Strange Gods and Strong Gods (w/ Tara Isabella Burton)

There's been no shortage of commentary on the rise of the "nones," those Americans who claim no religious affiliation, a trend especially notable among younger people. But that doesn't mean we live in a secular age. Matt and Sam talk to Tara Isabella Burton about her new book, Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World, and the way our search for meaning and the need for ritual has met our neoliberal economic order. What does this spiritual churn mean for our politics? Why do reactionary ideas find a ready audience among those disillusioned with modern life? We take up these questions and more in a wide-ranging conversation about the way we live now.

Sources and Recommended Reading:

Tara Isabella Burton, Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World

Tara Isabella Burton, "Christianity Gets Weird" (New York Times)

Daniel José Camacho, "The Racial Aesthetic of Burton's 'Weird Christians'" (Sojourners)

Michael Anton, "Are the Kid Al(t)right?" (Claremont Review of Books)