Brad Onishi and Dan Miller explore the American right’s furious reaction to Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and what the controversy reveals about race, representation, gender, sexuality, and the politics of “Western civilization.” From outrage over Black actors and queer representation in contemporary adaptations to the right’s insistence that certain stories, traditions, and cultural identities belong exclusively to white people, the conversation examines why the boundaries of “the West” are constantly being defended—and who gets pushed outside them. The discussion then turns to the rise of civilizational populism and its growing influence on the American right. Brad and Dan unpack how appeals to “Western Christian civilization” are being used to unite Christian nationalists, technocrats, billionaires, and authoritarian political actors around a shared vision of cultural hierarchy and social order. They connect the backlash over The Odyssey to Marco Rubio’s foreign policy, the politics of Venezuela, the disputed results of a national civics competition, and the broader question of who gets to represent the future of America. Subscribe to the Axis Mundi Network on Substack:⁠https://axismundinetwork.substack.com⁠Become a paid subscriber:⁠https://axismundinetwork.substack.com⁠... Support our work with a tax-deductible donation:⁠https://www.irmce.org/donate⁠Visit the Institute for Religion, Media, and Civic Engagement (IRMCE):⁠https://www.irmce.org⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this special episode, I’m sharing the prologue to my forthcoming book, American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy, which will be published on September 15, 2026. The story begins with my own experience as a teenager in evangelical Christianity—and with the way my understanding of Jesus, America, and the role of Christians in public life has changed over the past three decades. From the “missional” church movement of the 1990s to the rise of Christian nationalism, civilizational supremacy, and the growing embrace of authoritarian power, this prologue explores how “Jesus is King” has become not only a statement of faith, but a political demand. This is a sneak peek at American Caesar, a book about the religious and ideological movements reshaping American democracy—and the future of the country I call home. American Caesar: ⁠https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/⁠ From Silicon Valley boardrooms to rural pulpits, from Catholic monasteries to Beltway think tanks and Project 2025, a convergence is underway. Reactionary Catholics dream of a new Christendom. Protestant pastors invoke divine right over democratic rule. Tech billionaires, led by the likes of Peter Thiel, argue that freedom and democracy are incompatible. Their solution? A singular ruler to bring “order” out of what they see as liberal chaos.With a theologian’s sensibility, a journalist’s touch, and a historian’s eye for how movements evolve and adapt, Dr. Bradley B. Onishi traces the strange alliance between spiritual warfare and Silicon Valley libertarianism. At the center of it all is the desire for an unbound executive—one man, beyond checks, beyond balance, beyond democracy. This isn’t nostalgia for the 1950s. It’s an organized attempt to abandon the American experiment altogether. A former insider turned academic expert, Onishi brings unmatched depth to this investigation—tracing his own path from evangelical pastor to co-host of Straight White American Jesus, the nation’s leading religion and politics podcast.As the 2024 election fades into history and a new political order takes shape, American Caesar is not just a warning. It’s a map of how we got here—and a call to act before the Republic as we know it becomes just another chapter in a forgotten history book. American Caesar: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How much love is enough? In this episode of It’s In the Code, part of the series “Questions I Wasn’t Supposed to Ask in Church,” we examine one of the most influential teachings in conservative Christianity: that Christians must love God or Jesus more than anyone and anything else. What happens when this teaching becomes an impossible demand? Drawing on a listener’s powerful experience, we explore the connection between the love of God, religious trauma, Christian deconstruction, and the damaging effects that toxic religious teachings can have on relationships with parents, children, partners, and family. For many people leaving high-control religion or evangelical Christianity, questions about how to love God—and whether loving God requires loving other people less—can become central to the process of religious deconstruction. This episode also explores the history of Christian theology and the influence of Greek philosophy on Christian ideas about God, love, the body, the material world, mortality, and human relationships. Is loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength really the same thing as loving God more than everyone else? Can love of God and love of other people exist in harmony? And what if the things we love most are precisely the things that are finite, temporary, and mortal? This conversation about conservative Christianity, religious trauma, spiritual abuse, Christian deconstruction, and the meaning of