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Ye Gods With Scott Carter

NPR Network

Host Scott Carter, an award-winning executive producer and writer, known for his work on Real Time with Bill Maher and Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, explores codes of religious, cultural and secular conduct. Among Carter's diverse celebrity guests are Martin Short, Bob Costas, Ken Burns, Patricia Heaton, Killer Mike, Sam Harris, Rabbi Sharon Brous, Larry Wilmore, Moon Zappa, Rainn Wilson, Yvonne Orji, Rabbi Steve Leder and Tim Gunn.

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Wednesday · 50 min
Alicia Jo Rabins
Have you ever rebelled by becoming more religious? Torah teacher, and author of WHEN WE ARE BORN WE FORGET EVERYTHING, Alicia Jo Rabins. She tells me about her spiritual journey through Orthodox Judaism as a young woman and where she is now. Plus, why being a street musician became one of her most practiced spiritual rituals. And her GIRLS IN TROUBLE albums honoring the women of the Hebrew bible. Alicia Jo Rabins is a writer, musician, composer, performer and Torah teacher. She combines words, music, ritual and performance to create works of experimental beauty exploring the intersection of ancient wisdom texts, feminism, and everyday life. Rabins tours internationally as a musician and performer; she has performed and presented at Lincoln Center, Joe’s Pub, and in countries including Sweden, Guatemala and Estonia. Rabins’ spiritual memoir, When We’re Born We Forget Everything, was published by Schocken Books in March 2026; in a starred review, BookPage calls it “a balm against all the hurt places of humanity.” Her debut collection of poetry, Divinity School, won the APR/Honickman First Book Prize; her second poetry collection, Fruit Geode, was a finalist for the Jewish Book Award. She is also the author of Even God Had Bad Parenting Days, a collection of short personal essays about early parenthood and Jewish spirituality, and Hallelujah: The Story of Leonard Cohen, a children’s picture book (illustrated by Gene Pendon). As a musician and performer, Rabins is the creator and performer of Girls in Trouble, an indie-folk song cycle about the complicated lives of Biblical women with accompanying curriculum (now being made into an indie web series!) and A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff, which began as a one-woman chamber-rock opera and was adapted into an award-winning independent feature film. A Jewish educator, DIY bar/bat/b’nai mitzvah tutor, culture-bearer and ritualist for over twenty-five years, Rabins is passionate about progressive Jewish education. She tours internationally as a violinist, singer, lecturer and performer from her home base in Portland, Oregon, where she lives with her husband, two kids, and way too many houseplants. Her trilogy of albums about the women of the Hebrew bible is called GIRLS IN TROUBLE with two sequels subtitled HALF YOU, HALF ME and OPEN THE GROUND. All are available on Spotify and on her website aliciajo.com Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
October 7 · 50 min
Jesse Thorn
Jesse Thorn, the host of BULLSEYE and a co-founder of the Maximum Fun podcast network. Both projects grew out of Jesse’s college radio program, THE SOUND OF YOUNG AMERICA, and they’ve become a completely worker-owned network, producing over 40 podcasts. We talk about growing up in San Francisco and how he came to love his father’s commitment to Christ’s principles, though choosing the path of atheism for himself Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
September 30 · 50 min
Rabbi Susan Goldberg
Rabbi Susan Goldberg is the founder of Nefesh, which calls itself “an open-hearted Jewish community, welcoming all identities, and cultivating empathy, love and justice.” Nefesh calls its members “kin” and practices implementing their shared values through social action. Rabbi Susan Goldberg has also served on the Los Angeles Unified School District's Faith Advisory Council, and the L.A. County Department of Mental Health’s Interfaith Roundtable. She is a Stanton Fellow of the Durfee Foundation, and received the New Ground Change Maker award and T’ruah’s Rabbinic Human Rights Hero award. Rabbi Susan was the consulting rabbi for the Emmy-winning Amazon Prime series TRANSPARENT and is seen in the documentary Re/Pair. Susan is a 5th generation Angelino born to activist parents. Her mother, an early childhood educator and advocate, founded the Echo Park Silver Lake People's Childcare Center, also known as The Play Group and the Center for Nonviolent Education Parenting (Echo Parenting). Susan’s attorney father started the Working People's Law Center, which is still operating 50 years later. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
