Religion in the American Experience

Welcome to another episode of “Religion in the American Experience”, the podcast that equips listeners to be more effective stewards of religion’s positive role in the American experiment in self-government.

Today we will be exploring the surprising, fascinating, and little-known story of post-Vatican II liturgical jazz music in mid-twentieth century Black Catholic America.

 

Season 4, Episode 24 – Liturgical Jazz and Mid-Twentieth Century Black Catholic America

 

Guest Bio

Deanna Witkowski is a pianist, composer, scholar and author of Mary Lou Williams: Music For The Soul, winner of the 2022 ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award and the 2022 Jazz Journalists Association Award for Biography of the Year. Deanna has taught for Jazz at Lincoln Center and performed Williams’ compositions as a featured guest with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. In 2024, Witkowski completed her PhD in jazz studies at the University of Pittsburgh and is currently writing her second book based on her doctoral dissertation, “Jazz in the Pews: Experiments in Sunday Worship in the 1960s.”

Show notes:

Mass for Every Season

Mass for the Lenten Season (Stonewall Chorale + DW Trio)--starts at 12:30

 

Podcast Support

Scholarly support provided by Dr. Lauren Turek, Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Technical audio and video assistance provided by Dr. Randall Stephens, a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo.

Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article II, Section 1 “Oath or Affirmation” clause; Article VI “no religious Test” clause; and the free exercise and non-establishment clauses in the Bill of Rights.

 Welcome to another episode of “Religion in the American Experience”, the podcast that equips listeners to be more effective stewards of religion’s positive role in the American experiment in self-government.

The country is celebrating America’s 250^th  – the semiquincentennial – and we are featuring episodes that explore the religion of the principal actors during the country’s founding era. Today we will be talking with Dr. Tommy Kidd about Benjamin Franklin and his religious life and beliefs.

 

Season 4, Episode 23 – Benjamin Franklin’s Religion

 

Guest Bio

Thomas S. Kidd is among the most celebrated scholars of religion and the founding of the United States. He serves as Research Professor of Church History at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and is the John and Sharon Yeats Endowed Chair of Baptist Studies. Dr. Kidd has authored numerous books, including Thomas Jefferson: A Biography of Spirit and Flesh, Benjamin Franklin: The Religious Life of a Founding Father, and George Whitefield: America’s Spiritual Founding Father.

 

Podcast Support

Scholarly support provided by Dr. Lauren Turek, Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Technical audio and video assistance provided by Dr. Randall Stephens, a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo.

Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article II, Section 1 “Oath or Affirmation” clause; Article VI “no religious Test” clause; and the free exercise and non-establishment clauses in the Bill of Rights.

Welcome to another episode of “The Making of US: Lived Religion in America”, a subseries of the podcast “Religion in the American Experience”, which makes each of us more effective stewards of religion’s positive role in the American experiment in self-government.

In this subseries we explore the role religion has played in the lives of everyday Americans, reminding us that while religion exerts a significant influence on the events and movements of the American project, religions primary work and where it has the most influence, is in the everyday lives of adherents.

 

Season 4, Episode 22 – The Making of U.S.: Lived Religion in America

Today Matt Nowakowski of Minneapolis, Minnesota joins us to share his own religious history.

1. Veronica Mrnik, Matt's maternal grandmother, immigrated from Czechoslovakia and raised the family through St. Joseph's Church in Cudahy, WI. https://www.nativitycudahy.org/our-parish-history
2. Matt is associated with the Brothers of the Christian Schools-The Lasallian Brothers. https://www.lasalle.org/en/

 

Podcast Support

Scholarly support provided by Dr. Lauren Turek, Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. 

Technical audio and video assistance provided by Dr. Randall Stephens, a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo. 

Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article II, Section 1 “Oath or Affirmation” clause; Article VI “no religious Test” clause; and the free exercise and non-establishment clauses in the Bill of Rights.

The influence of religion on American medicine is pervasive. This episode is an interview with Dr. Jeff Levin about the contents of his book Religion and Medicine: A History of the Encounter Between Humanity’s Two Greatest Institutions.

We believe that understanding this thread in America’s religious fabric will make each of us more effective stewards of religion’s role in the American experiment in self-government.

 

Season 4, Episode 21 – Religion and American Medicine – Part 1.

 

Guest Bio

Jeff Levin is an epidemiologist and religious scholar, and holds a distinguished chair at Baylor University, where he is University Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health, Professor of Medical Humanities, Director of the Program on Religion and Population Health at the Institute for Studies of Religion, and Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Institute for Global Human Flourishing. Jeff is the author, editor, or co-editor of over 11 books, including Religion and Medicine: A History of the Encounter Between Humanity’s Two Greatest Institutions.

 

Podcast Support

Scholarly support provided by Dr. Lauren Turek, Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

 

Technical audio and video assistance provided by Dr. Randall Stephens, a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo.

 

Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article II, Section 1 “Oath or Affirmation” clause; Article VI “no religious Test” clause ; and the free exercise and non-establishment clauses in the Bill of Rights.

 

The influence of the King James Bible on American literature has been vast. This is the first of many episodes that will explore this topic, and it will focus on ways this particular edition of the Bible has shaped the American novel.

 

We believe that understanding this thread in America’s religious fabric will make each of us more effective stewards of religion’s role in the American experiment in self-government.

 

Season 4, Episode 20 – The Influence of the King James Bible on the American Novel – Part 1.

 

Guest Bio

Robert Alter is Professor in the Graduate School and Emeritus Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, and author of Pen of Iron: American Prose and the King James Bible. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the Council of Scholars of the Library of Congress, and is past president of the Association of Literary Scholars and Critics. His twenty-four published books include two prize-winning volumes on biblical narrative and poetry and award-winning translations of Genesis and of the Five Books of Moses.

 

Podcast Support

Scholarly support provided by Dr. Lauren Turek, Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

 

Technical audio and video assistance provided by Dr. Randall Stephens, a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo.

 

Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article II, Section 1 “Oath or Affirmation” clause; Article VI “no religious Test” clause ; and the free exercise and non-establishment clauses in the Bill of Rights.

 

This year during America’s 250^th anniversary, we are paying particular attention to how religion figured into the people and events of the country’s founding era.

In May of 1776 Presbyterian minister John Witherspoon gave a unique sermon entitled The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men, which created quite a stir. What is in this sermon that would raise eyebrows, who exactly was John Witherspoon, and what influence did the sermon and preacher have on the creation of the United States?

We believe that understanding this thread in America’s religious fabric will make each of us more effective stewards of religion’s role in the American experiment in self-government.

 

Season 4, Episode 19 – How Did John Witherspoon’s Sermon Influence the American Revolution?

 

Guest Bio

Gideon Mailer is Professor of History at the University of Minnesota. His research interests include the evolution of liberty, beginning with the ancient Anglo-Scottish constitutional framework and culminating in the establishment of the United States of America. Gideon is the author of The Character of Freedom: The Scottish Enlightenment and American Slavery and John Witherspoon’s American Revolution.

SHOWNOTES:

 https://youtu.be/Fa1ad9QCv_s?si=QJPlLRzkVKG9P_se

 

Podcast Support

Scholarly support provided by Dr. Lauren Turek, Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Technical audio and video assistance provided by Dr. Randall Stephens, a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo.

Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article II, Section 1 “Oath or Affirmation” clause; Article VI “no religious Test” clause ; and the two Bill of Rights religion clauses.

Paul David Hewson, also known as Bono, was born in Dublin, Ireland on May 10, 1960. He is the founding member and lead singer of the band U2, formed in 1976, the same year he experienced a Christian conversion. In 1982 he married Alison Stewart, whom he met when he was a teenager. Bono is the recipient of 22 Grammy Awards and in 2005 was, as part of U2, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2004 Bono, together with two others and 11 humanitarian and advocacy organizations, founded the One Campaign, which advocates for the investments needed to create economic opportunities and healthier lives in Africa. This episode will explore the role religion has played in his life and music.

We believe that understanding this particular thread of the American fabric will make each of us more effective stewards of religion’s role in the ongoing American project.

 

Season 4, Episode 18 – Bono and His Religion

 

Guest Bio

Chad Seales is Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Holder Designate of the Brian F. Bolton Distinguished Professorship in Secular Studies, at The University of Texas at Austin. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research addresses the cultural relationship between religion and secularism in American life. He is editor of the Routledge Handbook of Religion and American Culture, and the author of Religion Around Bono: Evangelical Enchantment and Neoliberal Capitalism and The Secular Spectacle: Performing Religion in a Southern Town, and has published articles and book chapters on religious comparison, religion and food, industrial religion, corporate chaplaincy, religion and film, and secularism and secularization in the United States.

