Common Threads: An Interfaith Dialogue

These episodes are from 2003. They feature the women who wrote the stories in the book "Daughters of the Desert." This is a wonderful book that examines the very underappreciated role of women in the development of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity & Islam. I don't have much to say other than do listen to these. Excellent conversations. Theme music "Nigal."

OK, if you skip this one you're forgiven. I'm still going through a big box of ancient shows, and the other day i came across this cassette. It is not an episode of Common Threads, but a recording of a conference we held on 11/6/1999. The problem is that this is a very, very BAD recording. I think someone just set up a tape recorder in the back of the room and hoped for the best.

Some portions are easier to hear than others, but the big disappointment is that the keynote address by Brother Wayne Teasdale is perhaps the worst sounding of all the speakers. You might want to try to listen, but I suspect many will give up, and I don't blame them. Believe me, I almost just tossed this one. But it is a piece of IDA history. And the good news is that for some reason, Wayne's fidelity improves during Q&A.

For those who are not familiar with Br. Wayne Teasdale, he became quite an iconic figure in the interfaith arena during the 80s, 90s and early 00s. He died much too young in 2004. During this time he was a great friend of IDA. So if no one listens that's OK. This will stand as "silent" tribute.

Theme music "Nigal."

I'd really thought we'd exhausted the episodes featuring my cousin, Fr. Tom Stella. But lo & behold, I reached into my box of old cassettes & pulled out these episodes from 2004 that promoted his book A Faith Worth Believing. If you've listened to any of the others already posted then you know you're in for a very intimate conversation on deep spirituality. Theme music "Nigal."

This is a fascinating couple of episodes that deal with a rather radical Christian ecology. Mark Wallace proposes a worldview that claims all sentient beings are coequal in value. Not many people can say with all sincerity that a human life is no more valuable than a housefly. Regardless of your opinion on this, Dr. Wallace is really worth listening to. We aired these episodes in 2005. Theme music "Nigal."

These 2 episodes were used to promote our interfaith conference in 2003. So please remember to ignore all references to the information I share. Even thought the event is long past the story of our guests bears repeating. In the 1980s Rabbi David Blumenfeld was shot by a terrorist. He survived, and lived to forgive his attacker, who then renounced violence.

Episode 1 is a conversation with David's daughter Lauren, who wrote a book about the experience titled "Revenge: A Story of Hope."

Episode 2 is with Rabbi Blumenfeld himself.

Both are worth listening to. Theme music "Nigal."

I'm pretty sure this episode is from 2004. Our guest is John Rao from the Theosophical Society. I really enjoyed listening to this right now. John, as I recall, was really a good guy. He gave much of himself to his path.

As I do a great deal of the time, when I come across an old cassette to digitize and upload I check to see what might have come of our dear guest. To save you the work I can say that by my searches there are no traces of a West Michigan chapter of the Theosophists. The website is no longer valid. I did not try the phone number.

Regardless, I think you'll enjoy this conversation as well. Theme music "Nigal."

While I try to tackle a wide variety of subjects with equal interest, it's easy to tell which subjects really excite me. Just look through the archives to see how many times I revisit a subject. I just came across these 2007 episodes and realized that I'd done a total of 6 episodes (3 guests doing 2 episodes each) on Jewish humor. I don't believe there are any more, but I still have a few more old cassette tapes to digitize and upload.

So enjoy, why not? Joyce Antler is our guest. She authored the book "You Never Call You Never Write." And keep in mind that this isn't just a collection of jokes. Joyce takes a serious look at how Jewish women impacted American culture. But there are a few laughs along the way. Theme music "Nigal."

Recently we posted the episodes that focused on The Gospel According to The Simpsons. This week I came across a show we did a year later (2004) with Jana Riess, the author of "What Would Buffy Do?" This book follows along the same lines, seeking the deep spirituality that is embedded in the series.

I was never really a fan of the show, though I always thought Sarah Michelle Gellar was quite fetching. Regardless, I think we had a great conversation over these episodes. So all you children of the 90s, enjoy.

Oh, I checked for myself. www.whatwouldbuffydo.net no longer exists.

" Theme music "Nigal."

Somewhere in the archives you'll find episodes with Dr. Jefferey Long, who offered us some great conversations on the subject of rebirth. These here were done a long time before. I believe these aired in 2003--or close to it.

By the way, you can now see the video that we speak about here by going to:

https://vimeo.com/6962342

Enjoy. Theme music "Nigal."

OK, these episodes from 2004 might not be the most popular with folks, but I could be wrong. Way back then we never figured that anyone outside of West Michigan would ever hear these, so much of the subject matter was local in nature.This is when podcasting meant using beans for bait, I guess. Anyway, I don't mean to disparage our guest. Sacha Bier has been a great advocate for interfaith activism in our area. I'm just not sure how much people in the far flung corners of the world will care about our subject matter. As always with these golden oldies, please ignore all phone numbers & other contact information. Sacha's Sacred Space no longer exists. Theme music "Nigal."