Religion on the Mind

Religion on the Mind

Author: Dan Koch Language: English Episodes: 100
Hosted by Dan Koch, Religion on the Mind digs into the messy, fascinating, and deeply personal space where our inner lives meet our search for meaning. This isn't a sermon or a debate; it's a series of conversations that feel more like late-night talks with curious friends. Each episode brings in a different voice-psychologists, scholars, writers, and other experts-to explore how our beliefs, doubts, rituals, and spiritual yearnings are intertwined with the workings of the human mind. We get into the psychology behind religious experience, the spirituality that emerges outside traditional structures, and the very real ways these forces shape identity, community, and coping. The tone is thoughtful but unvarnished, embracing complexity without pretension. You'll hear genuine curiosity, nuanced perspectives, and, yes, the occasional bit of cussing when the topic calls for it. The goal is to offer a space for reflection on how these fundamental aspects of being human collide and coexist. If you've ever wondered about the psychological roots of faith, the spirituality of non-belief, or just how our brains make sense of the profound, this podcast provides a grounded, accessible entry point to those questions.
Episodes
Charlie Kirk: Martyr? (#354) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:18:50
I sit down with John Hawthorne, retired Christian university sociology professor and author of The Fearless Christian University, to unpack the troubling martyrdom narrative emerging around Charlie Kirk's assassination.…
Christianity Rising in Silicon Valley (#353) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:20
You Have Permission is now Religion on the Mind! Look for our updated artwork in your podcast feed and listen to this episode for more about what you can expect with the new name. In this episode, I sit down with Zoë Ber…
You Have Permission is now Religion on the Mind [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:30
It’s a new name, new art… and the rest is pretty much the same content you know and love on the overlap of psychology, religion and spirituality. My teammates Josh Gilbert and Joy Vetterlein join me for a quick chat abou…
Tripp Fuller: Does Original Sin Need a Comeback? (#352) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:55:30
Friend of the pod Tripp Fuller joins me in full Dodgers gear (the audacity!) to discuss why the doctrine of original sin desperately needs a comeback—not the toxic version that told us we couldn't trust our own emotions…
Powerful Men & Their Terrible Fathers (#351) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:35:01
Attention YHP Listeners: Starting in October, the podcast You Have Permission will change its name to Religion on the Mind. This rebrand will come with new artwork and focus more broadly on the overlap of Psychology, Rel…
Charlie Kirk & The Psychology of Evolution (#350) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:23
In this week’s Top of Mind segment, I address the Charlie Kirk assassination through cognitive distortions, calling out the all-or-nothing thinking that's turning him into either a blessed martyr or democracy's destroyer…
The Gospel of Self-Optimization (#349) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:20:02
My fellow Beach Boys fan and returning guest David Zahl is back to discuss his provocative critique of self-optimization culture in his Plough Quarterly piece "Against Self-Optimization.” As someone who has maximized my…
Dobson’s Legacy: Trauma, Attachment & Shame (#348) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:30:14
I sit down with licensed therapist Emily Maynard—herself a product of Dobson-influenced parenting—to unpack what I'm calling one of the most consequential psychological disasters of the last fifty years. While James Dobs…
Producer Josh Takes the Hot Seat (#347) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:11
He’s out from behind the green curtain! In this episode, my guest is none other than my producer and audio/editor wizard, Josh Gilbert. Josh spends about 23 hours per week listening to conversations on religion, psycholo…
Why Study Religion? (#346) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:13:11
In this week’s episode of You Have Permission, I sit down with Dr. Richard B. Miller, Professor Emeritus from the University of Chicago Divinity School, to tackle his blunt question (and the title of his book): Why Study…