Today, Aled and Vivian talk about Christmas, but particularly the tension in the holiday between Christmas as a religious holiday or Christmas as a secular holiday. We reflect on how this tension is presented in popular culture, including Netflix rom-coms, Love Actually, and a Christmas Carol. We also talk about Christmas singles, and the importance of these in British Christmas culture, and the heavy presence of nativity plays in the UK. How secular, and how religious, is Christmas?

In this episode of the Religion and Popular Culture Podcast, Aled and Vivian talk about pop culture tattoos. We talk about our own pop culture tattoos and a little about why we got them. We also talk about how we communicate socially with our bodies, using Mary Douglas’s idea of the two bodies: the physical body and the social body. We talk a little about what kind of stories we tell with our bodies, and how that changes when we get tattoos, especially pop culture tattoos.

In honor of PSL season, we talk about how and where religion and pop culture intersects with food. We talk about food media, particularly Nigella Lawson, but also about how food can define cultural moments, such as the Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Aled Thomas and Vivian Asimos talk about how cinema can function as religion. We talk about communal experiences, how films can be ideological, and the importance of the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Aled is caught up in the hype of the start of filming for Good Omens season 2, and Vivian can be convinced that the themes of angels and demons tied to the apocalypse is enough to get it in for Halloween. That's right! This week, we're chatting Good Omens! We talk about the gender fluidity - or even just lack of gender - for angels and demons, how silly it is that some societies get angry about the idea of God as a female, and the fluid constant-changing nature of mythology.

Today, Aled Thomas and Vivian Asimos dig into Satanism and its represention in popular culture. We talk about its connection in pop culture to witchcraft and demons, and specifically give a look at how it was used in the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina on Netflix.

In this episode, Aled Thomas and Vivian Asimos chat about the claims surrounding Mary Cosby's church in Real Housewives of Salt Lake City (RHOSLC). Many online, as well as outside of the internet sphere, are claiming Cosby runs a "cult". In this episode, Aled and Vivian talk about "cults" from the perspective of a social scientific approach to the study of religion.

This week, Aled Thomas and Vivian Asimos chat about religion in Lord of the Rings (LotR). We chat about what religion looks like in Middle Earth, and how Lord of the Rings was created to form a type of English mythology. We talk about religion and Tolkien, focusing on how his Catholicism both influenced and didn't influence his work. There's so much to talk about when it comes to religion in Lord of the Rings - this episode serves as an introduction to the different topics within the subject of religion and Lord of the Rings, so look forward to another episode focusing on one of these in particular.

In this episode, Vivian Asimos and Aled Thomas chat about when religion works as a game mechanic. Instead of looking at the way religion is portrayed in the narrative, today we're focusing on how religion functions in the video game. We chat about how religion can work without faith or belief, and relates how religion works in video games to our more analog life, including henotheism. We also chat about the opposite: when religions use video games and their game mechanics to experience or celebrate their religion.

This week, Vivian Asimos and Aled Thomas chat about comedy, religion and popular culture. We specifically chat about the Book of Mormon musical, and South Park's approach to comedy and Scientology. We talk atheist comedy, and discuss why religion is often the target of many jokes. We also talk about blasphemy and comedy, with reference to the depiction of Muhammad and the Charlie Hebdo comics.

This week, Vivian Asimos and Aled Thomas chat nostalgia - how it acts with popular culture, and how it acts with religion. We spend some time chatting Christmas and nostalgia, understanding both the religious Christmas and the secular Christmas. We also chat about nostalgia for the future. We then extend our conversation outward, reflecting on cultural nostalgia and the politics of nostalgia.

This week, Vivian and Aled talk about Star Trek: Next Generation’s episode “Who Watches the Watchers” (S03E04). This episode is available on UK Netflix, and hopefully other places available for streaming as well.

Vivian and Aled talk about what it means to study religion, how religion develops, and why covert research is unethical.

This week, Vivian and Aled begin to explore the worlds of fashion, and how fashion intersects with religion and popular culture. We talk subcultural dress, cultural appropriation, religious garb, and what it means to have a hedge.

This week, Aled and Vivian take their first dive into the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Our first approach to this world is in the show’s approach to monsters, and the way the approach to monsters is complicated and shifted in its overarching narrative. We talk about what a monster is and how monsters relate to discussions on religion. We then explore the show Buffy and talk about some of its iconic monsters, including Angel, Spike and Oz.

In this episode, Aled leads a discussion into invented religions - new religions which take inspiration from popular culture and uses it as metaphor to understand themselves and their world. We talk about what it means to be a “new” religion and how play can be serious and meaningful at the same time. We spend a bit of time on both Jediism and the Church of the SubGenius, both invented religions but who take the form in two different directions.

Aled and Vivian take the first dive into the world of the Legend of Zelda with a look into its connection with mythology. We talk about the definition of mythology, the mythology in the world of Zelda, and how the games themselves can be myths.

In this episode, Aled and Vivian discuss what an exploration into the intersections of religion and popular culture means. We talk about the three main approaches: (1) what religion feels about pop culture; (2) what pop culture feels about religion; and (3) pop culture as religion.

After a long hiatus, I have revitalised the religion and popular culture podcast to reflect what I think we should be doing with this podcast. In the new format, myself and Aled Thomas (@aledjllthomas) will do a deep dive into an aspect of the interconnections between religion and popular culture.