What is hot on 4 January 2011

KQED Forum
'All Things Shining': Finding Meaning in a Secular Age
Philosophy professor Hubert Dreyfus's classes on existentialism and phenomenology were long among the most popular classes at UC Berkeley. One of those classes formed the basis of Dreyfus's new book "All Things Shining," co-authored with Harvard philosophy professor Sean Kelly. The authors join us to discuss the book, which deals with moments of meaning and transcendence in great works of Western literature.
(review, feed)

Lyrics Undercover
I Heard It Through The Grapevine – Marvin Gaye (and more!)
This week on Lyrics Undercover, we’ll look at a Motown breakup song that is a classic. “I Heard it Through the Grapevine,” is sung by a narrator who has no clue that his relationship is ending. Only from gossip, ‘through the grapevine,’ does he discover that his partner is cheating.
(review, feed)

Science Times
NYT: Science Times for 01/04/2011
This week: The top science, health and environmental stories of 2010 and research indicating that gay teens are no less likely to be unhappy than straight teens.
(review, feed)

TED Talks
On reading the Koran - Lesley Hazelton (2010)
Lesley Hazelton sat down one day to read the Koran. And what she found -- as a non-Muslim, a self-identified "tourist" in the Islamic holy book -- wasn't what she expected. With serious scholarship and warm humor, Hazelton shares the grace, flexibility and mystery she found, in this myth-debunking talk from TEDxRainier.
(review, feed)

Intermarriage - Kol Hadash

Two months ago I discovered the podcast Kol Hadash and wrote an excited review of it. Last week Kol Hadash came with a new issue that had me even more excited and inspired. It really seems that Rabbi Adam Chalom (pronounce as Shalom) has very similar views that I have. And in this issue also spoke about a subject that goes to my heart. (feed)

Intermarriage is not exactly an easy subject, for Jews nor for any other faith or cultural unity. Chalom describes the various ways intermarriage has been met. From plain rejection (sitting 'shiva' for those who intermarry) to conversion of the other to some half-hearted acceptance (you can be in our synagogue but not rise to the podium on a bar-mitzva). Chalom proposes to do more than that. He proposes to accept and even value intermarriage. He himself takes part in mixed faith ceremonies and reveals how exceptional a rabbi he is in this respect and how large the demand is. He makes his arguments mimicking advertising: why ignore two-thirds of the market?

That is enough for one podcast, but it leaves a couple of fundamental ends unresolved. Much of his talk is still informed by that deep Jewish self-image of being a small community under pressure of assimilation and the main aim of acceptance seems to be to preserve mass. But what does this mean? What kind of a Judaism is his? What kind of a Jewish community does he envision, when more and more non-Jews will become part of it? And what are these Jewish non-Jews in the community; are they real Jews in his view, or do they need conversion? If so, what kind of conversion? And what about the non-Jewish sources the outsiders bring into the mix? Will they receive equal rights? Will Chalom's congregation openly give authority to Greek philosophy or even Gospel? It seems to me that his courageous and laudable approach is opening a box of Pandora. It makes me very curious, again, to find out more and I am waiting for more installments of the Kol Hadash podcast.

More Kol Hadash:
Rabbi Adam Chalom - Kol Hadash Podcast

What is hot on 3 January 2011

The Bitterest Pill
The Red Curtain Hangs Down
I got the HBO job. Apparently I was hired by the hottest director in commercials. Not bad. That was Monday. I had an audition Tuesday and came back to get into my car but it wasn’t there. Oh. So, let’s get this straight: my car is gone, my kids need to be picked up at school and my house keys are in the car. Great. Luckily, my friend Tim was available to pick me up and take me to the Santa Monica Police Department. They didn’t have my car. So, now what?
(review, feed)

Office Hours
Orit Avishai on Women and Religion
Orit Avishai talks about her Fall 2010 Contexts article, Women of God. People often assume that conservative religions are bad for women, but Avishai shows us the ways in which women within fundamentalist religions can have empowering experiences as well.
(review, feed)

