Mystic-Skeptic Radio: Uncensored/Raiders of the Unknown

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In this week’s show our guest is renown Biblical scholar and Professor of Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity James Tabor. Dr. Tabor is the author of nine academic books including Paul and Jesus and Paul’s ascent to Paradise. He has worked at a number of archaeological sites. Dr. Tabor has been featured in dozens of documentaries broadcasted on PBS, Discovery Channel, Learning Channel, History Channel, National Geographic, Smithsonian and the BBC. Dr. Tabor has a several blogs and aa popular YouTube Channel

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Mystic-Skeptic Radio produces programs such as Uncensored & Raiders of the Unknown. Some of the ongoing series are: Anti-Semitism Rising & Jesus The Israelite (all available on our YouTube channels). In the past 11 seasons we have featured academics (Amy Jill Levine) , presidential candidates( Howie Hawkins), Commentators (Jay Michaelson) , Advocates (Vanessa Guillen), Scholars(John Dominic Crossan) and Holistic Healers (Rosemary Gladstar). We have taken deep dives on the topics of human trafficking, ancient civilizations, demonology and the occult, social movements, controversial topics and many of the current affairs affecting our society. Join us as as we explore the mystic-skeptic mind space…

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In this week's show we feature professor Charles Fischer who teaches humanities at Everett Community College in Washington, focusing on classic literature including Homer, Sophocles and Shakespeare. With a background in ancient Greek, a Ph.D. in English combined with a Master of Theological Studies degree from the Harvard Divinity School, Charles is uniquely positioned to draw on the events of ancient history as the basis of fiction. He lives in Seattle with his wife, the author Lisa Wogan. 

Our topic is teaching "Holocaust" memoir in academia. We discuss books such as Victor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning and Art Spiegelman Maus: A Survivor's Tale among  other literature that Mr. Fischer examines with his students. 

Mystic-Skeptic Radio produces programs such as Uncensored & Raiders of the Unknown. Some of the ongoing series are: Jesus The Israelite, Anti-Semitism Rising & Paul's Legacy (all available on our YouTube channels). In the past 8 years we have featured academics (Amy Jill Levine) , presidential candidates( Howie Hawkins), Commentators (Jay Michaelson) , Advocates (Vanessa Guillen), Scholars(John Dominic Crossan) and Holistic Healers (Rosemary Gladstar). We have taken deep dives on the topics of human trafficking, ancient civilizations, demonology and the occult, social movements, controversial topics and many of the current affairs affecting our society. Join us as as we explore the mystic-skeptic mind space…

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Mystic-Skeptic Radio produces programs such as Uncensored & Raiders of the Unknown. Some of the ongoing series are: Anti-Semitism Rising & Jesus The Israelite (all available on our YouTube channels). In the past 11 seasons we have featured academics (Amy Jill Levine) , presidential candidates( Howie Hawkins), Commentators (Jay Michaelson) , Advocates (Vanessa Guillen), Scholars(John Dominic Crossan) and Holistic Healers (Rosemary Gladstar). We have taken deep dives on the topics of human trafficking, ancient civilizations, demonology and the occult, social movements, controversial topics and many of the current affairs affecting our society. Join us as as we explore the mystic-skeptic mind space…

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In this week's show we feature author Charles Fischer who teaches humanities at Everett Community College in Washington, focusing on classic literature including Homer, Sophocles and Shakespeare. With a background in ancient Greek, a Ph.D. in English combined with a Master of Theological Studies degree from the Harvard Divinity School, Charles is uniquely positioned to draw on the events of ancient history as the basis of fiction. He lives in Seattle with his wife, the author Lisa Wogan. He is the author of The Eunuch a new book from The Gabbro Head Press.

The Eunuch is a twisted tale of personal love, moral depravity, imperial overreach, and societal decline.  The scope is staggering, the setting exotic, the characters original—and the narrator’s voice is not only compelling but also frequently hilarious. The historical details have been painstakingly researched.  Although it can stand scrutiny as a historical novel, The Eunuch is really an accessible literary mash-up that calls to mind the Game of Thrones novels, Lolita, the Gormenghast novels, and Memoirs of a Geisha, with aristocratic gluttony and sexual indulgence set against the drought and famine of the failing Babylonian empire. 

