The Biggest Questions Podcast

Episode 9: Synagogue and Theatre in Late Antiquity, featuring Laura Lieber

In this episode, Laura Lieber, Professor of Religious Studies at Duke University, discusses her current research on the intersection between synagogue practices and the theatre in late antique Judaism. She highlights theatrical features especially in Jewish liturgical poetry, explaining how such features can be identified and what they suggest for understanding ancient Jewish communities. Her goal, she says, is a lively, dynamic reconstruction of what synagogue life. Lieber also explains that the intersection between synagogue and theatre is just one of the ways that Jews engaged in what she describes as the glittering cultural moment that was late antiquity.

Episode 8: Jesus Springs, CO, and American Evangelicalism, featuring William Schultz

In this episode, we talk with William Schultz, Fellow in the Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History at Harvard University, about his forthcoming book, Jesus Springs: How Colorado Springs Became the Capital of the Culture Wars (University of North Carolina Press). Schultz describes the rise of Colorado Springs, CO, as a stronghold of Evangelical Christianity in the late 20th century and explains the confluence of economic, social, and political factors that contributed to the city's new identity. He also discusses the ways that this Christian identity intersected with other major cultural forces in Colorado Springs, including the city's substantial military presence. The conversation concludes with Schultz’s comments on contemporary Evangelical Christianity in America and its enduring political significance.

Episode 7: Apocalypse! From Ancient Judaism and Christianity to QAnon, featuring Meira Kensky

In this episode, Meira Kensky, Joseph E. McCabe Associate Professor of Religion at Coe College, discusses her work on ancient and medieval Jewish and Christian apocalyptic texts. She explains, in particular, the appeal of their fictive descriptions of otherworldly journeys—including to hell—and the realness of these other worlds for the communities in which the texts circulated. In addition, Kensky discusses the continuing role that apocalyptic thought plays in contemporary American religious communities, using the example of the Evangelical Christian book series Left Behind. Speaking in the aftermath of the Capitol attack and in the lead up to the presidential inauguration, she also draws connections between ancient apocalypse and modern conspiracy theories, with special focus on QAnon and its distinctly religious qualities.

Episode 6: The Idea of Scripture, featuring David Lambert

In this episode, David Lambert, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, discusses his new research on the idea of Scripture, especially in the context of ancient Judaism. Professor Lambert suggests that the concept of "assemblages" is a productive way to understanding the development of, and interactions with, religious texts in antiquity. He also discusses the relevance of these ideas for contemporary interactions with the Bible, both religious and non-religious.

Episode 5: Race, Healthcare, and Social Ethics, featuring Patrick Smith

This episode features Patrick T. Smith, Associate Research Professor of Theological Ethics and Bioethics and Senior Fellow in the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University. The conversation focuses on Professor Smith’s new research, which addresses the intersection of race and bioethics. Professor Smith discusses the impact of both racist attitudes and structural racism in pregnancy outcomes in the United States as well as the role of the Christian ethicist in addressing such social problems. Professor Smith also contextualizes this work in relation to both the current moment and the longer push for racial justice in America across the past two centuries.