A Conversation with Dr. Tara Isabella Burton about Strange Rites

Signposts with Russell Moore

In this episode of Signposts, I am joined by Dr. Tara Isabella Burton to talk about her new book, Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World (PublicAffairs, 2020). In our conversation we talk about secularization, the breakdown of religious institutions, and the connection of fitness culture and religiosity. Dr. Burton received a Doctorate in Theology from Trinity College, Oxford where she was a Clarendon Scholar in 2017. She is the author of two books: the novel Social Creature (Doubleday, 2018) and Strange Rites (Public Affairs, 2020). She also has two other books that are forthcoming: another novel, The World Cannot Give (Simon and Schuster, 2022) and another work of non-fiction, Self-Made: Curating Our Image from Da Vinci to the Kardashians (Public Affairs, 2023). She has written for The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and others. She also serves as a columnist for Religion News Service and a former staff religion writer at Vox.

I invite you to listen in to our conversation and be sure to subscribe to receive future episodes of Signposts.