The central themes of The Eunuch are big and timeless: sex and sexuality, love, greed and ambition, power, betrayal, religion, war and the causes of war. An ambitious writer, Charles realized he couldn’t compete with “the big swinging, literary dicks” of his father’s generation – writers like Norman Mailer, Philip Roth, and John Updike – because times change and he could not write about sex and power in the same way that they did. But through the voice of the insignificant Nergal the Eunuch, Charles was able to address such topics while empowering the weak: who is more important, Nergal asks, the King that slaughters 10,000 or the slave scribe who records the King’s deed for posterity? Charles’s novel is a will-to-power for the powerless that ends in a bang rather than a whimper: Nergal is like a little rodent who gnaws at the foundation of the mighty Ziggurat of Babylon until he causes the summit to topple. 

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Mystic-Skeptic Radio produces programs such as Uncensored & Raiders of the Unknown. Some of the ongoing series are: Anti-Semitism Rising & Jesus The Israelite (all available on our YouTube channels). In the past 11 seasons we have featured academics (Amy Jill Levine) , presidential candidates( Howie Hawkins), Commentators (Jay Michaelson) , Advocates (Vanessa Guillen), Scholars(John Dominic Crossan) and Holistic Healers (Rosemary Gladstar). We have taken deep dives on the topics of human trafficking, ancient civilizations, demonology and the occult, social movements, controversial topics and many of the current affairs affecting our society. Join us as as we explore the mystic-skeptic mind space…

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In this week's show we discuss the topic that is on many people's minds due to the political climate. Julia M. Ponce-Vega Director of Immigrant Services at Mercy Center in Bronx, NY shares her expertise on the subject.  We discuss the asylum crisis, immigration process and reprieve for people under political persecution, affected by social upheaval or who have experienced domestic violence that arrive at our borders. This topic was discussed by Bill Maher and his guests Fareed Zakaria, and Ian Bremmer on 11/03/23 in his show Real Time, getting everything wrong on the subject. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/real-time-with-bill-maher/id98746009?i=1000633654016

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Mystic-Skeptic Radio produces programs such as Uncensored & Raiders of the Unknown. Some of the ongoing series are: Anti-Semitism Rising & Jesus The Israelite (all available on our YouTube channels). In the past 11 seasons we have featured academics (Amy Jill Levine) , presidential candidates( Howie Hawkins), Commentators (Jay Michaelson) , Advocates (Vanessa Guillen), Scholars(John Dominic Crossan) and Holistic Healers (Rosemary Gladstar). We have taken deep dives on the topics of human trafficking, ancient civilizations, demonology and the occult, social movements, controversial topics and many of the current affairs affecting our society. Join us as as we explore the mystic-skeptic mind space…

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In this weeks program we present an audio-documentary based on the book A Lamb Among Wolves: The State of Israel & Modern Anti-Semitism. 

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Mystic-Skeptic Radio produces programs such as Uncensored & Raiders of the Unknown. Some of the ongoing series are: Anti-Semitism Rising & Jesus The Israelite (all available on our YouTube channels). In the past 11 seasons we have featured academics (Amy Jill Levine) , presidential candidates( Howie Hawkins), Commentators (Jay Michaelson) , Advocates (Vanessa Guillen), Scholars(John Dominic Crossan) and Holistic Healers (Rosemary Gladstar). We have taken deep dives on the topics of human trafficking, ancient civilizations, demonology and the occult, social movements, controversial topics and many of the current affairs affecting our society. Join us as as we explore the mystic-skeptic mind space…

