Religion in the American Experience

Religion has profoundly influenced the sweeping American narrative, perhaps more than any other force in its history, from the time of the Indigenous Peoples to the present day. Religion in the American Experience explores how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom as defined by the U.S. Constitution’s Article II, Section 1 ”Oath or Affirmation” clause; Article VI ”no religious Test” clause; and the Bill of Right’s free exercise and non-establishment clauses. The museum invites all people to explore the role of religion in shaping the social, political, economic, and cultural lives of Americans and thus America itself. Join us as we follow scholars and others deep into America’s religious history and learn how it can inform and animate us as citizens grappling with complex questions of governance and American purpose in the 21st century. Episodes will be released monthly on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Amazon, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Religion in the American Experience is a education podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 100 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts Religion in the American Experience, a education show with 100 episodes published.

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  Episode #22

  The Making of U.S.: Lived Religion in America with Matt Nowakowski

  Aug 14, 202635 minS4

  Welcome to another episode of “The Making of US: Lived Religion in America”, a subseries of the podcast “Religion in the American Experience”, which makes each of us more effective stewards of religion’s positive role in the American experiment in self-government. In this subseries we explore the role religion has played in the lives of everyday Americans, reminding us that while religion exerts a significant influence on the events and movements of the American project, religions primary work and where it has the most influence, is in the everyday lives of adherents. Season 4, Episode 22 – The Making of U.S.: Lived Religion in America Today Matt Nowakowski of Minneapolis, Minnesota joins us to share his own religious history. Veronica Mrnik, Matt's maternal grandmother, immigrated from Czechoslovakia and raised the family through St. Joseph's Church in Cudahy, WI. https://www.nativitycudahy.org/our-parish-history Matt is associated with the Brothers of the Christian Schools-The Lasallian Brothers. https://www.lasalle.org/en/ Podcast Support Scholarly support provided by Dr. Lauren Turek , Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Technical audio and video assistance provided by Dr. Randall Stephens , a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo. Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article II, Section 1 “Oath or Affirmation” clause; Article VI “no religious Test” clause; and the free exercise and non-establishment clauses in the Bill of Rights.

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  Episode #21

  Religion and American Medicine - Part 1

  Aug 7, 202644 minS4

  The influence of religion on American medicine is pervasive. This episode is an interview with Dr. Jeff Levin about the contents of his book Religion and Medicine: A History of the Encounter Between Humanity’s Two Greatest Institutions. We believe that understanding this thread in America’s religious fabric will make each of us more effective stewards of religion’s role in the American experiment in self-government. Season 4, Episode 21 – Religion and American Medicine – Part 1. Guest Bio Jeff Levin is an epidemiologist and religious scholar, and holds a distinguished chair at Baylor University, where he is University Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health, Professor of Medical Humanities, Director of the Program on Religion and Population Health at the Institute for Studies of Religion, and Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Institute for Global Human Flourishing. Jeff is the author, editor, or co-editor of over 11 books, including Religion and Medicine: A History of the Encounter Between Humanity’s Two Greatest Institutions. Podcast Support Scholarly support provided by Dr. Lauren Turek , Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Technical audio and video assistance provided by Dr. Randall Stephens , a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo. Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article II, Section 1 “Oath or Affirmation” clause; Article VI “no religious Test” clause ; and the free exercise and non-establishment clauses in the Bill of Rights.

