The Classical Ideas Podcast

Gregory Soden

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. 3d ago

    EP 351: Dr. Ira Helderman on Adverse Meditation Effects

    Ira Helderman PhD, LPC (Adjunct Professor of Religion, Psychology, and Culture, Vanderbilt University; PhD, Religious Studies, Vanderbilt University, 2016) studies how psychotherapists' definitions of what is and is not religious shape their understandings of caregiving, health, and illness. His first book, Prescribing the Dharma: Psychotherapists, Buddhist Traditions, and Defining Religion (University of North Carolina Press 2019), is the first comprehensive examination of the surprisingly diverse ways that psychotherapists have approached Buddhist traditions. Helderman publishes in peer-reviewed journals such as The Journal of the American Academy of Religion and, committed to public scholarship, writes regularly for popular publications such as Psychology Today, Religion Dispatches, and Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. Dr. Helderman is also a practicing psychotherapist and clinical supervisor who has worked in the mental health field for over 20 years in a variety of clinical settings from in-patient addiction treatment centers and psychiatric hospitals to his current private practice. Helderman is currently studying the widespread psychotherapeutic use of Buddhist meditation. Though meditation is often described by patients as a way of easing spiritual yearning, it can also generate "adverse effects" like agitation, traumatic memories, and hallucinations. Dr. Helderman will examine how psychotherapists have conducted a "differential diagnosis" of such cases—distinguishing spiritual experience from psychopathology—and showing that how we define what is and is not "religious" shapes the fields of mental health, psychology, and religious studies. Visit Sacred Writes: https://www.sacred-writes.org/templeton-working-group Visit Dr. Ira Helderman: https://irahelderman.com

    38 min

  2. 3d ago ·  Bonus

    You Might Also Like: No Magic Pill with Blake Mycoskie

    Introducing Treating Mental Illness Like a Physical Injury with Olympian Alexi Pappas from No Magic Pill with Blake Mycoskie. Follow the show: No Magic Pill with Blake Mycoskie After becoming an Olympian in 2016, runner Alexi Pappas was afraid to slow down. Her mother had died by suicide when Alexi was just four years old, and she feared that her own depression would become a death sentence, too. But with the support of friends and family, she found the strength to get help and heal. Alexi’s story is for anyone who wants to feel a little braver, to face the world new each day, and understand that it doesn’t take Olympic strength to change your life. In this conversation you’ll learn: – Why we should treat mental illness like a physical injury – How to tell the difference between pain as warning vs. pain as transformation – The best way to support someone who is suffering – How to embrace the unknown with excitement rather than worry You can learn more about Alexi Pappas and buy her book at https://www.alexipappas.com/. And watch Blake on Alexi’s podcast, Mentor Buffet, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jtbyxv34TMw. Enough Foundation's mission is to spread reminders in every form — bracelets, messages, actions, community — until feeling ENOUGH becomes the cultural default. To learn more, visit weareenough.co.  Produced, Directed, and Cinematography by Wubetu Shimelash / IG: Wubetu Shimelash Disclaimer: No purchase necessary. While supplies last. Visit http://www.weareenough.co/rules for full terms. More information on Blake’s other projects here:  Morning Water  Morning Water is a daily hydration formula that restores energy, balance, and performance with essential electrolytes, minerals, and nutrients in one simple routine.  To learn more, visit morningwater.co and use code NOMAGICPILL for 25% off your first order. SONIA  Sonia is a conversational AI companion designed for emotional support. Through voice and text, it offers guided wellbeing sessions, including meditations, journaling, personalized recommendations, and practical exercises. To learn more, visit www.soniahealth.com and download it on the App Store. MOOVLAB At MOOVLAB, we bring health and wellness to your workday.  MOOVLAB - the answer to sitting is moving.  To learn more, visit www.moovlab.com Follow Blake on Instagram and stay up to date with Lemonada on Facebook and Instagram. For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors. Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at lemonadapremium.com. Subscribe to Spotify Premium to watch ad-free video. Disclaimer: This episode is for informational and entertainment purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional regarding any medical questions or concerns you may have. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices DISCLAIMER: Please note, this is an independent podcast episode not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in conjunction with the host podcast feed or any of its media entities. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are solely those of the creators and guests. For any concerns, please reach out to team@podroll.fm.