love ultimately asks whether we need to rethink both love and God. Support independent journalism and public scholarship by becoming a member or making a donation. Follow the Axis Daily Brief for daily analysis of religion, politics, Christian nationalism, and American culture on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Learn more about Axis Mundi and membership at Axis Mundi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trump’s war with Iran is exposing a growing fracture inside the MAGA coalition. As the conflict continues, young America First voices—including Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, and Nick Fuentes—are increasingly at odds with the Christian nationalist and Christian Zionist establishment that continues to support Israel and the war. Brad Onishi, Matthew D. Taylor, and Holly Berkley Fletcher discuss the expanding Iran conflict, the Strait of Hormuz, the threat of a wider regional war, and why the consequences could become increasingly difficult for the Trump administration to contain ahead of the midterm elections. They also examine the generational divide within MAGA, the rise of anti-Semitism and Christian Zionism on the far right, and the growing influence of young online figures who may shape what comes after Trump. The conversation also turns to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s obsession with testosterone, masculinity, and the “warrior” ideal. What does the push to increase testosterone levels in the military reveal about Christian nationalism, the manosphere, evangelical purity culture, gender politics, and the growing ideological influence of the far right inside the U.S. military? This episode explores the intersection of Christian nationalism, MAGA politics, the Iran war, Israel, anti-Semitism, Christian Zionism, masculinity, testosterone, Pete Hegseth, authoritarianism, and the future of the American right. If you value independent reporting and analysis on religion, politics, and democracy, please support the Axis Mundi Network. Subscribe to the Axis Mundi Network on Substack:https://axismundinetwork.substack.comBecome a paid subscriber:https://axismundinetwork.substack.com... Support our work with a tax-deductible donation:https://www.irmce.org/donateVisit the Institute for Religion, Media, and Civic Engagement (IRMCE):https://www.irmce.org#ChristianNationalism #MAGA #Trump #Iran #PeteHegseth #ChristianZionism #Politics Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on the Straight White American Jesus Sunday Interview, host Annika Brockschmidt sits down with extremism researcher Eviane Leidig, author of The Women of the Far Right: Social Media Influencers and Online Radicalization, for an in-depth conversation about the women reshaping today's far-right movement. Together they explore how female influencers have become some of the movement's most effective communicators, using lifestyle content, tradwife aesthetics, motherhood, religion, and social media to normalize extremist ideas for mainstream audiences. From Lauren Southern and Lana Lokteff to the emerging "womanosphere," Leidig explains how these figures bridge fringe ideologies and conservative politics while building powerful online communities that extend far beyond national borders. Annika and Evian also examine the relationship between gender, Christianity, anti-feminism, transnational organizing, and white nationalism, unpacking the contradictions that allow women to thrive within deeply patriarchal movements. The conversation closes with a look at the international networks connecting the American and European far right, including the role of influencers, social media platforms, and digital propaganda in shaping contemporary extremist politics. If you value conversations grounded in scholarship and historical context, consider supporting Straight White American Jesus and Axis Mundi Media by becoming a member at Axis Mundi Membership. You'll receive ad-free episodes, bonus content, and access to our community. Be sure to subscribe, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and sign up for the SWAJ newsletter to stay up to date with every new episode. Subscribe to the SWAJ Newsletter Support independent journalism and analysis from Axis Mundi Media by becoming a subscriber: ⁠https://axismundinetwork.substack.com⁠ Subscribe to the Axis Mundi Network on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@AxisMundiNetwork⁠ Learn more about the Institute for Religion, Media, and Civic Engagement: ⁠https://www.irmce.org⁠ Eviane Leidig: The Women of the Far Right: https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-women-of-the-far-right/9780231210171/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Straight White American Jesus, Brad Onishi sits down with renowned scholar, author, and television producer Reza Aslan for a wide-ranging conversation about America's religious past—and why that history matters more than ever. Drawing on Aslan's new podcast series, Our Seven Neighbors, they unpack the myths surrounding "one nation under God," the long struggle for genuine religious freedom, and the forgotten stories of Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Catholics, Indigenous peoples, and other communities who had to fight for the rights they were promised. Together they explore how Christian nationalism