Weird Religion

Weird Religion is a podcast for people who think religion is weird but love it anyway. Your hosts, Leah Payne and Brian Doak, are both professors, authors, and pop culture aficionados, whose interests range from archaeology and history and linguistics to LARPing and The Walking Dead. Episodes tackle some piece of media highlighting the wonderful weirdness of religious experience—a documentary, a television show, a Twitter scandal—and use that as a "thread" on which to hang reflections on a wide variety of topics. Cults. The perils of fame within the evangelical world. Church attendance. Atheism. Gamer communities. Millennials and avocado toast. It's all here.

Weird Religion is a religion podcast hosted by Brian Doak and Leah Payne, with 103 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.

Brian Doak and Leah Payne hosts Weird Religion, a religion show with 103 episodes published.

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  Weird Religion

  126 THE LEGITIMACY (has Christian television finally arrived)

  Dec 27, 202430 minS9

  <p >Let us discuss a DANGEROUS TV SHOW. And of course, we’re talking about a very family friendly Jesus TV show—The Chosen. What is the state of the evangelical search for validation, for legitimacy, in the American religious landscape today? Has Christian TV arrived? Can we tell who is an “evangelical” by what they purchase, what they consume?</p><p >The Last Temptation of Christ (1988 film): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095497/ </p><p >Artifact: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/the-chosen-dallas-jenkins-interview-season-4-1235909988/</p><p >Dallas Jenkins: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_Jenkins</p><p >Ronald Numbers, The Creati...

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  Weird Religion

  125 THE MUTATIONS (battle on: Precious Moments vs. Precious Mutations)

  Dec 24, 202430 minS9

  <p >We celebrate the religious aesthetic—and mourn the loss—of Precious Moments creator Sam Butcher. A pastel-colored, Christian-infused aesthetic embodied by Precious Moments may of course prompt a reaction: like the “Precious Mutation” of Keith Busher. Did evangelical art (and theology) ever grow up?</p><p >How can this couple have been married 25 years when they are children: https://www.preciousmoments.com/twenty-five-happy-years-together-figurine </p><p >Jesus said: “wise as a serpent, gentle as a dove”: https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Matthew%2010%3A16 </p><p >Daniel Silliman obituary of Sam Butcher: https://www.christianitytoday.com/2024/05/sam-butcher-precious-moments-art-artist-chapel-obit/ </p><p >The Sam Butcher...

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  Weird Religion

  124 THE IMPOSSIBLE (is it OK now to believe in every miracle?)

  Dec 20, 202431 minS9

  <p >Today we’re discussing a book by religion and philosophy professor Jeffrey Kripal (Rice University), called How to Think Impossibly: About Souls, UFOs, Time, Belief, and Everything Else (University of Chicago Press, 2024). He seems to be suggesting…that we should believe…in impossible things. Miracles. Levitation. UFOs. Archetypes. And many other things Leah and Brian were told not to believe in during their time in secular graduate programs, of the type that Kripal himself would seem to teach in. What is happening here? We explore. Join us. </p><p >“Authentic” was the 2023 Merriam-Webster word of year: https://www.georgefamilyfoundation.org/news/b...

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  Weird Religion

  123 THE MICROFEMINISTS (you are not alone at the end of the year)

  Dec 17, 202426 minS9

  <p >Feeling spiritually vulnerable while you are in an airport? You are not alone. Looking for a Popeye horror film? You are not alone. Naming your child Muhammed in the UK this year? You are not alone. Flocking to Orthodoxy as a young man? You are not alone. Committing acts of microfeminism? You are not alone. </p><p >Portland airport Beni the Therapy Llama: https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/11/03/nx-s1-5173755/therapy-animals-portland-airport-llama-alpaca </p><p >The new most popular baby name in the UK: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/most-popular-100-baby-names-34251941 </p><p >The Late Great Hal Lindsey: h...

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  Weird Religion

  122 THE SPIRIT (why is that man running and yelling)

  Dec 13, 202430 minS9

  <p >When, and why, did Catholics stop saying “and also with you” in response to “The Lord be with you,” and instead start saying, “and with your spirit”? And how would you respond to the ecstatic worship practice of “running the aisles”? We discuss the aesthetic we’d want—in heaven. Brian gaslights himself and all academics about “change.” Leah sings several times and claims to be a “pilgrim.” Some very serious talk about the communion ritual. And craniosacral therapy.</p><p >And with you vs. And with your spirit: https://www.npr.org/2008/08/11/93419478/catholics-will-no-longer-recite-and-also-with-you </p><p >Let Google google for you!! https://blog.google...

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