Renovatio: The Podcast

By Zaytuna College

Society & Culture Religion & Spirituality Islam

What's Renovatio: The Podcast about?

A multimedia, multi-faith publication about the ideas that shape the modern world from the first Muslim liberal arts college in the United States, Zaytuna College.

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Renovatio: The Podcast episodes:

10.24.2023
The Ancient Roots of Transhumanist Thinking
Lenn E. Goodman, an expert on Jewish and Islamic metaphysics, joins Esme Partridge to discuss the philosophical heritage of AI (artificial intelligence)—which he locates in the medieval and renaissance study of alchemy, which ultimately sought to create man from matter—and...
03.15.2023
"Is a Great Books Education for Everyone" with Thomas Hibbs
"One thing that is true of [the Great Books] list is that you cannot… think that it is a unified, monolithic view of the truth. Hobbes and Machiavelli disagree vehemently with Plato, right? There's some continuity there, but Aquinas does...
03.15.2023
"The Knowledge that Transcends the Empirical World" with Hasan Spiker
"The empirical in the traditional notion of reason is only one component in the uncovering of our knowledge. But knowledge really involves uncovering the intelligible object. So what that means is the intelligible object is not there in the empirical...
03.15.2023
"The Decline of Morality Amidst the Celebration of the Self" with Chris Hedges
“If your ultimate concern is yourself, if you have spent your life building a monument to yourself, then in biblical terms, that’s idolatry. I think we live in an idolatrous society… I think it is extremely difficult for people to...
04.08.2022
Sculpting the Self with Muhammad U. Faruque and Esmé Partridge
In this podcast, Muhammad U. Faruque speaks with Esme Partridge on his recently published book, Sculpting the Self: Islam, Selfhood, and Human Flourishing, which examine notions of selfhood and subjectivity before and in the modern period. Muhammad U. Faruque is Inayat...
03.30.2022
What, Other Than God, Do We Worship?
In a thought-provoking exchange, Rushain Abbasi, a scholar of Islamic thought, and Omar Qureshi, provost of Zaytuna College, present their ideas of why shirk retains theological utility for Muslims today because the concept goes far beyond idols of stone. Ubaydullah...
12.10.2021
Protection from Power with Mohammad Fadel and Lawrence Jannuzzi
Is there a way to reconcile modern intuitions about egalitarianism with historical relations based on hierarchy? Scholars Mohammad Fadel and Lawrence Jannuzzi discuss the contours of equality, power, and hierarchy from both an Islamic legal and contemporary political perspective. Mohammad...
11.05.2021
What Is the Nature of Being Alone? (Stephen A. Gregg and Asad Tarsin)
Stephen A. Gregg, a twice contributor to the journal speaks with Asad Tarsin about the inspiration behind his Renovatio essay, “The Only Real Solitude.” Stephen A. Gregg is a monk of the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Dallas, in Texas. Joshua...
10.13.2021
Why Beauty Is Not Optional with Oludamini Oggunaike and Ubaydullah Evans
What better topic for discussion than beauty, muses Oludamini Ogunnaike, a regular contributor to Renovatio and a scholar of Islam in north and west Africa. Beauty is inseparable from truth, goodness, and justice, yet reference to it is missing from...
08.30.2021
Graceful Giving and Grateful Receiving
Asad Tarsin, author of Being Muslim: A Practical Guide, speaks with Joshua Lee Harris, a specialist on the work of Thomas Aquinas, on his article for Renovatio, “The Human Arts of Graceful Giving and Grateful Receiving.” Tarsin and Harris exchange...
08.19.2021
Power to the People?
In this episode, scholars Caner Dagli and Andrew March discuss theories of democracy and their relationship to modern Islamic thought, how modern Muslims grapple with democracy’s promise as well as its baggage, and whether metaphysics can (or should) be untangled...
07.28.2021
Cultivating the Life Skill of Writing
The mere act of writing for one’s self tends to reveal the fact that each one of us contains multitudes. When we write in our diaries or journals, we employ rhetorical devices even though our audience is within us. Scott...
07.12.2021
Are Believers a Political Tribe? (Asma T. Uddin and Caner K. Dagli)
In this episode, philosopher Caner K. Dagli speaks with attorney Asma T. Uddin on the path she sees for Muslims to effect real change for themselves without succumbing to tribalism and explores her views on the increasingly antiquated and often...
06.05.2021
Equality in the Ancient World with Juan Cole and Ubaydullah Evans
In this episode, Ubaydullah Evans interviews the historian Juan Cole on his forthcoming article for Renovatio that addresses the issue of equality by examining the text and context of the Qur’an.
06.02.2021
What Makes a Book "Great"? Fr. Francisco Nahoe and Sarah Barnette
Sarah Barnette, a scholar of Victorian literature, speaks with Fr. Francisco Nahoe on great books and the pleasure of reading.
05.08.2021
From Fanaticism to Faith: Joram van Klaveren and Ubaydullah Evans
Joram van Klaveren’s story is one about the dangers of fanaticism but also the courage to follow truth even when it is unpopular and life-altering.
03.17.2021
The Decline of Language and the Rise of Nothing: Hamza Yusuf and Thomas Hibbs
Hamza Yusuf interviews President Thomas Hibbs, former president of the University of Dallas, on the importance of rekindling a love of language so we might better articulate ourselves and possess the words to describe our experience of the world. Show...
02.26.2021
Philosophy without God (David Bentley Hart and Caner Dagli)
In this episode, Caner Dagli interviews David Bentley Hart about the state of philosophy and whether the believer can be hopeful about its future. Show notes: https://renovatio.zaytuna.edu/media/philosophy-without-god
01.21.2021
Why Are Muslims Seen as a Race? (Khalil Abdur-Rashid and Caner Dagli)
Does critical race theory presuppose principles antithetical to Islam, or should we understand it as a neutral framework for analyzing the nature of power and oppression? Show notes: https://renovatio.zaytuna.edu/media/why-are-muslims-seen-as-a-race-khalil-abdur-rashid-and-caner-dagli
09.18.2019
The Qur’an, the Prophet, and a Forgotten History - Juan Cole in conversation with Hamza Yusuf
Juan Cole's Muhammad: Prophet of Peace Amid the Clash of Empires (2018) retells the history of the prophetic period in seventh-century Arabia through the context of a brutal war between the Iranian Sassanian Empire and the Roman Empire in the...
04.25.2019
Conversing with a National Treasure: Wisdom and Wit with Eva Brann
Hamza Yusuf, President of Zaytuna College, converses with Eva Brann, the sagely long time educator and author of St. Johns College in Annapolis Maryland about philosophy, wisdom, and wit. Show notes: https://renovatio.zaytuna.edu/media/conversing-with-a-national-treasure-wisdom-and-wit-with-eva-brann
07.02.2018
The Art and Artifice of Poetry (Scott Crider & Hamza Yusuf)
Scott Crider and Hamza Yusuf discuss the art and artifice of poetry. Show notes: https://renovatio.zaytuna.edu/media/the-art-and-artifice-of-poetry-scott-crider-hamza-yusuf https://renovatio.zaytuna.edu/authors/scott-crider https://renovatio.zaytuna.edu/authors/hamza-yusuf ____________________________________ Moon Landing – W. H. Auden It’s natural the Boys should whoop it up for so huge a phallic triumph, an adventure it would not...
06.28.2018
What Conservatism Really Means (Roger Scruton & Hamza Yusuf)
In modern educated circles, the philosophy of Conservatism doesn’t usually enjoy a good opinion. Liberalism being the default philosophy of the educated classes. The conversation we present today presents conservatism divorced from politics, as a philosophy of conserving only what...
06.04.2018
The Secret of the Morality Tale
Renovatio's Editor Safir Ahmed sits down with Cyrus Ali Zargar for a chat about his research into the role of storytelling in Islam's ethical tradition. Show notes: https://renovatio.zaytuna.edu/media/the-secret-of-the-morality-tale Cyrus Ali Zargar is an assosiate professor of religion at Augustana College who recently...
03.30.2018
What the Hadith Tradition Reveals About Religion in Academia
The study of Hadith is a subject which is often misunderstood. We asked Jonathan Brown to help clarify some of the most common misconceptions about the study of Hadith from different perspectives. Jonathan Brown is an American scholar of Islamic studies....
02.25.2018
The Silent Theology of Islamic Art
To many, the silent theology of Islamic art can speak more profoundly and clearly than the most scholarly works, and its beauty can be more evident and persuasive than the strongest of arguments. The Qur’an is not a set of...
01.16.2018
Can Religion Be Studied Impartially? (Caner Dagli)
A wide ranging interview about the study of Islam with Caner Dagli. Dagli is an associate professor of religious studies at College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, specializing in Qur'anic studies, interfaith dialogue, and philosophy. An editor of The...
06.07.2017
The Roots of Our Crises (Hamza Yusuf)
Hamza Yusuf at the inaugural Renovatio event on May 14th, 2017 at Zaytuna College Show notes: https://renovatio.zaytuna.edu/media/the-roots-of-our-crises-hamza-yusuf

