Best The Religious Studies Project Podcasts (2025)

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The Next Era of AIIS 22:30

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43m ago22:30

22:30

In this episode, we’ll meet the new Executive Director of AIIS, Dr. Emily Rook-Koepsel. As many of you know, the long-time US Director of AIIS, Dr. Elise Auerbach, retired this spring and has left us an incredible legacy of language, research, and outreach programs that have become the gold standard across disciplines for study abroad. Today, we’ll…

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PT 623 - Dee Dee Goldpaugh - Embracing Pleasure 1:17:13

5d ago1:17:13

1:17:13

Joe Moore interviews Dee Dee Goldpaugh, LCSW about their new book Embrace Pleasure: How Psychedelics Can Heal Our Sexuality. The discussion covers the book’s reception, critiques of over-medicalization, personal healing experiences, definitions of erotic energy and pleasure, historical repression of substances, and contemporary ethical concerns. Ke…

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The Truth About Charlie Kirk's Death: Not Political But Spiritual (kingdom warfare, divine purpose, & picking up the mantle) 1:08:38

4h ago1:08:38

1:08:38

#43 – Special Episode In this urgent episode, Mike and Revae reveal why Charlie Kirk's death isn't about politics—it's spiritual warfare. They expose the real battle between kingdom of darkness and Kingdom of God, and why the enemy failed to silence the truth. In This Episode: The spiritual reality behind Charlie Kirk's assassination Why Charlie wa…

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Mary-Frances O’Connor, The Grieving Body: How the Stress of Loss Can be an Opportunity for Healing (Harper One, 2025) 37:16

3h ago37:16

37:16

The Grieving Body: How the stress of Loss Can be an Opportunity for Healing (Harper One, 2025)by Mary-Frances O’Connor, Ph.D. The follow-up to celebrated grief expert, neuroscientist, and psychologist Dr. Mary-Frances O’Connor’s The Grieving Brain focuses on the impact of grief—and life’s other major stressors—on the human body. Coping with death a…

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Armin W. Schulz, "Presentist Social Functionalism: Bringing Contemporary Evolutionary Biology to the Social Sciences" (Springer, 2025) 1:05:06

13d ago1:05:06

1:05:06

Humans live in richly normatively structured social environments: there are ways of doing things that are appropriate, and we are aware of what these ways are. For many social scientists, social institutions are sets of rules about how to act, though theories differ about what the rules are, how they are established and maintained, and what makes s…

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The Christian Trap That Wastes Your Life (religious performance, false identity, & kingdom freedom) 1:23:10

1d ago1:23:10

1:23:10

#42 – Series: Making The Kingdom Shift – pt.3 Are you caught in a Christian trap that’s wasting your life without you knowing it? The Parable of the Prodigal Son reveals more than one lost son. Most people know about the younger brother, but have missed the deeper mindsets this parable exposes—and how both are alive in the church today. In this epi…

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May Friedman, "Fat Studies: The Basics" (Routledge, 2025) 23:15

22h ago23:15

23:15

Fat Studies: The Basics (Routledge, 2025) introduces the reading of fat bodies and the ways that Fat Studies, as a field, has responded to waves of ideas about fat people, their lives, and choices. Part civil rights discourse and part academic discipline, Fat Studies is a dynamic project that involves contradiction and discussion. In order to under…

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Peter Lamont, "Radical Thinking: How to See the Bigger Picture" (Swift Press, 2024) 43:36

2d ago43:36

43:36

Radical Thinking: How to See the Bigger Picture (Swift Press, 2024) is a book about how you view the world. It's about the things that shape your thoughts, from what you notice and how you interpret it, to what you assume, believe and want. It's also about how, if you think in a radical way, you can look beyond your limited view of the world to see…

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Christopher Willard et al., "College Mental Health 101: A Guide for Students, Parents, and Professionals" (Oxford UP, 2025) 45:11

14d ago45:11

45:11

With a growing number of students entering college with an existing mental health diagnosis, College Mental Health 101: A Guide for Students, Parents, and Professionals (Oxford UP, 2025) offers hope and clear direction to those struggling with mental illness. There is an undeniable mental health crisis on campuses these days. More students are anxi…

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Molly Worthen, "Spellbound: How Charisma Shaped American History from the Puritans to Donald Trump" (Random House, 2025) 1:05:57

17d ago1:05:57

1:05:57

Everyone feels it. Cultural and political life in America has become unrecognizable and strange. Firebrands and would-be sages have taken the place of reasonable and responsible leaders. Nuanced debates have given way to the smug confidence of yard signs. How did we get here? In Spellbound: How Charisma Shaped American History from the Puritans to …

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Tom Wooldridge, "Eating Disorders: A Contemporary Introduction" (Routledge, 2022) 50:25

4d ago50:25

50:25

Eating Disorders: A Contemporary Introduction (Routledge, 2022) presents an accessible introduction to the conceptualization and treatment of eating disorders from a psychoanalytic perspective. Each of the chapters offers a different perspective on these difficult-to-treat conditions and taken together, illustrate the breadth and depth that psychoa…

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Madness & Acute Religious Experiences, with Richard Saville-Smith 51:15

6d ago51:15

51:15

Host Pierce Salguero sits down with Richard Saville-Smith, an independent scholar of madness, religion, and psychiatry. We discuss Richard’s book Acute Religious Experiences (2023), which argues that frameworks from Mad Studies can get us out from under the academy’s current habit of either pathologizing or sanitizing religious experiences. Along t…

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Helen C. Epstein, "Why Live: An Anatomy of Suicide Epidemics" (Columbia Global Reports, 2025) 31:34

20d ago31:34

31:34

What causes suicide epidemics—and how can we prevent them? Many suicides are caused by biological mental illness, but sometimes the suicide rate of a particular group jumps—two-, three-, or even ten-fold—in a short time, behaving like an epidemic. Suicide epidemics unfold more slowly than microbial plagues like flu or malaria, but they happen far t…

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Why Faithful Christians Still Feel Stuck (identity crisis, trying harder, & finding rest) 1:15:16

15d ago1:15:16

1:15:16

#41 – Series: Making The Kingdom Shift – pt.2 Why do faithful Christians who love God and serve faithfully still feel spiritually stuck? If you're going through the motions despite genuine faith, longing for the abundant life Jesus described but not experiencing it, you're not alone. The gap isn't about your lack of faith—it's about missing a key f…

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John Lisle, "Project Mind Control: Sidney Gottlieb, the CIA, and the Tragedy of MKULTRA" (St. Martin's Press, 2025) 1:14:56

25d ago1:14:56

1:14:56

The inside story of the CIA’s secret mind control project, MKULTRA, using never-before-seen testimony from the perpetrators themselves. Sidney Gottlieb was the CIA’s most cunning chemist. As head of the infamous MKULTRA project, he oversaw an assortment of dangerous—even deadly—experiments. Among them: dosing unwitting strangers with mind-bending d…

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Why You Likely Need a Kingdom Shift, Even If You Don't Realize It 59:39

19d ago59:39

59:39

#40 - Series: Making The Kingdom Shift - pt.1 What if much of what we call "Christian living" today is actually falling short of what God intended? Many believers love Jesus but are still missing the power, freedom, and purpose He promised—not because they're not trying hard enough, but because they've been living under religion instead of the King…

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PT 622 - Matt Xavier - The Psychedelic DJ 1:05:14

16d ago1:05:14

1:05:14

From the Rave Scene to Psychedelic Therapy In this episode, Kyle Buller speaks with Matt Xavier, DJ, therapist, and author. The conversation took place live at Psychedelic Science. Matt recalls his early years in the rave culture of 1990s New York. He ran record labels, hosted psychedelic trance events, and lived through the intensity of that scene…

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Christopher Kemp, "Dark and Magical Places: The Neuroscience of Navigation" (Norton, 2022) 50:51

26d ago50:51

50:51

Inside our heads we carry around an infinite and endlessly unfolding map of the world. Navigation is one of the most ancient neural abilities we have―older than language. In Dark and Magical Places: The Neuroscience of Navigation (Norton, 2022), Christopher Kemp embarks on a journey to discover the remarkable extent of what our minds can do. Fueled…

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Robyn Koslowitz, "Post-Traumatic Parenting: Break the Cycle and Become the Parent You Always Wanted to Be" (Broadleaf Books, 2025) 42:10

1M ago42:10

42:10

Every good parent wants to create relationships with their children that are filled with joy, connection, and healthy attachment. Yet well-meaning but traumatized parents--those who suffered as children or who are dealing with traumatic events as adults--tend to see the world from a survival point of view. If that's you, you might suspect that your…

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PT 621 - Dr Case Newsom - Zendo Project 1:17:00

19d ago1:17:00

1:17:00

In this episode, Joe Moore sits down with Dr. Case Newsom, an emergency room physician in Denver and Medical Director for both Zendo Project and Stadium Medical. They explore how psychedelic harm reduction is merging with event medicine at concerts, festivals, and large-scale gatherings. Dr. Newsom shares his path from osteopathic medical training …

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PT 620 - Kat Murti – Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Meta Censorship, and the Fight for Science 1:20:00

21d ago1:20:00

1:20:00

In this episode, Joe Moore is joined by Kat Murti, Executive Director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), the largest youth-led network working to end the war on drugs. SSDP organizes at the campus, local, state, federal, and international levels, with more than 100 chapters across the U.S. and sister organizations worldwide. Kat shares he…

