In case you haven't heard, there was a coup in Bolivia this past Monday. Figuring out what's going on and how to show solidarity is hard, so we dropped out plans and talked to our friend Jim Hodgson who works in Latin America on the behalf of the United Church of Canada. You might remember that we talked to Jim back in episode 98 on his experience in Venezuela. Intro music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by theillogicalspoon
After goofing around with spooky stuff in October, the Magnifiboys are back with their new arc on Postmodernism. In this episode, Matt and Dean talk about the rhetoric around Chritianity's impulse toward hospitality and also how John Caputo and Jacques Derrida complicate that idea. intro music by Amaryah Armstrong outro music by theillogicalspoon
Halloween is done, but spooky capitalism is never done with you! This week, we're doing that big Marxist monster mash by looking at all of Marx's spooky metaphors for capitalism. This episode is full of Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies, Ghosts, and even a Frankenstein or two.
So, once Jesus comes back and takes all the Christians to heaven? The Tribulation! Check out Matt and Dean while they discuss the end times as it is presented in Kirk Cameron's Left Behind II: Tribulation Force.
Last week we said we were done with evangelicalism but is evangelicalism ever really done with you? This week the Magnifiboys watch that classic Christian horror film, A Thief in the Night and talk about the rapture.
We've come a long way in this arc! We've done some rhetorical analyses of conservative and progressive evangelicals and we've learned about the overlapping histories of big business and Christianity. Though, to wrap all of this up, we thought we'd ask our friend Heath Carter, who is an expert on Christianity and social movements in the US, just what is evangelicalism? Intro music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by theillogicalspoon
American Christianity is full of characters that are really larger than life--one of the biggest, however, is Jim Bakker. Jim Bakker was a hugely popular and successful televangelist, Christian theme park creator, and apocalypticist. In this episode, we get to know Jim Bakker through Martyn Wendell Jones, a Toronto based writer who covers religion. You can find more of Martyn's work here: https://martynwendelljones.contently.com Also, If you want to learn more about the Bakkers check out John Wi...
Based on our conversation last week, you might think that Wal-Mart is the big force behind evangelicalism in the world--and you're right. But, there are even more ways capitalists have come to shape evangelicalism! To tell us about that, this week we're joined by Darren Dochuk, Professor of History at Notre Dame and author of Anointed With Oil: How Christianity and Crude Made Modern America. Check out his book here:https://www.amazon.com/Anointed-Oil-Christianity-Modern-America/dp/0465060862
Mapping out how evangelicalism and capitalism work together is pretty difficult and abstract, so in this week's episode we picked up Bethany Moreton's case study To Serve God and Walmart: The Making of Christian Free Enterprise. Moreton's book gives a solid example of how Wal-Mart has adopted Evangelical culture and political networks to reproduce the material conditions that make them successful and powerful. Into music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by theillogicalspoon
Last week we did some introductory investigation into conservative evangelicalism, but since we're fair and balanced journalists we're back this week to talk about progressive evangelicalism and its political shortcomings! While conservative evangelicals are happy to use political power to achieve their religious goals, some progressive Christians are happy to reject political power and just embrace being politically ineffective. into music by Amaryah Armstrong outro music by theillogicalspoon...
Alright, we're done talking about unions for a bit and we're on to our next big arc. Over the course of the next few weeks, we'll be digging into just what is going on with the evangelicals! In this first episode, we introduce the topic and work out some of the big questions we want to answer.
We just finished up our arc on labor and organizing, but we've heard your resounding shouts, "Give us another one!" So here it is! Here's a special episode of The Magnificast with the IWW Freelance Journalist Union. We've talked about unions in more straightforward contexts, but this episode is especially cool because it shows the way the IWW is filling a gap in organizing when it comes to freelance workers. Check it out! Check out the IWWFJU here! https://freelancejournalistsunion.org/join/
We've made it to the end of our arc on labor and unions! We've learned so much and we hope that you have too! In this episode, Matt and Dean do a big historical round-up of what Marxists have said about unions. Then based on these insights they make some connections as to why Christians ought to get invested in unions and labor organizing. Intro music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by theillogicalspoon
Choo Choo! Do you hear that? It's the union train barreling toward your workplace! We're still on that union vibe and this week we're talking with Tannara Yelland, a historian and journalist who started the union drive at Vice Canada. In this episode, we get to some more of the mechanics of how you start a union if you don't already have one. If you're craving more of that Tannara content you can check out her podcast Big Rings https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/big-rings/id1473204677
Unions are great, right? Are you in one? Most people aren't and that's a bummer. In this episode, Matt and Dean talk to Dri Alexander, a Policy expert at AFSCME to talk about Unions and what they do.
