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No Small Endeavor with Lee C. Camp

182: Kathryn Gin Lum: How The Label Heathen Shaped the World

No Small Endeavor with Lee C. Camp

Lee Camp

Philosophy, Society & Culture, Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 555 Ratings

🗓️ 14 November 2024

⏱️ 56 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When is the last time you heard the word “heathen”? The word was originally used to delineate between European Christians who tended to be in urban centers and pagans in rural areas.   “Heathen exists in the mind of the person doing the labeling, right? It's a label that one people foists onto another.”  Our guest today, Kathryn Gin Lum, walks us through the history of the term heathen and how it has utterly shaped the world. We discuss her book Heathen: Religion and Race in American History. The idea behind the term was wielded as a weapon to justify colonization and enslavement, and though the term has fallen out of use, she says the mental map of the world it has created has not.  Show Notes  Resources mentioned this episode:  "Heathen: Religion and Race in American History" by Kathryn Gin Lum  "The Origin of Others (The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures)" by Toni Morrison  Similar NSE episodes:  Willie James Jennings: The Christian Imagination  Eugene Cho and Karen Korematsu: Fear, Home and the Asian-American Experience    PDF of Lee's Interview Notes  Transcription Link    Want more NSE? JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes designed specifically to help you live a good life, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows  Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com  See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy  Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello, friends, Lee Seacamp here. If you enjoy the kinds of conversations we have here on

0:04.3

Noseful Endeavor about ideas, culture, and how we might make sense of the world, there's another

0:09.0

show you might appreciate. It's called The Gist with Mike Peska. The Gist is the longest-running

0:14.2

daily news podcast, and each weekday, Mike takes about 30 minutes to examine the stories shaping

0:19.3

our moment. What makes the show interesting

0:21.5

is that it resists the usual partisan scripts. Mike brings on economists, historians, journalists,

0:27.3

and other thinkers to look at issues from multiple angles. One day he might unpack the dynamics

0:31.7

of a major political story. Another day, he might explore the psychology behind public outrage

0:36.7

or while we humans are so quick to believe strange things.

0:40.6

Mike's an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in an outlets like The Atlantic, the free press, and the Washington Post.

0:45.9

His approach combines careful reporting with a sharp sense of humor and a willingness to question assumptions wherever they come from.

0:53.2

If you're someone who likes thoughtful

0:54.3

inquiry and conversations that challenge easy answers, give the gist a listen. You can find the gist

0:59.3

every weekday on YouTube or follow wherever you get your podcasts. Hey there, friends, Lee here. Wanted to

1:04.6

let you know about a podcast you might like, Am I Doing It Wrong, which is back for its third

1:09.6

season. The show is hosted by Raj Ranjjabi

1:12.0

Johnson, who are definitely doing things right about the topics we could all use a helping hand

1:17.4

with, whether it's making friends, getting your protein fix, or keeping your car out of the

1:21.9

mechanic shop. Subscribe now, listen to new episodes of Am I Doing It Wrong, wherever you get your

1:27.4

podcasts, and check out full

1:28.8

video episodes on YouTube. As long as there are things to get wrong, this show will be here to help

1:35.1

us do them better. Enjoy. Lacey Camp here, if you're enjoying this show, I'd love to tell you

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