Hosted by Brian Doak and Leah Payne · 🇺🇸 US · EN-US · 100 episodes
Established thought leaders with verified media credentials.
Weird Religion is a podcast for people who think religion is weird but love it anyway. Your hosts, Leah Payne and Brian Doak, are both professors, authors, and pop culture aficionados, whose interests range from archaeology and history and linguistics to LARPing and The Walking Dead. Episodes tackle some piece of media highlighting the wonderful weirdness of religious experience—a documentary, a television show, a Twitter scandal—and use that as a "thread" on which to hang reflections on a wide variety of topics. Cults. The perils of fame within the evangelical world. Church attendance. Atheism. Gamer communities. Millennials and avocado toast. It's all here.
Brian Doak and Leah Payne hosts Weird Religion, a religion show with 100 episodes published.
Let us discuss a DANGEROUS TV SHOW. And of course, we’re talking about a very family friendly Jesus TV show—The Chosen. What is the state of the evangelical search for validation, for legitimacy, in the American religiou
We celebrate the religious aesthetic—and mourn the loss—of Precious Moments creator Sam Butcher. A pastel-colored, Christian-infused aesthetic embodied by Precious Moments may of course prompt a reaction: like the “Preci
Today we’re discussing a book by religion and philosophy professor Jeffrey Kripal (Rice University), called How to Think Impossibly: About Souls, UFOs, Time, Belief, and Everything Else (University of Chicago Press, 2024
Feeling spiritually vulnerable while you are in an airport? You are not alone. Looking for a Popeye horror film? You are not alone. Naming your child Muhammed in the UK this year? You are not alone. Flocking to Orthodoxy
When, and why, did Catholics stop saying “and also with you” in response to “The Lord be with you,” and instead start saying, “and with your spirit”? And how would you respond to the ecstatic worship practice of “running
The Swiss have created a new way to confess sins. Brian does something he vowed he would never do. Digital oligarchs will rule our future. A mysterious man passes by outside dressed like a priest of the Pacific Northwest
One of the biggest religious storylines of 2023 has been: the huge number of people leaving their faith communities. Because Christianity is the #1 by volume religion in America, the loss has been felt heaviest there. Wh
Beware, lest ye try to convict others in court, that ye have never sinned! We review some recent weird religious news with an eye toward non-obvious stories. From dreams of living forever to Taylor Swift promoting witchc
We prepare to engage in the yearly ritual of scholars in our field: the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), abbreviated AAR-SBL…or is it SBL-AAR? The order m
Gather ‘round for an episode recorded in front of a LIVE AUDIENCE in Portland, Oregon! We take a piece of listener (e)mail and answer the call: to talk about books that have been deeply impactful for our lives and resear
The aftermath of the July 2023 Congressional UFO hearing has been fascinating, infuriating, mysterious, and ominous. We get you caught up, and present a chilling conspiracy theory about what has become already one of the
Let Halloween feelings shower over you as you listen to this, our Halloween episode. One of us loves the horror genre on TV and movies, and the other absolutely does not. One of us can barely handle even watching the tra
What would it be like to grow up in a household guided by the principles of Ayn Rand’s Objectivist philosophy? We talk to Things Not Seen radio host Dr. David Dault, of Loyola University Chicago, about being expoed to th
As longtime Weirdo Listeners know, we don’t always have guests—but when we do, they win awards. Or they should. New York Times contributor Sam Kestenbaum won a 2023 Wilbur Award this past spring and now an AAR Journalism
Rebroadcasting a popular season finale from several years ago. Aliens are the quintessential sci-fi topic. Leah admits she used to watch Alf. Brian watched Alf too! We all did. Was The History Channel ever really respect
To celebrate what appears to be a departure of people of some amount from “Twitter” (now “X”?!), we run to the new “Threads” app and find dueling weird religious stories to share: (1) Leah finds a joke that leads to rumi
Rebroadcasting because we are jonesing for a new season of Stranger Things. Monsters, the 1980s, neon clothes, loaded memories of teenage drama, and a time when malls ruled supreme over the lives of adolescents. We talk
HEY. Tune in for musings on the definition of a mustache, a profound application of 1 Corinthians 6:12, and a note on our episode rhythm during what’s left of July and on into August and September. In short: we’ve worked
This week we’re reviewing recent religion news in order to: explore the location of falling gold dust of God’s presence…discuss the latest UFO surprises…get specific how about AI will kill us…be shocked that Silicon Vall
This rebroadcast revisits an unfortunately still-timely topic. We begin with a throwback to the Cold War of the 1970s and quickly arrive at the current war instigated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. What are the demogra
Dr Jeffrey Kripal
J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought · Rice University
1 appearance on this show
Peter Enns
professor · Eastern University
1 appearance on this show
Ryan Burge
professor of practice at the Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University · Eastern Illinois University
1 appearance on this show
David Grusch
Air Force veteran
1 appearance on this show
David Dault
radio host · Loyola University Chicago
1 appearance on this show
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Weird Religion is hosted by Brian Doak and Leah Payne. The show is categorised under religion (spirituality) and has published 100 episodes.
Weird Religion has published 100 episodes.
Weird Religion regularly covers religion, spirituality, christianity. It sits in the religion category, with a spirituality focus.
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Episodes of Weird Religion average 29 minutes. a focused format where a clear narrative arc and tight preparation matter most.
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