The Christian Humanist Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 126.1: Postmodernism Feb 18, 2014

Show notes

Nathan Gilmour talks with Michial Farmer and Danny Anderson about postmodernism. Exploring in brief the Derridean, Foucaultian, and Gadamerian streams of thish twentieth-century cultural phenomenon, the trio likewise examines some Christian responses to the postmodern. Among the writers, concepts, and other realities tackled are differance, genealogy, progressivism, metanarrative, and relativism.

Episode 126: American Folk Music Feb 11, 2014

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Michial Farmer moderates a conversation with Danny Anderson and Nathan Gilmour about the American folk music scene in the twentieth century. Focusing on three giants of the genre and the political questions that they raise, the Humanists dig into the grand myth of populist music, the strange mix of radicalism and conservatism that follows folk music, and the recent death of Pete Seeger. Among the singers and other realities discussed are Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, folk-rock, Joseph Stalin, and the Clearwater movement.

Episode 125: The Great American Novel Feb 04, 2014

Show notes

Danny Anderson hosts a conversation with Michial Farmer and Nathan Gilmour about the concept and examples of the Great American Novel. Starting with a World War and quickly diving into culture wars, the search involves the particularly American genre, the novel, and an ongoing dispute about the character of literary education. Among the novels, novelists, and other realities discussed are Moby-Dick, The Grapes of Wrath, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Philip Roth, Toni Morrison, the New Critics, and differences between market-funded and patronage-funded arts.

Episode 124: Pulp Fiction Jan 28, 2014

Show notes

Nathan Gilmour talks with Michial Farmer and Danny Anderson about the 1994 movie Pulp Fiction. One of the most recognizable instances of postmodern cinema, Pulp Fiction brings the conversation into matters of cinema violence, nonlinear plots, dramas of interpretation, and the wall-to-wall ego that is Quentin Tarentino.

Episode 122.3: Report from the MLA Jan 21, 2014

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Michial Farmer interviews Danny Anderson about Danny's recent trip to the Modern Language Association national conference in Chicago.

Episode 122.2: Catching Up with the Listeners Jan 14, 2014

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Nathan Gilmour and Michial Farmer take some time to read and respond to listener emails and Facebook messages.

Episode 122.1: John Milton's Nativity Ode Dec 17, 2013

Show notes

The Humanists take on John Milton's early poem "Nativity Ode" for this year's Christmas episode. Milton's poem is a theologically and literarily rich take on the birth of Christ differs significantly from post-Puritan versions of Christmas, and its strange blend of idol-smashing and cosmic vision make for a fun Christmas read. Among the ideas, poetic devices, and other realities engaged are the sympathetic fallacy (or pathetic fallacy), mythology theory, Trinitarian theology, and actus dei.

Episode 121: Politics and the English Language Dec 10, 2013

Show notes

Danny Anderson moderates a conversation with Michial Farmer and Nathan Gilmour on the essay "Politics and the English Language" by George Orwell. A freshman-composition workhorse, "Politics" makes composition a matter of ethical deliberation and insists on truthful language. Among the questions, concepts, and other realities pondered are prescriptive and descriptive grammar; pretentious language; meaningless words; and Orwell's intellectual relationships to the New York intellectuals and to Richard Weaver.

Episode 120: God Is Dead? Nov 19, 2013

Show notes

Nathan Gilmour chats with Michial Farmer and Danny Anderson about about the bizarre sentence "God is dead," first written in Nietzsche's The Gay Science, later adapted by Christian theologians, and eventually becoming an evangelical bogeyman. At the core of the conversation is the seeming chasm between philosophical discourse and Christian pop culture. Among the texts, thinkers, and other realities discussed are Friedrich Nietzsche, Thomas Altizer, Steve Taylor, The Newsboys, and "God's Not Dead."

Episode 119: Monster Movies Nov 12, 2013

Show notes

Danny Anderson hosts a a conversation with Michial Farmer and Nathan Gilmour about monster movies, focusing on the evolution of the genre from the early Dracula and Frankenstein movies to the self-referential remakes of the twenty-first century. At every turn the trio explores the philosophical implications of the monstrous and the place of such narrative in Christian worlds of thought. Among the movies, ideas, and other realities explored are slasher films, Frankenstein, zombies, Scream, and why low-budget scary movies work better than big-budget blockbusters.

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