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On the show
From 17 epsHosts
Recent guests
Recent episodes
Is America A Christian Nation
Jun 23, 2026
42m 31s
Victoria Jackson is Not Dead Yet
Jun 16, 2026
37m 09s
African American Religion Beyond The Black Church
Jun 10, 2026
38m 13s
How African Churches Are Using AI
Jun 2, 2026
24m 15s
What A Bahá'í Romance Can Tell Us About Iran
May 26, 2026
41m 54s
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| Date | Episode | Topics | Guests | Brands | Places | Keywords | Sponsor | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6/23/26 |  Is America A Christian Nation | In recent years, “Christian Nationalism” has become a ubiquitous term in American political discussion.It is said by many with fear and loathing, and by others with great excitement and conviction.Among the enthusiasts include Doug Wilson, who is the pastor of Pete Hegseth, the United States’ Secretary of War. And it’s not just Hegseth who has ties to the ideology, Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House of Representatives, has also been described as a Christian Nationalist. And many members of Trump’s administration and the pro-Trump media have flirted with the idea that Christians and, maybe more accurately, the Bible, ought to be the guiding force behind the government’s actions.Last month, Trump hosted Rededicate 250, an event which sought to, in the administration’s own words, “rededicate America as One Nation under God.”But as much as Christian Nationalism has become an emotional buzz word, the belief system it describes has varied over time—and the current MAGA-adjacent evangelical iteration is only a small piece of the story of how Christianity and American society have pushed and pulled on each other for centuries.As we recognize the U.S.’s 250th birthday, the question of whether or not America is a Christian nation or whether or not it was intended to be one, continues to show its face in social media feeds, newspapers, podcasts, pulpits and schoolrooms. So, to sort through the complicated relationship between Jesus and Uncle Sam, Joseph Holmes sat down with three American Christian professors: Matthew Parks, Joseph Loconte and David Corbin. The group discusses whether or not the U.S. is a Christian country, whether that’s even possible and to what extent Christian beliefs ought to influence political decisions.If you’d like to hear more from our guests today, you can listen to the Democracy in America Today podcast, which is hosted by David Corbin and Matt Parks. Joseph Loconte has written several books, but he is most well known for his writings on C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, the most recent of which was 2025’s “The War For Middle Earth.” | 42m 31s | ||||||
| 6/16/26 |  Victoria Jackson is Not Dead Yet | Religion and death, for many of us, go hand in hand.It is our faith that often shapes what we believe happens when we die and, perhaps just as importantly, what we ought to do while we still live.In fact, if a belief system does not ask us to consider our death and what it means for us—if it avoids the subject and keeps mortality at arm’s length, it is almost certainly not a religion at all.The Bible is many things, and among them, it is a ledger of death and dying. And, while the Bible has far less to say about the afterlife than our cultural imagination likes to impose upon it, the reality of death rings loudly through every book in the collection.Death is the curse brought on in Genesis. It fills the following books through wars, plagues, and punishments. It operates as the enemy defeated by Jesus through resurrection. And it awaits many of his followers as they seek to spread his teachings.Today, Christians continue to grapple with their mortality—with where exactly they are going and how exactly they might get there. And, while all of us know life will end, for those Christians who know that the end is imminent, faith can take on a whole new meaning.To understand what it’s like to be a Christian while approaching death, Culture Critic Joseph Holmes spoke with actor and writer Victoria Jackson. Jackson was an SNL cast member back in the 80’s and has had a long career in film and television—including work in many faith-based films. Jackson suffers from terminal breast cancer, and, with the knowledge that her life is going to end, she recently wrote “Not Dead Yet,” which tells the story of her life, her faith, and how she is dealing with dying.As with all of our podcasts, Religion Unplugged believes in a diversity of opinions. The viewpoints presented in this episode do not necessarily represent those of Religion Unplugged, its staff and contributors. | 37m 09s | ||||||
| 6/10/26 |  African American Religion Beyond The Black Church✨ | African American religionChristianity+4 | — | Pew Research Center | AmericaJim Crow | African AmericanChristianity+5 | — | 38m 13s | |
| 6/2/26 |  How African Churches Are Using AI✨ | artificial intelligenceChristianity+4 | Joseph Maina | Bible ChatPewbeam+1 | NigeriaKenya | AIChristianity+5 | — | 24m 15s | |
| 5/26/26 |  What A Bahá'í Romance Can Tell Us About Iran✨ | Bahá'í faithIran+4 | Mary Darling | Bahá’í faithCast Aside The Clouds | Iran | Bahá'íIran+6 | — | 41m 54s | |
| 5/19/26 |  Why Murder Investigations Can Be Complicated By Ashkenazi Jewish DNA✨ | murder investigationsDNA testing+4 | Hannah Feuer | ForwardHer body has been unidentified for decades. Her Ashkenazi DNA may explain why. | Mohave County, Arizona | murder investigationsDNA testing+5 | — | 23m 33s | |
| 5/12/26 |  Are Big Churches As Healthy As Small Ones?✨ | church sizediscipleship+3 | — | — | — | big churchessmall churches+3 | — | 36m 29s | |
| 5/5/26 |  Pope Leo XIV Before The Papacy✨ | papacyAmerican Pope+4 | Elise Ann Allen | The CruxPope Leo XIV: The Biography | United StatesChicago+1 | Pope Leo XIVCardinal Robert Prevost+5 | — | 30m 49s | |
| 4/28/26 |  Can Virtue Save American Conservatism?✨ | American conservatismFounding Fathers+4 | — | Declaration of IndependenceConstitution | United States | American conservatismFounding Fathers+5 | — | 37m 35s | |
| 4/21/26 |  How Both Fantasy and History are balanced in House of David✨ | faith in mediareligious films+4 | Jon Gunn | House of DavidThe Chosen | Israelites | House of DavidKing David+5 | — | 19m 02s | |
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| 4/14/26 |  In God’s Name: Stories Of Faith and Vigilante Justice✨ | vigilantismreligion+5 | — | Religion UnpluggedThe Media Project | — | vigilante justicereligious violence+5 | — | 1h 02m 26s | |
| 4/7/26 | Can Conservative Christians Take Back Mainline Churches?✨ | mainline churchesconservative Christians+4 | — | PCUSAEpiscopal Church | — | conservative Christiansmainline churches+6 | — | 1h 05m 48s | |
| 3/24/26 | Iranians Are Ready To Be Free✨ | IranMiddle East conflict+3 | Erica Kasraie | United StatesIsrael+2 | UAESaudi Arabia+3 | IranKhamenei+6 | — | 30m 05s | |
| 3/17/26 | Why You Should Seek Beauty In Ancient Places✨ | artreligion+4 | David Henrie | Egyptian pyramidscathedrals+3 | Italy | artreligion+5 | — | 23m 35s | |
| 3/10/26 | What Do the 2026 Oscars Have to Say About Religion?✨ | filmreligion+4 | Paul Anleitner | GoodmakersBased on a True Story: Vibe Shifts, the End of Deconstruction, & the Reboot of Meaning+13 | — | Oscarsreligion+6 | — | 56m 08s | |
| 3/3/26 | What Maduro's Capture Means For Religious Freedom in Venezuela✨ | religious freedomVenezuela+3 | Knox ThamesAnna Lee Stangl | U.S. State DepartmentU.S. Government+4 | — | MaduroVenezuela+5 | — | 31m 27s | |
| 2/24/26 | What Changed The Faith-Based Film Industry?✨ | faith-based filmsChristian movies+4 | — | I Can Only ImagineI Can Only Imagine 2+3 | — | Christian filmsRotten Tomatoes+5 | — | 17m 28s | |
| 2/17/26 | Debunking The Myth That Jews Are Bad At Sports✨ | Jewish athletessports stereotypes+3 | Michael Meyerson | Tragedy & TriumphChariots of Fire+1 | — | Jewssports+6 | — | 28m 48s | |
| 2/10/26 | Why Nathan Clarkson Thinks He's The Worst✨ | self-criticismself-acceptance+3 | Nathan Clarkson | Clarkson’s CreationsI’m The Worst+5 | — | self-improvementChristian actor+3 | — | 31m 52s | |
| 2/3/26 | Inside South Africa's Pastoral Sex Abuse Crisis | South Africa has a sexual abuse crisis. And while many of these attacks occur on the streets or in the home, every month, several cases of rape take place in churches and are perpetrated by pastors.The assaulted individuals come from every ethnic group, age, social class, and even gender.For over a decade, tens of thousands of South Africans have been violated in their communities.To better understand South Africa’s abuse crisis and how faith communities are involved, I sat down with Vicky Abraham.Vicky is an investigative journalist based in Johannesburg, South Africa. In addition to her work at Religion Unplugged, Vicky’s work has appeared in The Roys Report, the Mail & Guardian, City Press and many other publications.Vicky’s article last week, entitled “South Africa’s Gender-Based Violence Crisis Reaches The Pulpit” details the incredible range of sexual violence that is occurring at the hands of the person who parishioners often trust most, their pastor.Abuse of teenagers is incredibly frequent, with many abusers having been abused in adolescence themselves and then perpetuating the cycle of sexual violence. But Vicky noted that even very