Welcome to Weird, Wicked, & Wild, a new hard-hitting podcast about the world we live in and how we got here. Part storytelling, part conversation, we're two old friends talking about what we've learned--or failed to learn--from our histories. In our show, we'll explore the historical record to find the weirdest, wickedest, and wildest takeaways from the great--or not-so-great--stories from the past that help us make sense of where we are now.
Americans were sure that God was on their side. They sought to remake their world according to a new covenant. And in this new covenant, borders seemed wrong. There was land waiting for them in the West, and all they had to do was clear the way. Expansion would be a great national project, a realization of American manifest destiny. But manifest destiny resulted in a continental empire, increasingly divided over the national crime of slavery. God's chosen people entered a stolen promised land and took one more step toward American Armageddon.
10 Aug 2026
ONUG: Faith on Fire
On the heels of the American Revolution came a Second Great Awakening. It did not transform the U.S. into a Christian nation either, but it did something perhaps more volatile.
In a republic with no established church, faith became a matter of choice, and with that came power. Ordinary Americans claimed the authority to interpret Scripture, experience God directly, and remake the world around them. Camp meetings dotted the landscape into the 19th century, preaching that salvation was open to all and that society itself could be redeemed. A sense of Christian duty birthed reform movements seeking to fix all manner of social ills.
But the same movement that inspired people to challenge injustice also gave others the tools to defend it. In the North, revivalism fueled crusades against slavery. In the South, it helped sanctify slavery, wrapping inequality in the language of divine will.
The result was not a single moral vision, but a nation convinced that God demanded action. The problem was agreeing on what that action should be.
29 Jul 2026
ONUG: Endowed by Their Creator
The Founders did not create a Christian nation. They created something stranger.
The American Revolution rejected the divine right of kings, but it did not reject sacred purpose. Instead, Americans transformed liberty, the nation, the Founders, and even the war itself into objects of near-religious reverence.
Thomas Paine preached revolution like a revival sermon. Jefferson invoked “Nature’s God” and “divine Providence.” George Washington became a providential deliverer in the public imagination.
The result was not a state church, but a civil religion -- a national faith that treated America itself as part of a divine mission.
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Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
8 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
4 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 19 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
17
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
51
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