The Poetry Peddler podcast is a call to revive the living power of language through poetry as a way of life. Hosted by poet and editor Alexandra Barylski, this show explores poetry’s crucial role in resisting the global language crisis. Each episode invites listeners into a world where language is a vital force of human spirit, freedom, and creativity, featuring original poems, and conversations on the transformative magic of words. 

This inaugural episode features part one of her conversation with Christian Wiman who is the author, editor, or translator of fourteen books, most recently, Zero at the Bone, Fifty Entries Against Despair.  From 2003-2013 he was the editor of Poetry, and he  is a former Guggenheim Fellow and the Clement-Muehl Professor of Communication Arts at Yale Divinity School and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, where she had the privilege of studying with him. 

Why bother becoming human? In difficult times, it's easy to lose hope. After 5 years since launching this show with Becoming Human: Origins, I decided it's time for an update. This episode shares some of the impact of the work, its relevance today, and how you can access Becoming Human Origins right now.  

Who is the Poetry Peddler, and why is poetry so important today?

Alexandra Barylski is an award winning poet, editor, and entrepreneur, and longtime producer for the Becoming Human Project. She is launching the Poetry Peddler Podcast, journal, and press, and sat down with me to discuss why editing is a critical skill today, how poetry touches the uncanny dimension of existence, how poetry and philosophy connect, and how practicing poetry as a way of life deepens our receptivity and openness to Living Language, the spiritual wellspring of consolation and joy.

Join the Peddler! 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/for-women-for-poets-for-a-better-world?utm_campaign=man_sharesheet_dash&utm_content=amp13_t1&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link&lang=en_US&attribution_id=sl%3Aab048a49-31f8-42f5-8975-baba09377eac&ts=1756509312

This is a fifteen minute excerpt from my live Becoming Human Academy course, "The Sacred World: An introduction to Religion."

In the lecture, I explain why the academic study of religion is important, how it gives us a deep understanding of inclusiveness and ways of interpreting difference that give us compassion, sympathy, and insight. These are some of the great values of the academic study of religion, especially the way it gives us a new scientific approach to context. We need different understandings of the human, particularly of human context and meaning, which is what the scholarly study of religion provides. 

In this excerpt, I give the example of a great scholar of religion, Diana Pasulka, who uses the unique skills of the scholarly study of religion to approach the big issue of technology and religion today, particularly in the case of UFOs. I also discuss how a book by a UFO experiencer, whom Pasulka writes about, gives examples of how the history of religion helps us understand contemporary phenomena in an exciting new way. 

You are welcome to join the "The Sacred World: An introduction to Religion." You can register now, get the Zoom link, and you will have access to all the past lectures. 

https://www.samuelloncar.com/courses/p/the-sacred-world-an-introduction-to-religion

What are rituals, and what makes something sacred? Mircea Eliade was a historian of religion, philosopher, and author widely regarded as one of the most influential scholars of religion in the 20th century.

His book, The Sacred and the Profane, is a classic introduction to religion that answers these questions. Eliade is known for his scholarly work on Yoga, comparative religion, initiation rituals, hierophanies (sacred appearences), and the sacred logic manifest in our experience of space and time.

In this Explorations episode, I explain how we can make time sacred by introducing Eliade's ideas and discussing my new Becoming Human Academy course (www.samuelloncar.com/shop), and share my understanding of sacred time, which is the divine time of creation, experienced through rituals that connect us to the origin of the world itself. 

How did the most famous philosopher of his time, a darling of the Parisian salons and an internationally renowned philosopher of science, disappear from memory?

Dr. Emily Herring, author of Herald of a Restless World: How Henri Bergson Brought Philosophy to the People, explains the brilliant insights and legacy of Bergson in this wide-ranging Becoming Human Conversation with Samuel Loncar.

The French philosopher Henri Bergson wrote brilliantly about the brain, biology, memory, time, and creativity, exploring the relationship of science, philosophy, and mysticism, yet he has been largely neglected and forgotten. As Herring explores why this is happened, and how much we have to learn from Bergson today, she opens a path to a new, more creative and hopeful vision of philosophy and science. 

Rabbi Adam Yitzchak Polinovskiy is a well-established coach, specializing in the art of personal and professional transformation. His expertise spans a wide range of areas, including mindset mastery, Kabbalistic wisdom, alignment strategies, and leadership development.

In our conversation, we discuss the Kabbalistic background to the modern self-help and personal coaching movement, including figures like Tony Robbins, Reb Adam's personal journey of spiritual transformation, and how to overcome blocks in your business and personal life. 

Learn more about Reb Adam and join the latest Tree of Life cohort at rebadam.com

According to Rabbi Simon Jacobson of The Meaningful Life Center, technology is catalyzing a spiritual awakening, making spiritual knowledge the “key commodity of the future.”

Rabbi Jacobson is a best-selling author of Towards a More Meaningful Life and reaches hundreds of thousands daily through his YouTube channel.

In this far-reaching Becoming Human Conversation, we explore anxiety and “healthy angst,” why religion is declining and spirituality is growing, what the spirit is, why the “messianic age” is about the elevation of human consciousness, and how he would respond if he was representing humanity to a delegation of ethically advanced aliens, and they asked, “What is the matter with humanity?”

Support the Becoming Human Project Conversations by becoming a Project member, subscribing to the Becoming Human Project’s Substack, and supporting on Patreon.

MISSION ➤https://www.samuelloncar.com/mission

MEMBERSHIPS ➤ https://www.samuelloncar.com/memberships

🎧 LISTEN to BECOMING HUMAN ORIGINS Ep. 1-2 for FREE How Philosophy Remade Science and Religion

➤https://www.samuelloncar.com/podcast Becoming Human: Origins tells the story of how an atheistic revolution in philosophy, beginning with Socrates and Jesus, remade religion and science, and set the stage for our post-human age. It argues that the dominant story of reason, science, and religion is a modern myth, and must be replaced if we are to make real progress.

BIO

Samuel Loncar, Ph.D. (Yale) is a philosopher of science and religion, poet, and Editor of the Marginalia Review of Books. ➤ MRB https://marginaliareviewofbooks.com 

Has AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) already arrived?

As the race for Superintelligent machines changes the world, how can humans prepare to thrive? Ancient spiritual traditions reveal surprising insights into how philosophy as a spiritual technology can teach us where AI is heading, and what to do about it. 

Instructor: Dr. Samuel Loncar | Yale University 

How do we reimagine education for a world of AI? What skills do people need, and why? How can philosophy as a way of life create a shared vision of human flourishing? 

Instructor: Samuel Loncar, Ph.D. | Yale University