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In this week’s show out guest is Raphael, a religious Jew who lives in Israel near the West Bank. As students of history we are looking for answers to the ethical as well as moral concerns about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In the latest episode of the Jimmy Dore Show Dr. Norman Finkelstein displayed many inconsistencies in his approach to the issue. Although, I respect his work I also feel that it is important to hold people accountable for their rhetoric. He justifies Hamas' incursion as a last ditch effort for freedom. However, in 2012 I contacted him and asked him the following questions:
1.      What do you think would be a national solution for the Palestinian people since they have two territories controlled by two different parties. Is there a three state solution that is possible?
2.      If the people living in the Palestinian territories have not been able to create a sustainable government in order for them to achieve their aspirations for a nation including seccesion, what is the international community to do to help them become independent?
3.      What rules of war should be used when the two opposing parties do not agree on any type of conventional norms such as the treatment of captives fairly, not shooting at civilian targets and not using certain weapons which are indiscriminate while hitting targets and the area around them?
4. Israeli supporters of the occupation of Gaza and the West Bank claim that the checkpoints are necessary for security. 
5. Lately Palestinian writers and supporters have been calling Gaza a ghetto, calling the offence against Gaza worse than the Holocaust and saying that the attacks on civilians are similar to pogroms. Is it really fair to use terms that are painful to the Jewish people to compare current events with Jewish persecution throughout history?
6. According to Reza Aslan’s dissertation on Muslim Nationalist groups there is a difference between Islamist (Muslim Nationalist groups), Jihadists ( who want global domination) and moderate Muslims who are the majority. Do you feel that Hamas has changed the debate since they would fall under an Islamist framework?
7. According to Democracy now, Egypt is also blowing up the tunnels that connect Gaza with the outside. Is there any legitimate concern about weapons being smuggled into Gaza to support militant groups instead of a legitimate military?
9. Do you stand against all forms of military wars, both of aggression and defense?
10. Do you think Israel is racist and imperialistic like some of the other critics say? Do you differentiate between the hackish current leaders and some racist Ultra-orthodox taking over the political parties in Israel and the population of Israel and other Jews in America?
We left conversation there after he shared being unavailable to address these concerns in full. In my opinion people's minds are being poisoned by two conflictive narratives which are neither fully true nor absolute and in a binary world we will never find a common ground if we compare people to nazis, the most hated evil group in human history. 

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Mystic-Skeptic Radio produces programs such as Uncensored & Raiders of the Unknown. Some of the ongoing series are: Anti-Semitism Rising & Jesus The Israelite (all available on our YouTube channels). In the past 11 seasons we have featured academics (Amy Jill Levine) , presidential candidates( Howie Hawkins), Commentators (Jay Michaelson) , Advocates (Vanessa Guillen), Scholars(John Dominic Crossan) and Holistic Healers (Rosemary Gladstar). We have taken deep dives on the topics of human trafficking, ancient civilizations, demonology and the occult, social movements, controversial topics and many of the current affairs affecting our society. Join us as as we explore the mystic-skeptic mind space…

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In this week's show we present a review of Hugh Schonfield's masterpiece "The Passover Plot." We discuss how the book is insightful but falls short with conspiracies which are not impossible but at times are grasping at straws to debunk the life of Jesus as depicted in the New Testament.

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Mystic-Skeptic Radio produces programs such as Uncensored & Raiders of the Unknown. Some of the ongoing series are: Anti-Semitism Rising & Jesus The Israelite (all available on our YouTube channels). In the past 11 seasons we have featured academics (Amy Jill Levine) , presidential candidates( Howie Hawkins), Commentators (Jay Michaelson) , Advocates (Vanessa Guillen), Scholars(John Dominic Crossan) and Holistic Healers (Rosemary Gladstar). We have taken deep dives on the topics of human trafficking, ancient civilizations, demonology and the occult, social movements, controversial topics and many of the current affairs affecting our society. Join us as as we explore the mystic-skeptic mind space…

Send us Fan Mail

In this week's show we present a review of Hugh Schonfield's masterpiece "The Passover Plot." We discuss how the book is insightful but falls short with conspiracies which are not impossible but at times are grasping at straws to debunk the life of Jesus as depicted in the New Testament.

