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The State of Belief
The State of Belief
Every week, Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush hosts lively, funny and poignant conversations with inspiring religious and civic leaders, as well as artists and activists from across the country. Listeners get a potent mix of spiritual wisdom, political strategy, and hopeful commentary from national and local leaders who are rising up to meet this urgent moment in America. With the tagline, “Where Religion and Democracy Meet,” State of Belief is a celebration of our nation’s diversities and an invitation to join together to, in the words of the great James Baldwin, “achieve our country.”
Meet the Host
Paul Brandeis Raushenbush
Paul Brandeis Raushenbush
Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush is President and CEO of Interfaith Alliance. An ordained Baptist minister, Paul has been a leader in the interfaith movement to protect freedom and preserve democracy. As the great-grandson of the first Jewish Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis and great-grandson of Baptist theologian Walter Rauschenbusch, a key figure in the Social Gospel movement, Paul’s commitment to interfaith advocacy comes in part from his own interfaith background. Prior to coming to Interfaith Alliance, Paul has served as senior vice president of the Auburn Seminary, the founding and executive editor of HuffPost Religion, associate dean of religious life and the chapel at Princeton University, and a founding editor of Beliefnet.com. Most recently, he was the senior advisor for public affairs and innovation at Interfaith America.

Before hosting State of Belief, Paul was the host of Huffington Post’s podcast “All Together” where he interviewed guests as diverse as President Jimmy Carter, Patti Smith, RuPaul, Bishop T.D. Jakes, and Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. Paul speaks about religious diversity and the importance of inclusive religious liberty at colleges, churches and institutes around the country including The Chautauqua Institute, the Center for American Progress, the New America Foundation and the Aspen Institute. He is regularly invited to offer commentary on issues of religion and society on national television and radio including a repeated guest on CNN, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, NPR, Al Jazeera, and BBC.
Podcast image for
Katelyn Beaty and Roxanne Stone
If every generation of parents has their anxieties, the post-evangelical Millennial parent is perhaps most angsty about how to raise their kids as Christians — without all the baggage.
Podcast image for
Jeffrey Salkin
(RNS) — You think you've done bad stuff and repented? Just meet an ex-white supremacist who turned his life around.
Podcast image for
Amber Hacker and Tom Levinson
A former CEO of 10 public companies talks about the work and joy of giving.
Podcast image for
Rev. Amanda Henderson
(RNS) — When the IRS shrugs at its own rules, what does that mean for churches, politics and the rest of us?
Podcast image for
Katelyn Beaty and Roxanne Stone
If every generation of parents has their anxieties, the post-evangelical Millennial parent is perhaps most angsty about how to raise their kids as Christians — without all the baggage.
Podcast image for
Jeffrey Salkin
(RNS) — You think you've done bad stuff and repented? Just meet an ex-white supremacist who turned his life around.
Podcast image for
Amber Hacker and Tom Levinson
A former CEO of 10 public companies talks about the work and joy of giving.
Podcast image for
Rev. Amanda Henderson
(RNS) — When the IRS shrugs at its own rules, what does that mean for churches, politics and the rest of us?
Latest Episode
October 4, 2025
Celina Stewart, CEO of the League of Women Voters, joins host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush to talk about the organization's history, as well as its role in this challenging time for many voters.
Previous Episodes
Celina Stewart, CEO of the League of Women Voters, joins host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush to talk about the organization's history, as well as its role in this challenging time for many voters.
PLAY EPISODE
 Religious freedom and public education: how do these issues come together? This week on The State of Belief, we hear leading voices make a compelling argument for ensuring the latter comes with a healthy dose of the former: Labor leader Randi Weingarten, activist Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, and Democracy Forward’s Skye Perryman. Most of this...
PLAY EPISODE
Nexus Project National Director Jonathan Jacoby joins host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush for an in-depth conversation about the weaponization of antisemitism in our country, and strategies for identifying, challenging, and disarming these and other instances of antisemitism.
PLAY EPISODE
Host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush talks with American Library Association President Sam Helmick about the importance of libraries in community life and our democracy. The theme of Sam's presidency is "Our Stories Are Worth Sharing."
PLAY EPISODE
Podcast image for
Katelyn Beaty and Roxanne Stone
If every generation of parents has their anxieties, the post-evangelical Millennial parent is perhaps most angsty about how to raise their kids as Christians — without all the baggage.
Podcast image for
Jeffrey Salkin
(RNS) — You think you've done bad stuff and repented? Just meet an ex-white supremacist who turned his life around.
Podcast image for
Amber Hacker and Tom Levinson
A former CEO of 10 public companies talks about the work and joy of giving.
Podcast image for
Rev. Amanda Henderson
(RNS) — When the IRS shrugs at its own rules, what does that mean for churches, politics and the rest of us?
Podcast image for
Katelyn Beaty and Roxanne Stone
If every generation of parents has their anxieties, the post-evangelical Millennial parent is perhaps most angsty about how to raise their kids as Christians — without all the baggage.
Podcast image for
Jeffrey Salkin
(RNS) — You think you've done bad stuff and repented? Just meet an ex-white supremacist who turned his life around.
Podcast image for
Amber Hacker and Tom Levinson
A former CEO of 10 public companies talks about the work and joy of giving.
Podcast image for
Rev. Amanda Henderson
(RNS) — When the IRS shrugs at its own rules, what does that mean for churches, politics and the rest of us?