Latest Religiousstudies Podcast Episodes
An American Missionary in Wartime China
Ultimate Concerns - June 14, 2018 16:07 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 9 ratingsRobert McMullen was working as a Presbyterian missionary in eastern China when Japan invaded the country in 1937. His letters describing the chaotic period that followed are presented in a new book by Charles Bright and Joseph Ho. Its title is War and Occupation in China: The Letters of an Ameri...
Who Created ISIS?
Ultimate Concerns - January 07, 2018 14:51 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 9 ratingsChristopher Davidson discusses his book, Shadow Wars: The Secret Struggle for the Middle East. We talk about American and British covert operations in the Middle East, both historically and in contemporary conflicts. We focus particularly on Western support for fundamentalist Islamic political m...
Temple Transformations
Ultimate Concerns - December 26, 2017 18:10 - 44 minutes ★★★★★ - 9 ratingsVasudha Narayanan discusses how Hindu temples are transformed by the minority status of Hinduism in America. Temple practices preserve many traditions while also helping Hindus assimilate to American culture. We also discuss the idea of a "dialogue of action" between Hindu temples and other reli...
PAX East 2017: Dr. Catherine Flick
TheoNerd Podcast - March 21, 2017 19:28 - 18 minutes ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsBen closes out our PAX East 2017 coverage by speaking with Dr. Catherine Flick about video games and ethics, the moral potential of games, and chickens... yes, chickens. Dr. Catherine Flick is a Senior Lecturer in Computing and Social Responsibility at De Montfort University Her occasional p...
PAX East 2017: Games' Healing Power
TheoNerd Podcast - March 18, 2017 14:41 - 22 minutes ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsOn Friday afternoon of PAX there was a panel titled "What We Talk About When We Talk About Games’ Healing Power" and that is a topic that overlaps with so many of our beliefs about the power of our nerdy interests. Thank you to Alexa Ray Corriea, Andrea Rene, Becky Taylor, and Brittney Brombache...
PAX East 2017: Native Realities
TheoNerd Podcast - March 15, 2017 16:56 - 46 minutes ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsOur content from PAX East 2017 begins with the first thing Ben saw at the show: the Native Realities panel. He also spoke with the CEO of Native Realities, Lee Francis. Audio from the first few minutes of the panel could not be salvaged, so this episode starts with Ben's interview with Lee in w...
32 Why Podcast?
TheoNerd Podcast - February 15, 2017 00:31 - 29 minutes ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsAndrew and Ben have both been beset by illnesses and had to reshuffle the podcast schedule. But the two most recent episodes were recordings of panels from Arisia, a great con in Boston. Ben recently spoke about that experience on his other podcast he hosts as part of his job, and it makes a gre...
Yoga Remix 1800
Ultimate Concerns - February 04, 2017 21:54 - 53 minutes ★★★★★ - 9 ratingsAre contemporary Americans who profit from the business of yoga appropriating Indian culture? Are they stealing its intellectual property or misrepresenting its religious traditions? We can’t answer these questions without understanding the origins of modern yoga. In this episode Peter Valdina a...
Arisia 2017: "Don’t Feed The Trolls" Doesn’t Work
TheoNerd Podcast - January 25, 2017 18:45 - 54 minutes ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsAndrew and Ben were both on panels at Arisia: New England’s Largest, Most Diverse Sci-Fi & Fantasy Convention! This episode is from the panel Ben was on: "Don’t Feed The Trolls" Doesn't Work. Thank you to everyone on the panel for letting us record. Find their awesome work (other than Ben – you ...
Arisia 2017: On Shaming, Bullying, and Public Humiliation
TheoNerd Podcast - January 17, 2017 01:42 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsAndrew and Ben were both on panels at Arisia: New England's Largest, Most Diverse Sci-Fi & Fantasy Convention! This episode is from the panel Andrew was on: On Shaming, Bullying, and Public Humiliation. Thank you to everyone on the panel for letting us record. Find their awesome work (other than...
Holiday Gift 2016: Final
TheoNerd Podcast - January 03, 2017 02:06 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsHappy New Year! Enjoy the final chapter of The Uncontrolling Love of God by Thomas Jay Oord. We will now get back to posting regular episodes every other week. Thanks to Thomas Jay Oord and InterVarsity Press for making this possible.
Holiday Gift 2016: Part 7
TheoNerd Podcast - January 01, 2017 19:50 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsOur holiday gift to you is nearing its conclusion. Enjoy ch. 7 of The Uncontrolling Love of God by Thomas Jay Oord. Look for the final chapter tomorrow. Thanks to Thomas Jay Oord and InterVarsity Press for making this possible.
Holiday Gift 2016: Part 6
TheoNerd Podcast - December 30, 2016 12:31 - 39 minutes ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsAs the 12 days of Christmas continue, so does our holiday gift to you. Enjoy Ch. 6 of The Uncontrolling Love of God by Thomas Jay Oord. You may remember Tom from episode 17 of this show. Look for the remaining two chapters to appear on the show throughout the rest of this week. Thanks to Th...
Holiday Gift 2016: Part 5
TheoNerd Podcast - December 27, 2016 15:57 - 46 minutes ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsIn case you don't know, the 12 days of Christmas actually start on Dec. 25. So it is only appropriate that our holiday gift to you continues. Enjoy Ch. 5 of The Uncontrolling Love of God by Thomas Jay Oord. You may remember Tom from episode 17 of this show. Look for the remaining three chapter...
Holiday Gift 2016: Part 4
TheoNerd Podcast - December 25, 2016 18:15 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsIf you are celebrating, Merry Christmas! And to everyone else, we hope you continue to enjoy our holiday gift: the audiobook of The Uncontrolling Love of God by Thomas Jay Oord. Today we give you Ch. 4. You may remember Tom from episode 17 of this show. Every other day over the next two weeks ...
