The Journal of Southern Religion Podcast

Episode 17: Interview with Joseph Williams

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0400

In this podcast, Art Remillard talks with Joseph Williams about his new book, Spirit Cure: A History of Pentecostal Healing. Williams is an assistant professor of religion at Rutgers University. In this discussion, he explains how the history of healing practices in pentecostalism is marked by a variety of pragmatic exchanges with everything from mainstream medicine to metaphysical religion. Williams concludes with a preview of his next book project, which looks at concepts of prophecy within pentecostalism.

Episode 16: Interview with Randall Stephens

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0400

In this podcast, Art Remillard talks with Randall Stephens, who was the keynote speaker for the sixth annual North American Undergraduate Conference in Religion and Philosophy, held at Saint Francis University. Stephens’s address was entitled, “Evangelical Anti-Intellectualism in Modern America,” which draws from his book, The Anointed: Evangelical Truth in a Secular Age, co-authored with Karl Giberson. Stephens is Reader in History and American Studies at Northumbria University in the UK, and he is a former editor of the Journal of Southern Religion. Stephens begins the conversation by explaining how his keynote will contribute to the conference’s theme, “The Future of Reason.” He also talks about the book’s research, which includes interviews with David Barton and leaders of Focus on the Family. The interview concludes with Stephens discussing his newest project, an examination of rock music and American Christianity.

Episode 15: Reviewing Charles Reagan Wilson's Flashes of a Southern Spirit

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Among the many highlights of this year’s southeastern regional meeting of the American Academy of Religion was a panel review of Charles Reagan Wilson’s Flashes of a Southern Spirit: Meanings of the Spirit in the U.S. South. In this podcast, Art Remillard talks with Professor Wilson as well as two of the panelists, Anne Blue Wills of Davidson College and Rodger Payne of UNC-Ashville. Wilson is Kelly Gene Cook Senior Chair of History and Professor of Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi. He is the author of Baptized in Blood: The Religion of the Lost Cause, 1865-1920 and co-editor of The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture. In this discussion, the panelists consider how Wilson’s focus on “the spirit” might be used in analyzing everything from southern stereotypes on reality television to the unique religious culture of Italian Catholics in the region. Wilson concludes the conversation, reflecting on what the reviewers taught him about “the spirit.”

Amanda Porterfield reviewed Flashes of a Southern Spirit in volume 13 of the JSR.

Episode 14: Southern Evangelicals and the Culture of the New South

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500

In Fall 2012, Perspectives in Religious Studies featured six articles that examined the complex ways that southern evangelicals engaged with the culture of the New South. In this podcast, Art Remillard speaks with the editor of this special issue, Joe Coker of Baylor University. Coker discusses how his book, Liquor in the Land of the Lost Cause served as backdrop for this issue. Remillard then interviews contributor John Hayes of Georgia Regents University about his article, “The Evangelical Ethos and the Spirit of Capitalism.” Hayes examines the role played by evangelicals in the emergence of a market revolution in the South. He also offers a brief glimpse into his forthcoming book on southern folk Christianity. The podcast concludes with Glenn Feldman of the University of Alabama at Birmingham explaining his article, “Making ‘The Southern Religion’: Economics, Theology, Martial Patriotism, and Social Indifference—(and the Big Bang Theory of Modern American Politics.” He emphasizes that the “distinct” brand of southern evangelicalism born in the New South still influences the region (and nation) today.

The remaining authors and articles in the issue are:

Paul Harvey, “‘The Right-Minded Members of that Race’: Southern Religious Progressives Confront Race, 1880-1930”
Fred Arthur Bailey, “Schooling the Negro to His Proper Subordination: White Protestants and Black Education in the New South”
Kelly J. Baker, “Evangelizing Klansmen, Nationalizing the South: Faith, Fraternity, and Lost Cause Religion in the 1920s Klan”
Art Remillard, “Between Faith and Fistic Battles: Moralists, Enthusiasts, and the Idea of Jack Johnson in the New South.”

