Interested in Handmaid's Tale? Here's special issue for you, open access, in Journal for Film, Religion and Media. jrfm.eu/index.php/ojs_…

Weekend reading: Couldry & Hepp argue that social construction should be understood as mediated by technologically based media of communication from the get go (esp. so in times of deep mediatization), rather than taking everyday life outside them (or, Umwelt) as the basis.

If you are interested in thinking what to do with classics in your field – in the study of religion in this case – this interview (and the edited volume) might be for you: 'Fieldnotes in the Critical Study of Religion' (Newton & Touna eds) newbooksnetwork.com/fieldnotes-in-…

Another recent example of how some German 'universities' are shooting themselves in the foot: Nancy Fraser's visit cancelled by the rector of the University of Cologne. jacobin.com/2024/04/nancy-…

Excellent short talks by Bruce Lincoln, Ted Anton & Christian Wedemeyer concerning Lincoln's latest book on Mircea Eliade and the 1991 murder of Ioan Culianu. youtube.com/watch?v=Ypjk1Z…

Wrong question: 'Are the inmates sincere in their attempt to see the solar eclipse on the basis of religion?' Right question: 'How is it possible to operate with 'religion' in this way – why other categories don't do the work?' washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/04…

Things don't look that great in Goldsmiths either: 'The proposed redundancies...Sociology -54%, History -50%, English and Creative Writing -42%, Educational Studies -39%, Music -35%, Visual Cultures -31%, Psychology - 31%, Anthropology -28%, Politics and IR -21%' and so on.

Terrible news from the University of Kent: 'we have taken the decision to phase out Anthropology, Art History, Health & Social Care, Journalism, Music & Audio Technology, and Philosophy/Religious Studies' kent.ac.uk/news/statement…

Don't know if this is a new thing but this is the first time I get this sort of 'certificate'. Of course some journals publish their list of reviewers in print.

Perhaps the most interesting detail in Varieties of Atheism in Science (Ecklund & Johnson, 2021): $$$ more relevant to religious scientists than atheist scientists in the U.S. and U.K.

This includes two short chapters by me – Assignments; Group Work. I'm interested in seeing what others have written, I've only seen a couple during the production process.

On secular congregations in the United States, their rituals and benefits for the participants by Jacqui Frost. theconversation.com/church-without…

'perpetrators carried out ransomware attacks on the federation and released screenshots of the captured material, including images of people's passports' – this is probably not an 'ideological' attack; it is just another extortion attempt.

Antonio Negri (1933-2023) RIP. I've never found time to read all or even most of his key works, but I've always been impressed of those pieces I've read. And his influence on political theory, political activism, and continental philosophy has been huge. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_N…

Podcast interview by Russell McCutcheon, related to the new edition of Critics Not Caretakers newbooksnetwork.com/critics-not-ca…

New issue of Journal of Religion, Film and Media is out! Special theme: East Asian film and religion. Open access. jrfm.eu/index.php/ojs_…

I am still on a parental leave, but I decided to do one work-related thing: NAASR panel on Religion in 5 Minutes book series. I was probably the most eastern participant and thus spent my Sat night on Zoom. It was good to see many familiar faces.

Some colleagues have found it difficult to understand what Naomi Goldenberg means by religion as vestigial states. This is a great starting point – Goldenberg's interview based on edited volume The End of Religion. newbooksnetwork.com/the-end-of-rel…