Esau McCaulley is a professor of theology at Wheaton College who writes on race, the Bible and public life, bringing Black church traditions into conversation with questions of democracy and the meaning of America.

Glenn Loury is a prominent economist and public intellectual who engages questions of race, morality and American identity, often drawing on religious and ethical frameworks. While not a religion specialist, he is a voice for stories about the nation’s moral imagination, civic life and the role of faith values in shaping public debate.

Sohrab Amari is an Iranian-born American journalist, author and editor, best known as a co-founder of the online magazine Compact and U.S. editor of UnHerd and the author of Tyranny, Inc: How Private Power Crushed American Liberty — and What To Do About It (2023). He is a source on politics from a Catholic perspective […]

Kaitlyn Schiess is an evangelical theologian and writer focusing on political theology, church life and generational shifts within American Christianity. She is the author of The Ballot and the Bible: How Scripture has been Used and Abused in American Politics and Where We Go from Here (Brazos Press, 2023) and The Liturgy of Politics: Spiritual […]

Ari Kelman is a professor at Stanford with a focus on forms of religious knowledge transmission. He holds a specific research interest in American Jewry, with insight into how Jewish communities adapt within broader U.S. society.

Celene Ibrahim is an expert in Islamic studies with a focus on gender, family and ethics in Muslim communities, especially in the American context. Her work helps explain lived Muslim experiences and intra-faith diversity. She is the author of  Women and Gender in the Qur’an (Oxford University Press, 2020). Ibrahim is also the author of the […]

Andrew Ali Aghapour is a scholar, storyteller, writer, and artistic producer living in Durham, NC. With a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from UNC-Chapel Hill, he worked as the Consulting Scholar of Religion and Science for the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, where he helped develop the “Discovery and Revelation,” exhibition and co-author the exhibit […]

Brook Wilensky-Lanford is a religion writer, editor, and teacher. She is the author of A God-Shaped Nation: Five Hundred Years of Religion in America, forthcoming in June 2026 and Paradise Lust: Searching for the Garden of Eden. Media inquiries should be directed to Deb Seager, Director of Publicity, Grove Atlantic.

Peter Manseau is the founding director of the Center for Understanding Religion in American History at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and first curator of religion at the Smithsonian Institute, both in Washington, D.C. He can discuss religious art in America and American history.