PODCAST · religion
Depolarize! Podcast
by Dan Koch
Common Ground at the intersection of Politics, Psychology and Faith.
Episodes
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Trump, Evangelicals & Faith in Politics (Peter Wehner)
Today’s guest is Peter Wehner — Vice President and Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, contributing opinion writer for the New York Times, and a contributing editor for The Atlantic magazine. He served in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush Administrations prior to becoming deputy...
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Evangelicalism’s Racial Blindspot, Explained
This one is a doozy! And it’s both here and in the You Have Permission Podcast feed because it’s just that good. Sociologist Michael O. Emerson breaks down his and Christian Smith’s argument as to why White Evangelical Christians have such a bad track record on racial issues, summarized in their...
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How to Resist the Mob (on the Left and Right)
(This episode is appearing on both the You Have Permission and Depolarize! Podcast feeds.) How do we know that we aren’t caught up in a “mob mentality” on social, political, or theological issues? Can universities be places where we teach young people to think critically? Can an openly gay woman...
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Dan’s New Podcast / Season 3 Update
You Have Permission, Dan’s new faith-focused podcast, is out now, with 4 full length episodes launching from the get-go. Search for it on your favorite podcast app, or head to youhavepermissionpod.com to listen now, or listen to the trailer/intro episode right here. Also, we will be back in...
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Breaking Mid-Season for Holidays / New Show Coming!
We are taking the holiday season off, and will return with the remainder of Season 3 after New Year’s. Dan’s new show You Have Permission will be launching Jan 14th! Sign up for occasional updates at dankochwords.com
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“Majority World” Christians & How They Help Us
Dr. Allen Yeh (Biola University) joins Dan and Ellen to talk about 1) the fact that most Christians in the world do not live in the West (Europe, North America), and 2) the difference between Orthodoxy (right thinking) and Orthopraxy (right action). Allen’s Books:...
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While You Were Evangelizing: Science (with Keith Ward)
Another installment of “While You Were Evangelizing,” where Dan and Ellen consider what was going on in less separatist, non-Evangelical Christian contexts over the previous 70 years or so. Were other types of Christians raised to be suspicious of science? Dr. Keith Ward (Cambridge) helps us…
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Tribalism: Power, Bias, Performance
The first of two episodes (non-consecutive) focusing directly on the phenomenon of tribalism. Dan and Ellen hear from and respond to Donna Freitas (2:00), Michael Blake (15:00), and Christena Cleveland (37:00). Donna: https://www.donnafreitas.com/ Michael:...
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The Beauty of a Good Argument with Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
We are fortunate to have philosopher Walter Sinnott-Armstrong (Duke University) on the podcast today, talking about arguments — not the kind you have when you’re angry, but the kind you construct in favor of a position or policy. Arguments respect people by treating them as real agents capable of...
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#ChurchToo & More with Karen Swallow Prior
Karen Swallow Prior is an author and literature professor at Liberty University — yes, THAT Liberty University. Her contribution to the InterVarsity Press essay collection “Still Evangelical?” explores why she is sticking with Evangelicalism, but not for the reasons you might assume. She is also…
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Should You Stay (Evangelical) Or Should You Go?
As we discussed last episode, it is indeed a crazy moment to be an Evangelical Christian. Then again, so what? Does that mean Evangelicals should leave their churches or their tradition to search for greener pastures? As we hear from authors Danielle (D.L.) Mayfield (3:30), Katelyn Beaty (33:00),...
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It’s a Crazy Moment for Evangelicalism
What a time to be an Evangelical in America, or to have been raised as one: there’s all the politics, racial tension, “parallel institutions,” and culture wars that continue to rage, but there is also evidence of serious benefits for churchgoers. This week, Dan and Ellen are greatly helped in…
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While You Were Evangelizing: Hell (with Dale B. Martin)
Welcome to a new season of Depolarize! Dan and Ellen are excited to be back in the saddle, and this week we are debuting a new episode style: While You Were Evangelizing. What was going on in the more liberal-leaning Mainline Protestant church over the last 70 years? Dale B. Martin helps us…
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A Catholic, a Mennonite & an Orthodox Priest Walk Into a Podcast, Part 2
Part 2 of our episode featuring Mary, Jennifer and Father Tom, and also our last of Season 2! Thank you for your continued support, and we are already looking forward to Season 3. Depolarize! is produced by Dan Koch, edited by Scott Cangemi & Chris Keene, mixed by Chris Keene Support the show...
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A Catholic, a Mennonite & an Orthodox Priest Walk Into a Podcast, Part 1
The first of a two-part episode wherein Dan Koch and Ellen Mauro consider the worldviews and stories of Mary (Roman Catholic), Tom (Greek Orthodox), and Jennifer (Mennonite). This is part of our series on Christian voters who do not consider themselves “Evangelical.” Part 2 airs next week, and…
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An Alternative to Evangelicalism? (Liberal Mainline Pt 2)
Dan & Ellen continue their deep dive into Liberal Mainline Protestantism, hearing from voters Jack & Debbie Holloway, as well as experts Dr. Tripp Fuller (Homebrewed Christianity Podcast) and Dr. James Wellman (University of Washington). Tripp’s book and podcast…
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What is a Liberal Mainline Protestant?
This week and next, Dan walks Ellen (and the rest of us) through the world of Liberal Mainline Protestants: Methodists, Episcopalians, some Lutherans, some Presbyterians, United Church of Christ, and others. This is Part 1, which includes a lot of Dan and Ellen talking through and clarifying...
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Who Really Thinks Trump is a Christian?
Dan and Ellen confront the worry that has been nagging at Dan more than any other, since Trump’s nomination and election: did all those Christian voters *actually believe* that Trump was a Christian? 2:55- Are Trump supporters gullible, or simply following the status quo? 5:33- “True crime…
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Candice Clem Hijacked Her Interview And It Was Great
Candice was originally interviewed as one of our five Christians of Color, but our conversation went far enough afield, and was interesting and entertaining enough that we decided to give Candice her own episode. She breaks down her experience growing up in the Korean American Church, her take on...
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Going Deeper with Christians of Color
On our previous episode, Dan & Ellen took a backseat to the stories of five Christians of color, told in their own words. This episode is a more standard Depolarize approach: dissecting and responding to these voters’ answers to Dan’s questions, and comparing them to what we heard from White...
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*Simply Listening* to Christians of Color
We're back to our voters this week, introducing five new voices. But this episode is also different: no reaction commentary from Dan & Ellen, and only minimal narration from Dan for context. Rather, we are going to practice the discipline of *simply listening* to the stories of these Christians,...
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Get Off Social Media?
Zombies? The Rapture? A country song *about* the Rapture? Check, check, and check. This week, Dan & Ellen take a break from voter-based episodes to discuss some more personal matters: anxiety and social media use, both of which are related to various forms of polarization in our current cultural...
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White Evangelical Trump Supporters, Pt 2
Dan & Ellen continue their interviews of White Evangelical Trump voters. This episode is best listened to after Part 1. Timeline: 3:16- How political is your church environment? 5:05- “Information super MYway”: News sources and accepted bias 12:10- Is Donald Trump a Christian? 19:05- “Grab ’em by...
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White Evangelical Trump Supporters, Pt 1
The first of two episodes centered on interviews with 10 White Evangelical Trump voters. Timeline: 0:00- Intro/”Family Therapist Soapbox Time” 10:00- Why did you vote for Donald Trump? 13:40- How central was abortion to your vote for Trump? 15:00- “Ellen Mauro: Abortion Maniac”: Polling data and...
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Is That “81%” Statistic Reliable? A Closer Look at Evangelicals
Ellen and Dan speak with journalists & polling experts — Roxanne Stone of BARNA Group, Jon Ward of Yahoo! News and Robert P. Jones of Public Religion Research Institute — to wrap their heads around that infamous statistic (81% of white Evangelicals voting for Trump), understand what it means, and...
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White Evangelicals Who Don’t Support Trump, Pt 2
Dan & Ellen continue their interviews of White Evangelicals who did not vote for Donald Trump in the 2016 election. This episode is best listened to after Part 1. Timeline: 0:00- Intro/Recap 2:42- Why did you NOT vote for Trump? 8:02- Did you ever consider voting for Trump? 8:40- Did you even…
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White Evangelicals Who Don’t Support Trump, Pt 1
In the Season 2 premiere, Dan Koch and Ellen Mauro interview 6 White Evangelical Christians, none of whom voted for nor actively support Donald Trump. These voters are a partial sample of the other side of White Evangelicals, who infamously voted for Trump at an 81% rate in 2016; these, you might...
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Introducing Ellen Mauro (My New Co-Host!)
Ellen will be joining Depolarize for Season 2, which begins next week. We hear about her background, political and psychological areas of interest, and we laugh a lot, because Ellen is very funny.
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42: LIVE! White Evangelicalism Today with Jonathan Merritt
The final episode before Depolarize enters Season 2! Dan chats live at the BadChristian Conference in Nashville, TN, with author and journalist Jonathan Merritt (The Atlantic, WaPo, Religion News Service, The Week) about the state of White Evangelicalism in America today.
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Dan on “Break It Down” — Charlottesville, Why People Leave the Church
Dan stopped by the studio for "Break It Down with Matt Carter" to talk about taking a break from social media/Depolarize, recent events in Virginia, and what he has been thinking about and working on this past summer.
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Bonus: Dan on Seattle’s KIRO FM
Greg Tomlin, filling in for Dori Monson, interviews Dan on Seattle's KIRO FM about this podcast and what he's learned about political polarization over the past year.
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What I’ve Learned, Season Break & What’s Next
Dan discusses what he's learned making 41 episodes of Depolarize!, the principles he still finds valuable, why it is difficult sometimes to follow his own advice, as well as what is next for the show and for him, including breaking for the Summer.
