New Books Network Podcast

Ministry of Ideas January 1, 2023

Introducing Ministry of Ideas

Zachary Davis

Hosted by Zachary Davis

Introducing Ministry of Ideas, a podcast that explores the ideas that shape our lives. …

Ministry of Ideas December 10, 2023

A Medieval Anti-Racist

Genealogies of Modernity Episode 6

Hosted by Zachary Davis

What if racism shared an origin with opposition to racism? What if the condemnation of injustice gave rise both to an early form of anti-racism and to the racial hierarchies …

Ministry of Ideas December 9, 2023

Picturing Race in Colonial Mexico

Genealogies of Modernity Episode 5

Hosted by Zachary Davis

Race is sometimes treated as a biological fact. It is actually a modern invention. But for this concept to gain power, its logic had to be spread – and made …

Ministry of Ideas December 8, 2023

Jamestown and the Myth of the Sovereign Family

Genealogies of Modernity Episode 4

Hosted by Zachary Davis

What is the “traditional American family?” Popular images from the colonial and pioneer past suggest an isolated and self-sufficient nuclear family as the center of American identity and the source …

Ministry of Ideas December 7, 2023

What Is Genealogy?

Genealogies of Modernity Episode 3

Hosted by Zachary Davis

Genealogy, in Charles Darwin’s terms, is the study of “descent with modification.” Taken as an analogy for the study of history, genealogy can guard against the potential dangers of claiming …

Ministry of Ideas December 6, 2023

What Is Modernity?

Genealogies of Modernity Episode 2

Hosted by Zachary Davis

We often think of modernity as a distinct time period in history – one that is said to start at different places, but which always includes us. Yet people have …

Ministry of Ideas December 5, 2023

Climbing the Mountains of Modernity

Genealogies of Modernity Episode 1

Hosted by Zachary Davis

We all know many stories about how modernity came about. But what does it mean to be “modern”? This episode comes at the question through the test case of mountain …

Ministry of Ideas June 22, 2023

Rituals for a Dying World

Illuminations Episode 9

Jennie Rosenn, Andrue Kahn, and Malkah Binah Klein

Hosted by Zachary Davis

Absorbing the full reality of climate change will require more than a scientific approach. Some American Jews are showing how religious ritual can help us metabolize catastrophic grief while also …

Ministry of Ideas March 14, 2023

Divine Technology--or, Religion, Technology, and Magic

Illuminations Episode 3

Tulasi Srinivas

Hosted by Zachary Davis

It’s common to feel that technology removes the magic of the world, but Hindu worshippers in Bangalore have shown that it's all in the approach. Guest: Tulasi Srinivas, associate professor of …

Ministry of Ideas March 13, 2023

Beyond Belief or, Science, Religion and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life

Illuminations Episode 2

Avi Loeb, Kate Dorsch, and Sen. Harry Reid

Hosted by Zachary Davis

Do scientists ever reject science? Research data on the controversial topic of extraterrestrial life has met with resistance from some in the scientific community and openness from communities of faith …

Ministry of Ideas March 12, 2023

Experimental Methods or, Robert Hooke, Christianity, and Science

Illuminations Episode 1

Robert George, Patricia Fara, Jim Bennett, Guy Consolmagno, and Stephen Barr

Hosted by Zachary Davis

Have faith and science always been enemies? The story of Robert Hooke, a revolutionary working in the Scientific Revolution, exemplifies the ways in which Christianity has actually provoked scientific inquiry …

Ministry of Ideas March 11, 2023

Illuminations Introduction

A Podcast Series about Religion and Science

Hosted by Zachary Davis

Illuminations is a limited series that reveals the untold friendship of religion and science. Through interviews and stories drawn from a range of cultures, faiths, and eras, this series …

Ministry of Ideas March 9, 2023

Star Ladder or, How Far Away are the Stars?

Measure for Measure Episode 8

Hosted by Zachary Davis

Scientists discovered that some stars have heartbeats and that some of them can be used to measure the longest distances that exist. This episode was produced by Andrew Middleton and …

Ministry of Ideas March 8, 2023

Kinsey or, How Do You Measure Sex?

Measure for Measure Episode 7

Kate Sink

Hosted by Zachary Davis

Scientist Alfred Kinsey tried to differentiate human sexualities on a seven-point scale. In so doing, he brought us the basics of bisexuality. But the scale leaves a lot to be …

Ministry of Ideas March 7, 2023

IQ or, What if "Intelligence" Were a Matter of Life and Death?

Measure for Measure Episode 6

Hosted by Zachary Davis

The Intelligence Quotient is a measure of intelligence that has life-or-death consequences. Should we trust it? GUEST: Alan Gouddis is a Partner with Sherman & Sterling. He was recognized by The …

Ministry of Ideas March 6, 2023

Scoville or, How Do We Measure Taste?

Measure for Measure Episode 5

Hosted by Zachary Davis

Taste is a subjective experience. We know this because eggs pickled in human urine, cheese with live maggots living in it, fertilized and mostly-developed duck eggs, rotten shark, calf blood …

Ministry of Ideas March 5, 2023

Movies or, How do We Rate Films?

Measure for Measure Episode 4

Hosted by Zachary Davis

We’d rate today’s episode a ten out of ten, five star, certified fresh, two thumbs up. But we can’t speak for its IMdB score. This episode was produced by Andrew …

Ministry of Ideas March 4, 2023

Mohs or, How Hard Are Rocks?

Measure for Measure Episode 3

Hosted by Zachary Davis

We’re hitting up against the very nature of measurement: How can we best describe the world around us, in its infinite complexity, with finite measures? In other words, how hard …

Ministry of Ideas March 3, 2023

Olives or, How Much Matzah Should You Eat During Passover?

Measure for Measure Episode 2

Hosted by Zachary Davis

Jews are ritually obligated to eat matzah during Passover. But how much matzah? Well, that depends on your views on the size of an olive. This episode was produced by …

Ministry of Ideas March 2, 2023

Fathom or, How Deep is 'Deep"?

Measure for Measure Episode 1

Hosted by Zachary Davis

We love a good chart or graph but we think measurement is more complex and interesting than the data points. The fathom is a measure of depth from the surface …