We Dissent

Latest Episodes:

Christian Nationalism in Education with Maya Henson Sep 16, 2026

Show notes

Alison, Liz, and Rebecca welcome Maya Henson, Senior Research Analyst with the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project, for a deep dive into the impact of Christian supremacy and anti-student inclusion movements on public education. They discuss the many strategies used by Christian nationalists to influence our public schools—from curriculum control and book bans to release-time religious programs and the weaponization of "parental rights."

Show Notes

Cases

AP - "District settles lawsuit over groups for students of color"

Mahmoud v. Taylor (2025)

Maya's Bio

Maya Henson is a senior research analyst with the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project, where she focuses on the antigovernment movement, which includes the anti-student inclusion movement.

Before joining the SPLC, Maya spent over 10 years in higher education, which along with her academic background provides a unique perspective to monitoring and exposing extremism in public education.

Since joining SPLC, she has provided expert analysis on topics such as the dangers of the newly revived Florida State Guard, the parallels in the current anti-student inclusion movement to anti-integration fights 70 years ago, students mobilizing to fight censorship, and the contradictions and potential threats of curriculum and book bans. In addition to SPLC outlets, Maya's analysis has been featured in the National Urban League's State of Black America, as well as in international, national, and local media.

Maya has a B.S. in business administration from Stillman College, an M.A. in psychology, an M.Ed. in higher education administration, and an MLS is Indigenous Peoples law. She also holds an Ed.D. with a concentration in diversity and equity education from the University of Illinois, where her primary research focus was the experiences of minority students in higher education.

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Our website, we-dissent.org, has more information as well as episode transcripts.

SCOTUS Term Round Up Aug 19, 2026

Show notes

Alison, Liz, and Rebecca recap the recent Supreme Court term and its implications for religious liberty. They break down the Court's rulings on conversion therapy bans, religious rights for prisoners, and transgender sports bans in public schools. They also discuss the ever-expanding "shadow docket" and the Court's alarming preference for deciding cases with no public hearing, briefing, or transparency.

Cases

Chiles v. Salazar

Landor v. Louisiana

West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox

Mirabelli v. Bonta

Danco Laboratories v. Louisiana Application

St. Mary Catholic v. Roy

10th Circuit Opinion

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Our website, we-dissent.org, has more information as well as episode transcripts.

Rededicate 250 & the "Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias" Taskforce Jul 14, 2026

Show notes

America turns 250 and the Trump Administration is celebrating by rewriting the past and the present. Alison, Liz, and Rebecca discuss how the administration hijacked the nation's planned bipartisan 250th anniversary celebration and turned it into a tax-payer funded Christian nationalist prayer revival. Then they dig into the report issued by the "Taskforce to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias," one of several task forces created by the administration to manufacture a "Christian persecution" narrative in order to privilege conservative Christianity under the law.

Show Notes

Executive Order 14291- Establishing the Religious Liberty Commission

Cases

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Our website, we-dissent.org, has more information as well as episode transcripts.

Bonus! From Progress Texas: Resisting Christian Nationalism with Rebecca Markert of Americans United Jul 10, 2026

Show notes

We Dissent co-host Rebecca Markert was recently featured on "In Progress," a part of the Progress Texas podcast network. Please enjoy this episode of In Progress while you wait for our next episode!

From Dan Patrick's declaration that the separation of church and state is dead, to Texas Republicans kicking Muslims out of their state convention in Houston, to the Ten Commandments and bible stories permeating our public schools, the takeover by Christian Nationalism of Republican politics is no longer a theory - it's real, and it's here, right now. How to resist is now one of the primary questions for progressive people - and we've brought on Rebecca Markert to discuss that question. She's the Vice President and Legal Director of Americans United For Separation of Church and State, a national organization dedicated solely to the protection of the foundational American principles of freedom of religion - and freedom from religion.

Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support their ongoing work at progresstexas.org

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Our website, we-dissent.org, has more information as well as episode transcripts.

The War on Nonprofits Jun 17, 2026

Show notes

Rebecca, Liz, and Alison speak with Rachel Levinson-Waldman from the Brennan Center for Justice about the Trump administration and current Congress weaponizing the government to attack nonprofits and punish speech and viewpoints they don't like. They explore how executive orders and anti-terrorism statutes are being abused to investigate, defund, and intimidate civil society, and how this strategy is essential to the broader project to transform America from a democracy to an autocracy.

