Sasha Sagan sits down with actors KATIE LOWES and ADAM SHAPIRO to explore a common custom that seems rooted in antiquity but is actually younger than Cher.
We’ll also hear from author RACHAEL LENNON about the surprising origins of the custom, and how we might coax it away from its problematic features into the 21st century.
Sasha Sagan kicks off the Strange Customs podcast with actor, author, and activist BRANDON KYLE GOODMAN in a thoughtful and hilarious conversation about an ancient custom that is a major part of Brandon’s life—but one they couldn’t have participated in just a few years ago.
We’ll also hear from historian STEPHANIE COONTZ about how changeable and varied this “traditional” custom has actually been over the centuries.
Reading Time: 9 minutes The Respect for Marriage Act finally passed a its last vote. It’s now on its way to the president’s desk, where he’ll likely sign it into law on Tuesday. But it got there over the kicking and screaming of the Christian Right, a loose-knit assortment of hardline evangelical culture warriors and creepily-authoritarian hardline Catholics.
Reading Time: 5 minutes With Russia having formally annexed four occupied regions in Ukraine after a series of sham referendums, to strong rebuke and promises of escalating consequences from the EU and NATO, one can be forgiven for thinking this was an altogether bleak week. (The recent press of an extreme hurricane in Florida, and ongoing energy grid destabilization […]
Reading Time: 2 minutes The issue of sexuality and same-sex marriage created controversy at the start of the 15th Lambeth Conference, where the churches of the Anglican Communion meet every decade. The issue of same-sex marriage has become divisive inside the communion, which is chaired by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. Currently, only a small number of churches […]
Reading Time: 5 minutes The Christian hate group Liberty Counsel is attempting to rally its members against a bill that would protect marriage equality nationwide… by invoking the specter of child brides. It’s a desperate tactic for a group that’s never been known for honesty or decency. All of this stems from the Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes In a politically wise move this week, Democrats in the House voted to pass the “Respect for Marriage Act,” which would defend same-sex marriage from the whims of a right-wing Supreme Court bloc that has no respect for legal precedent. By forcing votes on this bill, they also revealed how the Republican Party has shifted on […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes On Friday, during a speech at the graduation ceremony for River Valley High School in Caledonia, Ohio, former RV graduate and local business owner Jim McGuire told students to follow the Bible and to stop being gay. “Choose a spouse,” he said, adding, “I also strongly suggest to make sure to choose biblical principles—you know […]
Reading Time: 7 minutes In 2012, the RCA began to break apart over homosexuality. One faction –the more mainline end — wanted inclusion. The other — the culture warriors — wanted to the denomination to be bigots-for-Jesus. That breakup completed this month, with 43 congregations full of culture warriors leaving. They’re joining a new denomination, ARC (Alliance of Reformed Churches). All this, over a culture war evangelicals lost over a decade ago!
Reading Time: 15 minutes To hear Tim Keller talk, you’d think the Christian church was responsible for every progressive social step forward that Western civilization has taken. In order to support this idea, Keller turns in chapter four of The Reason for God to address the developments of the Abolition movement and of the Civil Rights movement in the United […]
