet. Despite the American ability to live alongside people who believe vastly different things than us, the U.S. has a horrid past with religious oppression—think of the KKK’s treatment of Jewish people or the wipeout of indigenous people and their forced conversion to Christianity or the attacks on Muslims and Sikhs directly following 9/11. And while many prejudices take decades to extract the mainstream, a quick study of our history reveals that there is a clear pattern of America’s ability to eventually accept religious differences. Over a century ago, the Catholics pouring in from, first, Ireland and, later, Italy, were near the bottom of the social hierarchy—pushed down by the majority protestant community who had been there much longer. Today, 6 of our 9 Supreme Court Justices are Catholic—only 2 are protestants, and one is Jewish. Pathways to success at the highest level are available to all in the U.S., even to those who, not very long ago, were seen as inferior. The U.S. has a long way to go in terms of equality and in the acceptance of all religions. But, if history repeats itself, it seems possible that even the faiths that are most discriminated against today, could also find great success here. The United States had its 250th birthday last week. And, in the last few episodes we have tried to understand the role of Christianity in America’s founding. But what kinds of Christians were the first Americans? And what role did Catholics, Jews and Atheists play in the Revolution? Were there Muslims or Hindus on U.S. soil in 1776? To answer all of these questions and better understand the nature of religion at the time of America’s founding I spoke with Katherine Carté. Carté is a History Professor at Southern Methodist University and wrote the book “Religion in The American Revolution: An Imperial History.”

    What Was American Religion Really Like in 1776
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About

Religion explored through candid conversations and original reporting. This podcast is powered by The Media Project, a network of more than 1,000 journalists worldwide. TMP acknowledges that religion is growing and becoming more, not less important in the world.

Information

  • Creator
    The Media Project
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    252
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Religion Unplugged

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