Sarah Posner on White Evangelicals and the January 6 Insurrection, Plus Joan Walsh on Sex Ed

Sarah Posner on White Evangelicals and the January 6 Insurrection, Plus Joan Walsh on Sex Ed

On this week’s episode of Start Making Sense, discussions on religion’s role in the riots and the “parental rights” movement.

Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky
Pocket
Email

In seeking to understand the January 6 insurrection, much of the focus has been on white nationalist militias like the Proud Boys. But white evangelicals also played a big part on January 6. Sarah Posner, author of Unholy: How White Christian Nationalists Powered the Trump Presidency, and the Devastating Legacy They Left Behind, joins the podcast to discuss religion’s role in the riots.

Also: Republicans have opened another front in the culture war with the slogan “parental rights.” Joan Walsh joins the podcast to explain how it’s not just about banning the teaching of critical race theory but also about a ban on comprehensive sex education.

Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/podcastsubscribe.

Hold the powerful to account by supporting The Nation

The chaos and cruelty of the Trump administration reaches new lows each week.

Trump’s catastrophic “Liberation Day” has wreaked havoc on the world economy and set up yet another constitutional crisis at home. Plainclothes officers continue to abduct university students off the streets. So-called “enemy aliens” are flown abroad to a mega prison against the orders of the courts. And Signalgate promises to be the first of many incompetence scandals that expose the brutal violence at the core of the American empire.

At a time when elite universities, powerful law firms, and influential media outlets are capitulating to Trump’s intimidation, The Nation is more determined than ever before to hold the powerful to account.

In just the last month, we’ve published reporting on how Trump outsources his mass deportation agenda to other countries, exposed the administration’s appeal to obscure laws to carry out its repressive agenda, and amplified the voices of brave student activists targeted by universities.

We also continue to tell the stories of those who fight back against Trump and Musk, whether on the streets in growing protest movements, in town halls across the country, or in critical state elections—like Wisconsin’s recent state Supreme Court race—that provide a model for resisting Trumpism and prove that Musk can’t buy our democracy.

This is the journalism that matters in 2025. But we can’t do this without you. As a reader-supported publication, we rely on the support of generous donors. Please, help make our essential independent journalism possible with a donation today.

In solidarity,

The Editors

The Nation

x