Historian Tal Howard joins host Dan Hummel to discuss his new book Broken Altars: Secularist Violence in Modern History (Yale University Press). This episode dives deep into the global history of secularism, examining how different forms—passive, combative, and eliminationist—have shaped societies and, in some cases, led to state-sponsored violence against religious communities.

📚 Topics include:

·     The intellectual history of “religion” and “secularism”

·     Case studies from France, Turkey, Mexico, the Soviet Union, and Albania

·     The ideological legacy of Marxist-Leninist thought

·     How secularist ideologies have impacted religious minorities

·     A comparison with Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age

🔗 Resources:

·     Broken Altars by Tal Howard (Yale University Press) https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300263619/broken-altars/

·     Previous Upwards episode with Tal Howard (2021)

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2VKb21hmXYuFhCzB3RodKv?si=-f8_LzsMRnWp3ekfu8x0Hw

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This episode was created by the SLBF STUDIO at Upper House.

Produced by Daniel Johnson and Dave Conour

Edited by Dave Conour