 

SHOWNOTES:

 “40” - https://youtu.be/lj8rzXBVmBY?si=Rx9FNJM2ZmuNzhg_

Example of an Episcopal “U2charist” service - https://www.youtube.com/live/1B2KB-72nnA?si=uc8hywKcK_s-sCJO

 

Podcast Support

Scholarly support provided by Dr. Lauren Turek, Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Technical audio and video assistance provided by Dr. Randall Stephens, a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo.

Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article II, Section 1; Article VI; and Bill of Rights religion clauses.

Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan Gough) was born on April 7, 1915, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. Enduring a turbulent childhood, she started singing in New York City in her teenage years, becoming an exceptionally talented, and then famous, jazz and swing singer in the 1930s and 40s. Billie won four Grammy Awards, all of them posthumously. We would like to investigate the religious influences on Billie Holiday’s life, times, and music.

We believe that understanding this particular thread of the American fabric will make each of us more effective stewards of religion’s role in the ongoing American project.

 

Season 4, Episode 17 – Religion and the Life, Times, and Music of Billie Holiday

 

Guest Bio

Tracy Fessenden has agreed to help us with this. Professor Tracy Fessenden is the Steve and Margaret Forster Professor in the School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies at Arizona State University and Director of Strategic Initiatives in the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict, where she also directs the Initiative in Spirituality and Public Life. Her work focuses on, among other things but most relevant for our topic today, religion and American literature and the arts and the relationship between religion and the secular in American law, culture, and public life. She is the author of Religion Around Billie Holiday and Culture and Redemption: Religion, the Secular, and American Literature.

It is our hope that by answering this question, each of us will be more effective stewards of religion’s role in the American experiment in self-government.

SHOWNOTES:

https://billieholiday.com/

Billie Holiday - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Holiday

“Strange Fruit” - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Fruit

“God Bless the Child” - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_Bless_the_Child_(Billie_Holiday_song)

House of the Good Shepherd for Colored Gils in Baltimore, Maryland: https://mavcor.yale.edu/mavcor-journal/colored-magdalens-house-good-shepherd-colored-girls-baltimore-ca-1930s

 

Podcast Support

Scholarly support provided by Dr. Lauren Turek, Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Technical audio and video assistance provided by Dr. Randall Stephens, a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo.

Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article VI and Bill of Rights religion clauses.

As we celebrate America’s 250^th, this is a timely question to ask: Was the American Revolutionary war biblical and just – religiously permissible and religiously justifiable – in the minds of the leaders and colonists who fought in and supported it?

It is our hope that by answering this question, each of us will be more effective stewards of religion’s role in the American experiment in self-government.

 

Season 4, Episode 16 – Was the Revolutionary War Biblical and Just?

 

Guest Bio

Mark David Hall is professor at the Robertson School of Government at Regent University. He is renown scholar of early America, with expertise in Christianity’s role in the America’s experiment in self-government. Dr. Hall is also widely regarded as a leading student of religious liberty and church-state relations in America and is the author of many books including Proclaim Liberty Through All the Land: How Christianity Has Advanced Freedom and Equality for All Americans and Did America Have a Christian Founding?: Separating Modern Myth from Historical Truth.

SHOWNOTES:

https://www.markdavidhall.org/

 

Podcast Support

Scholarly support provided by Dr. Lauren Turek, Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Technical audio and video assistance provided by Dr. Randall Stephens, a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo.

Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article VI and Bill of Rights religion clauses.

During America’s 250^th anniversary year we are discussing how religion shaped the founding of the United States. This episode explores religion and the American revolution.

It is our hope that by understanding this particular topic, each of us will become more effective stewards of religion’s role in the American experiment in self-government.

 

Season 4, Episode 15 – Religion and the American Revolution

 

Guest Bio

Our guest today is Kate Carté, a Professor of History at Southern Methodist University who specializes in early American and Atlantic history and is author of Religion and the American Revolution: An Imperial History. Kate has been a Charles A. Ryskamp Fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies, an affiliate fellow of the Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University, a Franklin Fellow of the American Philosophical Society, and a Barra Postdoctoral Fellow at the McNeil Center for Early American Studies.

 

Podcast Support

Scholarly support provided by Dr. Lauren Turek, Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Technical audio and video assistance provided by Dr. Randall Stephens, a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo.

Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article VI and Bill of Rights religion clauses.