Crash Course Religions

Learn why “world religions” is a category constructed by human choice.

What is a cult? How are cults different from religions?

Is there really a difference between magic and religion?

What does it mean to be Hindu?

Let's explore the ways Buddhists try to leave that suffering behind and reach enlightenment.

What does it mean for a river to be a person? An ancestor, even?

What does it mean to be Jewish?

Christianity isn’t just about Jesus.

In this episode of Crash Course Religions, we dig into the beliefs, pillars, and spread of Islam.

African religions include Islam and Christianity, but also hundreds of diverse and complex indigenou

In this episode of Crash Course Religions, we’ll learn about Confucianism and Daoism!

We break down the different flavors of atheism and non-belief and ask if atheism is a religion?

Sacred texts mean vary amongst religions—sometimes they’re essential to belief and other times not.

Rituals can mark time and space, create new identities, and connect people to something bigger.

Religious leaders play a big role in shaping religions today. But who speaks for a religion?

Everybody dies—and then what?

What does it mean to be "spiritual but not religious"?

Do religion and science always have to be in conflict?

What do sex, gender, and sexuality have to do with religion?

In this episode, we'll unpack racism’s roots in religious colonialism, and what that means for us.

How will the world end? In this episode, we explore end-of-the-world predictions.

We might agree religious freedom is a good thing—but can we agree on what it really means?

We’ll explore how religion shapes pop culture, and pop culture shapes religion right back.