Things Not Seen Podcast

Michelle Alexander's work examines the hidden structures of control exerted by our criminal justice system, and the effects this control has particularly on minority populations in America. Hew 2010 book, The New Jim Crow, set the tone of the conversation for understanding recent events in race relations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We talk with Nancy Ellen Abrams, author of A God That Could Be Real: Spirituality, Science, and the Future of Our Planet, about new discoveries in cosmology and their profound effect on our understanding of the universe and religion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're rebroadcasting our 2014 interview with Phyllis Tickle. In our conversation we explore the idea that our culture has been shaped by roughly 500-year cycles, which have helped define our major religious traditions for the past two millennia. According to Tickle, our present epoch - referred to by some as "The Great Emergence" - has the potential to yield a new Christianity distinct from Protestantism, Catholicism, and Orthodoxy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We speak to biblical scholar Jennifer Grace bird about her new book, Permission Granted: Take the Bible into Your Own Hands Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2012, David Dault interviewed artist, cartoonist, and animator Nina Paley, creator of the 86-minute animated film, Sita Sings the Blues.  We are rebroadcasting the full interview this week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This hour we speak to actor and director Curt Cloninger, who has spent 30 years traveling the country performing thoughtful and thought-provoking one-man shows. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our host David Dault speaks with award-winning poet, author, and journalist Judith Valente. We discuss her career as a religion reporter, as well as her explorations of modern monasticism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We revisit our 2012 interview with Union Theological Seminary professor John Thatamanil.Theologian and professor John J. Thatamanil discusses the growing field of "religious pluralism" - where the boundaries of "religion" are loosened and faith traditions are encouraged to mix and blend.  While a controversial concept to some, Thatamanil insists that theologies of religious pluralism are simply exploring the reality of religious mixture that has always been happening, whether we admit it or not.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we revisit a 2012 conversation with Jacques Berlinerblau about his book, How to be Secular; Katie Lynn Murphy files a report from China Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A frank conversation about the experience of women in religious communities and in academia with our guest, Dr. Gina Messina-Dysert - one of the founders of the blog Feminism and Religion. Also on the show, Katy Scrogin reviews Ted A Smith's new book, Weird John Brown Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices