Hard to Believe

25/04/2022

This week, I talked to 8chan creator Fredrick Brennan about the cult of "free speech" on the internet and his thoughts on what happens when and if Elon Musk buys Twitter.

Get it here or wherever you get podcasts.

8chan creator Fredrick Brennan on the cult of free speech that has infected much of the internet and what happens if Elon Musk buys Twitter.

11/04/2022

Hard to Believe is back at last!

Season three begins with a talk with Strange Arrivals host
Toby Ball about the UFO phenomenon and the various belief structures it has spawned.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

https://www.cageclub.me/toby-ball-strange-arrivals/

"Strange Arrivals" host Toby Ball on why we love aliens, and what the UFO phenomenon tells us about ourselves and our culture.

04/04/2022

Hard to Believe is back next week, 4/11!

Some news - the show is moving from Wednesday to Monday and from weekly to every other week.

This is in part because Joey Lewandowski and I have been working on a second show.

In 1999: The Podcast, we are going to be joined by special guests as go through the movies of 1999 every other Monday!

We released our first episode today, which is a preview of what's to come, featuring author Brian Raftery, on the 18th we'll be back with our second episode, exploring our first pick of the essential movies of 1999.

So, in the meantime, listen here or wherever you get your podcasts!

https://www.cageclub.me/1999-best-movie-year-ever-brian-raftery/

Journalist and author Brian Raftery joins us to share his thoughts on why 1999 was such an important year for movies and for our culture.

24/12/2021

It's the last episode until the spring! Merry Christmas, and a happy whatever holidays you celebrate this time of year! Featuring Phil Errington and Piers Torday.

The story of John Masefield and his enduring Christmas classic, "The Box of Delights". Featuring Philip W. Errington and Piers Torday.

09/12/2021

Ho ho ho! This week, I'm joined by Teddy Smith and
Joey Lewandowski to explore the "life" of St. Nicholas and ask a curious question - should we even believe in Old St. Nick?

Listen here or wherever!

https://www.cageclub.me/saint-nicholas/

We look at the stories of Saint Nicholas and ask an important question - are any of their claims, including that of his very existence, true?

01/12/2021

Just in time for Advent, I spoke with Catholic activist and author Margaret O'Connor about the past and future of ordaining women as priests.

HUGE thanks to Bry from Pontifacts Podcast for recording this week's intro (as I slowly regain my ability to talk properly).

https://www.cageclub.me/oconnor/

"Scandal in the Shadows" author Margaret O'Connor on her fight for the ordination of women in the Catholic priesthood.

17/11/2021

Daredevil may not have made an appearance in the new Spider-Man trailer (boo!), but he DOES have a starring role in this week's episode, featuring Matthew John Cressler!

https://www.cageclub.me/daredevil/

Check it our here or wherever you get podcasts.

Matthew J. Cressler joins to discuss the portrayal of Catholicism in Daredevil and the character of Matt Murdock.

03/11/2021

It's time to take seriously the ethical and existential implications of anti-aging genetic science, says Mark Ryall on this week's new episode. Available here or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Author Mark Ryall on his novel "Age-Decoded" and the implications of the anti-aging and reverse-aging genetic engineering.

28/10/2021

For the Halloween episode, John invited Dan Colón (back for his second straight episode) and frequent guest Mike Manzi – who together host the Universal Monster Movie podcast The Monsters That Made Us – to join him as they dig into the life and mind of Mary Shelley: What haunted her, what drove her, and how her masterpiece, Frankenstein, is as much autobiography is it is the blueprint for the entire horror genre.

The story of how Mary Shelley created a monster from the disparate, assembled parts of her own lived horror.

21/10/2021

If you've finished Midnight Mass, you'll want to listen to this discussion of its religious and horror themes with me, Dr. Kelly J. Baker, and Dan Colón.

If you haven't - wait, because this is very spoiler heavy!

The author of "The Zombies are Coming" and co-host of "The Monsters that Made Us" discuss faith and horror in Mike Flanagan's "Midnight Mass"

06/10/2021

This week, I talk to the wonderful Brandan Robertson
about a lot of things, but mostly about UFOs, and what first contact with aliens would mean for religion. Check it out here or wherever.

https://www.cageclub.me/brandan-robertson/

Brandan Robertson and John discuss the likelihood of intelligent life in the cosmos and what first contact would mean for religion.

29/09/2021

We take a little detour from the usual this week as I explore the topic of...math.

Yep. Math.

https://www.cageclub.me/jonathan-farley/

Dr. Farley discusses what we get wrong about how we teach mathematics and its history, and how that shapes the landscape of math and science.

