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Nikhil Bumb works for the nonprofit FSG, where he helps companies and foundations find strategies that are good for business and good for the world, without being shy about creating a direct link between the two. He is also a practicing Jain. In this conversation we talk about how his Jain identity informs his work and, in general, how values that are often associated with faith and spiritual traditions can be a part of the public and professional discourse of corporate strategy and purpose. Send us Fan Mail

Rev. Kevin Kitrell Ross believes that religious communities cannot stay on the sidelines of public life, and that staying neutral when people are treated unjustly is itself a choice with real consequences. A minister in the Unity tradition, Ross continues the work of civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. in seeing political action as something his faith requires, not something optional. Our conversation looks at how his faith and community strengthen this conviction, the costs of staying quiet, and how he sees the responsibilities of religious people and communities today. Show Notes: Unity of Sacramento (https://unityofsacramento.org/) Send us Fan Mail

Place is not only a backdrop to religious life but, as Thomas Tweed's work argues, a way of understanding religion itself. Our conversation with him considers how people make and inhabit places, the values that surface within community gatherings, and the loss of shared spaces in contemporary life. Tweed also discusses his recent history book, Religion in the Lands That Became America.  Show Notes: Religion in the Lands That Became America, 2025 (https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300221480/religion-in-the-lands-that-became-america/)Religion: A Very Short Introduction, 2020 (https://global.oup.com/academic/product/religion-9780190064679?cc=us&lang=en&)Crossing and Dwelling: A Theory of Religion, 2008 (https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674027640)Our Lady of the Exile: Diasporic Religion at a Cuban Catholic Shrine in Miami, 1997 (https://academic.oup.com/book/50115) Send us Fan Mail

This episode of ReligionWise features Dr. Lorenzo Servitje, Associate Professor Literature and the Director of the Health, Medicine and Society program at Lehigh University. Trained in both Victorian Literature and Public Health, he considers the way that culture influences and is influenced by questions of health, healthcare, and disease. In this conversation we consider the broader field of Medical Humanities, where it came from and why it is important. We then dig into his particular area of interest, monsters of the Victorian era, from Dracula to Mr. Hyde, asking what can they tell us about both historic and contemporary understandings of health, sickness, and treatment. Show Notes Medicine Is War: The Martial Metaphor in Victorian Literature and Culture (https://sunypress.edu/Books/M/Medicine-Is-War)The Not-So-Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in Antibiotic Research: An Interdisciplinary Opportunity  (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33379290/)The Walking Med: Zombies and the Medical Image (https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-07711-6.html)Send us Fan Mail

David Hunsicker spent two decades at USAID building the institutional capacity for what came to be called Strategic Religious Engagement. That work culminated in the 2023 policy Building Bridges in Development, a framework for partnering with religious communities and faith-based organizations around shared goals. In this conversation, Hunsicker traces the path from a Pennsylvania Dutch upbringing, through conversion to Islam and graduate study in Central Asia, to an unexpected pull into US government work after September 11. We discuss the policy work that followed, what was lost when USAID was closed in 2025, and the new Strategic Religious Engagement Hub at Georgetown's Berkley Center.  Show Notes: Building Bridges in Development: USAID's Strategic Religious Engagement Policy (https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/publications/building-bridges-in-development-usaid-s-strategic-religious-engagement-policy/)Send us Fan Mail

As the United States approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, a national initiative called faith250 is bringing faith communities together to study the nation's founding documents. In the Lehigh Valley, a cluster of congregations led by four co-conveners is holding a series of gatherings that combine textual study and community building. The conversation with them considers the gap between the founding documents' aspirations and the nation's realities, the complicated relationship between religious faith and democratic governance, and the challenge of genuine inclusivity when diverse communities try to speak together about shared values. Guests:  Rabbi Shoshanah Tornberg, Congregation Keneseth Israel The Rev. Maria Tjeltveit, Retired Episcopal priest Rev. Stephanie Anthony, First Presbyterian Church of Allentown Laura Lawrence, Baháʼí community member Show Notes: faith250 (https://faith250.org/)Lehigh Valley Cluster - [email protected] us Fan Mail

Maurice Bloem has spent nearly four decades in development work, from leading the Church World Service's humanitarian efforts in Indonesia to representing CWS at the United Nations. He now leads the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities (JLI), a network that encourages collaboration with local religious communities in development initiatives. Our conversation covers his path from cultural anthropology in the Netherlands, to a decade of work in Indonesia, to his current global initiative. We also discuss what Bloem calls his "resume of failures" and why inner development matters as much as policy frameworks. Show Notes: Maurice Bloem website to learn more about Maurice and access his podcast, Walk Talk Listen (https://www.mauricebloem.com/)Joint Learning Initiative on Faith & Local Communities (https://jliflc.com/)Send us Fan Mail

