America's Religious Revival Is a Mirage
From Plain English with Derek Thompson by The Ringer
April 8, 2026 · 1h 9m
About this episode
The episode discusses the perceived religious revival in the U.S. among young people and features guest Ryan Burge, who provides insights and data on the topic.
Perhaps you’ve heard the news: The U.S. is experiencing a religious revival, and it’s concentrated among young people, who are flocking back to the fold. The Economist announced that “the West has stopped losing its religion.” The Washington Post declared that “Catholicism is drawing in Gen Z men.” This is shocking news. Since the 1990s, the share of Americans who say they have no religious affiliation has been skyrocketing. A reversal would be historic. But today’s guest, Ryan Burge, tells us that the secular pause in America is much stranger than it looks. Ryan is the author of the sensational Substack Graphs About Religion, which is full of beautiful graphs about religion. So today’s episode will be a little special for folks on YouTube and Spotify. You’ll be able to see the beautiful graphs that Ryan makes that really hammer home his deepest conclusions. Subscribe to our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@PlainEnglishwithDerekThompson If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com. Host: Derek Thompson Guest: Ryan Burge Producer: Devon Baroldi Links: Practically this entire episode is inspired by the work on…
People in this episode
Host: Derek Thompson
Guest: Ryan Burge
Topics covered
- religion
- secularism
- youth culture
- data visualization
- interview
Keywords
- religious revival
- Gen Z
- Catholicism
- secular pause
- Ryan Burge
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The Economist, The Washington Post, Substack
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