Best USCIRF Podcasts (2025)

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China’s Religious Freedom Violations on the Basis of Article 300 32:21

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12d ago32:21

32:21

China has perpetrated gross religious freedom violations against religious groups of recognized religions through its “sinicization of religion” policy. However, the government also persecutes many religious groups of unrecognized religions and spiritual movements, such as Falun Gong and Church of Almighty God, under the Article 300 of the Criminal…

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Religious Freedom in Sudan: Navigating Instability and Civil War 22:57

26d ago22:57

22:57

Religious freedom concerns are increasing in Sudan’s current brutal civil war. There are increasing reports of attacks on places of worship and other incidents that violate freedom of religion or belief. The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have entrenched Sudan in the war since April 2023. The subsequent four years of…

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Religion and Foreign Policy Webinar: Sustainable Development Goals and Faith-Based Leadership

30d ago

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Musimbi Kanyoro, chair of the United World Colleges international board, and Olivia Wilkinson, senior fellow with the Faith and Global Health Initiative of the Georgetown University Global Health Institute, discuss how religious communities and civil society advance the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Azza Karam, founding pres…

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Blasphemy and FoRB in Nigeria: A Conversation with Mubarak Bala 30:58

1M ago30:58

30:58

The Nigerian federal government enforces blasphemy laws that include a penalty of up to two years’ imprisonment for acts “persons consider as a public insult on their religion.” Twelve Nigerian state governments also enforce their own more stringent blasphemy laws to prosecute and imprison individuals perceived to have insulted religion, including …

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The Status and Significance of CPC, SWL, and EPC Designations: A Conversation with Former USCIRF Chair Stephen Schneck 28:33

2M ago28:33

28:33

One of the most important elements of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 is the requirement for the U.S. Secretary of State to designate the world’s worst violators of religious freedom as Countries of Particular Concern and to enact accountability measures as a result of those designations. Subsequent legislation created a Special Wat…

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Religion and Foreign Policy Webinar: Pope Leo XIV's First 100 Days

2M ago

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Thomas J. Reese, senior analyst for Religion News Service; Stephen Schneck, commissioner of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom; and George Weigel, senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, discuss Pope Leo XIV’s foreign policy priorities during his first 100 days and the Vatican’s evolving role in international diplo…

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The Extensive Reach of Chinese Transnational Repression 14:35

2M ago14:35

14:35

China has been described as the “most prolific,” “sophisticated, far-reaching, and comprehensive” perpetrator of transnational repression in the world. It has targeted many religious communities in diaspora, including Uyghur Muslims, Protestant Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners, and members of the Church of Almighty God. Speci…

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Religion and Foreign Policy Webinar: AI’s Religious and Policy Implications

4M ago

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Ilia Delio, founder of the Center for Christogenesis and a Franciscan sister of Washington, DC, and Noreen Herzfeld, the Nicholas and Bernice Reuter professor of science and religion at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, discuss how religious worldviews and spiritual traditions can inform global AI policy and explore the rol…

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The Abuse of Extremism Laws in Central Asia 30:38

4M ago30:38

30:38

The governments of Central Asia—that is Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan—influenced by decades of Soviet rule, maintain similar legislation to combat “extremism.” Each of these governments uses these laws beyond just addressing legitimate security threats to penalize individuals engaged in peaceful religious activiti…

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Religious Freedom as Syria Transitions After Assad 27:11

4M ago27:11

27:11

At the end of 2024, over thirteen years since the onset of Syria’s protracted civil war, the country’s political landscape dramatically shifted when a rebel coalition toppled the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Religious freedom conditions had suffered over the course of the civil war under a variety of state and nonstate actors. Now, in t…

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Reflections on USCIRF's 2025 Trip to Azerbaijan 37:35

4M ago37:35

37:35

The religious freedom situation in Azerbaijan remains highly restricted. The government subjects virtually all religious practices to intrusive state oversight. Shi'a Muslims who do not operate within the government's preferred boundaries have faced imprisonment on dubious charges. Armenian religious sites in Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding re…

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The State of Religious Freedom in India 21:05

5M ago21:05

21:05

In recent years, USCIRF has reported declining religious freedom conditions in India, as the government continues to enforce and strengthen legislation that disproportionately impacts religious minorities, including anti-conversion and cow slaughter laws. These laws often target Muslim and Christian communities. In its 2025 annual report, USCIRF re…

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Religion and Foreign Policy Webinar: Indigenous Faith and Climate Policy

5M ago

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Amelia Marchand, executive director of the L.I.G.H.T. Foundation, explores the intersection of Indigenous faith and climate action, discussing the role of faith-based Indigenous leaders in combating environmental challenges and advancing sustainable solutions for future generations.

