Ministry of Ideas is a podcast dedicated to investigating and illuminating the ideas that shape our society. It is an initiative of the Religious Literacy Project at Harvard Divinity School.
In Episode 23 (July 1, 2020), the podcast focuses on Heathenry, specifically the divide between inclusive Heathenry and folkish/exclusionary Heathenry.
Much of this podcast stems from the research work of NYU journalism and religious studies student (now graduate), Robyn Lanz.
Robyn contacted Rob Schreiwer back in 2016 about using HAH (primarily), The Troth, In-Reach, and Urglaawe as case studies for her Master’s thesis: Mediating Heathen Identities: How Adherents of a Small Neo-Pagan Religion in America Engage with Formal Media Structures in Attempt to Legitimize and Discredit Specific Identities in America’s Public Discourse.
There is indeed an imbalance of reporting on Heathen-related topics in a manner similar to how anything related to Islam is generally handled in the media.
Robyn began to collect inform and data by coming down from NYC to the Philly area for our Pubmoots, for Distelfink’s rituals, and for interviews. She attended Frith Forge as a journalist. She observed HAH activities as a journalist in various contexts, including the Walk Against Hate in Philadelphia in 2019.
She also attended the Parliament of the World’s Religions in 2018 for the HAH presentation.
Due to covid, the NYU students’ first drafts of their theses were approved, which means Robyn is still editing it for future publication. The first draft made some excellent points, particularly about how she had been advised to use the folkish/Nazitru types as the subjects because (Rob's own words here) those idiots cause more of a sensation with their stupidity and audacity than we do with our work to build welcoming communities.
