What does it mean to be an American? There’s no one way. At NPR, we think of the American identity as a story - one that's always being rewritten by the people who live it. The American Storytelling collection gathers stories from local stations across the NPR Network - from small town struggles, to natural phenomena, to the intricate histories that build the constantly-evolving tale of our nation. These are our biggest little-known shows. Find them in the American Storytelling channel on Apple Podcasts or on the NPR App.

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Extremely American host Heath Druzin returns to Moscow, Idaho to give a talk about Christian nationalism and how American theocrats are now closer than ever to getting positions of power at the highest echelons of government.

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A panel discussion with Christian leaders from across the political spectrum who are concerned about the rise of Christian nationalism. They talk about why they see the movement as antithetical to the teachings of Jesus Christ and the undertones of bigotry they see in Christian nationalism.

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Heath and Jimmy travel to the Creation Museum, a kind of theme park dedicated to the idea that the Bible's creation story is literally true and that the earth is 6,000 years old. So-called young earth creationism is a fundamental idea in Christian nationalism and one that could threaten the very foundations of scientific research if it ever becomes government policy.

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Heath and Jimmy travel to Kentucky to attend a kind of Christian nationalist festival in the shadow of a six-story replica of Noah's Ark. The gathering brings together leading Christian nationalist thinkers from around the country to compare notes on how to turn America into a theocracy.

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Christian nationalists are trying to take over the country one church and one school at a time. They have a blueprint for how to gain influence community by community and they are playing the long game.

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Critics of Christ Church and Christian nationalism say the emphasis on women submitting to men fuels an underbelly of abuse. Emilie Paige Dye is an abuse survivor and she details what happened to her at a fundamentalist school and why she thinks her case was swept under the rug.

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Helen Shores Peters starts to break with the patriarchy, but the patriarchy isn't done with her. And her change of heart leads her into a fight for her kids.

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Helen Shores Peters was a true believer in patriarchal Christianity. She learned to be submissive to men in a fundamentalist school, got married at 20 and lived the life of an obedient wife for years. But eventually things started going terribly wrong.

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Doug Wilson has gone from small town preacher to a leader in America's Christian nationalist movement. Along the way he's been equally good at attracting congregants and controversy. He's never been shy about weighing in on divisive issues, but his take on slavery nearly got him chased out of town.

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