Our chairwoman at The Media Project and Senior Correspondent at ReligionUnplugged.com, Roberta Ahmanson Interviews a special guest and author. Roberta is a world traveller, an author herself, an award winning religion reporter, a philanthropist, an art collector and a voracious reader. When the coronavirus broke out, Roberta naturally thought we should interview the provost of the university of Oklahoma, Dr. Kyle Harper. Dr. Harper is a professor of classics and letters who serves as Senior Vice President and Provost. He has a PHD from Harvard University and has written several books about the ancient world including several titles related to religion and christianity in the Ancient Greek and Roman worlds. 

Dr. Harper’s 2017 book was titled "The Fate of Rome, climate disease and the end of an empire," published by Princeton University Press. It explains how devastating viruses, pandemics and other natural catastrophes swept through the Roman Empire and brought down one of the most powerful civilizations in history. Roberta dialed up Kyle on Zoom to talk about the parallels between COVID19 and the ancient world.

In the wake of Covid19, the physical rituals of faith are being removed. As religious communities in major cities and towns around the world are faced with the removal of holy water and prayer rugs or having their services completely cancelled until further notice, there is a new question. How do you reach a congregation if you can’t leave your own home?

We messaged every member of The Media Project to get a sense of what it's like living in the midst of the pandemic for 15 journalists around the world, and how their local religious practices are adapting.

In the wake of Covid19, the physical rituals of faith are being removed. As religious communities in major cities and towns around the world are faced with the removal of holy water and prayer rugs or having their services completely cancelled until further notice, there is a new question. How do you reach a congregation if you can’t leave your own home?

We messaged every member of The Media Project to get a sense of what it's like living in the midst of the pandemic for 15 journalists around the world, and how their local religious practices are adapting.

Meagan Clark interviews Vishal Arora, an independent journalist based in Delhi and a founder of Stories Asia, about the ongoing unrest between pro-Modi Hindus and Indians who fear threats to religious minorities and pluralism. Since this recording, more than 50 people have died, mostly Muslims, after a Hindu mob rampaged a mixed neighborhood near protests against a controversial citizenship law that excludes Muslim migrants.

Read more:

1. Mass protests in India are resisting Hindu nationalism more than ever
2. Internet Ban Eased In Kashmir After Seven Months
3. Protests ring in the new year in India as a 'black day' 
4. Photo essay: 50 injured in Kashmir's worst violence since India's crackdown
5. Fear and confusion grips India's northeast as 1.9 million people face statelessness

The Rev. Josphine Ngahu works with the All Saints Cathedral and the Anglican Church of Kenya doing some very innovative work in her parish with people who have lost their hearing.

Ms. Rose Kanyunyuzi is from Uganda and works with the Global Orphan Project in Africa. She told us about the work she is doing in Uganda and other parts of Africa with orphans. 

We met Rev. Josphine and Ms. Rose at a conference for Anglican leaders on Martha’s Vineyard this past September.

Chris Moody is a correspondent at Vice News in New York City. He’s also a friend of Religion Unplugged and The Media Project. We caught up with Chris recently as he completed his year-long journey around America in a tiny house he and his wife, Christy, built into a cargo van. It was his adventure to report on the real America after reporting on politics for years at CNN in New York City and at Yahoo News in Washington DC. We asked Chris about the journey and his upcoming book. 

Tabitha Bühne is a journalist, author and fitness coach based in Leipzig, Germany. Tabitha edits a running magazine in Germany and is a friend and member of The Media Project. She spoke with Religion Unplugged about her latest book that explores the topic of fitness and faith and why people of faith should care about their bodies. 

A whistleblower complaint to the IRS alleges the mormon church has amassed a secretive $100 billion dollar investment fund and has misled church members about how tithe money is used with that fund. 

On Monday night, we broke a story about this at ReligionUnplugged.com after a month-long investigation into claims the whistleblower made to the IRS. 

Samuel D. Brunson, a law professor at Loyola University in Chicago and an expert on religion and tax law, discusses the concerns about his church.

This episode of the Religion Unplugged podcast was hosted by Paul Glader, edited and produced by Peter Freeby. Special thanks to ReligionUnplugged team member Meagan Clark.

The Religion Unplugged Podcast is a production of religionunplugged.com. and is a part of The Media Project, a nonprofit dedicated to equipping journalists to cover religion. 

To read our award-winning global religion news coverage or to find out more about Religion Unplugged or The Media Project, visit religionunplugged.com or follow us on twitter at religionmag.

Paul Glader interviewed Jeffrey Alan Miller, an English Professor at Montclair State University in New Jersey, who made a major discovery in 2015. Looking at a notebook in an archive at the University of Cambridge, Miller came across the earliest known draft of any part of the King James Bible, unmistakably in the hand of one of the King James translators.” For this discovery along with his other scholarship on John Milton, Miller was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship this year, which is commonly referred to as a “genius grant” in America. 

The MacArthur Foundation noted that Miller’s scholarship into English literature and theology sheds light on new ideas "about the role of faith in daily life and government among Reformation and Renaissance scholars.” Miller 

We wanted to learn more about Miller and his pathway from his studies at Princeton University as an undergraduate to his Rhodes Scholarship and doctorate at Oxford University to his finding about the King James Bible. 

This episode of the Religion Unplugged podcast was hosted by Paul Glader, edited and produced by Peter Freeby. Special thanks to Melissa Harrison and Meagan Clark.

The Religion Unplugged Podcast is a production of religionunplugged.com. and is a part of The Media Project, a nonprofit dedicated to equipping journalists to cover religion. 

To read our award-winning global religion news coverage or to find out more about Religion Unplugged or The Media Project, visit religionunplugged.com or follow us on twitter at religionmag.

Paul Glader interviews Emeka Izeze about why he loves the Massachusetts DMV, and how rule following and paperwork might be a useful message for churches in Nigeria.