About the show
Crossing Faiths is a podcast where people from diverse religious backgrounds openly discuss everything you're NOT supposed to discuss at the dinner table. Join hosts Jt Pinna, a career national security, international affairs, and D.C. insider, and Elliot Toman, a former media director in the Evangelical church, as they engage in lively conversations about the impact of faith on current events. Crossing Faiths also welcomes guests from various religious and experiential backgrounds to share their insights.
The podcast was initially developed in collaboration with Matt Hawkins, a former policy director for the Southern Baptist Convention. Their conversations are built on a decade of collaboration, advocating in Washington, D.C., for religious freedom domestically and globally. The two developed the podcast to share conversations that model friendship and cooperation despite profound differences in religion and background. The podcast has reached almost 3 million multi-faith listeners, 83% millennials.
Crossing Faiths on social media
Episodes
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154: 154: Roya Mahboob - Rule Breakers
March 17th, 2025 | Season 9 | 23 mins 38 secs
bible, christianity, islam, politics, quran, religion
Roya Mahboob details how her organization, Digital Citizen Fund, has shifted from teaching digital literacy in Afghanistan to supporting underground education networks since the Taliban takeover.
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153: 153: Flipping the Script(ures)
March 15th, 2025 | Season 9 | 58 mins 43 secs
bible, christianity, islam, politics, quran, religion
A Christian and a Muslim talk religion & politics. In this conversation, Elliot begins by asking John: "What is compelling about the Muslim depiction of Jesus?"
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152: 152: Michael Barton - American Revert
March 9th, 2025 | Season 9 | 57 mins 10 secs
bible, christianity, islam, politics, quran, religion
In this podcast interview, John Pinna speaks with Michael Barton, a Muslim revert from Wichita, Kansas who converted to Islam in 2006.
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151: Mustafa Akhwand
February 17th, 2025 | Season 9 | 1 hr 1 min
bible, christianity, islam, politics, quran, religion
Mustafa Akhwand, as executive director of Shia Rights Watch, emphasizes the importance of having the right advisors with on-the-ground experience rather than relying on those who lack direct cultural understanding
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150: Creationism and the Multiverse with Rabbi Aaron Zimmer and Rabbi Eli Feder
February 10th, 2025 | Season 9 | 55 mins 11 secs
bible, christianity, islam, politics, quran, religion
Rabbi Aaron Zimmer and Rabbi Eli Feder discuss their endeavor to explore the relationship between science and religion, specifically focusing on using physics to argue for the existence of God.
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149: 149: Adi Sharabi
January 13th, 2025 | Season 9 | 49 mins 37 secs
bible, christianity, islam, politics, quran, religion
In this thoughtful conversation between John Pinna and Adi Sharabi, they explore themes of identity, cultural heritage, and religious traditions across multiple communities. Adi, who identifies as an Arab Jew with Yemeni roots currently living in Thailand, discusses her journey from being a tour guide in Israel to becoming an online educator and content creator reaching millions of viewers.
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148: 148: Archetypes, agendas and interference
January 6th, 2025 | Season 9 | 51 mins 57 secs
bible, christianity, islam, politics, quran, religion
A Christian and a Muslim talk religion & politics. In this episode, John and Elliot engage in a conversation about the archetypal influences behind Star Wars that eventually leads to an examination of how ideological agendas can reduce the effectiveness of humanitarian intervention.
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147: 147: Good News for Me, but Not for Thee?
December 23rd, 2024 | Season 9 | 35 mins 56 secs
bible, christianity, islam, politics, quran, religion
A Christian and a Muslim talk religion & politics. In this episode, John pushes back against Elliot's suggestion that the Gospel is the cornerstone of Western Civilization by asking: Who's Gospel?
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146: Dinosaurs in Ordinary Time
December 16th, 2024 | Season 9 | 1 hr 4 mins
bible, christianity, islam, politics, quran, religion
A Christian and a Muslim talk religion & politics. In this episode, John and Elliot discuss the function of religion in superimposing meaning over apparent meaninglessness.
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145: 145: Sharia Law in the Wild West
December 9th, 2024 | Season 9 | 1 hr 2 mins
bible, christianity, islam, politics, quran, religion
A Christian and a Muslim talk religion & politics.
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144: 144: Laurence Stephenson
November 25th, 2024 | Season 9 | 1 hr 18 mins
bible, christianity, islam, politics, quran, religion
Elliot Toman, speakings to Laurence Stephenson, who has recently published a unique work of Christian fiction told from the perspective of one of the thieves who was crucified alongside Jesus.
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143: 143: Lucien Greaves
November 11th, 2024 | Season 9 | 42 mins 39 secs
bible, christianity, islam, politics, quran, religion
Lucien Greaves is a prominent social activist and the co-founder and spokesperson for The Satanic Temple. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Greaves studied neuroscience at Harvard University, specializing in false-memory syndrome.