Who Am I?
Here’s my ‘official bio’:
Ryan Burge is professor of practice at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis. Before that he was an associate professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University, and was also the graduate coordinator. He has authored over thirty peer-reviewed articles and book chapters alongside six books about religion and politics in the United States. He has written for the New York Times, POLITICO, and the Wall Street Journal. He has also appeared in an NBC Documentary, on the CBS Evening News, as well as 60 Minutes which called him, “one of the country’s leading data analysts on religion and politics.” He served as a pastor in the American Baptist Church for over twenty years, leading First Baptist Church of Mount Vernon, IL for 17.5 years until its closure in July 2024. He has been married to his wife Jacqueline for over eighteen years. They have two sons.
If you want to read more me and my background, I would recommend this profile from the Deseret entitled, “Ryan Burge’s church closed. But his ministry is not over.”
What to book Ryan for a speaking event? Just use this form.
What do you get?
Two posts a week (Monday and Thursday), around 1500-1700 words each, plus audio narration that I record myself—no AI.
I analyze politics and religion through data, trying to show the world as it actually exists rather than how any tribe wants it to be. I don’t cater to liberals or conservatives. If the data makes you angry, good. If it makes you happy, also good.
This format lets me write what I’m genuinely curious about—no editor pitches, no hunting for news pegs. I’m making these graphs anyway for my own research. Sharing them here means you get to see patterns and trends as I discover them.
What this isn’t
Academic papers. I’m not running robustness checks or publishing appendixes here. This is exploratory data analysis in public—interesting patterns, preliminary findings, things that make me go “huh, look at that.” If you want the full peer-reviewed treatment, that’s what my books and academic work are for.
What do paid subscribers get?
Full archive access. Most posts start out free, but after three months they move behind the paywall. Free subscribers see about 75% of what I publish in any given year, but paid subscribers get the whole thing—and that archive is growing every week.
Commenting privileges. I actively engage in the comments, answering methodology questions and sometimes running additional analysis based on what readers ask about.
Discounts for those who need them
If you’re in religious ministry (pastor, priest, imam, rabbi, denominational staff—anything like that counts), email me for a 20% discount code.
Teachers get an annual subscription for $48 here: [link]
Need subscriptions for your whole staff or classroom? Let me know and I’ll work out a group rate.
