Interfaith Voices Podcast (hour-long Version)

In June 2023, the Public Religious Research Institute released a new poll exploring America’s shifting public attitudes on gender, the role of inclusive policies and perceptions of fairness, and the recent attacks on policies that support transgender individuals.  Public Religion Research Institute’s CEO Dr. Melissa Deckman joins Ambereen Khan to discuss the findings and to review the shifts in attitudes especially among a surprising cohort -- younger Americans.  

In the first year of the global pandemic, COVID deaths among Native Americans were significantly higher than any other ethnic or racial group in America due to exceedingly poor public health infrastructure.  To combat the inequity, a group of public health workers in North Carolina led by Dr. David Tillman, supported by a grant from Interfaith America, worked to foster trusting relationships to tackle vaccine hesitancy and combat misinformation with the Coharie tribe in Sampson County.  Producer Monique Parsons of Interfaith America reports this story from North Carolina.

Elizabeth Reiner Platt, director of Columbia Law School’s Law, Rights and Religion Project discusses the implications of the Supreme Court’s majority opinion in 303 Creative v Elenis. She explains why the controversial ruling extending First Amendment protections to a creative business creates a dangerous precedent opening the door for other potential challenges to anti-discrimination policies.  Platt reminds listeners of an earlier era in which businesses could explicitly reject people based on gender, religion and race to deny access to goods, services, and public accommodations.  Citing the 303 Creative ruling and hypotheticals presented during oral arguments, Platt notes that nothing in the decision limits its application to same-sex couples seeking to marry. 

Filmmaker Martin Doblmeier talks about his 2021 Gabriel Award-winning film "Revolution of the Heart: The Dorothy Day Story" and the life of this powerful social activist.

This installment of A Prayer For Salmon begins with the creation story of the Winnemem Wintu, at a sacred spring high up on Mt. Shasta.

At a school board protest hundreds of Muslim and Ethiopian Orthodox parents demand the right to opt their kids out of reading LGBTQ+ story books invoking religious rights and then, the organizer of Faith for Pride talks about their work.

In the next part of A Prayer for Salmon, we travel back to Northern California to continue the story of an indigenous community fighting plans to raise the level of Shasta Dam.

Annette Gordon-Reed is no stranger to diving into the areas that make readers uncomfortable.  In her 2021 book, On Juneteenth, she offers a hybrid history and memoir that gets personal.

Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde is the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington D.C. and one of the most influential women in American Christianity. Her new book, How We Learn to Be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith, was born out of her response to President Donald Trump’s bible-waving photo op in front of an Episcopal church during the protest summer of 2020.

Guest Anne Borden Evans of the Ashoka Foundation discusses why this secular non-profit is interested in supporting what it calls “spiritual changemakers” and “spiritual innovators.”

Soularize founder Spencer Burke talks about his vision for Soularize and lays out its goals – to be a bridge between people working at the different intersections of faith with social justice, youth empowerment, migration, the environment, and longevity.

We revisit our December 2022 conversation between host Ambereen Khan and Keller, including how his terminal cancer changed his views on mortality and time, and heightened the need to make forgiveness a cultural priority.

Public intellectual, gay marriage activist, journalist, and author Jonathan Rauch shares how he found an unlikely friendship with Keller, who, as a Reformed evangelical opposed same-sex marriage. 

Editor-in-Chief of the Gospel Coalition Collin Hansen reflects on his friendship with Keller and insights from writing the pastor’s biography, released earlier this year.  Hansen shares how pivotal experiences shaped Keller’s beliefs about religion and politics and why he was often criticized by both the political left and right.

Dr. Linda Mercadante a Distinguished Research Professor, Emerita, Methodist Theological School in Ohio. and founder of HealthyBeliefs discussed her journey from being "spiritual but not religious" to becoming a scholar of religion. She argues for more research and understanding into the growing numbers of Americans identifying as such. In her book, "Beliefs without Borders: Inside the Minds of the Spiritual But Not Religious," Mercadante shares her research findings from a listening tour across the US, Canada, Mexico, and beyond. She discovered that while sociologically, people identifying as “spiritual but not religious” are quite different, they share many common beliefs — including rejecting the word "God" while still believing in something bigger than themselves. Belief Without Borders Oxford University Press Our theme Breath Deep is copyright MC Yogi. This week's closing music, New Hope, by Audiobinger, used under a Creative Comm

In his book, God, the Best Seller, Stephen Prothro tells the story of  Eugene Exman, responsible for the religious book department at Harper and Brothers from 1928 to 1965. Prothro argues that Exman was partly responsible for the current trend toward “spirituality not religious.” The book highlights Exman’s role in publishing some of the most influential religion books of the 20th century — including The Perennial Philosophy by Aldi Huxley, essays on Zen Buddhism by DT Suzuki, The Long Loneliness by Dorothy Day, and The Religions of Man by Houston Smith. God the Bestseller Harper Collins

Lummi Nation member Darrell Hillaire is on a mission:  amplify native indigenous storytelling using technology to educate and inspire actions to protect water ecosystems for future generations. 

In episode five of A Prayer for Salmon, the Winnemem Wintu and supporters start a two-week Run4Salmon prayer to call salmon back to the waters above Shasta Dam.

Episode five of "A Prayer for Salmon," and an Elder of the Lummi Nation uses indigenous storytelling to educate the world about the sacred obligation to protect the water.

In a soundscape of surf, sand, and spirituality, Father Christian Mondor recounts how he began riding waves at age 70. In water, he finds a metaphor for the holy trinity. And in the surf, he finds a kind of baptism.