86. How Religious Practice Creates Faith, Rather than the Other Way Around

Tanya Marie Luhrmann is an anthropologist of religion at Stanford University, whose work focuses on the edge of human experience: hearing voices, having visions, the world of the supernatural, and the world of psychosis, whether on the streets of Chicago with homeless and psychotic women, with people who hear voices in India, Ghana, and southern California, with evangelical Christians who seek to hear God speak back, with Zoroastrians seeking mystical dimensions, and with people who practice magic. She has written articles for the New York Times and the New Yorker, as well as several books, including When God Talks Back, which was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year. Her most recent book, entitled How God Becomes Real: Kindling the Presence of Invisible Others is the subject of today’s interview.