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41: Q&A with Dan
Get to know your host a little more! Due to some emergency travel, this week's scheduled interview had to be postponed, so Dan took questions from listeners for his first Q&A episode.
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40: Learning from Non-U.S. Peacemakers with Jer Swigart
Jer Swigart stops by to talk about what they're doing over at The Global Immersion Project where he is the Co-Founding Director. He shares some wonderful insight into the complicated conflict in the Middle East.
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39: Science, Soil & Farmer’s Profits with David Montgomery
David R. Montgomery, a Professor of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington invites Dan over to discuss soil, carbon dating, and how farmers are restoring profitability and reducing environmental impact.
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38: Depolarizing and Reconstructing with John Raines
Dan talks with John Raines, his co-host for their new Reconstruct podcast, about polarization in the world of theology, why they started the podcast, and how the two shows aren't quite as different as they might at first seem.
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37: Actual Solutions! (to Group Polarization) with Dr. Ravi Iyer
Dr. Ravi Iyer is doing the real social science work of depolarization as Executive Director of CivilPolitics.org and brings some surprisingly simple solutions to the most complex polarizing issues we face today.
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Bonus: Depolarizing Evangelicalism, a Mutual Interview with Mike Erre
Former megachurch pastor Mike Erre and I interview each other about topics ranging from my two podcasts, a communion/eucharist-based church service, and how their church's experiment of holding neither a gay-affirming nor non-gay-affirming stance is going.
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36: Balance Your News Diet with USA TODAY’s Josh Hafner
Josh Hafner is a former campaign reporter and now a resident journalist at USA TODAY. In this episode he and Dan discuss media identity and how to choose legitimate news sources.
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35: Everyone Knows They’re Being Judged with David Lapp
This week David Lapp stops by to talk about depolarization in action as seen through his experiences with the organization he is with, Better Angels, which facilitates candid conversations between voters from the left and the right.
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34: How Political Should a Christian Be? with Greg Boyd
Dan chats with one of his favorite American theologians and pastors, Dr. Greg Boyd, for a particularly Christian-themed episode. Dr. Boyd lost about a quarter of his church’s congregants back in 2004 when the church came out as explicitly anti-war, focused on the call of God’s Kingdom to the...
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33: The Media with Conservative Reporter Becket Adams
Media reporter Becket Adams gets candid with Dan this week to share his views on our relationship with partisan media and how we should be navigating all the noise.
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32: Artistry & Compassion in the Trump Era with David Bazan
touring brings him especially close to a slice of modern America. David is a ruthlessly honest, compassionate and concise man, a deep thinker and a great conversationalist. Their chat touches on songwriting and artistry in this new era, how to have compassion for a new set of marginalized people,...
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31: Empathy & Immersion with VICE’s Thomas Morton
VICE journalist Thomas Morton reveals the intent behind his unique approach to complete immersion with various subcultures in his docuseries Balls Deep.
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30: In Defense of Moderation with Aurelian Craiutu
This week professor and author Aurelian Craiutu illustrates the political and ideological moderate and the value of partisanship.
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29: Despair and Invitation with David Dark
Author, professor, and cultural critic David Dark joins Dan to talk about the despair that got Donald Trump elected, and how to invite those we disagree with into conversation and into a fuller communal life. David's latest book is called "Life's Too Short to Pretend You're Not Religious," but he...
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28: What Undecided Voters Teach Us About Depolarizing with Diane Hessan
Diane Hessan is known for her entrepreneurial agency work, but in 2016 was tapped by the Hillary Clinton campaign to do some nonstandard polling of undecided voters, keeping in touch with them over long periods of time and building relationships. What she learned surprised her, but not only that,...
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27: Apes, Humans, and American Christianity with Adrian Wyard
This week Adrian Wyard, Executive Director of Counterbalance, stops by to share some thinking points from his many years of research of common ancestry and theology.
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26: Nonviolence and the New Pro-Life Movement with Aimee Murphy
Aimee Murphy is the Executive Director of Life Matters Journal, a pro-life consistent life ethic publication. A victim of sexual assault, Aimee explains what it is to be truly pro-life and to oppose all forms of aggressive violence against human beings.
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25: Our Vast, Tangled Mortgage Web & More with David Dayen
David Dayen, author of Chain of Title: How Three Ordinary Americans Uncovered Wall Street's Great Foreclosure Fraud answers the question, "Was Obama good for America on finances?".
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Common Ground at the intersection of Politics, Psychology and Faith.
HOSTED BY
Dan Koch
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Depolarize! Podcast have?
Depolarize! Podcast currently has 75 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Depolarize! Podcast about?
Common Ground at the intersection of Politics, Psychology and Faith.
How often does Depolarize! Podcast release new episodes?
Depolarize! Podcast has 75 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Depolarize! Podcast?
You can listen to Depolarize! Podcast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Depolarize! Podcast?
Depolarize! Podcast is created and hosted by Dan Koch.
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