Hey there, it is the NPR Politics Podcast.

I'm Danielle Kurtzleben, I cover demographics and culture, and today another installment

in our regular book club series where we, on the podcast and you listeners, read a book

together and discuss it in our podcast Facebook group.

This time we are talking to Kristen Kobasdou may author of Jesus and John Wayne, how white

evangelicals corrupted a faith and fractured a nation.

It's a genuinely fascinating book, it looks at the history of American white evangelicalism,

both theologically and politically, and particularly through the lens of masculinity.

It traces that history from the early 20th century through the election of Donald Trump

and then some.

So for this special episode, we are taking that on for our book club.

It's a chance for our listeners to connect over books about politics and people connected

in the Facebook group.

You asked some great questions, I'm so excited, so let's get to it.

Kristen is professor of history at Calvin University.

Kristen, hello.

Hi, thanks for having me.

So for our listeners who might not have read it yet, let's just start very simply.

Tell us, how would you describe to an outsider to American politics the role, the importance

that white evangelicals play in American politics?

Sure.

Well, first of all, depending on how we define evangelicals, evangelicals do make up a pretty

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