The Classical Ideas Podcast

Latest Episodes:

EP 251: Stealing My Religion w/Dr. Liz Bucar Sep 13, 2022

Show notes

Dr. Elizabeth Bucar is the Director of Sacred Writes, Professor of Religion, and Dean's Leadership Fellow at Northeastern University. An expert in comparative religious ethics who has published on topics ranging from gender reassignment surgery to the global politics of modest clothing, Bucar's current book, Stealing My Religion: Not Just Any Cultural Appropriation, is on the ethics of religious appropriation. She is also the author of the award-winning trade book, Pious Fashion: How Muslim Women Dress (Harvard University Press, 2017). Bucar's public scholarship includes bylines in The Atlantic, The Los Angeles Times, Teen Vogue, and Zocalo Public Square as well as several podcasts. She has a PhD in religious ethics from the University of Chicago's Divinity School. Follow her on Twitter @BucarLiz. Link to her Pious Fashion episode on NBN: https://newbooksnetwork.com/141-on-pious-fashion-and-muslim-women

EP 250: The History of the Single-Payer Medicare for All Movement w/Dr. Lindy Hern Aug 25, 2022

Show notes

Book Description

The recent rise of "Medicare for All" in American political discourse was many years in the making. Behind this rise is a movement composed of grassroots activists and organizations that have been working for more than three decades to achieve the goal of establishing a single-payer healthcare system in the United States. In the past decade, the Single Payer Movement has grown and garnered more public and political support than ever before. This relative success cannot be attributed to any one political figure or political era. The story of how this happened, and how it is tied to a turn against establishment politics on both the left and right, as well as the rise of outsider politicians such as Senator Bernie Sanders, takes place during the Clinton, G.W. Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations. During each of these eras, activists experienced shifting opportunities that they interpreted through the telling of stories. These narratives of opportunity encouraged participation in particular forms of grassroots mobilization, which then affected the outcome of each era. This has had lasting effects on the development of healthcare policy in the United States. In this book, Hern conducts a political ethnographic analysis in which she uses historical records, interviews, and participant observation to tell the story of the Single Payer Movement, establish the lessons that can be learned from this history, and develop a framework―the Environment of Opportunity Model―that involves a holistic understanding of social movement activity through the analysis of narrative practice.

EP 249: Islamophobia: What Christians Should Know (and Do) about Anti-Muslim Discrimination w/Jordan Denari Duffner Aug 16, 2022

Show notes

Arson and vandalism at houses of worship. Bullying at schools and harassment at the grocery store. Political scapegoating and institutionalized discrimination. Muslims in the United States--and beyond--have faced Islamophobia in a range of forms. This ground-breaking book argues that Christians should be at the forefront of efforts to end the prejudice, discrimination, and violence, that Muslims face. Writing for Christians of all denominations, Jordan Denari Duffner offers an introduction to Islamophobia, discusses the unfortunate ways that Christians have contributed to it, and offers practical steps for standing in solidarity with Muslims. Viewing Islamophobia as both a social justice and a religious freedom issue, Duffner makes the case that Christian faith calls us to combat religious discrimination even when it is not directed toward our own faith community. She weaves together insights from Catholic social teaching, examples from Protestant leaders, and expertise from Muslim scholars and activists, resulting in a compelling book that will be of interest to academic and lay audiences alike.

Visit Jordan Denari Duffner online: https://jordandenari.com/about/

EP 248: How Yogi Bhajan Created An Empire w/Stacie Stukin & Philip DeSlippe Jul 29, 2022

Show notes

NOTES

Stacie Stukin is an arts and culture writer born and raised in Los Angeles. She has written about travel, design, women's health and food for publications like The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, National Geographic, Architectural Digest, W Magazine and Lucky Peach. She's also the West Coast Editor of Naturally, Danny Seo Magazine.

Philip DeSlippe is a historian of American religion with a background in American Studies and literature whose research focuses on Asian, metaphysical, and marginal religions in modern America. DeSlippe is currently a doctoral candidate in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara and writing a dissertation on the early history of yoga in the United States from the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth century. His work includes a new and definitive edition of the metaphysical classic The Kybalion for Tarcher/Penguin in 2011, dozens of articles for popular audiences in such venues as Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Yoga Journal, Air & Space Smithsonian, the Indian news site Scroll.in, and Tides, the magazine of the South Asian American Digital Archive.

