Leigh Eric Schmidt

Leigh Eric Schmidt is the Edward C. Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor in the Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis where he is on the faculty of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics. His previous books have ranged widely across American religious and cultural history, including Restless Souls: The Making of American Spirituality, Heaven’s Bride: The Unprintable Life of Ida C. Craddock, American Mystic, Scholar, Sexologist, Martyr, and Madwoman, and Village Atheists: How America’s Unbelievers Made Their Way in a Godly Nation. His latest book, The Church of St. Thomas Paine: A Religious History of American Secularism, is due out next year from Princeton University Press.

Nov. 4, 2020

Episode 4B: A Webb of Connections, Part 2

In this episode we continue our story of Mohammed Alexander Russell Webb from his decision to resign as an American consul to his inauguration as an honorary consul-general for the Ottoman Empire!
Nov. 3, 2020

Episode 4A: A Webb of Connections, Part 1

In this episode we meet Alexander Russell Webb, U.S. consul to Manila in the Philippines turned Muslim missionary to America.