Season 4
In this podcast I explore how images influence our understanding of reality and the sacred through conversations with thought leaders on art, visual culture, and religion. Each episode delves into a different area of visual theology, opening to spiritual wisdom while deconstructing an image-saturated world.
Season Four: Material Religion
In this season, we turn our attention to material religion, a field that offers a way to see how images, objects, actions, and spaces participate in making belief tangible. I am joined by a group of guests carefully chosen for their expertise and diverse perspectives. Together they show how material religion manifests in culture, from ancient Christianity to contemporary art, from philosophy and phenomenology to global devotional practices, and from museum work to heritage studies. Their ideas help illuminate how the sacred is expressed, negotiated, contested, and encountered through the material life of faith.
Produced by Radix Magazine and the Foundation for Spirituality and the Arts, the podcast is also available to stream from their websites. Click either logo.
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EPISODE 1
Andrew Coates
Material Religion Today
Andrew is a lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at Duke University. He is the managing editor of Material Religion: the Journal of Objects, Art, and Belief and the author of What is Protestant Art?, a short survey of Protestant images and visual cultures from the Reformation to the present. Andrew has published articles on Bible charts, comic book Bibles, and Protestant fundamentalism in America. He is currently working on a project about maps of the "Holy Land" in the Scofield Bible. He also teaches undergraduate classes about the history of religion in the United States, atheism and secularism, and religion and film.
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In this episode, I sit down with Andrew to establish the foundations of material religion—what it is, why it matters, and how it’s transforming the study of faith today. He helps map the key debates and methodological commitments shaping the field, emphasizing its inherently interdisciplinary nature and the global perspectives pushing its boundaries. This conversation lays the groundwork for understanding how material forms, ancient and emerging, shape belief, devotion, and religious imagination.​
EPISODE 2
Hillary Kaell
Material Religion Across Borders
Hillary is Associate Professor of anthropology and religion at McGill University, where she holds a William Dawson Chair. She has edited Everyday Sacred: Religion in Contemporary Quebec and authored Walking Where Jesus Walked: American Christians and Holy Land Pilgrimage. Her monograph, Christian Globalism at Home: Child Sponsorship in the United States, won the 2021 Schaff Prize from the American Society of Church History. She also directs TERA (Technology, Ecology, Religion, Art), a collective of scholars and artists and co-authored the book, The Artful Naturalist.
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In this episode, Hillary and I discuss her research on the devotional power of ordinary objects, the intersections of faith and commerce, and the complex dynamics of child sponsorship networks. We also look at the challenges heritage churches in Quebec face as they adapt to contemporary needs within a secular society, as well as the broader role churches play in urban environments—from zoning and preservation issues to their architectural and historical presence. Our conversation extends to Hillary’s work with the Tera Collective, where art, ecology, and religion meet.
EPISODE 3
Christopher Sheklian
Riches of Armenian Liturgy
Chris is an Assistant Professor of Religion in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Mississippi State University. He has served as Director of the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center at the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America and has worked at Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, the University of Michigan, St. Nersess Armenian Seminary, and Wesleyan University.
Chris’s published work explores the role of liturgy and law in the lives of religious minorities, migration and emplacement, and the question of secularism in relation to religious minority rights. His first monograph is Liturgical Rights: Armenian Minority Presence in Turkey.
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In this conversation, I spoke with Chris about the Armenian liturgy and its theological significance. We discussed the distinctions between liturgy and worship and the sensory fullness of Armenian practice. Our conversation also touched on how cultural and historical forces have shaped Armenian visual forms.
EPISODE 4
Anthony Petro
Christianity and the Culture Wars
Anthony is Associate Professor of American Studies at the University of Notre Dame, where he teaches courses in U.S. religious history, gender and sexuality studies, the long 1980s, and visual culture. His most recent book, Provoking Religion: Sex, Art, and the Culture Wars, examines the history of feminist and queer artists who found themselves caught in the crosshairs of the Christian Right. He is also the author of After the Wrath of God: AIDS, Sexuality, and American Religion. Anthony serves as a series editor for the North American Religions book series at NYU Press. Before joining Notre Dame, he was an associate professor of religion at Boston University, where he also served as the NEH Distinguished Teaching Professor and founded the Health Humanities Project.
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In this conversation, Anthony and I discussed the role of artists in the culture wars of the 80s and 90s and the ongoing relevance of material religion in contemporary art. We also shared thoughts on how artists today continue to engage with religious themes, challenge traditional narratives, and address issues of race, sexuality, and power through their work.
EPISODE 5
Michael J. Crosbie
Spatial Justice in Sacred Space
Michael is Professor of Architecture at the University of Hartford. He is the sole author, editor, or contributor to more than 75 books on architecture, including five books for children.
Michael is the recipient of the Edward S. Frey Memorial Award, in Recognition of the Contributions Made to Religion, Art, and Architecture, bestowed by the American Institute of Architects’ Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art, and Architecture. He’s practiced with Centerbrook Architects and Steven Winter Associates and is a registered architect in the State of Connecticut.
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I spoke with Michael about the relationship between architecture and spirituality, with a focus on sacred architecture and spatial justice. We discussed the historical importance of sacred spaces, the role of inclusivity in design, and how materials and art contribute to meaningful environments. We also explored why accessibility and welcome are essential for sacred spaces if they’re to reflect and effectively serve the diversity of their communities.
EPISODE 6
Jamie Brummitt
Relics and American Faith
Jamie is an Associate Professor of American religions and material culture at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She earned her PhD from Duke University. Her book Protestant Relics in Early America examines relic veneration, corpse inspection, and the art of mourning in the early United States. She also studies Bible and relic practices in the American Civil War Era. Jamie is a past fellow at The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon; The Library Company of Philadelphia; Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library; the Filson Historical Society; and the New England Regional Fellowship Consortium.
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In this conversation, I talk with Jamie about the role of Protestant relics and patriotic symbols and the ways Bibles became contested objects during the Civil War. Jamie also reflects on how secularism and evangelicalism have influenced the material expression of Christianity, and how art continues to function as a site for spiritual experience today. Together, we consider the tensions in modern American Christianity, where material and intellectual understandings of faith often coexist in paradoxical ways.