Podcast
Episode 23: For Putin, God, and Country: American Converts to the Russian Orthodox Church
Why are Americans with no ethnic ties to Russia converting to the Russian Orthodox Church? Dr. Sarah Riccardi-Swartz, author of Between Heaven and Russia: Religious Conversion and Political Apostasy in Appalachia, joins us to discuss why people who are displeased with American culture are converting to Russian Orthodoxy. We explore their political views, their frustrations with democracy and the separation of church and state, their love of Vladimir Putin, and what all of this means for America and the war in Ukraine today.