September 23 · 49 min
Bill Cain
Bill Cain, writer and Jesuit priest, discusses his two most recent books: THE DIARY OF JESUS CHRIST, which re-imagines the carpenter from Nazareth, and THE BOOK OF CAIN: ON ADDING A NEW BOOK TO THE FAMILY BIBLE, which tells of Bill being the primary caregiver for his dying mother. You can check out some of his writing on Showtime’s YOUR HONOR, starring Bryan Cranston, as well as HOUSE OF CARDS and BLOODLINES on Netflix. A deeper dig would be his 1996 series, NOTHING SACRED, about a young priest trying to be true to his church in an evolving cultural landscape. Bill tackled, with a clear-eyed humanity, tough issues like abortion, domestic abuse and even the politics of the Catholic Church. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
September 16 · 50 min
Mirabai Starr
Author, translator, and mystic teacher, Mirabai Starr, whose newly revised edition of her 2013 book, GOD OF LOVE: A GUIDE TO THE HEART OF JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM, may be a balm to a world weary of politicization, polarization, ignorance and fear. She is also the author of WILD MERCY: LIVING THE FIERCE AND TENDER WISDOM OF THE WOMEN MYSTICS, in which she explores how women across faith traditions have found strength in personal connections with the holy. Mirabai’s other books include translations of works by Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Teresa of Avila, and St. John of the Cross, as well as CARAVAN OF NO DESPAIR: A MEMOIR OF LOSS AND TRANSFORMATION. In CARAVAN, Mirabai chronicles her back-to-the-land, counter-culture upbringing in Taos, New Mexico. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
September 9 · 50 min
Amy Ephron
Amy Ephron, author of the new mystery novel UNSEASONABLY COLD, says was fueled by a feeling of “collective grief”. You can hear Amy talk more on that subject in the documentary "Everything is Copy" about her eldest sister, Nora Ephron. In addition to her books for adults, Amy has also written a trilogy of books for middle-grade readers: CASTLE IN THE MIST, CARNIVAL MAGIC and THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WALL. She also has a collection of autobiographical essays, LOOSE DIAMONDS, the title chapter being written in the wake of her house being robbed. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
September 2 · 50 min
Samuel D. Hunter
Samuel D. Hunter is a playwright best-known for THE WHALE, which he adapted for the film, directed by Darren Aronsky, for which Brendan Fraser won the Oscar for Best Actor. His New York Drama Critics' Award winning play A CASE FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD, opens September 5th at the Rogue Machine Theatre in Los Angeles. The play is set in a cubicle in which two people are seated: Keith is a mortgage broker, and Ryan is a yogurt plant worker seeking to buy a plot of land that many decades ago belonged to his family. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
August 26 · 50 min
Lee Camp
My guest is Lee C. Camp, the host of the NPR show NO SMALL ENDEAVOR, which explores what it means to live a good life. Before the break, Lee described his childhood Christian community, the Church of Christ. Despite that church’s founding principle being unity with other Christians, Lee absorbed many doctrines that left him with what he calls “theological baggage.” Lee also works on another podcast, THE SUBTEXT. Lee’s co-host is Gen Z writer and artist Savannah Locke, Each week, internet expert Savannah reports on pop culture phenomena to ethics professor and theologian Lee, who is almost 30 years her senior and doesn’t own a cell phone. And, somehow, on each episode, they make their way to “the intersection of faith and culture. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
August 19 · 50 min
Tom Junod
