Month: February 2023

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NBN Book of the Day - Stephen Bullivant, “Nonverts: The Making of Ex-Christian America” (Oxford UP, 2022)

The United States is in the midst of a religious revolution. Or, perhaps it is better to say a non-religious revolution. Around a quarter of US adults now say they have no religion. The great majority of these religious “nones” also say that they used to belong to a religion but no longer do. These are the nonverts: think “converts,” but from having religion to having none. Even on the most conservative of estimates, there are currently about 59 million of them in the United States. 

Nonverts: The Making of Ex-Christian America (Oxford UP, 2022) by Professor Stephen Bullivant explores who they are and why they joined the rising tide of the ex-religious. It draws on dozens of interviews, original analysis of high-quality survey data, and a wealth of cutting-edge studies to present an entertaining and insightful exploration of America’s ex-religious landscape. While American religion is not going to die out any time soon, ex-Christian America is a growing presence in national life. America’s religious revolution is not only a religious one—it is catalyzing a profound social, cultural, moral, and political transformation.

Stephen Bullivant is Professor of Theology and the Sociology of Religion at St Mary’s University, London. He is professorial research fellow at University Notre Dame in Sydney, Australia. He holds doctorates in Theology (from Oxford) and Sociology (from Warwick). He joined St Mary’s in 2009, having previously held posts at Heythrop College, London, and Wolfson College, Oxford. He’s also held Visiting fellowship at the Institute for Social Change at the University of Manchester, Blackfriars Hall at University of Oxford, and the Institute for Advanced Studies at the University College London. 

Carrie Lynn Evans is a PhD student at Université Laval in Quebec City. carrie-lynn.evans@lit.ulaval.ca @carrielynnland

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New Books in Native American Studies - Caroline Dodds Pennock, “On Savage Shores: How Indigenous Americans Discovered Europe” (Knopf, 2023)

On Savage Shores: How Indigenous Americans Discovered Europe (Knopf, 2023) by Dr. Caroline Dodds Pennock presents a landmark work of narrative history that shatters our Eurocentric understanding of the Age of Discovery.

We have long been taught to presume that modern global history began when the “Old World” encountered the “New”, when Christopher Columbus “discovered” America in 1492. But, as Dr. Pennock conclusively shows in this groundbreaking book, for tens of thousands of Aztecs, Maya, Totonacs, Inuit and others—enslaved people, diplomats, explorers, servants, traders—the reverse was true: they discovered Europe.

For them, Europe comprised savage shores, a land of riches and marvels, yet perplexing for its brutal disparities of wealth and quality of life, and its baffling beliefs. The story of these Indigenous Americans abroad is a story of abduction, loss, cultural appropriation, and, as they saw it, of apocalypse.

From the Brazilian king who met Henry VIII to the Aztecs who mocked up human sacrifice at the court of Charles V; from the Inuk baby who was put on show in a London pub to the mestizo children of Spaniards who returned “home” with their fathers; from the Inuit who harpooned ducks on the Avon river to the many servants employed by Europeans of every rank: here are a people who were rendered exotic, demeaned, and marginalized, but whose worldviews and cultures had a profound impact on European civilization.

This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose doctoral work focused on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars.

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - TBD | Is a 25-Year-Old’s Brain Mature?

New understandings of how our brains develop are changing how the law considers who is mature and who isn’t. But If our brains are still developing, when can the law treat us like adults? 


Guest: Jane C. Hu, independent science journalist.


Host: Lizzie O’Leary


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Consider This from NPR - How to Talk About Politicians and Mental Health

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley's call for mandatory mental competency tests for politicians over 75 seemed like a direct challenge to President Joe Biden, who is 80. But she could have been referring to the other announced candidate in the race: former President Donald Trump, who is 76. Or other high ranking leaders over the age of 75 - Senators Mitch McConnell and Bernie Sanders, both 81. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley is 89, but the oldest sitting member of Congress, by a few months, is Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, also 89. She has announced that she will not run for re-election next year, however her term does not end until January 2025.

On the heels of Haley's announcement, Democratic Senator John Fetterman checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to seek treatment for clinical depression, a condition often associated with recovery from a stroke, which he experienced last May.

While Fetterman's case differs from age-related cognitive decline, both issues raise questions about how much the public has the right to know about a public figure's mental health, and whether acknowledging these very common, very human conditions alleviates stigma or just reinforces it.

Host Michel Martin talks to former Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy about how his decision to speak publicly about his own issues with mental health.

We also hear from Matthew Rozsa, who writes about health and science for Salon.


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The Gist - BEST OF THE GIST: President Carter Edition

In this installment of Best Of The Gist, we’re listening back to Mike’s 2018 interview with Jimmy Carter’s once Chief Domestic Policy Advisor, Stuart Eizenstat. Though he was sometimes mischaracterized as an ineffective President, Eizenstat argues that Carter fought for America’s energy independence, doubled the size of the national park system, and appointed “more minorities and women to judgeships and senior positions than all 38 presidents before him put together.” Eizenstat’s book is President Carter: The White House Years. Then we listen back to Mike’s Tuesday Spiel about the media, which, he argues, must occasionally upset the audience.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara 

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Motley Fool Money - Value Hunting

Motley Fool Senior Analyst Rich Greifner joins Ricky Mulvey for a primer on value investing, or trying to find out how much a company is worth, and buying them for less than that amount. They discuss: 

- If there’s even a difference between growth and value investing. - Signs that a business is mispriced. - How investors can find mispriced businesses. - Why companies trade below their accounting-based worth. - If there even needs to be a distinction between growth and value investing. - Unpopular companies that may be worth your attention.

Companies discussed: META, WCC

Host: Ricky Mulvey Guest:Rich Greifner Engineer: Rick Engdahl

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