Welcome to another episode of “Religion in the American Experience”, the podcast that equips listeners to be more effective stewards of religion’s positive role in the American experiment in self-government.

We are beginning a series exploring the history of religions’ view and treatment of planet earth, considered by many religious traditions as God’s creation. The first episode is about the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and how they view and have engaged with planet earth since their founding in early 18th century New York.

Season 4, Episode 27 – The History of Religions’ Treatment of the Earth – Part 1: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Show Notes:

Guest Bios

Dr. Matthew C. Godfrey is a general editor of the Joseph Smith Papers and a senior historian in the Church History Department, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He holds a PhD in American and public history from Washington State University. Matt has authored or coedited several books, including five volumes in the Joseph Smith Papers, The Earth Will Appear as the Garden of Eden: Essays on Mormon Environmental History, and Religion, Politics, and Sugar: The Mormon Church, the Federal Government, and the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company, 1907-1921. Instagram handle: @matacious.

Dr. George Hanley is a humanities professor at Brigham Young University with a research and teaching focus on environmental humanities. He holds a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and is the author (co-author Elizabeth M. DeLoughrey) of Caribbean Literature and the Environment: Between Nature and Culture, Home Waters: A Year of Recompenses on the Provo River, and New World Poetics: Nature and the Adamic Imagination of Whitman, Neruda, and Walcott.

Jenica Sedgwick is the sustainability manager for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She has a BS in business management strategy from Brigham Young University in 2016.

Podcast Support

Scholarly support provided by Lauren Turek, Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Technical audio and video assistance provided by Randall Stephens, a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo.

Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article II, Section 1 “Oath or Affirmation” clause; Article VI “no religious Test” clause; and the free exercise and non-establishment clauses in the Bill of Rights.

Welcome to another episode of “Religion in the American Experience”, the podcast that equips listeners to be more effective stewards of religion’s positive role in the American experiment in self-government.

The influence of religion on American medicine is pervasive. This episode is an interview with Dr. Harold Koenig about the history of religion in the clinical encounter.

Season 4, Episode 26 – Religion and American Medicine - Part 2: The Clinical Encounter

Guest Bio

Harold Koenig is on the faculty at Duke University Medical Center as Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Professor of Medicine. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Medicine at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and is Adjunct Professor in the School of Public Health at Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, China. Dr. Koenig is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Religion and Health and is the lead author of the Handbook of Religion and Health, with professors Tyler VanderWeele and John Raymond Peteet.

Show Notes:

https://spiritualityandhealth.duke.edu/

Podcast Support

Scholarly support provided by Lauren Turek, Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Technical audio and video assistance provided by Randall Stephens, a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo.

Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article II, Section 1 “Oath or Affirmation” clause; Article VI “no religious Test” clause; and the free exercise and non-establishment clauses in the Bill of Rights.

Welcome to another episode of “Religion in the American Experience”, the podcast that equips listeners to be more effective stewards of religion’s positive role in the American experiment in self-government.

Today we will be talking with children’s author Katherine Paterson about religion’s role in her life and work.

Season 4, Episode 25 – Religion and the Life, Times, and Work of Katherine Paterson

Guest Bio

Katherine Paterson is the author of more than 40 books, including 18 novels for children and young people. She has twice won the Newbery Medal, for Bridge to Terabithia in 1978 and Jacob Have I Loved in 1981. The Master Puppeteer won the National Book Award in 1977 and The Great Gilly Hopkins won the National Book Award in 1979 and was also a Newbery Honor Book. For the body of her work she received the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1998, the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2006, and in 2000 was named a Living Legend by the Library of Congress. She lives in Barre, Vermont and is an Elder in the First Presbyterian Church where her husband John, now deceased, was pastor.

Podcast Support

Scholarly support provided by Dr. Lauren Turek, Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Technical audio and video assistance provided by Dr. Randall Stephens, a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo.

Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article II, Section 1 “Oath or Affirmation” clause; Article VI “no religious Test” clause; and the free exercise and non-establishment clauses in the Bill of Rights.

Welcome to another episode of “Religion in the American Experience”, the podcast that equips listeners to be more effective stewards of religion’s positive role in the American experiment in self-government.

Today we will be exploring the surprising, fascinating, and little-known story of post-Vatican II liturgical jazz music in mid-twentieth century Black Catholic America.

Season 4, Episode 24 – Liturgical Jazz and Mid-Twentieth Century Black Catholic America

Guest Bio

Deanna Witkowski is a pianist, composer, scholar and author of Mary Lou Williams: Music For The Soul, winner of the 2022 ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award and the 2022 Jazz Journalists Association Award for Biography of the Year. Deanna has taught for Jazz at Lincoln Center and performed Williams’ compositions as a featured guest with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. In 2024, Witkowski completed her PhD in jazz studies at the University of Pittsburgh and is currently writing her second book based on her doctoral dissertation, “Jazz in the Pews: Experiments in Sunday Worship in the 1960s.”

Show notes:

Mass for Every Season

Mass for the Lenten Season (Stonewall Chorale + DW Trio)--starts at 12:30

Jazz in the Pews

Podcast Support

Scholarly support provided by Dr. Lauren Turek, Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Technical audio and video assistance provided by Dr. Randall Stephens, a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo.

Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article II, Section 1 “Oath or Affirmation” clause; Article VI “no religious Test” clause; and the free exercise and non-establishment clauses in the Bill of Rights.

 Welcome to another episode of “Religion in the American Experience”, the podcast that equips listeners to be more effective stewards of religion’s positive role in the American experiment in self-government.

The country is celebrating America’s 250th  – the semiquincentennial – and we are featuring episodes that explore the religion of the principal actors during the country’s founding era. Today we will be talking with Dr. Tommy Kidd about Benjamin Franklin and his religious life and beliefs.

Season 4, Episode 23 – Benjamin Franklin’s Religion

Guest Bio

Thomas S. Kidd is among the most celebrated scholars of religion and the founding of the United States. He serves as Research Professor of Church History at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and is the John and Sharon Yeats Endowed Chair of Baptist Studies. Dr. Kidd has authored numerous books, including Thomas Jefferson: A Biography of Spirit and Flesh, Benjamin Franklin: The Religious Life of a Founding Father, and George Whitefield: America’s Spiritual Founding Father.

Podcast Support

Scholarly support provided by Dr. Lauren Turek, Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Technical audio and video assistance provided by Dr. Randall Stephens, a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo.

Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article II, Section 1 “Oath or Affirmation” clause; Article VI “no religious Test” clause; and the free exercise and non-establishment clauses in the Bill of Rights.

Welcome to another episode of “The Making of US: Lived Religion in America”, a subseries of the podcast “Religion in the American Experience”, which makes each of us more effective stewards of religion’s positive role in the American experiment in self-government.

In this subseries we explore the role religion has played in the lives of everyday Americans, reminding us that while religion exerts a significant influence on the events and movements of the American project, religions primary work and where it has the most influence, is in the everyday lives of adherents.

Season 4, Episode 22 – The Making of U.S.: Lived Religion in America

Today Matt Nowakowski of Minneapolis, Minnesota joins us to share his own religious history.

Podcast Support

Scholarly support provided by Dr. Lauren Turek, Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. 

Technical audio and video assistance provided by Dr. Randall Stephens, a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo. 

Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article II, Section 1 “Oath or Affirmation” clause; Article VI “no religious Test” clause; and the free exercise and non-establishment clauses in the Bill of Rights.

The influence of religion on American medicine is pervasive. This episode is an interview with Dr. Jeff Levin about the contents of his book Religion and Medicine: A History of the Encounter Between Humanity’s Two Greatest Institutions.

We believe that understanding this thread in America’s religious fabric will make each of us more effective stewards of religion’s role in the American experiment in self-government.

Season 4, Episode 21 – Religion and American Medicine – Part 1.

Guest Bio

Jeff Levin is an epidemiologist and religious scholar, and holds a distinguished chair at Baylor University, where he is University Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health, Professor of Medical Humanities, Director of the Program on Religion and Population Health at the Institute for Studies of Religion, and Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Institute for Global Human Flourishing. Jeff is the author, editor, or co-editor of over 11 books, including Religion and Medicine: A History of the Encounter Between Humanity’s Two Greatest Institutions.

Podcast Support

Scholarly support provided by Dr. Lauren Turek, Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Technical audio and video assistance provided by Dr. Randall Stephens, a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo.

Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article II, Section 1 “Oath or Affirmation” clause; Article VI “no religious Test” clause ; and the free exercise and non-establishment clauses in the Bill of Rights.

The influence of the King James Bible on American literature has been vast. This is the first of many episodes that will explore this topic, and it will focus on ways this particular edition of the Bible has shaped the American novel.

We believe that understanding this thread in America’s religious fabric will make each of us more effective stewards of religion’s role in the American experiment in self-government.

Season 4, Episode 20 – The Influence of the King James Bible on the American Novel – Part 1.

Guest Bio

Robert Alter is Professor in the Graduate School and Emeritus Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, and author of Pen of Iron: American Prose and the King James Bible. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the Council of Scholars of the Library of Congress, and is past president of the Association of Literary Scholars and Critics. His twenty-four published books include two prize-winning volumes on biblical narrative and poetry and award-winning translations of Genesis and of the Five Books of Moses.

Podcast Support

Scholarly support provided by Dr. Lauren Turek, Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Technical audio and video assistance provided by Dr. Randall Stephens, a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo.

Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article II, Section 1 “Oath or Affirmation” clause; Article VI “no religious Test” clause ; and the free exercise and non-establishment clauses in the Bill of Rights.

This year during America’s 250th anniversary, we are paying particular attention to how religion figured into the people and events of the country’s founding era.

In May of 1776 Presbyterian minister John Witherspoon gave a unique sermon entitled The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men, which created quite a stir. What is in this sermon that would raise eyebrows, who exactly was John Witherspoon, and what influence did the sermon and preacher have on the creation of the United States?

We believe that understanding this thread in America’s religious fabric will make each of us more effective stewards of religion’s role in the American experiment in self-government.

Season 4, Episode 19 – How Did John Witherspoon’s Sermon Influence the American Revolution?

Guest Bio

Gideon Mailer is Professor of History at the University of Minnesota. His research interests include the evolution of liberty, beginning with the ancient Anglo-Scottish constitutional framework and culminating in the establishment of the United States of America. Gideon is the author of The Character of Freedom: The Scottish Enlightenment and American Slavery and John Witherspoon’s American Revolution.

SHOWNOTES:

 https://youtu.be/Fa1ad9QCv_s?si=QJPlLRzkVKG9P_se

Podcast Support

Scholarly support provided by Dr. Lauren Turek, Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Technical audio and video assistance provided by Dr. Randall Stephens, a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo.

Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article II, Section 1 “Oath or Affirmation” clause; Article VI “no religious Test” clause ; and the two Bill of Rights religion clauses.

Paul David Hewson, also known as Bono, was born in Dublin, Ireland on May 10, 1960. He is the founding member and lead singer of the band U2, formed in 1976, the same year he experienced a Christian conversion. In 1982 he married Alison Stewart, whom he met when he was a teenager. Bono is the recipient of 22 Grammy Awards and in 2005 was, as part of U2, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2004 Bono, together with two others and 11 humanitarian and advocacy organizations, founded the One Campaign, which advocates for the investments needed to create economic opportunities and healthier lives in Africa. This episode will explore the role religion has played in his life and music.

We believe that understanding this particular thread of the American fabric will make each of us more effective stewards of religion’s role in the ongoing American project.

Season 4, Episode 18 – Bono and His Religion

Guest Bio

Chad Seales is Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Holder Designate of the Brian F. Bolton Distinguished Professorship in Secular Studies, at The University of Texas at Austin. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research addresses the cultural relationship between religion and secularism in American life. He is editor of the Routledge Handbook of Religion and American Culture, and the author of Religion Around Bono: Evangelical Enchantment and Neoliberal Capitalism and The Secular Spectacle: Performing Religion in a Southern Town, and has published articles and book chapters on religious comparison, religion and food, industrial religion, corporate chaplaincy, religion and film, and secularism and secularization in the United States.

SHOWNOTES:

 “40” - https://youtu.be/lj8rzXBVmBY?si=Rx9FNJM2ZmuNzhg_

Example of an Episcopal “U2charist” service - https://www.youtube.com/live/1B2KB-72nnA?si=uc8hywKcK_s-sCJO

Podcast Support

Scholarly support provided by Dr. Lauren Turek, Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Technical audio and video assistance provided by Dr. Randall Stephens, a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo.

Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article II, Section 1; Article VI; and Bill of Rights religion clauses.