The Religion Department: An Online Learning Platform with Andrew Mark Henry and Andrew Ali Aghapour

May 4, 2026

Guest

Andrew Ali Aghapour

Guest

Andrew Mark Henry

Andrew Ali Aghapour, scholar of religion and science and comedian who’s worked with the Smithsonian. Andrew Mark Henry, late Roman religion scholar and creator of Religion for Breakfast. They discuss turning a popular YouTube channel into The Religion Department, course formats like guided readings and seminars, building a user-funded platform that pays scholars, and fostering a curious community of adult learners.

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ANECDOTE

From Blog To YouTube Flagship

Andrew Mark Henry started Religion for Breakfast as a WordPress blog in 2014–15 while a PhD student at Boston University.
The blog transitioned to YouTube because he watched educational channels and wanted a flagship religious studies channel with broader reach.

INSIGHT

Design The Site Like A Course Catalog

The founders imagined the site like a university course catalog to recreate the student thrill of discovering unexpected classes.
That catalog ethos motivates offering diverse specialized seminars to spark curiosity beyond a single subfield.

ANECDOTE

Short Guided Readings For Dense Theory

Andrew Mark Henry ran a 30-minute guided reading of Religion in 50 Words to unpack dense theory-and-method chapters in bite-sized weekly sessions.
Sessions focused paragraph-by-paragraph guidance so non-specialists can grasp concepts like religious experience and authority.

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The Religion Department is an online learning platform dedicated to the academic, nonsectarian study of religion, created by the team behind Religion for Breakfast — the YouTube channel with over a million subscribers. Co-founded by Dr. Andrew Mark Henry and Dr. Andrew Ali Aghapour, The Religion Department offers guest lectures, multi-week seminars, and guided reading courses taught by scholars of religion, all designed to make university-level religious studies accessible to anyone, anywhere. Inspired by creator-driven platforms like Dropout TV and Nebula, The Religion Department is built on a user-funded model that compensates scholars fairly for their teaching and expertise. Current offerings include a guided reading of Attar's twelfth-century Sufi masterpiece The Conference of the Birds with Dr. Patrick D'Silva, a 52-week course on key concepts in religious studies led by Dr. Henry, and many more upcoming programs. In this episode, we talk with the co-founders about how Religion for Breakfast grew into something bigger, what The Religion Department offers, and why they believe the academic study of religion deserves a home beyond the traditional university. Learn more and become a member at religiondepartment.com

Dr. Andrew Mark Henry is a scholar of late Roman religion who holds a PhD from Boston University. He is the creator and host of Religion for Breakfast, and the 2026 recipient of the American Academy of Religion's Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion.

Dr. Andrew Ali Aghapour is a scholar of religion and science who holds a PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is an award-winning comedian and storyteller, and has served as the Consulting Scholar of Religion and Science for the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

This episode’s host, Jacob Barrett, is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Religion and Culture track. For more information, visit his website thereluctantamericanist.com

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