distorts American history, why religious pluralism has always been contested, and what the nation's 250th anniversary should really invite us to remember. The conversation also turns to immigration, Islamophobia, Chinese exclusion, the enduring legacy of empire, and even an extended behind-the-scenes discussion of HBO's The Leftovers, where Aslan served as a producer and helped shape many of the show's religious themes. Whether you're interested in American politics, religion, history, or culture, this episode offers a compelling reminder that democracy has always depended on expanding the circle of belonging—not narrowing it. Support independent journalism and analysis from Axis Mundi Media by becoming a subscriber: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com Subscribe to the Axis Mundi Network on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AxisMundiNetwork Learn more about the Institute for Religion, Media, and Civic Engagement: https://www.irmce.org Our Seven Neighbors: https://www.axismundi.us/podcasts/our-seven-neighbors Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of It's In the Code, host Dan Miller tackles one of the most provocative questions a believer can ask: Did God lie in the Garden of Eden? Beginning with a listener's question about Genesis and God's warning that Adam and Eve would die if they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Dan takes a close look at the biblical text itself rather than the assumptions many Christians bring to it. Along the way, he explores how later theological traditions—including original sin, spiritual death, and the identification of the serpent with Satan—have shaped the way this familiar story is understood, often in ways that go beyond what the text actually says. Drawing connections to his previous episode on Job, Dan argues that some of the Bible's most challenging passages become even more unsettling when read carefully and without inherited interpretations. He examines the role of the serpent, the meaning of knowledge, and why difficult questions about scripture are so often discouraged in high-control religious communities. Rather than seeing these questions as signs of weak faith, Dan suggests they emerge from taking the Bible seriously enough to wrestle honestly with its complexities. If you've ever been told there are questions you're not supposed to ask in church, this episode invites you to ask them anyway. If you value independent analysis at the intersection of religion and politics, subscribe to the Axis Mundi Network on Substack at ⁠⁠⁠https://axismundinetwork.substack.com⁠⁠⁠ for daily briefings, exclusive podcasts, and live events. You can also support our work by becoming a member or making a tax-deductible donation through the Institute for Religion, Media, and Civic Engagement (IRMCE) at ⁠⁠⁠https://www.irmce.org⁠⁠⁠. Subscribe to Axis Mundi Media: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://axismundinetwork.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Support our work: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://axismundinetwork.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠... Make a tax-deductible donation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.irmce.org/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Listen to the Axis Daily Brief: Axis Daily Brief on Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Axis Daily Brief on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/033zp4M...⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Axis Daily Brief RSS Feed: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast...⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Axis Live, Brad Onishi and Matthew D. Taylor examine the political and religious legacy of Lindsey Graham following his death, asking how a senator once known for challenging Donald Trump ultimately became one of Trump's most loyal defenders. They explore Graham's transformation through the lens of white evangelical politics, Christian nationalism, and the pursuit of political power, while also discussing the contradictions between the Religious Right's "pro-life" identity and its support for war, immigration crackdowns, and other policies that raise difficult moral questions. The conversation also considers what Graham's passing signals about the future of the Republican Party, particularly as younger America First leaders challenge the foreign policy and evangelical consensus that Graham represented for decades. The second half of the show turns to the ongoing pretrial hearings in the Charlie Kirk murder case, where questions about religion, politics, and Christian identity are already shaping legal arguments. Brad and Matt unpack how prosecutors and defense attorneys are framing Kirk's beliefs, the growing effort to portray him as a Christian martyr, and the broader implications for Christian nationalism in American public life. They are joined by Arizona journalist Haley Orion of Left Coast Right Watch, who offers on-the-ground reporting from the Utah courthouse and explains why the trial has become a flashpoint for MAGA factions, conspiracy theories, and the future of Turning Point USA. Together, they separate fact from speculation while exploring how religion continues to shape America's political conflicts. If you value independent analysis at the intersection of religion and politics, subscribe to the Axis Mundi Network on Substack at ⁠⁠https://axismundinetwork.substack.com⁠⁠ for daily briefings, exclusive podcasts, and live events. You can also support our work by becoming a member or making a tax-deductible donation through the Institute for Religion, Media, and Civic Engagement (IRMCE) at ⁠⁠https://www.irmce.org⁠⁠. Subscribe to Axis Mundi Media: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://axismundinetwork.