What connects The Mayflower with an iconic screen adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein?
And what connects the 1931 James Whale film Frankenstein with the 1956 Hollywood musical The King and I?
Why do so many Americans show South Asian ancestry in DNA tests?
And where exactly does John Wayne fit into all of this?
Sometimes the real horror is the story behind the actors and storytellers...
Before We Were White takes a mid-point break from our four part series on the history of Christianity in America - "New, Improved, and Super-Sanctified".
Join us as we explore some of the darkness at the heart of Tinsel Town's Golden Era.
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1:37:36
Episode 19: New, Improved, and Super-Sanctified, Part 2
America is easily the most religious country among the wealthy western democracies.
Why?
Episode 19 of Before We Were White - "New, Improved, and Super-Sanctified, Part 2" is out now.
Part 2 explores the Medieval Catholic church, and how its quest for total political, economic, and spiritual power and authority led to the birth of Protestantism.
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1:20:04
Episode 18: New, Improved, and Super-Sanctified, Part 1
America is easily the most religious country among the wealthy western democracies.
In almost every other nation, greater wealth and educational levels correlate with a drop-off in levels of religiosity.
The USA remains a conspicuous outlier in this regard.
Why?
Episode 18 of Before We Were White - "New, Improved, and Super-Sanctified, Part 1" is out now.
An exploration of the curious synergy between God and Mammon in American history, from Canaan to Corporation, from Pilgrims to Pentacostalism, from Jamestown to Jonestown.
Part 1 goes right back to the source, tracing the line between Bronze Age storm gods and the Medieval Catholic church.
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49:50
Episode 17: Pre-Deliverance, Part 3
How did a musical instrument which started off hundreds of years ago in Africa end-up becoming a symbol of "white" American country music?
Was this a case of simple cultural appropriation, or is there another story waiting to be told?
When it comes to American history, nothing is ever as black and white as people think...
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2:20:40
Episode 16: Pre-Deliverance, Part 2
Part Two of "Pre-Deliverance" continues our exploration of some of the forgotten roots of American culture and ethnicity.
In this episode, we get closer to understanding the origins of "Hillbilly Jews".
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