Eileen Luhr, "Golden States: How California Religion Went from Cautionary Tale to Global Brand" (U California Press, 2024)

Eileen Luhr, "Golden States: How California Religion Went from Cautionary Tale to Global Brand" (U California Press, 2024)

Author: New Books Network September 21, 2026 Duration: 1:12:11
Since the beginning of European colonization, the sun-drenched land of California has always attracted dreamers and schemers. Whether it was Spanish missionaries, Russian fur traders, or American argonauts, the myth - or perhaps brand - of California has long been a place here one's wildest dreams can come true. Starting in the late nineteenth century and accelerating in the twentieth, that myth also attracted a wide array of starry eyed spiritualists. In Golden States: How California Religion Went from Cautionary Tale to Global Brand (U California Press, 2024), Cal State Long Beach history professor Eileen Luhr explains how and why this state has been such a haven for utopianists, gurus, and spiritual seekers of all kinds. Explaining the stories of individuals from Katherine Tingley to Emmanual Bronner (of soap fame) to Steve Jobs, Luhr shows how the reputation of California as a haven for deep thinkers and outside the box ideas is both well earned, and was carefully crafted over the course of many strange and wonderful decades.

For anyone curious about the ideas shaping contemporary faith and practice, New Books in Religion offers a direct line to the scholars doing the work. This podcast, part of the wider New Books Network, functions as an ongoing, accessible seminar where authors detail their latest publications in conversation with informed peers. Each episode delves into a specific text, moving beyond summary to explore the author's motivations, research challenges, and the broader implications of their findings for understanding spirituality, ritual, history, and belief. The discussions are substantive yet approachable, designed to illuminate complex topics without sacrificing depth. You'll encounter a diverse range of subjects, from historical analyses of ancient traditions to contemporary explorations of ethics, mysticism, and social justice within various religious contexts. It's an opportunity to eavesdrop on genuine academic exchange, discovering new authors and pressing questions at the intersection of faith and scholarship. The entire New Books Network library, with its impressive collection of interviews across more than one hundred fifty channels, supports this mission of public education. By focusing on the nuanced conversations behind each new book, this channel provides listeners with a rich, intellectual resource for engaging with the dynamic field of religious studies. Tune in to hear the thinkers defining the current discourse explain their work in their own words.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

New Books in Religion
Podcast Episodes
Why the Roman Empire Fell: On Edward Gibbon with Hugh Liebert [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:41
250 years ago when the United States declared independence, Edward Gibbon across the ocean published the first volume of his magisterial series, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Immediately his text caused a sto…