The Classical Ideas Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Ep 54: Michael Downing on Zen in America, Shunryu Suzuki, and S.F. Zen Center Apr 20, 2018

Show notes

Michael Downing teaches creative writing at Tufts University. This conversation features a deep dive into Michael's nonfiction book "Shoes Outside the Door: Desire, Devotion, and Excess at San Francisco Zen Center, hailed by the New York Review of Books as a 'dramatic and insightful' narrative history of the first Buddhist monastery outside of Asia, and by the Los Angeles Times as 'a highly readable book, important for the healing it invites in giving voice to the thoughts and feelings of Zen Center members who have remained silent until now.'"

Visit: www.michaeldowningbooks.com for more information.

Ep 53: Linda K. Wertheimer and Teaching About Religion in an Age of Intolerance Apr 13, 2018

Show notes

A veteran journalist, essayist, and award-winning education writer, Linda K. Wertheimer is the author of Faith Ed: Teaching about Religion in an Age of Intolerance. Faith Ed, released on Aug. 18, 2015, by Beacon Press, focuses on public schools' ups and downs as they teach about world religions.

See https://www.lindakwertheimer.com/ for more information

Linda on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lindakwert

Buy the book: Faith Ed book at Beacon Press

Ep 52: Raghunath on ashram life, the Bhagavad Gita, and teaching yoga Apr 10, 2018

Show notes

Raghunath tours the world, leading yoga workshops, yoga teacher trainings, kirtans, & the practical applications of yogic philosophy. He annually takes a group on pilgrimage through holy places of India and sometimes fronts the bands Youth of Today and Shelter.

Find him on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raghunathyogi/

Visit his website: https://www.raghunath.yoga/

Buy his kirtan album, Krishna Kirtan, here: http://merchnow.com/catalogs/raghunath

Ep 51: Shulem Deen on leaving Hasidism and "All Who Go Do Not Return" Apr 06, 2018

Show notes

Shulem Deen is a writer, journalist, and author of the award-winning memoir "All Who Go Do Not Return." He is a regular contributor to the Forward, and in 2015 was listed in the Forward 50, an annual list of American Jews with outsized roles on political and social issues. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, the New Republic, Salon, Tablet Magazine, and elsewhere. He serves as a board member at Footsteps, a New York City-based organization that offers assistance and support to those who have left the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.

Follow Shulem on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/shdeen

Buy his book here: All Who Go Do Not Return

Ep 50: The Death Penalty With Griffin Hardy (MADP) Apr 01, 2018

Show notes

Griffin Hardy is the Communications Director for Ministry Against the Death Penalty (MADP), founded by Sister Helen Prejean, author of "Dead Man Walking."

Mission Statement: "The Ministry Against the Death Penalty believes in the dignity of all people and fosters creative, reflective and educational programs that awaken hearts and minds, inspire social change, and strengthen our democracy's commitment to human rights." Furthermore, MADP "believe in the dignity and rights of all persons and recognize that government-sanctioned killing and the practice of torture is a violation of those rights and a denial of human dignity."

Find out more at: https://www.sisterhelen.org

Ep 49: Dr. Daniel Hummel on Israel, Palestine, and Christian Zionism Mar 28, 2018

Show notes

Dr. Daniel Hummel is a Scholar, writer, researcher, and teacher of religion, politics, and foreign policy in the United States and the modern Middle East. He is currently a Robert M. Kingdon Fellow at the Institute for Research in the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Hummel is also a specialist in the concept of Christian Zionism and has a forthcoming book from the University of Pennsylvania Press entitled, "A Covenant of the Mind: Evangelicals, Israel, and the Construction of a Special Relationship." Dr. Hummel's unique take on the Israel-Palestine situation is tinted with his own expertise in Christian Zionism, and we discuss that issue in a lot of depth in this conversation as well. Dr. Hummel is also a contributor to the Washington Post in middle east current events.

Ep 48 Meido Moore Roshi on the Rinzai Way and Korinji Monastery Mar 23, 2018

Show notes

Meido Roshi is the abbot of Korinji monastery in Wisconsin. In 2008 Meido Roshi received inka shomei ("mind seal"), designating him an 86th-generation Zen dharma heir and a 48th-generation holder of the lineage descended from Rinzai Gigen. Meido Roshi's book The Rinzai Zen Way: A Guide to Practice is out from Shambhala Publications in March 2018. The focus of our conversation is this book and I highly recommend picking up a copy. It's incredibly accessible to anyone, even if you've never read a book about Zen in your life.

Visit: https://www.korinji.org

Ep 47: Japanese Buddhist art with Michael Vanhartingsveldt Mar 16, 2018

Show notes

Michael Vanhartingsveldt is a contributing columnist at Buddhistdoor Global. He works full-time at the Los Angeles Country Museum of Art. He did his masters in East Asian Art Business at Sotheby's Institute of Art, and he also works as a lecturer for the Japan Foundation. Michael collaborates on "Carving the Divine TV" with filmmaker Yujiro Seki.

Ep 46: Hugo Bernard on "Naked Monk," Diligence, and Buddhist Practice Mar 13, 2018

Show notes

Hugo Bernard is the author of "Naked Monk." His first work of Buddhist fiction was a short story written in high school. He is working on several novels, in different genres, using fiction as a tool to better grasp Buddhist teachings. With these stories, his goal is not to 'teach' but to 'explore' how the Dhamma resonates in challenging scenarios. He hopes to accomplish this while telling stories that are a pleasure to read.

https://hugobernardblog.wordpress.com/

Ep 45: Dr. Rabia Gregory on Medieval Christianity and Monastic Worlds Mar 11, 2018

Show notes

Professor Rabia Gregory's primary research interest is the history of Christianity in Medieval and Early Modern Europe. She approaches the study of religion through book history, material culture, and theories of gender. Her first book, Marrying Jesus in Medieval and Early Modern Northern Europe: Popular Culture and Religious Reform, published by Ashgate, uses previously unpublished cultural artifacts to revise long-standing assumptions about religion, gender, and popular culture. In the book, she demonstrates that by the fourteenth century, worldly, sexually active brides of Christ, both male and female, were no longer aberrations and provide a history of the dispersion of theology about the bride of Christ in the period between the twelfth and seventeenth centuries and explains how this metaphor, initially devised for a religious elite, became integral to the laity's pursuit of salvation.

Follow her on Twitter @RabiaGregory

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

The Classical Ideas Podcast

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected