Shows / Straight White American Jesus
Straight White American Jesus
An in-depth examination of the culture and politics of Christian Nationalism and Evangelicalism by two ex-evangelical ministers-turned-religion professors. If you have ever wondered what social and historical forces led white evangelicals to usher Donald Trump into the White House this is the show for you. As former insiders and critical scholars of religion, Dan Miller and Bradley Onishi have a unique perspective on the Religious Right. Guests have included Chrissy Stroop, R. Marie Griffith…
Episodes
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Trump's Debate Coup and How the Office Warned us About 2020
On an abbreviated Weekly Roundup Brad discusses the first presidential debate, the media's inability to call out Trump's threats of violence and election…
Straight White American JesusAmerica First vs. the American Dream
Sarah Churchwell is Professor of American Literature and Chair of Public Understanding of the Humanities at the School of Advanced Study, University of London…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: RBG. Amy Coney Barrett. Breonna Taylor. And, Respectable Evangelicalism?
Brad and Dan discuss four main stories on this week's roundup: 1. The passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg has led to Amy Coney Barrett as the frontrunner to replace…
Straight White American JesusChristian Nazis, the Third Reich, and Our Current Political Moment
Brad speaks with historian Ricard Steigmann-Gall, author of the Holy Reich: Nazi Conceptions of Christianity 1919-1945. They discuss how the Nazi party used a…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Patriotic Miseducation
Brad and Dan discuss a coterie of stories at the intersection of race, nation, and religion. First, they dissect the president's announcement of a new…
Straight White American JesusPurity Culture, National Security, and Racism
Brad speaks with Dr. Sara Moslener, author of Virgin Nation: Sexual Purity and American Adolescence from Oxford University Press. Dr. Moslener outlines the…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: 9/11, COVID, and the Promises and Perils of Civil Religion
Brad and Dan begin by discussing how 9/11 is an event marked by acts of civil religion--ceremonies, rituals, and symbols that enable the nation to remember and…
Straight White American JesusRacism at the Start: History of the Religious Right (re-issue)
During the first half of this episode Brad and Dan trace the racist and nationalistic origins of white evangelical politics. On the second half, Brad talks…
Straight White American JesusSex Scandals, Christianity, and America
Brad interviews Dr. Leslie Dorrough Smith about her new book, Compromising Positions: Scandals, Politics, and American Christianity. She breaks down an…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup September 4, 2020: Man. Woman. Losers. Suckers. Soldiers.
Dan confesses that 1st grade on Zoom is more intimidating than translating French philosophy or reading Hebrew. He and Brad then discuss the bombshell report…
Straight White American JesusFascism Draped in the Flag
Brad and Dan discuss the vagaries of the new semester and the apocalyptic challenges posed by Zoom and Outlook. They then dissect the events in Kenosha, WI…
Straight White American JesusDating Jesus: Purity Culture, Male Savagery, and Female Passivity (re-release)
On this re-released episode, which takes on new significance in light of the Falwell scandal, Brad and Dan discuss how sexuality and gender are viewed in…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup" Catholic Convention/ Kamala Criticized/ Corrupt Cronies / QAnon Candidates
Brad and Dan discuss the latest of Falwell's Follies. They then analyze the presence of religion and faith at the Democratic convention, the fallout from the…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: A Coup in Plain Sight
Dan laments the end of our favorite segment, Falwell's Follies. Then he and Brad discuss the interfaith and mixed-race background of Kamal Harris, Birtherism…
Straight White American JesusFalwell's Fall . . . and Redemption with Diana Butler Bass
Brad talks to Dr. Diana Butler Bass, distinguished scholar of American Christianity, about Jerry Falwell Jr's. demise. Last week, racy pictures posted by…
Straight White American JesusEvangelicals, QAnon, and Conspiracy Theories (Re-Issue)
Brad speaks with Marc-André Argentino, a PhD candidate and public scholar at Concordia University in Quebec, and an Associate Fellow with the Global Network on…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Suburban Dream Demon Sperm
Brad tells a story about a mishap during a colonoscopy. He and Dan then cover the myriad of stories from a crazy news week: -Eric Metaxas thinks Jesus is White…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: I Can't Kneel - I'm a Christian
Dan talks about his house, or at least television, being struck by lightning. He and Brad then discuss Trump's messaging failures, Biden's candidacy as an…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: The Science Shouldn't Get in the Way
Brad tells a story of scowling at a Supreme Court justice at the super market. Dan reveals he worked in Yellowstone National Park with Bill Clinton. They then…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: We Didn't Start the Ire
Dan tell us why he hates the beach. Brad finishes his weeping on election night story. Then, they discuss Trump's Christian nationalist Confederate strategy…
Straight White American JesusThe Orange Wave: Live Q+A Session
Use JESUS20 for 20% off at Swanson.com! Dan and Brad hosted a live meeting with SWAJ listeners. We had a great discussion of important questions. They are…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: The SCOTUS Surprise and the POTUS Demise
Brad and Dan discuss the expanded recognition of Juneteenth and its significance for American history, the surprising new from SCOTUS on discrimination against…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Trump's Adding Insult to Tear Gas
Brad and Dan discuss Trump's decision to hold a rally in Tulsa on June 19. They dig into the historical significance of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre and Juneteenth…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: A National Uprising
This episode begins with the conveyance of wisdom from two African American women who are scholars of religion. First, Dr. Anthea Butler on how and why protest…
Straight White American JesusWhat Do Religion Scholars Think of Trump's Violent Bible Photo Op?
