The church of celebrity

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

Society & Culture, News, Politics, News Commentary, Philosophy

4.6 • 10.8K Ratings

🗓️ 15 December 2022

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Guest host Alissa Wilkinson talks with Katelyn Beaty, author of the new book Celebrities for Jesus, about how the dynamics of fame, influence, and new media are changing our experience of religious faith. They discuss how celebrities like Billy Graham set the tone for a lionization of celebrity in the Evangelical Church, why faith leaders cultivate distance from their congregations and build influencer-style social media presences, and share their thoughts on the future of the Church in our perhaps increasingly celebrity-obsessed culture. Host: Alissa Wilkinson (@alissamarie), senior culture writer, Vox Guest: Katelyn Beaty (@KatelynBeaty), author References: Celebrities for Jesus: How Personas, Platforms, and Profits Are Hurting the Church by Katelyn Beaty (Brazos; 2022) "Inside Hillsong, the Church of Choice for Justin Bieber and Kevin Durant" by Taffy Brodesser-Akner (GQ; Dec. 17, 2015) "After Columbine, martyrdom became a powerful fantasy for Christian teenagers" by Alissa Wilkinson (Vox; Apr. 17, 2019) Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of The Gray Area. Subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Support The Gray Area by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts This episode was made by: Producer: Erikk Geannikis Editor: Amy Drozdowska Engineer: Patrick Boyd Senior Producer: Katelyn Bogucki Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is brought to you by WhatsApp.
0:02.7	Say you want to text your friends your building code,
0:05.0	so they can let themselves in, or vent about your boss
0:08.3	and let off some steam.
0:09.8	Messages are private, right?
0:11.0	So what's the harm?
0:12.7	Unfortunately, if you aren't using end-to-end encryption,
0:15.4	your personal messages could be at risk.
0:17.6	That's why WhatsApp is on a mission
0:19.1	to connect the world privately.
0:21.2	WhatsApp offers simple, reliable, private personal messaging
0:24.3	with automatic end-to-end encryption
0:26.1	on every personal message.
0:28.2	That means no one outside the chat.
0:29.8	Not even WhatsApp can read your messages.
0:32.1	WhatsApp always message privately.
0:36.9	Hi, I'm Melissa Wilkinson,
0:38.9	sitting in today for Sean Elling.
0:41.1	Yes, no.
0:42.1	Are you washed in the book?
0:44.3	A few years ago, I was talking to the great director, Paul Schrader,
0:49.1	right after the release of his movie first reformed.
	...

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