{"podcast":{"title":"Premium Ad-Free: Straight White American Jesus","slug":"premium-ad-free-straight-white-american-jesus-4273207","podcast_index_feed_id":4273207,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/BCEP7155105923","website_url":"Straightwhiteamericanjesus.com","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/82736edc-81d2-11eb-98ab-a78d50f5f8f3/image/Screen_Shot_2023-09-07_at_2.54.00_PM.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"Axis Mundi Media: Bradley Onishi + Daniel Miller","episode_count":1072,"summary":"An in-depth examination of the culture and politics of Christian Nationalism and Evangelicalism by two ex-evangelical ministers-turned-religion professors. If you have ever wondered what social and historical forces led white evangelicals to usher Donald Trump into the White House this is the show for you. As former insiders and critical scholars of religion, Dan Miller and Bradley Onishi have a unique perspective on the Religious Right. Guests have included Chrissy Stroop, R. Marie Griffith, Janelle Wong, Randall Balmer, Katherine Stewart, and many others.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-25T20:21:19.696469+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/premium-ad-free-straight-white-american-jesus-4273207"},"episode":{"title":"The Sunday Interview:  Paul Pressler, the SBC Takeover, and a Culture of Power and Abuse","slug":"the-sunday-interview-paul-pressler-the-sbc-takeover-and-a-culture-of-power-and-abuse","published_at":"2026-05-10T15:45:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/premium-ad-free-straight-white-american-jesus-4273207/the-sunday-interview-paul-pressler-the-sbc-takeover-and-a-culture-of-power-and-abuse","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/premium-ad-free-straight-white-american-jesus-4273207","url":"https://clrtpod.com/m/traffic.megaphone.fm/SWAJ5028274893.mp3?updated=1778428362","audio_url":"https://clrtpod.com/m/traffic.megaphone.fm/SWAJ5028274893.mp3?updated=1778428362","summary":"Brad Onishi interviews Texas Monthly senior writer Robert Downen about his 12,000-word feature on Paul Pressler, a key architect of the Southern Baptist Convention’s conservative resurgence alongside Paige Patterson. Downen outlines how the takeover, framed around biblical inerrancy, gender hierarchy, abortion, and weakening church–state separation, helped align the SBC with the GOP and built a broader culture-war mindset, aided by sophisticated internal tactics such as tracking pastorates, spying on professors, and manipulating convention rules. He traces Pressler’s privileged Texas lineage and early political training through his grandfather’s Texas Regulars ties and shows how Pressler leveraged SBC power into national influence via the Council for National Policy and Republican politics. The conversation centers on longstanding allegations that Pressler abused young men and how institutional deference and fear of “liberal” attacks enabled silence, shaping SBC responses to the later denomination-wide sexual abuse crisis and ongoing membership decline. Subscribe for $3.65: ⁠https://axismundi.supercast.com/⁠ Subscribe to our free newsletter: ⁠https://swaj.substack.com/⁠ Order American Caesar by Brad Onishi: ⁠https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/⁠ Donate to SWAJ: https://axismundi.supercast.com/donations/new Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices","meta_description":"Brad Onishi interviews Texas Monthly senior writer Robert Downen about his 12,000-word feature on Paul Pressler, a key architect of the Southern Baptist C…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3473,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/premium-ad-free-straight-white-american-jesus-4273207/episodes/the-sunday-interview-paul-pressler-the-sbc-takeover-and-a-culture-of-power-and-abuse/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/premium-ad-free-straight-white-american-jesus-4273207/the-sunday-interview-paul-pressler-the-sbc-takeover-and-a-culture-of-power-and-abuse.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}