The summer is almost over so, The Magnificast is hitting you with a back to school special! In this episode, Matt investigates the struggle for teachers and grad workers at Jesuit schools to unionize.
For years now, You all have been asking us to be better at reading the Bible and doing exegesis. Well, You're finally getting it. For this episode of The Magnificast, Matt and Dean team up with Chase Tibbs from the Faith and Capital podcast to talk about how to be a good bible reader! Then, using Chase's Bible life hacks, we read Matthew 20 with him and talk about what it all means. intro music by Amaryah Armstrong outro music by theillogicalspoon
Every day you turn on the news, check out your twitter feed, or talk to your weird republican uncle and think to yourself, why are white evangelicals like this? We thought it was a good question, so we asked Tad Delay, author of the upcoming book Against: What Does the White Evangelical Want? what's going on with evangelicals. Delay gives us a lot of good insight into the interworking of Evangelical logics with his psychoanalytic takes! Intro Music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro Music by theillogica...
In this episode, Matt and Dean get into the discourse about Mike Pence and his enactment of Christianity. Using Marika Rose and Amaryah Armstrong's work we get to the bottom of this whole thing. SPOILER ALERT: Mike Pence is a Christian and he's also a turd.
On this episode of The Magnificast Matt and Dean answer more pressing questions from reddit and talk about the history of radical Catholic activism in Spain around 1968. intro music by Amaryah Armstrong outro music by theillogicalspoon
In this episode, we read Tom Cornell's article The Catholic Worker, Communism, and the Communist Party from American Catholic Studies. In the conversation, Matt and Dean do some big goofs about heaven, cussing, and talk about some niche history about the relationship between the Catholic Worker and the Communist Party USA. As it turns out, they're both good. Intro music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by theillogicalspoon
This week's episode is another edition of Magnificast Extra Credit. The idea with these episodes is that they're a bit more produced and usually highlight a particular political or cultural movement. This episode features Erin Green talking about her work at Brave Commons and tries to get to the bottom of just what's up with LGBTQ students on Christian college campuses. Intro music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by theillogicalspoon
In this episode of The Magnificast, Matt and Dean talk with Marika Rose about her new book A Theology of Failure: Zizek Against Christian Innocence.(http://www.fordhampress.com/9780823284085/a-theology-of-failure) Intro music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by theillogicalspoon
In this episode, Matt and Dean talk about James Bentley's book Between Marx and Christ. The book has a lot going on, but the conversation focuses on Christoph Blumhardt, Karl Barth, and Dorothee Sölle. Intro music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by theillogicalspoon
Over the last few weeks, the Magnificast boys have been pumping out a side podcast on Patreon called "The Damnificast." The Damnificast is a podcast where Matt and Dean watch the show Damnation and talk about it. If you look back through the feed, you'll find the first episode. In this Episode, Matt and Dean talk with the Creator of Damnation, Tony Tost, and get into the background of the show and how some of the big ideas surrounding it. If you're not really into Damnation, then that's cool. We...
When the Berlin Wall fell and the USSR came to an end, many thought that was it for Communism and in turn liberation theology. Well, what did Liberation Theologians actually think about the fall of the Berlin Wall or the end of the Soviet Union? In this episode, Matt and Dean figure it out!
This week we're launching our patreon only podcast, The Damnificast! A podcast where we watch the TV show Damnation and talk about it! If you're into this podcast, you can subscribe to our patreon (patreon.com/themagnificast) at any level to get future episodes. New Episodes of the Damnificast will be posted on fridays on patreon only!
Earlier this year, Óscar Romero was canonized as a saint in the Catholic Church. His life and faith have been an important example to Christians on the left ever since his martyrdom. In this episode, we talk about the life and martyrdom of Saint Óscar Romero with Matt Eisenbrandt, author of The Assassination of a Saint. You can find his book here: http://www.assassinationofasaint.com/2017/01/02/247/
Dean wrote a neat essay for Commonweal magazine, so we made a special podcast about it. Check out the essay here: https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/may-day-saint
In this episode we take a look at a chapter from Roland Boer's new book "Red Theology" that deals with Russian peasant socialism, Tolstoy, and everybody's favorite Bolshevik Boi V. I. Lenin himself! Music by Amaryah Armstrong and theillalogicalspoon.
