November 2008
23 posts
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Repossessing Virtue: Martin Marty on Trust in...
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Listen Generously in Your Life — StoryCorps Style
Krista Tippett, host
One of the great figures in public radio, in my mind, is David Isay; and one of the best things on the radio is his project StoryCorps, whose mission is “to honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening.” This year, StoryCorps has declared November 28, the day after Thanksgiving, as the first National Day of Listening — encouraging all of us to...
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“The measure of man’s life lies in perfecting the universe.”
– —Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, as tweeted by Rabbi Aaron Spiegel
Trent Gilliss, Online Editor Today I viewed hundreds of photos looking for an image that might help convey the critical perspective of Binyavanga Wainaina in our upcoming program on the ethics of aid in Africa, and more specifically...
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Four Philosophical Questions to Make Your Brain... →
Shiraz Janjua, Associate Producer
Over at the Beeb: “It’s World Philosophy Day - an opportunity to contemplate one’s very existence and whether computer monitors really exist.” Check out their four philosophical questions for some mind-bending fun.
Among the philosophical questions I asked myself at a young age, say around age 6, I can recall these:
Wondering if...
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Arrested Development: Making Foreign Aid a More... →
Trent Gilliss, Online Editor
This article in Foreign Affairs reminded me of something that is easily forgotten in our exploration of the ethics of aid and related efforts — that the Marshall Plan (now 50 years since its enactment) was a monumental foreign aid program — and, dare I say, a worthwhile effort. This fact reminds me to be cautious, that it’s rather easy to pile on the myriad aid...
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Funerary Monument Reveals Iron Age Belief that the... →
Shiraz Janjua, Associate Producer
The University of Chicago announces some new discoveries about ancient religion in Turkey.
Archaeologists in southeastern Turkey have discovered an Iron Age chiseled stone slab that provides the first written evidence in the region that people believed the soul was separate from the body.
University of Chicago researchers will describe the discovery, a...
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Spiritualism: A Radio Documentary
Trent Gilliss, Online Editor
Early this morning, the BBC World Service rebroadcast this CBC documentary about the uniquely American religion of Spiritualism. Lily Dale, a small town in southwestern New York state, was founded by a socially progressive group of Spiritualists in 1879 and is the epicenter for its practitioners.
Wondering what is a Spiritualist? Here’s the town’s...
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If You’re a Hindu, Be a Good Hindu
Colleen Scheck, Producer
“The main creed that I like to refer to when I think of Vedanta is as Swami Vivekananda said: ‘If you’re a Christian, be a good Christian. If you’re a Muslim, be a good Muslim. If you’re a Hindu, be a good Hindu.’”
This is the comment of 17 year-old Akhil, a young man interviewed as part of a new study released by the Search...
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WatchLive Blogging Krista’s Video Conference with students at American University Trent Gilliss, Online Editor
Three hundred students in the general education program at American University participated in a course in which they read Krista’s book Speaking of Faith. In a live video conference with Krista in St. Paul and the students in Washington DC, they ask questions that arose out of their...
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WatchLive Video Stream of Krista’s Video Conference with Students at American University Trent Gilliss, Online Editor
Three hundred students in the general education program at American University participated in a course in which they read Krista’s book Speaking of Faith. In a live video conference with Krista in St. Paul and the students in Washington DC, they ask questions that arose...
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Holy City Facing Splits and Decline →
Shiraz Janjua, Associate Producer
As Jerusalem prepares to elect a new mayor, this report on life in the city.
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A Toddler's Capacity to Forgive
Rob McGinley Myers, Associate Producer
This past weekend, I kept mulling over the content of our recent show, “Getting Revenge and Forgiveness” — especially what Michael McCullough said about how easily parents forgive their children.
I forgive my seven-year-old son every day. … Because he’s an active, inquisitive seven-year-old who sometimes accidentally elbows me in the...
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A Witness to History, One Day Shy
Trent Gilliss, Online Editor
At the end of each day (or often during), my spouse Shelley and I often talk about articles, blogs, and photographs we’ve read and viewed during work. Her reading anchors me to the world outside of the news and journalism business. In my circles so many times, the news is cited at you — ‘Did you read the article about the Ugandan man in the Times?’...
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Singing about Revenge and Forgiveness
by Amara Hark-Weber, production intern
Over the past week, I have been collecting songs about revenge and forgiveness that were suggested by our listeners. Spending hours in the MPR (Minnesota Public Radio) music library, I thought not only about the artists and songs that I was looking for, but also about times in my own life were I have felt the sentiment of one of these songs or...
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Repossessing Virtue: Rebecca Blank on the Ethics...
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Rome Hosts Vatican-Muslim Summit →
Shiraz Janjua, Associate Producer
Via BBC: “Muslim and Vatican officials are holding historic talks in Rome to establish a better inter-faith dialogue and defuse any future tensions.” Religious leaders are working toward solutions, but where are the politicians?
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