Holiday Gift 2016: Part 3
TheoNerd Podcast - December 23, 2016 17:12 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsOur holiday gift to you, the audiobook of The Uncontrolling Love of God by Thomas Jay Oord, continues with Ch. 3. You may remember Tom from episode 17 of this show. Every other day over the next two weeks we will put a chapter of his book up on the podcast. And look for an article on the websi...
Holiday Gift 2016: Part 2
TheoNerd Podcast - December 21, 2016 21:01 - 53 minutes ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsWhether you are celebrating one of many religious holidays taking place this time of year or just using this season to spend time with friends and family, we wanted to give you all a holiday gift. That gift is the audiobook of The Uncontrolling Love of God by Thomas Jay Oord. You may remember To...
Holiday Gift 2016: Part 1
TheoNerd Podcast - December 19, 2016 21:35 - 33 minutes ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsWhether you are celebrating one of many religious holidays taking place this time of year or just using this season to spend time with friends and family, we wanted to give you all a holiday gift. That gift is the audiobook of The Uncontrolling Love of God by Thomas Jay Oord. You may remember To...
This Wicked World
Ultimate Concerns - December 13, 2016 19:31 - 59 minutes ★★★★★ - 9 ratingsCan we achieve our highest moral aspirations through political effort? Can we even expect significant, long-term moral improvement in government? If not, what kinds of community are most worthy of our time and energy? Peter Kaufman and I discuss these questions, drawing on the countercultural, p...
31 Rami Ismail on Muslim Representation
TheoNerd Podcast - December 06, 2016 21:44 - 50 minutes ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsIn an episode that has been made timely by the presidential election in the U.S., Ben has a conversation with indie game developer Rami Ismail. Rami is also a Muslim and speaks very intelligently about the good, the bad, and the ugly representations of Muslims in video games and our culture at l...
30 Video Game Outsiders
TheoNerd Podcast - November 21, 2016 23:15 - 56 minutes ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsBen and podcast alum Khadeja Merenkov talk about being video game outsiders. Why do they apply their academic training in other fields to video games, and what have they learned in doing so? Listen to find out. Also, Andrew is now a father. Congratulations! Khadeja's voice reel can be found...
American Islamophobia
Ultimate Concerns - November 17, 2016 15:04 - 58 minutes ★★★★★ - 9 ratingsWhat is causing contemporary Islamophobia and how should we think about it ethically and politically? This episode features Carl Ernst, Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. We discuss his book, Islamophobia in America: The Anatomy of Intolerance. It's ...
29 Caitlin Martin-Wagar Defined Lines
TheoNerd Podcast - November 08, 2016 18:02 - 45 minutes ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsIn what became a timely episode with the presidential election upon us, Ben and the president of Defined Lines, Caitlin Martin-Wagar, talk about rape culture and preventing sexual assault on college campuses. She also applies her experience to gamergate. Adult content warning: rape is discussed ...
Vasubandhu and Virtual Reality
Ultimate Concerns - November 03, 2016 18:58 - 54 minutes ★★★★★ - 9 ratingsAre we living in a virtual reality? If we are, what should we do about it? Jonathan Gold joins me on this episode to discuss how the first-millennium Buddhist philosopher Vasubandhu might answer these questions. We discuss Vasubandhu’s views about the hidden causes of the reality we experience...
28 Audra Jamai: People Do Things
TheoNerd Podcast - October 24, 2016 21:08 - 42 minutes ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsIn this episode Andrew and Ben speak with friend, nerd, and now convention colleague Audra Jamai about Arisia: "New England's Largest, Most Diverse Sci-Fi & Fantasy Convention." Audra is the co-chair of the diversity committee for Arisia. There is talk of race, different meanings of increased di...
Speaking of Theology
Ultimate Concerns - October 20, 2016 16:06 - 53 minutes ★★★★★ - 9 ratingsWhen Catholic theologians speak about God, what sources and what kinds of reasoning should they use? What role does faith play in the practice of theology? In this episode, I discuss these questions with Paul Griffiths, the Warren Professor of Catholic Theology at Duke Divinity School. We also d...
Heaven Only Knows
Ultimate Concerns - October 06, 2016 13:01 - 55 minutes ★★★★★ - 9 ratingsWhat happens in heaven and hell? Catholic theologian Paul Griffiths discusses his speculations about the afterlife. Our conversation is based on his book, Decreation: The Last Things of All Creatures (Baylor, 2014). We move through four main topics and a conclusion. We begin in part one with t...
27: Philosophy of Games (& Chipmunk Voices)
TheoNerd Podcast - October 05, 2016 00:47 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsYour humble co-hosts apologize for their voices in this episode. We're not sure what happened, but we sound like chipmunks whose voices skip. But don't let that stop you from listening. We finally got a philosopher of games, C. Thi Nguyen, on this show about philosophy, theology, and nerd cultur...
Computers Made of Meat?
Ultimate Concerns - September 22, 2016 19:43 - 51 minutes ★★★★★ - 9 ratingsIs the brain a “computer made of meat”? This is a modern idea associated with artificial intelligence research, neuroscience, linguistics, and the philosophy of mind. But in some ways the idea isn't new at all. The seventh-century Buddhist philosopher Dharmakirti developed a very sophisticated m...
26 - Boston GameLoop 2016
TheoNerd Podcast - September 13, 2016 00:57 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsBen recently attended Boston GameLoop 2016, spoke to one of its original organizer's Scott Macmillan, and hosted a session called "Oh my god! Getting religion right and wrong in games." This audio comes from that day, and you may have to turn up your volume at parts. Sorry! We did our best. ...
Related Religiousstudies Topics