elderly people and babies under a year old have fallen victim to abuse. Vicky walked me through the complex path that victims often have to walk in order to report their abuser. When brought to church authorities, many victims are rebuked and told that what they say is going to harm the church and disrupt the spiritual community.For men, who are also frequently victims, police officers will often mock them for having been sexually assaulted, heaping shame on an already devastating situation.Vicky’s investigation into pastoral sex crimes is ongoing—with new cases appearing all the time. And while she is pleased with the outraged reactions from many healthy churches and even South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa, there is still a long way to come. #southafrica #southafrican #churches #pastors #christianity #abuse #awareness #africa | 35m 14s | ||||||
| 1/27/26 | 25 Years On The Godbeat With Bobby Ross Jr. | In 2025, the whole world watched as Chicago native Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope. Again, everyone watched as Conservative Christian Apologist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University.But while religious news events like these were known world round, other important stories are being covered all the time by journalists like Bobby Ross Jr., a veteran religion reporter.In addition to covering Kirk and Leo, Bobby also wrote about Christian parents grieving in the wake of the Central Texas floods, faith’s role in The Oklahoma City Thunder’s championship-winning season, and the possibility of Christian higher education in Europe.So on this week’s episode of the Religion Unplugged Podcast Matthew Peterson sat down with Bobby to discuss not only the news trends he anticipates in the year to come, but also his career of 25 years covering faith through on-the-ground reporting in all 50 states and in 20 different countries.Bobby started his career of reporting on what he calls “the Godbeat” back in 2001, when he was working for the Oklahoman.Today, he is Editor-in-Chief of The Christian Chronicle, which focuses on covering Churches of Christ all over the globe. He also writes his column, the “Weekend Plug-In” every Friday at Religion UnpluggedBobby and Matthew's conversation spanned how his interest in baseball shaped his initial career decision, how he maintains fairness and accuracy when covering difficult subjects within his faith tradition, and even how to discern what is true in the age of social media and AI. #religion #godbeat #religionnews #journalist #journalism #christianchronicle #2026 #bobbyrossjr #interview #podcast | 31m 26s | ||||||
| 1/20/26 | Ryan Burge And The Vanishing Church | Religion sociologist and Religion Unplugged contributor Ryan Burge sits down with culture critic Joseph Holmes to discuss Ryan's book "The Vanishing Church" and why the church has lost its ability to bring Americans together. | 54m 44s | ||||||
| 1/14/26 | Ministering To Mariners: The Seamen's Church Institute | The cargo shipping industry is vital to the sustenance of the modern world. However, the millions of mariners who make the system possible often go unnoticed by the masses. For nearly 200 years, The Seamen's Church Institute has worked hard to ensure that seafarers do not feel invisible. Matthew Peterson speaks with members of the organization to understand how they serve mariners and why the work is so important to them. | 46m 21s | ||||||
| 1/6/26 | Why Make A Movie About The Infancy Gospel? | How does one balance faithfulness to religious tradition with artistic expression? Culture critic Joseph Holmes interviews director Lotfy Nathan on this very topic. Lotfy was raised in the Coptic Christian tradition and grew up to make a horror film about the childhood of Jesus based on the Infancy Gospel of Thomas--starring Nicholas Cage! | 21m 17s | ||||||
| 12/23/25 | Understanding The Role of Ancestors In Christianity | Christians have many terms for those who came before them. They are called saints, heroes of the faith, and church fathers. But rarely are they referred to simply as ancestors. William H. Lamar IV pastors one of the oldest black churches in Washington, DC. He speaks with Matthew Peterson about his recent book, “Ancestors: Those Who Bless Us, Curse Us, and Hold Us.” He also talks about why it is important for Christians to be aware of the influence of their ancestors, why naming spaces after ancestors can be dangerous, and how Christians can be co-creators with God.Ancestors: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9781506482217/AncestorsDonate: https://religionunplugged.com/donate | 29m 38s | ||||||
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