Complexified

Latest Episodes:

The Rev. William Barber II: Fighting Autocrats Starts at the Grassroots Feb 10, 2026

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Complexified welcomes the Rev. William Barber II, architect of the Moral Monday movement in North Carolina, as he sets out to reclaim voters that ran to the right in the last presidential election.
Who are these voters? Low-income voters earning less than $50,000 who favored Donald Trump by roughly 1% in 2024. That margin, according to Rev. Barber, is reversible, by campaigning being for something instead of against.
Join host Amanda Henderson as she and Rev. Barber discuss the presumptions around low income voters, movement strategizing, modes of resistance, and responds to a challenge issued by the Speaker of the House Mike Johnson to debate immigration theology.

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Abortions Rose After Dobbs—And the March for Life Knows It Feb 02, 2026

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The applause was muted when Trump appeared on video. One year ago, the March for Life felt like a rock concert. This year, JD Vance had to contend with detractors from the stage.

The pro-life movement got what it wanted—Dobbs overturned Roe. But abortions in America have actually risen since the decision. Nearly two-thirds now happen through medication abortion, mifepristone prescribed via telehealth, accessible even in states with bans. The Trump administration won't restrict it.

Vance called that choice "prudential"—politically wise. The crowd wasn't buying it. One man said he trusted Trump's negotiating skills, then started crying.

Reporter Aleja Hertzler-McCain takes us inside a movement with profound conviction confronting political calculation, and only one person in thousands holding a sign about immigration.

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Quiet Quitting Church: When the Numbers Reveal Everything and Explain Nothing Jan 30, 2026

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Trying to put smoke in a box

That's what it feels like to map why churches are dying. Most people who leave can't tell you why. They drifted. Three times a month became twice, then never. Ryan Burge, a sociologist and pastor, tracks the contradictions: the religiously unaffiliated climbed to 30% and stopped. Some churches that should close stay open. Others with resources fold anyway. Organizations scratch and claw past their expiration dates in ways no model captures. New Atheism ran out of steam. Baby boomers are aging out. And nobody can predict what happens next because the data reveals patterns but can't explain the drift.

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They Shot the Pastor Anyway: When Religious Authority Met Federal Force Jan 20, 2026

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Faith leaders thought their collars would protect them. They were wrong.

The Presbyterian minister was wearing his collar. DHS shot him with pepper balls anyway. Across American cities—LA, DC, Chicago, Minneapolis—clergy are learning their moral authority no longer protects them as they resist Trump's mass deportation raids. Faith communities have built sophisticated networks: ICE observers, whistle brigades, cross-city organizing. In Minneapolis, where federal agents nearly double the police force, religious resistance is everywhere. Reporter Jack Jenkins tracks the collision between one of the largest faith-based movements in modern history and federal power that refuses to recognize the old rules.

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What Happened? Top Religion News Stories of 2025 — And What To Watch in 2026 (From The State of Belief) Jan 14, 2026

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A Special Episode from The State of Belief!

A special crossover from The State of Belief: RNS reporters Jack Jenkins and Adelle M. Banks join Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush to break down the biggest religion stories of 2025 — from faith-based pushback to immigration enforcement, to fights over DEI, to how communities are surviving economic upheaval. They also look ahead to 2026: an American pope, shifting “religious freedom” battles, and the rising entanglement of religion, technology, and politics.

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A Dictator Was Seized. The Pope Spoke. Everyone Else Paused. Jan 12, 2026

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Religious leaders stayed mostly silent when the U.S. seized a foreign dictator — except for the pope.

Religious leaders stayed mostly silent when the U.S. grabbed Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and flew him to New York. The loudest response didn’t come from Washington or American pulpits, but from Rome, where Pope Leo warned about sovereignty, dignity, and the rule of law.

In this episode, Amanda Henderson talks with Religion News Service editor-in-chief Paul O’Donnell about why so many religious voices paused, why the pope didn’t, and what that contrast reveals about power, politics, and faith in real time. It’s a conversation about silence, authority, and what happens when moral instincts lag behind geopolitical force.

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Faith, Fame, and the Feed: How Influencers Shape What We Believe Jan 05, 2026

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In a world where attention is authority, who gets to shape faith, values, and public life?

What does it actually mean to be an influencer in 2025 — and why does it matter so much for religion and politics? In this episode of Complexified, Amanda Henderson is joined by Religion News Service reporters Fiona Murphy and Richa Karmarkar to unpack the people shaping belief, identity, and public conversation online right now. From conservative power brokers and Christian nationalist figures to Jewish comedians, hijabi fitness creators, former monks, and viral TikTok storytellers, the conversation explores how influence works in the attention economy — and why people increasingly look to social media personalities, not institutions, for meaning, guidance, and moral frameworks. It’s a wide-ranging look at parasocial power, digital authority, and the blurred line between faith, culture, and influence.

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How One Abuse Story Changed a Reporter Dec 08, 2025

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Sometimes a story breaks you open.
While reporting on abuse and accountability inside the Southern Baptist Convention, RNS journalist Bob Smietana reached out to someone he’d interviewed many times before — publisher and whistleblower Jen Lyell. What followed was not another update for a news story, but a devastating turn that forced Bob to confront the human weight behind the reporting.
In this episode, Bob joins Amanda Henderson for an unusually intimate conversation about Jen’s life, her courage, the institutional failures that shaped her final years, and what it means for a journalist when a story becomes personal.

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The Conservative Christian Momfluencer Machine Dec 03, 2025

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What if your favorite wholesome mom account was also your quietest political radicalizer?

Earlier this year, RNS Editor Roxanne Stone was in Austin, Texas talking about tradwife influencers—women whose soft, nostalgic aesthetic is reshaping conversations about gender, faith, and politics.

Just up the road in Dallas, her colleague Kathryn Post had been surrounded by 6,700 women at “Sharpen the Arrows,” a high-energy conference hosted by conservative Christian commentator Allie Beth Stuckey.

Different rooms, same ecosystem: conservative women influencers blending wellness, homeschooling, motherhood, faith—and a very clear political worldview.

In this episode, Roxanne and Kathryn trace how pandemic isolation, sourdough starters, and “crunchy mom” content became a surprisingly powerful on-ramp into right-wing politics for thousands of women. They follow the journey of one former Bernie supporter turned MAGA homeschooler, unpack how these influencers use Christian language and gender ideals, and explore what happens when lifestyle content becomes a pipeline toward anti-trans activism, conspiracy thinking, and real-world policy changes.

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From Fringe to Front Page: Why Nick Fuentes Is at the Top of Your Feed. Again. Nov 26, 2025

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When a 27-year-old streamer outruns the Church and spooks the political class, it’s worth asking how we got here.

Nick Fuentes was supposed to be a fringe character—the kind of online provocateur national leaders could shrug off with “I don’t really know him.” But after a sympathetic Tucker Carlson interview and a wave of explosive backlash, Fuentes is suddenly unavoidable. He’s amassed a massive following of young men who see his Catholic branding as a moral compass, even as he pushes openly antisemitic, racist, and authoritarian views. And institutions—from the Heritage Foundation to the U.S. Catholic hierarchy—are scrambling to respond. In this episode, RNS reporter Fiona Murphy walks us through what’s actually happening: the Groyper movement, the collapse of traditional religious authority online, and why a livestreamer can now speak more directly, and more powerfully, than the Church itself. It’s a revealing look at faith, digital culture, and the new politics shaping a generation.

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