Originally broadcast at 2:00 p.m. ET Thursday, July 28, 2022.

Anthea Butler is the Geraldine R. Segal Professor in American Social thought and Chair of Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. A historian of African American and American religion, Professor Butler’s research and writing spans African American religion and history, race, politics, Evangelicalism, gender and sexuality, media, and popular culture. You can find more of her writing and public engagement at Antheabutler.com Professor Butler’s recent book is White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America (Ferris and Ferris/UNC Press). Also a contributor to The 1619 Book: A New Beginning, with a chapter entitled “Church,” her first book is Women in the Church of God in Christ: Making A Sanctified World (also by UNC Press). Professor Butler’s grant awards include a Luce/ACLS Fellowship for the Religion, Journalism, and International Affairs grant for the 2018-2019 academic year to investigate Prosperity Gospel and Politics in the American and Nigerian context, and she was a Presidential fellow at Yale Divinity School for the 2019-2020 academic year. She is currently a co-director of the Henry Luce Foundation funded Crossroads Project for Black Religious Histories, Communities, and Cultures. She currently serves as President of the American Society for Church history. A sought-after commentator, Professor Butler is an op-ed contributor for MSNBC. Her articles have been featured in the New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, NBC, and The Guardian. She has also served as a consultant to PBS series including “Billy Graham,” “The Black Church,” “God in America,” and “Aimee Semple McPherson.”

About Chautauqua Institution: Chautauqua Institution is a community on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York state that comes alive each summer with a unique mix of fine and performing arts, lectures, interfaith worship and programs, and recreational activities. As a community, we celebrate, encourage and study the arts and treat them as integral to all of learning, and we convene the critical conversations of the day to advance understanding through civil dialogue. CHQ Assembly is the online expression of Chautauqua Institution's mission.