What's Renovatio: The Podcast about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Renovatio: The Podcast episodes:

The Ancient Roots of Transhumanist Thinking

"Is a Great Books Education for Everyone" with Thomas Hibbs

"The Knowledge that Transcends the Empirical World" with Hasan Spiker

"The Decline of Morality Amidst the Celebration of the Self" with Chris Hedges

Sculpting the Self with Muhammad U. Faruque and Esmé Partridge

What, Other Than God, Do We Worship?

Protection from Power with Mohammad Fadel and Lawrence Jannuzzi

What Is the Nature of Being Alone? (Stephen A. Gregg and Asad Tarsin)

Why Beauty Is Not Optional with Oludamini Oggunaike and Ubaydullah Evans

Graceful Giving and Grateful Receiving

Power to the People?

Cultivating the Life Skill of Writing

Are Believers a Political Tribe? (Asma T. Uddin and Caner K. Dagli)

Equality in the Ancient World with Juan Cole and Ubaydullah Evans

What Makes a Book "Great"? Fr. Francisco Nahoe and Sarah Barnette

From Fanaticism to Faith: Joram van Klaveren and Ubaydullah Evans

The Decline of Language and the Rise of Nothing: Hamza Yusuf and Thomas Hibbs

Philosophy without God (David Bentley Hart and Caner Dagli)

Why Are Muslims Seen as a Race? (Khalil Abdur-Rashid and Caner Dagli)

The Qur’an, the Prophet, and a Forgotten History - Juan Cole in conversation with Hamza Yusuf

Conversing with a National Treasure: Wisdom and Wit with Eva Brann

The Art and Artifice of Poetry (Scott Crider & Hamza Yusuf)

What Conservatism Really Means (Roger Scruton & Hamza Yusuf)

The Secret of the Morality Tale

What the Hadith Tradition Reveals About Religion in Academia

The Silent Theology of Islamic Art

Can Religion Be Studied Impartially? (Caner Dagli)

The Roots of Our Crises (Hamza Yusuf)