Dr Robert P. Jones and Lizz Winstead Episode 494

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36 minutes Robert P. Jones  is the CEO and Founder of PRRI and a leading scholar and commentator on religion, culture, and politics.

Robert P. Jones is the CEO and founder of Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and the author of White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity, which won a 2021 American Book Award. Jones writes regularly on politics, culture, and religion for The Atlantic online, NBC Think, and other outlets. He is frequently featured in major national media, such as CNN, MSNBC, NPR, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and others. He is also the author of The End of White Christian America, which won the 2019 Grawemeyer Award in Religion. Jones writes weekly at https://robertpjones.substack.com, a newsletter for those dedicated to the work of truth-telling, repair, and healing from the legacy of white supremacy in American Christianity.

He holds a Ph.D. in religion from Emory University, an M.Div. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a B.S. in computing science and mathematics from Mississippi College. Jones was selected by Emory University’s Graduate Division of Religion as Distinguished Alumnus of the Year in 2013, and by Mississippi College’s Mathematics Department as Alumnus of the Year in 2016. Jones serves on the national program committee for the American Academy of Religion and is a past member of the editorial boards for the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, and Politics and Religion, a journal of the American Political Science Association.

Before founding PRRI, Jones worked as a consultant and senior research fellow at several think tanks in Washington, D.C., and was an assistant professor of religious studies at Missouri State University.

1:26 Lizz Winstead is one of the top political satirists working today. As co-creator and head writer of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” she forever changed the way people get their news. In 2004, Winstead also co-founded Air America Radio, while also co-hosting “Unfiltered” every morning with the Rachel Maddow and Hip Hop legend, Chuck D.  Her book of essays, Lizz Free or Die, was published by Riverhead Books in 2012. The New York Times called it “Searching and lively … and moving. … Ms. Winstead writes with a feel for the sound of words.” Winstead also writes satirical commentary for The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal and The Huffington Post.  Her talents as a comedian and media visionary have been recognized by The New York Times, The Washington Post and Entertainment Weekly’s 100 Most Creative People issue. She continues to make numerous television appearances, including Comedy Central Presents, HBO, and CNN, as well as her regular commentary on MSNBC

Winstead is a prominent abortion rights activist, and one of the founders of Abortion Access Front (formerly Lady Parts Justice League), a team of comedians, writers, and producers that uses humor to destigmatize abortion and expose the extremist anti-choice forces working to destroy access to reproductive rights in all 50 states. With her work with AAF, Winstead has taken her satirical brilliance one step further, combining it with her passion for reproductive rights to expose anti choice hypocrisy and inspiring a whole new model of activism. 

In an interview with NPR, Winstead talked about growing up without seeing enough women comedians on television. “I didn't see any women on television doing stand up unless they were older women like Totie Fields or Joan Rivers, and so I didn't see anyone like me. It was either men in suits talking about what men in suits talk about, or women, if they were older, talking about how much their husbands disappointed them and sort of the level that their boobs had sunk to on their body. That was a very popular thing to talk about for a lot of comedians back in the day. And so it wasn't until I was watching George Carlin one night with a girlfriend of mine and she said why don't you try that? And I said I don't know. Do you think I could? And she said why not?”

Winstead grew up in Minneapolis in a conservative Catholic family, the youngest of five children. She currently lives in Brooklyn NY, and continues to tour the country doing stand up in support of abortion rights.

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