Religion off the Beaten Track - Podcast

Robin Douglas

A podcast on the lesser-known aspects of religion and belief.

religionoffthebeatentrack.substack.com

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20 episodes
Updated Jul 26, 2025

Episodes20

Newest first

Jul 26, 2025 · 48 min
Feminist occult literature
Sue Terry (PhD candidate, University of Surrey) talks about her research on esoteric themes in feminist writers of the Modernist school. Since recording this episode, Sue has obtained her PhD - congratulations! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit religionoffthebeatentrack.substack.com
Jun 21, 2025 · 42 min
Puritans and Witchhunting
Danny Buck (PhD, University of East Anglia) talks about religious fears and hatreds in a seventeenth-century English town. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit religionoffthebeatentrack.substack.com
May 25, 2025 · 39 min
Crowley the Agnostic
Dr Richard Kaczynski (Yale University) talks about his book Friendship in Doubt: Aleister Crowley, J. F. C. Fuller, Victor B. Neuburg, and British Agnosticism. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit religionoffthebeatentrack.substack.com
Apr 26, 2025 · 37 min
Sir James Frazer and contemporary Paganism
Dr Caroline Tully (Melbourne University) reflects on the state of contemporary paganism and talks about a recent book that she co-edited on James Frazer’s The Golden Bough. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit religionoffthebeatentrack.substack.com
Mar 26, 2025 · 40 min
Stigmata in Modern Times
Dr Kristof Smeyers, author of Supernatural bodies: Stigmata in Modern Britain and Ireland, talks about his research. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit religionoffthebeatentrack.substack.com
Feb 25, 2025 · 33 min
Reflections on Pagan Studies
The writer and scholar Prof. Chas Clifton reflects on the discipline of Pagan Studies and his history in it. The online archive of Iron Mountain magazine that Chas refers to can be found here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit religionoffthebeatentrack.substack.com
Jan 26, 2025 · 36 min
The Crusades and the Far Right
Dr Charlotte Gauthier (University of London) talks about the misuse of Crusader language and symbols by the modern far right. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit religionoffthebeatentrack.substack.com
Dec 27, 2024 · 41 min
Autism and Christianity
A discussion of Jonathan Machnee’s (Christianity on the Spectrum) research into autistic people and Christianity. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit religionoffthebeatentrack.substack.com
Nov 23, 2024 · 36 min
Roman mythmaking
Mary Beard (Cambridge University) talks about the Romans' uses of history and myth. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit religionoffthebeatentrack.substack.com
Nov 19, 2024 · 43 min
The Coronation of King Charles
A special episode of the podcast on the occasion of the coronation of King Charles III. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit religionoffthebeatentrack.substack.com
Nov 19, 2024 · 39 min
Ghosts in Catholic literature
Alex Zawacki (Rochester University) talks about ghosts in Catholic literature, with special reference to a Middle English text, The Gast of Gy. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit religionoffthebeatentrack.substack.com
Nov 19, 2024 · 34 min
A Pagan seminary director
Holli Emore, Executive Director of Cherry Hill Seminary and author of Constellated Ministry, talks about ministry in the modern Pagan community. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit religionoffthebeatentrack.substack.com
Nov 19, 2024 · 38 min
Phallic religion
Author Phil Hine talks about the theory that religion sprang from worship of the reproductive organs. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit religionoffthebeatentrack.substack.com
Nov 19, 2024 · 37 min
Christian mysticism, Platonism and Shin Buddhism
Fr Tom Plant of Rikkyo University talks about the links between Christian mysticism, Platonist philosophy and the Shin school of Buddhism. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit religionoffthebeatentrack.substack.com
Nov 19, 2024 · 39 min
Witchcraft in France
Dr Will Pooley (Bristol University) talks about his research into historical witchcraft beliefs in France. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit religionoffthebeatentrack.substack.com
Nov 19, 2024 · 34 min
Translation and the Reformation
Dr Cressida Ryan (Oxford University) talks about how the Protestant Reformers grappled with issues of Greek and Latin translation when constructing their new religious system. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit religionoffthebeatentrack.substack.com
Nov 19, 2024 · 43 min
Western esotericism and Indian religious traditions
Dr Joel Bordeaux of the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) talks about the interaction of indigenous Indian traditions with Western religious movements from colonial times onwards. [There is some interference on the first 5 minutes of the recording.] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit religionoffthebeatentrack.substack.com
Nov 19, 2024 · 33 min
Victorian witches
Writer and researcher Julia Phillips talks about beliefs in witchcraft as presented in Victorian newspapers and other sources, which is the subject of her PhD work at Bristol University. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit religionoffthebeatentrack.substack.com
Nov 19, 2024 · 40 min
Magic and politics in British history
Historian and writer Francis Young talks about the intersection of politics and the magical arts in British history, as discussed in his book Magic in Merlin’s Realm. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit religionoffthebeatentrack.substack.com
Nov 19, 2024 · 18 min
C M Davies and the Victorian spiritual supermarket
It’s sometimes said that modern Western culture offers a spiritual supermarket in which the buyer can browse the shelves for products from around the world before taking them home to consume. Victorian London was much the same. This episode looks at the work of the priest and journalist Charles Maurice Davies, who wrote on the diversity of religious life in late-19th century London. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit religionoffthebeatentrack.substack.com