The Religion Department: An Online Learning Platform with Andrew Mark Henry and Andrew Ali Aghapour
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In this episode of The New Books Network, host Jacob Barrett interviews Andrew Henry and Andrew Agapur, the co-founders of the Religion Department, an innovative online learning platform rooted in their popular YouTube channel Religion for Breakfast. The conversation traces the evolution of Religion for Breakfast from a struggling blog to a million-subscriber educational YouTube channel, highlighting its mission to make the academic study of religion accessible and engaging. The Religion Department builds on this foundation by offering a user-funded, creator-owned platform featuring guided readings, multi-week seminars, guest lectures, and language courses—all designed to foster deep, community-driven learning without replacing traditional university education. The hosts emphasize the importance of compensating scholars fairly, especially in the context of the humanities' adjunctification crisis, and celebrate the platform's role in combating anti-intellectualism by amplifying expert voices. They also discuss the transformative power of curiosity-driven learning, where members are encouraged to explore topics outside their initial interests, leading to unexpected intellectual and personal growth.
The Religion Department offers a user-funded, community-centered platform for deep, public scholarship in religious studies, combining guided readings, seminars, and lectures.
Scholars are paid and profit-shared, challenging the norm of unpaid academic labor and supporting the sustainability of public scholarship.
Learning is framed as curiosity-driven and transformative—members are encouraged to explore topics they didn’t initially expect to find interesting.
The platform reimagines the academic course catalog experience, making it accessible to lifelong learners without requiring a university degree.
Compensating experts and creating space for diverse voices helps counteract the crisis of expertise in the digital age.
…and 1 more takeaway available in PodZeus
Audience Survey & Introduction
The episode begins with a brief promotional segment for the NewBooks Network's 2026 audience survey, encouraging listeners to participate and share feedback about their listening habits and interests.
The Origins of Religion for Breakfast
“I started Religion for Breakfast, I think 2014, 2015. This was the Biblio blogger era. Like every single biblical studies scholar out there was starting to blog... It was kind of entrepreneurial from the start.”
From Blog to Public Scholarship
“I was just so eager to help in any way that I could. I really think that Religion for Breakfast is such a crucial contribution to religious studies because Andrew puts in the work of making sure that these episodes are thoroughly vetted.”
The Birth of the Religion Department
“We both started getting excited about all of these experts that we were enlisting to make the videos... What would it look like to be able to connect all of these great teachers with all of these super fans?”
Model & Mission: Learning Beyond YouTube
The team explains the Religion Department’s user-funded, creator-owned model, emphasizing accessibility, community, and the goal of recreating the wonder of a university course catalog.
“We're paying for expertise. We're paying for their pedagogical skills of teaching an online class, which is by no means easy.”
“Learning without expectation. I promise it's going to be fascinating.”
“What happens when you get a bunch of autodidacts to form a community? I'm not sure what the proper word for that is, but something really special happens.”
Host
Guests
The Religion Department
organization
Religion for Breakfast
organization
Andrew Henry
person
Andrew Agapur
person
YouTube
other
Jacob Barrett
person
Religion in 50 Words
book
Boston University
other
UNC Chapel Hill
other
American Academy of Religion
organization
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