On episode 261, we welcome Ilan Stavans to discuss the historical incarnations of god, god as a symbol of both oppression and liberty, Moses's rebellion against god and how it symbolizes modern faith, god as an ineffable experience, why we continue to create god, militant atheism as a response to deep-seated hope for the existence of god, Jesus dying for the sins of Yahweh, morality without religion, and god in the age of AI.

Ilan Stavans is the publisher of Restless Books and the Lewis-Sebring Professor of Humanities and Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College. His books include On Borrowed Words, Spanglish, Dictionary Days, The Disappearance, and A Critic's Journey. He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, Chile's Presidential Medal, the International Latino Book Award, and the Jewish Book Award. Stavans's work, translated into twenty languages, has been adapted to the stage and screen. Ilan is also the host of the NPR-affiliated podcast "In Contrast." His new book, available on June 30, 2026, is called A Nation Wrestles With God: American Prophets, Philosophers, and Firebrands.

| Ilan Stavans |

► Website | https://restlessbooks.org/our-team

► Podcast | https://www.nepm.org/in-contrast-a-podcast-on-culture-in-the-making

► A Nation Wrestles With God Book | https://bit.ly/ANationWrestlesWithGod

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