Lauren Jackson
Special guest
What I Cover
For the past year, I’ve developed “Believing,” a project about how we experience religion and spirituality now.
I have been based in London for The Times since 2019. I am an editor for The Morning, The Times’s flagship daily newsletter. We cover major world events each day. I have also published photography from Britain, Germany and Mongolia; launched new podcasts for the audio team; and worked on editorial and product strategy for “The Daily.”
My Background
Before joining The Times, I worked at the United Nations, the Reuters Institute and CNN, where my reporting on religion won three awards from the Religion News Association.
I grew up in Arkansas and have also lived in Greece, Israel and Rwanda. I have a bachelor’s degree in political and social thought from the University of Virginia, where I was a Jefferson Scholar. I have two master’s degrees in diplomacy and public policy from Oxford University, where I was a Rhodes Scholar.
Lauren Jackson has been a guest on 1 episode.
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Episode 295: Believing, with Lauren Jackson
July 3rd, 2025 | 51 mins 18 secs
On this episode of Give and Take, I talk with Lauren Jackson, writer of The Believing Project at The New York Times. Lauren explores the strange, beautiful, and sometimes baffling terrain of American religious life—what we believe, why we believe it, and how belief shapes the way we live. We talk about the origin of her project, the state of faith in an increasingly secular age, and why the stories we tell about belief might be more important than ever. From revival tents to deconstruction TikToks, Lauren brings a literary and deeply curious lens to the spiritual landscape. It’s a conversation about belief, doubt, devotion, and the stories that make us.