The Spirit of Things - Program podcast
By ABC Radio National
To listen to an audio podcast, mouse over the title and click Play. Open iTunes to download and subscribe to podcasts.
Podcast Description
The Spirit of Things is an adventure into religion and spirituality. It explores contemporary values and beliefs as expressed through ritual, art, music, and sacred texts.
| Name | Description | Released | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Mormon Yankees | They were basketball players and Mormon missionaries who brought the sport to Australia to spread the message of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the 50s. Historian and film maker Professor Fred Woods of Brigham Young University, Utah, tells the story of their remarkable success, leading up to the ’56 Olympics. | 20 5 12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
2 |
Douglas Kirkland: photographing souls | Douglas Kirkland is Hollywood’s most notable photographer, and in a career that spans more than 50 years, he’s caught just about everyone in his lens. In a rare interview of his life and work, the small-town, church-attending boy who made it big talks to Rachael about seeing celebrities as people, the ethics of nude photos of children, the indigenous belief that a photograph can 'steal' a spirit, and the only time he used his camera as a weapon. | 13 5 12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
3 |
My Spiritual Diary: Dr Howard Goldenberg | He's never kept a diary before, and found keeping a Spiritual Diary for The Spirit of Things embarrassing, pretentious, but also very valuable. Howard Goldenberg is a physician who is used to making a prognosis of his patients' health, but now he turns his attention to himself, and probes his conscience for the true meaning of his Jewish faith. | 6 5 12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
4 |
Carl Jung: regaining religion | Carl Jung's exploration of the psyche took him deep into the world of religion, myth and the occult. The founder of depth psychology, Jung said that his patients suffered from a lack of what religion used to give people, but lost, and that healing would come from a direct experience of the Divine... And the Art Gallery of NSW exhibition on Australian Symbolism delves into the art of dreams. | 29 4 12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
5 |
Religion journalists | Religion journalists cover the most explosive issue, which is why most media prefer to 'bury', censor or ignore religion altogether. At a unique gathering in Bellagio, Italy, religion journalists from Indonesia, Pakistan, Tanzania, Israel and Jordan, talk to Rachael Kohn about how and why they are breaking the code of silence. | 22 4 12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
6 |
A Secular Bible | THE SECULAR BIBLE: He bills himself as 'the maker' not the author of The Good Book, a Secular Bible, but philosopher AC Grayling is no shrinking violet when it comes to claiming that his magnum opus for atheists should take its place alongside the Bible, to read for generations to come. Still, he doesn't think it belongs in Alain de Botton's proposed Temple to Atheism | 15 4 12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
7 |
THE MESSIAH, THE PROPHET AND DEAD SEA SOURCES | Easter and Passover are historically and religiously related, but two Hebrew University scholars have separately argued for some surprising continuities and disjunctions in the Christian and Jewish beliefs that mark the respective festivals. | 8 4 12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
8 |
My Spiritual Diary: Jo Swinney | Jo Swinney is a Christian author and mum who keeps a Spiritual Diary for Lent and finds that the spiritual task she sets herself of reading the Bible every day is more difficult than she imagined. But the diary has helped her to focus on the true meaning of 'home' as Easter approaches. | 1 4 12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
9 |
Life after a cult | Cults have attracted attention for their authoritarian methods of controlling followers, but when people have managed to escape, they are often unable to cope 'on the outside'. Based in New York, Lorna and Bill Goldberg specialise in providing ex-members the psychological support they need to lead normal lives. And author Maggie Groff explains why she wrote about a cult in her first rom-com novel. | 25 3 12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
10 |
Rome's Sistine Chapel and Secret Archives | The first exhibition from the Vatican's Secret Archives is on display and BBC's Rome correspondent David Willey is our guide, and on the 500th anniversary of the Sistine Chapel art critic Laura Gascoigne explains its unusual layout and Michelangelo's faith. | 18 3 12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
11 |
The Hilliard Ensemble's music and Bob Carr's books | The Hilliard Ensemble are the 'Fab Four of sacred chant', with their Officium CD selling more than a million copies. Combining medieval with modern composers like Arvo Pärt, their music is deeply spiritual and most often performed in the great cathedrals of the world. A life of reading the great historical, philosophical and literary works has shaped Australia's new foreign minister, Bob Carr, as we learn in this excerpt from a 2008 interview. | 10 3 12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
12 |
My Spiritual Diary, Jane Rutter | Emotional honesty and living according to a golden rule of following her inspiration is what drives Jane Rutter, one of Australia's premier flautists. Nature, Sufism, and a profound belief in music as the language of 'Divine Communion,' Jane is frank, forceful and funny about the spiritual values that infuse her life. | 3 3 12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
13 |
Hare Krishna and Yoga | India exported Hare Krishna and Yoga to the West in the 1960s. While Hare Krishna remained a small but loyal movement of shaven headed followers, Yoga has become popular in the West by feminising its practice. | 25 2 12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
14 |
Old Jews, New Jews | Is it consistency or change that has led to Jewish survival for over 3,000 years? The Chief Rabbi of the UK, Lord Jonathan Sacks, urges Orthodoxy while leading social researcher of Judaism. Dr Bethamie Horowitz celebrates 'the wide tent' of mostly non-Orthodox Jewish life in America. | 18 2 12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
15 |
Charles Dickens | Charles Dickens was not a 'religious writer' but his novels expressed his Christian beliefs, which he hoped would result in the upliftment of society. The theological debates of 19th Century England were not as important to Dickens as the example of Christ in the New Testament, which informed his writing. Grace Moore, a specialist in Dickens and the Victorian Era, reveals the complexity of Dickens' religion as portrayed in his characters and novels, from Pickwick Papers to The Tale of Two Cities. | 11 2 12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
16 |
MY SPIRITUAL DIARY - ROSS FITZGERALD | Do you have spiritual thoughts? Or do they drift away in a fog while you're busy doing something else? MY SPIRITUAL DIARY is a monthly series on The Spirit of Things where people in all walks of life keep a record of their spiritual thoughts and practice. Sharing their feelings and observations, they focus on the things that give meaning to their lives, in the day to day. | 4 2 12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
17 |
EMOTIONS AND BELIEFS | Atheists and Believers have different abilities to feel and express their emotions according to a new Canadian study by Psychologists Raluca Petrican of Rotman Research Institute, Toronto and Chris Burris of St. Jerome's University, Waterloo, Ontario. Atheists are more left-brained while Believers are more right-brained, and the latter exhibit alexi-thymia more than the former. Award winning poet and former psychiatric nurse, Sally Read, found it hard to put her conversion experience into words when she turned from hardline atheist to believing Catholic. | 28 1 12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
18 |
Dalai Lama Direct (incl. video) | At the age of 76, the Dalai Lama isn't beating around the bush. In an exclusive interview with Rachael Kohn, he talks about the need for religious leaders to get off their high horse and meet the people, the importance of democracy, and the possibilities for a female Dalai Lama. We also hear his strong advice to 500 high school students, at the Chenrezig Institute for Buddhist Studies, in Eudlo, southern Queensland. | 21 1 12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
19 |
The World's Sexiest Book | The Bible is rife with sex, and right from the beginning it is introduced as part of the human condition. Judges, kings and prophets enjoy sex, women use it to bring down tyrants, and King Solomon's 'Song of Songs' makes Casanova's memoirs look like kid's stuff. Michael Coogan is one of the leading Biblical scholars in the US, and in his book God and Sex: What the Bible Really Says, he reveals all, including whether David loved Jonathan in that way. | 14 1 12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
20 |
Female Messiah | The story of the Panacea Society. In the 1920s a vicar's widow in Bedford, England began a healing ministry that reached people around the world, including Australia. She was soon declared the Daughter of God, the Female Messiah, and took the name, Octavia. This fascinating story of religious and social change (and some tragic family history) was researched by the Right Rev'd Jane Shaw, the Dean of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. She spoke to Rachael Kohn on a recent visit to Australia. | 7 1 12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
21 |
Decoding Alice in Wonderland | On the 150th anniversary of Charles Dodgson taking deacon's orders at Oxford University, the mathematician and children's author (whose pen name was Lewis Carroll) is revealed to be more than a keen observer of church politics of his day as others have observed. He was also an inveterate seeker in esoteric spirituality, including Theosophy and Rosicrucianism. Canadian author and poet, David Day, tells all. | 31 12 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
22 |
Christmas Day Couple | In this finale of the monthly series, the Landers show us how to live an ancient faith with contemporary relevance and meaning. | 24 12 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
23 |
