Mahabharata Podcast Episode 24 - Into the Forest, part 2
The Pandavas are now settled into their forest encampment and receive a surprise visitor. The Kauravas plot to kill the Pandavas while they are defenseless in the forest. Vyasa himself steps in to put a stop to this outrage, and he then introduces the sage Maitreya, who scolds Duryodhana, and then finally curses him to be struck in the "thigh" by Bhima.
If you ever felt uncomfortable about the fact that Bhima had to cheat and hit Duryodhana below the belt in their final battle, you can now rest assured that it wasn't Bhima's fault. Maitreya made him do it!
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Tapestry (CBC) Hassan Ghedi Santur/Stephen Prothero
Hassan Ghedi Santur explores loneliness. In the world of texting, Facebook, Twitter and instant messaging, we should feel more connected to our fellow human beings than at any other time in history. But it hasn't quite turned out that way. And Mary Hynes talks to Stephen Prothero, contributor to CNN's Belief Blog. He argues that while the idea that all religions are really about the same thing, is a comforting one, it is also wrong.
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Although belated, here are some podcast tips for recent arrivals to be had on 18 September:
Africa Past & Present Episode 44: Oral History and Memory Work in Africa
Radikobo Ntsimane (UKZN School of Theology) on African voices in the history of mission hospitals in South Africa and the Sinomlando Center‘s ‘memory box’ program. Ntsimane’s work demonstrates how oral history is not just an intellectual practice, but also ‘a human encounter that can have a profound effect on people’s lives.’
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Radio Open Source Andrew Bacevich: how war without end became the rule
Andrew Bacevich is the soldier turned writer who’s still unlearning and puncturing the Washington Rules of national security. The rules have turned into doctrines, he’s telling us, of global war forever. He is talking about the scales that have fallen from the eyes of a slow learner, as he calls himself — a dutiful, conformist Army officer who woke up at the end of the Cold War twenty years ago to the thought that the orthodoxy he’d accepted was a sham.
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Science Friday (NPR) White House Says ‘No’ To Solar Panel
Environmentalist Bill McKibben was hoping the Obama administration would reinstall a solar panel President Jimmy Carter once had on the White House. McKibben took the panel to Washington, D.C., but administration officials declined to put the panel back on the White House roof.
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TED Talks How social networks predict epidemics - Nicholas Christakis
After mapping humans' intricate social networks, Nicholas Christakis and colleague James Fowler began investigating how this information could better our lives. Now, he reveals his hot-off-the-press findings: These networks can be used to detect epidemics earlier than ever, from the spread of innovative ideas to risky behaviors to viruses (like H1N1).
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Veertien Achttien Harry Farr en de beverige zinnen
Niet eerder dan in 2006 strijkt de Britse regering over haar hart. Een generaal pardon wordt verleend aan meer dan 306 soldaten die 'shot at dawn' zijn. Een van de mannen die als 'lafaard' tegen de eigen executiepaal werd gezet, was Harry Farr. Toen hij in blinde paniek van het front wegvluchtte, schreeuwde zijn officier het hem al na: 'I'll get you fucking well shot'.
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Today and tomorrow I will be away from the blog for Yom Kippur also known as the Day of Atonement. In accordance to local custom there will be no traffic, no commerce and no media. The kids will take control of the highways with their bicycles and even if we do not fast, we will have to pass the time without the regular bustle of every day life. Instituted contemplation - something can be said for it.
See you again on Saturday evening or Sunday morning,
It will allow you to enjoy this show in the way I think is the most delightful. Each week gives five issues along that week's theme and if you pile them up over the week, you will get the whole flow of thought and the interlocking connections more clear and in a pleasant 70 minutes or so.
This week's theme is The Threshold of the Modern World (1375-1550 AD) and it contains examples from China, South-America, the Ottoman Empire, Central Asia and Europe. It was an era of large Asian and American empires. In contrast the fringe area of Europe was an unruly and divided backwater. Yet it was here in Europe that maritime powers were springing up and casting a shadow forward of new empires to come.
Over the years I have always picked the occasional issue from the Buddhist podcast Zencast. While these contain meditations and Dharma teachings they are also sufficiently accessible for the non-Buddhist with either a spiritual or a psychological and philosophical interest. My favorite speaker has mostly been Gil Fronsdal, but recently I discovered, and much enjoyed, Jack Kornfield. (feed)
Check out the last two talks, #265 on the joys of the awakened heart and #275 on Redemption. Kornfield has a very pleasant voice, good sense of humor and combines a nice sense of self-deprecation with fine story-telling in his lectures which are very insightful. The joy lies in the listening, the free picking and choosing from what is discussed and undergoing the talk as a meditation in itself.
A History of the World in 100 Objects (BBC) 074 Jade Dragon Cup
Jade cup that belonged to one of the great leaders of the Timurid Empire. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, tells the story of a cup once owned by Ulugh Beg, who built the great observatory in Samakand and has a crater on the moon named after him. Neil explores the story of the Timurids in Central Asia and the influences that spread along the Silk Road at this time.
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Documentary on One (RTÉ) The Runners
Christy Fagan was a 'runner' - the name given to children who escaped from Industrial Schools. This radio documentary tells the story of Christy - a boy sent to Ferryhouse Industrial School and the man - Jemmy Gunnery - who helped him escape.
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New Books In History by Marshall Poe Thomas Kessner, “The Flight of the Century: Charles Lindbergh & the Rise of American Aviation”
Try to imagine having never seen an airplane. It’s hard. Aircraft are an ordinary part of our daily experience. Just look up and you’ll probably see one, or at least its vapor trails. Go to your local airport and you can fly in one pretty inexpensively. Heck, if you like, you can learn to pilot one yourself at any one of hundreds of flying schools. There is just nothing unusual or even very exciting about airships.
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Thinking Allowed (BBC) CCTV and Eavesdropping
85% of secondarty schools now have CCTV, Emmeline Taylor has asked them how they feel about that. Also Laurie talks to John L Locke and John Mullan about the time-honoured practice of eavesdropping.
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Wise Counsel Daniel Strunk, Ph.D. on Cognitive Therapy for Depression
Dr. Strunk, a cognitive-behavioral therapy researcher, describes results of his recent psychotherapy research. Specifically, he has examined the contributions of two aspects of the psychotherapy process, rapport (or the quality of the relationship between therapist and client) and technique (or the consistency with which the therapist sticks to teaching core cognitive therapy principles within therapy sessions, and found that, given a pool of reasonably competent therapists (some masters and some journeymen), there is a direct relationship between the consistent teaching of cognitive techniques and early symptom remission, but not really a relationship between how well therapists and clients think of each other and symptom remission. Dr. Strunk is quick to point out that rapport would likely have become more important if therapists taking part in the research had been seriously lacking in rapport building skills. He emphasizes that both cognitive therapy for depression and medication therapy for depression have been shown to be effective treatments for depression, and that since the majority of depressed people go untreated, the most important thing is that people who are suffering get themselves into an effective treatment of some kind.
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TED Talks
Our natural sleep cycle - Jessa Gamble (2010)
In today's world, balancing school, work, kids and more, most of us can only hope for the recommended eight hours of sleep. Examining the science behind our body's internal clock, Jessa Gamble reveals the surprising and substantial program of rest we should be observing.
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Tapestry (CBC)
