Anderson Cooper Doesn't Talk About Religion Often to Avoid Appearing Biased
Published Nov. 29 2023, 12:22 p.m. ET
The Gist:
- Anderson Cooper appears to be agnostic, but he doesn't discuss his religious beliefs that frequently in public.
- Anderson does openly discuss his own grief and allows those he interviews to share their own perspectives on faith.
- Anderson's podcast is all about the grief he feels from the loss of his mother and father.
Although CNN host Anderson Cooper has been open with audiences about certain parts of his life, including his sexuality, he doesn't often discuss his religious views on the air. As he dives deeper into grief in his podcast, though, many of Anderson's fans want to know more about his religious views.
Anderson's podcast, All There Is, dives deep into Anderson's grief over losing his mother and asks hard questions about what it means to move on. Now in its second season, many listeners want to know whether Anderson's religion has anything to do with the show.
What is Anderson Cooper's religion?
Anderson is agnostic and doesn't often discuss his faith in public. While he has focused on grief in his podcast, he has usually allowed his guests to bring their own faiths into the discussion. They explain the way their faith has guided who they are. If Anderson has any religious beliefs, he hides them well.
During Anderson's conversations with Stephen Colbert, who is a devout Catholic, he often let Stephen discuss how faith had shaped who he became.
Anderson, who is known for being a hard-hitting journalist, also avoids discussing religion because of the way it could shape his coverage or perceptions of him. His mother was Catholic, but he doesn't discuss his own religious beliefs openly, and there's no reason that he should unless he feels compelled to do so.
Anderson's podcast is about grief and loss.
In Anderson's podcast, which is now in its second season, he has hard conversations about grief and loss, and whether you ever really find a way to overcome it.
"In Season 2 of All There Is, Anderson continues his deeply personal journey to understand his own feelings of grief in all its complexities, and in moving and honest discussions, learn from others who’ve experienced life-altering losses," the show's description reads.
Anderson's own grief is often about his mother.
Anderson, who lost his father when he was 10 and his mother in 2019, has been open about the way losing both of his parents has shaped him. In an interview with Stephen Colbert from 2019, he explained that he believed that his father's death changed the person he became, and he wasn't sure whether it was for the better.
In a video promoting the second season of his podcast, Anderson said that he had been too scared to look through a pile of belongings from his parents that was in his basement. He added that it was the listeners of his podcast who helped encourage him to do it. As his podcast makes clear, grief is an ongoing struggle and Anderson is still working through his own.