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Religion
Indian Religions June 8, 2023

The Matter of Wonder

Abhinavagupta's Panentheism and the New Materialism

Loriliai Biernacki

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
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In the early 11th century, the Kashmiri philosopher Abhinavagupta proposed panentheism-seeing the divine as both immanent in the world and at the same time as transcendent--as a way to reclaim …

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Interviews with scholars of religion about their new books.

Biblical Studies June 5, 2023

Jesus the Purifier

John's Gospel and the Fourth Quest for the Historical Jesus

Craig L. Blomberg

Hosted by Jackson Reinhardt
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The third quest for the historical Jesus has reached an impasse. But a fourth quest is underway--one that draws from a heretofore largely neglected source: John's Gospel. In Jesus the …
Indian Religions June 1, 2023

Pathways to Hindu-Christian Dialogue

Anantanand Rambachan

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
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Hindus and Christians have a long history of interaction on the Indian subcontinent. Since the latter half of the twentieth century, with the increased possibilities for immigration, Hindus and Christians …
Sociology June 1, 2023

The Delusions of Crowds

Why People Go Mad in Groups

William J. Bernstein

Hosted by Gregory LaBlanc
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What do financial bubbles and religious millenarianism have in common? They both involve collective delusion. When Charles Mackey wrote a book on the Madness of Crowds in the 19th century …
Indian Religions May 29, 2023

How Do We Know What We Know?

A Day School from Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies

Gavin Flood

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies is holding a Day School on "How Do We Know What We Know?" Today I talked to Gavin Flood bout the day school, discusses how he began …
The Imperfect Buddha Podcast May 29, 2023

Buddhism and Transcendence

A Conversation with Curtis White

Curtis White

Hosted by Matthew O'Connell
Acclaimed cultural critic Curtis White examines current fissures in Western Buddhism and argues against the growth of scientific and corporate dharma, particularly in the Secular Buddhist movement. Most of his …
Biblical Studies May 28, 2023

Armageddon

What the Bible Really Says about the End

Bart D. Ehrman

Hosted by Frances Sacks
A New York Times bestselling Biblical scholar, reveals why our popular understanding of the Apocalypse is all wrong—and why that matters.You’ll find nearly everything the Bible has to say about the …
Religion May 28, 2023

The Women’s Mosque of America

Authority and Community in US Islam

Tazeen M. Ali

Hosted by Joseph Stuart
The Women’s Mosque of America (WMA), a multiracial, women-only mosque in Los Angeles, is the first of its kind in the United States. Since 2015, the WMA has provided a …
Medieval History May 27, 2023

Stories Between Christianity and Islam

Saints, Memory, and Cultural Exchange in Late Antiquity and Beyond

Reyhan Durmaz

Hosted by Zalman Newfield
In Stories between Christianity and Islam: Saints, Memory, and Cultural Exchange in Late Antiquity and Beyond (University of California Press, 2022), Reyhan Durmaz offers an original and nuanced understanding of …
Christian Studies May 27, 2023

A Revolutionary Faith

Liberation Theology Between Public Religion and Public Reason

Raúl E. Zegarra Medina

Hosted by Adrian Guiu
Religious commitments can be a powerful engine for progressive social change. In A Revolutionary Faith: Liberation Theology Between Public Religion and Public Reason (Stanford UP, 2023), Raúl E. Zegarra examines the …
Secularism May 26, 2023

Empire and Progress in the Victorian Secularist Movement

Imagining a Secular World

Patrick J. Corbeil

Hosted by Carrie Lynn Evans
Empire and Progress in the Victorian Secularist Movement: Imagining a Secular World (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) by Dr. Patrick Corbeil is the first extensive historical analysis of the relationship between empire …
Islamic Studies May 26, 2023

Broken

The Failed Promise of Muslim Inclusion

Evelyn Alsultany

Hosted by Kristian Petersen
In Broken: The Failed Promise of Muslim Inclusion (NYU Press, 2022), Evelyn Alsultany, Professor at the University of Southern California, argues that, even amid challenges to institutionalized Islamophobia, diversity initiatives …
Nomads, Past and Present May 22, 2023

Embracing Landscape

Living with Reindeer and Hunting among Spirits in South Siberia

Selcen Küçüküstel

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
Examining human-animal relations among the reindeer hunting and herding Dukha community in northern Mongolia, Embracing Landscape: Living with Reindeer and Hunting among Spirits in South Siberia (Berghahn Books, 2021), focuses …
Religion May 21, 2023

Conspirituality

How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Public Health Threat

Derek Beres, Matthew Remski, and Julian Walker

Hosted by Blair Hodges
Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Public Health Threat (PublicAffairs, 2023) is a much-needed analysis of wellness, new age, and yoga influencers who’ve gone down the rabbit hole …
Interpretive Political and Social Science May 18, 2023

Freedom Inside?

Yoga and Meditation in the Carceral State

Farah Godrej

Hosted by Nick Cheesman
Are meditation and yoga offered to prisoners merely to have them acquiesce to being incarcerated and degraded? Or can they help prisoners interrogate the political and social structures that incarcerate …
Japanese Studies May 16, 2023

Church Space and the Capital in Prewar Japan

Garrett L. Washington

Hosted by Nathan Hopson
Garrett Washington’s Church Space and the Capital in Prewar Japan (Hawai’i 2022) brings a fresh perspective to the question of Protestant Christianity’s outsized influence in modernizing Japan from almost the …
Religion May 14, 2023

The Politics of Religious Literacy

Education and Emotion in a Secular Age

Justine Ellis

Hosted by Zalman Newfield
Religious Literacy has become a popular concept for navigating religious diversity in public life. In The Politics of Religious Literacy: Education and Emotion in a Secular Age (Brill, 2022), Justine …
Early Modern History May 11, 2023

An Artful Relic

The Shroud of Turin in Baroque Italy

Andrew R. Casper

Hosted by Morteza Hajizadeh
In 1578, a fourteen-foot linen sheet bearing the faint bloodstained imprint of a human corpse was presented to tens of thousands of worshippers in Turin, Italy, as one of the …
Almost Good Catholics May 11, 2023

The Miraculous Mind (with Paul Bloom)

What Does Psychology Say about Religion and Morality?

Paul Bloom

Hosted by Krzysztof Odyniec
Psychologist Paul Bloom and I talk about the human brain, morality, empathy, perversity, all the things—including Professor Bloom’s new book, Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (Ecco Press, 2023) …
Jewish Studies May 11, 2023

Living with the Law

Gender and Community Among the Jews of Medieval Egypt

Oded Zinger

Hosted by Drora Arussy
Living with the Law: Gender and Community Among the Jews of Medieval Egypt (U Pennsylvania Press, 2023) explores the marital disputes of Jews in medieval Islamic Egypt (1000-1250), relating medieval gossip …