Heads-up for 30 December 2010

In Our Time
Industrial Revolution Part II 30th Dec 2010
In the second part of this two-part series on The Industrial Revolution, Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the consequences of the revolution and how the economy, social structures, housing, education and public health were all affected. Melvyn is joined by Jane Humphries, Professor of Economic History and Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford; Emma Griffin, Senior Lecturer in History at the University of East Anglia; and Lawrence Goldman, Fellow and Tutor in History at St. Peter’s College, Oxford.
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A Short History of Japan
Power Moves East
The Taira v Minamoto war, known as the Gempei War, of the 1180s involved a lot of skulduggery and backstabbery. Before the Minamoto were to beat the Taira, they had to fight amongst themselves first. At the end of all this, Yoritomo, back in Kamakura, will be able to assert his will uninterrupted.
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עושים היסטוריה! עם רן לוי Making History! with Ran Levi
על הטכנולוגיה של כלי נגינה
בפרק זה נתחקה אחר ההיסטוריה של כמה מכלי הנגינה המוכרים ביותר, וננסה לענות על השאלה: מי משפיע על מי- המוזיקה על כלי הנגינה, או כלי הנגינה על המוזיקה?
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Heads-up for 29 December 2010

Mahabharata Podcast
The Markandeya Sessions Pt. 2
The Sage Markandeya continues with his storytelling. He begins with his own version of the Four Ages or Yugas. One interesting point is that in his reckoning, the Kali Yuga lasts 1,200 years in total. Since we are told elsewhere that the Kali Yuga began for us on the death of Krishna, then the Kali Yuga must have ended centuries ago, and we happy people have made it into the next Golden Age! After an apocalyptic vision of the future, Makandeya gives us the Tale of the Frog, which culminates in a showdown between the brahmin Vamadev and a pair of stubborn kings. The brahmin, of course, comes out the victor! There are more stories to come in the next episode, so the Markandeya Sessions will continue...
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Europe from its Origins
Episode 19 AD 1347 - 1396
The long secular rise of Christendom, unbroken since the 10th century, suffered severe setbacks during the 14th. The society had reached a high level of wealth, for the elite; those working the land had a standard of life better than in some regions of the 3rd World today. There were major gains on the peripheries: in Spain the last major invasion from Morocco was successfully repulsed; in the east pagan Lithuania opted to join the European cultural realm.

But internally the society was fracturing on several levels, as new ways of thinking and new forms of claims to authority collided with one another. Civil war was the result, and from it spewed forth chaos. While this almost paralysed Christendom, the Roman Empire at Constantinople was entering its final years, as the Ottoman Turks emerged as an enormous military power and tansplanted their centre to continental Europe.
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Rear Vision
The Mossad
The story of the Israeli secret service the Mossad.
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Christian Humanist Podcast

I began to listen to the Christian Humanist Podcast (feed) as a follow up to the Jewish Humanist podcast Kol Hadash (feed) I discovered a couple of weeks ago (read my review of Kol Hadash). I learned from Kol Hadash to view the Jewish, or respectively the Christian, tradition as a cultural luggage I carry with me which can be taken seriously and therefore studied and taken to heart also for the secular. I was hoping to find a Christian pendant to Kol Hadash.

There is a website called The Christian Humanist which offers a load of articles along this line of thinking. However, a podcast they do not offer. The podcast with the same name, is not secular, it is openly confessional as they say. However, it is still a very interesting listen, also within the framework of looking at the Christian tradition as a substantial part of our (my) cultural baggage. Although the three hosts Michial Farmer, David Grubbs and Nathan Gilmour profess their faith and express themselves in the language of the believers and imply assumptions that I cannot identify with, I find we still have something in common. And that was an interesting find in itself.

What the Christian Humanist Podcast obviously attempts to do is to reconcile the Christian world view the presenters have with their other cultural luggage. The three are academics, versed in the humanities tended towards modern open-minded, rational, tolerant and liberal thinking. In that respect, they are not only the kind of humanists they identify with such as Erasmus and before that Thomas Aquinas and Augustin which results in very interesting issues such as the ones about Calvin, about politics or about the incarnation (to name a few I have listened to). They are also very similar to the non-believing secular, whether Christian or Jewish who just as much is trying to be a modern person with conscious historicity which leads him to understand and accept his connections with both the religious traditions he stands in as well as the secular, scientific, rationalistic etc.

Heads-up for 28 December 2010

Witness
The Great Escape
Witness talks to the last surviving participant in the Great Escape - the mass break out from a German prisoner of war camp in 1944.
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Inspired Minds
Christo, Joan Sutherland and Ernie Dingo
In this the second of two special editions of Inspired Minds we will have the chance to hear some of the 2010 highlights. They include renowned Australian Aboriginal actor Ernie Dingo and the installation artist Christo. We also remember the sensational soprano Dame Joan Sutherland, who died in 2010.
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Heads-up for 27 December 2010

EconTalk
Boettke on Mises
Pete Boettke of George Mason University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the life, work, and legacy of Ludwig von Mises. Boettke outlines Mises's most important contributions to economics--business cycle theory, the socialism/calculation debate, and the application of economics to a wide range of behavior beyond the financial. Boettke discusses how Mises fits into the Austrian tradition and how he influenced scholars who came after him. The conversation closes with a discussion of Mises's most important works and suggests which books and articles are most accessible to a beginner who wants to explore Mises's ideas.
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Het Marathoninterview
Tijs Goldschmidt, gedragsbioloog
Hij publiceerde om te beginnen in 1994 “Darwins hofvijver, een drama in het Victoriameer” dat in vele talen werd vertaald. Rik Delhaas spreekt drie uur met Tijs Goldschmidt over zijn ontwikkeling als wetenschapper, zijn schrijverschap en zijn persoonlijk leven. En wat verder ter tafel komt.
(review, feed)

SFFaudio
The SFFaudio Podcast #088
Scott and Jesse talk about audiobooks, the recent arrivals and the new releases.
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Heads-up for 26 December 2010

The Kamla Show
Anglo-Indians 0f India: Glenda Michelle Singh
You probably have heard of Russell Peters, the Canadian comedian. But, did you know he is an Anglo-Indian? He is perhaps the best known Anglo-Indian in the world today. Famous Anglo-Indians include Hollywood actress Merle Oberon and singer Engelbert Humperdinck The Anglo-Indians are a diminishing minority of India.
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Big Ideas
Craig Kaplan on Mathematical Art and Artistic Mathematicians
Craig Kaplan discusses origami, tiling patterns and other areas of art where mathematics and computers have had a significant impact. The lecture, entitled Mathematical Art and Artistic Mathematicians, was deliverd at the Quantum to Cosmos Festival.
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Zencast
Winter Solstice
Winter Solstice; Dharma teaching by Jack Kornfield
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Tapestry
Art & Soul
Today we're exploring the intricate relationship between art and soul. Mary Hynes speaks with the world-renowned wildlife artist Robert Bateman. We also hear from Rosemary Phelan a former nurse who witnessed a healing influence of music on her patients. And Rev. Jennie Hogan talks about how art galleries are replacing traditional places of worship for those seeking spiritual inspiration.
(review, feed)