On this emergency episode, Brad asks religion scholars to weigh in on Trump’s violent Bible photo op. He speaks with first with Dr. Richard Newton, Assistant…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: The COVID Info Wars
Brad and Dan discuss recent data that shows White Evangelicals are the only group who believes Trump's response to the pandemic has been appropriate. They…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Justice is Barred
Brad tells a story of an encounter with a French philosopher and . . . marshmallows. Then Dan and Brad discuss the DOJ decision to drop the case against…
Straight White American JesusQAnon, Evangelicals, and COVID-19
Brad speaks with Marc-André Argentino, a PhD candidate and public scholar at Concordia University in Quebec, and an Associate Fellow with the Global Network on…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: The COVID Culture Wars
Brad and Dan discuss the COVID culture wars: the armed "protest" at the Michigan capitol, the masculinity of face masks, in-person church meetings, the…
Straight White American JesusEvangelicals, Individualism, and COVID Re-Open Protests
Brad discusses the correspondence between libertarian politics and evangelicalism. He points out that the stay at home orders undercut the central myth of…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: President Lysol, Mark of the Beast Conspiracies, and Reporters Kidnapped
Brad tells the story of buying an heiress a crepe in France. Then he and Dan discuss the president's remarks on using disinfectant to help with COVID, the…
Straight White American JesusEvangelicals and Inoculation
Brad discusses the "re-open" protests happening at state capitols through the historical episode of the Puritans and their protests to inoculation efforts…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: COVID-19 Protests, Confederate Flags, and Stimulus $ Going to Churches
Brad begins with another story of hijinks and nostalgia from Oxford. Then Brad and and Dan discuss a long list of religion, politics, and COVID-19 stories…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Is COVID-19 a Punishment from God?
Brad and Dan begin by discussing a the demand for in-person church meetings in Kansas, Liberty University's attack on the press, and Bill O'Reilly's comment…
Straight White American JesusFreedom from Religion Enables Freedom of Religion
During the COVID-19 pandemic many are discussing the liberty to hold religious gatherings despite the public health risks. In an interview from 2019, Dan…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Pastors Endanger Lives by Holding Services: Masculinity, Anti-Intellectualism, and Ecclesiology
Brad and Dan begin by adding some humor to the mix--they tell stories of how they didn't fit in at Oxford and the hijinks that ensued (00:30). They then…
Straight White American JesusThe Entangled Histories of Christianity, Atheism, and Racism
Brad speaks to Dr. Nathan Alexander about his new book on the entangled histories of Christianity, atheism, and racism in the 19th and 20th centuries. They try…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Trump, Evangelicals, and Covid-19
Religion was in full view this week as it relates to COVID-19. Brad and Dan discuss evangelical leaders and politicians resisting shelter in place directives…
Straight White American JesusFrom Evangelical Leader to Feminist Superhero
Asha Dahya was a happy evangelical when she moved to LA from Australia. But the politics of the Religious Right led her out of the faith. Indian by ethnicity…
Straight White American JesusSWAJ Daily: All the Made-Up Things
" . . only the invented part of life was satisfying." -Gerald Murphy to F. Scott Fitzgerald. Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus episodes, ad-free…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Bernie Sanders and American Civil (Non) Religion
Brad and Dan discuss why in this sort of crisis everyone's a socialist (2:55), the fallout from the Burr/Loeffler revelations (7:35), and then spend the bulk…
Straight White American JesusSWAJ Daily: Burr Should Resign, Fact-Checking Cornyn, How to Avoid Turning Anxiety to Racism
Brad discusses the moral failing of Senator Richard Burr and calls on him to resign, fact checks Sen. Cornyn on China, viruses, and more, and challenges us not…
Straight White American JesusA White Southern Pentecostal Bernie Voter
Aaron Simmons has been asked to leave numerous churches over the last decade. Not over theology or the Bible. But because he votes the wrong way and wants to…
Straight White American JesusSWAJ Daily: Trump's COVID Dog-Whistle and Christian Nationalism, Elections in Ohio, and Space Force!
