# George Saunders has no faith in Christian nationalism

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Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-exchange-long-form-interviews-from-the-new-statesman-7519113/george-saunders-has-no-faith-in-christian-nationalism.md
Podcast: [The Exchange | Long-form interviews from the New Statesman](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-exchange-long-form-interviews-from-the-new-statesman-7519113)
Published: 2026-04-08T08:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://shows.acast.com/the-new-statesman-interview/episodes/george-saunders-has-no-faith-in-christian-nationalism
Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68de580c52ddd4d4572281cb/e/69d563942a193257ad84922c/media.mp3
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Duration seconds: 2367

## Resource

For decades, George Saunders was known for his short stories. In 2013, in a Time Magazine 100 most influential people listing, he was described as “the best short-story writer in English". In 2017, he released his first novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, a reimagining of President Abraham Lincoln’s grief in the aftermath of his son Willie’s death. It’s a genre-defying piece of literature, narrated by no less than 166 ghosts.  The bardo is a concept borrowed from Saunders ’ adopted faith, Buddhism—an "intermediate state" between death and reincarnation. In his latest novel, Vigil, Saunders returns to the in-between - this time through a dying oil barron, grappling with his morality at the 11th hour in a burning world. Tanjil Rashid sat down with George Saunders to discuss faith: in his writing, as a means of optimism, and as a political weapon in today’s world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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