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Religion and Foreign Policy Webinar: The Pope and International Relations

10M ago

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Peter Casarella, professor of theology at Duke Divinity School, and Cecilia González-Andrieu, professor of theological studies at Loyola Marymount University, discuss the geopolitical and cultural influence of the pope, the challenges and opportunities the Catholic Church faces in addressing international issues, and the global religious leadership…

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The US-UK Special Relationship: FoRB in Focus 22:40

10M ago22:40

22:40

On today’s episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast, USCIRF Chair Stephen Schneck joins Senior Strategic Advisor Elizabeth Cassidy to reflect on his trip to the United Kingdom. Marked by a special relationship, the United States, and the United Kingdom, aim to place a special focus on international religious freedom. Chair Schneck discusses USCIRF’s…

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Religion and Foreign Policy Webinar: Jewish-American Perspectives on U.S. Foreign Policy

11M ago

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Elliott Abrams, CFR senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies, and Elliot Cosgrove, rabbi of Park Avenue Synagogue, will discuss the evolving role of the Jewish diaspora in shaping U.S. policy towards the Middle East, the challenges of fostering unity within the Jewish community, and the broader implications for international relations. Asher Lopati…

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Religion and Foreign Policy Webinar: Religion in the 2024 U.S. Election

12M ago

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Adelle M. Banks, projects editor and national reporter for Religion News Service, and Adam Nicholas Phillips, chief strategy officer and chief of staff at Interfaith America, discuss the evolving role of religious constituencies in U.S. politics, as well as the intersection of religion with key political and social issues in the lead up to the 2024…

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Religion and Foreign Policy Webinar: Muslim-American Perspectives on U.S. Foreign Policy

1y ago

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Salam al-Marayati, president and cofounder of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, and Nazita Lajevardi, associate professor of political science at Michigan State University, discuss the domestic and international policies that affect and matter to American Muslim communities, as well as the diversity, trends, and priorities of the bloc.…

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Responses to Genocide: Two Former U.S. Officials Reflect on ISIS’s Genocide in Iraq and Syria 33:32

1y ago33:32

33:32

Ten years ago, the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) launched a campaign of mass atrocities to achieve the religious and ethnic cleansing of religious minority groups in Iraq and Syria. In 2016, the U.S. State Department determined ISIS’s atrocities against Yazidis, Christians, and Shi’a Muslims constituted crimes against human…

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10 Years On: Ongoing Threats to Religious Minority Survivors of ISIS’s Genocide 28:28

1y ago28:28

28:28

Ten years ago, the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) launched a campaign of mass atrocities to achieve the religious and ethnic cleansing of Yazidis, Assyrian-Chaldean-Syriac Christians, Shi’a and Sunni Muslim Turkmens, Shabaks, and other religious minorities in Iraq and Syria. In 2016, the U.S. State Department determined ISIS…

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The Religious Garb Ban that Undermines the Olympic Spirit 20:21

1y ago20:21

20:21

The French government has prohibited French athletes from wearing religious garb while competing at the Paris 2024 Olympics. As such, French athletes who wish to wear religious garb are forced to choose between adhering to their sincerely held religious beliefs and competing at the highest level of sport. This tight regulation of religious expressi…

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USCIRF's Spirit of Bipartisanship 17:37

1y ago17:37

17:37

In 1998, Republicans and Democrats came together to pass the International Religious Freedom Act, creating USCIRF as an independent government Commission led by a bipartisan group of nine Commissioners appointed by both political party leaders in Congress, and by the president. Twenty-five years later, USCIRF’s Commissioners continue to lead the no…

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Religion and Foreign Policy Webinar: USCIRF's 2024 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom

1+ y ago

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Stephen Schneck and Eric Ueland, commissioners of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), will join Elizabeth Cassidy, senior strategic advisor of USCIRF, to present the key policy recommendations of the USCIRF 2024 annual report and the foreign policy implications of international religious freedom today. USCIRF i…

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Religion and Foreign Policy Webinar: India's 2024 General Elections

1+ y ago

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Lisa Curtis, senior fellow and director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program at Center for a New American Security, and Milan Vaishnav, senior fellow and director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, discuss the geopolitical implications of India’s general elections and the influence of religion on politics i…

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Religion and Foreign Policy Webinar: Conflict Resolution in Armenia and Azerbaijan

1+ y ago

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By Council on Foreign Relations

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Shortcomings of the State Department’s CPC Designations 31:16

1+ y ago31:16

31:16

One of USCIRF’s key functions is to make recommendations to the State Department about which countries we think should be designated as Countries of Particular Concern or CPCs, based on our independent research and analysis. Every year we await the State Department’s announcement of its religious freedom designations to assess how they match up wit…

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Social Justice Webinar: Global LGBTQ+ Rights

2y ago

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By Council on Foreign Relations

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Social Justice Webinar: Religion and AI

2y ago

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By Council on Foreign Relations

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Religion and Foreign Policy Webinar: Reflecting on Turkey's Elections

2y ago

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By Council on Foreign Relations

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Violence Against Tribal Christians in Manipur, India 15:17

2+ y ago15:17

15:17

In May 2023, violent clashes between two communities erupted in India’s Manipur state, leaving entire villages burned and displacing tens of thousands. The ongoing conflict is between the state’s majority Hindu Meitei community and the Christian Kuki population and has seen the direct targeting of religious symbols and places of worship and refuge.…