Scholars keep predicting nationalism will fade, and it keeps surprising us. Slavica Jakelic argues we're asking the wrong questions. Drawing on her experience in Croatia during the Yugoslav wars and her research on religious-secular alliances in Poland and South Africa, she makes the case for 'ethical nationalism,' a form of belonging that serves pluralism rather than undermining it. We discuss why particular attachments matter, how religious and secular actors can work together, and what it might mean to reclaim symbols like the American flag for more expansive visions of national identity. Show Notes: Collectivistic Religions: Religion, Choice, and Identity in Late Modernity (https://www.routledge.com/Collectivistic-Religions-Religion-Choice-and-Identity-in-Late-Modernity/Jakelic/p/book/9781138260399)Pluralizing Humanism: Religions and Secularisms Beyond Power (https://www.routledge.com/Pluralizing-Humanism-Religions-and-Secularisms-Beyond-Power/Jakelic/p/book/9781032151083)Send us Fan Mail

What if the center of Jesus' teaching isn't the cross but the Sermon on the Mount? Father John Dear, peace activist, author, and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, has spent four decades living out that claim and challenging the church to take nonviolence seriously. In this conversation, Dear shares his journey from witnessing jets drop bombs over the Sea of Galilee to facing 20 years of incarceration for hammering on an F-15 fighter jet. Now leading the Beatitudes Center for the Nonviolent Jesus and hosting "The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast," Dear continues to build a community around Gospel nonviolence. We talk about his book The Gospel of Peace, the cost of his convictions, and what ordinary people can do to follow the nonviolent Jesus. Show Notes: The Beatitudes Center for the Nonviolent Jesus (https://beatitudescenter.org)The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast (https://johndear.org/podcasts)Books (https://johndear.org/books)Universal Love: Surrendering to the God of Peace (February 2026)The Gospel of Peace: A Commentary on Matthew, Mark & Luke from the Perspective of Nonviolence (October 2023)Send us Fan Mail

Artificial intelligence is forcing engineers to define concepts that philosophers and theologians have wrestled with for centuries: consciousness, personhood, and morality, to name a few. The technology may be new, but the questions it poses are ancient. In this conversation with Mark Graves, Research Director at AI and Faith,  we discuss what AI development reveals about humanity and what we can learn from the conversation between religion and technology. Show Notes: AI and Faith (https://aiandfaith.org/) Send us Fan Mail

Michael Trice combines theological training with an executive MBA to engage business leaders, nonprofits, and diverse religious communities. As founding director of Seattle University's Center for Ecumenical and Interreligious Engagement, he works at the intersection of faith traditions and public life. Our conversation explores what "public theology" means in practice and the tensions inherent in pluralistic engagement. Show Notes: Encountering Cruelty: The Fracture of the Human Heart (https://brill.com/display/title/18104?rskey=cf10gy&result=1)Send us Fan Mail

The religiously unaffiliated, often called "nones", represent one of the fastest-growing segments of populations across North America, Europe, and beyond. Jonathan Evans, Senior Researcher at Pew Research Center and lead author of a groundbreaking 22-country study, joins us to discuss surprising findings about what "nones" believe, how they practice (or don't), and what their growth means for religious life around the world. Show Notes: Many Religious ‘Nones’ Around the World Hold Spiritual Beliefs (https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/09/04/many-religious-nones-around-the-world-hold-spiritual-beliefs/)In U.S., familiarity with religious groups is associated with warmer feelings toward them (https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/10/31/in-u-s-familiarity-with-religious-groups-is-associated-with-warmer-feelings-toward-them/)Pew Research Center, Religion (https://www.pewresearch.org/topic/religion/)Send us Fan Mail

In September 2025, Vicki Garlock set a Guinness World Record by visiting 185 places of worship in Chicago in just one month. But this wasn't just about breaking a record—it was about experiencing the extraordinary religious diversity of one American city and promoting religious literacy. Join us as we explore what she learned, the communities she encountered, and how this ambitious project connects to her broader mission of cross-religious understanding and education. Show Notes: World Religions for Kids website (https://worldreligions4kids.com)World Religions for Kids Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/worldreligions4kids)World Religions for Kids Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/WorldReligions4Kids)Send us Fan Mail

Dr. Damon Berry, associate professor of religious studies at St. Lawrence University, regularly consults with federal law enforcement agencies including the  FBI and FBI’s BAU-1 (Behavioral Analysis Unit One) on cases involving religious extremism and alt-right movements. In this conversation, we explore the challenges of translating academic research into practical guidance for investigators, including the difficult work of understanding belief systems and worldviews that are dangerous and toxic to pluralistic society. Berry discusses what law enforcement agencies understand well about these movements and how empathetic scholarship can inform counter-extremism efforts. Dr. Berry's Books: Blood and Faith: Christianity in American White Nationalism (https://press.syr.edu/supressbooks/256/blood-and-faith/)Christianity and the Alt-Right: Exploring the Relationship (https://www.routledge.com/Christianity-and-the-Alt-Right-Exploring-the-Relationship/Berry/p/book/9780367340551)The New Apostolic Reformation, Trump, and Evangelical Politics (https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/new-apostolic-reformation-trump-and-evangelical-politics-9781350179431/)Show Notes: Life After Hate (https://lifeafterhate.org/)Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, Institute for Religious and Cultural Understanding Director Chip Gruen becomes the guest as producer Christine Flicker poses questions drawn from audience feedback. The conversation explores the methodological approaches, underlying assumptions, and programming decisions that shape the Institute's work in fostering religious understanding and a healthier public conversation on religion. Listeners get an inside look at how the Institute navigates the complexities of religious diversity in public life and the intentional choices behind its programming initiatives. Send us Fan Mail