Shows
Reckoning and RepairS.1 Episode 8 // Life Like Fragile Clay: Arlene Shechet + Rachael BorthwickLife like Fragile Clay breaks down materiality and color as vivid depictions of what it means to be alive in a human body as an object that retains memory.This season was produced in connection to 2023 exhibit, "Rising Sun: Artists in an Uncertain America", an AAMP and PAFA collaboration curated by Dejay Duckett (AAMP), Judith Tannenbaum (PAFA), Mekhala Signal (PAFA), Michael Wilson (AAMP). This exhibit brings together 20 artists to respond to the question: Is the sun rising or setting on the experiment of American democracy? The exhibit runs March 23 through Oct 8 of 2023 at the Historic Landmark Building...2023-03-1412 min
House of RugbyS05 E06: Borthwick’s England, Christmas Parties & Gobbling Crickets with James HookFor a final festive get together before the Christmas break, Hugh Woozencroft, Rachael Burford and Alex Goode are joined by Wales' two-time Grand Slam winner James Hook.
Together, they consider what a future England team under Steve Borthwick might look like, discuss which players are likely to thrive in his system and what would constitute success in 2023. James Hook gives insight into his old coach Warren Gatland, and what Wales need at both country and club level to turn their fortunes around. The panel spill the beans on the biggest liabilities at rugby Christmas parties and argue over the perfect...2022-12-1343 min
Out of the Closet and Into the PewsStories Set Love and Fury Loose‘Stories Set Love and Fury Loose’ is an audio and written series that focuses on what it means to think of pausing as part of a storytelling process: breaking stories, breaking silences, making new stories. Whether I was aware of it at the time, COVID-19 gave me an escape and chance to pause to save my existence. A chance to leave an abusive partner. Having my identity dismantled, marginalized, and regulated by experiencing intimate partner violence led me to critically engage in audio and writing, and ultimately grapple with love as a point of radical openness. I want to invi...2022-02-1111 minOut of the Closet and Into the PewsFriends, Spirituality, Love and ResistanceMalchijah Hoskins is a Senior at Skidmore College, a close friend of Rachael and an artist and activist that has completed projects that unpack embodied experiences of joy and trauma, more specifically how our bodies ritualize and habitualize them. Malchijah's work explores the undeniable threads in stories and embodiment as it relates to trauma and joy. In today's episode Rachael and Malchijah explore the intersections of spirituality, queerness and activism as a form of resistance. More than this, Rachael and Malchijah discuss where we find the sacred in relation to our activism, and how we navigate institutions...2021-11-0539 min
Out of the Closet and Into the PewsAbortion as Religious Freedom and LibertyRev. Katey Zeh is an ordained Baptist minister and the co-host of the podcast Kindreds, a show about faith, feminism and friendship. She is the CEO of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and the author of Women Rise Up: Ancient Stories of Resistance for Today's Revolution.In today's episode Rachael and Katey explore what it means to talk about abortion as a religious freedom and liberty, the bible as a facilitator to discuss oppression and the work of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. This work focuses on the significant intersection of religion and activism, revealing...2021-10-0127 minOut of the Closet and Into the PewsThe Bible as Queer FacilitationIan McPherson is a graduate of Campbell University, Saint Louis University, and Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. They are a passionate advocate for youth leadership both in the church and in the human witness to the world.In today's episode Rachael and Ian explore the intersections of religion and queerness to show how religious institutions are able to blur the boundaries between the religious and the political, but also how queer people of faith navigate institutions that have been and are historically oppressive. Building upon Ian's article Seeking the Common Good in Uncommon...2021-08-1957 minOut of the Closet and Into the PewsReligious Activism: A New Perspective of the American Political LandscapeDr. Todd Nicholas Fuist is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Illinois Wesleyan University. His research interests include religion, politics, identity, and sexuality, with a focus on how culture serves to motivate socio-moral action. His latest work with Dr. Ruth Braunstein and Dr. Rhys H. Williams, titled Religion and Progressive Activism: New Stories about Faith and Politics examines how terms such as "progressive" and "religious" may not seem to go hand-in-hand. This work focuses on the significant intersection of religion and activism, revealing that progressive religious activists are a driving force in American public life.Listen to...2021-07-2145 minOut of the Closet and Into the PewsJanet Jakobsen: Love the Sin & The Sex ObsessionDr. Janet R. Jakobsen is a world renowned scholar and Chair and Claire Tow Professor of Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies at Barnard College. Her academic focuses include feminist theory, queer theory, religion and politics, ethics, activism, and public policy. Her newest book The Sex Obsession: Perversity and Possibility in American Politics offers a way to undo the inextricable American knot of sex, politics, religion and power. Dr. Jakobsen speaks to Rachael today about how American politics are obsessed with sex. Rachael and Dr. Jakobsen also cover her book with Dr. Ann Pellegrini Love the Sin. Dr...2021-07-1435 minOut of the Closet and Into the PewsNatural Enemies: The Short History of a Bad AssumptionDr. Heather R. White is a visiting assistant professor in religion and queer and gender studies at the University of Puget Sound. Their first book, Reforming Sodom: Protestants and the Rise of Gay Rights investigates how religion and LGBTQ+ activism can to be perceived as natural enemies. It also tells about the surprising ways that progressive Christianity shaped the early movement for gay rights.Dr. White speaks to Rachael today about the hidden histories of both sexuality and religion and points to the ruse in the 1970s of the predominantly gay Metropolitan Community Church movement as evidence...2021-07-0641 minOut of the Closet and Into the PewsA New World of Queer Activism: A Congregation Blessed by a Dildo, Yoghurt-Filled Condoms and Condom Savior Masses During the Aids CrisisIn todays episode Rachael speaks with Dr. Melissa Wilcox about her scholarship on the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. In asking questions in and about the often rough-terrain at the intersections of sexuality, gender, and religion, Rachael and Dr. Wilcox discuss narratives of sexual freedom, spirituality and safety.Dr. Wilcox's book Queer Nuns follows the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence's through their longstanding activism, including sexual education, public manifestations and protests, and charitable fundraising. Wilcox defines this performative activism as “a form of cultural protest in which a disempowered group parodies an oppressive cultural institution while simultaneously claiming for it...2021-06-2949 min
Straight White American JesusOut of the Closet . . . and Into the PewsWe are thrilled to announce Straight White American Jesus's first affiliate podcast: Out of the Closet and Into the Pews, a show by Rachael Borthwick that asks what it means for religion to be a vehicle for liberation and freedom for queer people. Rachael is a burgeoning scholar of religion at the University of Pennsylvania who has written on queer communities of faith in the USA and beyond, served as a research assistant to our show, and worked as a campus activist.Out of the Closet and Into the Pews includes interviews with leading scholars in queer...2021-06-2308 minPremium Ad-Free: Straight White American JesusOut of the Closet . . . and Into the PewsWe are thrilled to announce Straight White American Jesus's first affiliate podcast: Out of the Closet and Into the Pews, a show by Rachael Borthwick that asks what it means for religion to be a vehicle for liberation and freedom for queer people. Rachael is a burgeoning scholar of religion at the University of Pennsylvania who has written on queer communities of faith in the USA and beyond, served as a research assistant to our show, and worked as a campus activist.Out of the Closet and Into the Pews includes interviews with leading scholars in queer...2021-06-2308 minOut of the Closet and Into the PewsPutting the Sin Back in Religion: Queerness, Secularism and ReligionIn this episode Rachael underscores the ways in which religion has been constructed as an oppressive vehicle to overcome. In doing so Rachael depicts the difficult and unarticulated relationships among secularism, religion, and queer liberation to ask why the secular does not guarantee a tolerant state alongside LGBTQ+ rights, but also how it can be possible for LGBTQ+ rights to thrive primarily in secular environments. This episode aims to make clear that while secularity may be compatible with progress in some forms, it is not a linear process, and therefore, it does not lead to emancipation for all. Rachael...2021-06-2229 minOut of the Closet and Into the PewsRacism at the Inn: the Myth of Stonewall as the Birth of Queer RightsFor LGBTQ+ folk, history is of particular importance. For too long queer history and existence has been denied and erased. In this podcast Rachael asks, who does Stonewall give legitimacy to in the queer community? In doing so Rachael states that not everyone has the same privileges that give them the tells of story telling or history making, or the power to amplify their preferred story if they do. She speaks with Dr. Heather White and Dr. Melissa Wilcox to ask whose interests are served by the prevailing history of Stonewall, and who gets to decide that Stonewall is...2021-06-2245 min