The Evolving Role of the 'Religious Left': Jack Jenkins [Rebroadcast]

On the weekend before the 2020 election, we revisit a conversation about Jack Jenkins's recent book, American Prophets, which maps the complex interplay of progressive political movements and religious communities in America over the past three decades. The result is both wide-ranging and fascinating.

Anyone paying attention to American politics will know the influence and importance the “religious right” has played over the last thirty years. But can we find a similar political movement among progressive Americans? Can we find a functional “religious left”?

For our guest Jack Jenkins, the answer is not that simple. In his recent book, American Prophets, Jenkins has drawn from his years of experience as a reporter at the intersection of religion and politics to weave together a narrative that encompasses the deep roots and the cutting edge of the movements that make up (and sometimes reject the label of) the “religious left.”

JACK JENKINS is a national reporter for Religion News Service and a former Senior Religion Reporter for ThinkProgress. His work has also been published in The Atlantic and the Washington Post, and he is cited regularly in the New York Times, The New Yorker, the Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, MSNBC, and other top media outlets. He is a regular guest on radio shows and podcasts, including ABC, BBC, various NPR affiliates, Sirius XM, Vox.com’s Today Explained podcast, and many others. A graduate of Presbyterian College, Jenkins earned his Master of Divinity at Harvard University.