In the car going grocery shopping on Sunday, I heard a voice on CBC that I recognized from secular podcasts I regularly follow: Mandisa Thomas. Then there was an interview with Karl Giberson, a physicist who learned how to break the literalist Creationist mold as he learned about how science really works, and what it reveals (without abandoning his Christianity).
The show is Tapestry, a weekly show airing on Sundays, also available as a podcast. The website says about the show:
Governments change, economies tumble and soar, and headlines trumpet the scandal of the day. All the while, Tapestry deals with the more subtle news of life — a thoughtful consideration of what it means to be human.
Tapestry is the place where you can wonder about the big questions you’ve been too busy to consider during the week. We’ll hear rabbis and gardeners getting equal time on the topic of belief. Science-fiction writers and physicist-priests kick around the world’s great creation myths. Athletes explore the hero’s journey as a spiritual metaphor, and musicians make the connection between song and the human spirit.
We’ll also meet regular people just trying to make sense of the world, whether they’re finding their way as believers or atheists – or everything in-between.
What stands out to me is that this show is clearly about the topics that religions try to address (and, often, to monopolize). It’s about “what it means to be human”. But, unlike many radio shows addressing these topics, this one doesn’t even pretend that religions have a key (or even particularly special) place in this conversation. Guests are “rabbis and gardeners … science-fiction writers and physicist-priests … athletes … musicians … regular people … believers or atheists – or everything in-between”.
I have gone back now and listened to the whole episode. (The opening interview, which I had initially missed, was with James Grupa, a teacher of evolution at a university in Kentucky.) It’s a fascinating way of approaching this conversation – dismissing neither non-religious voices (like some shows do) nor religious voices (like many atheist blogs and podcasts do that I listen to).
I’ve subscribed to their podcast feed – I look forward to seeing what else they have, upcoming and in their archives. I’ll let you know if I come across any particular gems.
If you know the show or another that fills a similar niche, please leave a link to any episode you think is especially worth checking out.
Friendly Humanist 
2015/06/08 at 22:27 |
Okay, I already have another episode from the back-catalogue that you really should listen to: host Mary Hines interviews Massimo Pigliucci (biologist, philosopher, and former co-host of the Rationally Speaking podcast) on living as a Stoic. (Other segments that week are on a movement where people commit to stop complaining, and an experiment where a Muslim goes blindfolded in a big city with a sign inviting hugs. Both delightful.)
And there’s another episode with a segment where Richard Dawkins reads a poem that makes him cry.