You need to pay attention to hip-hop if you're religious. Here's why.

Rap got religious last year. At least that’s what I wrote earlier this year for America. The truth is, while it may have gotten more explicit about religion in 2016, hip-hop has always had a deep religious undercurrent to its bars and beats.

This week we’re chatting with Alex Nava, the author of In Search of Soul: Hip-Hop, Literature, and Religion. We talk to Alex about religion’s influence on hip-hop and why people are surprised to find out about it. If you need any convincing before or after listening to us—go listen to Kendrick Lamar’s “How Much a Dollar Cost.”

In Signs of the Times, we talk Pope Francis in Colombia, rapping nuns, beer-brewing monks and proposing in front of Pope Francis.

Links from the show:

Czech Catholic Church branches out into forestry
Beer-Brewing Monks Are Helping Rebuild Earthquake-Devastated Town In Italy
Rapping nun to perform for Pope Francis in Colombia
Man proposes to girlfriend in front of Pope Francis
In new book, Pope Francis says he consulted a psychoanalyst
Catholic Church leaders condemn Trump administration’s decision to end DACA

What’s on Tap?

Becherovka, a Czech digestivo (otherwise known as a classy version of Jagermeister).