Relevant Reading:

https://www.baaznews.org/p/yogi-bhajan-siri-singh-sahib-expose https://twitter.com/StacieStukin https://twitter.com/PhilipDeslippe https://religionnews.com/2020/08/18/yogi-bhajan-yoga-guru-and-founder-of-3ho-more-likely-than-not-sexually-abused-followers-says-report/ https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/yogi-bhajan/ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271568190_From_Maharaj_to_Mahan_Tantric_The_Construction_of_Yogi_Bhajan%27s_Kundalini_Yoga https://rishiknots.com/

EP 247: Visions of Zion, Ethiopianness, and Rastari w/Dr. Erin MacLeod Jul 21, 2022

Show notes

Dr. Erin MacLeod's work situates itself in the perspectives of postcolonial studies, social movements, intercultural communication, migratory processes and globalization through its investigation into issues of identity, gender, culture, class, race and space/geography. She is the author of Visions of Zion: Ethiopians and Rastafari in the Search for the Promised Land (NYU Press, 2014). MacLeod holds a PhD in Communications from McGill University and a Master's in English Literature from the University of Toronto, and has taught and lectured at both the college and university levels in Ethiopia, Canada and Jamaica.

Visit the book: https://nyupress.org/9781479882243/visions-of-zion/

EP 246: A Conversation on Teaching Religious Studies w/Dr. Carrie Duncan Jul 15, 2022

Show notes

EP 245: Roman Catacombs w/Dr. William "Chip" Gruen Jul 02, 2022

Show notes

Dr. William "Chip" Gruen is professor of religious studies at Muhlenberg College and is Director of the Institute for Religious and Cultural Understanding.

The Reception of Jesus in the First Three Centuries (2019)

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/reception-of-jesus-in-the-first-three-centuries-9780567000194/

Religionwise Podcast: https://www.muhlenberg.edu/religionandculture/religionwisepodcast/

EP 244: The Other Side of Nothing w/Brad Warner Jun 26, 2022

Show notes

http://hardcorezen.info/

Brad Warner was born in Ohio, grew up in Africa, and lived in Japan for eleven years, where he got ordained as a Zen monk. He now resides in the Hipsterville part of Los Angeles. He began sitting zazen when he was eighteen years old under the instruction of Tim McCarthy and was made a dharma heir of Gudo Nishijima Roshi in the futuristic year 2000. He also travels the world showing people how to sit down and shut up. He has given talks and led Zen meditation retreats in the United States, Canada, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Poland, Israel, Belgium, Spain, and Japan. His books have been translated into fewer languages than those of anyone you've ever seen on the cover of a meditation magazine, but there are editions in Finnish, Polish, German, and Greek. And supposedly there's one in Hebrew, but he's never seen a copy. Or maybe he has but doesn't know it because he can't read Hebrew. He wishes someone would point it out to him somewhere if the book actually exists. He plays bass guitar in the hardcore punk band Zero Defex (0DFx). He has had major roles in several movies, including Zombie Bounty Hunter M. D. and Shoplifting from American Apparel. He also wrote, produced, and directed his own film, Cleveland's Screaming. Plus, he made five albums for Midnight Records under the semi-fictional band name Dimentia 13. When he's not doing zazen, Brad can be found at record stores all over the world searching for obscure psychedelia and songs to add to his incredible cheesy seventies playlist. He enjoys bad science fiction movies and cats, though dogs are okay too. He's a vegetarian but tries not to be a total pain in the ass about it.

EP 243: Anarcho-Punk w/Dr. Edward Avery-Natale Jun 17, 2022

Show notes

Dr. Avery-Natale specializes in race and racism, identity, social movements, and social theory. He is the author of the book, Ethics, Politics, and Anarcho-Punk Identifications: Punk and Anarchy in Philadelphia.

EP 242: The Dharma Bum's Guide to Western Literature w/Dean Sluyter Jun 08, 2022

Show notes

Dean Sluyter (pronounced slighter) has taught meditation and led workshops and retreats since 1970, at venues ranging from Ivy League colleges to maximum-security prisons. A grateful student of sages in several traditions, he has completed numerous retreats and pilgrimages in India, Tibet, Nepal, and the West. Dean's previous books include Natural Meditation, winner of the 2015 Nautilus Gold Award for best book on body, mind, and spirit practices. His media appearances have included Coast to Coast AM, National Public Radio, the New York Times, O: The Oprah Magazine, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, and USA Today. From 1977 to 2010, Dean taught English and developed the Literature of Enlightenment program at the Pingry School in New Jersey. He now lives in Santa Monica, where he teaches meditation, sings with the Westside Threshold Choir, plays old songs on the ukulele, and happily zips about on his Vespa. He is married to documentary filmmaker Yaffa Lerea.

Buy the book: https://www.newworldlibrary.com/Books/ProductDetails/tabid/64/SKU/87695/Default.aspx#.YobCOFjMJFw

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