  3. Jun 1

    EP 350: The Wounded Church: Tending to the Harm within Catholicism w/Dr. Annie Selak

    Dr. Annie Selak (she/her/hers) is an expert in feminist ecclesiology. She studies wounds in the church, or moments where the church fails to live into its mission and causes harm. Racism, sexism, and the clergy sex abuse crisis are examples of the church failing to credibly be church. Guided by a feminist methodology, Selak integrates the lived experience of women with a robust vision for the church. Selak serves as a Visiting Scholar in the Center on Faith and Justice while working as a campus minister at a local independent school. She earned her Ph.D. in systematic theology at Boston College and M.Div at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. Selak has over 15 years of experience in Catholic ministry, and her writing has appeared in Modern Theology, Journal of Catholic Social Thought, Washington Post, National Catholic Reporter, Commonweal, and America. Her forthcoming book, The Wounded Church: Tending to the Harm within Catholicism (Fordham University Press, 2026) puts forth a vision of the church in the shadow of wounds, guided by a feminist methodology. Selak argues that the Catholic Church must confront its own injuries in order to credibly be Church. Using a feminist framework, she develops a new ecclesiology around three wounds, racism, sexism, and clericalism, that actively harm the Body of Christ and distort its witness. Attentive to history, pastoral practice, and lived experience, Selak shows how each wound is both inflicted by the Church and borne within the Church. She offers the resurrected body of Jesus, scarred yet no longer bleeding, as a guiding metaphor for ecclesial renewal, a body that does not deny its wounds but is transformed through them. Drawing on Karl Rahner, she grounds hope in the reign of God while insisting on concrete institutional and spiritual conversion. Written for students and scholars, ministers and lay leaders, The Wounded Church uncovers overlooked histories tied to racism, sexism, and the clergy sexual abuse crisis, and proposes clear theological principles for reform. The result is a constructive, pastorally engaged vision that tells the truth about harm and imagines credible paths toward change, accountability, and justice. You can use the code "church2026" at the link below to receive a discounted book and free shipping.  https://fordhampress.com/the-wounded-church-hb-9781531513368.html

    38 min

  4. May 22

    EP 349: The YouTube Prosperity Gospel w/Dr. Kaitlyn Ugoretz

    Kaitlyn Ugoretz (Lecturer, Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture, Nanzan University, Japan; PhD, East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, in progress) is an anthropologist of religion focused on the globalization of Japanese Shinto practices through popular culture such as anime, video games, and Marie Kondo's decluttering. The Associate Editor of The Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, and a member of the Sacred Writes 2021 public scholarship training cohort, Prof. Ugoretz also promotes public scholarship on Japanese religions through her award-winning educational YouTube channel Eat Pray Anime, in podcast interviews, cultural consulting, and her writing for venues including Religion News Service and The Conversation. Ugoretz will conduct a digital ethnography of Japanese tidying guru Marie Kondo. She notes that while Western scholarship tends to consider Kondo to be "spiritual," the Japanese find her to be too "religious," reflecting aspects of Buddhist and Shinto traditions. This leads Ugoretz to argue that our understanding of spiritual yearning should expand---it is neither a new nor an American phenomenon. The boundary between what is "religious" and what is "spiritual" is historically and cultural constructed, and shaped by ideas of race, class, and globalization. She argues that spiritual yearning emerges from human existential needs and concerns, and should be distinguished from the capitalistic patterns of "spiritual consumption" that it often inspires. Visit Sacred Writes: https://www.sacred-writes.org/templeton-working-group Visit Eat, Pray, Anime: https://www.youtube.com/c/eatprayanime

    34 min

  5. May 13

    EP 348: Dr. Kira Ganga Kieffer on "Unvaccinated Under God: Religion and Vaccine Hesitancy in Modern America"

    Kira Ganga Kieffer is a scholar of American religions, history, culture, and politics with a PhD in Religious Studies from Boston University. She is Visiting Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Fairfield University. Kieffer's first book, Unvaccinated Under God: Religion and Vaccine Hesitancy in Modern America (Princeton University Press, May 19, 2026) examines the spiritual and religious roots of vaccine resistance in U.S. history. In general, her work examines contestations over authority through the interactions between religion, alternative health movements, politics, and consumption. Order "Unvaccinated Under God" here: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691224664/unvaccinated-under-god Visit Sacred Writes here: https://www.sacred-writes.org/templeton-working-group