22/09/2021

It's a palate cleanser episode! In which me, Joe DeIuliis, and Brian Rodriguez have fun talking about a pretty bad Gabriel Byrne movie that's kinda charmingly cool in retrospect!

Brian Rodriguez and Joe Two join to talk about Stigmata, one of two weird religious thrillers Gabriel Byrne made in 1999

15/09/2021

This week, Rolling Stone senior writer Alex Morris talks about the emerging movement of young evangelicals demanding climate action, and weighs on whether we're finally seeing the beginning of a turning point in the enduring evangelical opposition to addressing ecological collapse. Find it here or wherever you get your podcasts.

Rolling Stone senior writer Alex Morris on the emerging efforts of young evangelical Christians to address the climate crisis.

08/09/2021

We're back! New episodes will be available every Wednesday between now and Christmas, starting with a conversation with author/historian/scholar Dr. Kelly J. Baker on the Christian roots of the Klan and how the Klan morphed into the very core of Trumpism.

Dr. Kelly J. Baker, author of "The Gospel According to the Klan", on the past, present, and future of the Klan, Christianity, and Trumpism

27/08/2021

In the hiatus, we've been counting down the top 5 episodes of our season so far. We'll be back with new episodes on 9/8, but until then, check out the first 4 of the top 5, including #2, featuring Our Fake History host Sebastian Major.

‎Show Hard to Believe - A Podcast About Belief, Ep BEST OF SEASON 2 - #2- Sebastian Major talks fake history - Aug 24, 2021

28/07/2021

The third installment of our DISINFORMATION series is our last episode until September. Michael Manzi and Jess Collins join to talk about how Stalin built his political career on deception and disinformation, and how the consequences reverberate to this day.

Available here or wherever you get podcasts!

Stalin's rise to absolute power was one riddled with deception and manipulation. This is the story of Stalin's invention of "dezinformatsiya"

21/07/2021

This week, I talk with Romanov historians/authors/translators Helen Azar and about their work translating and publishing the writings of the Romanovs and their book Maria Romanov: Third Daughter of the Last Tsar

The Romanovs were murdered 103 years ago this week. Helen Azar and George Hawkins discuss what we learn from the Romanovs in their own words.

14/07/2021

Tyler Birth joins me for the first time ever (on this podcast) to talk about the weirdest video game urban legend this side of Sheng Long.

Check it out here, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts!

Polybius came and went in a month in 1981. Or did it? Video game enthusiast Tyler Birth joins John to talk everything Polybius!

30/06/2021

It's podcast day! I'm joined by the wonderful
Michael Blanding to discuss his brilliant new book detailing the link between Shakespeare and Thomas North as revealed in the work of Dennis McCarthy.

Author Michael Blanding on his book "North by Shakespeare", which explores the Shakespeare-Thomas North connection.

29/06/2021

I guested on Don't Quill the Messenger, the official podcast of the Oxford Shakespeare Fellowship (and one of my favorites shows).

Here I talk about the Shakespeare authorship question through the lens of religious belief.

Enjoy!

Steven welcomes John Brooks to the series. Brooks is the host of the podcast, "Hard To Believe," and a Connecticut prep school religious studies teacher. Steven calls upon John's expertise in world religions to examine why Stratfordians cling so tightly to the Stratford narrative.

23/06/2021

The amazing Chelsey Weber-Smith (American Hysteria) joins me for some summer clown fun (AND MURDER????)!

Clowns - delightful kids' entertainment or deranged killers? Did we turn clowns into objects of fear, or were they always meant to be?

16/06/2021

Is this our most wonderfully absurd episode yet? Yes.

This podcast network would literally not exist without Nicolas Cage, so here we take a moment to admire his gleefully quixotic side quests.

11/06/2021

This week, we talk about the immortal Octavia Butler.

A discussion with Anand Kalra about Octavia Butler, inarguably one of the greatest science fiction authors of all time.

19/05/2021

We're talking popes! With Pontifacts host Bry Jensen.

Bry Jensen, the host and co-creator of "Pontifacts" talks about the show's first three years of covering every pope in history.

12/05/2021

This week, I'm joined by Teddy Smith to talk about the implications of Cullen Hoback's terrific QAnon docuseries.

John and Teddy Smith unpack Cullen Hoback's QAnon docuseries, "Q: Into the Storm", and discuss why QAnon won't stop when Q is unmasked.

05/05/2021

That Witch Life hosts Hilary Whitmore, Kanani Soleil, and Courtney Weber discuss their friendship and journey to realizing they were witches.

28/04/2021

This was a fun one! In this week's episode, the very funny and very insightful Robin Wilkins joins me to talk about the world of parenting philosophies.

Robin Wilkins joins to discuss Alison Gopnik's "The Gardener and the Carpenter", and the world of parenting philosophies.