Religion, Technology, and Extraterrestrial Intelligences – A Talk with Diana Pasulka

For episode nine, we welcome to the show Diana Pasulka, Professor of Religious Studies at UNC – Wilmington. Her books American Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, Technology and Encounters: Experiences with Nonhuman Intelligences are both classics in the field of Religion and Technology studies. We discuss how Pasulka’s early work on Catholic purgatory led her to the study of UFOs, the spiritual practices of experiencers, and the role of government (dis)information and popular culture in the rise of UFO religion. On the way, we touch on A.I., revelations, St. Teresa of Avila, sleep paralysis, and the perils and possibilities of new technologies.

LINKS
Diana Pasulka's Heaven Can Wait: Purgatory in Catholic Devotional and Popular Culture
American Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, Technology
Encounters: Experiences with Nonhuman Intelligences
"From Purgatory to the UFO Phenomenon: The Catholic Supernatural Goes Galactic"
Keith Cantu's Om-gnosis video podcast