Dear Revealer readers,

This summer, the American Academy of Religion, the professional organization for scholars of religion, announced the winners of its 2026 Journalism Awards, which recognize the best journalistic writing and multimedia productions about religion. I’m delighted to share that they awarded Anuj Behal with the prestigious first-place prize for “Best In-Depth Newswriting” for his articles in The Revealer published in 2025, each of which explores Hindu nationalism in India. In particular, the judges highlighted the article, “The Machinery of Muslim Erasure in Modi’s India,” which investigates why the Indian government is bulldozing Muslim homes, businesses, and neighborhoods. About this article, the judges said, “Behal draws on scholarship and surveys current events while grounding the piece in personal narrative of impacted individuals. His piece explores the bulldozer as both a celebrated — even sacralized — symbol in Indian independence parades to assert Hindu supremacy, and as an instrument driving literal Indian Muslim erasure.” If you have not read the article, I encourage you to do so, and to check out his other award-winning pieces from The Revealer: “India Cracks Down on Hindu-Muslim Couples Under ‘Love Jihad’ Laws,” as well as “Hindus Escape Pakistan’s Persecution, Only to Hit India’s Bureaucratic Walls.”

Revealer Editor, Brett Krutzsch

Let me offer a big congratulations to Anuj Behal on this award. You are a top-notch journalist shining an important light on issues of tremendous significance. We are very proud of you for this accomplishment!

With this exciting news on our minds, I am happy to share the Summer 2026 issue of The Revealer with you. The issue opens with Noelle Cook’s “Conspiracism as Religion,” where she explores the many ways conspiracy theories, and their growing communities of believers, function like religion. Next, in “Cruising Religion,” the newest installment of the “More than Missionary” column, Gillian Frank considers the recent gay cruise that Turkey and Egypt barred from their shores, and he reflects on the history of gay and lesbian cruises and the place of religion in that history. Then, in “Unreconciled: The Shared Suffering of Clergy Sexual Abuse,” Brian Clites reflects on the play Unreconciled, which tells the story of clergy sexual abuse in a Pennsylvania town, and considers one of the show’s central themes: that many lay people in the community had some knowledge of the sexual abuse of minors—and did nothing. After that, in “Leviticus and the Rise of Queer Religious Horror,” Emma Cieslik reviews the horror flick Leviticus about a demon that haunts gay teens at the behest of their families, and explores what this film reveals about the real-life trauma of conversion therapy. And, in the final article in our Summer issue, we return to a focus on politics. In “James Talarico and the Christian Left,” Miguel Petrosky examines the Senate candidate’s religious rhetoric as a case study to consider if progressive Christians can sway voters in a way similar to the more powerful Christian Right.

The Summer issue also includes two new episodes of The Revealer podcast: In the first, “Wellness Culture and Religion,” Liz Bucar joins us to discuss how the religious roots of today’s wellness trends might give them more meaning. We explore yoga, detox dieting, Alcoholics Anonymous, psychedelics, and those lights-out spinning classes. And we consider how religious insights could make such wellness practices more beneficial to anyone, even those of us who are allergic to religion. In the second episode, “The January 6 Women Insurrectionists and Their Conspiracy Beliefs,” Noelle Cook joins us to discuss why so many American women are drawn to conspiracy theories. We explore the conspiracies that the women who stormed the Capitol believe, how those conspiracies are a reaction to the problems facing the world, and what to do about the massive problem of political conspiracy theories today. You can listen to both episodes on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

As I think about the award from the American Academy of Religion for Anuj Behal’s excellent writing on Hindu nationalism in India, I find myself grateful for the diverse array of topics we are able to cover in The Revealer. Reading about Hindu nationalism in India offers insights into not only Indian politics, but also into similarities with Christian nationalism in the U.S. and religious nationalism in other places, like Jewish nationalism in Israel. Our world is profoundly connected, and I am grateful for the lessons I learn, and that our readers learn, from the many wonderful people who write for The Revealer.

Yours,
Brett Krutzsch, Ph.D.