The Axis Mundi Network : Straight White American Jesus

It's In the Code 197: "The Small Miracles"

Brad Onishi — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 22:25:36 GMT

Dan Miller continues the Questions You Weren’t Supposed to Ask in Church series by tackling one of the most common—and most unsettling—questions many Christians eventually ask: Why doesn’t God perform big miracles anymore? From the parting of the Red Sea to raising the dead, the Bible is filled with spectacular divine interventions. But if God is unchan…

Axis Live: Birthright Citizenship Reactions, Texas Bible Reading, NAR Gone Wild

Brad Onishi — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 18:52:19 GMT

The Supreme Court’s narrow birthright citizenship ruling has triggered an extraordinary reaction from influential voices on the American right—and the backlash reveals much more than disagreement over immigration policy. In this episode of Axis Live, Brad Onishi, Annika Brockschmidt, and Matthew D. Taylor examine the response from figures including Kevi…

Turning Point USA’s “Pink Pill” Pipeline: Inside the Women’s Leadership Summit

Brad Onishi — Sun, 28 Jun 2026 04:30:06 GMT

In this Straight White American Jesus Sunday interview, Annika Brockschmidt speaks with journalist and researcher Madeleine Peltz about her years-long reporting on the conservative youth ecosystem and the gendered strategies shaping the modern far right. Peltz, formerly of Media Matters, has spent thousands of hours documenting right-wing media and even…

Weekly Roundup: How Protest Became Terrorism in Trump's America

Brad Onishi — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 23:02:07 GMT

This week, Brad Onishi argues that a series of seemingly separate headlines point to a single political project: the construction of a white Christian homeland. He examines the unprecedented sentencing of the Prairie Land protesters under domestic terrorism charges, the Trump administration’s growing use of “Antifa” as a catch-all label for political di…

Axis Live: Christendom Over Christ, Political Violence, and the Myth of Religious Revival

Brad Onishi — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 00:20:14 GMT

In this episode of Axis Live, Brad Onishi and Matt Taylor are joined by PRRI CEO Melissa Deckman to unpack Vice President JD Vance’s new book Communion and the theological vision animating it. The conversation focuses on Vance’s turn toward a form of Christianity oriented less around the person and teachings of Christ than toward a broader project of Ch…

The Sunday Interview: America Was Never One Nation Under One God

Brad Onishi — Sun, 21 Jun 2026 03:01:10 GMT

What does American religious history actually tell us about the present moment? In this episode, Brad sits down with historian and author Brook Wilensky-Lanford to discuss her sweeping new book, A God-Shaped Nation: 500 Years of Religion in America. Rather than focusing on famous founders and powerful institutions, Wilensky-Lanford tells the story of Am…

Weekly Roundup: Trump's Iran Disaster, JD Vance's Problem, and the Collapse of the Strongman Myth

Brad Onishi — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 21:31:00 GMT

In this week's Weekly Roundup, Brad Onishi and Dan Miller unpack the fallout from the Trump administration's Iran deal, the growing fractures within the MAGA coalition, and why Vice President JD Vance appears to be carrying the political burden for a foreign policy debacle.

They examine the deal's similarities to the Obama-era agreement Republicans once …

It's in the Code ep 195: "Intelligent' Design?"

Brad Onishi — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 10:01:00 GMT

What are the questions you aren’t supposed to ask in church—the ones that earn you a sit-down with the pastor, worry your parents, and might even make you leave your faith entirely? In this episode, Dan kicks off a brand-new series, "Questions I Wasn't Supposed to Ask in Church," by revisiting a question that got him into trouble during his own time as …

Axis Live: Southern Baptists, Domestic Terrorism, and the Pope's Challenge to Opus Dei

Brad Onishi — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This week, Brad Onishi and Matthew D. Taylor break down three major stories shaping the American political and religious landscape: 🔹 The Southern Baptist Convention’s hard-right turn The SBC elected a new president, Willie Rice, and moved to further restrict women in church leadership. What do these developments reveal about the growing influence of C…

Axis Daily Brief: The White House UFC Fight That Revealed Christian Trumpism

Brad Onishi — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 16:08:00 GMT

Axis Daily Brief on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/axis-daily-brief/id1896931494https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/axis-daily-brief/id1896931494

Axis Daily Brief on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033zp4MbwXJvxp6MoDkmtj?si=a758e87169e74ede

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The Sunday Interview: The Soundtrack of Christian Nationalism

Brad Onishi — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 22:03:00 GMT

What if one of the most important political symbols in American evangelicalism isn't a campaign slogan, a policy platform, or a charismatic preacher, but a worship song?

