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New Books in Secularism

New Books Network
Secularism
Religion
Hindu Nationalism
Religious Belief
Group Identity
Factual Belief
The Enlightenment
Democracy
Imaginative Play
Modernity
Cognitive Science
Islam
Global South
Wu-Wei
Lala Lajpat Rai
Disenchantment
Philosophy Of Mind
Feminism
Caste
Uniform Civil Code

This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: ⁠newbooksnetwork.com⁠ Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to ... more

PublishesMonthlyEpisodes170Founded9 years ago
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Religion & Spirituality

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Latest Episodes

Does God exist? This straightforward question has spawned endless debate, ranging from apologists’ supposed proofs of God’s existence to New Atheist manifestos declaring belief in God a harmful delusion. In Disbelief: The Origins of Atheism in a Reli... more

A fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at non-religious funerals in contemporary London, An Honest Death: Life's End and Humanist Funerals (Princeton UP, 2026) is an intimate and moving ethnographic account of funerals for people who don’t believe in ... more

Today I'm speaking with Steven K. Green, Fred H. Paulus Professor of Law and Affiliated Professor of History and Religious Studies at Willamette University. We are discussing his book, American Infidelity: The Gilded Age Battle Over Freethought, Free... more

In 1656, a young Amsterdam merchant was excommunicated by his

Portuguese-Jewish community in the harshest terms it had ever used. Baruch Spinoza was accused of unspecified “horrifying heresies,” but the precise reasons for his expulsion remain a mys... more

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Recent Guests

Will Gervais
Reader in Psychology, Centre for Culture and Evolution, Brunel University London
Brunel University London
Episode: Will Gervais, "Disbelief: The Origins of Atheism in a Religious Species" (Prometheus Books, 2024)
Matthew Engelke
Anthropologist; Professor and Chair, Department of Religion, Columbia University
Columbia University
Episode: An Honest Death: Life's End and Humanist Funerals with Matthew Engelke
Steven K. Green
Fred H. Paulus, Professor of Law, and Affiliated Professor of History and Religious Studies at Willamette University
Willamette University
Episode: Steven K. Green, "American Infidelity: The Gilded Age Battle Over Freethought, Free Love, and Feminism" (Oxford UP, 2026)
Stephen Nadler
Vil as Research Professor and the William H. Hay II Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison; author of works on Spinoza
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Episode: Steven Nadler, "Spinoza, Atheist" (Princeton UP, 2026)
Drew Dalton
Professor of English at Indiana University; author of The Matter of Evil
Indiana University
Episode: Drew M. Dalton, "The Matter of Evil: From Speculative Realism to Ethical Pessimism" (Northwestern UP, 2024)
Elliot B. Hanowski
Author of Towards a Godless Dominion, Unbelief in Interwar Canada
University of Manitoba
Episode: Elliot B. Hanowski, "Towards a Godless Dominion: Unbelief in Interwar Canada" (McGill-Queen’s UP, 2023)
Zalman Newfield
Associate professor of sociology and Jewish studies at Hunter College
Hunter College
Episode: Zalman Newfield, "Brooklyn Odyssey: My Journey Out of Hasidism" (Temple UP, 2026)
Todd Weir
Editor of The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religion and Heritage in Contemporary Europe
Bloomsbury
Episode: Todd H. Weir and Lieke Wijnia, eds., "The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religion and Heritage in Contemporary Europe" (Bloomsbury, 2025)
Lieke Wijnia
Editor of The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religion and Heritage in Contemporary Europe
Bloomsbury
Episode: Todd H. Weir and Lieke Wijnia, eds., "The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religion and Heritage in Contemporary Europe" (Bloomsbury, 2025)

Hosts

Carrie Lynn Evans
Host with focus on secularism and religion in culture, connected to the network.
Caleb Zakarin
Host concerned with scholarly interviews and contemporary religion and secularism.

Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars from 7 ratings
  • Terrific

    Great interview with Bart Campolo. I’m a Christian myself and I really enjoyed it. Getting right at a major issue facing moderns: we are in an increasingly pluralistic setting, religion is not going away, so how are we going to all get on and be civil and maintain a high level of respect for one another? While I myself think Christianity has a terrific resource for doing just that (our founder went to his death praying for his enemies), we’ve nevertheless often failed to make use of it. Bart’s p... more

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    rbush108
    United States6 years ago

Listeners Say

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Listeners praise the rigorous scholarly approach and the way complex ideas are made accessible.
Fans appreciate the breadth of topics within secularism and religion, with strong consensus on quality of questions and depth.
Many comments highlight thoughtful guests who bring deep subject-matter expertise.

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Talking Points

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Steven K. Green, "American Infidelity: The Gilded Age Battle Over Freethought, Free Love, and Feminism" (Oxford UP, 2026)
Q: How did the separation of church and state debates shape the era and later constitutional interpretation?
Green describes a evolving discourse from a formally disestablished founding to an ongoing cultural influence of Protestantism, with later debates about originalism and public meaning shaping current constitutional interpretation and tensions around Christian nationalism.
Steven K. Green, "American Infidelity: The Gilded Age Battle Over Freethought, Free Love, and Feminism" (Oxford UP, 2026)
Q: What does the Free Love movement reveal about gender and legal reform in the era?
The discussion shows that free love tied into broader women's rights aims, such as divorce reform and property rights, while conservatives weaponized free love to fear social upheaval; Stanton and Woodhull illustrate internal tensions within the movement between pragmatism and radical change.
Todd H. Weir and Lieke Wijnia, eds., "The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religion and Heritage in Contemporary Europe" (Bloomsbury, 2025)
Q: What are some tensions between inclusivity and representation in heritage projects discussed in the volume?
Examples like The House of One show that inclusivity is normative and political; while a project may include several communities, it may still exclude others, raising questions about representation and funding influence.
Todd H. Weir and Lieke Wijnia, eds., "The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religion and Heritage in Contemporary Europe" (Bloomsbury, 2025)
Q: How did the handbook originate and what is its intended practical use for teaching and policy?
It grew out of the Groningen conference and was crafted as short, teaching-oriented chapters that can be used in university classrooms and in collaborative settings between academia and heritage practitioners.
Zalman Newfield, "Brooklyn Odyssey: My Journey Out of Hasidism" (Temple UP, 2026)
Q: Could you talk a little about the experience of learning to read and write English and how you navigated these changes within a Hasidic framework?
I was initially unable to read English and struggled with the alphabet, but through secret practice with an uncle and beginner books, I gradually taught myself using controlled, step-by-step materials, eventually moving on to secular literature that broadened my worldview.

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Frequently Asked Questions About New Books in Secularism

What is New Books in Secularism about and what kind of topics does it cover?

A scholarly interview series exploring religion, secularism, atheism, and their historical and philosophical contexts. Episodes feature academics and authors discussing topics like the origins of atheism, secular rituals, freethought, Spinoza, and the politics of religion across different eras and regions. Noteworthy are interviews that blend rigorous theory with accessible storytelling, guest biographies that span philosophy, anthropology, law, and history, and a consistent emphasis on how secular perspectives shape modern societies. The show often highlights how ideas about religion, skepticism, and secularism evolve through social, cultural, and political lenses, making it a strong fit for listeners who want nuanced scholarly conversatio... more

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New Books in Secularism launched 9 years ago and published 170 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on New Books in Secularism?

Recent guests on New Books in Secularism include:

1. Will Gervais
2. Matthew Engelke
3. Steven K. Green
4. Stephen Nadler
5. Drew Dalton
6. Elliot B. Hanowski
7. Zalman Newfield
8. Todd Weir

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