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ Support our work: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://axismundinetwork.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠... Make a tax-deductible donation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.irmce.org/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠ Listen to the Axis Daily Brief: Axis Daily Brief on Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...⁠⁠⁠⁠ Axis Daily Brief on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/033zp4M...⁠⁠⁠⁠ Axis Daily Brief RSS Feed: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast...⁠⁠⁠⁠ Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Sunday Interview, Brad Onishi sits down with historian and former CIA Africa analyst Holly Berkley Fletcher, author of The Missionary Kids: Unmasking the Myths of White Evangelicalism. Drawing on her experience growing up as a Southern Baptist missionary kid in Kenya, Fletcher explores how the evangelical missionary movement became intertwined with American exceptionalism, racial hierarchy, patriarchy, and Christian nationalism. Together, they examine why missionary culture often functions as a form of spiritual bypassing—allowing white evangelicals to see themselves as heroes abroad while avoiding difficult conversations about racism, power, and injustice at home. The conversation also explores the hidden costs of missionary life, including abuse, isolation, authoritarianism, and the impossible expectations placed on missionary families. Fletcher explains how the same dynamics that have fueled the Southern Baptist abuse crisis and evangelical support for Donald Trump emerge from a culture rooted in fear, certainty, and hierarchy. It's a wide-ranging discussion about faith, identity, and the future of American evangelicalism—and why understanding the missionary movement helps explain some of the most pressing religious and political conflicts in the United States today. The Missionary Kids: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798889832034/The-Missionary-Kids If you value independent analysis at the intersection of religion and politics, subscribe to the Axis Mundi Network on Substack at ⁠https://axismundinetwork.substack.com⁠ for daily briefings, exclusive podcasts, and live events. You can also support our work by becoming a member or making a tax-deductible donation through the Institute for Religion, Media, and Civic Engagement (IRMCE) at ⁠https://www.irmce.org⁠. Subscribe to Axis Mundi Media: ⁠⁠⁠https://axismundinetwork.substack.com⁠⁠⁠ Support our work: ⁠⁠⁠https://axismundinetwork.substack.com⁠⁠⁠... Make a tax-deductible donation: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.irmce.org/donate⁠⁠⁠ Listen to the Axis Daily Brief: Axis Daily Brief on Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...⁠⁠⁠ Axis Daily Brief on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/033zp4M...⁠⁠⁠ Axis Daily Brief RSS Feed: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast...⁠⁠⁠ Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Doug Wilson's recent NPR interview offers a revealing look at how Christian nationalism has moved from the political fringe into the mainstream. In this episode, Brad Onishi and Dan Miller unpack Wilson's arguments about household voting, patriarchy, and the Constitution, showing why his vision represents a fundamental challenge to liberal democracy. They also discuss Ken Paxton's latest controversy, the GOP's continued push to restrict birthright citizenship, and why these stories reveal a broader strategy to reshape American politics around power rather than pluralism. The conversation closes with a surprising discussion of tech entrepreneur Bryan Johnson's quest to defeat aging and what Silicon Valley's obsession with optimizing human life says about the limits of technology, the meaning of community, and what it means to be human. If you value independent analysis at the intersection of religion and politics, subscribe to the Axis Mundi Network on Substack at https://axismundinetwork.substack.com for daily briefings, exclusive podcasts, and live events. You can also support our work by becoming a member or making a tax-deductible donation through the Institute for Religion, Media, and Civic Engagement (IRMCE) at https://www.irmce.org. Subscribe to Axis Mundi Media: ⁠⁠https://axismundinetwork.substack.com⁠⁠ Support our work: ⁠⁠https://axismundinetwork.substack.com⁠⁠... Make a tax-deductible donation: ⁠⁠https://www.irmce.org/donate⁠⁠ Listen to the Axis Daily Brief: Axis Daily Brief on Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...⁠⁠ Axis Daily Brief on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/033zp4M...⁠⁠ Axis Daily Brief RSS Feed: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast...⁠⁠ Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices