Weekly Roundup: Toxic Masculinity Outside a Courtroom and at a Commencement Speech

Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get full access to this episode, bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 500-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ Mike Hixenbaugh is a Pulitzer finalist, Peabody award winner, and the author of They Came for the Schools: One Town's Fight Over Race and Identity, and the New War for America's Classrooms. In the book, Hixenbaugh delivers an immersive and eye-opening story of Southlake, Texas, a district that seemed to offer everything parents would want for their children—small classes, dedicated teachers, financial resources, a track record of academic success, and school spirit in abundance. All this, until a series of racist incidents became public, a plan to promote inclusiveness was proposed in response—and a coordinated, well-funded conservative backlash erupted, lighting the fire of a national movement on the verge of changing the face of public schools across the country. They Came for the Schools pulls back the curtain on the powerful forces driving this crusade to ban books, rewrite curricula, limit rights for minority and LGBTQ students—and, most importantly, to win what Hixenbaugh’s deeply informed reporting convinces is the holy grail among those seeking to impose biblical values on American society: school privatization, one school board and one legal battle at a time. Buy it here: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/they-came-for-the-schools-mike-hixenbaugh?variant=41284682088482 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get full access to this episode, bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 500-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ Last night we learned that Donald Trump was convicted on all 34 accounts of falsifying business records. Brad and Dan ask what this means for the coming months, how it will affect the election, and why the GOP refuses to abandon a man who has been impeached twice, lost his re-election campaign, and now becomes the only former president convicted of a felony. Brad is joined by Dr. Hank Willenbrink at the end of the episode to talk about the roles, performances, and characters Trump and Trump supports play in order to create a self-enclosed MAGA ecosystem impervious even to the news that he is now a convicted criminal. Dr. Hank Willenbrink substack: https://performingforthedon.substack.com/ Book: https://www.routledge.com/Performing-for-the-Don-Theaters-of-Faith-in-the-Trump-Era/Willenbrink/p/book/9781032302898 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dan had a family emergency this week, so instead of It's In the Code we have a special episode. In the first part, Brad speaks to Dr. Jeffery Stoyanoff and Dr. Brian Onishi about their new podcast Horror Joy - a deep dive into horror in hopes of finding joy lurking in the shadows. They talk about the allure of horror films and books, the ways horror provides a window into our contemporary hopes and fears, and why Jaws is actually reallly good f*cking movie. In the second part, Brad speaks to Dr. Susannah Crockford, creator of Miss Information. She explains the allure of conspiracy theories, what they do for people, and how we need to think differently about the misinformation problem. Subscribe to Horror Joy here: https://redcircle.com/shows/97996083-5fe9-41d5-824e-f069a412ed76 Subscribe to Miss Information here: https://redcircle.com/shows/21b4b512-ceef-4289-b9fc-76f302f5bd22 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this Memorial Day, we are proud to introduce the newest limited series from the Institute for Religion, Media, and Civic Engagement and Axis Mundi Media. Miss Information is a podcast about how conspiracies and misinformation infiltrate wellness communities and religious spaces. Subscribe here: https://redcircle.com/shows/21b4b512-ceef-4289-b9fc-76f302f5bd22/episodes/3532f1b2-5f15-4302-82f6-8a281d676871 Misinformation is big news, but what does it mean and why does it matter? If misinformation is simply incorrect information, can it be solved simply by telling people the right answer?  In this episode, we learn how misinformation can prevent people from voting if they think they aren’t eligible or can’t vote by mail; how misinformation can convince people to take certain drugs to cure a disease even if it’s not proven to be safe; and the ways misinformation can draw people into conspiracies like QAnon. But it’s not as simple as dispelling all misinformation from our midst. That seems impossible. Rather, in dialogue with Dr. David Robertson from the Open University, what we will discover points to a different question: Why do people believe misinformation at all and what does it do for them? In other words, instead of focusing on what people believe, perhaps the phenomenon of misinformation directs us to ask what beliefs do - who they favor, who they put in power, who they marginalize, and who they leave vulnerable. And by understanding the mechanics, maybe we can mitigate the damage misinformation does to our public square. For more information about research-based media by Axis Mundi Media visit: www.axismundi.us For more information about public scholarship by the Institute for Religion, Media, and Civic Engagement follow us @irmceorg or go to www.irmce.org Funding for this series has been generously provided by the Henry Luce Foundation.  Creator: Dr. Susannah Crockford Executive Producer: Dr. Bradley Onishi (@bradleyonishi)  Audio Engineer: Scott Okamoto (@rsokamoto) Production Assistance: Kari Onishi  Dr. Susannah Crockford (@suscrockford): Ripples of the Universe: Spirituality in Sedona, Arizona Further Reading Robertson, David G. UFOs, Conspiracy Theories and the New Age: Millennial Conspiracism. London: Bloomsbury, 2016. Robertson, David G., and Amarnath Amarasingam. “How Conspiracy Theorists Argue: Epistemic Capital in the Qanon Social Media Sphere.” Popular Communication 20 (2022): 193-207. https://doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2022.2050238. Howard, Philip N. Lie Machines: How to Save Democracy from Troll Armies, Deceitful Robots, Junk News Operations, and Political Operatives. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2020. Bail, Chris. Breaking the Social Media Prism: How to Make Our Platforms Less Polarizing. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2021.  Uscinski, Joseph E., and Joseph M. Parent. American Conspiracy Theories. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.  Byford, Jovan. Conspiracy Theories: A Critical Introduction. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. Argentino, Marc-Andre. “The Church of QAnon: Will Conspiracy Theories Form the Basis of a New Religious Movement?” The Conversation, May 18, 2020, https://theconversation.com/the-church-of-qanon-will-conspiracy-theories-form-the-basis-of-a-new-religious-movement-137859  Hao, Karen. “How Facebook got addicted to spreading misinformation,” MIT Technology Review, March 11, 2021, https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/03/11/1020600/facebook-responsible-ai-misinformation/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CORRECTION for Friday's on the original version of this Weekly Roundup that Biden invited Netanyahu to speak to congress when it was Mike Johnson. Was trying to express that Biden should condemn the invitation strongly. Alas.Brad and Dan discuss the Alito Appeal to Heaven flag controversy, Trump's "Unified Reich" video, and the affirmation of Palestinian statehood by US allies. Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get full access to this episode, bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 500-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In light of the news that Justice Alito flies an Appeal to Heaven flag over his beach house, Brad speaks to four experts on what it means and why it's a truly significant moment in the life of SCOTUS. Dr. Matthew Taylor, author of the Violent Take It By Force: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9781506497785/The-Violent-Take-It-by-Force Annika Brockschmidt, journalist, author: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Annika-Brockschmidt/author/B06XH8QPWM?ref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true Andrew Seidel, constitutional lawyer and author of American Crusade: https://www.unionsquareandco.com/9781454943921/american-crusade-by-andrew-l-seidel/ Rev. Angela Denker, writer and pastor - author of Red State Christians: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9781506482507/Red-State-Christians Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get full access to this episode, bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 500-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 500-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ “If my people, who are called by my name, humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” If you’ve encountered this invocation, it’s almost certain that you’ve encountered it in the context of American Christian nationalism. You might know it’s a verse from the Bible, but where does it come from? What is its full context? Does it mean what the Christian nationalists seem to think it does? Does it really justify their theocratic vision for America? Dan tackles all these issues in this week’s episode. Linktree: https://linktr.ee/StraightWhiteJC Order Brad's book: https://bookshop.org/a/95982/9781506482163 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Oklahoma over the past few years, there have been bills put forward: - Designating the Bible as the Official State Book. - Establishing the nation's first taxpayer-funded religious charter school. - Displaying the Ten Commandments at the state capitol. - Mandating the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom. - Using Bible verses to justify spanking children with disabilities in school. - Religious school tax credits. - Banning the teaching of evolution in public schools. - The governor claiming the state of Oklahoma for Christ in his inaugural speech. I spoke with Rep. Mickey Dollens, one of the few Democrats in the Oklahoma legislature, about these bills and how he and others are fighting back. Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get full access to this episode, bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 500-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get full access to this episode, bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 500-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ Brad and Dan take on a series of stories related to hypermasculinity, politics, and religion. They begin with the commencement speech by Harrison Butker, the NFL player who sparked controversy with his rad-trad commencement speech. From there the hosts move to the Trump sycophants visiting his trial each week - breaking down why they are all dressing like Trump and what this says about the toxic masculinity operative on the American Right. They finish with a brief discussion of Texas Governor Greg Abbot's pardon of a man who ran over protesters and shot a person at point blank range. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get full access to this episode, bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 500-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ While the term “cult” still has a broad popular usage, it’s a term of analysis that has virtually disappeared from the field of Religious Studies. It also isn’t a word that people will hear often when listening to Straight White American Jesus. Instead, they’ll hear a lot about “high control religion.” But what is the relation between these ideas? If “high control religion” names the same things people have in mind when they think of “cults,” why not just call it a “cult?” Why set aside a term that makes so much intuitive sense to so many people? Dan explores these issues in this week’s episode, and explains why the concept of high control religion allows us to examine the American religious landscape with fresh eyes. Linktree: https://linktr.ee/StraightWhiteJC Order Brad's book: https://bookshop.org/a/95982/9781506482163 Buy Matthew Taylor's book, The Violent Take It By Force: https://icjs.org/the-violent-take-it-by-force/ Subscribe to Miss Information: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/miss-information/id1745590655 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices