Ep97. The Miracle of Religion in Modern Manhattan, Jon Butler

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Ep97. The Miracle of Religion in Modern Manhattan, Jon Butler

I sat down with historian Jon Butler to discuss his book God in Gotham which explores religion in Manhattan from the last C19th to midC20th. We discuss how - contrary to much opinion (then and now) - modernity, urban density, and plurality did not prove a stranglehold on religion in this most city of cities but proved fertile ground for its flourishing. We also discuss religion, race, and activism in this period, in particular the efforts of the Reverends Adam Clayton Powell and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. We also explore what he dubs 'God's Urban Hothouse' the particularly fertile theological institutions (Union and the Jewish Theological Seminary) and prominent theologians and religious figures who worked in this time (e.g. Heschel, Day, Niebuhr, Tillich, Ida Bell Robinson, the Powells again). It is a rich discussion about an incredible story.

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Ep90. Redfern: Aboriginal Activism in the 1970s, Johanna Perheentupa

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Ep90. Redfern: Aboriginal Activism in the 1970s, Johanna Perheentupa

I sat down with Johanna Perheentupa to discuss her new book on Aboriginal activism and the push for self-determination in Redfern in the 1970s. We discuss the conditions and social changes that made Redfern ripe for such radical change and the development of landmark organisations such as the Aboriginal Legal Service, the National Black Theatre, Aboriginal Medical Service, Murawina preschool, and the Aboriginal Housing Company. We discuss the relationship between these organisations and the well known demonstrations of the time (such as the Tent Embassy). We discuss the way the ALS emerged as a response to police violence, how the Black Theatre sought to shape a national Indigenous identity, and how the ALS and AHC engaged the fight for land rights in the city.

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Ep81. Dying to be Normal, Brett Krutzsch

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Ep81. Dying to be Normal, Brett Krutzsch

I sat down with Brett Krutzsch to talk about his book Dying to Be Normal: Gay Martyrs and the Transformation of American Sexual Politics. The book highlights how, through the process of commemoration, secular gay activists deployed Protestant Christian ideals to present gays as similar to upstanding heterosexuals and, therefore, as deserving of equal rights. Our conversation centres on the treatment of Harvey Milk, Matthew Shepard, and Tyler Clementi who, in the wake of their deaths, had aspects of their life, politics, and personality erased in order that they might make more appropriate martyrs in the eyes of white Protestant America. Through this we see the way Christian language of sacrifice and redemption, and the symbol of crucifixion still hold sway in American society and thus limit the ways (and the who) of seeking equality and dignity. As Krutzsch writes, "Ultimately, this is a story of exclusion, built on a politics of inclusion, shaped and foreclosed by a white Protestant vision of “normal” American citizens."

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