A quick end-of-year update about why we've taken a few weeks off from putting out episodes, our plan for the months to come, and how you can help us improve Revolves Around Me. Thanks to everyone for listening and for your support over the past few months. We're excited to get back to producing and will have a new batch of episodes soon!

Revolves Around Me is produced by Brian Benton in Brooklyn, NY and Max Barnes in San Francisco, CA. Find us at www.revolvesaround.me, facebook.com/revolvesaroundme and twitter.com/revolvespodcast and send us an email at [email protected].

If you're not familiar with the Bahá'í Faith, you're not alone. It has roots in Persia, and now is the second most widespread religion in the world, after Christianity (in terms of geographic reach). The religion still has followers in the Middle East, but there are also large populations and major churches in Australia, Germany, India, Panama, and the United States. It was also ranked by Foreign Policy Magazine as the world's second fastest growing religion by percentage (1.7%) in 2007. In this episode, Max talks with Kayla, a 21-year-old Bahá'í in Santa Cruz, California. She shares some background on the faith and it's viewpoints, and talks about what it was like growing up with a religion unfamiliar to some of the people she encountered.

Revolves Around Me is produced by Brian Benton in Brooklyn, NY and Max Barnes in San Francisco, CA. Find us at www.revolvesaround.me, facebook.com/revolvesaroundme and twitter.com/revolvespodcast and send us an email at [email protected].

We planned to make this episode about the importance that exposure to other cultures and faiths can have on our own religious understanding long before November 8. Then, Donald Trump won the presidential election, and it took on a whole new meaning for us. If this episode has any greater lesson, it's that religion, ethnicity, culture and spirituality can divide us, but they can also help bring us together and find unexpected unity. In this episode, we talk to Suman about learning to understand her time at a Sikh private school in India, and Jordan, about what spending time in Qatar taught her about the role of Mormonism in her life.

Revolves Around Me is produced by Brian Benton in Brooklyn, NY and Max Barnes in San Francisco, CA. Find us at www.revolvesaround.me, facebook.com/revolvesaroundme and twitter.com/revolvespodcast and send us an email at [email protected].

Closing Music Credits: "New York Is Not My Home" by Jim Croce, © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

If you ask a millennial how they became the faith they are, most will tell you they just grew up that way. Our parents play a huge role in shaping our religious understanding, for better or for worse. In this episode, we talk to Molly and Hayden, two millennials with atypical religious family situations. We also talk to our own parents to get answers about some of the things that shaped our religion when we were growing up.

Revolves Around Me is produced by Brian Benton in Brooklyn, NY and Max Barnes in San Francisco, CA. Find us at www.revolvesaround.me, facebook.com/revolvesaroundme and twitter.com/revolvespodcast and send us an email at [email protected].

Clint grew up in Parrottsville, Tennessee, a small town with 264 people about one hour outside of Knoxville. For eighteen years, he was a devout Fundamental Independent Baptist, leading him eventually to study the sect in an academic setting. In this bonus episode, we talk to Clint about his childhood, misconceptions about his former faith, and the role of the church in Appalachia. More importantly, we hope to introduce listeners to a religious experience they might not be familiar with.

If you want to share your own story, or know someone with a unique background, tell us! Find us at www.revolvesaround.me, facebook.com/revolvesaroundme and @revolvespodcast or send us an email at [email protected].

Revolves Around Me is produced by Brian Benton in Brooklyn, NY and Max Barnes in San Francisco, CA.

If you’ve heard anything about religion this election, it’s probably about Donald Trump's proposal to ban Muslim immigrants or Tim Kaine and Mike Pence discussing their Christian values during the Vice Presidential debate. It's not a coincidence that as the United States becomes less religious, the way we discuss religion during elections has changed too. In this episode, we consider Bernie Sanders' Judaism, the problems with pandering to young voters and the changing role of religion in American politics.

Further Reading:

- Jack Jenkins' writing for ThinkProgress: https://thinkprogress.org/@jackjenkins

- Anne Li on 'religious liberty' for FiveThirtyEight: http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/religious-liberty-has-replaced-gay-marriage-in-gop-talking-points/

Revolves Around Me is produced by Brian Benton in Brooklyn, NY and Max Barnes in San Francisco, CA. Find us at www.revolvesaround.me, facebook.com/revolvesaroundme and twitter.com/revolvespodcast and send us an email at [email protected].

Millennials are the least religious generation in recent U.S. history, in part because so many young people are deciding to distance themselves from the religion they grew up with. In this episode, we try to understand why so many millennials are saying bye bye to their Bibles, or their Qur'an or Torah or Tripitakas or other holy books.

Further Reading:

- Rachel Slawson's blog, "I'm Not a Mormon Anymore, But I'm Still A Member of The Church of Latter Day Saints": http://bit.ly/revolvesrachel

- Emma Green's writing for The Atlantic: http://bit.ly/revolvesemmagreen

- The Pew Religious Landscape Study: http://bit.ly/revolvespewstudy

Revolves Around Me is produced by Brian Benton in Brooklyn, NY and Max Barnes in San Francisco, CA. Find us at www.revolvesaround.me, facebook.com/revolvesaroundme and twitter.com/revolvespodcast and send us an email at [email protected].

Revolves Around Me is a podcast about the intercept of two things that think they’re the center of the universe, religion and millennials. Get a taste of the season to come with this short preview.

Revolves Around Me is produced by Brian Benton in Brooklyn, NY and Max Barnes in San Francisco, CA. Find us at revolvesaround.me and send us an email at [email protected].