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About Zachary Davis

Zachary Davis is the host of Ministry of Ideas and Writ Large and the Editor-in-Chief of Radiant.

NBN Episodes hosted by Zachary:

Shakespeare For All May 29, 2023

Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" Part 2: Characters and Questions

A Discussion with Michael Dobson

Michael Dobson

Hosted by Zachary Davis
Part 2 focuses on the play’s key interpretive questions: how we are invited to judge the central characters. Is Caesar, in Shakespeare’s story, really a tyrant who needed to be …
Shakespeare For All May 22, 2023

Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" Part 1: The Story

A Discussion with Michael Dobson

Michael Dobson

Hosted by Zachary Davis
Julius Caesar is one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, telling the story of one of history’s most famous events. In this tense political thriller, the Roman senator Brutus must decide …
Shakespeare For All May 15, 2023

Shakespeare's "Othello" Part 3: The Language

A Discussion with Farah Karim-Cooper

Farah Karim-Cooper

Hosted by Zachary Davis
In Part 3, Professor Farah Karim-Cooper offers close-readings of some of the play’s most significant scenes. You’ll also hear a special commentary on Othello by actor Keith Hamilton Cobb, author …
Shakespeare For All May 8, 2023

Shakespeare's "Othello" Part 2: Characters and Questions

A Discussion with Farah Karim-Cooper

Farah Karim-Cooper

Hosted by Zachary Davis
Part 2 delves into the characters’ psychologies and how character is created by speech — how Othello’s language reflects his changing sense of self and how Iago carries out his …
Shakespeare For All May 1, 2023

Shakespeare's "Othello" Part 1: The Story

A Discussion with Farah Karim-Cooper

Farah Karim-Cooper

Hosted by Zachary Davis
William Shakespeare’s Othello is the only one of his tragedies to feature a black male protagonist. Othello is a black general who elopes with a white noblewoman called Desdemona — …
Shakespeare For All April 24, 2023

Shakespeare's "As You Like It" Part 3: the Language

A Discussion with Will Tosh

Will Tosh

Hosted by Zachary Davis
As You Like It is one of Shakespeare’s most beloved romantic comedies. It is also his most daring exploration of sex, gender, and identity. In the Forest of Arden, Rosalind …
Shakespeare For All April 17, 2023

Shakespeare's "As You Like It" Part 2: Characters and Questions

A Discussion with Will Tosh

Will Tosh

Hosted by Zachary Davis
As You Like It is one of Shakespeare’s most beloved romantic comedies. It is also his most daring exploration of sex, gender, and identity. In the Forest of Arden, Rosalind …
Shakespeare For All April 3, 2023

Shakespeare's "Macbeth" Part 3: the Language

A Discussion with Emma Smith

Emma Smith

Hosted by Zachary Davis
Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most concentrated and thrilling tragedies. Macbeth is a warrior lord living in medieval Scotland who starts the play by saving his king — only to …
Shakespeare For All March 27, 2023

Shakespeare's "Macbeth" Part 2: Characters and Questions

A Discussion with Emma Smith

Emma Smith

Hosted by Zachary Davis
Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most concentrated and thrilling tragedies. Macbeth is a warrior lord living in medieval Scotland who starts the play by saving his king — only to …
Shakespeare For All March 20, 2023

Shakespeare's "Macbeth" Part 1: the Story

A Discussion with Emma Smith

Emma Smith

Hosted by Zachary Davis
Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most concentrated and thrilling tragedies. Macbeth is a warrior lord living in medieval Scotland who starts the play by saving his king — only to …
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 …
Shakespeare For All March 13, 2023

The Wooden O and the Iron Throne

Game of Thrones and Shakespeare Part 3

Hosted by Zachary Davis
Dive into the question of why audiences love Shakespeare’s plays and Game of Thrones so much, despite their depictions of prejudice and violence, and discuss the unique power of tragic …
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 …
Shakespeare For All March 13, 2023

The Wooden O and the Iron Throne

Game of Thrones and Shakespeare Part 3

Hosted by Zachary Davis
Dive into the question of why audiences love Shakespeare’s plays and Game of Thrones so much, despite their depictions of prejudice and violence, and discuss the unique power of tragic …
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 …
Shakespeare For All March 6, 2023

The Wooden O and the Iron Throne

Game of Thrones and Shakespeare Part 2

Hosted by Zachary Davis
Explore the moral tensions and dilemmas that Shakespeare and George R. R. Martin force their audiences to confront, especially in the storylines of their most notable political leaders. …
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 …