Show Notes

Trump Administration Documents

Articles and Reactions

NPR - "'We're not afraid': George Soros' foundation on being Trump's next target" (Open Society Foundation)
Lawfare - "The Politically Motivated Indictment of Southern Poverty Law Center"
Civil Society Rights & Resiliency Resources - Charity & Security Network
"What NIJ Research Tells Us About Domestic Terrorism"
Cato at Liberty Blog - "Politically Motivated Violence Is Rare in the United States" (right-wing extremists account for 11% of politically motivated killings, while left-wing extremists account for 2%)
Brennan Center for Justice - "Trump's Orders Targeting Anti-Fascism Aim to Criminalize Opposition"
ACLU - "How NSPM-7 Seeks to Use "Domestic Terrorism" to Target Nonprofits and Activists"
Just Security - "How Designating Antifa as a Foreign Terrorist Organization Could Threaten Civil Liberties"
Lawfare - "The Bondi Memo's Quiet Rewriting of Domestic Terrorism Rules"
Lawfare - "You Can't Designate 'Antifa.' Banks and Platforms Will Act Like You Did Anyway"

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Our website, we-dissent.org, has more information as well as episode transcripts.

State Legislative Roundup with Rachael Stryer May 19, 2026

Show notes

Alison, Liz, and Rebecca welcome AU Public Policy Counsel Rachael Stryer to review what came out of the state legislative sessions this year. They survey the laws state legislatures passed to force religion into public schools, use religion to discriminate against LGBTQ people, and divert public money to private religious schools.

Show Notes

Rachael Stryer's AU Bio
Organized Power in Numbers
American Atheists - State of the Secular States
Legislative trackers

AU
ACLU

Mapping Attacks on LGBTQ Rights in U.S. State Legislatures
Congressional Scorecards
See your state ACLU for regional legislative tracking

Action Alerts

Bills and Cases Discussed

Ten Commandments Displays in Schools

FFRF
AU

Prayer in Schools

Alabama (HB 511): Requiring public schools to allow student-led prayer and requiring the pledge of allegiance
Idaho (HB 623): Requiring a 60 second moment of silence for prayer or meditation at the beginning of the school day

Chaplains

Alabama (HB 8): Permitting school boards to adopt policies allowing volunteer school chaplains into schools

Release Time

Info on LifeWise

Classroom Instruction and Curriculum Policies

Tennessee (SB 1828): Requires public school history curriculums to teach about the positive impact of religion on American history and the influence of Judeo-Christian values
Idaho (S 1336) and Utah (HB 312 and SB 268): Requiring curricula to teach the influence of Christianity in American history

Vouchers

Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue (2020)
Carson v. Makin (2022)
Columbus City School District v. State of Ohio
Wisconsin PTA et al vs. Wisconsin State Assembly et al

Healthcare Refusal

Utah (SB 174) and Iowa (HF 571): Gives healthcare providers and religious healthcare institutions the right to refuse to provide services that violate religious beliefs.

Foster Care and Adoption

Indiana (HB 1389): Allows government-funded child placement agencies to use religion as a justification for refusing to work with families, youth in care, and prospective parents. And to allow adoptive or foster parents the right to "raise a child in a manner consistent with [their] sincerely held religious beliefs."
Elizabeth Rutan-Ram et al. v. Tennessee Department of Children's Services et al (AU)

Anti-Sharia law

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Our website, we-dissent.org, has more information as well as episode transcripts.

Pronatalism with Emily Martin Apr 16, 2026

Show notes

Alison, Liz, and Rebecca take on the far-right pronatalism movement with guest Emily Martin, NWLC's Chief Program Officer. They explain the movement's history of racism, sexism, and eugenics, the alarming support it has in the Trump administration, and what truly pro-family policy would look like.

Background

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Our website, we-dissent.org, has more information as well as episode transcripts.

The Supreme Court Tackles Trans Sports Bans with Shiwali Patel Mar 25, 2026

Show notes

We Dissent welcomes guest Shiwali Patel, Senior Director of Education Justice at National Women's Law Center, who walks us through the anti-trans sports ban cases currently before the Supreme Court, Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J. We discuss the history of Title IX and why the attack on trans sports participation is really an attack on the basis of this critical nondiscrimination law.

Background

Cases

Little v. Hecox

West Virginia v. B.P.J.

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Our website, we-dissent.org, has more information as well as episode transcripts.

Our Federal Courts with Alison Gill Feb 20, 2026

Show notes

We Dissent welcomes back Alison Gill as co-host! Alison shares what she's been up to since leaving the pod, and then walks Rebecca and Liz through the state of our federal bench. We discuss federal judicial nominations from the recent presidential administrations and what it has meant or means for religious liberty and other civil rights.

Show Notes

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Our website, we-dissent.org, has more information as well as episode transcripts.

Message to Listeners Jan 16, 2026

Show notes

There's no new episode this month, instead we have a special message for our listeners. We're excited to announce that Alison Gill is returning to the podcast starting in February! Additionally, the National Women's Law Center is going to be a co-sponsor of We Dissent moving forward. We have a lot of great episodes planned for 2026 and can't wait to share them with you.

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Our website, we-dissent.org, has more information as well as episode transcripts.