Circumscription - Episodes Tagged with “Politics”

Episode 6: City of God

Michael Sargent — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 05:00:00 -0400

Samuel Perry is the Sam K. Viersen Presidential Professor of Sociology at the University of Oklahoma. He has authored or co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed academic journal articles, and has authored or co-authored five books, including Taking America Back for God, as well as The Flag and the Cross. He’s also written for such journalistic outlets as The Dallas Morning News, Time Magazine, and The Washington Post. In this episode, we discuss Christian nationalism in the U.S.

OTHER LINKS
--"The Christian nationalism we need" (Keynote address at the 2024 National Conservatism Conference, by Sen. Josh Hawley)
--"What is Christian nationalism, exactly?" (essay at the New York Times, by David French)
--"White or woke Christian nationalists? How race moderates the link between Christian nationalism and progressive identities," by Samuel Perry, Allyson Shortle, Eric McDaniel, and Joshua Grubbs
--Profile for Amanda Tyler at the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (BJC)
--"The Democrat who calls Trump a child of God" (article at The Economist about James Talarico)
--"Why are some Evangelicals drawn to--and stickying by--Trump? This pastor weighs in" (NPR interview of Pastro Chad Harvey, by Scott Detrow)

MUSIC CREDITS (all songs from Free Music Archive, and each song carries the "cc by" license)
--"The Trail," by Unheard Music Concepts
--"Post Drone," by Uuriter
--"Anti-Chill," by Jangwa
--"Cello," by Ketsa
--"Caress me to sleep," by rui
Special Guest: Samuel Perry.

Episode 5: Drawn Out

Michael Sargent — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 05:00:00 -0400

David Gans is Director of the Human Rights, Civil Rights & Citizenship Program at the Constitutional Accountability Center. In this episode, we discussed voting rights and redistricting, with an emphasis on the Louisiana v. Callais case that is set to be reargued before the Supreme Court on October 15, 2025.

OTHER LINKS
--Merrill v. Milligan (later retitled Allen v. Milligan) oral argument
--Allen v. Milligan opinion
--Wikipedia on the Voting Rights Act of 1965
--"Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act: Vote dilution and vote deprivation," SCOTUSblog
--"Court asks for new briefs in Louisiana redistricting case", by Amy Howe at SCOTUSblog
--"How the Supreme Court made racial gerrymandering easier in Alexander v. South Carolina NAACP," League of Women Voters Blog
--"Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson emerges as a leading dissenter in an era of Trump," by John Fritze, at CNN

MUSIC CREDITS (all songs from Free Music Archive, and each song carries the "cc by" license)
--"The Trail," by Unheard Music Concepts
--"Breath," by Kirk Osamayo
--"Anti-Chill," by Jangwa
--"Post Drone," by Uuriter
--"Cello," by Ketsa
--"Caress me to sleep," by rui Special Guest: David Gans.

Episode 4: Here Be Dragons

Michael Sargent — Tue, 19 Aug 2025 05:00:00 -0400

Kimberly Rios is Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She studies intergroup threat and also psychological issues at the intersection of religion and STEM. In this episode, we discuss the psychology of intergroup threat, applications to a salient contemporary case, and also issues involving religion and STEM.

OTHER LINKS
--Informational video on EPIC City
--WFAA story on EPIC City
--Drinking Liberally, Wikipedia page
--"Fairness is Overrated," by Jonathan V. Last, at The Bulwark
--"The World's Muslims: Religion, Politics, and Society," by the Pew Research Center

MUSIC CREDITS (all songs from Free Music Archive, and each song carries the "cc by" license)
--"The Trail," by Unheard Music Concepts
--"Breath," by Kirk Osamayo
--"Funky End," by Pawel Feszczuk
--"Post Drone," by Uuriter
--"Caress me to sleep," by rui Special Guest: Kimberly Rios.

Episode 1: God, Grace, and Grudges

Michael Sargent — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 05:00:00 -0400

Mikey Pasek is a social psychologist, and is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois Chicago. He leads the Belief, Identity, and Group Relations Lab at UIC. We discussed a range of topics, including religion, big and moralizing gods, Christian nationalism, race, and how to alter anti-democratic attitudes.

OTHER LINKS
--White House Executive Order: Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias
--Beyond Conflict
--Interfaith Philadelphia
--God Is Not Great, by Christopher Hitchens
--Big Gods: How Religion Transformed Cooperation and Conflict, by Ara Norenzayan
--Southern Poverty Law Center Page on The Westboro Baptist Church
--"Black Liberation Theology, in its Founder's Word" (Interview on NPR's Fresh Air)
--"Religious ‘Nones’ in America: Who They Are and What They Believe" (Pew Research Center)
--Martin Luther King Jr. and the American Revolution

MUSIC CREDITS (all songs from Free Music Archive, and each song carries the "cc by" license)
--"The Trail," by Unheard Music Concepts
--"Funky End," by Pawel Feszczuk
--"Caress me to sleep," by rui
--"Monsters of the past," by Pawel Feszczuk
--"Precisamos de um plano," by rui
--"Light Lab," by Rest You Sleeping Giant Special Guest: Michael Pasek.