RAY SUAREZ TO SPEAK AT VANDERBILT

NEWSHOUR correspondent Ray Suarez will be in town next week. He’ll speak at Vanderbilt University at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 27 about the relationship betwen religion and politics in America. The lecture is free and open to the pubic and will take place on campus at the Benton Chapel. Vanderbilt will post streaming video of the lecture on the news section of its website.

Suarez, who hosted NPR’s TALK OF THE NATION before joining NEWSHOUR in 1999, knows quite a bit about the relationship between religion and politics. His 2006 book HOLY VOTE, examines “the way Americans worship, how organized religion and politics intersect in America, and how this powerful collision is transforming the current and future American mind-set,” according to its published description. “With The Holy Vote, Ray Suarez explores the advent of this polarization and how it is profoundly changing the way in which we live our lives. With hands-on reporting, Suarez explores the attitudes and beliefs of the people behind the voting numbers, the places in which these new beliefs are being born, and how the political divide is manifesting itself across the country. ”

Robert Siegel offered an analysis of the book on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED in September 2006. There’s also an excerpt from the book on NPR’s site.