Conscious Living

Yet another fascinating issue of Shrink Rap Radio, should not scare you off, if you think it is about death. As a side note, there have been more podcasts in the series about death and they were quite good as well. This particular one, Conscious Living and Dying, is a case in point.

The best lesson to learn is that confrontation with death, not just one's own impending death or a near death experience, can mean a very positive turn for one's life. This is where the title inherits the conscious living element. Shrink Rap Radio's guest Annamaria Hemingway makes an convincing claim to this effect.

In modern life, death is much less near and people are less than ever capable of dealing with it. In fact, however, death can be a positive impulse. Death makes the true important elements in life much more clear, rather than the sometimes imposing, but basically diverting day to day worries and drives.

Once again, David van Nuys has pulled off a great show in this lengthy and very wonderful series. Shrink Rap Radio is one of the best podcasts around. It does so much more than bring psychology to an audience that covers professionals as much as interested amateurs. This podcast also shows what podcasts in general have to offer: on-demand talk radio of the very best quality.

All previous reviews of Shrink Rap Radio:
The Happiness Hypothesis,
Sign language for babies,
Doll Work and what with the brain,
Confronting Death (and more),
Process Work,
Authoritarianism,
Leadership and AI,
Shrinkrapradio at the San Francisco Exploratorium,
Dysfunctional personalities in the workplace,
Adventure Therapy,
Maternal bonding,
Materialism and its dragging feet,
Friendship in Shrinkrapradio,
At the New Media Expo,
David van Nuys invited by students,
The Commercialization of Childhood,
Bush on the couch,
David Lukoff,
War and the Soul,
The Dream interview method,
The Bitch, the Crone, and the Harlot,
Jerry and Dave discuss the podcast in its 100th issue,
Dr. Dave and the Zodiac,
Freud and Jung,
Dreaming as a Bridge Between Religion and Science,
Stanley Krippner,
Alan Siegel,
Mark Blagrove,
Curtiss Hoffman,
Dream language,
The Secret Spiritual World of Children.

Islam meets Europe

The University Channel Podcast (or UChannel for short) is one podcast that is near impossible to follow completely as it combines lecture recordings from all over the world, not just from the host Princeton University. The sheer size of the feed alone makes it unmanageable for a single listener - they go on average on one podcast per day. The range of subjects covers all hot issues in regular media, with outstanding speakers also from outside Academia. It is a directory to pick and choose from according to area of interest.

This week I chose to listen to a panel discussion from January 17th, under the title The Encounter of Islam with Europe. (audio) Main speakers were Timothy Garton Ash and the famous Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Timothy is offered to set the stage and challenge in a way Ayaan to a discussion. After the relatively short round of exchange between the two, the public is invited to join with questions and remarks.

No matter how carefully Ayaan chooses her phrases (she even reads her speech rather than ad lib), her view of Islam and Europe appears to be foremost rooted in her experiences and from that onset translated into the language of academia in the vernacular of enlightened rationality. This is radically different from Timothy, who is detached and whether abstractly, theoretically or anthropologically tries to portray Islam as a wide vessel for a multitude of political and philosophical outlooks and tries to veer Ayaan away from addressing it as a monolithic structure. Deep down they do not seem to speak the same language.

More UChannel on this blog:
The rise and demise of Palestine,
Alan Johnston,
Nuclear Terrorism,
Attack Iran (or not),
Less Safe, Less Free (Losing the War on Terror).

More Ayaan Hirsi Ali:
Interview Vrijdag (Dutch)

Climate Change in recent history

The Environmental History Podcast (or longer: Exploring Environmental History) used to publish at least an issue each month. In the last months however, it went missing and it seems to have gone over to a two-month schedule, skipping January and March. Or at least so it seems. Host Jan Oosthoek doesn't go into explanations.

Jan Oosthoek, just took his recording equipment with him to a conference in Birmingham (UK) titled An End to History? Climate Change, the Past and the Future. He sat down to interview to of the speakers on the conference. (listen) For one, Gill Chitty, Head of Conservation of The Council for British Archaeology, about the important contributions of archeology to the national debate about climate change. Second, Jim Galloway of the Center for Metropolitan History, Institute of Historical Research in London, about the impact of storm surges on the lands bordering the Thames Estuary during the fourteenth century.

