Religion and Popular Culture Podcast
চ্যানেল বিস্তারিত
Religion and Popular Culture Podcast
An exploration of the interconnections between religion and popular culture. Vivian Asimos, who has a PhD in virtual narratives and mythology, is joined by Aled Thomas, who has a PhD in the study of Scientology, to discuss the how much we can learn about our worlds and ourselves through the deep div...
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54 টি এপিসোড
Season 3 Finale - Your Comments
We’re sad to be here, but today is the finale of season three! Aled Thomas and Vivian Asimos respond to your thoughts and comments on the subjects we’...

A Christmas Break
Just Vivian this week, dropping in to just do a quick thank you for listening and contributing and talking, and to encourage you to take breaks during...

The Downfall of Twitter
This week, Vivian Asimos and Aled Thomas talk about the slow downfall of twitter as it happens before our very eyes. We chat about what it means to ha...

Homelander in The Boys
In today’s episode, Aled Thomas and Vivian Asimos battle through plumber interruptions to talk about the role of Homelander in Amazon’s The Boys. We t...

Klaus’s Cult in Umbrella Academy
This week, Vivian Asimos and Aled Thomas talk about Klaus’s cult in season two of the Umbrella Academy on Netflix. We use it as a fun basis to then ju...

Over the Garden Wall
In this episode, Aled Thomas and Vivian Asimos round out Spooky Season with Vivian’s favourite autumnal movie/show: Over the Garden Wall. There are sp...

Buffy - Once More With Feeling
This week, Aled Thomas and Vivian Asimos chat about the famous musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, “Once More With Feeling”. We chat about th...

Fandom and Cosplay (feat. Holly Swinyard)
This week, Vivian Asimos and Aled Thomas are joined by pop culture writer and cosplay expert Holly Swinyard. We chat about all things interesting abou...

Board Games (feat. Paul-Francois Tremlett)
This week, in an episode recorded live from the British Association for the Study of Religion Conference, Vivian Asimos and Aled Thomas are joined by...

How to Build a Durkheimian Sex Room
Netflix’s new show How to Build a Sex Room attempts to de-stigmatise sex in United States culture through the interior design services being offered t...

American Idiot and the Jesus of Suburbia
This week, Aled and Vivian talk about Green Day’s album American Idiot, and in particular the figure of the Jesus of Suburbia. We talk about protest m...

The Mythology of Orville Peck
This week, Vivian Asimos and Aled Thomas delve into country singer Orville Peck. We talk about the different types of country music, and how hiding yo...

Star Trek: Who Mourns for Adonis
This week, Aled Thomas and Vivian Asimos return to Star Trek for an episode breakdown. This time, it’s the Original Series, season 2, episode 2 called...
Pilgrimage and the Fan Convention
Vivian and Aled return to the world of pilgrimage once again, following Vivian’s attendance at MCM Comic Con in London. After a bit of a roundabout st...

Dune and Islam
With the release of the 2021 film Dune, a conversation about Dune’s depiction of religion and it’s connection to Islam has been re-ignited. For this e...

Worldbuilding and Religion
Apologies for Vivian’s audio in this episode. Microphone problems, which hopefully won’t happen again!
This episode, Vivian Asimos and Aled Thom...

Turning Red: the Pilgrim or Tourist?
In this episode, Vivian Asimos and Aled Thomas talk about Pixar’s Turning Red, and the complicated conception of pilgrimage. Using Mei’s family temple...

Love is Blind: Kyle and Shaina
The Religion and Popular Culture Podcast is back with Season 3! Anthropologist Vivian Asimos joins once again with Sociologist Aled Thomas to discuss...

Season 3 Preview
We’re coming back to your ears on May 12, and Aled Thomas and Vivian Asimos were just too excited to keep it from you. The Religion and Popular Cultur...

A Reflection on Season 2
Today, we reflect on the episodes we’ve gone over in season two. We not only talk about the huge variety of episode topics we’ve covered, but also tra...

Christmas - Religious or Secular?
Today, Aled and Vivian talk about Christmas, but particularly the tension in the holiday between Christmas as a religious holiday or Christmas as a se...

Pop Culture Tattoos
In this episode of the Religion and Popular Culture Podcast, Aled and Vivian talk about pop culture tattoos. We talk about our own pop culture tattoos...

Food, Religion, and Pop Culture
In honor of PSL season, we talk about how and where religion and pop culture intersects with food. We talk about food media, particularly Nigella Laws...

The Religious Dimensions of Cinema
Aled Thomas and Vivian Asimos talk about how cinema can function as religion. We talk about communal experiences, how films can be ideological, and th...

Good Omens
Aled is caught up in the hype of the start of filming for Good Omens season 2, and Vivian can be convinced that the themes of angels and demons tied t...

Satanism
Today, Aled Thomas and Vivian Asimos dig into Satanism and its represention in popular culture. We talk about its connection in pop culture to witchcr...

Mary Cosby’s Cult on Real Housewives of Salt Lake City
In this episode, Aled Thomas and Vivian Asimos chat about the claims surrounding Mary Cosby's church in Real Housewives of Salt Lake City (RHOSLC). Ma...

Religion and Lord of the Rings
This week, Aled Thomas and Vivian Asimos chat about religion in Lord of the Rings (LotR). We chat about what religion looks like in Middle Earth, and...

When Religion is a Game Mechanic
In this episode, Vivian Asimos and Aled Thomas chat about when religion works as a game mechanic. Instead of looking at the way religion is portrayed...

Laughing at Religion
This week, Vivian Asimos and Aled Thomas chat about comedy, religion and popular culture. We specifically chat about the Book of Mormon musical, and S...

Nostalgia, Religion and Pop Culture
This week, Vivian Asimos and Aled Thomas chat nostalgia - how it acts with popular culture, and how it acts with religion. We spend some time chatting...

Who Watches the Watchers
This week, Vivian and Aled talk about Star Trek: Next Generation’s episode “Who Watches the Watchers” (S03E04). This episode is available on UK Netfli...

Fashion
This week, Vivian and Aled begin to explore the worlds of fashion, and how fashion intersects with religion and popular culture. We talk subcultural d...

Retelling Monsters in Buffy
This week, Aled and Vivian take their first dive into the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Our first approach to this world is in the show’s approac...

Invented Religions
In this episode, Aled leads a discussion into invented religions - new religions which take inspiration from popular culture and uses it as metaphor t...

Zelda and Mythology
Aled and Vivian take the first dive into the world of the Legend of Zelda with a look into its connection with mythology. We talk about the definition...

What Is Religion and Popular Culture?
In this episode, Aled and Vivian discuss what an exploration into the intersections of religion and popular culture means. We talk about the three mai...

A Change to the Religion and Popular Culture Podcast
After a long hiatus, I have revitalised the religion and popular culture podcast to reflect what I think we should be doing with this podcast. In the...

The Magic of Christmas - Lucinda Murphy and Gelf the Elf
Follow Lucinda: @LucindaMurphy
Follow Gelf: @MyElfGelf
Lucinda’s website: https://lucindaslog.com/thefestivelog/
Follow me: @...

Medicine and Evangelicalism - Jennifer Riley
Find out more about Jennie: https://www.dur.ac.uk/research/directory/staff/?mode=staff&id=17154
Follow me on twitter: @vivianasimos
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