episodes
Season 6
We’re psyched to be starting our first season on the Sustain stream of the Amplify Podcast Network! Also, can you believe this lil pod is in its SIXTH season?!? (Neither can we.) This season, we’re revisiting some of our greatest hits and a few episodes we think deserve another listen. In 2024, we’ll be releasing a whole new series of SO GLAD YOU ASKED episodes. Plus we’re planning a few silly-smart minisodes and a live episode at Miami University of Ohio. Stay tuned, nerds!!
(E601) In Which We Are BACK
6 September 2023
Back back back back back again, nerds! And giving you a quick rundown on what you can expect in this, the SIXTH season of the pod.
(E602) FLASHBACK: Intersectionality
20 September 2023
In which we revisit one of our favorite episodes tackling a crucial concept — the overlapping experiences of oppression and privilege that make up our systems and ourselves.
(E603) FLASHBACK: Religious Nationalism
4 October 2023
In which we wish this topic would stop being so dingdang pertinent.
(E604) FLASHBACK: Early Christianity Is Actually Kind of Interesting
18 October 2023
In which Megan’s script got us (mostly Ilyse) into a whole mess of bother, and which we still said what we said: imperialism is baked into Christianity’s earliest sacred texts.
(E605) FLASHBACK: Night at the Museum
1 November 2023
In which Dr. Andrew Aghapour helps us learn about how religion is on display in museums.
(E606) FLASHBACK: You Still Don’t Know about Islam,
Part 2
15 November 2023
In which we revisit this insightful and poignant conversation with the brilliant and much-missed Dr. Debra Majeed.
(E607) MINISODE: Winter Break Book Club
29 November 2023
In which we are reading a fun book over winter break. Join us, won’t you?
(E608) VERY SPECIAL EPISODE: Jane Steele
17 January 2024
Do you like cozy misandrist murder mysteries, British imperial history, and surprise Sikhi? Us too! Let’s talk about Jane Steele.
(E609) SO GLAD YOU ASKED: Religion & Adoption
31 January 2024
We’re SO GLAD YOU ASKED us how religion shapes our practices and our cultural understandings of adoption. Brace yourself for a lot of Paddington Bear jokes.
(E610) SO GLAD YOU ASKED: Secularism is Religious?!?!
14 February 2024
We’re SO GLAD YOU ASKED us wtf is up with secularism and why it’s a lot more complicated—and a lot more Christian—than just an absence of religion.
(E611) SO GLAD YOU ASKED: Queering Religion
28 February 2024
We’re SO GLAD YOU ASKED us whether being queer means leaving religion (and whether being religious means you can’t be queer). Spoilers: we can do both!!
(E612) SO GLAD YOU ASKED: Inked Religion
13 March 2024
We’re SO GLAD YOU ASKED us what the heck religion has to do with tattoos!
(E613) SO GLAD YOU ASKED: Death & Dying
27 March 2024
We’re SO GLAD YOU ASKED us about the ways religion helps us make sense (or not) of the end of our bodies.
(E614) SO GLAD YOU ASKED: What We’re Watching Now
10 April 2024
In which we watch a movie and yell about religion. So, you know, just another Saturday night.
(E615) In Which We Are Cool for the Summer
24 April 2024
In which we look back at what we learned and talk about what comes next. Have a great summer, nerds. Stay sweet — keep in touch!!
Season 5
We’ve got two series embedded in this year-long season. SO GLAD YOU ASKED is answering listener questions, briefly (allegedly) while INCORRECT is taking listeners to task for being so very misguided on several many issues.
(E501) What’s All This, Please?
31 August 2022
We’re back, dear nerds. New season, new funding, new formats. And we’ve got some explaining—and kicking off—to do.
(E502) INCORRECT: Reproductive Healthcare
14 September 2022
This is our first INCORRECT episode, where we kindly but firmly insist that religion does more and different work than you might think that it does. In this one, we challenge some basic assumptions about religion and reproductive justice.
(E503) SO GLAD YOU ASKED about Religion & Food
28 September 2022
This is the first SO GLAD YOU ASKED episode. We got a LOT of requests for this one! So today we can’t cite just one nerd, but we’re here to answer the question: “Religion and food: what’s THAT all about?”
(E504) INCORRECT: Drinking the Kool-Aid
12 October 2022
Nerds, nerd, nerds. This is a doozy of an episode, in which we (mostly Megan) tell us why saying “drinking the kool-aid” is so totally not a funny popculture joke about being brainwashed but is instead utterly about race, religion, gender, and anti-Blackness. Saying it after you know more? Deeply INCORRECT.
(E505) SO GLAD YOU ASKED about Monsters
26 October 2022
It’s spooky season, nerds, and we’re so glad you asked us about supposedly secular monsters, scary stories, ghouls and goblins. Shocking no one, we tell you that monsters are rarely just secular specters, and things that go bump in the night are often tied to religious imperialism.
(E506) INCORRECT: Jihad
9 November 2022
In which we (mostly Ilyse) yell about how it is possible lo these many years after 9/11/01 to still be so darn INCORRECT about jihad.
(E507) SO GLAD YOU ASKED about Religion & Disability
23 November 2022
Megan & Ilyse have talked about chronic illness and disability in passing and in the gone-but-always-in-our-hearts Primary Sources segment, and we’re here to answer a question about how disability works with religion (and how disability studies fits within religious studies).
(E508) INCORRECT: Star Wars, Fandoms, & Fanatics
7 December 2022
Is this an episode that will live in infamy? Perhaps, because in it Ilyse rails against the notion that fandoms can’t possibly be religious by talking Star Wars. May the force be with you, nerds, because the anger in this INCORRECT is so very real.
(E509) SO GLAD YOU ASKED why we do this
21 December 2022
We’re SO GLAD YOU ASKED us why we study religion, why we do this podcast, why we care so much, and why we have alienated a good deal of our family, friends, and pets because we just can’t stop won’t stop talking religion.
(E510) INCORRECT: Hijab
11 January 2023
In which we (mostly Ilyse) yell about how it is possible to be so very INCORRECT about women choosing to get dressed in the morning.
(E511) SO GLAD YOU ASKED if religion is dangerous
25 January 2023
So many nerds wanted to know if religion was inherently bad, or inherently good, or the cause of wars, or the cause of abuse, or the cause of violence, or the cure to violence, or the reason for any number of problems, atrocities, and hardships. We decided to blend those into one question-smoothie and talk about whether or not religion is dangerous.
(E512) INCORRECT: Sports
8 February 2023
Lots of people do not care about sports, including Megan. But Ilyse is here to tell Megan that not-caring about sports is INCORRECT, since sports gives us a window into thinking about religion.
(E513) SO GLAD YOU ASKED about What We’re Watching
22 February 2023
Nerds, you’ve asked what we are consuming and what we are teaching, and we’ve got answers.
(E514) INCORRECT: Yoga & Appropriation
8 March 2023
We’ve talked yoga before but since it keeps coming up—on the news, in our classrooms, with our friends—we’re talking about it again. Folks are still INCORRECT when we talk about yoga, when we talk about appropriation, and when we talk about how yoga is and is not appropriated.
(E515) SO GLAD YOU ASKED about the Easter Bunny
22 March 2023
Strictly speaking, none of you asked about the Easter Bunny. A lot of you did, however, ask how Pagan rituals got appropriated into Christian mainstream holidays and, in turn, became global secular phenomenon. We unpack all of that (and Ilyse loses her composure epically) in this very special episode.
(E516) INTERN TAKE OVER!
5 April 2023
This season, KI101 has had help from three—3!—incredible interns, Juliana Finch (sound design), Evie Wolfe (accessibility) and Rachel Zieff (social media). They’re on the mics this episode, talking public humanities, religion, and teamwork.
(E517) SO GLAD YOU ASKED if calendars are neutral
19 April 2023
More nerds than we can count asked why Ilyse is obsessed with calendars, so we distilled that into: are calendars neutral? They aren’t. End of episode?
(E518) What Was This, Then
3 May 2023
After another year-long season, we wrap it up, talk about what’s next, & offer some highlights and reflections. Probably swears, too.
Season 4
Giving you HISTORY OF THE WORLD (RELIGIONS), Part I!
It’s good to be the hosts.
(E401) World Religions, But Better
15 September 2021
We hate the “world religions” paradigm but we’re stuck with it. So this season, we’re bringing you this problematic approach to studying religion with a side of snark and the assistance of lots of smart folks who know more about these religions than we do
(E402) You Don’t Know African Diasporic Religions
29 September 2021
Well, you don’t. But luckily Drs. Fadeke Castor and Akissi Britton do, and they’re here to help us learn more.
(E403) What Are Indigenous Religions? Part 1
13 October 2021
Is Shinto an Indigenous religion? Spoilers: it’s complicated.
Dr. Jolyon Thomas breaks it down for us.
(E404) What Are Indigenous Religions? Part 2
27 October 2021
Learning more about Native religion(s) in what’s now the United States, with the assistance of Dr. Abel Gomez.
(E405) Sick of Not Knowing about Sikhi
10 November 2021
We are, too! But Dr. Simran Jeet Singh is going to share his wisdom with us.
(E406) What Is Hinduism? Part 1
24 November 2021
A lot, is what. So very much. Dr. Arun Brahmbhatt helps us on a quick tour through the history of Hinduism(s).
(E407) What Is Hinduism? Part 2
8 December 2021
How are contemporary Hindus making sense of their history?
Drs. Shreena Niketa Gandhi and Dheepa Sundaram walk us through the complicated and multiple ways lived Hinduism manifests.
(E408) What a Mess: Religion & Law
22 December 2021
Thinking about religion and law in the People’s Republic of China helps us see how the World Religion’s Paradigm shapes our world — even in an officially secular state.
(E409) You Still Don't Know about Islam, Part 1
2 February 2022
And honestly, there's so much to know! Luckily Drs. Hussein Rashid and Kristian Petersen are here to share their expertise with us.
(E410) You Still Don’t Know about Islam, Part 2
16 February 2022
This time we’re learning about the ways the World Religions Paradigm (boo hiss) perpetuates anti-Black racism and obscures Black Muslims — and hearing from Dr. Debra Majeed about African American Muslim women in polygynous marriages.
(E411) Christianity beyond whiteness
2 March 2022
There is so, so much more to Christianity beyond the white U.S. mainstream you can’t help but hear about — and Dr. Jorge J. Rodríguez is here to teach us about it.
(E412) Making Mel Brooks Proud: Judaism
16 March 2022
All IRMF has ever wanted was to live up to the example set by the inimitable Mr. Melvin James Kaminsky. Now’s her chance. Plus Dr. Shari Rabin shares her expertise on American Judaism and its complicated relationship with whiteness.
(E413) Buddha’s Delight, Part 1
30 March 2022
Let’s talk about the history and reach of one of the world’s largest religions (and why we think about it as a religion at all), featuring the expertise of Dr. Dixuan Yujing Chen.
(E414) Buddha’s Delight, Part 2
13 April 2022
We’re still working on letting go of desire — and we’ll never stop wanting to learn about Buddhism in Thailand with Dr. Tom Borchert.
(E415) Zoroastrianism > Freddie Mercury
27 April 2022
Freddie is our forever champions, but there’s so much more to know about the world’s oldest monotheism. Fulbright scholar and photographer Kainaz Amaria shares her experiences documenting the Parsi community of Mumbai.
(E416) Night at the Museum
11 May 2022
Field trip! Let’s see what the World Religions Paradigm looks like when we talk curating religion with Dr. Andrew Aghapour.
(E417) WRP in Review: RELIGIONS IN SPACE
25 May 2022
We’ve been around the world and boy are our arms tired. What did we learn this year, nerds?
Season 3
New semester = new format, y’all! We’re giving you intros to public scholarship, Islamic folklore, early Christian magic, and white evangelical racism in what’s now the US, paired with guest lecture chats with Profs. Simran Jeet Singh, Ali Olomi, Shaily Patel, and Anthea Butler.
(E301) Welcome Back, Nerds
13 January 2021
In which we preview this season’s new format and explain why we’re mixing it up this semester.
(E302) Public Scholarship & Representation
27 January 2021
In which we talk about public scholarship, why you might want to do it, and how representation of religion—maybe especially minoritized religions—in various publics matters.
(E303) Simran Jeet Singh Keeps Going
10 February 2021
Guest lecture chat with Prof. Simran Jeet Singh, author of oh so many things, but most recently Fauja Singh Keeps Going, which both NPR and the New York Public Library listed as a top 2020 title.
(E304) White American Evangelicalism + Racism = BFF
24 February 2021
In which we (mostly Megan) quickly survey the long and sordid history of white supremacy, American politics, and evangelicalism in what’s now the US.
(E305) White Evangelicalism Racism with Dr. Anthea Butler
10 March 2021
Guest lecture chat with Prof. Anthea Butler, possibly the public face of why you need to care about religion in the US? Most recently the author of White Evangelical Racism (UNC 2021).
(E306) Early Christianity Is Actually Kind of Interesting
24 March 2021
No, seriously, it is. We’ll prove it to you.
(E307) Was Jesus a Wizard? with Dr. Shaily Patel
7 April 2021
Neither of us are professionally or confessionally equipped to answer this question, so we’re bringing in Prof. Shaily Patel, Assistant Professor of Early Christianity at Virginia Tech and baller scholar of magic & religion.
(E308) Islam Is More than You Think It Is
21 April 2021
We (mostly Ilyse) show you why there’s way more to know about Islam and Muslims than the life of the Prophet or the latest travel ban.
(E309) Twitter, Jinn, and the Great Conjunction with Dr. Ali Olomi
5 May 2021
Guest lecture chat with Prof. Ali Olomi, reigning king of Wednesdays and the smart+fun twitter thread, and host of the Head On History Podcast.
(E310) Teamwork Makes the Dreamwork
19 May 2021
What have we learned this semester? Why did so many smart folks agree to talk to us about so many interesting topics? What happens next? You’ll have to tune in to find out, nerds!
Season 2
In which we explore the intersections of religion, race, gender, and sexuality. Includes Extra Credit interview with Prof. Judith Weisenfeld.
(E201) Race, Gender, and Sexuality:
What's Religion Got to Do with 'Em?
2 September 2020
In which we are BACK, our Chili Babies! And bringing you a whole new season looking at the intersection(s) of religion, race, gender, and sexuality.
(E202) Intersectionality
16 September 2020
In which we build upon the work of Prof. Kimberlé Crenshaw to think about how race-, gender-, and sexuality-based oppressions overlap and inform how our understandings of religion.
(E203) Race and Religion in What's Now the United States
30 September 2020
In which we shock and/or awe you with the ways Americans built race out of religion (also violence -- you know how we do).
(E204) Race and Religion in South Asia and, Well,
Not-the-US
14 October 2020
In which Ilyse helps us think about the racialization of Muslims and why racialization of religions in not-the-US is both similar to and different from the American kind.
(E205) Gender, Sexuality, and Religion in What's Now the U.S.
28 October 2020
In which we offer you a collage of historical examples about non-men doing religion and insist that all the people who do religion have gender.
(E206) Gender, Sexuality, and Religion in What's NOT the United States
11 November 2020
All aboard the Global Religion+Gender+Sexuality Are Complicated and Historically, Geographically, and Culturally Contingent Express! (We leaned hard into the train jokes for this episode.)
(E207) Extra Credit with Prof. Judith Weisenfeld
25 November 2020
In which Megan and Ilyse fangirl out at Prof. Weisenfeld, who generously shares her 101 on race, religion, and why historians ARE theorists (even when they think "theory" is some nonsense talk).
(E208) Review Session: What Did We Learn? Where Do We Go from Here?
9 December 2020
In which we review this season's big take-away lessons, reflect on what's working and how we can improve, and get our collective Grinch on.(E207) Extra Credit with Prof. Judith Weisenfeld(E208) Review Session: What Did We Learn? Where Do We Go from Here?
Smart Grrl Summer
Fun episodes about topics we think are important and interesting — like cults, religious nationalism, and religion in American popular culture. Includes Guest Lecture chat with Prof. Vicki Brennan.
(SGS1) Cults
10 June 2020
In which Megan yells about how the word "cult" gets used to discourage and police radical religious innovation while Ilyse tries to get a word in edgewise.
(SGS2) Religious Nationalism
24 June 2020
In which Ilyse yells about nationalism and religion and why religion and politics are never really separate, whilst Megan agrees emphatically and consumes a bubbly beverage.
(SGS3) Religion & Sound with Prof. Vicki Brennan
8 July 2020
In which Dr. Vicki Brennan blows our tiny little minds by teaching us what we miss when we don't listen hard to religion.
(SGS4) Religion & Pop Culture
22 July 2020
In which Megan yells about Not Without My Daughter and why we should care about how American pop culture shapes our understanding of religion, whilst Ilyse tries to keep her from citing All The Things.
Season 1
The original and gutter-punkiest season! In which we show you why you need to know about religion, even if religion isn’t important to you personally. Includes Extra Credit interview with Prof. Omid Safi.
(E101) What the Heck Is Religion, and What the Heck Is This Podcast?
15 January 2020
Our very first episode! In which we talk about what the heck religion is, why you should know more about it, and why it's probably more complicated than you think.
(E102) Who Gets Left Out of “Religion?”
