In this edition of ReligionLink, we try our hand at predicting some of next year’s big religion news themes and tease out the kinds of stories journalists, commentators and analysts might be working on, talking about or sharing with one another in 2023.

David Zvi Kalman is scholar-in-residence and director of new media at Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, where he was also a member of the inaugural cohort of North American David Hartman Center Fellows. He leads the Kogod Research Center’s research seminar on Judaism and the natural world.

October is “National Domestic Violence Awareness Month” in the U.S. and in this updated edition of ReligionLink, we provide resources, links, tips, and potential sources to help inform your reporting on religion and domestic abuse.

J. Merritt Johnston is Executive Director of Baptist World Alliance Women, which connects Baptist women in 145 countries. Associated with the Baptist World Alliance, BWAW aims to help women thrive through connections and resourcing like the Stand Against Domestic Violence initiative.    

Keshet Starr is a writer, speaker and CEO of the Organization for the Resolution of Agunot, which seeks to eliminate abuse from the Jewish divorce process.

This edition of ReligionLink explores reporting, analysis and commentary around the term “cult,” helping you better understand the word, its uses, and how to report thoughtfully, carefully and sensitively on the subject.

Amanda Montell is a a writer, linguist, and podcast host living in Los Angeles. She is the author of the book Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism and co-host of the Spotify Top 20 podcast, “Sounds like a cult.”

Carole M. Cusack is professor of religious studies at the University of Sydney, Australia. Trained as a medievalist, Cusack has taught about contemporary religious trends, publishing on pilgrimage and tourism, modern pagan religions, new religious movements, the interface between religion and politics, and religion and popular culture since the 1990s.

Stephen Gregg is senior lecturer in religious studies at the University of Wolverhampton and the honorable secretary of the British Association for the Study of Religions. His background is in 19th-century Hindu philosophy, but in recent years he has specialized in minority religious movements. Contact via the University of Wolverhampton’s experts portal.