The China History Podcast
The Tang Dynasty Part 2
Laszlo is back after a holiday illness to continue where we left off in 705 with the passing of Wu Zetian. After an initial golden age during the Taizong emperor, the Tang will reach new heights of glory under Tang Minghuang a.k.a. the Xuanzong emperor. The magnificent city of Chang'an is once again the center of the world where the arts flourished like never before and traders, travelers and explorers from around the world came to gather and marvel at the splendor of Tang Dynasty China.
(review, feed)

What is hot on 2 January 2011

Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean
Podcast 5.13: Jesus as Healer and Exorcist
Here I investigate the historical Jesus within the context of contemporaries who were viewed as healers and exorcists in Galilee and Judea. This is part of series 5 (The Historical Jesus in Context) of the Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean podcast.
(review, feed)

What is hot on 1 January 2011

Philosopher's Zone
Alexander McCall Smith and the philosopher detective
This week, a conversation with writer Alexander McCall Smith. He´s best known for his series of novels about Precious Ramotswe and her No. 1 Ladies´ Detective Agency in Botswana. However, McCall Smith is also the creator of Isabel Dalhousie, a trained philosopher and editor of The Review of Applied Ethics, who solves mysteries in her native Edinburgh and contemplates the ethical problems behind them.
(review, feed)

Big Ideas
Origin of the Universe & the Arrow of Time
Sean M. Carroll of CalTech discusses how the direction of the arrow of time was defined by the Big Bang. He also speculates about what might have come before the Big Bang. The lecture is entitled The Origin of the Universe & the Arrow of Time.
(review, feed)

Wise Counsel
Sandra Ceren, Ph.D. on Premarital Counseling
Dr. Ceren has devoted her clinical career to developing a systematic program for providing effective premarital counseling, a niche that presented itself after working with troubled couples and recognizing the need for a prophylactic approach to identifying and addressing likely causes of incompatibility prior to marriage as a method of improving marital satisfaction and reducing the need for divorce. Currently, premarital counseling is emphasized in pastoral counseling settings such as the Catholic Church. Dr. Ceren would like to see an expansion of such counseling, however, such that marriage licenses could not be issued without participation. She has developed a 10 session program wherein partners individually fill out personality and relationship questionnaires and then share findings so as to identify and address areas of incompatibility. Though opposites attract, couples with similarities fare better in marriage according to Dr. Ceren. Conflict is not an issue, although the couple's ability to achieve compromise is vital. Apart from compatible styles with regard to big issues including sex, money and religion, it is also vital to identify partners with personality disorders (rigid personality styles) which will prevent compromise from being achieved (because one or both partners lacks the flexibility to achieve that compromise).
(review, feed)

Schlaflos in München
Ein frohes neues Jahr!
Heute wünsche ich Euch schlicht und einfach ein frohes neues Jahr 2011! Ich hoffe, Ihr seid gut "reingerutscht" und freut Euch auf die Monate, die uns da bevorstehen!
(review, feed)

Heads-up for 31 December 2010

First of all, a happy new year to you all. May you live 2011 in health and happiness

Philosophy Bites
Paul Russell on Fate
Must it be? Do I really have a choice about what I do? I seem to be able to reason about what I will do, but do I have a choice about how I weight the different choices available? And where does luck come in? Paul Russell discusses the thorny question of whether or not we have control over our lives for this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast.
(review, feed)

The Economist
Politics in 2011
The second in our two-part series on the year ahead examines China's rise, America's gridlock, social unrest and the fun of 2011
(review, feed)



Outriders aka Pods and Blogs
2010 Roundup!
Happy New Year to our Outriding listeners and guests. Jamillah takes a look back at a year online and the voices from the digital domain through 2010.
(review, feed)

omega tau podcast
Seehunde im Wattenmeer
Im Rahmen der omegaTour Nord 2010 besuchten wir die Seehundstation Nationalpark-Haus Norden, wo verwaiste Seehunde aufgezogen auf eine ihre anschließende Auswilderung vorbereitet werden. Wir sprachen mit Peter Lienau, dem Leiter der Station, über Seehunde, ihr Verhaltung und ihre Erforschung sowie über die Einrichtungen und Aktiviäten der Seehundstation.
(review, feed)