Reposted by Sam Kestenbaum American Academy of Religion @aarweb.bsky.social · 16/02/2026The #AAR Journalism Awards honor the best in-depth reporting on religion in the categories of "Best In-Depth Newswriting" and "Best In-Depth Multimedia Journalism." Apply by March 9, 6 PM ET: aarweb.org/news/2026-jo...aarweb.org2026 Journalism Awards Now Accepting Nominations - AARThe American Academy of Religion honors the best in-depth reporting on religion through our Journalism Awards, a program of the AAR’s Committee on the Public Understanding of Religion. Awards are… 001
Reposted by Sam Kestenbaum RNS @rns.org · 15/01/2026Religion News Service (RNS) is seeking a full-time summer intern to cover religion in Texas through a unique editorial partnership with The Texas Tribune. The deadline to apply is Feb. 17 at 11:59 p.m. ET. religionnews.com/2026/01/15/a...religionnews.comApply for the 2026 RNS/Texas Tribune Summer InternshipThis is an RNS internship, designed and overseen by the RNS newsroom, with the intern embedded in Texas and contributing to coverage for both RNS and The Texas Tribune. 056
Sam Kestenbaum @skestenbaum.bsky.social · 09/01/2026New show... listen here www.frank.radio/shows/old-ti... 010
Reposted by Sam Kestenbaum Liam Adams @liamsadams.bsky.social · 07/01/2026After Bieber cut ties w/ Carl Lentz following scandal, Judah Smith "became the most powerful hypepriest left standing." @skestenbaum.bsky.social gives us an inside look at one of the few remaining modernity-spirited/open-minded, evangelical celebrity preachers: www.vulture.com/article/juda...vulture.comThe Hypepriest Riding the Bieber WaveJudah Smith’s message of compassion earned him many famous followers. Is he out of step with other Evangelicals? 022
Reposted by Sam Kestenbaum Jesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · 04/01/2026"Smith belongs to a generation of preachers who first came to prominence in the aughts. They formed a kind of cool-dude supergroup, promising at the time to shed the kitsch and conservatism of their televangelical forebears..."vulture.comThe Hypepriest Riding the Bieber WaveJudah Smith’s message of compassion earned him many famous followers. Is he out of step with other Evangelicals? 011
Reposted by Sam Kestenbaum New York Magazine @nymag.com · 02/01/2026Judah Smith made a name for himself by preaching a compassionate form of Christianity that attracted celebrities — most famously, Justin Bieber — looking for forgiveness for their missteps. Can that message still find an audience in the Trump era?vulture.comThe Hypepriest Riding the Bieber WaveJudah Smith made a name for himself by preaching a compassionate form of Christianity that attracted celebrities — most famously, Justin Bieber — looking for forgiveness for their missteps. Can that message still find an audience in the Trump era? 021
Reposted by Sam Kestenbaum Leah Payne @drleahpayne.bsky.social · 05/01/2026@skestenbaum.bsky.social's latest about Judah Smith, a West Coast Pentecostal celebrity in the lineage of Aimee Semple McPherson. Tons of keen observations & good lines here (my fave - "sloppy agape"): www.vulture.com/article/juda...vulture.comThe Hypepriest Riding the Bieber WaveJudah Smith’s message of compassion earned him many famous followers. Is he out of step with other Evangelicals? 052
Reposted by Sam Kestenbaum Ruth Graham @ruthgraham.bsky.social · 05/01/2026"It wasn’t really around when I was a young kid — that you could feel like you have a calling to A-list stars.” @skestenbaum.bsky.social profiles Judah Smith, and asks where the hypepriests of the 2010s fit into Charlie Kirk-style evangelicalism that succeeded them: www.vulture.com/article/juda...vulture.comThe Hypepriest Riding the Bieber WaveJudah Smith’s message of compassion earned him many famous followers. Is he out of step with other Evangelicals? 275
Reposted by Sam Kestenbaum Society for Features Journalism @wearesfj.bsky.social · 23/05/2025NARRATIVE STORYTELLING, DIV 3 Honoring a single story told with literary flair. 🥇 1st Place: @mrdanzak.bsky.social 🥈 2nd Place: @skestenbaum.bsky.social 🥉 3rd Place: Staff, @bloombergbusiness.bsky.social 🏅 Honorable Mention: @wordbobby.bsky.social 022
Sam Kestenbaum @skestenbaum.bsky.social · 22/04/2025For LA: a one-of-a-kind show this month, with demons, ghouls and much-needed deliverance… A special live reading, from my Harper’s story, with music, actors, puppetry, poetry, short film, and more Nihil & Friends present ART IS LIFE IS ART: RED HOT Variety Show! www.eventbrite.com/e/nihil-frie... 020
Reposted by Sam Kestenbaum The Drift @thedriftmag.com · 20/03/2025On messianic soundscapes, by @skestenbaum.bsky.social 101
Reposted by Sam Kestenbaum The Drift @thedriftmag.com · 20/03/2025Hollywood ugliness, a Beckett biopic, cult music, the sly devices of the English sentence, and an increasingly timely stand-up special — five Mentions from @izzyampil.bsky.social, Dimitris Passas, @skestenbaum.bsky.social, Tanner Stening, and @cryinmeehan.bsky.social www.thedriftmag.com/mentions/thedriftmag.comMentionsExtremely abbreviated reviews 101
Sam Kestenbaum @skestenbaum.bsky.social · 23/12/2024A mini review from me in the new issue of @thedrift-mag.bsky.social… on a series of outré musical soundscapes made by a pyramid-loving, deity-channeling New Agey shaman www.thedriftmag.com/mention/issu... 041
Sam Kestenbaum @skestenbaum.bsky.social · 19/12/2024I trekked up a crumbling California hill to sit under a crystal-studded pyramid and bask in the spacey, far-flung soundscapes of a New Age shaman… a (very) short culty music review of mine in the new issue 021
Sam Kestenbaum @skestenbaum.bsky.social · 22/11/2024Headed to San Diego? I’ll be at the American Academy of Religion meeting this weekend, speaking on three panels 130
Reposted by Sam Kestenbaum Liam Adams @liamsadams.bsky.social · 30/07/2024Many have written about Mt. Juliet pastor Greg Locke's emerging mass deliverance ministry. But only @skestenbaum.bsky.social immersed himself in the Locke Media/Demon Slayers apparatus and came out with this eloquently written narrative for Harpers: harpers.org/archive/2024...harpers.orgThe Demon Slayers, by Sam KestenbaumThe new age of American exorcisms 012
Sam Kestenbaum @skestenbaum.bsky.social · 21/02/2024Headed to my alma mater (!) next week to deliver the annual Martin Lecture in Religion ✍️ If you’re in the Wheaton area, info here 000
