We'll have sponge cake

The show with Rachel Naomi Remen Krista Tippett did on Speaking of Faith, was so wonderful, I proceeded immediately to listen to the full, unedited interview (download) and found in that one even more gems of thought.

Rachel Naomi Remen is a medical doctor who has discovered how much healing is different from curing and how it needs to involve listening, what she calls generous listening - let the patient talk as long as he needs. Apart from explaining how this works, she really delves into the essential roots of this and that is how we deal with loss, or alternately with the imperfections of our lives. That, of course, is more universal than just disease and dealing with being ill, or the illness of a close one.

What she insists is that we can have the good life, even if it doesn't seem perfect, easy, or in any way exemplary, heroic, successful or whatever grand goals we are taught to strive for. In her opinion we do not need to be perfect and the next step is even more important. What does it mean if we do not need to be perfect; it means our wounds, our imperfections, our failures and drawbacks are an integral part and we are still exactly what is needed. That is not just consoling (one should hope), but is also pulling us back to our own responsibility to actively live the life we live.

There is so much more to say. You must hear Remen explain the importance of stories, you must hear two specific stories. One of these stories involves the sponge cake and unfortunately it has been cut from the broadcast parts of the interview. Hence, listen to this podcast and also, please do, to the uncut interview.

More Speaking of Faith:
Rumi,
New Evangelicals (2) On Rick and Kay Warren,
New Evangelicals (1) On Jim Wallis,
V. V. Raman,
Reinold Niebuhr.

More on curing, healing and how we deal with it:
The Popperian Pathway,
The Four Humors,
A useful map into Bio-Ethics,
Stem Cell Research: Science, Ethics, and Prospects,
The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe.

Share on Facebook

Iran - to strike or not to strike

Adam Garfinkle editor of The American Interest spoke at the University of Texas, the LBJ School of Public Affairs, about an American strike on Iran, the likelihood of such a strike and the measure to which such a strike would be good or bad. UChannel Podcast recorded and published the lecture.

The first part of the question is answered very briefly: no. The US is not likely to strike Iran. There are too many uncertainties around such a venture; the chances of success, the amount of time it would take and the effects it may have. The government and the president himself will not want to go on such a path and rather 'hedge' as Garfinkle calls it. I understand he means by this a policy of small backstage activities and wait and see.

A much larger part of the lecture is spent on the question whether the US should attack Iran. The point of such a strike would be to prevent Iran becoming a nuclear power. This questions receives neither a clear negative, nor a clear positive answer. The frightening thing is that one gets the feeling a pre-emptive strike in order to maintain the delicate balance in the region, might seem the better option. The risks are not downplayed at all, the risks of allowing Iran to acquire even a weapon, though nuclear, of negligible power, appear worse. Too many other players around who'd press for the same. Too many elements to disturb the balance.

Previously noted UChannel podcasts:
The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy,
The Popperian pathway,
Less Safe, Less Free (Losing the War on Terror),
Beyond the Genome: the challenge of synthetic biology,
Israel, Iran, terrorism (UC podcast).


Share on Facebook

75 podcasts reviewed

UPDATE: we now have 217 podcasts reviewed. (link)



It is the first of the month again and so I post in alphabetical order all podcasts I reviewed linked to the last post and relevant labels:

1. 12 Byzantine Rulers, history podcast


2. Africa (Stanford Travel)
   
   


3. Arizona, University of: Introduction to Language, language
   
   


4. BBC History Magazine, BBC history podcast


5. Bike Radar, tour


6. Bioethics podcast, science, law and society


7. Biota Podcast, science


8. Bommel Hoorspel, NL radio


9. British History 101, history podcast



10. Car Talk,
    
    


11. CFR Podcast, law and society


12. Dan Carlin's Common Sense,
    
    


13. Dan Carlin's Hardcore History, history podcast


14. David Kalivas' World History, history podcast


15. the Economist,
    
    


16. Exploring Environmental History, science, history podcast


17. Fresh Air (NPR)
    
    