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  Episode #20

  The Influence of the King James Bible on the American Novel - Part 1

  Jul 31, 202644 minS4

  The influence of the King James Bible on American literature has been vast. This is the first of many episodes that will explore this topic, and it will focus on ways this particular edition of the Bible has shaped the American novel. We believe that understanding this thread in America’s religious fabric will make each of us more effective stewards of religion’s role in the American experiment in self-government. Season 4, Episode 20 – The Influence of the King James Bible on the American Novel – Part 1. Guest Bio Robert Alter is Professor in the Graduate School and Emeritus Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, and author of Pen of Iron: American Prose and the King James Bible. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the Council of Scholars of the Library of Congress, and is past president of the Association of Literary Scholars and Critics. His twenty-four published books include two prize-winning volumes on biblical narrative and poetry and award-winning translations of Genesis and of the Five Books of Moses. Podcast Support Scholarly support provided by Dr. Lauren Turek , Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Technical audio and video assistance provided by Dr. Randall Stephens , a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo. Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article II, Section 1 “Oath or Affirmation” clause; Article VI “no religious Test” clause ; and the free exercise and non-establishment clauses in the Bill of Rights.

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  Episode #18

  How Did John Witherspoon's Sermon Influence the American Revolution?

  Jul 24, 202638 minS4

  This year during America’s 250th anniversary, we are paying particular attention to how religion figured into the people and events of the country’s founding era. In May of 1776 Presbyterian minister John Witherspoon gave a unique sermon entitled The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men, which created quite a stir. What is in this sermon that would raise eyebrows, who exactly was John Witherspoon, and what influence did the sermon and preacher have on the creation of the United States? We believe that understanding this thread in America’s religious fabric will make each of us more effective stewards of religion’s role in the American experiment in self-government. Season 4, Episode 19 – How Did John Witherspoon’s Sermon Influence the American Revolution? Guest Bio Gideon Mailer is Professor of History at the University of Minnesota. His research interests include the evolution of liberty, beginning with the ancient Anglo-Scottish constitutional framework and culminating in the establishment of the United States of America. Gideon is the author of The Character of Freedom: The Scottish Enlightenment and American Slavery and John Witherspoon’s American Revolution. SHOWNOTES: https://youtu.be/Fa1ad9QCv_s?si=QJPlLRzkVKG9P_se Podcast Support Scholarly support provided by Dr. Lauren Turek , Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Technical audio and video assistance provided by Dr. Randall Stephens , a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo. Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article II, Section 1 “Oath or Affirmation” clause; Article VI “no religious Test” clause ; and the two Bill of Rights religion clauses.

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  Episode #17

  Religion and the Life, Times, and Music of Billie Holiday.

  Jul 10, 202641 minS4

  Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan Gough) was born on April 7, 1915, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. Enduring a turbulent childhood, she started singing in New York City in her teenage years, becoming an exceptionally talented, and then famous, jazz and swing singer in the 1930s and 40s. Billie won four Grammy Awards , all of them posthumously. We would like to investigate the religious influences on Billie Holiday’s life, times, and music. We believe that understanding this particular thread of the American fabric will make each of us more effective stewards of religion’s role in the ongoing American project. Season 4, Episode 17 – Religion and the Life, Times, and Music of Billie Holiday Guest Bio Tracy Fessenden has agreed to help us with this. Professor Tracy Fessenden is the Steve and Margaret Forster Professor in the School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies at Arizona State University and Director of Strategic Initiatives in the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict, where she also directs the Initiative in Spirituality and Public Life. Her work focuses on, among other things but most relevant for our topic today, religion and American literature and the arts and the relationship between religion and the secular in American law, culture, and public life. She is the author of Religion Around Billie Holiday and Culture and Redemption: Religion, the Secular, and American Literature. It is our hope that by answering this question, each of us will be more effective stewards of religion’s role in the American experiment in self-government. SHOWNOTES: https://billieholiday.com/ Billie Holiday - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Holiday “Strange Fruit” - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Fruit “God Bless the Child” - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_Bless_the_Child_(Billie_Holiday_song) House of the Good Shepherd for Colored Gils in Baltimore, Maryland: https://mavcor.yale.edu/mavcor-journal/colored-magdalens-house-good-shepherd-colored-girls-baltimore-ca-1930s Podcast Support Scholarly support provided by Dr. Lauren Turek , Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Technical audio and video assistance provided by Dr. Randall Stephens , a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo. Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article VI and Bill of Rights religion clauses.

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