Belief and Ballots: An American podcast on faith and the public sphere

Meghan J. Clark, Ph.D., is a professor of moral theology at St John’s University (NY).  At St. John’s, Dr. Clark engages students inside and outside the classroom on diverse topics in moral theology and Catholic social thought. In 2015, Dr. Clark was a Fulbright Scholar to the Hekima Institute for Peace Studies and International Relations at Hekima University College, Nairobi, Kenya. She has conducted theology fieldwork on human rights and solidarity in Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and the Philippines. 

Katherine Stewart is an award-winning author and journalist who has covered politics, religion, and the rise of the anti-democratic movement, for over 17 years, Her New York Times bestselling book Money, Lies, and God is on Foreign Affairs's list of Best Books 2025. Her work appears in the New York Times, New Republic and elsewhere. Her previous book The Power Worshippers won Best Book award in Religion News Association's Nonfiction category, among other honors, and formed the basis of the documentary feature God & Country, produced by the late Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner. 

Rev. David Black is the Senior Pastor of The First Presbyterian Church of Chicago. He is called to serve at the edges of the church, where people are discovering faith and where the church is engaging with its community. As one writer puts it, “to be an insider who stands near the door.” His present ministry is focused on adapting a historic church in the heart of the South Side as a hub for local artists and activists. The historic cathedral, located in the heart of the South Side, has undergone redevelopment as a hub for local artists and activists. The congregation hosts nine artists-in-residence, a dance company, an avant-garde jazz collective, an art studio for adults with disabilities, a chef-in-residence, multiple mutual aid programs, and a legal clinic providing aid to migrants. David lives in Woodlawn with his dog, Bella.

On this episode of Belief and Ballots our guest is Jemar Tisby.Dr. Tisby is the author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the Church's Complicity in Racism, How to Fight Racism. and How to Fight Racism: Young Reader's Edition. He is also a Professor of History at Simmons College of Kentucky in Louisville. Jemar has also been a co-host of the "Pass the Mic" podcast since its inception seven years ago. His writing has been featured in the Washington Post, The Atlantic, and the New York Times among others. He is a frequent commentator on outlets such as NPR and CNN's New Day program. He speaks nationwide on the topics of racial justice, U.S. history and Christianity. Jemar earned his PhD in history and he studies race, religion, and social movements in the 20th century. You can follow his work through his newsletter, Footnotes, and on social media at @JemarTisby.

Jemar Tisby is the author of the New York Times bestselling book, ⁠The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the Church's Complicity in Racism⁠, ⁠How to Fight Racism⁠. and ⁠How to Fight Racism: Young Reader's Edition⁠. He is also a Professor of History at Simmons College of Kentucky in Louisville. His writing has been featured in the Washington Post, The Atlantic, and the New York Times among others. He is a frequent commentator on outlets such as NPR and CNN's New Day program. He speaks nationwide on the topics of racial justice, U.S. history and Christianity. Jemar earned his PhD in history and he studies race, religion, and social movements in the 20th century. You can follow his work through his newsletter, ⁠Footnotes⁠, and on social media at @JemarTisby.

Kathryn Tanner is the Frederick Marquand Professor of Systematic Theology at Yale Divinity School.  Prior to coming to Yale, Professor Tanner taught at the University of Chicago Divinity School, where she held the Dorothy Grant Maclear chair in Theology.  Her research relates the history of Christian thought to contemporary issues of theological concern using social, cultural, and feminist theory. She is the author of God and Creation in Christian Theology: Tyranny or Empowerment?; The Politics of God: Christian Theologies and Social Justice; Theories of Culture: A New Agenda for Theology; Jesus, Humanity and the Trinity: A Brief Systematic Theology; Economy of Grace; Christ the Key; and most recently Christianity and the New Spirit of Capitalism.

Dr. Celene Ibrahim is a multidisciplinary scholar specializing in Islamic intellectual history, gender studies, comparative religion, and ethics. She is best known for her monograph Women and Gender in the Qur'an (Oxford University Press, 2020). The book won the Association of Middle East Women's Studies Book Award and was featured by the American Academy of Religion for Women's History Month. She is also the author of Islam and Monotheism (Cambridge University Press, 2022), an accessible primer on Islamic notions of the divine. She is the editor of the anthology One Nation, Indivisible: Seeking Liberty and Justice from the Pulpit to the Streets (Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2019), excerpts of which are featured in the Harvard Divinity Bulletin. She also writes on spiritual care, chaplaincy, religious leadership, and related themes. She regularly publishes essays and book reviews in scholarly journals and popular publications.

Rabbi Robin Nafshi was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 2005. She joined Temple Beth Jacob in July 2010. Before that, she served as the Assistant Rabbi at Temple Emeth in Teaneck, NJ, and the Associate Rabbi of Temple Beth-El in Hillsborough, NJ. Rabbi Robin is a graduate of both New York University and Cornell Law School. She worked as an attorney, legal editor, and legal author in the San Francisco Bay Area before attending rabbinical school.

Joined by Dr. Emilie Townes, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of Religion and Black Studies at Boston University School of Theology.  Before coming to Boston University, she also taught at a number of institutions, including DePaul University, Union Theological Seminary in New York, Yale Divinity School, and Vanderbilt Divinity School, where she also served as Dean.  She is a widely published author, having written Womanist Ethics and the Cultural Production of Evil; Breaking the Fine Rain of Death: African American Health Care and a Womanist Ethic of Care; Embracing the Spirit: Womanist Perspectives on Hope, Salvation, and Transformation; In a Blaze of Glory: Womanist Spirituality as Social Witness; and Womanist Justice, Womanist Hope.

Wayne Currie is the Director of the Father Jonathan DeFelice Intercultural Center at Saint Anselm College, a position he has held since 2016. He graduated from Northeastern University and holds a Master’s degree from UMass Boston. He is the driving force behind the college’s celebratory events in honor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday and is one of the central figures on campus in its outreach to all students motivated by social justice.