Episode 1: Religion, Political Struggle, and Disease Disparity in Waiʻanae, Hawaii

In the inaugural episode of the Religion and City Podcast, Wende Marshall discusses the linkages between religion, political struggle, and disease disparity in the city of Waiʻanae, Hawaii. How do Native Hawaiian communities approach health/healing? What is the relationship between political struggle, religion, and health? How do colonialism and capitalism inform our understandings of health and disease and impact the manifestation of disease in cities? How can Native Hawaiian approaches to health help us understand and redress the long-term effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, especially in the context of education and religious ritual?

The Religion and City Podcast addresses these important questions in the very first inaugural episode as Wende Marshall discusses her book entitled, Potent Mana: Lessons in Power and Healing, and its implications for the study of religion, health, and the city. Amanda Furiasse and Sher Afgan Tareen, co-directors of the Contagion, Religion, and Cities project, Harold Morales, the Director of the Center for the Study of Religion and the City, Sierra Lynn Lawson, a member of the podcast team, Ben Saxx, Daisy Vargas, Isaiah Ellis, and Rupa Pillai join the conversation.