Non+Religion Research Brief

Non+Religion Research Brief is a podcast featuring short discussions of peer-reviewed social science research on nonreligion and religion. Typical episodes offer five-minute summaries of journal articles. Occasionally, longer episodes will take a deeper look at especially important studies. Episodes are AI-generated, curated editorially, and designed to help listeners keep up with research across disciplines. All episodes encourage engagement with the original scholarship and are not a substitute for reading the full publications.

Non+Religion Research Brief is a science podcast hosted by NSRN, with 50 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

NSRN hosts Non+Religion Research Brief, a science show with 50 episodes published.

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  Episode #54

  S01E54 - Disbelief: The Origins of Atheism in a Religious Species

  Sep 13, 202636 minS1

  In his book Disbelief: The Origins of Atheism in a Religious Species, psychologist Will M. Gervais explores the evolutionary and cognitive foundations of human spirituality and nonbelief. The author draws on his professional background in cultural psychology to challenge the "New Atheist" narrative that religion is merely a product of irrationality. Instead, the text argues that faith is a universal human trait rooted in our evolved mental architecture, making the existence of atheism a scientific puzzle worth investigating. By examining why most people believe in deities and how others do not, Gervais aims to use scientific inquiry to provide a deeper understanding of human nature. The book documents his journey from a student discovering his own lack of faith to a researcher helping establish the psychology of atheism as a legitimate academic field. Ultimately, the source serves as a bridge between evolutionary biology and the study of secularism, framing religion as a natural phenomenon rather than a supernatural one. Citation: Gervais, Will M. 2024. Disbelief: The Origins of Atheism in a Religious Species . Rowman & Littlefield.

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  Episode #53

  S01E53 - Institutionalising Non-religion? Locating Non/Religion in a Welsh Primary School

  Sep 9, 202622 minS1

  This research explores how non-religion is institutionalised within a South Welsh primary school, a region notable for its high concentration of individuals identifying as "religious nones." Using the conceptual lens of the infrasecular, the authors illustrate how secularized Christian residues persist in school rituals and assemblies even as explicit religious instruction and worship have largely vanished. While children often lack basic religious literacy, staff and parents frequently display a nostalgic connection to Christian cultural forms, viewing them as a "detheologised" heritage rather than active faith. The study finds that a strong sense of Welsh national identity has largely replaced religion as the primary source of collective belonging and sacred values within the school. Furthermore, despite official policies promoting inclusion, the school struggles to practically accommodate religious diversity, often treating minority beliefs as complications to the established secular-Christian norm. Ultimately, the authors argue that educational institutions serve as critical sites where religious and non-religious cultures overlap and compete, shaping the worldviews of the next generation. Citation: Malone, Joanna, Anna Strhan, Peter Hemming, and Sarah Neal. 2026. “Institutionalising Non-Religion? Locating Non/Religion in a Welsh Primary School.” Sociological Research Online 13607804261460547. doi: 10.1177/13607804261460547 .

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  Episode #52

  S01E52 - Faith, Practice, and Wealth: A Dual-Path Well-Being Analysis

  Sep 6, 202624 minS1

  This study introduces a dual-path effect hypothesis to explain how different aspects of religion interact with wealth to influence a person’s subjective well-being. Using decades of global data, the researchers distinguish between religious faith, which offers internal meaning, and religious practice, which provides external social advantages. The findings reveal that while both boost happiness, the benefits of attending religious services diminish as individual income or national GDP increases. In contrast, the positive impact of personal belief remains constant regardless of economic status because money cannot easily replace the spiritual purpose faith provides. Ultimately, the research suggests that financial resources serve as a substitute for the social capital gained through religious activities, but not for the psychological comfort of deep-seated conviction. Zheng X, Song M and Chen H (2020) Could Wealth Make Religiosity Less Needed for Subjective Well-Being? A Dual-Path Effect Hypothesis of Religious Faith Versus Practice. Front. Psychol. 11:1636. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01636

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  Episode #51

  S01E51 - Conceptualising Identity Transformations of the Apostate Refugee through Un/Learning

  Sep 2, 20267 minS1

  This podcast episode, based on Lucy Elizabeth Potter's 2026 article "Conceptualising Identity Transformations of the Apostate Refugee through Un/Learning," explores the non-linear, deeply precarious journeys of ex-Muslim asylum seekers in the United Kingdom. Breaking away from traditional, linear deconversion models, the discussion introduces the "un/learning" framework, which illustrates how leaving religion is an iterative, socio-spatial process involving the simultaneous renegotiation of learned religious socialization, the active unlearning of dogmatic norms, and the gradual learning of new non-religious ways of being. The episode highlights how the physical safety of the UK, coupled with access to uncensored digital spaces, humor, and music, serves as a vital catalyst for self-driven critical study and identity exploration. Crucially, the podcast unpacks the distinct gendered dimensions of this transformation, contrasting women's embodied reclaiming of autonomy (such as removing the hijab) with men's renegotiation of traditional familial authority and the heavy pressure to enter arranged marriages. Finally, it addresses the intense bureaucratic pressures of the UK asylum system, where apostate refugees must perform a fixed, coherent, and highly credible non-religious identity, rendering their complex, gradual doubts legible to immigration officials to secure legal protection

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  Episode #50

  S01E50: Seeing Through the Lens of Atheism: Plural Societies, Religion, and Harmony Ideology in Southeast Asia

  Aug 30, 202625 minS1

  This podcast episode, based on Timo Duile and Prince Kennex Aldama's 2024 article "Seeing Through the Lens of Atheism: Plural Societies, Religion, and Harmony Ideology in Southeast Asia," examines how maritime Southeast Asian nations utilize "the religious" as a vital benchmark for national identity and social cohesion. The discussion explores how atheism—as the explicit negation of belief—reveals the boundary lines of these "harmony states" across three distinct political landscapes: Indonesia , a religious harmony state where public atheism is heavily restricted only if it actively attacks or provokes religious sentiments; Malaysia , an Islamic-religious harmony state where the mere public visibility of atheist groups triggers intense political and moral outrage, especially when ethnic Malays are involved; and the Philippines , a pseudo-secular harmony state where traditional Catholic dominance and indigenous values like kapwa (shared identity) and pagkakaisa (oneness) frame atheists as outsiders to social alignment despite a longer history of organized freethought. Listeners will discover how these societies reject non-belief in structurally different ways to protect their delicate post-plural consensus, demonstrating that public atheism in this region is treated not just as a private theological stance, but as a direct challenge to the ideological foundation of the state itself. Duile, Timo, and Prince Kennex Aldama. 2024. "Seeing through the lens of atheism: Plural societies, religion, and harmony ideology in Southeast Asia." Secularism and Nonreligion 13.1:4-4.

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