We have these cycles within the drama of American democracy, where people will use these

taglines to completely label something as un-American, so therefore you don't even bother engaging

with the ideas.

Lorone A. Martin is the author of the book, The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover, how the FBI aided and abetted the rise of white Christian nationalism. He's also the Martin Luther King Jr. Centennial Professor in Religious Studies at Stanford University.

You might remember Lorone from an episode we did back in 2020, where we discussed his other book,

preaching on wax, the phonograph, and the making of modern African-American religion.

For this episode, Lorone explains how the FBI,

led by J. Edgar Hoover,

colluded with Christian leaders and taste makers

to shape the soul of America

throughout the 20th century,

and we discuss the echoes of that architecture

that still remain today.

We'll see how Hoover's version of institutionalized American Christianity

reflected the conservative politics he wanted to continue to manifest in the national culture,

the supremacy of whiteness, masculinity, and free market capitalism.

I'm your host, Chelsea Weber Smith, and this is American Hysteria.

I am thrilled to welcome back a guest that we had on in 2020.

We were just talking about how surreal it is that it's been five years.

Here is Lorone Martin, and he is here to talk about the connections, the historical connections,

between the FBI and white Christian nationalism. So you know you've got a lot

coming up here in this episode. So welcome back, Lorone. It's great to be back and thank you for

...