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The State of Belief
The State of Belief
Every week, Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush hosts lively, funny and poignant conversations with inspiring religious and civic leaders, as well as artists and activists from across the country. Listeners get a potent mix of spiritual wisdom, political strategy, and hopeful commentary from national and local leaders who are rising up to meet this urgent moment in America. With the tagline, “Where Religion and Democracy Meet,” State of Belief is a celebration of our nation’s diversities and an invitation to join together to, in the words of the great James Baldwin, “achieve our country.”
Meet the Host
Paul Brandeis Raushenbush
Paul Brandeis Raushenbush
Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush is President and CEO of Interfaith Alliance. An ordained Baptist minister, Paul has been a leader in the interfaith movement to protect freedom and preserve democracy. As the great-grandson of the first Jewish Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis and great-grandson of Baptist theologian Walter Rauschenbusch, a key figure in the Social Gospel movement, Paul’s commitment to interfaith advocacy comes in part from his own interfaith background. Prior to coming to Interfaith Alliance, Paul has served as senior vice president of the Auburn Seminary, the founding and executive editor of HuffPost Religion, associate dean of religious life and the chapel at Princeton University, and a founding editor of Beliefnet.com. Most recently, he was the senior advisor for public affairs and innovation at Interfaith America.

Before hosting State of Belief, Paul was the host of Huffington Post’s podcast “All Together” where he interviewed guests as diverse as President Jimmy Carter, Patti Smith, RuPaul, Bishop T.D. Jakes, and Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. Paul speaks about religious diversity and the importance of inclusive religious liberty at colleges, churches and institutes around the country including The Chautauqua Institute, the Center for American Progress, the New America Foundation and the Aspen Institute. He is regularly invited to offer commentary on issues of religion and society on national television and radio including a repeated guest on CNN, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, NPR, Al Jazeera, and BBC.
Podcast image for
Katelyn Beaty and Roxanne Stone
Katelyn and Roxy talk to Malcom Foley about the insidious legacy of greed on countries, systems and individuals.
Podcast image for
Jeffrey Salkin
(RNS) — You think that the Middle Ages are history? Not so fast. The same libels against Jews remain with us today.
Podcast image for
Amber Hacker and Tom Levinson
(RNS) — From portfolio obsession to nonprofit dreams, this thorny episode asks when to strive, when to surrender and how to 'solve for peace.'
Podcast image for
Rev. Amanda Henderson
Inside parts of Silicon Valley, AI is not just a tool. It is a vision of salvation, extinction and a future beyond the human.
Podcast image for
Katelyn Beaty and Roxanne Stone
Katelyn and Roxy talk to Malcom Foley about the insidious legacy of greed on countries, systems and individuals.
Podcast image for
Jeffrey Salkin
(RNS) — You think that the Middle Ages are history? Not so fast. The same libels against Jews remain with us today.
Podcast image for
Amber Hacker and Tom Levinson
(RNS) — From portfolio obsession to nonprofit dreams, this thorny episode asks when to strive, when to surrender and how to 'solve for peace.'
Podcast image for
Rev. Amanda Henderson
Inside parts of Silicon Valley, AI is not just a tool. It is a vision of salvation, extinction and a future beyond the human.
Latest Episode
May 30, 2026
Rabbi Angela Buchdahl shares her inspiring journey as the first woman and Asian American rabbi at Central Synagogue, exploring themes of faith, identity, and belonging.
Previous Episodes
Rabbi Angela Buchdahl shares her inspiring journey as the first woman and Asian American rabbi at Central Synagogue, exploring themes of faith, identity, and belonging.
PLAY EPISODE
Sacred Stories for Our Moral Compass with a former US Associate Attorney General and lifelong civil rights champion.
PLAY EPISODE
Exploring how religion and worldview shape our political chaos—and how faith calls Christians (and others) to battle tyranny and authoritarianism.
PLAY EPISODE
 In the same two weeks, the Trump Anti-Christian Bias Task Force filled 560 pages with reports of deliberate discrimination by the Biden administration (and pretty much everyone else), and the Supreme Court ruled that anti-minority bias is gone from our elections and the landmark Voting Rights Act is no longer needed. That’s exactly backwards,...
PLAY EPISODE
Podcast image for
Katelyn Beaty and Roxanne Stone
Katelyn and Roxy talk to Malcom Foley about the insidious legacy of greed on countries, systems and individuals.
Podcast image for
Jeffrey Salkin
(RNS) — You think that the Middle Ages are history? Not so fast. The same libels against Jews remain with us today.
Podcast image for
Amber Hacker and Tom Levinson
(RNS) — From portfolio obsession to nonprofit dreams, this thorny episode asks when to strive, when to surrender and how to 'solve for peace.'
Podcast image for
Rev. Amanda Henderson
Inside parts of Silicon Valley, AI is not just a tool. It is a vision of salvation, extinction and a future beyond the human.
Podcast image for
Katelyn Beaty and Roxanne Stone
Katelyn and Roxy talk to Malcom Foley about the insidious legacy of greed on countries, systems and individuals.
Podcast image for
Jeffrey Salkin
(RNS) — You think that the Middle Ages are history? Not so fast. The same libels against Jews remain with us today.
Podcast image for
Amber Hacker and Tom Levinson
(RNS) — From portfolio obsession to nonprofit dreams, this thorny episode asks when to strive, when to surrender and how to 'solve for peace.'
Podcast image for
Rev. Amanda Henderson
Inside parts of Silicon Valley, AI is not just a tool. It is a vision of salvation, extinction and a future beyond the human.