Explore every episode of the podcast Straight White American Jesus

Brad Onishi talks with three Texans about what happened in the state on Tuesday, when Democrats won the Senate seat, the governorship, down-ballot statewide races, and a majority on the State Board of Education. Robert Downen of Texas Monthly explains why the results are a generational setback for the national Christian nationalist movement, and why Texas has been its incubator for policy and legal strategy. Journalist Bekah Stolhandske McNeel looks at how progressive clergy and faith-forward candidates changed the conversation, and at what to watch as the religious right recasts itself as the aggrieved party. Mendi Tackett of See It, Name It, Fight It describes how first-time and young voters, worried about schools, cost of living, and ICE, flipped Tarrant County after years of Christian nationalist control of the county commissioners court. The panel also discusses why education is the most likely place for new leaders to begin, how overreaching legislation has fared in court, and why this blue wave is probationary. It ends with a case for connecting on shared values and for giving religious voters a different way to be faithful. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The midterms are over, and the results were bigger than almost anyone expected. Brad Onishi and Dan Miller go through the wins, the firsts, and what the results mean for the religious right and the Republican Party. In this episode: Why Texas flipping matters, symbolically and for the electoral map Georgia’s statewide results and what they say about decades of organizing in the face of voter suppression Why the margin was too big for the “rigged election” and fraud narratives to work How Trump has responded since Election Day The first trans and non-binary lawmakers elected in several states The Republicans leaving office, and the 2028 hopefuls distancing themselves from the Iran war Why Republicans are going after Pete Hegseth, and what his exit could mean for Doug Wilson’s influence Whether this is the peak of the Christian nationalist movement, or only a setback Why the work isn’t finished, including the anti-trans ballot measures that passed in some blue states Timestamps 00:00 Intro: the blue wave 02:09 Texas 10:18 Georgia and the Reconstruction comparison 22:27 Mississippi and Republicans in crisis 31:11 Trump after the election 33:06 New trans and non-binary lawmakers 37:01 Who’s leaving office 42:39 Generational turnover and the Supreme Court 44:22 What Democrats should do first 46:45 Hegseth, Wilson, and the religious right 58:52 Closing hopes and a note of caution If you enjoy our work, please subscribe. Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/e... 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/... Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com... 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does it mean to be a “Christian”? An overwhelmingly common answer for American Christians would be, “to accept Jesus as your personal lord and savior.” But what does that actually mean? Can they even tell you? How much more complicated is the idea than it first seems? And why does this matter? And what happens if you keep asking questions like this? Check out this week’s discussion with Dan to find out. If you enjoy our work, please subscribe.  Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief.  ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/axis-daily-brief/id1896931494⁠ 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: ⁠https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/⁠ 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: ⁠https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-Tyrants⁠ Full tour dates: ⁠https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour⁠ 🔗 ⁠axismundi.us⁠ ⁠www.quo.com/SWAJ⁠ -  Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months  ⁠www.groundnews.com/SWAJ⁠ 40% off the Vantage Subscription!   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Election Day, Brad Onishi and Matthew D. Taylor walk through what they’re watching on voting day and in the weeks after. The focus is religion, politics, and the echoes of January 6th, including how an electoral loss could be framed as illegitimate before results are even certified. What they cover: DOJ election monitors. The DOJ has reportedly sent about 1,000 monitors to counties with large Black and Democratic populations, including Shelby County (Memphis) and Prince William, Fairfax, and Charlottesville in Virginia. Taylor says the pro-democracy side has prepared with its own monitors and lawyers on call, and that the tactic is predictable. The bigger risk would be an attempt to seize ballots. Black turnout surge. They cite a Politico piece reporting that over a quarter of Black Southerners had voted six days before the election, a rate above the overall electorate. In 2022 Black turnout trailed by three points at the same stage, and in 2024 by six. They tie the surge to anger over redistricting efforts in Texas, Florida, and Tennessee. Taylor adds that Mike Madrid predicts four or five of Texas’s five redrawn districts could flip Democratic, and says he saw unusually heavy turnout at his own polling place. Delegitimization campaigns. Taylor describes a shift from ordinary attacks to claims that candidates are illegitimate or “not real Americans.” He points to Trump’s rhetoric about Abdul El-Sayed (Michigan), the attacks on Mary Peltola (Alaska) over the two-Dan-Sullivans ballot issue, and the “fake Christian” attacks on James Talarico. His worry is that propaganda built up over time creates pressure not to certify results or not to seat winning candidates. Predictions and warnings. Onishi predicts a media push between now and January 3 saying that Peltola, El-Sayed, and others can’t be seated. Onishi predicts a Democratic House majority in the 225 to 245 range and argues Republicans have written it off. He says the Senate is where the real stakes are: impeachment, Supreme Court vacancies, and confirmations. Taylor notes a pending effort, filed by Rep. Thomas Massie, to impeach Pete Hegseth, and that Trump couldn’t replace cabinet officials without Senate cooperation. Texas and Talarico. Both hosts argue a Talarico win would be a major symbolic blow to the religious right, because he speaks Christian language fluently and in a pluralistic way. They also cover why El-Sayed (potentially the first Muslim senator) and Adam Hamilton in Kansas matter. Taylor says they could provide a playbook for faith-forward Democrats. Tucker Carlson, Iran, and Chris Murphy. They discuss a Carlson post claiming Trump may be days from a nuclear strike on Iran’s “Pickax Mountain,” and Sen. Chris Murphy’s warnings about Iran escalation. The Intercessors for America report. Taylor explains IFA’s ties to the New Apostolic Reformation, including its live prayer call during the January 6th riot. . The hosts argue it seeds a narrative from the ground up, mirroring the top-down lies that preceded January 6th, and note the report’s own language about a “demonically inspired” coup. If you enjoy our work, please subscribe. Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/axis-daily-brief/id1896931494 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-Tyrants Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Palantir’s AI is helping decide who gets targeted in Gaza, and the same technology is already in use by US police and ICE. This week, Brad Onishi talks with Jacob Sprang, a humanitarian worker who spent about 18 months in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. He also worked in Sudan and Ukraine, and he sat on the executive committee of the INGO Forum and the Humanitarian Country Team. Chapters (approximate) 00:00 Intro: Palantir, Lavender, and the Israeli military 04:00 Spring’s background in humanitarian work 06:00 What AI targeting looks like on the ground 08:50 How a point-based system flags people 12:40 COGAT’s three categories of “Hamas” 15:20 Taking the human out of the decision 17:50 “AI slop” as human slop 19:50 Geo-fenced SMS warnings and Maven 24:40 Data as the price of aid 29:10 The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation 38:40 Planned communities and manufactured scarcity 43:20 Why Spring came home 50:00 Palantir, ICE, and surveillance in the US 56:50 NSPM-7, “domestic enemies,” and the shrinking protected class 1:00:00 Closing thoughts Guest Jacob Sprang is a humanitarian worker. He is writing about his experiences on Substack. https://substack.com/@jakesprang If you enjoy our work, please subscribe.  Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief.  ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/axis-daily-brief/id1896931494⁠ 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: ⁠https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/⁠ 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: ⁠https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-Tyrants⁠ Full tour dates: ⁠https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour⁠ 🔗 ⁠axismundi.us⁠ ⁠www.quo.com/SWAJ⁠ -  Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months  ⁠www.groundnews.com/SWAJ⁠ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The midterms are Tuesday. Brad Onishi and Dan Miller give their read on what could happen, then cover the plans being set up for the weeks after. In this episode: 1. The midterm outlook. Where Brad and Dan think things stand, why Trump’s switch to “tele-rallies” may signal worry inside the GOP, and why Brad says the only thing that matters now is getting people to vote. 2. The “non-citizens voted” campaign. Nearly 600 high-profile right-wing accounts, podcasts, and outlets have published more than 7,000 statements questioning the election’s integrity this year, with the focus now on non-citizen voting. Brad and Dan look at how big “alleged” numbers get headlines while the checked numbers, like a claim of about 190,000 in California that shrank to about 28, rarely get repeated. They also discuss why courts may respond faster this time. 3. The plan not to seat Democrats on January 3. Trump, Sen. Bernie Moreno, and Rep. Keith Self have each argued that certain Democrats, including Muslim and DSA-aligned candidates, shouldn’t be sworn in. Brad ties this to the Center for Renewing America and Russ Vought. Dan explains why a religious test for office conflicts with the Constitution. They also play Sen. Chris Murphy’s answer on CNN and discuss whether centrist Democrats could be pulled into the argument. 4. Hegseth’s spiritual advisor. A CNN report on Ryan Higgins, a senior spiritual advisor to Pete Hegseth, who called LGBTQ people a “satanic cult,” said there is no separation of church and state, and called abortion “demonic human sacrifice.” Dan and Brad connect it to Doug Wilson and to how Hegseth has brought religion into the Pentagon. 5. Netanyahu’s claims of election fraud. After a deadlocked election, Likud shared claims of fraud at Arab polling stations with no evidence offered, which Dan describes as exporting Trump’s election-denial playbook. 6. Trump’s fixation on men’s bodies. Dan goes through Trump’s recent comments on Husted, Rick Jackson, and argues that the underlying idea is that for MAGA traditional masculinity qualifies someone for office. 7. Reasons for hope. A Fox News interview clip, and Dan’s read on why the Trump campaign may be running out of energy. If you enjoy our work, please subscribe.  Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief.  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/axis-daily-brief/id1896931494 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-Tyrants Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ -  Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months  www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The affirmation that God is eternal, that God exists outside of time and is unaffected by it, has been central to orthodox Christian teaching for centuries. But it brings other questions with it. How can God act in the world, as Christians also teach? How can we possibly avoid the logic of determinism that follows from the claim that God knows all future events, decisions, and actions? What answers have Christians offered in response to these questions? Are they convincing? What if they are not? Join Dan for this week’s episode to find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

MAGA influencers are calling for a coup in Brazil after Lula's win. Brad Onishi and Matthew D. Taylor explain why that matters for the U.S. midterms, and for the weeks between Nov. 3 and Jan. 3. With the midterms days away, we connect Brazil's election to the rhetoric about "illegitimate" Americans, and to what a contested result could look like here. ⏱ CHAPTERS 0:00 Midterms, Brazil, and why they're connected 1:35 Brazil's runoff and the MAGA meltdown 6:23 Why Brazil and U.S. politics are intertwined 9:53 Bolsonaro in prison and the rule of law 12:01 From "rigged" to "Maduro treatment": the escalation ladder 16:28 What Brazil's accountability shows, and what it doesn't 24:35 Hungary, Serbia, Israel: are far-right wins slipping? 31:28 Trump on a "rigged" Brazil, and Minnesota 35:56 Vance, El-Sayed, and "remigration" rhetoric 43:16 Greg Abbott and the "Sharia law" attack 47:18 Three ways to delegitimize election winners: communist, false religion, foreign 51:41 Clip of the week: Trump, Christianity, and "saving God" 58:35 Matt's book tour and upcoming events If you enjoy our work, please subscribe. Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief. 🔔 Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-Tyrants 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! #MAGA #Midterms2026 #Brazil Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of the Straight White American Jesus Sunday Interview, host Leah Payne speaks with political scientist Melissa Deckman about 2026 PRRI’s American Values Survey and what it reveals about religion, political power, and American identity. With Americans increasingly pessimistic about the economy and concerned about threats to democracy, Deckman examines whether dissatisfaction is fracturing Trump’s coalition—and whether it will translate into changes at the ballot box. Melissa Deckman is CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and a political scientist who studies how gender, religion, and age shape American public opinion and political behavior. She is the author of The Politics of Gen Z and Tea Party Women. For Subscribers Payne asks Deckman what religious stories she would advise each party to tell. They discuss the appeal of biblical language rooted in compassion, the rise of pastor-candidates, and the opportunities and constraints facing religious messaging across the political spectrum. Find Dr. Melissa Deckman at Melissa Deckman.com, or on Bluesky and find Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) at PRRI.org Find Dr. Leah Payne at drleahpayne.com, subscribe on Substack, follow her on most social media platforms at @drleahpayne, listen along at Spirit & Power: Charismatics & Politics in American Life and Rock that Doesn’t Roll: The Story of Christian Rock, and read along: God Gave Rock and Roll to You: A History of Contemporary Christian Music. If you enjoy our work, please subscribe.  Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief.  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/axis-daily-brief/id1896931494 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-Tyrants Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ -  Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months  www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two weeks before the midterms, Brad Onishi and Dan Miller break down the GOP's growing desperation as Cook Political shifts 19 House races toward Democrats and James Talarico polls ahead of Ken Paxton in Texas. They cover the DOJ's push to block certification in Alaska, federal agents visiting California residents flagged as non-citizens from an error-filled list, and Todd Blanche's non-answer on whether the DOJ would step into the election. The bulk of the episode digs into Vivek Ramaswamy's ad featuring Amy Acton's estranged mother calling her a liar, despite Acton's childhood abuse case, and JD Vance's defense of the ad, which they read as a window into a politics of ruling rather than governing. They also look at what Franklin Graham's midterm voting guide and Joel Webbon's "I told my wife how to vote" post reveal about the hollowing out of the religious right, using Sarah Palin in 2008 as a benchmark. If you enjoy our work, please subscribe. Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/e... 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/... Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com... 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Is God eternal?” The claim that God is eternal is a central feature of orthodox Christian teaching. But what does it mean? And what consequences follow from affirming that God is eternal? And what happens if we suggest that God is not eternal? Join Dan for this week’s episode to find out. Axis Mundi Podcasts Between Qi and Science and Radical Buddhism If you enjoy our work, please subscribe.  Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief.  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/axis-daily-brief/id1896931494 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-Tyrants Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ -  Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months  www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tommy Teepell asked Abdul El-Sayed about the Muslim Brotherhood, and the clip went viral. But Teepell's ties to Christian nationalist networks run deeper than the reporting so far has shown. Matthew D. Taylor has tracked Teepell and Sean Feucht since 2024, and in this episode he and Brad Onishi lay out what that research shows. Reporting by Marisa Kabas and Jason Wilson broke important news on who is behind the effort to derail El-Sayed. This episode adds the religious and Christian nationalist dimension: Teepell's 2024 podcast appearance with Feucht, Camp Elah on Capitol Hill, "deliverance ministry" for Hill staffers, and what it all means for church-state separation. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro: the viral El-Sayed clip 3:09 Who is Tommy Teepell? 4:51 Camp Elah, Hill staffers, and Jericho marches 11:05 El-Sayed's answer, part one 15:54 Muslim Brotherhood and religious nationalism 22:36 Church and state: two views of the Constitution 28:03 "Do you disavow religious doctrine in law?" 32:37 The Guardian report and America Next 33:30 "At the mercy of a man with an argument" 36:37 Why this kind of religion threatens pluralist democracy 47:25 Chicago temple attack and anti-Hindu, anti-Muslim rhetoric 54:02 Stochastic terrorism 58:19 Why Muslim men in high office provoke anxiety 1:00:06 Books and events If you enjoy our work, please subscribe. Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/e... 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/... Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com... 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this Sunday Interview, Annika Brockschmidt talks with scholar of religion and theologian Matthew Taylor about his new book, Defying Tyrants, Following Jesus: In a World of Christian Antichrists. Writing as a Christian to other Christians, Taylor argues that the propaganda fueling MAGA and the authoritarian turn in American politics is theological, and that the response must be too. He explains why he sees Christian supremacy, the belief that Christians are better than others and entitled to power, as an older and deeper problem than Christian nationalism, tracing it through Constantine, Christendom, the Crusades, and colonialism. Taylor then offers a close reading of 1 and 2 John, where "antichrist" appears mostly in the plural and refers to people who broke away from the community and abused others in Christ's name, which leads him to argue that Christian antichrists are Christians who abuse power under Jesus's banner. They also discuss how to reckon with Christian awfulness without retreating to the "no true Scotsman" defense, what kind of king Jesus actually is, and the personal cost of the book: Taylor lost his job at an interfaith institute because of it. He explains why he refused to withdraw it, and what ordinary Christians can do to resist Christian supremacy in their everyday lives. If you enjoy our work, please subscribe.  Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief.  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/axis-daily-brief/id1896931494 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-Tyrants Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ -  Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months  www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Straight White American Jesus Weekly Roundup, Brad Onishi and Dan Miller dig into new White House press secretary Katie Zacharia, who is not a licensed attorney and has deep ties to the Southern California Christian nationalist network around Rob McCoy, Charlie Kirk’s pastor, and a past advisory role with White Rose Resistance, a group calling for women who have abortions to be executed in public. They then break down a published plan from Russ Vought’s Center for Renewing America to challenge and block incoming Democrats, especially Muslim and Marxist-identified members-elect, from being sworn in on January 3rd, and why Dan sees it as a strategy to sow doubt about election legitimacy even if it would fail in court. They also cover Trump’s diesel deal with Russia, what it means for Ukraine and sanctions, and close with reasons for hope, including court rulings on ICC sanctions and press access and the called-off live stream of the Fort Hood shooter’s execution.If you enjoy our work, please subscribe.Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief. 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.comBooks mentioned:📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-TyrantsFull tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour🔗 axismundi.uswww.quo.com/SWAJ - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 monthswww.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Thank you Thomas J, Jane Stevenor, Laura Nelson, Beth Strand, Brady Fern, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do all religions lead to God? It's the kind of question that can get you in trouble in strict religious communities, so we look at why. Then we explore who has asked it over the years, from scholars and philosophers to Hindu, Sikh, and mystical traditions, and why many religion scholars today aren't convinced by it. If you enjoy our work, please subscribe.  Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief.  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/axis-daily-brief/id1896931494 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-Tyrants Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ -  Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months  www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Straight White American Jesus, Brad Onishi is joined by Matthew D. Taylor, author of Defying Tyrants, to discuss the raid on Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home 22 days before the midterms, which came inside the Justice Department’s usual 60-day window for avoiding overt investigative steps. They weigh the evidence that the raid is politically motivated, including years of debunked conspiracy theories about her immigration story, pressure from right-wing influencers, and Trump’s rhetoric about the Somali community, while also acknowledging that a warrant was issued and that questions about her immigration paperwork remain open. They also consider Andy Craig’s argument that the case threatens Congress’s constitutional power to judge its own members, and what it could signal as a trial balloon for 2028. Max from UNFTR then joins to discuss Russ Vought, the head of the Office of Management and Budget: his Christian nationalism, his role in Project 2025 and impoundment, and a Center for Renewing America piece outlining how members-elect might be refused the oath of office in the next Congress. The conversation closes with thoughts on how citizens and institutions can prepare, including mass action and what Democrats need to do after the midterms. If you enjoy our work, please subscribe. Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/e... 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/... Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com... 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brad Onishi talks with three Wheaton College alumnae about the growing controversy over how the college handled abuse by a former administrator, and why they say the problem is systemic rather than the work of one person. The abuse took place in the 1990s. Alumni say it was covered up for roughly 25 years, leaving students and later victims at risk. The conversation covers the case itself, the calls for President Philip Ryken to resign, the theology of gender and sexuality that shapes how reports are received, and what it’s like to parent students on campus now. Content note: this episode discusses sexual abuse and assault. Guests Andrea Sorensen Hamler: Wheaton class of 2004, writing teacher, scholar of rhetoric, and longtime behind-the-scenes member of the Axis Mundi Media team Christy Hemphill: Wheaton class of ‘99, parent of two current Wheaton students, former international development worker and current public school teacher Erika Roland: Wheaton alum, holds an MBA and CFRE, PhD student in organizational leadership, lives in Minnesota UPCOMING EVENTS (Brad Onishi, American Caesar) Oct 11: Knoxville, TN, Unitarian Church, with the Rationalists of East Tennessee Oct 12: Nashville, TN, downtown library, 6 p.m., with Phil Williams Oct 14: Memphis, TN, Rhodes College MORE FROM STRAIGHT WHITE AMERICAN JESUS Sunday: Interview | Tuesday: Live show with Brad and Matt Taylor, 1:30 ET | Wednesday: In the Code with Dan Miller | Friday: Weekly Roundup If you enjoy our work, please subscribe. Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/e... 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/... Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com... 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

They want to rule, not govern. This week on the Weekly Roundup, Brad Onishi and Dan Miller break down Trump’s “bomb LA” comments, the “enemy combatant” rhetoric aimed at Somalis in Minnesota, Hegseth’s plan to live-stream a firing squad execution, and Tucker Carlson and Curtis Yarvin’s Hitler comments. Then they close with some reasons for hope: Ossoff in the Georgia debate and a Satanic invocation in Ottumwa, Iowa. With the midterms less than a month away, Brad and Dan argue the GOP is ramping up fear-mongering, race-baiting, and empty promises because it has little else left to offer. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Intro: Iran, LA, Somalis, and the live-streamed execution 03:38 The thesis: ramping up the tactics before the midterms 06:43 Somalis as “the new Haitians” 10:46 JD Vance can’t define socialism 15:26 Ruling vs. governing 17:37 Hegseth’s live-streamed firing squad 27:34 “Pro-life” and “family values”? Bloodlust and the research on televised executions 33:16 Tucker Carlson on why the UK fought WWII 42:38 Curtis Yarvin, JD Vance, and the “engineering” view of society 50:58 Transit funding tied to birth and marriage rates 55:15 Reasons for hope: Ottumwa, Iowa, and Ossoff vs. Collins 1:01:14 Upcoming events and wrap-up UPCOMING EVENTS (Brad Onishi, American Caesar) Oct 11: Knoxville, TN, Unitarian Church, with the Rationalists of East Tennessee Oct 12: Nashville, TN, downtown library, 6 p.m., with Phil Williams Oct 14: Memphis, TN, Rhodes College MORE FROM STRAIGHT WHITE AMERICAN JESUS Sunday: Interview | Tuesday: Live show with Brad and Matt Taylor, 1:30 ET | Wednesday: In the Code with Dan Miller | Friday: Weekly Roundup If you enjoy our work, please subscribe. Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/e... 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/... Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com... 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happens to people who have never heard the gospel? It's one of the most common questions people raise in church, and one of the most uncomfortable: how can God be just if he condemns people who never had the chance to respond to the message that could save them? In this episode of It's in the Code, part of the series Questions I Wasn't Supposed to Ask in Church, Dan Miller walks through three broad Christian answers that stretch back nearly to the beginning of the tradition. Exclusivism, the historically dominant view from Augustine and the Protestant Reformers, holds that salvation comes only through explicitly accepting the gospel. Inclusivism, associated with Justin Martyr and more common among Catholics, holds that people can receive Christ's saving work through responding in faith to general revelation. And a third category, miraculous revelation, includes the "harrowing of hell" (Jesus preaching to the spirits in prison), as well as the idea, associated with Thomas Aquinas, that God provides a way for sincere seekers to encounter the gospel. Along the way, Dan explores why this question has troubled believers for centuries, how the answer often depends on the kind of church you grew up in, and how it differs from the separate question of what happens to Jews who lived before Jesus. He also invites listeners to keep sending in the questions they weren't supposed to ask in church. If you enjoy our work, please subscribe.  Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief.  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/axis-daily-brief/id1896931494 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-Tyrants Live events: Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ -  Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months  www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Antichrist is not a scary villain who shows up someday to rule the world. According to the New Testament, there are already many of them, and they look a lot like Christians who abuse power in Jesus' name. On the pub day of Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists, Brad Onishi talks with author and scholar Matthew D. Taylor about what the Bible actually says about the Antichrist, why Christian supremacy is a deeper problem than Christian nationalism, and how the history of Christendom, from Constantine to the Crusades, connects to Pete Hegseth, Doug Wilson, and the American right today. Matthew also talks about losing his job over this book, and why he believes Christians have an obligation to confront other Christians right now. Chapters 0:00 The Antichrist is with us now 2:52 Book tour events 4:48 Christian supremacy vs. Christian nationalism 8:05 What the New Testament says about the Antichrist 13:31 The incarnation and what Jesus taught 17:19 Faith and democracy in the midterms 25:25 Nicaea, the Crusades, and the birth of Christendom 30:34 Christendom's return today 36:39 Hegseth clip and the "enemy within, enemy without" 42:32 Matthew's firing over the book 50:41 Is polarization the disease or the immune response? 55:18 Could the worst chapters of Christian history return? 1:00:32 Closing and where to find Matthew Get the book and follow Matthew Matthew D. Taylor's Substack, Reckonings: https://matthewdtaylor.substack.com/ Defying Tyrants: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-Tyrants Upcoming events Sunday: Knoxville, TN, Unitarian Church Mon, Oct 12: Nashville, TN, conversation with Phil Williams at the downtown library Wed, Oct 14: Memphis, TN, Rhodes College Fri, Nov 20, 7 p.m.: Denver, CO, free midterms event at the convention center with Matthew Taylor, Robert P. Jones, Alba Onofrio, Brooke Wilensky-Lanford, and Dan Miller moderating If you enjoy our work, please subscribe. Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/axis-daily-brief/id1896931494 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-Tyrants Live events: Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brought to you by Homerserve: www.homeserve.com/swaj Can the Christian left challenge the religious right’s claim to moral authority? Leah Payne speaks with journalist and essayist Miguel Petrosky about his article for The Revealer, “James Talarico and the Christian Left,” and what the Texas Senate candidate’s blend of Christian conviction and economic populism reveals about progressive politics. They explore the appeal of Talarico’s neighborly tone, his framing of inequality as a spiritual struggle, and why religious language can resonate with religious and secular voters alike. They also examine why coverage treats his faith as a political novelty despite the long tradition of Black clergy connecting Christian theology with progressive activism. As mainline Protestant denominations lose members, can the Christian left gain political influence through advocacy, protests, and coalitions? And where is the line between bringing Christian convictions into public life and seeking a nation organized around a particular Christian vision? Subscriber bonus: Leah and Miguel discuss whether Talarico’s approach can travel beyond Texas. About the guest: Miguel Petrosky is a journalist and essayist covering American and global politics, religion, and culture. He lives in Scotland. Find him on Instagram @miguelpetrosky. About the host: Dr. Leah Payne is the author of God Gave Rock & Roll to You: A History of Contemporary Christian Music (Oxford University Press, 2024) and host of Spirit & Power: Charismatics and Politics in American Life, an Axis Mundi Media podcast. Find her on most social media platforms at @drleahpayne. Links: Read “James Talarico and the Christian Left” by Miguel Petrosky in The Revealer. Read Leah’s book, God Gave Rock & Roll to You: A History of Contemporary Christian Music. Listen to Spirit & Power: Charismatics and Politics in American Life. If you enjoy our work, please subscribe. Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief. 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-Tyrants Live events: 🎤 Brad in Portland at Annie Bloom’s Books — September 16, 7 PM: https://annieblooms.com/event/2026-09-16/reading-bradley-b-onishi Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Straight White American Jesus, Brad Onishi and Dan Miller break down Pete Hegseth's State of the Force speech, which they argue recasts the U.S. military as a Christian crusader army defined by narrow standards of body, gender, and faith. They examine his flattened story of Western civilization, his "appeal to heaven" and "armor of God" language, and the plan to remove bureaucratic oversight from the Office of Religious Affairs. Next, they turn to Senator Eric Schmitt's failed attempt to trap Jack Smith at a congressional hearing, and to Smith's statement that Trump committed serious crimes beyond a reasonable doubt, which got lost in the noise. They then look at new data projecting that roughly 100,000 U.S. churches will close or be repurposed over the next decade, and what that means for claims of a religious resurgence and for Christian nationalism. Reasons for hope include a civic story of shared investment from Zohran Mamdani and the DOJ's 26th loss in its effort to obtain state voter rolls. If you enjoy our work, please subscribe. Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/axis-daily-brief/id1896931494 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-Tyrants Live events: 🎤 Brad in Portland at Annie Bloom's Books — September 16, 7 PM: https://annieblooms.com/event/2026-09-16/reading-bradley-b-onishi Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Was Mary a virgin?" Dan Miller unpacks the question in layers. First, the textual evidence: the Greek word parthenos and its relationship to the Hebrew alma; plus Mary's line in Luke 1:34, which together explain why the tradition reads her as a virgin. For Dan, the bigger question is why the claim matters theologically. He traces how it underscores the miraculous nature of Jesus' birth, how it ties female virginity to purity, and how the doctrine expanded into the perpetual virginity of Mary (before, during, and after the birth). That expansion goes back to at least the second century, was affirmed at the Second Council of Constantinople, and was held by reformers like Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and Wesley, despite New Testament references to Jesus' siblings. The episode argues that the doctrine's staying power, even against that counter-evidence, shows how much is riding on it. It becomes a flashpoint for critics because it encapsulates the tradition's ties to purity culture, patriarchal assumptions, and the devaluation of embodiment and sexuality. Listeners are invited to send more questions and topic ideas for the series. If you enjoy our work, please subscribe. Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community. 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-Tyrants Live events: Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Peter Thiel says that if you're evil, maybe you're actually good. Brad Onishi (author of American Caesar) and Matthew D. Taylor (author of The Violent Take It by Force) break down the viral clip: what Thiel means by "bad" versus "evil," why he frames progress as an all-or-nothing choice, and how his Antichrist theology, technological accelerationism, and contempt for the "mimetic sheeple" shape his influence on J.D. Vance and the tech right.Then Rev. Mara Richards Bim, a Baptist pastor and plaintiff in the lawsuit against Texas's Ten Commandments classroom law, joins to explain why she calls the Texas version sacrilegious, how teachers and principals are resisting, and what gives her hope.Timestamps0:00 Intro1:11 The Thiel clip and first reactions4:16 Thiel's worldview: progress and the "middle class compact"9:51 The hubris of deciding for eight billion people11:37 Monarchism, mimetic desire, and Silicon Valley15:04 The Pope, AI, and the one-world-government argument17:03 Why Thiel rejects Hegel19:38 Why it matters: Thiel and J.D. Vance24:15 Decoding "bad," "evil," and "good"29:24 Thiel's Nashville Antichrist lectures32:09 Rev. Mara Richards Bim on the Texas Ten Commandments lawsuit57:03 Reason for hopeIf you enjoy our work, please subscribe.Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief.https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.comBooks mentioned:📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/e...📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/...Live events:Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com... 🔗 axismundi.uswww.quo.com/SWAJ - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 monthswww.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on The Sunday Interview, Brad revisits a conversation with sociologist of religion Paul Djupe (Denison University) on two ideas shaping the current political moment: the myth of the persecuted Christian and the inverted golden rule. Djupe unpacks the data behind the persecution narrative — a claim that has intensified under the second Trump administration through initiatives like the Anti-Christian Bias Task Force and the White House Faith Office, and that spiked further after Charlie Kirk’s assassination — and explains how it functions to fuel a persecution complex, particularly among white Christians. He also names something Brad argues is missing from most discussions of the right’s turn against empathy: an “inverted golden rule,” where the instinct to preempt perceived aggression — do unto others before they do unto you — replaces the biblical mandate to do unto others as you’d have done to you. If you enjoy our work, please subscribe. Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief. 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-Tyrants Live events: 🎤 Brad in Portland at Annie Bloom’s Books — September 16, 7 PM: https://annieblooms.com/event/2026-09-16/reading-bradley-b-onishi Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Discussion about this episode Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does God change his mind? CAN God change his mind? The traditional theological answer to both of these questions is “no.” But what if the answer is “yes”? Why would this represent such a threat to high-control religion and traditional Christian teaching? Check out this week’s episode to find out! If you enjoy our work, please subscribe.  Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief.  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/axis-daily-brief/id1896931494 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-Tyrants Live events: 🎤 Brad in Portland at Annie Bloom's Books — September 16, 7 PM: https://annieblooms.com/event/2026-09-16/reading-bradley-b-onishi Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ -  Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months  www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matthew Taylor is joined by historian and former CIA Africa analyst Holly Berkley Fletcher (author of The Missionary Kids) to unpack why the religious left — unlike the ideologically cohesive religious right — has long struggled to translate its diverse coalition into electoral power, and why faith-forward Democratic candidates like Adam Hamilton and James Talarico may be changing that calculus in this year’s midterms. Later, they’re joined by Julia Curlee, a 20-year CIA veteran and former presidential daily briefer who was forced out of the Trump administration after being publicly outed as a “trans Biden holdover,” for a candid and unsparing assessment of the state of the world — from the failing Iran negotiations and a fraying alliance system to Russian influence operations and the dismantling of the national security apparatus meant to guard against them. If you enjoy our work, please subscribe. Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief. If you enjoy our work, please subscribe.  Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief.  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/axis-daily-brief/id1896931494 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-Tyrants Live events: 🎤 Brad in Portland at Annie Bloom's Books — September 16, 7 PM: https://annieblooms.com/event/2026-09-16/reading-bradley-b-onishi Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ -  Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months  www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Sunday interview, Annika Brockschmidt talks with journalist and podcaster Michael Edison Hayden about his new book, Strange People on the Hill, which follows what happened when Peter and Lydia Brimelow, the couple behind the white nationalist site VDARE, bought a castle overlooking the tiny tourist town of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. Hayden explains who the Brimelows are and how VDARE helped push the "great replacement" narrative into mainstream American politics. He also explains why he made the town, not the Brimelows, the center of the book, and how the arrival of VDARE and the national tensions of 2020 fractured neighbors, businesses, and friendships. The two discuss the toll of covering the far right on journalists' health and relationships, the physical and psychological strain of the beat, and Hayden's argument that MAGA is now the dominant ideology in American culture even though it is unpopular. Subscribers get a bonus segment on what comes next for the Brimelows and VDARE, including the New York Attorney General litigation, the mystery of the donors behind the castle purchase, and whether the castle can be sold. You can find Hayden on the Posting Through It podcast with Jared Holt and on Bluesky, and Strange People on the Hill is out now. https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/michael-edison-hayden/strange-people-on-the-hill/9781645030607/ If you enjoy our work, please subscribe.  Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief.  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/axis-daily-brief/id1896931494 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-Tyrants Live events: 🎤 Brad in Portland at Annie Bloom's Books — September 16, 7 PM: https://annieblooms.com/event/2026-09-16/reading-bradley-b-onishi Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ -  Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months  www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SCOTUS just blocked Donald Trump's attempt to use the U.S. Postal Service to interfere with mail-in voting ahead of the 2026 midterms — but is the fight over election integrity really over? Brad Onishi and Dan Miller break down the ruling, the dissents from Alito and Thomas, and why Mike Johnson could try to pull a "January 3rd" power grab reminiscent of January 6th. Then: a viral photo from a UT Austin football game reignites controversy over white nationalism in the GOP. Brad and Dan connect the dots between Bo French, the True Texas Project, Christian nationalist pastor CJ Engel, and a pattern of Nazi-adjacent scandals rocking Republican campaigns this week — from a Senate staffer's Nazi military exercises to congressional candidates with white nationalist ties. If you enjoy our work, please subscribe. Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/axis-daily-brief/id1896931494 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-Tyrants Live events: 🎤 Brad in Portland at Annie Bloom's Books — September 16, 7 PM: https://annieblooms.com/event/2026-09-16/reading-bradley-b-onishi Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! 📰 Get 40% off Ground News: groundnews.com/swaj **Keywords:** Straight White American Jesus, SWAJ podcast, Christian nationalism, Brad Onishi, Dan Miller, American Caesar, SCOTUS mail-in voting, USPS ruling, Trump 2026 midterms, Mike Johnson January 3rd, Bo French Texas, True Texas Project, white nationalism GOP, CJ Engel, Christian nationalism podcast, religious right politics, Ed Sheeran Macklemore, ICE agent arrested #StraightWhiteAmericanJesus #ChristianNationalism #SCOTUS #Midterms2026 #MikeJohnson #TrueTexasProject #AmericanCaesar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can God be perfectly good and perfectly just and still send people to hell? What’s at stake with questions like these? How do adherents of high-control religion respond to questions like these? Check out this week’s episode to hear Dan’s discussion of why the doctrine of hell fundamentally calls God’s goodness and justice into question. If you enjoy our work, please subscribe.  Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief.  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/axis-daily-brief/id1896931494 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-Tyrants Live events: 🎤 Brad in Portland at Annie Bloom's Books — September 16, 7 PM: https://annieblooms.com/event/2026-09-16/reading-bradley-b-onishi Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ -  Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months  www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brad Onishi on "American Caesar": Inside the Movement to End American DemocracyToday is release day for Brad Onishi's new book American Caesar, and Matt Taylor sits down with him for a deep dive into the ideas inside it. Together they trace how three seemingly separate strands of the American right — Protestant Reconstructionism, radical traditionalist Catholicism, and Silicon Valley technocracy — are converging around a shared vision: an end to liberal democracy and the rise of an American strongman, an "American Caesar."If you enjoy our work, please subscribe.Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief.🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.comBooks mentioned:📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/Live events:🎤 Brad in Portland at Annie Bloom's Books — September 16, 7 PM: https://annieblooms.com/event/2026-09-16/reading-bradley-b-onishiFull tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour🔗 axismundi.uswww.quo.com/SWAJ - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 monthswww.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription!American Caesar is out today — grab a copy and leave a review if you can.Upcoming events with Brad:📍 Sept 16 — Annie Bloom's, Portland, 7 PM📍 Sept 22 — Amherst College📍 Sept 23 — Northeastern University (with Sarah Ricardy Swartz)📍 Oct 1 — NYU Religion and Media Center (with Emma Goldberg, NYT)📍 Oct 11 — Knoxville, TN📍 Oct 12 — Nashville, TN📍 Oct 14 — Memphis, TN Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brad Onishi previews his new book American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy, out this week, and shares its audiobook introduction. He explains the book's central argument: an unlikely alliance has formed between Protestant reconstructionists, radical traditional Catholics, and Silicon Valley technocrats, united by five shared beliefs — hostility to liberalism, a post-libertarian embrace of strong government, rejection of democracy in favor of a strongman "American Caesar," and a shared rhetoric of "saving Western civilization." He thanks listeners for their support in making the book possible and runs down his upcoming tour stops, including Portland, Amherst, Boston, New York, and several stops in Tennessee. If you enjoy our work, please subscribe.  Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief.  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/axis-daily-brief/id1896931494 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-Tyrants Live events: 🎤 Brad in Portland at Annie Bloom's Books — September 16, 7 PM: https://annieblooms.com/event/2026-09-16/reading-bradley-b-onishi Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ -  Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months  www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the 25th anniversary of 9/11, Brad breaks down Donald Trump's false claims about his experience that day, Rudy Giuliani's attacks on Mayor Zohran Mamdani for attending the memorial as a Muslim, and newly released documents showing NYC officials knew Ground Zero air was toxic but told the public otherwise.Then Brad welcomes former CIA officer Holly Berkley Fletcher to unpack how the "national malaise" of the 1990s — after the Cold War ended and the country turned inward — set the stage for 9/11 to be reframed not as a fight against a terrorist group, but as a civilizational battle against Islam itself. They trace how that shift accelerated Christian nationalism, fractured America's foreign policy consensus, and set the country on a path that runs through the Iraq War, January 6th, and the rise of MAGA Christianity today.📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/e...Live events:🎤 Brad in Portland at Annie Bloom's Books — September 16, 7 PM: https://annieblooms.com/event/2026-09...Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com... 🔗 axismundi.uswww.quo.com/SWAJ - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 monthswww.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The idea of “hell” is a central focus within conservative, high-control Christianity (with analogues in some other traditions as well). But what, exactly, is the teaching concerning hell? And where does it come from? Does the Bible actually teach what religious conservatives say it does about hell? If not, why do they teach it? Why is hell so central to their understanding of Christianity? And what happens if we ask uncomfortable questions about hell? Join Dan for this week’s episode to find out! If you enjoy our work, please subscribe. Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief. 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-Tyrants Live events: 🎤 Brad in Portland at Annie Bloom’s Books — September 16, 7 PM: https://annieblooms.com/event/2026-09-16/reading-bradley-b-onishi Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the first time since 1945, a far-right party bordering on Nazism has won real power in Germany. Brad Onishi and Matthew D. Taylor break down the AfD's stunning election result, Elon Musk and JD Vance's public support for the party, and what this signals about the global retreat from liberal democracy. Then, religious historian Warren Throckmorton joins to unpack Southern Baptist leader Al Mohler's growing alignment with Doug Wilson and Christian Reconstructionism — and why it marks a striking departure from historic Baptist commitments to church-state separation and religious liberty. Preorder American Caesar at bn.com from Sept. 9th to Sept. 11th and get 25% off with code PREORDER25. Note, this discount is only available to B&N members but free memberships are available—learn more & sign up here: barnesandnoble.com/membership/ Mixed: https: https://redcircle.com/shows/b09749cc-fdf8-4230-8234-b90e3f11a1c9 Guest: Warren Throckmorton, author of The Christian Past That Wasn't: Debunking the Christian Nationalist Myths That Hijack History If you enjoy our work, please subscribe. Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/e... 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/... Live events: 🎤 Brad in Portland at Annie Bloom's Books — September 16, 7 PM: https://annieblooms.com/event/2026-09... Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com... 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In PART II A conversation between Robert P. Jones and Brad Onishi, whose books—Backslide and American Caesar—arrive one week apart from the same publisher. Jones traces how "backsliding" carries both theological and political-science meanings, citing survey data showing measurable democratic erosion (from a rating of 67 down to 54, with a projected drop to 47) and arguing white Christianity, not just American democracy, is in "apostasy," pointing to majority white evangelical support for immigrant detention camps as a bright line. Onishi then walks through American Caesar's core argument: that Reconstructionist Protestants, radical traditional Catholics, and tech-world figures have formed a loose coalition around "saving Western civilization," a discourse he argues is really about excluding Muslims, African and Latin American migrants, and anyone outside a narrow white Christian identity, while reaching back not to the 1950s but toward a fantasy of medieval Christendom. The two discuss Hannah Arendt's writing on inner resistance versus external compliance, the media's reluctance to scrutinize Christian nationalism the way it would Islam, and the resurgence of arguments for restricting women to domestic roles. They close on a note of qualified hope: polling suggests a majority of Americans favor religious pluralism and multiculturalism even though a minority currently holds power, and both authors call for renewing—rather than simply restoring—a democratic and theological imagination for a generation to whom "democracy" no longer means much on its own. If you enjoy our work, please subscribe.  Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief.  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/axis-daily-brief/id1896931494 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-Tyrants Live events: 🎤 Brad in Portland at Annie Bloom's Books — September 16, 7 PM: https://annieblooms.com/event/2026-09-16/reading-bradley-b-onishi Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ -  Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months  www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In PART I of this conversation, Brad Onishi and Robert P. Jones (author of Backslide: Reclaiming a Faith in a Nation after the Christian Turn Against Democracy) discuss what they call the "war on empathy" within segments of white Christianity in the United States. Robert argues that voices like Allie Beth Stuckey, Joe Rigney, and Elon Musk framing empathy as sinful serves as a theological retrofit that gives people permission to support policies—like mass deportation and detention—that their deeper moral instincts would otherwise reject. Drawing parallels to 1933 Germany, the civil rights era (Emmett Till, Birmingham), and more recent events (George Floyd's murder, January 6th), the two explore how this ideology trains people to override empathetic responses to visible suffering and even to deny documented reality altogether, a phenomenon they tie to Hannah Arendt's writing on self-deception under authoritarian regimes. The conversation closes with a brief teaser about Robby's book concept of "embracing division," which argues polarization is not the core problem in American politics but rather a symptom of a broken system and rising anti-democratic forces. Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ Live events: 🎤 Brad in Portland at Annie Bloom’s Books — September 16, 7 PM: https://annieblooms.com/event/2026-09-16/reading-bradley-b-onishi Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brad and Dan break down JD Vance's wide-ranging interview with Gen Z podcaster Bryce Crawford, unpacking his comments on the end times, the possibility that the Antichrist is "living among us," and his oddly deflated answer about whether he's going to heaven — reading it all as Vance clumsily blending incompatible evangelical premillennial and Christian nationalist post-millennial theologies to court an audience he doesn't quite understand. They also examine the wave of right-wing attacks on Gloria Steinem following her death, using her own words on the "traditional family" to explain why pluralism in family structures is treated as an existential threat by the Christian right. Finally, they dig into new USPS mail-voting rules — including a whistleblower complaint and a tense court hearing before Judge Talwani — that could result in ballots being rejected over postmark delays ahead of the midterms, before closing with reasons for hope in independent medical groups' vaccine guidance and an unusually real consequence for a billionaire sports owner. If you enjoy our work, please subscribe. Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/e... 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/... Live events: 🎤 Brad in Portland at Annie Bloom's Books — September 16, 7 PM: https://annieblooms.com/event/2026-09... Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com... 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Even people have never set foot in a church have probably heard of “baptism” and know that it’s something…well…Christian. But what exactly IS baptism? Why do Christians do it? How do they do it? Who get baptized? And why don’t Christians all think the same thing about baptism? Why has it been so divisive and such a hot-button issue over time? Join Dan for this week’s episode as he untangles this familiar, but still baffling, practice. SUPPORT US: www.axismundi.us www.irmce.org - our supporting nonprofit Books : 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: ⁠https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/⁠ 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: ⁠https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/... ⁠Live events:🎤 Brad in Portland at Annie Bloom's Books — September 16, 7 PM: ⁠https://annieblooms.com/event/2026-09...⁠ 🎤 Brad, Matt Taylor, Robert P. Jones, in Denver — November 20 Full tour dates: axismundi.us🔗 axismundi.us Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brad Onishi and Matthew D. Taylor break down two major stories reshaping the Trump-era right: the sudden deportation of Milo Yiannopoulos and the escalating chaos inside Pete Hegseth's Pentagon.They dig into how Milo's fast-tracked removal reveals the internal power struggles of MAGA world — including his feud with Nick Fuentes and Laura Loomer's growing influence over immigration enforcement — and what it signals about who gets protected and who gets purged within the movement. Then they turn to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, examining reports of mass firings among top generals, a rudderless U.S. Army, unsustainable war spending in Iran, and the Pentagon's controversial move to put paid influencers like "Data Republican" on the payroll to push pro-Hegseth messaging while shutting out the traditional press.Along the way: Christian nationalism's role in reshaping MAGA identity, the military's meritocracy under threat, Silicon Valley's growing alignment with authoritarian politics, and whether Hegseth's rumored presidential ambitions have any real chance.SUPPORT US:www.axismundi.uswww.irmce.org - our supporting nonprofitBooks mentioned:📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/...Live events:🎤 Brad in Portland at Annie Bloom's Books — September 16, 7 PM: https://annieblooms.com/event/2026-09...🎤 Brad, Matt Taylor, Robert P. Jones, in Denver — November 20Full tour dates: axismundi.us🔗 axismundi.us Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brad sits down with journalist Sarah Stankorb to discuss her new book, Damned If She Does: Why Women Quit Church and What It Means for the Future of Religion, out September 15th. They dig into why women — long the backbone of American congregations — are leaving in unprecedented numbers, from Gen Z women outpacing their male peers to the erosion of the gender gap among millennials. The conversation covers the specific fractures driving women out: the Catholic sex abuse crisis and its parallels in evangelical spaces, the racial reckoning of 2020 and churches' silence in its wake, and the deep discomfort many feel over homophobia and transphobia within their communities. They also explore what comes after leaving — the difficulty of trusting institutions again, the patchwork spiritualities (astrology, women's gyms, tarot) many turn to instead, and the striking demographic differences between atheists, agnostics, and the "nothing in particulars." The episode closes with a wide-ranging discussion of institutional trust, political imagination, and whether the energy behind candidates like Zohran Mamdani is connected to this same generational exodus from organized religion. 🔔 Become a paid subscriber for ad-free listening, bonus content, and access to daily analysis on religion, politics, and the Christian right. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 💙 Support our work: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.irmce.org/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠ 📚 Preorder Brad Onishi’s new book, American Caesar: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ www.ground.news/swaj for 40% of the Vantage Subscription Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on the SWAJ Weekly Roundup, Brad and Dan dig into Lance Wallnau's baseless claim that Texas gubernatorial candidate James Talarico is secretly linked to Al-Qaeda, unpacking how this fits a broader Christian nationalist strategy of tying Democrats to Islamist and Marxist "infiltrators" — even as polling shows Talarico outperforming Trump's 2024 numbers in his district. They also break down Enes Kanter Freedom's confrontational stunt at a WNBA game, arguing that anti-trans activism functions as a form of misogyny aimed at enforcing patriarchal norms on women's spaces. The episode closes with a look at a Florida grand jury finding that the DeSantis administration misappropriated $10 million meant for children's Medicaid to fight a marijuana legalization ballot measure — a story Brad and Dan frame as part of a broader erosion of political accountability. 🔔 Become a paid subscriber for ad-free listening, bonus content, and access to daily analysis on religion, politics, and the Christian right. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 💙 Support our work: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.irmce.org/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠ 📚 Preorder Brad Onishi’s new book, American Caesar: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/⁠⁠⁠⁠ www.ground.news/swaj for 40% of the Vantage Subscription Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The story of Noah’s ark is one of the most well-known in the Bible, even among those who are not Christian and have never read the Bible. But what questions come up if we really pay attention to the story? Does it make any sense? Could it actually have happened? What does it mean if it didn’t? And what justifies God killing all the living things on earth? These are big questions, questions we weren’t supposed to ask in church. Check out this week’s episode hear Dan’s answers to these and more. 🔔 Subscribe for daily analysis on religion, politics, and the Christian right. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 💙 Support our work: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.irmce.org/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠ 📚 Preorder Brad Onishi’s new book, American Caesar: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/⁠⁠⁠ www.ground.news/swaj for 40% of the Vantage Subscription Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of Axis Live, Brad Onishi and Matthew D. Taylor examine growing efforts to undermine confidence in the 2026 elections, including claims about foreign interference, voter rolls, mail-in voting, and calls from figures on the American right for a national emergency. They discuss how election-denial rhetoric can shift from questioning election integrity to challenging the legitimacy of results, and why the period after the election could be as important as Election Day itself. The second half of the episode focuses on Jake Lang, his increasingly confrontational political spectacles, his Christian supremacist rhetoric, and the larger movement behind him. Following Lang’s confrontation with a protester dressed as Spider-Man, Brad, Matt, and writer Kate Burns examine how provocation, confrontation, and claims of persecution can become political content. 