History

Crash Course Religions

Welcome to Crash Course Religions! Over the next 24 episodes, John Green will explore the history and culture of religions and how they offer frameworks for making sense of our lives — while being incredibly slippery things to pin down. We’ll discover how we define, debate, and contest what religion means, whether we’re personally religious or not. Episode 1 premieres on September 10, 2024.

What Does Ritual Have to Do with Religion?

12m

Rituals aren’t meaningless actions. They can mark time and space, create new identities, and connect people to something bigger than themselves. In this episode of Crash Course Religions, we explore the rituals that shape our lives—whether religious or not.

Episodes

  • How Many Religions Are There?: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    How Many Religions Are There?

    S1 E2 - 12m 3s

    When we think of world religions, we often think of the Big Five: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. But why do we think of those? In this episode of Crash Course Religions, we’ll learn why “world religions” is a category constructed by human choices—and why that matters for the communities that are left out.

  • Is Yoga a Religion?: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Is Yoga a Religion?

    S1 E1 - 11m 57s

    When is yoga religious, and when is it… not religious enough? In this episode of Crash Course Religions, we’ll find out why these frameworks we call “religions” are so hard to define, and why our definitions have real-life consequences.

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