Tara Isabella Burton’s is the author of the nonfiction books Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World and the forthcoming Self-Made: Creating Our Identities from Da Vinci to the Kardashians, out June 27 from Public Affairs, as well as of the novels Social Creature, The World Cannot Give, and the forthcoming Here in Avalon. Self-Made: Curating Our Image from Da Vinci to the Kardashians has been praised by Walter Russell Mead as “some of the sharpest and most insightful social commentary being written today.” She has written about religion and culture for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, National Geographic and more. Tara also co-writes the Substack newsletter “Line of Beauty” with her husband, Dhananjay Jagannathan. She has a doctorate in Theology from the University of Oxford.
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Episode 314
Tara Isabella Burton
America’s New Religions & the Cult of Self-Making | Tara Isabella Burton
Tara Isabella Burton’s is the author of the nonfiction books Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World and the forthcoming Self-Made: Creating Our Identities from Da Vinci to the Kardashians, out June 27 from Public Affairs, as well as of the novels Social Creature, The World Cannot Give, and the forthcoming Here in Avalon. Self-Made: Curating Our Image from Da Vinci to the Kardashians has been praised by Walter Russell Mead as “some of the sharpest and most insightful social commentary being written today.” She has written about religion and culture for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, National Geographic and more. Tara also co-writes the Substack newsletter “Line of Beauty” with her husband, Dhananjay Jagannathan. She has a doctorate in Theology from the University of Oxford.
In Episode 314 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with novelist, sociologist, and theologian Tara Isabella Burton about America’s new religions, the evolution of the self in contemporary culture, and what it all means for the future of Western society.
Tara Isabella Burton’s writings about religion and culture provide some of the sharpest, most insightful commentary about contemporary life that you will find anywhere. Her two most recent books explore the revival of religious practices and the evolution of what she calls self-making (i.e., the increased focus on oneself and one’s own experiences as the focal point of human experience) in Western society. Her insights are nothing short of revelatory.
In their conversation, Tara and Demetri discuss three different manifestations of religion that Burton has identified: (1) social justice culture, (2) techno-utopianism, (3) and what she calls “right-wing atavism,” an ideology whose more extreme elements combine nostalgia for proto-humanity with a sort of black-pilled nihilism that rejects both contemporary progressive society and any possibility of meaningfully escaping from it.
While the first hour of their conversation is dedicated to exploring these themes it isn’t until the second hour that Demetri and Tara Isabella Burton begin to discuss their implications for contemporary life and for the durability of our institutions in the face of social and political upheaval. What our response to these changes should be and why there are reasons to be hopeful form an important part of that discussion.
If you want to listen to that part of the conversation you can subscribe to our premium content and gain access to our premium feed, episode transcripts, and Intelligence Reports (or Key Takeaways) at HiddenForces.io/subscribe.
If you want to join in on the conversation and become a member of the Hidden Forces genius community, which includes Q&A calls with guests, access to special research and analysis, in-person events, and dinners, you can also do that on our subscriber page. If you still have questions, feel free to email info@hiddenforces.io, and Demetri or someone else from our team will get right back to you.
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Tara Isabella Burton’s is the author of the nonfiction books Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World and the forthcoming Self-Made: Creating Our Identities from Da Vinci to the Kardashians, out June 27 from Public Affairs, as well as of the novels Social Creature, The World Cannot Give, and the forthcoming Here in Avalon. Self-Made: Curating Our Image from Da Vinci to the Kardashians has been praised by Walter Russell Mead as “some of the sharpest and most insightful social commentary being written today.” She has written about religion and culture for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, National Geographic and more. Tara also co-writes the Substack newsletter “Line of Beauty” with her husband, Dhananjay Jagannathan. She has a doctorate in Theology from the University of Oxford.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
