IN THE MEDIA

Interviews with Anna Hippert on her research, new forms of faith and their social impact

In recent weeks, Anna Kira Hippert has been a guest in various media formats to talk about her research. Topics included the changing nature of religiosity in Germany, evangelical movements in the US Midwest and the role of social media in religious discourse.

SWR Kultur: “Searching for meaning and a fulfilled life - between yoga and church” (February 2, 2025)

Anna Hippert was interviewed for a feature on SWR Kultur to talk about the changes in religiosity in Germany. She was asked, for example, about the Raunächte, which date back to the time of the ancient Germanic tribes and are gaining popularity again today as a decontextualized ritual, especially through social media. According to Hippert, the special thing about such customs is that, as essentially pagan customs, they can be shaped individually without institutional guidelines. Hippert also explained that many people today are looking for a new approach to transcendence and spiritual community outside of church structures. This often results in a flexible, individual mixture of different religious and spiritual beliefs and practices. Social media is increasingly playing a central role in this. According to Hippert, this shows impressively that the need for religiosity is not diminishing, but merely shifting into new forms.

🎧 To listen - SWR Kultur Feature: https://www.swr.de/swrkultur/leben-und-gesellschaft/suche-nach-sinn-und-erfuelltem-leben-zwischen-yoga-und-kirche-glauben-2025-02-09-100.html

YouTube channel “Hier”: Evangelicals, cowboy churches and religious conservatism (January 29, 2025)

In the YouTube format “Hier”, Hippert spoke about her research on evangelicalism and cowboy churches as a particular current. She explained how cowboy churches are related to evangelicalism, which unusual rituals are practiced there and which specific religious ideas dominate. She also reported on her research stays in the Midwest of the USA (2019 & 2023) and described the social impact of faith there. Another key topic was political conservatism within evangelicalism and possible parallels with the extreme right in Germany, which has made efforts in the past to instrumentalize Christian influencers specifically for its ideology.

📺 To watch - See YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F1HfPBGqcY

1LIVE “Intimbereich”: Faith, power structures and queer perspectives (February 11, 2025)

The 1LIVE program “Intimbereich” with Catrin Altzschner focused on Hippert's biography, her academic career and general questions about religious studies as a research subject. Among other things, the conversation covered the connection between faith and power structures, as well as Christian rites, religious traditions and attributions that also play an important role in the everyday lives of many non-believers (e.g. church weddings) and how these aspects and phenomena can be described and interpreted from a religious studies perspective. Hippert and Altzschner also spoke about the need for transcendence to cope with uncertainty and the way in which religious practices are adapted to personal needs. Hippert's evangelicalism research was also a topic of conversation on the show - including, for example, proselytizing in the US faith, particularly via social media. Finally, the challenges that the research field of ultra-conservative Christians poses for her as a queer researcher were also discussed.

🎧 To listen - 1LIVE intimate area: https://www1.wdr.de/mediathek/audio/1live/f__k-forward/index.html