18. From our own Correspondent, BBC


19. Geography of World Cultures (Stanford), history podcast


20. Hannibal (Stanford), history podcast
    
    


21. Haring Podcast, NL radio


22. Historical Jesus (Stanford), history podcast יהדות


23. History 167B, Berkeley history podcast


24. History 4A, Berkeley history podcast


25. History 5, Berkeley history podcast


26. History 7B, Berkeley history podcast


27. History according to Bob, history podcast


28. History Network, history podcast


29. ICT Update,
    
    


30. In Our Time, In Our Time BBC (science) history podcast


31. In the Media (WNYC)


32. Inspired Minds (Deutsche Welle)
    
    


33. Interview Vrijdag, NL radio


34. Irving Poetry podcast
    
    


35. ITV, tour


36. Jung Podcast, psychology


37. KMTT, יהדות


38. Marathon Interview, NL radio


39. Matt's Today In History, history podcast


40. Midwest Writer, language
    
    


41. Military History Podcast, history podcast


42. Missing Link, history podcast science


43. National Archives Podcast, history podcast


44. NRC FM,
    
    


45. Only in America, history podcast יהדות


46. OVT, history podcast NL radio


47. Oy Mendele!, יהדות


48. Physics for future Presidents (Descriptive Physics), Berkeley science


49. Philosophy 103, philosophy


50. Philosophy Bites, philosophy
    
    


51. Prosperity show


52. Radiolab (WNYC), science


53. Rav Dovid's, יהדות


54. Rpgmp3


55. Sex History Podcast, history podcast


56. the Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, SGU science


57. Šimek 's Nachts, simek NL radio


58. Sonic Society, creative writing


59. Speaking of Faith, יהדות


60. Shrink Rap Radio, shrinkrapradio psychology


61. Stanford U History, history podcast


62. Talking Robots, science
    
    


63. TdF London, tour


64. Times Talks,
    
    


65. The Word Nerds, TWN language


66. UCLA Israel Studies, Israel
    
    


67. University Channel Podcast, science


68. Volkskrant Podcasts, tour


69. What is Judaism?, יהדות


70. Wise Counsel, Wise Counsel psychology


71. the Writing Show, Writing Show language


72. Wynyfryd's meditation room


73. Your Purpose Centered Life
    
    


74. zencast


75. zoem, psychology
    
    

If you know of interesting podcasts that you think should be reviewed, please let me know through the comments page. Or send me mail...

Thanks in advance,

Anne Frid de Vries (in one word)

AT

Yahoo DOT co DOT uk

SRR - The Psychology Podcast

Shrink Rap Radio, the psychology podcast, has published two more episodes very shortly one after the other. Show #129 is along the traditional style of the interview podcast and show #130 is in the new live format, that is still under development, as you can sense with these episodes.

#129 - Process Work
Dr. Dave is excellent again as an interviewer. He is wonderfully agile at making the podcast sound like a natural conversation, yet at the same time carefully guiding it around so that we naturally get introduced into the subject. In this case it is the interviewed Julia Diamond and her specialty 'Process Work' which I have some to understand as a set of techniques that allow to interpret dreams, conduct therapy and generally enhance awareness. The techniques rely heavily on styles of communications, not just verbal, also non verbal. It reminds Dr. Dave of Dream Work and Gestalt Therapy - similarities that are acknowledged by ms. Diamond.

#130 - Live #5
In the live show we have a conversation between Dr. Dave, Jerry Trumbule and Douglas Davis. On of the most interesting subjects that comes up is about virtual realities such as Second Life. A listener asks from the chat why it is that in spite of the unlimited possibilities to play out fantasy, Second Life turns out to be largely a remake of reality, with sex, violence and capitalism. Far from giving a definitive answer, the show embarks on an fascinating exchange of thoughts.

More Shrinkrapradio on this blog:
Authoritarianism,
Leadership and AI,
Dysfunctional personalities in the workplace,
Adventure Therapy,
Maternal bonding.