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James Kimmel, Jr., "The Science of Revenge: Understanding the World's Deadliest Addiction—and How to Overcome It" (Random House, 2025) 52:29

1M ago52:29

52:29

There is a hidden addiction plaguing humanity right now: revenge. Researchers have identified retaliation in response to real and imagined grievances as the root cause of most forms of human aggression and violence. From vicious tweets to road rage, murder-suicide, and armed insurrection, perpetrators almost always see themselves as victims seeking…

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Frances Egan, "Deflating Mental Representation" (MIT Press, 2025) 1:02:21

1M ago1:02:21

1:02:21

The human mind has the curious, even mysterious, ability to generate thoughts about things with which we are not in causal contact, such as when we think about yesterday’s tennis final, or Aristotle, or unicorns. Naturalizing mental content has usually meant explaining how this is possible in terms that eliminate the mystery while retaining commitm…

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Judith Grisel, "Never Enough: The Neuroscience and Experience of Addiction" (Doubleday, 2019) 1:00:13

2M ago1:00:13

1:00:13

Not a lot of authors go from spending their early twenties homeless and addicted to cocaine to becoming one of the world’s leading researchers on the neuroscience of addiction. But Dr. Judith Grisel, in her new book Never Enough: The Neuroscience and Experience of Addiction (Doubleday, 2019), uses her personal story to illuminate the ways in which …

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When Meditation Causes Harm, with Willoughby Britton & Jared Lindahl 1:11:54

2M ago1:11:54

1:11:54

Today I sit down with Willoughby Britton and Jared Lindahl, the interdisciplinary team from Brown University that is responsible for the “Varieties of Contemplative Experience” study on the challenges and adverse effects of meditation. We talk about the design, findings, and outcomes of the study, and how it opened up a new field of interdisciplina…

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Daniel José Gaztambide, "Decolonizing Psychoanalytic Technique: Putting Freud on Fanon's Couch" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024) 1:00:42

2M ago1:00:42

1:00:42

Both new and seasoned psychotherapists wrestle with the relationship between psychological distress and inequality across race, class, gender, and sexuality. How does one address this organically in psychotherapy? What role does it play in therapeutic action? Who brings it up, the therapist or the patient? Daniel José Gaztambide addresses these que…

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PT 619 - Sphinx Gate with Mareesa Stertz and Tania Abdul 1:08:30

1M ago1:08:30

1:08:30

In this episode, Joe Moore is joined by Mareesa Stertz and Tania Abdul, the visionaries behind Sphinx Gate, one of Burning Man 2025’s most ambitious and mythic art installations. Inspired by The NeverEnding Story, Sphinx Gate features two towering 34-foot sphinxes and a fully immersive, transformative art experience designed to help participants ga…

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PT 618 - Chad Charles - Integrating 5-MeO-DMT: Therapy, Harm Reduction, and Best Practices 1:13:50

1M ago1:13:50

1:13:50

In this episode of Psychedelics Today, Joe Moore sits down with Chad Charles — educator, mentor, and practitioner specializing in 5-MeO-DMT therapy. Chad shares his decade-long journey working with 5-MeO-DMT, emphasizing the importance of: Practitioner training and mentorship Personalized, therapeutic alliances The nuanced understanding of dissocia…

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Foluke Taylor, "Unruly Therapeutic: Black Feminist Writings and Practices in Living Room" (Norton, 2023) 1:04:33

2M ago1:04:33

1:04:33

In 1977, The Combahee River Collective, a group of Black American feminists issued a statement communicating the harrowing following: “The psychological toll of being a Black woman…can never be underestimated. There is a low value placed on Black women’s psyches in this society, which is both racist and sexist. We are dispossessed psychologically a…

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PT 617 - Alan Davis - Psychedelic Research and Patient Safety at Ohio State & Exploring Ibogaine's Potential 1:15:17

2M ago1:15:17

1:15:17

In this episode of Psychedelics Today, Joe Moore sits down with Alan Davis, Associate Professor at Ohio State University, to explore the evolving landscape of Ibogaine research and its therapeutic potential. Alan offers a deep dive into the Iboga Patient Survey, a groundbreaking initiative collecting real-world data on the safety and efficacy of Ib…

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The Tug of War: Why Racial Progress Often Meets Resistance and Backlash 31:52

2M ago31:52

31:52

Dr. Karyne Messina and Dr. Felicia Powell-Williams, the host and co-host of “Psychoanalytic Perspectives of Racism in America” sponsored by The American Psychoanalytic Association explored how employing mechanisms of defense perpetuates racial injustice’s movement forward and the resistance it faces as a tug of war, i.e., progress followed by backl…