Ep. 7: Facing the Mirror
In this final episode, we take a look back at the late Victorian prequels of contemporary white Christian nationalism. With a little help from emergence theory, cultural memory studies, and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, we talk about how Christian nationalism itself might be thought of as something of a monster in itself, a hybrid creature stitched together […]
Ep. 6: Worlds at War
H.G. Wells War of the Worlds and the Alien Other
Ep. 5: The Sheepdog, The Wolf, And The Warlock
Rudyard Kipling and “Christian Policing”
Ep. 4: Meet the Beetle!
Christian nationalism is a kind of con game. And of all the authors examined in this podcast, the one most likely to appreciate that con would be Richard Marsh, author of the 1897 horror novel The Beetle. A one time con artist himself, Marsh treats the gender fluidity of his shapeshifting monster as a con […]
Ep. 3: The Asiatic Criminal Mastermind
The trope of the “Asiatic criminal mastermind” has haunted Asians for over a century, from the notorious Fu Manchu right up to the myths of dastardly Wuhan virologists circulating in the COVID era. But these myths, which have helped fuel a historic spike in anti-Asian racism, didn’t start with Sax Rohmer’s “Devil Doctor.” Before Fu Manchu, […]
Ep. 2: Dracula’s Tale of Two Conspiracies
When it was first published in 1897, Bram Stoker’s Dracula immediately triggered a spate of strong emotional responses. These responses partly stemmed from its action-movie depiction of Christianity, but also partly from the xenophobic fears of European Jews that lurk beneath its titular monster. Dracula also introduced the idea of a holy conspiracy, whose members must conduct their sacred fight […]
Ep. 1: Christian Nationalism’s Gothic Genesis
Monster in the Mirror is a limited audio series produced by Straight White American Jesus, and created and written by Dr. Lucas Kwong. Monster in the Mirror is a series about monsters. It’s about how the fantastical beasts who stalk the imagination of contemporary Christian nationalists were birthed in another white God fearing empire. It’s […]