Hanukkah: Stones and Soup | The Temple at the centre of the ancient festival of Hanukkah is now destroyed, but the excavations adjacent to it, have revealed what looks to be King David's palace, according to archaeologists Eilat Mazar and Avner Goren. Doughnuts are traditional for Hanukkah, one of the foods that Pnina Jacobson and Judy Kempler include in One Egg is a Fortune: Recipes and Memories to Share, a cookbook by and about Jewish celebrities from all over the world. | 17 12 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
24 |
Boys to Men | Film-maker of Hoop Dreams and Journey from Zanskar, Frederick Marx has a mission to help boys become men. Rites of passage and mentoring are increasingly absent from boys’ lives as fatherless families continue to increase and religious rites of passage are sidelined by popular culture. Pathways Foundation Australia runs workshops to help boys become men, and Paul Henley is the National Training Manager. | 10 12 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
25 |
Oh My Goddess! | Six leading women in the Goddess movement including Kathy Jones (UK), Anique Radiant Heart and Tricia Szirom, speak of their spiritual beliefs and their feminist and ecological values. | 3 12 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
26 |
The Sufi Spirit | Prayer that brings a permanent awareness of the Divine Reality is the aim of Sufism first and foremost, which London based Sufi scholar, Reza Shah-Kazemi, believes is the key to its universality. Sufism's mystical universalism is what interests Hebrew University scholar, Sara Sviri, who reveals the fascinating phenomenon of 'Jewish Sufism'. | 26 11 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
27 |
Body Mind Spirit | Forget 'no pain, no gain'. Mark Bunn, former AFL footballer and author of Ancient Wisdom for Modern Health, discovered in Yoga and Ayurveda medicine that true body fitness is a spiritual goal with positive physical results. And forget mind-numbing holidays with cocktails by the pool. Laurence Toltz, co-author (with Sandy MacGregor) of Your Peaceful Place can teach you how to visit your very own Shangri-La for mind, body and spirit every day. | 19 11 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
28 |
Religion Under Attack | One third of the world's population is experiencing increased religious persecution according to Pew Research Center's recent study on religion in the public sphere. Brian Grim, Director of Cross National Data, talks about the implications, while Gregor Puppinck of the European Centre for Law and Justice discusses the seminal case which challenged the presence of the crucifix in Italian schools. Ilhan Yildiz from Karatekin University explains the religious outlook of present-day Turkey. | 12 11 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
29 |
God in the 21st Century | Robyn Williams of Radio National's The Science Show shares his unmitigated disappointment in the God which totally failed his expectations. Rabbi Jeffrey Kamins, from Emanuel Synagogue, argues that the expectations are misplaced, and blame should squarely be placed on humanity not God. God in the 21st Century was an event organised by the Sydney Institute, and our edited recording includes audience questions and comments from the other panel members, Dr Shakira Hussein and Angela Shanahan. | 6 11 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
| Total: 29 Episodes |
Customer Reviews
S.H.A.M -Excellent Show
I've recently 'found' Tony Robbins and bought a set of his tapes. It was interesting listening to episode of The Spirit Of Things and about the self help industry as a money making exercise. Tony Robbins truly is a man who makes a lot of money out of this industry, but having said that, his ideas at a grass roots level are very rewarding, and make sense. It's sometimes good to listen to someone who has a positive spin on life. If you filter some of the hype out of his talks, what he says can be life transforming...even if it's only a small amount. And learning about the beginnings of Dr Laura and Dr Phil were certainly eye openers. A very good, and well balanced story that reported the facts as they stand. I suppose at the end of the day, if it makes you feel good to keep buying the same self help books and tapes, then it can't be all bad....you just have to know that true happiness and contentment comes from within....and sometimes, some of us, need someone to tell us that over and over and over again.
the very best
The erudite Rachel Cohn (is that how one spells it?) is without doubt the best presenter on radio in this country. Her tranquil, well-read, patient interviews are models of the craft. She has the rare quality in an interviewer of actually listening to the answer. Alas, so few possess that skill; Rachel has it and is able to build on answers and take conversations into novel and unexpected areas. So well prepared. Never patronising to the listener. It's always a stimulating pleasure to listen to a new episode. World class.
Rachel is awesome
This production may not grab you at first, but if you listen to a couple episodes then I am sure you will become a fan of Rachel Cohn and her quest to enlighten the listener.
Listeners also subscribed to
- Free
- Category: Spirituality
- Language: English
- © Copyright 2012, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