On today's daily dispatch, Brad discusses why Trump labeling COVID-19 the "Chinese virus" is part of a long lineage of anti-Asian xenophobia and part of the…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Conspiracy and Corona Virus, Title IX and Discrimination, and the Appeal of Biden
Brad and Dan discuss the conspiracy theories Evangelicals and the President are pushing about Corona Virus (0:30), Title IX exemptions for universities that…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Corona Virus Conspiracies, the Constitutional Right to Discriminate, and AOC's Sermon
On the Weekly Roundup, Brad and Dan discuss the Corona virus conspiracies coming from MAGA land (2:45), AOC's sermon in Congress (9:30), the Supreme Court's…
Straight White American JesusDebunking Myths About Religion, Race, and the 2020 Election
Are Evangelicals still in love with Trump? Do white "liberal" Protestants vote progressively? Is it fair to say that the Republican party is basically the…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: "God is a White Man" Theology
Brad is joined by guest co-host Blake Chastain, who is host of the Exvangelical Podcast and the Post Evangelical Post newsletter. They discuss a surprising…
Straight White American JesusThe Missionary-Spies Who Helped to Form the CIA
Brad talks with Dr. Matthew Avery Sutton, author of the new book "Double-Crossed: The Missionaries Who Spied for the United States During the Second World…
Straight White American JesusThe Christians Who Want to Rule the World -with André Gagné
Dominionists are shaping your life: from your kid's sex-ed program, to local gun laws, and national elections. They see themselves as called to rule the world…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Romney vs Trump, Evangelicals vs. LDS, the National Prayer Breakfast, and More
Brad and Dan discuss how we should interpret Mitt Romney's vote to convict Trump as an expression of how the Latter Day Saints view the president, and why they…
Straight White American JesusThe Super Bowl Halftime Show and Purity Culture
Brad dissects the evangelical scrutiny of the halftime show, demonstrating how Franklin Graham's (et al) criticism comes from the misogyny of purity culture, a…
Straight White American JesusHer Name Was Hisao: On Love, Loss, and the Lakers
Brad's audio essay on his great grandmother, Hisao, a picture-bride who couldn't speak English, but who became an American, a Californian, and an Angelino…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Paula White, Satanic Pregnancies, and the Prosperity Gospel
Brad and Dan talk about Jerry Falwell's call for secession, harmful transgender treatment bills, and Paula White, Trump's spiritual advisor, the woman who…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Funding Anti-LGBT Schools with Tax $, the Radical MLK, and the March for "Life"
On the Weekly Roundup Brad and Dan discuss Espinoza vs. Montana, a supreme court case that will determine if states must fund private schools. They discuss how…
Straight White American JesusEscaping Abuse at a Fundamentalist Boot Camp
Brad talks with Deirdre Sugiuchi about her story of leaving a fundamentalist boot camp in the Dominican Republic. Deirdre, a writer whose work has been…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Catholic Trumpism, Brave Heart Christianity, and the Two Popes
On the weekly roundup, Dan and Brad focus on a Politico story about the Trump campaign reaching out to Catholic voters. They explain how a sizable number of…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Praying for War (video available on Youtube)
Brad and Dan discuss how Mike Pence and Mike Pompeo brought their end-times theology to bear on American foreign policy through the assassination of Quassem…
Straight White American JesusShrinking Numbers, Holding Power: Iran, the UMC Schism,and More with Robert P. Jones
Brad speaks with PRRI CEO and author of "The End of White Christian America" Robert P. Jones. They discuss the ongoing developments with Iran, the United…
Straight White American JesusApocalypse Now: Iran and Evangelicals
Brad talks with Prof André Gagné about evangelical visions of the apocalypse and how they are directly related to Iran (and the assassination of Quassem…