Support the show

Mystic-Skeptic Radio produces programs such as Uncensored & Raiders of the Unknown. Some of the ongoing series are: Anti-Semitism Rising & Jesus The Israelite (all available on our YouTube channels). In the past 11 seasons we have featured academics (Amy Jill Levine) , presidential candidates( Howie Hawkins), Commentators (Jay Michaelson) , Advocates (Vanessa Guillen), Scholars(John Dominic Crossan) and Holistic Healers (Rosemary Gladstar). We have taken deep dives on the topics of human trafficking, ancient civilizations, demonology and the occult, social movements, controversial topics and many of the current affairs affecting our society. Join us as as we explore the mystic-skeptic mind space…

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In this episode we discuss Jörg Frey's book "Qumran, Early Judaism, and New Testament Interpretation." In it he perpetuates a diabolical form of interpreting the New Testament by using Anti-Jewish tropes instead of a careful examination of the texts, as he proclaims the following: "Dualistic concepts are rather used to qualify the enemies of the communities, the Roman power as well as the synagogue (Rev 2:9; 3:9), the Jews, and also deviant or “heretic” Christians. Thus 1 and 2 John explicitly draw on the concept of an “antichrist,” and label the deviant teachers as “antichrist(s)” (2 John 7; cf. 1 John 2:18; 4:3) pp.322-324. Claiming that all of this is part of "Jewish apocalypticism” he thinks he can get away with pilling other Jews among the enemies of the new Israel (church/followers of Jesus) without taking into consideration that Jewish-Christians at that time were being persecuted by either other Jews who were aligned with Rome, religious leaders who found their teachings objectionable or Roman authorities who saw them as a threat to world peace. Mr. Frey calls "the synagogue" or "the Jews" the enemies of Christianity showing his inherent bias and Judeophobia which as we show on our program he attempts to attribute to Jesus (Jewish) Movement.

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Mystic-Skeptic Radio produces programs such as Uncensored & Raiders of the Unknown. Some of the ongoing series are: Anti-Semitism Rising & Jesus The Israelite (all available on our YouTube channels). In the past 11 seasons we have featured academics (Amy Jill Levine) , presidential candidates( Howie Hawkins), Commentators (Jay Michaelson) , Advocates (Vanessa Guillen), Scholars(John Dominic Crossan) and Holistic Healers (Rosemary Gladstar). We have taken deep dives on the topics of human trafficking, ancient civilizations, demonology and the occult, social movements, controversial topics and many of the current affairs affecting our society. Join us as as we explore the mystic-skeptic mind space…

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In the fist episode of Season 9 of Mystic-Skeptic Radio we have a special treat with as part of out program Raiders of The Unknown. In this episode we discuss Michelle Cameron's latest book "Babylon" that just day-viewed.  She has written five books including:  Beyond The Ghetto Gates (She Writes Press, 2020 )The Fruit of Her Hands: The Story of Shira of Ashkenaz (Pocket, 2009), In the Shadow of the Globe (Lit Pot Press, 2003). She lived in Israel for fifteen years (including three weeks in a bomb shelter during the Yom Kippur War) and served as an officer in the Israeli army teaching air force cadets technical English. Michelle Cameron is also the director of the Writers Circle, an NJ-based organization that offers creative writing programs to kids and adults, and the author of works of historical fiction and poetry. Michelle lives in New Jersey with her husband and has two grown sons of whom she is inordinately proud. The Jerusalem Post and others are praising her latest book. This work of Biblical Historical Fiction discusses the life of the biblical prophet Daniel and king Nebuchadnezzar: https://m.jpost.com/judaism/article-757068

Support the show

Mystic-Skeptic Radio produces programs such as Uncensored & Raiders of the Unknown. Some of the ongoing series are: Anti-Semitism Rising & Jesus The Israelite (all available on our YouTube channels). In the past 11 seasons we have featured academics (Amy Jill Levine) , presidential candidates( Howie Hawkins), Commentators (Jay Michaelson) , Advocates (Vanessa Guillen), Scholars(John Dominic Crossan) and Holistic Healers (Rosemary Gladstar). We have taken deep dives on the topics of human trafficking, ancient civilizations, demonology and the occult, social movements, controversial topics and many of the current affairs affecting our society. Join us as as we explore the mystic-skeptic mind space…