In this episode of the Straight White American Jesus Sunday Interview, host Leah Payne speaks with Religion News Service journalist Bob Smietana about his reporting on the unexpected pol…

Weekly Roundup: The UFC Presidency: Election Lies, Blood Sport Politics, and Hegseth’s D-Day Disgrace

Brad Onishi — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 20:37:00 GMT

This week on Straight White American Jesus, Brad and Dan unpack the GOP’s latest claims of voter fraud in California and show how conspiracy thinking, Christian nationalist spiritual warfare, and anti-democratic rhetoric continue to undermine public trust in elections. Focusing on comments from Donald Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson, they explore how ev…

It's in the Code ep 194: “The Last Word”

Brad Onishi — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 10:01:00 GMT

What are the broader takeaways from Josh Hawley’s presentation on “manhood?” How does Hawley’s vision of “masculine America” illuminate the dynamics of high-control Christianity, Christian nationalism, and the broader MAGA movement in America today? What lessons can we learn through engaging Hawley’s vision of masculinity? Join Dan to find out, as we co…

The Sunday Interview: Fighting Spiritual Terrorism

Brad Onishi — Sun, 07 Jun 2026 14:00:00 GMT

In this episode, Brad Onishi sits down with Rev. Alba Onofrio, the Executive Director of Soulforce and author of Spiritual Violence: Religious Phenomena That Defile the Faith. Rev. Alba brings nearly two decades of global activism across four continents to a critical conversation about the exact mechanisms religious systems use to inflict deep psycholog…

Weekly Roundup: From Neo-Nazi Remigration to Military Christian Nationalism

Brad Onishi — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 21:24:00 GMT

This week on Straight White American Jesus, Brad and Dan trace the connections between Trump-era immigration policy, rising far-right extremism, and a growing international movement built around the idea of “remigration.” Beginning with unrest at New Jersey’s Delaney Hall detention center, they examine former ICE official Greg Bovino’s appearance at a …

It's in the Code ep 193: “Christian Nationalism On the DL”

Brad Onishi — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 10:01:00 GMT

Josh Hawley is a dyed-in-the-wool, self-described Christian nationalist. But he’s careful not to make this too obvious in discussion of Christian masculinity and masculine virtue. But if we look past his smoke and mirrors, if look behind the curtain, his Christian nationalism comes through when he talks about role of men as “kings.” Check out this week’…

The Sunday Interview: Synthetic Hate: How AI Fuels the Far Right

Brad Onishi — Sun, 31 May 2026 13:34:00 GMT

In this episode, hosts Annika Brockschmidt and Roland Meyer sit down with media scholar Roland Meyer to dissect the unsettling intersection of generative AI, right-wing extremism, and the emerging aesthetics of digital fascism. Meyer, a professor at the University of Zurich, breaks down why AI-generated visual culture is uniquely suited for far-right pr…

Weekly Roundup: Talarico and the Pope vs. MAGA Christianity

Brad Onishi — Fri, 29 May 2026 20:48:00 GMT

Brad Onishi and Dan Miller discuss the Texas Senate race between Trump-backed Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico as a public theological contest between Christian authoritarianism and a Christianity centered on love of neighbor, noting Paxton’s scandals and the right’s misogynistic, transphobic attacks portraying Talarico as weak or deviant. They c…

It's in the Code ep 192: “Deep Thoughts…By Josh Hawley”

Brad Onishi — Wed, 27 May 2026 10:01:00 GMT

Josh Hawley claims to present a “biblical” model of masculinity and masculine virtue. But if we look more closely, it turns out that Hawley’s “Bible” is actually really weird. And so is his model of masculine kingship. And what does “kingship” mean for Josh Hawley? Well, pretty much the same thing you could read in any self-help book. Join Dan for this …

The Sunday Interview: Deconstructing Wellness Culture: Yoga, Mindfulness, and Appropriation

Brad Onishi — Sun, 24 May 2026 16:31:00 GMT

In this episode of Straight White American Jesus, host Brad Onishi sits down with Dr. Liz Bucar, religious ethicist and professor at Northeastern University, to unpack the hidden costs of the modern wellness industry. Exploring themes from her new book, Beyond Wellness: How Restoring the Religious Roots of Spiritual Practices Can Heal Us, Dr. Bucar argu…