K-Spirits
How the US and Korea Create Evangelical Power
This podcast uncovers the transpacific forces that transformed modern Christianity, and continue to shape politics on both sides of the Pacific.
Historian Dr. Helen Kim follows influencers, evangelists, translators, pastors, politicians, labor organizers, and overlooked women whose stories connect South Korea and the United States. From Billy Graham’s largest crusade and South Korea’s record-breaking “spiritual explosions,” to the hidden labor behind the world’s largest Pentecostal church, the series reveals how revival, war, migration, anti-communism, authoritarianism, race, gender, and digital media created powerful evangelical networks. But Korean Christianity has never spoken with one voice. Alongside those seeking political influence are Christians building alternative traditions of justice, resistance, belonging, and liberation.
Who created evangelical power—and who challenged it?
The first episodes will premiere on November 2, 2026!
Additional Show Information
About the Host
Dr. Helen Jin Kim is Associate Professor of American Religious History at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology. Kim completed her MDiv and PhD at Harvard as a William R. Hutchison Presidential Fellow. She began her research at Stanford where she completed her BA in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity and English. Kim is the author of Race for Revival: How Cold War South Korea Shaped the American Evangelical Empire (Oxford University Press, 2022), which won the 2024 Outstanding Achievement in History award from the Association of Asian American Studies. Her next book is tentatively titled ‘Woman Spirit’: Religion and Hidden Labor from the Korean War to the Age of K-Pop.
About the Show
K-Spirits is a limited series from the Institute for Religion, Media, and Civic Engagement (IRMCE) in partnership with the Asian Pacific American Religions Research Initiative (APARRI). It is part of the Under Gods project, funded by the Henry Luce Foundation.
Host: Dr. Helen Jin Kim
Executive Producer: Dr. Leah Payne
Producer: Andrew Gill
Story Editor: Dr. Bradley Onishi
Original Score: David Bazan
Production Assistance: Kari Onishi
Cover Art: Eric Zwierzynski
Host
Dr. Helen Jin Kim
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