Episode 13: Interview with Maura Jane Farrelly

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

In this podcast, Art Remillard speaks with Maura Jane Farrelly about her new book, Papist Patriots: The Making of an American Catholic Identity. Farrelly is Assistant Professor of American Studies at Brandeis University, where she also directs the Journalism Program. During this conversation, Farrelly discusses how Catholics in colonial Maryland came to accept what Jesuit theologian John Courtney Murray has called the “American consensus.” However, unlike Murray who stressed the role of natural law theology, Papist Patriots examines the unique and complicated experiences of Catholics in the colony. Farrelly concludes with a reflection on how her work—to include her JSR article, ”Catholics in the Early South”—might influence the broader telling of southern religious history.

Episode 12: Teaching the Color of Christ

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0500

In this podcast, Michael Pasquier speaks with Paul Harvey and Kelly Baker about using The Color of Christ in the classroom. Harvey, co-author of The Color of Christ, is Professor of History at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs and founder of the Religion in American History blog. Baker is Lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and author of Gospel According to the Klan. In this conversation, Harvey and Baker discuss ways to incorporate The Color of Christ into courses on religion in America. They also introduce listeners to the interactive website that accompanies the book. This is the third of three podcasts recorded at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion in Chicago.

Episode 11: Interview with Emily Clark

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0500

In this podcast, Art Remillard speaks with Emily Clark about her article in volume 14 of the Journal of Southern Religion. Clark is a doctoral candidate at Florida State University and managing editor of the JSR. In this conversation, she brings us back to 1973, when a group of professors in the Religion Department at FSU established the Center for the Study of Southern Religion and Culture. For the next eight years, the Center held lectures and symposia and published The Bulletin of the Center of the Study of Southern Religion and Culture. Clark explains how reading through this “time capsule of southern religion” helped her to better understand the historiography, while also offering context for her dissertation, “The Creole Color Line: Religion and Race in Nineteenth Century New Orleans.” This is the second of three podcasts recorded at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion in Chicago.

Episode 10: Interview with Mark Silk

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0500

In this podcast, Art Remillard speaks with Mark Silk about religion and the 2012 presidential election. Silk is Professor of Religion in Public life at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, and director of the Leonard E. Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life. Among his many publications, Silk co-edited an eight-volume series on religion and region, which culminated in his 2008 book, One Nation, Divisible, co-authored with Andrew Walsh. Silk also blogs at ”Spiritual Politics,” which is hosted by the Religion News Service. In this conversation, Silk begins by discussing his unique career path, from a doctorate in medieval history at Harvard, to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and then back to academia. He goes on to offer insight on the major themes of the presidential race, such as the gaining influence of the religiously unaffiliated (or ”nones”), Mitt Romney’s Mormonism, and the possible declining influence of the “evangelical vote.” This is the first of three podcasts recorded at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion in Chicago.

Episode 9: Interview with Edward Blum

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0500

In this podcast, Art Remillard speaks with Edward Blum about his new book, co-authored with Paul Harvey, The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America. Professor Blum an associate professor of history at San Diego State University, and author of Reforging the White Republic: Race, Religion, and American Nationalism, 1865–1898. To open the conversation, Blum explains his personal reasons for writing this book. Next, he discusses the complicated story of Jesus’s skin color, and the various ways that Americans of different races, religions, and backgrounds have imagined Christ. Blum concludes by reflecting on his experiences writing about this topic for popular media outlets, such as the New York Times, the Huffington Post, and CNN. Coming soon, JSR co-editor Mike Pasquier will interview Paul Harvey about the book’s website.

Episode 8: Interview with Joshua Rothman

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0500

In this podcast, Art Remillard speaks with Joshua Rothman about his new book Flush Times and Fever Dreams: A Story of Capitalism and Slavery in the Age of Jackson. Professor Rothman is an associate professor of history at the University of Alabama and the director of the Summersell Center for the Study of the South. During this conversation, Rothman recounts the fascinating story of Virgil Stewart and John Murrell, as well as the gruesome details of Mississippi’s notorious wave of violence in the summer of 1835. He also reflects on how his research might raise valuable questions for scholars of southern religion.

