Best Diana Zen Podcasts (2024)

1
Sanjay Lal, "Gandhi's Thought and Liberal Democracy" (Lexington Books, 2019) 53:26

6h ago53:26

53:26

Is religion indispensable to public life? What can Gandhi’s thought contribute to the modern state? With an intense focus on both the depth and practicality of Mahatma Gandhi's political and religious thought this book reveals the valuable insights Gandhi offers to anyone concerned about the prospects of liberalism in the contemporary world. In Gan…

1
Laura Salah Nasrallah, "Ancient Christians and the Power of Curses: Magic, Aesthetics, and Justice" (Cambridge UP, 2023) 1:06:28

4h ago1:06:28

1:06:28

Ancient Christians and their non-Christian contemporaries lived in a world of 'magic.' Sometimes, they used curses as ritual objects to seek justice from gods and other beings; sometimes, they argued against them. Curses, and the writings of those who polemicized against curses, reveal the complexity of ancient Mediterranean religions, in which mat…

1
Fabio Rambelli, "Spirits and Animism in Contemporary Japan" (Bloomsbury Academic, 2019) 57:24

3h ago57:24

57:24

In Japan, a country popularly perceived as highly secularized and technologically advanced, ontological assumptions about spirits (tama or tamashii) seem to be quite deeply ingrained in the cultural fabric. From ancestor cults to anime, spirits, ghosts, and other invisible dimensions of reality appear to be pervasive. In Spirits and Animism in Cont…

1
Doña Quixote, Life Energy, and The Coming of Aging | Vicki Robin | 94 57:25

6h ago57:25

57:25

Join Bill and Jackie in an engaging conversation with Vicki Robin, co-author of the best-selling book 'Your Money or Your Life'. Vicki shares her insightful philosophy on financial independence, community resilience, and the power of frugality. She discusses her journey from active community building to aging with purpose on Whidbey Island, and how…

1
Tracy Pintchman, "Goddess Beyond Boundaries: Worshipping the Eternal Mother at a North American Hindu Temple" (Oxford UP, 2023) 42:34

2h ago42:34

42:34

The Parashakthi Temple in Pontiac, Michigan serves as a site of worship for the Hindu goddess Karumariamman, whose origins are in South India. In her American home Karumariamman has assumed the status of Great Goddess, a tantric deity and wonder worker who communicates directly with devotees through dreams, visions, and miracles. Drawing on fifteen…

1
119 Alone in a World of Wounds with Zen Abbot Shodhin Geiman 1:29:16

6h ago1:29:16

1:29:16

Shodhin Geiman is Sensei & Abbot at Chicago Zen Center and recently retired Senior Research Professor at Valparaiso University. He has written on aspects of the Dharma and on points of interface between Buddhist and Christian spirituality. His book, Alone in a World of Wounds: A Dharmic Response to the Ills of Sentient Beings (Cascade Books, 2022).…

1
Randall Stephens, "The Devil’s Music: How Christians Inspired, Condemned, and Embraced Rock n’ Roll" (Harvard UP, 2018) 57:21

1h ago57:21

57:21

I was immediately drawn to the book The Devil’s Music by Dr. Randall Stephens, Associate Professor of British and American Studies at the University of Oslo. Dr. Stephens and I came across one another online and the book, which combines part rock n’ roll history, part American Christianity history, was an absolute delight for me. The Devil’s Music:…

1
Jay Garfinkel, "Kohelet's Cocktail: Beyond the Pursuit of Happiness" (Illuminated Press, 2024) 27:03

27m ago27:03

27:03

Dive into the timeless wisdom of Ecclesiastes in Jay Garfinkel's groundbreaking work, Kohelet's Cocktail: Beyond the Pursuit of Happiness (Illuminated Press, 2024) This exquisite "illuminated" digital masterpiece marries the ancient with the avant-garde, offering a fresh, poetic voice to the biblical text that has resonated with humanity for millen…

1
Millennial Revolution is in The House! | Kristy Shen, Bryce Leung & Little Matchstick | 93 1:06:57

7d ago1:06:57

1:06:57

Subscribe and Watch on YouTube Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung are the dynamic duo behind the Millennial Revolution blog and movement. In this insightful episode, Kristy and Bryce discuss their journey from house-hunting to achieving Financial Independence (FI) and retiring in their early 30s. They delve into why they chose to reject traditional housin…

