Best Onlysky Media Podcasts (2024)

1
A Master Class on Being Human | Brad Braxton and Anthony Pinn 34:48

1y ago34:48

34:48

In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, threats to our democracy, and national protests for racial justice, Black Christian Brad Braxton and Black secular humanist Anthony Pinn exchanged a thousand words a week, each to the other, exploring the philosophical and theological questions of what it means to be human. The result was a book titled A Maste…

1
Dario Robleto—The Special 1:07:05

1y ago1:07:05

1:07:05

The season 1 finale of Strange Customs brings Sasha Sagan to an extraordinary Chicago exhibition for a conversation with the artist, Dario Robleto. Situated at the intersection of art and science, the show also has its inspiration and roots in Sasha's own family. We'll also hear from Harvard art historian Dr. Jennifer Roberts about the ways art and…

1
Kiley Reid—The Care 52:59

1y ago52:59

52:59

Host Sasha Sagan talks to NYT best-selling novelist KILEY REID (Such a Fun Age) about a tradition that has evolved out of necessity from family and community participation to an economic arrangement with strangers. We'll also hear from sociologist DR. TAMARA MOSE about the roots of the tradition that still echo in unfair practices today.…

1
Lily Rabe—The Exchange 54:52

1+ y ago54:52

54:52

Sasha Sagan talks with actor-director LILY RABE about a supposedly heartwarming tradition that strikes terror and shame in both their hearts. We'll also hear from DR. ANDREA VOYER, a sociologist and historian of social norms at Stockholm University, about her research using etiquette as a lens on changing societies.…

1
Bill Nye—The Rhythm 58:08

1+ y ago58:08

58:08

Sasha is joined by science communicator BILL NYE and historian of technology DAVID ROONEY to discuss a concept that measures, slices, defines, and controls our lives more than any other. Bill Nye photo by Neil Grabowsky / Montclair Film under CC-BY 2.0By Sasha Sagan/OnlySky Media

1
Greg Epstein—The Transformation 57:47

1+ y ago57:47

57:47

Sasha Sagan talks with humanist rabbi GREG EPSTEIN about an ancient tradition they both participate in each year, with themes and messages they find both inspiring and abhorrent. How can a thoughtful person engage a tradition shot through with such contradictions? We'll also hear from historian of religion DR. CAROLE CUSACK about how this tradition…

1
Kirsten Dunst—The Trick 44:10

1+ y ago44:10

44:10

Actor KIRSTEN DUNST tells Sasha about the big lie she told her husband, the constant lies that bond her to her son—and why it's all good. We'll also hear from folklorist DR. JEANA JORGENSEN about the cross-cultural history of messing with each other.By Sasha Sagan/OnlySky Media

1
Sarafina El-Badry Nance—The Grasp 57:21

1+ y ago57:21

57:21

Sasha Sagan talks to astrophysicist SARAFINA EL-BADRY NANCE about the way we bring the world into our awareness and keep it there. We'll also hear from USC neuroscience researcher MARY HELEN IMMORDINO-YANG about the unexpected ways we achieve this everyday process.By Sasha Sagan/OnlySky Media

1
Troian Bellisario—The Portal 59:32

1+ y ago59:32

59:32

Sasha Sagan talks to actor TROIAN BELLISARIO (Pretty Little Liars, Life on Mars) about a tradition older than our species, and the unusual (and slightly terrifying) way Troian once experienced it. We'll also hear from professor and author RANDI HUTTER EPSTEIN (Get Me Out: A History of Childbirth from the Garden of Eden to the Sperm Bank) about the …

1
Amanda Montell—The Code 53:37

1+ y ago53:37

53:37

Sasha Sagan talks to author and linguist AMANDA MONTELL about our strange habit of communicating with patterns of vibrations emanating from our faces. We’ll also hear from linguist DR. SONJA LANEHART about how these patterns vary, spread, and change—and how they help define who and what we are.By Sasha Sagan/OnlySky Media

1
Katie Lowes and Adam Shapiro—The Rock 51:53

1+ y ago51:53

51:53

Sasha Sagan sits down with actors KATIE LOWES and ADAM SHAPIRO to explore a common custom that seems rooted in antiquity but is younger than Cher. We’ll also hear from author RACHAEL LENNON about the surprising origins of the custom and how we might coax it away from its problematic features and into the 21st century.…