Episode 7: Interview with William Link

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 00:00:00 -0400

In this podcast, Art Remillard speaks with William A. Link about his new book, Links: My Family in American History. Professor Link is the Richard J. Milbauer Professor of History at the University of Florida and author of seven books, to include Righteous Warrior: Jesse Helms and the Rise of Modern Conservatism and The Paradox of Southern Progressivism. During this conversation, Link shares insights about his parents, the great American historian Arthur Link and his wife, Margaret, who was the “emotional core” of her family and a dedicated social activist.

Episode 6: Interview with Eric Bain-Selbo

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 00:00:00 -0400

In this podcast, Art Remillard speaks with Eric Bain-Selbo about his new book, Game Day and God: Football, Faith, and Politics in the American South. Bain-Selbo teaches at Western Kentucky University, where he is the Department Head of Philosophy and Religion. During this conversation, Bain-Selbo discusses the rise of college football in the South and how it developed a religious dimension. He also reflects on the game’s violence and recent scandals in the world of college athletics. This is the second JSR podcast recorded at the annual meeting of the Society for Values in Higher Education.

Episode 5: Interview with Kelly Baker

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 00:00:00 -0400

In this podcast, Art Remillard speaks with Kelly Baker about her new book, Gospel According to the Klan: The Ku Klux Klan’s Appeal to Protestant America, 1915–1930. Baker teaches religious studies and American studies at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. During this conversation, Baker discusses how she used ethnographic and historical methods to examine the print culture of this “unloved group.” She also talks about how and why the Klan translated its identity through a Protestant lens in their time, and where similar rhetorical constructions of nationalism, nativism, and intolerance appear today.
This podcast originates from the annual meeting of the Society for Values in Higher Education.

Episode 4: Interview with Michael Sean Winters

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0400

In this podcast, Art Remillard talks with Michael Sean Winters about his new book, God’s Right Hand: How Jerry Falwell Made God a Republican and Baptized the American Right. Winters writes for the National Catholic Reporter, where he also blogs at ”Distinctly Catholic.” During this conversation, Winters first explains what compelled him to write this biography. He then discusses Falwell’s early career, his rise to political prominence, his curious friendships with the likes of Larry Flynt, and his “mixed” legacy as it relates to American religious and political culture.

Episode 3: Interview with Jeff Wilson

Mon, 07 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

In this podcast, Michael Pasquier speaks with Jeff Wilson about his new book, Dixie Dharma: Inside a Buddhist Temple in the American South. Wilson is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and East Asian Studies at Renison University College, University of Waterloo, in Ontario, Canada. During this conversation, Wilson talks about his ethnographic and historical study of a Buddhist community in Richmond, Virginia. He provides unique insight into the pluralistic dimensions of religion in the contemporary South.

Episode 2: Interview with Patrick Mason

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400

In this podcast, Art Remillard talks with Patrick Mason about his new book, The Mormon Menace: Violence and Anti-Mormonism in the Postbellum South. Mason is the Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University. During this conversation, Mason explains what initially drew him to this unique project, which represents a significant contribution to both southern religious history and Mormon history. He offers insights into how he conceptualized violence to frame his narrative, and how anti-Mormonism differed from the prejudices faced by Jews and Catholics. Mason also looks ahead, discussing future projects and sharing his thoughts on what Mitt Romney’s candidacy might mean for Mormons in the South and nationally.

[Mason’s book was reviewed in volume 13 of the JSR.]

Episode 1: Interview with Paul Harvey

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500

In the JSR’s first podcast, Art Remillard interviews Paul Harvey about his new book, Moses, Jesus, and the Trickster in the Evangelical South. Professor Harvey discusses a range of topics, from his experiences at the Lamar Lectures in Southern History at Mercer University, to his unique collection of sources. (He recently uploaded some of the book’s folk art images to his website.) He also explains his decision to frame the book as a “throwback to an earlier kind of religious history that centered on Protestantism and marginalized other traditions.” Paul qualifies that it is a “throwback” only insofar as the book examines the evangelical majority. Otherwise, as he explains, this “center” is quite complex, particularly on matters of race.