Interfaith Voices Podcast

Today on  the podcast, I welcome Rabbi Noa Kushner

For the last 14 years, Rabbi Noa Kushner has led The Kitchen, a groundbreaking SF synagogue that is “one part shabbat + justice + torah community, one part San Francisco experiment..." She’s welcomed thousands of Jews and non-Jews into the community across the United States and abroad. Her conversations and interviews are inviting, open to skepticism, and encourage all of us to meditate on God and humanity, responsibility and forgiveness, love and doubt, progress and justice.  Rabbi Kushner is also the author of Pretend You Believe: How to Enter Religion . Her mission is to elevate our conversations around religion, spirituality, and raise our collective religious literacy. Her book, Pretend You Believe is neither an inaccessible, theological tome, nor a self-help book. Rather, it’s Kushner’s concise and elegant, intellectual argument for how religion can be as fundamental to our lives as eating.

To order the Pretend to Believe go to https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/803567/pretend-you-believe-by-noa-kushner/

For more information on the Kitchen go to https://www.thekitchensf.org/

On this episode we welcome Arizona Director of Mormon Women for Ethical Government(MWEG), Jane Anderson to discuss how to make democracy accessible to everyone.

Jane Andersen grew up in the Washington, D.C. area, sparking her interest in politics and community engagement. She holds a B.A. in economics from Brigham Young University and an M.A. in constitutional law and political theory from The City University of New York. Jane is the Arizona State Director for Mormon Women for Ethical Government, a nonpartisan nonprofit advocating for a peaceful, just, and ethical world. She is a member of a statewide coalition to prevent political violence and leads Valley Leadership’s Civic Engagement Impact Team.

Jane and her husband of 27 years, Jon, have four children, including identical twins with conditions including autism, blindness, epilepsy, and cerebral palsy. Caring for them has deepened her understanding of marginalized populations and the value of diverse perspectives.

For more information on MWEG please go to www.mormonwomenforethicalgovenment.org

Today on the show, President and CEO of Interfaith Alliance and 2026 Hope Lives Annual Celebration keynote speaker Rev Paul Brandeis Rashenbush. An ordained Baptist minister, Rev. Raushenbush is a longtime interfaith leader and renowned advocate for civil rights and religious freedom. He works with affiliates, networks and leaders across the country to forge powerful alliances among people of diverse faiths and beliefs to build a resilient, inclusive multi-faith democracy.

For tickets and info on the Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice Hope Lives Annual Celebration go to www.wifaithvoices.org/hope-lives

For information on Interfaith Alliance go to www.interfaithalliance.org

We are switching things up a bit today. 

On the first Monday of each month in 2026 leading up to the mid-term elections in November the Wisconsin Interfaith Voter Engagement Campaign is hosting a webinar series called Faithful Voices in a Critical Hour focusing on various topics pertaining to the upcoming election. In September the focus was on Poll Chaplains

The Poll Chaplain program is a collaboration between the Wisconsin Interfaith Voter Engagement Campaign and the Wisconsin Council of Churches. We assign interfaith Chaplains to polling locations throughout the state on election day to provide a peaceful presence.

We are currently in the process of recruiting new Chaplains so instead of a regular interview, this week we we will hear the audio from the webinar so you can hear more about the program and see if it could be a fit for you. Even if you are not from WI, it's worth a listen because there are poll Chaplain programs all throughout the US. 

Our presenter is Breanna Illéné who is this years Poll Chaplain Organizer and who currently serves as the Director of Ecumenical Innovation and Justice Initiatives at the Wisconsin Council of Churches.

For more information on the poll Chaplain Program please go to www.wifaithvoices.org/wivec

Rabbi Caryn Broitman has served as rabbi of the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center since 2003. She is a graduate of Harvard University in the
Comparative Study of Religion, and received her Rabbinical Ordination from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. She has been a Senior
Educators Fellow at the Melton Center of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and a Daniel Jeremy Silver Fellow at the Center for Jewish Studies
Harvard University. She is a regular contributor to Moment Magazine and a sought-after speaker on multi-faith topics, and her work has been
featured on NPR and WMVY Radio. She lives on Martha’s Vineyard.

The Torah Is an Open Book: Radical Readings for the Seeker and the Skeptic is a response to conservative or literalist voices who have use
Scripture to exclude, shame, and silence others, leading many to disregard the text altogether. She invites readers of all backgrounds – religious,
secular, or simply spiritual – to engage with the Bible as a living conversation.
Drawing on centuries of Jewish commentary and her own experience as a congregational rabbi, Broitman shows how even the most difficult or
obscure passages can become sources of insight, justice, and connection when read through the lens of midrash.

