Category: World Region


Dan Hungerman on Religious Charity and Crowding Out

Dan Hungerman talks about whether government spending on social welfare crowds out religious charity both at the organizational and individual level. Does an increase in government spending reduce religious charity and contributions? We also discuss whether secular competitors (e.g., shopping malls) reduce participation in religious institutions.

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Jay Hein on the Faith-Based & Community Initiative

Jay Hein of Baylor’s ISR and the Sagamore Institute talks about his tenure running the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in the Bush Administration. Our discussion focuses on the history and workings of the Faith-Based Initiative, and the proper relationship between government and religious organizations.

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Thomas Kidd on The Great Awakening

Prof. Thomas Kidd (Baylor University) discusses the causes and consequences of The Great Awakening in the middle part of the 18th century. Learn about the great preachers George Whitefield, James Davenport and Gilbert Tennent, and find out what impact this evangelical revival had on the abolitionist movement and the American Revolution. (To download, right click on the button to the right and choose “save target as….”)

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Eli Berman on Religious Terrorism

Eli Berman, professor of economics at UCSD, discusses the economics of religious terrorism, explaining why strict religious clubs have an advantage in securing collective action and why they can be so lethal.

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Marc von der Ruhr on Megachurch Recruitment and Retention

Economist Marc von der Ruhr (St. Norbert’s College) explains how megachurches attract and retain members, becoming one of the fastest growing segments of the American religious landscape. (To download, right click on the download button and select “save target as…”).

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Philip Jenkins on Global Christianity

Historian Philip Jenkins discusses the changing face of global Christianity. The conversation begins by looking at the global nature of Christianity throughout history and how it became conceived of as a European faith. Our attention then turns to how Christianity is expanding and changing in Africa, Asia and Latin America and what this means for religion in Europe and the United States.

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Timur Kuran on Islamic Law and Economic Development

In the 10th century, Europe and the Middle East had comparable levels of economic development. Over the next several centuries, however, Christian Europe raced ahead of Muslim societies, developing the institutions that led to the Industrial Revolution and modern capitalism. Timur Kuran (Duke University) explains the role that Islamic Law played in this “long divergence.” (To download, right click on the button at the right and choose “save target as…”)

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Gordon Melton on Mega-Trends in American Religion

J. Gordon Melton, director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion, discusses trends in American religion over the past two centuries with a focus on the future of denominationalism. Other topics discussed include the non-affiliated, new religious groups, and race in American religion. (To download, right click on the button to the right and choose “save target as….”)

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Brad R.E. Wright on Christian Stereotypes

Bradley R.E. Wright shares various empirical findings from his new book “Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites… and Other Lies You’ve Been Told.” Tony and Brad discuss a series of stereotypes that many people (including Christians) have about American Protestants revolving around the issues of divorce, charity, honesty, race, and the decline of American Christianity. (To download, right click the “download” button to the right and choose “save target as…”)

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Catherine Wanner on Religion in Russia

The history of religion in Russia and the Ukraine from the Bolshevik Revolution to present is the topic of discussion with Catherine Wanner, associate professor of history, anthropology and religious studies at the Pennsylvania State University. How did religious life under communism condition the religious landscape of these two countries today? (To download, right click on the button to the right and choose “save target as….”)

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