ESPN Senior Writer Tom Junod, who has contributed to G.Q., Esquire and The Atlantic. Tom has famously profiled such celebrities as Tony Curtis, Frank Sinatra Jr., and Kevin Spacey. In 1996, he wrote the ESQUIRE cover story “Can You Say...Hero?” about PBS host Mr. Rogers, which inspired the 2019 film A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. Tom Hanks played Fred Rogers and WIDOW’S BAY star Mathew Rhys played the Esquire journalist assigned to profile him. Tom's memoir, IN THE DAYS OF MY YOUTH I WAS TOLD WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A MAN, is available from Penguin Random House, and you can find links to Tom's award-winning articles, including “Falling Man,” at The Electric Typewriter at tetw.org/tom_junod. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
August 12 · 50 min
Adriana Trigiani
Adriana Trigiani is a bestselling author, host of the podcast, YOU ARE WHAT YOU READ, and director of several films, including the 2020 rom-com THEN CAME YOU starring Craig Ferguson and Kathy Lee Gifford. She’s also adapted her novels BIG STONE GAP, starring Ashley Judd and, for Lifetime, VERY VALENTINE. Her new book, THE VIEW FROM LAKE COMO, tells of a woman finding her purpose after the death of an uncle, and revealed family secrets, upend her life. Her protagonist, a devout Catholic, finds special solace in the funeral service of her grandmother. That experience parallels Adriana’s own life, after the passing of both of her grandparents, with whom she was very close. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
August 5 · 50 min
Of God and Country: David Dark
We conclude our miniseries OF GOD AND COUNTRY with professor of Religion and the Arts at Belmont University and author of WE BECOME WHAT WE NORMALIZE: Dr. David Dark. His books include EVERYDAY APOCALYPSE: THE SACRED REVEALED IN RADIOHEAD, THE SIMPSONS, AND OTHER POP CULTURE ICONS, and LIFE’S TOO SHORT TO PRETEND YOU’RE NOT RELIGIOUS. His latest book, WE BECOME WHAT WE NORMALIZE: WHAT WE OWE EACH OTHER IN WORLDS THAT DEMAND OUR SILENCE, is available in audio and hard-cover from Broadleaf Books, and his “Dark Matters” Substack is at daviddark.substack.com. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
July 29 · 50 min
Of God and Country: Charlie Sykes
Charlie Sykes is a rarity: Decent, Wisconsin-nice, smiling, gracious, man of integrity in an often transactional profession. He was raised in a liberal, non-religious household, but became a Catholic and a Republican. He's still a Catholic, but no longer a Republican, though still a conservative. A journalist and radio host in Wisconsin for 40 years, and the bestselling author of nine books including 2017’s HOW THE RIGHT LOST ITS MIND. In 2019, Charlie co-founded The Bulwark news site, with the motto “Country Over Party.” He hosted its flagship podcast until, in 2025, he started his own substack newsletter, TO THE CONTRARY, with the motto “You are not the crazy ones.” On it, Charlie publishes solo commentaries and interviews politicos and journalists. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
July 22 · 50 min
Of God and Country: David Frum
As part of our miniseries OF GOD AND COUNTRY, we speak with author, podcaster and journalist for THE ATLANTIC, David Frum. David served as a presidential speechwriter for George W. Bush, has authored 10 books, and now hosts THE DAVID FRUM SHOW and writes for The Atlantic. We’re discussing how both America and classic conservative David have shifted since Donald Trump took over the Oval Office in 2017. We also discuss where the American experiment goes from here, whether Americans still value dignity from their elected leaders, and how David’s childhood in 1960’s Canada shaped his understanding of global politics. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
July 15 · 50 min
Of God and Country: Bradley Whitford
As part of our miniseries OF GOD AND COUNTRY, we're talking with activist and TV and film star from A HANDMAID’S TALE, GET OUT, and THE WEST WING, Bradley Whitford about his relationship to religion, after being raised a Quaker by atheist leaning parents. Brad attended All Saints Episcopal in Pasadena during priest-in-charge Ed Bacon’s leadership. Bacon is now retired but the church, founded in 1882, continues its commitment to radical inclusion, joyful spirituality, and ethical stewardship. Standing in stark contrast to the splendor of All Saint’s 1924 gothic revival church is the austerity of the Quaker meetings which Brad attended as a child, and to which he has returned. Correction: Bradley Whitford did not originate the lead role in A FEW GOOD MEN, but was the understudy for TOM HULCE who originated the part of LT JG Kafee. A part later made famous by Tom Cruise Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