🔔 Subscribe for daily analysis on religion, politics, and the Christian right. ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ 💙 Support our work: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.irmce.org/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠ 📚 Preorder Brad Onishi’s new book, American Caesar: ⁠⁠⁠https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/⁠⁠ www.ground.news/swaj for 40% of the Vantage Subscription Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What can reality TV tell us about Christian nationalism, purity culture, and the politics of gender? Annika Brockschmidt talks with journalist and podcaster Claire Fallon about the surprisingly deep connections between The Bachelor, evangelical Christianity, and the conservative politics shaping American culture. They discuss how the franchise normalizes heterosexual marriage, traditional gender roles, purity culture, and evangelical assumptions; how conservative Christian contestants have turned reality TV fame into influential media platforms; and how figures like Madison Pruitt have moved from The Bachelor into the world of MAGA Christian influence. They also explore the politics of dating in the Trump era, the rise of Mormon reality TV, and what shows like Love Is Blind and The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives reveal about the changing relationship between religion, politics, sex, and popular culture. 🔔 Subscribe for daily analysis on religion, politics, and the Christian right. ⁠⁠⁠https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/⁠⁠⁠💙 Support our work: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.irmce.org/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠📚 Preorder Brad Onishi’s new book, American Caesar: ⁠⁠https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/⁠ www.ground.news/swaj for 40% of the Vantage Subscription Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christian nationalism is not simply a religious movement—it is a political project that challenges the foundations of a pluralist democracy. Brad Onishi and Dan Miller examine the growing Christian nationalist effort to redefine who counts as a “real” American, from arguments about immigration and religious identity to the defense of Derek Chauvin and the rejection of democratic accountability. They also break down the recent Christian nationalism debate featuring Doug Wilson, Joe Rigney, Al Mohler, and Paul Miller, and explain why the movement’s vision of a Christian America is fundamentally at odds with religious freedom and equal citizenship. 🔔 Subscribe for daily analysis on religion, politics, and the Christian right. ⁠⁠https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/⁠⁠ 💙 Support our work: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.irmce.org/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠ 📚 Preorder Brad Onishi’s new book, American Caesar: ⁠https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ #ChristianNationalism #Democracy #ChristianNationalismDebate #ReligiousFreedom #AmericanDemocracy #ChristianityAndPolitics #Trump #MAGA #PoliticalExtremism #RuleOfLaw #DougWilson #JoeRigney #DerekChauvin #GeorgeFloyd #JamesComey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Theologically conservative Christians believe apparently contradictory things about Judaism and Jewish people. On the one hand, they will often describe Jewish people as being “the people of God.” On the other hand, they typically hold that, as non-Christians, Jewish people are condemned to go to hell when they die. How do these attitudes fit together? Is it possible to hold them together consistently? What do the answers to these questions tell us about conservative Christians’ understandings of Judaism and Jewish identity? And why are questions like these ones we’re not supposed to ask in church? Join Dan for this week’s episode to find out! Get signed copies of American Caesar at Annie Bloom's: ⁠⁠https://annieblooms.com/⁠⁠ Join us September 16 at Annie Bloom's for the American Caesar book launch! 🔔 Subscribe for daily analysis on religion, politics, and the Christian right. https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/ Go to ⁠⁠groundnews.com/SWAJ⁠⁠ to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on the stories shaping our world. 💙 Support our work: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.irmce.org/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠ 📚 Preorder Brad Onishi’s new book, American Caesar: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ICE agents infiltrated churches, activist meetings, libraries, and community organizations in Minnesota as part of what has been dubbed Operation Puppet Master. In this episode of Axis Live, Matthew D. Taylor and Rev. Susie Hayward discuss what newly disclosed documents reveal about the government's surveillance of protesters—and what it means for religious freedom, constitutional rights, and the future of democracy. They also examine the growing anti-Muslim campaign targeting Dearborn, Michigan, including a planned "Crusader March" backed by MAGA activists, and explore how Christian nationalism is fueling new forms of religious exclusion. Finally, Taylor and Hayward discuss the dismantling of the U.S. Institute of Peace, the loss of religious expertise within American foreign policy, and what the current crisis tells us about the health of American democracy—and where hope for a democratic revival might come from. 🔔 Subscribe for daily analysis on religion, politics, and the Christian right. ⁠https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/⁠ 💙 Support our work: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.irmce.org/donate⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠ 📚 Preorder Brad Onishi’s new book, American Caesar: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ #ICE #OperationPuppetMaster #ChristianNationalism #ReligiousFreedom #Trump #MAGA #Immigration #Minnesota #Dearborn #Islamophobia #AmericanDemocracy #Democracy #USIP #PoliticalExtremism #AxisLive Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Straight White American Jesus, Brad Onishi sits down with Congressman Jared Huffman to discuss his new book, No Prophets: The Fight to Save Democracy from Christian Nationalism. Huffman shares his journey from growing up in a devout Mormon community to becoming a humanist and the only openly non-believing member of Congress, and explains how the rise of Trump and Christian nationalism pushed him to speak publicly about the dangers of religious extremism. They discuss the New Apostolic Reformation, January 6, the religious forces surrounding Trump, Mike Johnson, the influence of Christian nationalism in Congress, Christian Zionism, traditionalist Catholicism, and why the separation of church and state is increasingly under threat. Huffman also explains why he believes saving democracy will require religious and nonreligious Americans to work together—and why, even in a deeply troubling political moment, he refuses to give up. 🔔 Subscribe for daily analysis on religion, politics, and the Christian right. https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/ 💙 Support our work: ⁠⁠https://www.irmce.org/donate⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🎧 Listen to the Axis Daily Brief:Spotify: ⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/033zp4M... No Prophets: https://bookshop.org/p/books/no-prophets-the-fight-to-save-democracy-from-christian-nationalism-jared-huffman/b28b36a73cf41cdd Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... 📚 Preorder Brad Onishi’s new book, American Caesar: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steven Crowder recently released a video titled “We Need Fascism,” making an explicit argument for fascism rather than merely flirting with the idea. In this episode of Straight White American Jesus, Brad Onishi and Dan Miller break down Crowder’s argument and ask what it reveals about the direction of the American right. The conversation connects Crowder’s rhetoric about communism, violence, and “disinfecting” the country to a broader political movement increasingly portraying opponents of MAGA and Christian nationalism as enemies of America. Brad argues that this reflects a deeper shift: if the Christian nationalist right no longer believes it represents a majority of Americans, democracy itself can begin to look like an obstacle rather than a solution. 🔔 Subscribe for daily analysis on religion, politics, and the Christian right. https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/ 💙 Support our work: ⁠⁠https://www.irmce.org/donate⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🎧 Listen to the Axis Daily Brief:Spotify: ⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/033zp4M... Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... 📚 Preorder Brad Onishi’s new book, American Caesar: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices