Pod Only Knows
Hosted by Dr. Kelly J. Baker and John Brooks. Kelly and John invite other people from the wide and wild world of religious studies to talk to them about why and how they do what they do and why their work matters to us all. They also talk to each other about the ideas, stories, and histories that fascinate them and that they think you should know about, too.
- Update frequency
- every 11 days
- Average duration
- 65 minutes
- Episodes
- 67
- Years Active
- 2023 - 2025
RERELEASE, from 2/25 - #043 – The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover with Lerone A. Martin
Given recent events, we have decided not to release a new episode this week. Instead, given rising concerns about state retribution to political violence and the weaponization of law enforcement, we …
01:01:46 |
Tue 16 Sep 2025
#054 - James Dobson (1936-2025) with Hilde Lovdal Stephens (SORRY ABOUT JOHN'S AUDIO!!)
James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family and author of many popular books about "Christian parenting", died in late August at the age of 89.
Dobson's death was celebrated by many ex-Evangeli…
01:04:21 |
Tue 02 Sep 2025
#053 – Heretic (2024) - with Shaily Patel
Heretic was released in theaters in 2024 and quickly developed something of a cult fandom, especially among religion nerds.
Starring Hugh Grant in a rare villainous dark turn, Heretic tells to story…
01:22:17 |
Tue 19 Aug 2025
#052 – At Last, A Woke Superman!
We're back, and we're catching up on the things we missed this summer: Woke Superman, Ryan Walters' porn crisis, the DHS's weird fascism Twitter posts, and more!
Kelly tells us about her surgery and…
01:04:10 |
Tue 05 Aug 2025
#051 – Acute Religious Experiences - with Richard Saville-Smith
This week, Richard Saville-Smith joins Kelly and John to talk about his book Acute Religious Experiences – Madness, Psychosis, and Religious Studies, which was published by Bloomsbury in 2023.
Savil…
00:59:18 |
Tue 10 Jun 2025
#050 - Severance - The Church of Keir
Apple TV's Severance wrapped its long-awaited 2nd season recently and left us with more answers than questions.
But some answers! We (sorta) know what Severance is really all about, and we (sorta, m…
01:14:21 |
Wed 28 May 2025
#049 – Our Pope Watch Has Ended
Last week, the Catholic Church absolutely shook the world by electing Robert Prevost - an Augustinian from Chicago - Pope Leo XIV, making him the first ever American pope.
Immediately, MAGA lost the…
01:06:54 |
Tue 13 May 2025
#048 – Annika Brockschmidt
This week, author and journalist Annika Brockschmidt joins John to talk about the perception of the American Christian Right in Europe, the possibly intentional downplaying of Christian Nationalism i…
01:01:39 |
Tue 29 Apr 2025
#047 – Rethinking "Lord of the Flies" in the age of MAGA
William Golding's 1952 novel Lord of the Flies is one of those books most of us of a certain age were forced to read in high school and pretty much universally hated.
Often presented as a bleak medit…
01:01:56 |
Tue 15 Apr 2025
#046 – The MAGA Attack on Higher Education
Higher education is under attack in a way few saw coming.
Maybe they should have, and maybe that's part of the problem.
Institutions of higher education have been a laser target of the Trump administ…
00:57:34 |
Tue 01 Apr 2025
#045 – Roko's Basilisk, Pope Watch 2025, and Paula White
Before you listen to today's episode, you should know that knowing about Roko's Basilisk can doom you forever.
Still here? Great.
This week, John and Kelly explore a few of the religion stories that …
00:56:07 |
Tue 04 Mar 2025
(Edited Reissue) #024 - Simulation Theory, or Young Earth Creationism for Atheists
We recorded this about a year ago, for the 25th anniversary of the release of THE MATRIX.
But since Elon Musk now controls the country, we're republishing an edited-down version because it's importa…
00:47:46 |
Thu 27 Feb 2025
Chris Kluwe - (Republished from "Hard to Believe" - April, 2021)
This is a republished episode from John's former podcast Hard to Believe featuring an interview with Chris Kluwe
In light Kluwe making national news with his recent act of anti-MAGA civil disobedien…
01:01:07 |
Fri 21 Feb 2025
#044 – The Lord of the Right: Tolkien, Fascism, and Race - with Marika Rose
What's the deal with the far-right's obsession with Tolkien?
Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is, ostensibly, a story of different races coming together to defeat a shared enemy - one that intends to shro…
01:10:04 |
Tue 18 Feb 2025
#043 – The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover with Lerone A. Martin
This week, Kelly and John are joined by Lerone A. Martin to discuss his unfortunately timely and prescient book, The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover: How the FBI Aided and Abetted the Rise of White Christi…
01:01:46 |
Tue 04 Feb 2025
#042 – Jason Kirk on "Hell Is A World Without You"
Writer and journalist Jason Kirk's debut novel, Hell is a World Without You, was released in December of 2023 to wide acclaim.
Hell is a World Without You tells the story of Isaac Siena, an Evangelic…
01:10:20 |
Tue 21 Jan 2025
#041 – A Load of Comstock - The life and times of Anthony Comstock
Anthony Comstock might be the most significant American that it's entirely possible you've never heard of. A zealous Christian crusader against so-called "obscenity" in the late 19th century, he is t…
01:22:17 |
Tue 07 Jan 2025
#040 – Did Dickens "Invent" Christmas? - with Kristen Hanley Cardozo
The 2017 film The Man Who Invented Christmas, starring human treasure Dan Stevens as Charles Dickens, is a lovely bit of an anachronistic historical revisionism (though, to be fair, it gets a number …
01:07:44 |
Tue 24 Dec 2024
RERELEASE (12/19/23) Ghosts of Christmas Past - with Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman
Kelly is away, so our next new episode will be released in two weeks.
This is a rerelease of an episode originally published on December 19th, 2023.
But Scrooge was all the worse for this. It thril…
00:55:26 |
Tue 10 Dec 2024
RERELEASE (11/21/23) - Unraveling the Thanksgiving Myth - with Dr. David J. Silverman
(Rerelease from 2023)
What better way to celebrate Thanksgiving than to have Kelly and John ruin it for you?
Just kidding! We're not here to cancel Thanksgiving and we hope you have a lovely one.
Bu…
01:25:18 |
Thu 28 Nov 2024
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