Behind the Curtain of the Heaven’s Gate Cult
On the 25th anniversary of UFO cult Heaven's Gate's mass suicide, a religion scholar examines its theology and doctrines in the context of the New Age Movement.
The Nation of Islam’s Role in US Prisons
The Nation of Islam is controversial. Its practical purposes for incarcerated people transcend both politics and religion.
Gender and Caste at Holi
The Hindu festival of Holi celebrates love, colors, and the arrival of spring. How it's celebrated can vary significantly throughout India.
Terence McKenna’s Anarchic Psychedelic Religion
Terence McKenna was an evangelist for the use of psilocybin and other mind-altering drugs, as a way to transcend and escape “untrammeled rationalism.”
Navigating Dating Apps While Disabled
How disabled people use dating apps, whether specific to their communit(ies) or not, can raise personal questions about how to present themselves.
What Happens When Police Use AI to Predict and Prevent Crime?
With the dawn of artificial intelligence, a slew of new machine learning tools promise to help protect us with data.
The Surprising Answer to Who Eats Kosher in Prison
24,000 incarcerated people in the U.S. eat kosher meals. Even some neonazis. Why?
Court Trials: The Plot Drives the “Story”
Trials create narratives that are "plot-driven." When judges attempt to see them as "character-driven," real people can be denied justice.
Whatever Happened to Evangelical Feminism?
From Christianity’s beginnings, the religion has been split between two visions of gender relations.
Fact-Based Courts, but What Facts?
US courts operate as "informationally disabled" institutions that may lack (or intentionally exclude) important facts when making complex legal decisions.