1
Jeffery D. Long et al., "Hinduism and Tribal Religions" (Springer, 2021) 29:05

2h ago29:05

29:05

Hinduism and Tribal Religions (Springer, 2021) offers an overview of Hinduism as found in India and the diaspora. Exploring Hinduism in India in dynamic interaction, rather than in isolation, the volume discusses the relation of Hinduism with other religions of Indian origin and with religions which did not originate in India but have been a major …

1
Diana V. Edelman and Philippe Guillaume, "The Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures in Five Minutes" (Equinox, 2024) 1:13:48

2h ago1:13:48

1:13:48

The Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures in 5 Minutes (Equinox Books, 2024), co-edited by Philippe Guillaume and Diana V. Edelman, is a digestible, concise, reader-friendly introduction to biblical scholarship for undergraduate students and lay readers alike. Written without technical language or jargon by diverse specialists in Hebrew Bible, its 83 cha…

1
Laura S. Lieber, "Staging the Sacred: Performance in Late Ancient Liturgical Poetry" (Oxford UP, 2023) 1:04:36

1d ago1:04:36

1:04:36

Staging the Sacred: Performance in Late Ancient Liturgical Poetry (Oxford UP, 2023) examines the importance of Christian, Jewish, and Samaritan liturgical poetry from Late Antiquity through the lenses of performance, entertainment, and spectacle. Laura Lieber proposes an account of hymnody as a performative and theatrical genre, combining religious…

1
Twin Towers: Lessons in Financial Freedom from Wall Street to Main Street | The Wealth Twins | 92 1:14:24

14d ago1:14:24

1:14:24

Subscribe and Watch on YouTube Meet Nadia and Nicole, the Wealth Twins! Raised by a single mother in New York City's toughest projects, these twin sisters overcame obstacles to graduate from Columbia University, work on Wall Street, and ultimately achieve early retirement. In this episode, they recount experiences from 9/11 and the 2008 financial c…

1
Victoria Smolkin, "A Sacred Space Is Never Empty: A History of Soviet Atheism" (Princeton UP, 2018) 1:03:31

6h ago1:03:31

1:03:31

The specter of the “Godless” Soviet Union haunted the United States and continental Western Europe throughout the Cold War, but what did atheism mean in the Soviet Union? What was its relationship with religion? In her new book, A Sacred Space Is Never Empty: A History of Soviet Atheism, Dr. Victoria Smolkin explores how the Soviet state defined an…

1
Anthony P. Stone, "Hindu Astrology: Myths, Symbols, and Realities" (Pippa Rann Books, 2023) 37:16

9d ago37:16

37:16

Does Hindu astrology work? If so, why? When does it not work? Why? Where and how did Hindu astrology arise and develop? What are its similarities with other astrological systems? These are among the unusual and fascinating questions tackled by an Oxford mathematician, Dr. A. P. Stone, who learned Sanskrit specifically for the purpose. Analyzing var…

1
Justine Chambers, "Pursuing Morality: Buddhism and Everyday Ethics in Southeastern Myanmar" (NUS Press, 2024) 48:07

35m ago48:07

48:07

What is the right way to live? This is an old question in Western moral philosophy, but in recent years anthropologists have turned their attention to this question in what has been called, a “moral turn”. In this original ethnographic study, Pursuing Morality: Buddhism and Everyday Ethics in Southeastern Myanmar (NUS Press, 2024), Justine Chambers…

1
Teresa Morgan, "The New Testament and the Theology of Trust" (Oxford UP, 2022) 35:15

3d ago35:15

35:15

The New Testament and the Theology of Trust (Oxford UP, 2022) argues for the recovery of trust as a central theme in Christian theology, and offers the first theology of trust in the New Testament. 'Trust' is the root meaning of Christian 'faith' (pistis, fides), and trusting in God and Christ is still fundamental to Christians. But unlike faith, a…

1
Sara J. Charles, "The Medieval Scriptorium: Making Books in the Middle Ages" (Reaktion Books, 2024) 50:05

2d ago50:05

50:05

The Medieval Scriptorium: Making Books in the Middle Ages (Reaktion, 2024) by Sara J. Charles takes the reader on an immersive journey through mediaeval manuscript production in the Latin Christian world. Each chapter opens with a lively vignette by a mediaeval narrator – including a parchment-maker, scribe and illuminator – introducing various asp…

1
Stacking Washingtons in Joe’s Mom’s Basement and The Efficient Frontier | Joe Saul-Sehy | 091 1:12:04

21d ago1:12:04

1:12:04

Subscribe and Watch on YouTube Joe Saul-Sehy of Stacking Benjamins joins the show to discuss financial planning, overcoming debt, and the importance of surrounding yourself with the right people. Joe shares his personal journey of financial mismanagement as a young financial planner, the principles behind the efficient frontier, and his thoughts on…

1
Kirsten Fermaglich, "A Rosenberg by Any Other Name: A History of Jewish Name Changing in America" (NYU Press, 2018) 1:01:40

2d ago1:01:40

1:01:40

Throughout the 20th century, especially during and immediately after WWII, New York Jews changed their names at rates considerably higher than any other ethnic group. Representative of the insidious nature of American anti-Semitism, recognizably Jewish names were often barriers for entry into college, employment, and professional advancement. Colle…

1
Yoga, Disability, and Animism, with Theo Wildcroft 1:04:35

23d ago1:04:35

1:04:35

In this episode, Dr Pierce Salguero sits down with Dr Theodora Wildcroft, a researcher, anthropologist, and long-time teacher of what she calls “post-lineage yoga.” We discuss Theo's ethnographic research on yoga in the UK, focusing on its connections with animism, paganism, and other somatic practices. We also dive into Theo’s personal approach to…

1
Paul Koudounaris, "Faithful Unto Death: Pet Cemeteries, Animal Graves, and Eternal Devotion" (Thames & Hudson, 2024) 46:07

25d ago46:07

46:07

Losing a pet has always been a unique kind of pain. No set rituals exist to help provide closure when pets die, there are no readily shared passages from spiritual texts, no community of compassion to surround the mourner and help alleviate grief. And there is a sense of taboo, that it is somehow socially incorrect to mourn an animal as one would a…

1
Muslimness in China 1:04:10

25d ago1:04:10

1:04:10

In this episode Salman Sayyid talks to Haiyun Ma about Muslimness in China. This is the second episode in this series which addresses this topic: in a previous episode we spoke to Darren Byler about Uyghur Muslims in East Turkestan. In this episode, our focus is slightly different, and encompasses many Muslim groups in China. Haiyun Ma, assistant p…

1
Murad Khan Mumtaz, "Faces of God: Images of Devotion in Indo-Muslim Painting, 1500-1800" (Brill, 2023) 32:40

26d ago32:40

32:40

Islamic art is often misrepresented as an iconophobic tradition. As a result of this assumption, the polyvalence of figural artworks made for South Asian Muslim audiences has remained hidden in plain view. Faces of God: Images of Devotion in Indo-Muslim Painting, 1500-1800 (Brill, 2023) situates manuscript illustrations and album paintings within c…

1
Eyal Regev, "The Temple in Early Christianity: Experiencing the Sacred" (Yale UP, 2019) 36:58

25d ago36:58

36:58

Eyal Regev's The Temple in Early Christianity: Experiencing the Sacred (Yale UP, 2019) is he first scholarly work to trace the Temple throughout the entire New Testament, this study examines Jewish and Christian attitudes toward the Temple in the first century and provides both Jews and Christians with a better understanding of their respective fai…

1
Jessica Roda, "For Women and Girls Only: Reshaping Jewish Orthodoxy Through the Arts in the Digital Age" (NYU Press, 2024) 1:07:43

28d ago1:07:43

1:07:43

Mainstream portrayals of ultra-Orthodox religious women often frame their faith as oppressive: they are empowered only when they leave their community. For Women and Girls Only: Reshaping Jewish Orthodoxy Through the Arts in the Digital Age (NYU Press, 2024), by Jessica Roda, flips this notion on its head. Drawing on six years of fieldwork between …

1
Shai Held, "Judaism Is About Love: Recovering the Heart of Jewish Life" (FSG, 2024) 56:46

29d ago56:46

56:46

A common misconception has shaped the history of the West: Christianity is seen as the religion of love, and Judaism as the religion of law. Addressing this misinterpretation, Rabbi Shai Held argues that love is as integral to Judaism as it is to Christianity. In Judaism Is About Love: Recovering the Heart of Jewish Life (FSG, 2024), Rabbi Held com…

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