29 January 2020
In this episode, we talked about the limits of religion—who gets left out, what counts, and what law has to do with it. Cases include Satanic Temple, Sikh traditions, and calendars.
(E103) Major Religions? Minor Religions? Must We?
12 February 2020
In which we discuss the imperialist history of "religion," and ask why it's so major that some religions get minoritized.
(E104) World Religions: Shall We Not
26 February 2020
In which we talk about WHY we're still talking about "major," "minor," or "world" religions -- because despite those models being racist and imperialist and white supremacist, "religion" can also help minoritized religion access rights and legal protections.
(E105) What Does It Mean to Be “Religious?”
11 March 2020
In which we think about how personal religious commitments and practices get mediated by the state, why and how millions of Muslims make pilgrimage to Mecca every year, why the Archdiocese of Philadelphia thinks Megan is still Catholic, and why tiny Ilyse tortured her siblings with rice during Pesach.
(E106) You Might Be Done with Religion, but Religion Is Not Done With You
25 March 2020
In which we discuss who gets to choose their religious belonging, why "spiritual but not religious" gives us the agita, and how—even if you're not religious—religion is lurking under your floorboards.
(E107) Extra Credit with Prof. Omid Safi
8 April 2020
In which we chat with our dear friend and scholar-goals icon Prof. Omid Safi, Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Duke University.
(E108) Extracurriculars: Ru-ligion Ru-vealed! the T on Religion & Drag Race
22 April 2020
In which we spill the T on "Drag Race," the prosperity gospel of RuPaul Andre Charles, and why queerness and religion aren't mutually exclusive.
Not a Race Chaser? Definitely check out the show notes for this episode - we have a bunch of images and videos to help you follow along. And after all, if you're not gagging over the lewks these queens are serving, you're only getting half the story, squirrelfriend.
DinoZaddy Jeff Goldblum brought Islamophobia to the runway lit’rally two days after we released this episode. Don’t worry: we read him to filth.
(E109) Review Session: What Have We Learned, and What Happens Next?
6 May 2020
In which we review what we've learned and what we hope you've learned, dear listeners, in this, our very first season/semester of Keeping It 101.(E105) What Does It Mean to Be “Religious?”
Minisodes &
Bonus Content
Real-time responses to current events, live tapings, & more.
Religion in the Time of ‘Rona
17 March 2020
In which we give you a quick (okay, it's not that quick) rundown on where we're at in this challenging time, what religious communities are doing to respond to the crisis, and how COVID-19 helps us think about our own religiosity.
PLUS very special guest host joins us in the studio to talk about how she's responding to the Coronavirus in her community.
This episode was featured on BBC Radio 4’s “Easter Celebration in Isolation,” with Amanda Litherland and Sophia Smith Galer!
#ScholarStrike
3 September 2020
In which we urge you to join us in using what we have to strike at racism: strike it down, strike at it, strike against it.
‘Rona Revisited
31 March 2021
A year+ into the COVID19 global pandemic, we give you another minisode talking about religion, ‘rona, innovation, how religion isn’t done with us (as evidenced by law!), and how we’re hanging in. We talk grief, coping, and trashy escapes.
Plus, we were joined again by a very special guest host!
LIVE: "Public Humanities, Public Jokes" with Dr. J. Barton Scott @ the University of Toronto
6 September 2021
On March 11, 2021, we “visited” the University of Toronto to be in conversation with Dr. J. Barton Scott, the Department for the Study of Religion, and the Religion in the Public Sphere program. It’s our first live taping! Get into it!
LIVE! "Keeping It 101: A Killjoy's Approach to Studying Religion" with Dr. Jenny Wiley Legath @ Princeton University
11 January 2022
On October 6, 2022, we “visited” Princeton University’s Center for Culture, Society, and Religion to be in conversation with Dr. Jenny Legath. It’s our second live taping! Get into it!
CROSSOVER EPISODE: "Feel Good Academia" with Jessica Albrecht and Leandro Wallace of EnGender Conversations! (6 July 2022)
In which we chat with the hosts of EnGender Conversations about podcasting, public scholarship, and why academic friendship is magic.
A Very Special Episode: "A Sentimental Education with Dr. Hannah McGregor
In which pod inspiration, icon, and aspirational bestie Dr. Hannah McGregor (that's Associate Professor Dr. Hannah McGregor to you, nerds) chats with us about her just published meditations on care, community, and learning: A Sentimental Education.