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.