*****In the conversation we cover sensitive topics such as child sexual abuse.**** Dr. Audrey Clare Farley rejoins the pod to discuss her new book Girls and Their Monsters: The Genain Quadruplets and the Making of Madness in America. In the early 20th Century a set of quadruplet girls became instant celebrities. Like many childhood stars the story becomes complex and dark under the surface. Audrey and I discuss the shadow sides of human nature as well as my own personal experience being a...

Stephen Kinzer returns to discuss the coverage and lack of debate on the war between Russia and Ukraine. Bringing his well-earned experience to bear Stephen calls attention to the realities of war and the need for a rational conversation about a peaceful end to the conflict. We also discuss the existential risk of nuclear war and the US's lack of moral standing to wage yet another proxy war. We also cover common objections (sometimes waged in good faith!) to supporting a cease fire in...

Writer and historian Aaron Leonard comes back on the show to talk about his latest book Whole World in Uproar - Music, Rebellion and Repression 1955-1972.  In the interview we talk about state repression of The Beatles, FBI files on Dylan's girlfriend and why Phil Ochs and Jefferson Airplane deserve attention as radical artists of the 60's.  Along the way we talk about various illegal and immoral wars (past and present), drugs (why they should all be legal), sex (ok not too much sex in this...

Dr. Miguel A. De La Torre, professor of Social Ethics and Latinx Studies at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado, joins the conversation to discuss his new book Resisting Apartheid America: Living the Badass Gospel. We get into what it means to push back against received narratives and roles for the sake of our neighbors as well as the differences (if there are any) between the two major parties in the US, particularly when it comes to upholding a white supremacist viewpoint.  As...

Dennis Baron joins the conversation to discuss his forthcoming book ""You can't always say what you want: The paradox of free speech" (Cambridge Univ Press, 2022)" and the state of free speech in today's America. We get into conversation about all things free speech from government interference with social media companies to the impact of a changing understanding of the second amendment and its impact on the ability of groups and individuals to make their voices heard without threat of...

The justification for war is as endless as the long and virtually unbroken record of war in the US. Is there another way to understand the destruction of Ukraine and the potentialities of direct US or NATO military engagement with Russia? Does it make sense to continue funding a war instead of forcing a peace deal? Is it too late to give peace a chance?  Casey reads his latest substack piece about the endless loop of war propaganda we find ourselves enmeshed in once again. It's not too late...

Are we in a new reformation? It sure seems that way. With everything on the table as far as faith, spirituality, along with political unrest and the increasing hollowing out of capitalism's promises, can psychedelics help birth what's next? Dave Barnhart, a pastor, author, teacher, church planter and mental health counselor joins to offer his experience and imagination to the conversation.  Along the way we talk about the virtues and vices of social media, the healing potential of...

After learning about the healing potential of oft-maligned substances, particularly in a therapeutic setting, today's guest found a gap in accessibility in Alabama and he did something about it. Kenton Bartlett is a Psychedelic Therapist here in Birmingham, AL. We got to talk about the movement to reintroduce life-changing medicines from Ketamine to Psylocibin (aka mushrooms), LSD, MDMA and more.  Support Dissident Orthodoxy on Patreon and be supporters like Brian, Chris and...

Nearly 600 days into coal miners here in Alabama taking a stand for their rights and the wellbeing of their families against the Warrior Met Coal company, the fight continues. Haeden Wright has stepped up as a leading voice within the Brookwood coal mining community. Haeden Wright is UMWA Auxiliary Locals #2368/#2245 President, Alabama SDEC HD 49 Representative, SDEC Executive Board CD #6. She is the wife of a striking miner and comes from a long line of Alabama union coal miners.  More...

Paul Bowers, a writer with a substack called Brutal South (that you should follow immediately). He joins to discuss his recent piece Debt holds the whole thing together. We discuss Biden's $10,000 student debt relief plan, the morality of debt and the collective imagination we might find if we embraced an ethic of Jubilee. Paul's recommended organizations: The Debt Collective  Housing Justice Network  Charleston People's Budget  Support Dissident Orthodoxy on Patreon and be supporters...

Dr. Lauren Turek joins to engage in dialogue and debate about our proxy war in Ukraine. We talk propaganda, the morality of sending tens of billions of dollars to a military w/a Nazi battalion and why its so hard to give peace a chance!

Woody Guthrie, Pete Seager and Sis Cunningham, among many others, were the targets of the House of Unamerican Activities Committee (HUAC) from just before WWII to just after. Aaron Leonard discusses this history and the redbaiting aftereffects still alive and well nearly a century later. Order Aaron Leonard's book: The Folk Singers and the Bureau: The Fbi, the Folk Artists and the Suppression of the Communist Party, Usa 1939-1956 Support Dissident Orthodoxy on Patreon Rate/Review Dissident...