1
Andrew Seidel—The Lines 45:32

1+ y ago45:32

45:32

Sasha Sagan talks to constitutional attorney ANDREW SEIDEL and professor of criminology DR. MEREDITH ROSSNER about an area of life that we don't usually think of as being full of ritual. But it's saturated with it—for better and worse.By Sasha Sagan/OnlySky Media

1
Nicole Richie—The Conspiracy 39:10

1+ y ago39:10

39:10

Sasha Sagan talks to NICOLE RICHIE about her long, happy relationship with a very common, very strange custom. We'll also hear from experimental psychologist DR. ROHAN KAPITANY, a specialist in rituals and supernatural beliefs, about this and other lesser deities who populate the minds of our children—usually because we put them there ourselves.…

1
Jedidiah Jenkins—The Surface 51:02

1+ y ago51:02

51:02

Sasha sits down with author and adventurer JEDIDIAH JENKINS to explore a human custom that can be fun and games—or life and death. We’ll also hear from historian JORDAN GIRARDIN about the surprising origins of the custom and the ways we're still not getting it quite right.By Sasha Sagan/OnlySky Media

1
Brandon Kyle Goodman—The Paper 41:45

1+ y ago41:45

41:45

Why do we do things the way we do them? Sasha Sagan kicks off Strange Customs with actor, author, and activist BRANDON KYLE GOODMAN in a thoughtful and hilarious conversation about an ancient custom that is a major part of Brandon’s life—but one they couldn’t have participated in even a few years ago. We’ll also hear from historian STEPHANIE COONTZ…

1
Welcome to Strange Customs with Sasha Sagan 2:09

1+ y ago2:09

2:09

Why do we do things the way we do them? We take on customs from our ancestors, act them out, then teach them to the next generation, often without thinking. But when we take a step back, they can seem bizarre, arbitrary...and sometimes, profoundly beautiful. Join Sasha Sagan, author of "For Small Creatures Such as We," as she talks to smart, funny,…

1
The unexpected answer to the puzzle in my head | Tom Jump 19:32

2y ago19:32

19:32

Tom Jump is defined by a paradox. His autism and introversion make meeting people awkward and painful. Yet the one thing he wants from life is a relationship. After years of searching, he stumbles on a solution in the last place he expected.By OnlySky Media

1
The shadows we live in | Casey Karaman 28:06

2y ago28:06

28:06

Casey Karaman never expected the biography of an urban planner to change the way he saw the world. But the nearly five years it took to work his way through that one massive biography changed his view of himself, those around him, and the way our lives are dictated by decisions made by people we will never know—people whose shadows loom over us. Ca…

1
Laughter is healing | Nathan Timmel 18:45

2y ago18:45

18:45

In October of 2005, comedian Nathan Timmel was in Kandahar, Afghanistan, to perform for American forces stationed far from home. While there, he was invited to attend a Ramp Ceremony to witness the loading of a fallen soldier onto a plane to return home for burial. Two days later, he had to perform for that soldier’s friends. ** Nathan Timmel is a …

1
The one thing we miss most about religion 14:58

2y ago14:58

14:58

When we asked people at an atheist convention what they missed the most after leaving religion, one word came up more than any other.By OnlySky Media

1
Sahra's last message | Ashkan Mehr Roshan 21:28

2y ago21:28

21:28

Before the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, an Iranian activist, blogger, and translator who goes by the pseudonym Ashkan Mehr Roshan connected with an Afghan woman and freethinker. Together, they formed one of the biggest and most effective underground support communities for nonbelievers and religious minorities in the region. But shortly af…

1
My tangled feelings at Ramadan | Eiynah 20:24

2y ago20:24

20:24

Raised in Saudi Arabia in a Muslim family of Pakistani background, and now an atheist living in Canada, Eiynah knows something about displacement, and disorientation, and the yearning for the lost familiar. Although she left Islam under her own power and is a strong critic of religion, her childhood and culture are intertwined in Islam. And each ye…

1
How an Indian film changed my son's life | Jennifer Hancock 22:12

2y ago22:12

22:12

Learning that she didn't know the name or work of the most famous actor in the world sent lifelong movie enthusiast Jennifer Hancock down a rabbit hole into the massive film industry of India. In the process, she found insights about love that are rarely touched in Western cinema—and solved a puzzle about her own son that changed his life.…

1
The view from our only life | Dale McGowan 22:31

2y ago22:31

22:31

How does a secular perspective change the way you see the world and your life? OnlySky's Dale McGowan asks this question of people attending the American Atheists conference in Atlanta.By OnlySky Media

1
For which it stands | Adam Lee 18:19

2+ y ago18:19

18:19

Most Americans don’t give a lot of thought to the Pledge of Allegiance. You were taught to say it when you were four or five, and you said it, probably in a droning voice, surrounded by 20 other droning children who likewise hadn’t thought much about it. Whether or not he started off droning like the rest of us, Adam Lee eventually developed seriou…

1
The apple and the river | Jonathan MS Pearce 29:57

2+ y ago29:57

29:57

People are different. That’s a good thing. But in recent years, it feels like some differences have deepened to the point that we look at friends and family on social media, or even across the dinner table, saying and believing things that are just baffling to us. And we wonder: how did you get that way? The philosopher Jonathan M.S. Pearce spends …

1
Beyond the bitter pill | Hemant Mehta and Notes from Autumn 37:09

2+ y ago37:09

37:09

Hemant Mehta has been a freethought blogger, author, and speaker for nearly 20 years now, building his blog Friendly Atheist into the largest atheist blog in the world. Just as the pandemic began, he came across a YouTube channel called Notes from Autumn. The host was a young woman and recent deconvert with strong criticisms of the way atheists com…

1
Relax, it’s just the end of the world | George Hrab 20:52

2+ y ago20:52

20:52

George Hrab spends an unhealthy amount of time thinking about the end of the world. And he’s pretty sure we’ve got it all wrong. Not just the zombies, but the role fear would play both before and after the collapse of civilization.By OnlySky Media

1
Chasing false wonder | Captain Cassidy 26:27

2+ y ago26:27

26:27

From the time she was young, Captain Cassidy heard promises of wonder. If she did this, or believed that, or avoided a long list of temptations, she would find herself smack in the middle of a world of wonder. She chased that promise from Catholic Maryland to Baptist Alabama to Waco Texas, finally landing in Pentecostalism—all the while waiting for…

1
Getting my own story straight | Dale McGowan 20:13

2+ y ago20:13

20:13

There’s a story in your head, a kind of autobiography. You’ve been writing and revising it all your life. We take the chaos of information from a normal life and create a story that makes sense. Some of it might even be true. But considering who’s telling the story, it’s no surprise that a lot of it just doesn’t hold up. Dale McGowan was well into …

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Onlysky Media Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

1
Human Story

OnlySky Media

1
Strange Customs with Sasha Sagan

Sasha Sagan/OnlySky Media

1
A Master Class on Being Human | Brad Braxton and Anthony Pinn 34:48

1
Dario Robleto—The Special 1:07:05

1
Kiley Reid—The Care 52:59

1
Lily Rabe—The Exchange 54:52

1
Bill Nye—The Rhythm 58:08

1
Greg Epstein—The Transformation 57:47

1
Kirsten Dunst—The Trick 44:10

1
Sarafina El-Badry Nance—The Grasp 57:21

1
Troian Bellisario—The Portal 59:32

1
Amanda Montell—The Code 53:37

1
Katie Lowes and Adam Shapiro—The Rock 51:53

1
Andrew Seidel—The Lines 45:32

1
Nicole Richie—The Conspiracy 39:10

1
Jedidiah Jenkins—The Surface 51:02

1
Brandon Kyle Goodman—The Paper 41:45

1
Welcome to Strange Customs with Sasha Sagan 2:09

1
The unexpected answer to the puzzle in my head | Tom Jump 19:32

1
The shadows we live in | Casey Karaman 28:06

1
Laughter is healing | Nathan Timmel 18:45

1
The one thing we miss most about religion 14:58

1
Sahra's last message | Ashkan Mehr Roshan 21:28

1
My tangled feelings at Ramadan | Eiynah 20:24

1
How an Indian film changed my son's life | Jennifer Hancock 22:12

1
The view from our only life | Dale McGowan 22:31

1
For which it stands | Adam Lee 18:19

1
The apple and the river | Jonathan MS Pearce 29:57

1
Beyond the bitter pill | Hemant Mehta and Notes from Autumn 37:09

1
Relax, it’s just the end of the world | George Hrab 20:52

1
Chasing false wonder | Captain Cassidy 26:27

1
Getting my own story straight | Dale McGowan 20:13

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