Episodios

  • Faith, Labor, and a DOJ Reversal: Inside the BAPS Temple Case

    Faith, Labor, and a DOJ Reversal: Inside the BAPS Temple Case
    Sep 29 2025
    When the DOJ drops a high-profile case, what truths—and tensions—remain? A clash of cultures, a legal saga, and a spiritual community under scrutiny. In this episode of Complexified, Amanda Henderson talks with RNS reporter Richa Karmarkar about the Department of Justice’s decision to drop its investigation into the BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham in Robbinsville, New Jersey—the largest Hindu temple in the Western Hemisphere. Together, they trace how forced-labor allegations emerged, what “seva” (selfless service) means inside this tradition, and why cultural assumptions about work, visas, and volunteering can misfire in the U.S. context. Along the way, they explore community pride, rising vandalism of Hindu temples, and the complicated intra-Indian debates that shadow the story. It’s an invitation to slow down, listen across differences, and see faith—and labor—more clearly.
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    19 m
  • Pulpit Politics: Why the Johnson Amendment Still Sparks Political Drama

    Pulpit Politics: Why the Johnson Amendment Still Sparks Political Drama
    Sep 22 2025
    What happens when politics steps into the pulpit? The Johnson Amendment has been around since the 1950s, but it’s still a political lightning rod today. In this episode of Complexified, Amanda Henderson sits down with RNS columnist and historian Mark Silk to unpack why the IRS recently announced it won’t enforce the law that bars nonprofits and churches from endorsing candidates. What’s at stake when sermons start sounding like campaign rallies? Is this really about religious freedom, political theater, or just another way to keep donors happy? With humor, insight, and some surprising history lessons, we dive into the messy intersection of faith, money, and politics.
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    25 m
  • What Charlie Kirk’s Life and Death Reveal About Religion and Politics

    What Charlie Kirk’s Life and Death Reveal About Religion and Politics
    Sep 15 2025
    What does it mean to mourn someone who thrived on conflict? Charlie Kirk’s assassination sent shockwaves through America’s already polarized political and religious landscape. In this episode of Complexified, Amanda Henderson talks with veteran religion reporter Bob Smietana and cultural critic Karen Swallow Prior about Kirk’s complicated legacy. Together they explore his rise among young evangelicals, his merger with Trump-era politics, and the charisma that drew both admiration and outrage. Karen reflects on her personal encounters with Kirk, while Bob examines the broader religious and cultural shifts that made him such a lightning rod. What does it mean to grieve a provocateur, honor free speech, and still name the real harm of incendiary rhetoric?
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    18 m
  • Casper ter Kuile on Small Politics, Big Meaning, and the Power of Tea

    Casper ter Kuile on Small Politics, Big Meaning, and the Power of Tea
    Jun 18 2025
    What do you do when the systems around you feel like they’re crumbling—and calling your senator doesn’t feel like enough? In this heartening episode of Complexified, author and ritual innovator Casper ter Kuile joins Amanda to talk about spiritual practices, civic exhaustion, and why small politics and sacred relationships might be our best tools for weathering chaos. From vigils in a blizzard to midsummer festivals in Brooklyn, this conversation weaves together policy and poetry, tea and transformation, with humor, honesty, and hope. If you’ve ever felt torn between marching in the streets or staying home under a blanket—this one's for you.
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    31 m
  • Stop Trying to Fix Everything: Simran Jeet Singh on Spiritual Sanity

    Stop Trying to Fix Everything: Simran Jeet Singh on Spiritual Sanity
    Jun 2 2025
    In overwhelming times, spiritual practice starts small—and stays true. When the world feels too big to fix, it’s tempting to shut down—or spiral. In this intimate conversation, author and scholar Simran Jeet Singh joins Complexified to talk about what happens when we finally let go of the pressure to save the world, and instead tend to our corner of it with humility, joy, and spiritual grounding. Drawing from Sikh wisdom and his own experience of burnout, Simran invites us to trade ego-driven change for something more lasting: connection, presence, and compassion that transforms us from the inside out. If you’ve ever wondered how to keep caring without collapsing, this one’s for you. Simran Jeet Singh is a scholar, writer, and public advocate known for his work at the intersection of religion, justice, and culture. He is the author of The Light We Give: How Sikh Wisdom Can Transform Your Life and Executive Director of the Aspen Institute’s Religion & Society Program. A proud Sikh American, Simran writes and speaks widely on equity, empathy, and the power of small, meaningful acts to create lasting change.
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    17 m
  • Can Small Acts of Faith Change a Fractured Country?

    Can Small Acts of Faith Change a Fractured Country?
    May 20 2025
    What if the most powerful protest starts with getting a good night’s sleep? How do we keep going when everything feels like too much? Union Theological Seminary president Serene Jones joins host Amanda Henderson to talk about navigating trauma, disorientation, and political despair without giving in to collapse. From sleep to protest marches, they explore how small, rooted acts of care can ground us in a moment designed to disempower. If you’ve been wondering what faith looks like when the wheels fall off, this episode is a balm—and a call to stay in the fight.
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    22 m
  • What the Civil Rights Movement Still Has to Teach Us - Rachel Harding on Spirit & Strategy

    What the Civil Rights Movement Still Has to Teach Us - Rachel Harding on Spirit & Strategy
    May 16 2025
    In this stirring episode of Complexified, we sit down with scholar, poet and community elder Rachel Harding to remember what the Civil Rights Movement was really made of — not just legal wins, but music, food, family and radical hope. Raised among icons and everyday visionaries, Rachel offers a vision for change that begins not in courts, but in kitchens. This is a story about memory and movement, but also about presence — the kind of deep connection to people, place and purpose that makes liberation feel not just possible, but near. If you’re longing for a different way to be human in the chaos, this one’s for you. GUEST: Rachel Elizabeth Harding is a native of Georgia and a writer, historian and poet. Rachel is a specialist in religions of the Afro-Atlantic diaspora and studies the relationship between religion, creativity and social justice activism in cross-cultural perspective. A Cave Canem Fellow, she holds an MFA in creative writing from Brown University and a Ph.D. in history from the University of Colorado Boulder. She's the author of A Refuge in Thunder: Candomblé and Alternative Spaces of Blackness (Indiana University Press, 2000) as well as numerous poems and essays. Rachel’s second book, Remnants: A Memoir of Spirit, Activism and Mothering (Duke University Press, 2015), combines her own writings with those of her mother, Rosemarie Freeney Harding, on the role of compassion and spirituality in African American social justice organizing.
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    37 m
  • The Pope Who Blessed the Margins (And Upset the Middle)

    The Pope Who Blessed the Margins (And Upset the Middle)
    Apr 21 2025
    The complicated legacy of Pope Francis — part reformer, part rule-breaker, and always hard to pin down. Pope Francis changed the Catholic Church — but how far did he really go? In this episode of Complexified, Vatican reporter Claire Giangravè joins host Amanda Henderson to reflect on the legacy of Pope Francis. From his early image as a reformer to his efforts to include marginalized communities, we explore the tensions that defined his papacy. Plus, what actually happens when a pope dies — and how a new one is chosen. 00:00 Why Pope Francis Matters 01:52 A Reformer from the Start 03:50 Comfort in Chaos: COVID and Global Nationalism 05:09 LGBTQ+ Catholics and Vatican Politics 07:27 Synodality and Church Governance 09:10 How the Conclave Works 13:07 Language, Power, and Papal Politics 15:04 Divisions and the Future of Catholicism 17:03 Structure vs. Relational Religion
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    28 m