Ok we've established that the CIA is and has always been an institution that has been up to no good. We've also discussed the fact that Wild Bill Donovan was more than ready from the beginning to use religion as a tool for spycraft both domestically and abroad. This week we complicate matters with the story of the missionary-turned-spies in Germany at the beginning of WWII with Dr. Matthew Avery Sutton discussing his book Double Crossed: The Missionaries Who Spied for the United States...

Is nothing sacred? When it comes to American exceptionalism, at least religious practice sure isn't.  As Dr. Michael Graziano discusses in this episode, right from the beginnings of the CIA, part of the strategy to advance American interests around the world was the co-opting of religion. The conversation touches on the overthrow of Mossadegh in Iran and the resulting Islamic Revolution of 1979, denigration of Buddhism leading into the Vietnam War and the religious backlash to 9/11.  Check...

Since at least the early Trump days a curious thing has happened among the liberal/left. Instead of reviling the FBI and viewing it as a tool to enforce Capitalism these same government spooks have become heroes. The bizarre trend goes on with the recent raid of Trump's files in Mar a Lago. Since when is the left supposed to be allied with the DOJ and FBI?  Dean Strang - the defense lawyer we all know from Netflix's 2015 Making a Murderer - joins to tell the wild story of how the Department...

Union organizing is in the news for the first time in many of our lifetimes. Christian Smalls and the Amazon Labor Union has inspired workers at Starbucks, Chipotle and brought into focus the traditional unions like the Warrior Met coal miners on strike in Brookwood, Alabama. But what if all of these workers got together - all of us - in the states and internationally - and stood up together against the 1%?  That was the Wobblies' idea at the beginning of the 20th Century.  Dr. Peter Cole...

Legendary journalist Stephen Kinzer discusses his 2019 book Poisoner in Chief: Stanley Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control. As it turns out, the CIA is not to be trusted and, yes, US intelligence has a long and unbroken history of torture. But, no, there's not really such a thing as mind control. A decade or so of MK Ultra proved as much. As Kinzer says, "the only one mind control worked on was Gottlieb himsef." Throughout the course of our conversation we also discover the reason...

Dr. Daniel Williams, Professor of History at the University of West Georgia and author of several books including Defenders of the Unborn: The Pro-Life Movement Before Roe v. Wade and the recently released The Politics of the Cross: A Christian Alternative to Partisanship joins Casey to discuss the recent Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) fallout from Dr. Russell Moore's leaked letter, charging leaders within the Convention of a litany of racial and sexist comments and actions. We hear from...

Dr. Brendan J. Payne joins to discuss his book Gin Jesus and Jim Crow: Prohibition and the Transformation of Racial and Religious Politics in the South from LSU Press. Brendan traces the prohibition debate through the lens of Baptist and Methodist traditions, in concert with the progressive voices of the day who successfully lobbied for the 18th Amendment. A familiar theme arose in his research. White religious folk and politicians were...wait for it...super racist and used Black voters as...

Dr. Kathryn Gin Lum discusses her forthcoming book from Harvard University Press Heathen - Religion and Race in American History. The conversation includes not only historical context of Christianity's heightened focus on dehumanizing outsiders with the "settling" of America but also contemporary examples of this phenomenon. As usual, we attempt to identify the primary beneficiaries of racism both then and now.     Mentioned in this...

Dr. Kathleen Wellman stops by to discuss her book Hijacking History: How the Christian Right Teaches History and Why It Matters. The subject matter, for Casey, is deeply personal, being taught in Christian schools with Abeka Book curricula from junior high school to graduation. History, in the world of right-wing Christian education is...shall we say...unique. Ever wondered how Moses, John Calvin and Thomas Aquinas led directly to the founding of America? Ever wondered why Capitalism is a...

Audrey Clare Farley joins the conversation to talk about Evangelicals and their longstanding connection to something called "positive eugenics" (looking at you Dr. Dobson). Dr. Farley wrote an article in Religion and Politics on just this topic. It's surprising, shocking, and, well, interesting, if we're being honest! We also talk about her recent book The Unfit  Heiress: The tragic life and scandalous sterilization of Ann Cooper Hewitt that puts it all in narrative form! Check out more...

Fran Quigley, the author of Religious Socialism: Faith in Action for a Better World (Orbis Books) joins the conversation to discuss the long history of socialism in religious communities. In this conversation we focus on the legacy of socialistic Christians (predating the term by 1700 years or so) going all the way back to the book of Acts and the early Church Fathers. We also got to talking about the greats, from Eugene Debs to Cornel West, Angela Cowser and Colleen Shaddox.  We also feature...

Holy shit.  Russia has invaded Ukraine. The borders of a sovereign nation (ahem. in Europe) have been compromised for the first time since WWII. Is Putin Hitler? Is Zelenskyy Superman? The narrative around Ukraine is so hysterical that even war criminal Condoleezza Rice - with a straight face - is denouncing preemptive war.  The US's role in this? Who knows. Just selling arms to a nation bordering Russia. Nothing to see here. NATO? Oh well, that's just too complicated to figure out,...