Author of the New York Times bestseller "Jesus and John Wayne," Kristin Du Mez is a writer, speaker, and scholar who explores the intersection of religion, gender, and politics.

Her writing is described as "urgent and sharp-elbowed," and Du Mez does not refrain from presenting the hard truths that history has to offer Americans—and especially American Christians. Her unflinching examination of the American church, however, is ultimately a call to confession, a call to lament, and a call to greater faithfulness.

An academic by training, Du Mez holds a Ph.D. in U.S. history from the University of Notre Dame, but she writes and speaks for popular audiences in an entertaining style that is equal parts winsome and hard-hitting.

Her bylines include The New York Times, the Washington Post, Daily Beast, Religion & Politics, Religion News Service, NBC News.com, and Christianity Today. Her work has also garnered extensive national and international attention, as a feature on NPR's Morning Edition, PBS’s Amanpour & Co, the BBC, and in national outlets in China, Japan, Canada, Australia, Spain, Brazil, Germany, and the Netherlands. She is a frequent commenter on religion and politics in the national media at outlets such as the Washington Post, Religion News Service, NPR, CBS, Newsweek, CNN, and the BBC.

As a speaker, she has appeared at colleges and universities across the country, including the University of Notre Dame, Harvard University, Columbia University, UVA Law School, Baylor University, Pepperdine University, and the University of Oklahoma. Her public speaking has also included the Brookings Institution, Faith Angle Forum, Atlanta’s TheoEd, Seattle’s Crosscut Festival, the University of Chicago’s Martin Marty Center, Johns Hopkins’ Stavros Niarchos Foundation Angora Institute, and the Center for Pastor Theologians, and she has appeared at churches and faith groups across the religious spectrum.

Du Mez teaches at Calvin University and lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with her husband, three kids, and a dog named Paco.

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