Gill Chitty's main point is that climate change has always occurred and archeology can show this. She hopes to alter the mind set that somehow is clinging to the idea that there shouldn't be change. In addition, she surmises climate change can be a concept too large to cope with, but archeology can show this in concrete and local environments. One such example is delivered by Jim Galloway, of how the environment in the Thames Estuary changed with the storm surges in the fourteenth century. Jan Oosthoek goes on to add that also other shores of the North Sea went through this, most notably the Netherlands.

More Environmental History podcast on this blog:
Urban Air Pollution,
Apartheid and Environmental History,
Environmental History and South Africa,
Environmental History.

Getting Published

"The more I write, the more I write," Mark Leslie reveals on The Writing Show. The fact he appears on the podcast and the audience is challenging him to keep up his production, he has achieved major advancement with getting his horror novel A Canadian Werewolf in New York ready. It does have some bad effect on his health. Show Host Paula jokes: this must remain Getting Published with Mark Leslie, and not become Getting a Pneumonia. (part 8, part 7)

So the writing show brings the struggles of writers really up close, especially in the Getting Published series. Recently this series has received yet another new author. Janice Ballenger, who is working as a coroner in Pennsylvania and had decided always she was going to write her memoirs about this exclusive job. So she had some journals, but wasn't turning this into a book, as long as she was still on active duty. This changed however with the Amish School Shooting to which she was called.

Now she had to write the book, simply had to. And these feelings become very tangible in the emotional interview Paula has with her on the show. Despite the effects of the shooting and its aftermath still lingering, she has set out to write the book. Writing it was relatively easy, but getting all the technical additional stuff right, less so. This podcast is an absolute must listen for every aspiring writer.

More Writing Show on this blog:
Getting Published with Mark Leslie,
Psychological Aspects of Writing,
Getting published with Jean Tennant,
Self-publishing,
The art of coherence.

Questing for Happiness - Shrink Rap Radio

For some time I had not been listening to Shrink Rap Radio, the psychology interview podcast by Dr. David van Nuys. The benefit turned out to be, I could choose from the backlog and chose to listen to an interview with the promising title The Happiness Hypothesis.

Guest in this program is Jonathan Haidt, who has done a lengthy literature analysis in which he compared the wisdom of a wide range of cultural traditions on what they had to say about morality, human feeling and happiness. Out of this research he has distilled a 'happiness hypothesis', an idea of how one could effectively quest for happiness. In the interview he systematically reveals his study, his steps and his conclusions. I was surprised to find Haidt managed to find something beyond the teachings of Buddhism, which is the most psychological of traditions and has - in my experience - the most effective handle on inner well-being. Somehow I always feel though, there is some element missing. There is too much detachment in Buddhism to my taste. The construction of Haidt looks very promising and inspiring. What a ravishing interview.

Needless to say, no such great interview could have been achieved without the incomparable host of Shrink Rap Radio, Dr. Dave. In addition to being a great podcaster, blessed with a voice naturally fit for broadcast and the necessary knowledge in the field, Dr. Dave is impeccable as an interviewer. Always keeping the natural atmosphere of free conversation, yet managing to guide the process to sufficient depth and to satisfying conclusion within the arch of 30-45 minutes. Surely one of the best podcasts around and not only great for listeners interested in psychology.

More Shrink Rap Radio on this blog:
Sign language for babies,
Doll Work and what with the brain,
Confronting Death (and more),
Process Work,
Authoritarianism.

The story of Mad Jack

As I wrote before about Your History Podcast, this podcast attempts to tell history by means of stories. The podcast has started only recently , but also in the latest edition we can see it remains true to this approach. As far as history is concerned, I wonder how much you can learn from this, unless you know exactly in what context to place the story. However, the story as such is delivered as a narrative that works very well.

The latest episode is about a nobleman named John Mytton, but who is better known as Mad Jack. Your History Podcast's host Dan Brown very aptly tells the story. He succeeds in taking the listener in and pass the narrative on in a way that is both informative and entertaining. For me, as a non-native English speaker, it takes a little bit of getting used to Dan's accent and diction, but apart from that his performance is very effective and professional. (transcript)

I can recommend this podcast to everyone who loves funny, illustrious and charming stories that take place in the past. Assuming that nearly everybody is sensitive to a good story, this means the podcast is fit for all audience. In addition I could say, that the stories, since they dig into one specific set of data, will serve as an illustration more than an explanation of history.

Previously on Your History Podcast:
The story of Spring Heeled Jack