    41 min

  6. Apr 28

    EP 347: Beyond Wellness with Liz Bucar

    Liz Bucar is a religious ethicist and professor of religion at Northeastern University, as well as a certified intenSati and Kripalu yoga instructor. Her popular writing has appeared in The Atlantic, the Los Angeles Times, Teen Vogue, and The Wall Street Journal, and she is the author of four books, including the award-winning Stealing My Religion and Pious Fashion. She lives in Brookline, Massachusetts. For more about how religion shapes us all, even if we don't believe, subscribe to Liz's newsletter at LizBucar.com. In the chaos of today's world, we're all searching for meaning. The wellness industry has sold us a promise that we can find it if we just buy the right products, attend the right retreats, and follow the right celebrity gurus. But is this true? Or are we picking and choosing from a self-care salad bar in ways that satisfy our hunger but don't truly nourish us? When we approach practices like yoga and ayahuasca as fitness routines and life hacks, we miss out on the sacred wisdom they have to offer us. But by digging into the real and often ancient religious traditions behind these practices, from Buddhism to Christianity and beyond, we can make them more meaningful, ethical, and effective—without the often unpleasant baggage of joining an organized religion. In this engaging and deeply personal book, award-winning scholar and writer Liz Bucar embarks on a quest to get to the heart of "spiritual but not religious" activities from detox diets to sound baths. As she tries out each practice for herself, she asks how we can get more out of it by tuning out the hype and taking the religious meaning behind it seriously—with emotionally profound and often surprising results. Whether it's as simple as setting an intention for a yoga asana or as complex as reevaluating what a "higher power" is, it's time to understand, experience, and simply get more out of our spiritual practices. It's time to dig deeper with Beyond Wellness. Order the Book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/774524/beyond-wellness-by-liz-bucar/ Visit: https://www.sacred-writes.org

    42 min

  7. Apr 26

    EP 346: Deepak Chopra-Jeffrey Epstein Connections & the Spirituality Industry Crisis w/Dr. Ann Gleig

    Ann Gleig (Professor of Religion and Cultural Studies, University of Central Florida; PhD, Rice University, 2010) studies spirituality emerging from the encounter between Buddhism and American culture, particularly meditation and mindfulness. The author of American Dharma: Buddhism Beyond Modernity (Yale University Press, 2019); and co-editor with Scott A. Mitchell of The Oxford Handbook of American Buddhism, she has published widely about how the incorporation of psychotherapeutic and social justice frameworks have transformed American Buddhist practices. A recipient of a Sacred Writes media partnership to write for Religion Dispatches, Dr. Gleig's public-facing work has also appeared in The Conversation and Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. Ann Gleig will collaborate with Nalika Gajawira on a comparative ethnographic study of how Buddhist communities adopt and adapt popular spiritual exercises such as "secular" mindfulness and yoga classes within a wider Buddhist framework. Their work aims to illustrate the processes, frameworks and relationships that can enable more responsible relationships between specific religious communities and the word of spiritual wellness practices.   Ann Gleig, "The Deepak Chopra-Jeffrey Epstein friendship tells of a spirituality industry in crisis," Religion News Service: https://religionnews.com/2026/03/06/the-deepak-chopra-jeffrey- epstein-tells-of-a-spirituality-industry-in-crisis/ Ann Gleig and Brenna Artinger, "The Buddhist Culture Wars #BuddhistCultureWars: BuddhaBros, Alt-Right Dharma, and Snowflake Sanghas," Journal of Global Buddhism Vol 22: 1(2021) https://www.globalbuddhism.org/article/view/1298 Ann Gleig and Amy Langenberg, "Supporting Survivors of Abuse," Abuse in Buddhism: Facing It, Preventing It and Healing From It, Dharmadatta Community https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Tlvm5gq-G0 Ann Gleig, Amy Langenberg and Sarah Jacoby, "Reflecting on Heartwood/Northwestern Symposium on Sexual Violence in Buddhism: Centering Survivors Voices," The Shiloh Project https://shilohproject.blog/reflection-on-heartwood-symposium-on-sexual-violence-in-buddhism- centering-survivors-voices/ Ann Gleig, Talking About Cults: Abuse and the Study of New Religious Movements: https://www.ugapress.org/9780820377902/talking-about-cults/ Association for Spiritual Integrity (ASI) https://www.spiritual-integrity.org/ Seek Safely: https://seeksafely.org/

    49 min

  8. 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
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4.8
out of 5
94 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
    355
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Classical Ideas Podcast 2017-2020
  • Show Website
    The Classical Ideas Podcast

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