For more on Rabbi Caryn Broitman go to www.rabbicarynbroitman.com

For more on WI Faith Voices for Justice go to www.wifaithvoices.org

With recent ICE enforcement surges in cities across Wisconsin and throughout the country, it is more important than ever to keep the conversation about protecting our immigrant communities at the forefront. In this episode, Nikki Fisher, interim co-executive director of WISDOM, joins us to discuss the work being done to support and protect immigrants, as well as the first annual Wisconsin Immigration Summit, taking place July 31–August 1 at Marian University in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

For more information on this summit and on all that WISDOM is doing please go to www.wisdomwisconsin.org

For more  information on WI Faith Voices for Justice go to www.wifaithvoices.org

Dina Nina Martinez-Rutherford is a food service worker, small business owner, and a proud transgender woman. She is also a member of the Madison Common Council.

Dina Nina is running for the 76th Assembly District but does not have the typical background of someone who runs for the State Assembly. She has gone without healthcare and worked for $2.33 an hour for most of her career. She does not  just see the challenges our neighbors face – She lives them.

For more on Dina Nina go to www.votedinanina.org

For more on WI Faith Voices for Justice go to www.wifaithvoices.org

Marianna Richardson brings a rare combination of experience in faith, education, communication, and global policy. As Director of Communications for the G20 Interfaith Forum and a professor at Brigham Young University, she works at the center of some of today’s biggest conversations surrounding religion, human flourishing, technology, and international cooperation. Her work explores how faith communities can help shape ethical responses to emerging global challenges while preserving human dignity, freedom, and meaningful connection. What makes Marianna especially compelling for podcasts is the breadth of her personal and professional journey. She is a writer, educator, and speaker who earned advanced degrees from Johns Hopkins University and Seattle Pacific University while raising 12 children and serving alongside her husband during their leadership assignment in São Paulo, Brazil. She later attended law school with a passion for religious freedom and has written extensively on communication, faith, education, and culture. Marianna speaks with both academic depth and personal warmth. Whether discussing faith and technology, religious freedom, education, human flourishing, leadership, family, or the future of society, she brings thoughtful insight grounded in real-life experience. Her perspective resonates with audiences looking for hopeful, intelligent conversations about how people can preserve meaning, morality, and human connection in a rapidly changing world.

For more on the G20 Interfaith Forum go to www.g20interfaith.org

For more on WI Faith Voices for Justice go to www.wifaithvoices.org

Dr. Lucas Wilson is a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Toronto Mississauga and was
formerly the Justice, Equity, and Transformation Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Calgary. He is the editor of Shame-Sex Attraction:
Survivors’ Stories of Conversion Therapy (Jessica Kingsley Publishers). His public-facing writing has appeared in The Advocate, Queerty,
LGBTQ Nation, and Religion Dispatches, among other venues. He is currently working on two new edited collections: Don't Ask, Tell All: Stories
of Christian Colleges' Anti-Queer Regimes (under contract with The University of Georgia Press) and Queer and Trembling: Stories of LGBTQ+
Religious Trauma (Jessica Kingsley Publishers).

Please join us for the upcoming webinar featuring Dr Lucas Wilson Call Shame Sex attraction on June 18th at 6pm.
To register for free please click HERE

To order the book Shame Sex Attraction click HERE

For More information on Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice go to www.wifaithvoices.org

Dr. Lucas Wilson is a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Toronto Mississauga and was
formerly the Justice, Equity, and Transformation Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Calgary. He is the editor of Shame-Sex Attraction:
Survivors’ Stories of Conversion Therapy (Jessica Kingsley Publishers). His public-facing writing has appeared in The Advocate, Queerty,
LGBTQ Nation, and Religion Dispatches, among other venues. He is currently working on two new edited collections: Don't Ask, Tell All: Stories
of Christian Colleges' Anti-Queer Regimes (under contract with The University of Georgia Press) and Queer and Trembling: Stories of LGBTQ+
Religious Trauma (Jessica Kingsley Publishers).

Please join us for the upcoming webinar featuring Dr Lucas Wilson Call Shame Sex attraction on June 18th at 6pm.
To register for free please click HERE

To order the book Shame Sex Attraction click HERE

For More information on Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice go to www.wifaithvoices.org