Share on Facebook

From the Renaissance Until Today

A large portion of the podcasts I blog about (and listen to) are history podcasts. It bothers me a little bit that the blog gives a relative lot of attention to history programs on the BBC and the VPRO (In Our Time and OVT) and much less to great historical lecture series such as handed out by Stanford or Berkeley. The latter are just as good, if not better, but the former give a rounded chapter every week that can easily be blogged about, whereas the latter get me hooked on more than ten or even more than thirty hours of lecturing before I sum it up in a post.

I'd like to change that and begin with one of the very best, if not the best series around: Berkeley's History 5. This lecture series is repeated every semester, that is, twice yearly, and takes the listener through the history of the European Civilization from 1453 to 1989. Mostly the lectures are done by Professor Thomas Laqueur, but in the spring of 2007 he was replaced by Margaret Lavinia Anderson, who did a great job just the same.

In the latest series (and likely again in the spring of 2008), Laqueur starts with a cheeky remark by Gandhi. When he was asked what he thought of Western Civilization, he is supposed to have answered: “Well, I think it would be a good idea.” Notwithstanding the profound truth to this response, it can't be denied that a relative backwater of world history up until the Middle Ages, proceeded to dominate the world as a civilization and it is very worthwhile to follow that process step by step and thus acquire a better understanding of our world and ourselves today.

For example: Why would I blog at all? Why on Google's Blogger? Why in English? I could have been writing a book for a Dutch or an Israeli publisher and the language could have been Russian or Arabic. Summing the course up is nearly impossible, so I thought it might be a good idea when the course is repeated (probably immediately in January 2008), tell about it in weekly installments, like I do with In Our Time and OVT.

Share on Facebook

Walther Rathenau - OVT in 1922

Eindelijk hebben we de Eerste Wereldoorlog afgesloten, maar nog lang zullen we de demonen van dat cataclysme met ons meedragen. OVT neemt ons naar het tweede station in de reeks monsters (het eerste, Versailles, wordt overgeslagen): de Weimar Republiek.

Het was Duitslands eerste poging tot echte Democratie en zoals ik het ook altijd geleerd heb: het was een poging die gedoemd was te mislukken. Niet alleen de dolkstootlegende maakte dat de republiek een doodgeboren kindje was. Toch benadrukt het aanwezige panel (Hermann von der Dunk, Annette Birschel) dat de sentimenten niet alleen maar vol doem waren. De republiek was niet alleen het decor van de waanzinnige inflatie en de strijdende milities en de aanhoudende politieke moorden. Het was ook het toneel van een ongekende opleving in kunst en cultuur. Het was een tijd van wanhopige ellende en tegelijkertijd van geweldige dromen.

Kan de vraag dan omgedraaid worden? Op welke manier had in Duitsland de rust en eenheid bewaard kunnen worden, zonder in de klauwen van Nazis of wellicht bolsjewieken te vallen? Geert Maks held in dit verband is buitenlandminister Walther Rathenau. Hij had het charisma en de visie om de boel bij elkaar te houden. De andere panelleden wijzen dit af. Volgens Birschel was het een tijd van te grote wanorde en schreeuwlelijkerds - geen fatsoenlijk mens had dat in de hand kunnen houden, zonder bombarie en demagogiek. Von der Dunk vindt dat de persoon van Rathenau, de geassimileerde jood - een mens is met teveel innerlijke tegenstrijdigheden en te weinig representant van de grootste gemene deler der Duitsers. Het moest haast wel fout gaan. Dus toch.

Voorafgaand aan deze aflevering van OVT, in dezelfde serie naar aanleiding van In Europa:
1900 - Het begin,
1906 - Keizers en koningen,
1914 - Het licht gaat uit,
1915 - Een ander soort oorlog,
1916 - Het neutrale Nederland,
1917 - Het oostfront,
1917 - Russische Revoluties.

Share on Facebook