The Classical Ideas Podcast

Gregory Soden
  • 5.0 (5)
  • RELIGION & SPIRITUALITY
  • UPDATED MONTHLY

Simply stated, religion matters. Religion matters not only for personal reasons, but also for social, economic, political, and military purposes. Unfortunately, studies suggest that religious knowledge and cultural literacy for any religious tradition is either in decline or is non-existent in the United States, despite being one of the most religiously diverse nation on earth. Today, religion is implicated in nearly every major national and international issue. The public arena is awash in religious explanations and arguments for nearly every issue. The goal of The Classical Ideas Podcast is to empower students with the core knowledge of major world religions to improve citizenship and agency in a diverse society. Welcome to the show!

  1. MAR 24

    EP 345: Relational Ethics and Indigenous Plant Medicines w/Dr. Natalie Avalos

    Natalie Avalos (Assistant Professor of Native American and Indigenous Studies, University of Colorado Boulder; PhD, University of California Santa Barbara, 2015) is an ethnographer of religion whose research examines contemporary Indigenous religious life, healing historical trauma, and decolonization. A Chicana of Mexican Indigenous descent, born and raised in the Bay Area, Dr. Avalos is currently working on her manuscript, titled Decolonizing Metaphysics: Transnational Indigeneities and Religious Refusal. She served as a co-PI for a Luce Foundation-funded research group at the UC Humanities Research Institute, "Humanitarian Ethics, Religious Affinities and the Politics of Dissent." She is also the recipient of a Sacred Writes media partner fellowship to write about Buddhism and race for Religion Dispatches.  Avalos studies how Indigenous practitioners in the Denver metro area navigate the increasing use of Indigenous plant medicine like ayahuasca and psilocybin by white Americans for wellness purposes. Her informants are concerned about the metaphysical impacts of the decontextualized use of these plants, including how their commodification and increased white demand may limit Indigenous access. However, Avalos's study reveals that along with these risks are compelling possible benefits. Within their Indigenous religious context, plants are understood to have conscious, sacred intelligence revered within the larger social body. If Westerners could look through this sacred lens, plant medicines could help address human-centric biases created by colonial relations, and the West's spiritual yearning for a lost connection to the natural world. Such understanding could both benefit our ecological future and inspire rectification of historical and ongoing dispossession of Indigenous peoples. Learn more about John Templeton Foundation's Sacred Writes Working Group here: https://www.sacred-writes.org/templeton-working-group

    51 min

  2. MAR 4

    EP 344: Altered States of Consciousness w/Dr. Michiel van Elk

    Michiel van Elk (1980) is a researcher and writer in the field of psychology, philosophy and neuroscience. Having received his PhD at the Donders Institute, the Netherlands, he has worked at several international institutions including the University of California Santa Barbara the École Polytechnique Féderale de Lausanne in Switzerland and Stanford University. He is currently affiliated as associate professor at Leiden University. He has conducted pioneering work on psychedelics, altered states of consciousness, feelings of awe, the evolution of religion and mystical experiences. His work, including more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles, book chapters and books, has been featured by the New York Times, Vice, Lonely Planet, New Scientist, The Daily Beast and Psychedelic Spotlight. VISIT PRSM Lab: https://prsmlab.com/teams/michiel-van-elk/ Visit Sacred Writes: https://www.sacred-writes.org/

    30 min

  3. FEB 25

    Ep 343: Moral Courage for Our Times w/Dr. Laine Walters Young

    Laine Walters Young is the Assistant Director of the Cal Turner Program for Moral Leadership in the Professions at Vanderbilt University. She received her PhD from Vanderbilt in Religion, Psychology and Culture, and considers herself a feminist care ethicist working at the intersection of psychology and ethics. She has experience in non-profit administration as well as a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School where she studied Religion in Public Life, storytelling, and the possibilities of pluralism.  At the Cal Turner Program, she directs the interprofessional student fellowship at Vanderbilt, a group of masters-level students who journey together over a year to deepen their moral awareness and gain leadership skill. Thank you to Sacred Writes for the support! Visit Sacred Writes: https://www.sacred-writes.org/

    28 min

  4. FEB 10

    EP 342: Puerto Rico, Bad Bunny, and the Civil Religion of the NFL

    Dr. Lizardy-Hajbi is the author of Unraveling Religious Leadership: Power, Authority, and Decoloniality (Fortress Press, 2024) and co-editor of Explore: Vocational Discovery in Ministry (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022). In addition, she is the author of a number of articles and reports, including Latino Congregations: Trends from the Faith Communities Today (FACT) and Exploring the Pandemic Impact on Congregations (EPIC) Studies. Read "Songs That Call Me Home to Puerto Rico": https://www.christiancentury.org/features/songs-call-me-home-puerto-rico Visit: https://www.iliff.edu/faculty/rev-dr-kristina-lizardy-hajbi/ Visit Sacred Writes: https://www.sacred-writes.org/about

    52 min

  5. FEB 1

    EP 341: St. Brigid of Ireland w/Dr. Judish L. Bishop

    Judith L. Bishop is Associate Professor of History and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and the Alice Andrews Quigley Chair in Women's Studies at Mills College at Northeastern University. She earned her BA from Baylor University, MA from Vanderbilt University, and her PhD from the Graduate Theological Union. Her research interests include: women in world religions; theoretical approaches to gender, body, and sexuality; and religion in public discourse. Visit Sacred Writes: https://www.sacred-writes.org/2025-carpenter-cohorts-august

    30 min

  6. JAN 22

    EP 340: Becoming Neighbors w/Amar Peterman

    Amar D. Peterman is a constructive theologian working at the intersection of faith and public life. He is the founder of Scholarship for Religion and Society LLC and the former assistant director of civic networks at Interfaith America. Peterman holds an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary and is currently a PhD student at the University of Chicago's Divinity School. His writing and research have been featured in Sojourners, Christianity Today, The Christian Century,The Fetzer Institute, TheBerkley Forum, and The Anxious Bench. He also publishes regularly on his Substack, This Common Life. Becoming Neighbors: The Common Good Made Local is his first book. Read "Becoming Neighbors: The Common Good Made Local": https://www.eerdmans.com/9780802884121/becoming-neighbors/ Visit: https://www.amarpeterman.com/amar-site/meet-amar Subscribe to "This Common Life" on Substack: https://amardpeterman.substack.com Visit Sacred Writes: https://www.sacred-writes.org

    32 min

  7. JAN 14

    EP 339: Angela of Foligno and the Lepers of Our Time w/Dr. Mac Loftin

    Mac Loftin is a lecturer on theology at Harvard Divinity School. This essay was adapted from his forthcoming book, "In the Twilight of the Christian West: A Theology of Mourning and Resistance" and was produced in partnership with The Narrative Project, an initiative of The Christian Century.  Read: How immigrants, student protesters and Muslims became the lepers of our time View: In the Twilight of the Christian West: A Theology of Mourning and Resistance Visit: Sacred Writes

    34 min

  8. JAN 5

    EP 338: Resting Beside Living Waters W/LJ Williams

    LJ Williams (they/she) is a queer African and Jewish ritualist and writer, pursuing an MDiv from Starr King School for The Ministry with a certificate in Entheogenic Justice Companioning. They are a longtime Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism community member, and served as a coordinator of a Chicago BLUUHaven. They were a Worship Learning Fellow at the Church of Larger Fellowship (2021-2023) and she received a B.A. from University of Illinois in Global Studies and Environmental Sustainability. She currently serves as board president of Young Adult Revival Network. She is interested in the intersections of land, religion, and revolutionary movements, embodied ritual and queer bodies. She loves arts, science fiction, and her family. Follow LJ Williams: https://kumibylj.substack.com/?r=1gbn0e&utm_campaign=pub-share-checklist Follow Sacred Writes: https://www.sacred-writes.org/2025-carpenter-cohorts-august

    30 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

Simply stated, religion matters. Religion matters not only for personal reasons, but also for social, economic, political, and military purposes. Unfortunately, studies suggest that religious knowledge and cultural literacy for any religious tradition is either in decline or is non-existent in the United States, despite being one of the most religiously diverse nation on earth. Today, religion is implicated in nearly every major national and international issue. The public arena is awash in religious explanations and arguments for nearly every issue. The goal of The Classical Ideas Podcast is to empower students with the core knowledge of major world religions to improve citizenship and agency in a diverse society. Welcome to the show!

Information

  • Creator
    Gregory Soden
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2026
  • Episodes
    348
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Classical Ideas Podcast 2017-2020
  • Show Website
    The Classical Ideas Podcast

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