July 8 · 50 min
Of God and Country: Nayyera Haq/Robert Costa
We’ll look at two American stories: The Christian Right and Muslim-American Immigrants. We’ll hear from former Senior Director at the Obama White House and Senior Advisor at the State Department, Nayyera Haq. The daughter of Pakistani Muslim parents, she describes how her 1980’s childhood on Staten Island led to her working to elect Barack Obama. But first: CBS News national correspondent for Sunday Morning and chief Washington analyst, Robert Costa. I’ve known him since he was a young Washington Post reporter and, later, as host of PBS's Washington Week. Since 2008, he’s covered the religious right, from the Moral Majority, to the Tea Party, to MAGA. Robert holds a BA from Notre Dame and a masters from Cambridge University in the UK. In 2021, he and Bob Woodward co-authored the #1 New York Times bestselling book PERIL, about the 2020 campaign, leading up to and after the January 6th assault on America’s capital. In 2025, Robert became a Fourth Estate Honoree, the highest award of the National Press Club. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
July 1 · 50 min
Of God and Country: Jonathan Alter
Jonathan Alter: author, columnist, pundit, podcaster, filmmaker and lecturer. Jon executive-produced Amazon Prime’s 2013 satirical series ALPHA HOUSE, created by Pulitzer-Prize-winning Doonesbury cartoonist Gary Trudeau, and starred John Goodman. We discuss how religion influenced the founding fathers and why the “separation of church and state” is a controversial American idea, which doesn’t appear in the constitution. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
June 24 · 50 min
Killer Mike (Encore)
Scott talks with actor, activist, 4-time Grammy-winning rapper, and half of hip-hop supergroup, Run The Jewels, Killer Mike. In the episode, Mike talks about his admiration for - and friendship with - Civil Rights icon and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young, growing up in the all-Black neighborhood of Atlanta’s Collier Heights, and his musical evolution. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
May 20 · 50 min
Susie Essman
Actress and comedian Susie Essman, who played Susie Green on CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, is poised to reteam with Larry David and an all star cast, including past YE GODS! guest Larry Wilmore, for HBO’s LIFE, LARRY AND THE PURSUIT OF UNHAPPINESS. Susie's 2009 memoir is "WHAT WOULD SUSIE SAY?: BS WISDOM ABOUT LOVE, LIFE AND COMEDY". She and bff Joy Behar appeared on stage together last year in Joy’s off-Broadway play MY FIRST EX HUSBAND. Check out their joint interview on theatermania.com for more on their four-decade friendship. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
May 13 · 50 min
Danielle Crittenden
Danielle Crittenden is a journalist and author. Her new book is DISPATCHES FROM GRIEF: A MOTHER’S JOURNEY THROUGH THE UNTHINKABLE. Danielle’s Atlantic article "ON LOSING A DAUGHTER" and husband David Frum’s article "MIRANDA’S LAST GIFT", also for Atlantic, explore their sudden loss of their daughter Miranda at 32, the time they had with her, and how they both processed that loss. Danielle also recently contributed to THE WALL STREET JOURNAL explaining the role technology has played in her grief experience. We discuss Danielle’s conversion to Judaism and how it helped her process Miranda’s sudden absence. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
May 6 · 50 min
Stephen Mitchell
Stephen Mitchell is an author, editor, and translator of classic and spiritual literature. His 1988 translation into English of the TAO TE CHING by Lao Tzu, and its accompanying audio book have been indispensable guides to millions of seekers. We discuss how spiritual texts come to be written, the history of the translating and compiling of the Christian gospels, and why Stephen was compelled to untangle Jesus’s teachings for himself. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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