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Who believes in the paranormal and why? Prof. Chris Bader returns to our podcast to discuss an updated version of his book “Paranormal America” (co-authored with Joseph Baker and Carson Mencken). This conversation is filled with ghost stories and UFO abductees and may sound a bit preposterous, but the lessons to be drawn from individuals who believe in the paranormal should be taken very seriously. Chris explains the social scientific importance of studying the paranormal.

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The walking undead have swept popular culture in the form of books, movies, and comics in recent decades. Prof. Roger Luckhurst (University of London) discusses the origins of the zombi(e) narrative and how it has developed over time, examining how the cultural and socio-political context of the time drove how we looked at the “unhuman other” and how we envisioned ourselves. We encounter a number of very interesting literary characters along the way and discuss why movies such as “Dawn of the Dead,” “28 Days Later,” and “Warm Bodies” played important roles in rethinking what it means to be dead, yet not dead.

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Encore Presentation: Dr. Frank Newport, the Editor-in-Chief at Gallup, discusses the process of public opinion research and what it tells us about America’s changing religious landscape. We spend a significant amount of time discussing how polls are conducted, what their limitations are, and how survey companies like Gallup try to overcome these problems. This is a fantastic primer for those who are unfamiliar with survey research. We spend the second half of the interview discussing Dr. Newport’s book, “God Is Alive & Well,” which argues that America is still a vibrantly spiritual nation.

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Paul was a central figure in the progress of early Christianity. Looking back at his writings with 21st century eyes and sensibilities, we often see an individual who was arrogant, gruff, misogynistic, and even racist. Prof. Brandon O’Brien puts Apostle Paul into context for us and discusses his book “Paul Behaving Badly” (co-authored with E. Randolph Richards). We learn about Paul’s history, his cultural context, how he could have written letters while imprisoned in Rome, and whether or not we should pay any heed to what he said back then for our lives today.

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Sociologists have long noted, and perplexed by, the long-term trend in interpersonal violence in industrializing nations, a pattern that dates back several centuries. William Reimer, author of “Revisiting Toronto the Good,” explains how the spread of religious ideas and themes in the late 19th century helped to mitigate murder rates in this Canadian “city of churches.” We discuss the rise of British Evangelical Protestantism, its influence on proper manliness and prison reform, and how it became infused in the political fabric of the city in the late 1800s.

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