Why does Christmas always seem to bring about debate each year in the U.S.? What’s the deal with the jolly, red-suited Santa Claus? In the last episode of 2016, Ashley explores the history of Christmas and how Santa Claus helped to make a lesser holiday a national celebration.
Category: Season 1
Ep. 7 American Scripture: The Novel
What is the “Great American Novel?” Can we consider it national scripture? John Howell joins Ashley to explore the idea of the American novel as a text for religious transcendence and national identity. #ReligionNerd Moment It’s Ashley’s first American Academy of Religion conference! What is that? Basically comic-con for religion nerds. She’s writing away trying…
Ep. 6 Communication, Religion, and the 2016 Election
In this bonus episode, Ashley discusses her feelings about the 2016 election results. She revisits her college essay about religion as a way to reflect on how we can communicate across difference.
Ep. 5 The Evil Inside Us, Religion in Horror Films
Why are we drawn to the malevolent and the evil? And….most curiously, what is evil? In this extra long Halloween episode, Sophie Day and Ashley explore religion in horror movies. They talk about the psychology of horror and the idea of the profane and the sacred. To facilitate they’re discussion, Ashley and Sophie watched The…
Ep. 4 Virtual Reality, Can it take us to church?
Is virtual reality a good medium for religion journalism? KC McGinnis, a visual journalist based in Iowa, joins me to explore this question. From empathy to artifice, we examine the pros and cons of virtual reality media. Ashley and KC examine the New York Times’ various VR stories and discuss the idea of immersive journalism….
Ep. 3 (Un)Conventional Religion
What can we learn about religion in partisan politics from the national party conventions? The 2016 political conventions to nominate Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump revealed more about the U.S. than just each party’s political drama. The Conventions displayed how each party engages religion. In this episode, Jim Wallace joins Ashley in discussing the relationship…
Ep. 1 “Religious” Movies for the Masses
In episode 1, Jeremy and Ashley challenge the category “religious film.” We discuss everything from the Ten Commandments…. To The Conjuring. #ReligionNerdMoment Ashley gets the bright idea for a zombie Jesus film from a casual walk home from work.
(w)Holy Media Trailer
Here is a preview of what our new project (w)Holy Media will be like: Ashley and I will discuss one topic per episode that will be released about every other week. We will crack open a beer and tackle the political, historical, and cultural implications of the theme we’ve chosen. We purposefully define “religion” and…