The Pocket Contemplative

This week, Dave, Val and Tom celebrate Spotlight’s Best Picture Academy Award by talking with Walter “Robby” Robinson, who headed the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team that broke the worldwide sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. 

This week, Dave, Val and Tom talk about The Big Short with New York Times financial reporter Peter Eavis. How might faith help ordinary people feel a little less at the mercy of Wall Street and the world economy? And then, as always, they close by letting us know what they're into this week.

On this week's podcast, Dave, Val and Tom talk about whether religion “infantilizes” us. Does it make us less mature than we’d be without it? In their second segment, they’ll talk about ways to bridge the Christian/Muslim gap—or if that’s even advisable—with Rick Love of Peace Catalyst International. And, as always, they close by letting us know what they're into this week.

This week, Dave, Val and Tom talk about how we might respond to the threat of ISIS. Do normal citizens have any options beyond living the most authentic life they can despite such threats? In their second segment, they talk about meaning-of-life gatherings for both secular and religious people with Ryan Bauers of “TED at the Teatro.”  And, as always, they close by letting us know what they're into this week.

On this week's Blue Ocean World podcast, Dave, Val and Tom talk about the author in the last twenty years who might get brought up the most when people talk about finding meaning in a secular world—David Foster Wallace. In their second segment, they talk about churches that could work for the quickest growing “religious” segment of the population that the Pew Research people call the “nones”—people who, when surveyed about their religion, check “none.” And, as always, they close by letting us know what they're into this week.

On this week's Blue Ocean World podcast, Dave, Val and Tom talk about the challenges of talking about sex in religious settings. Are we doomed to clichés or is there a kind of candid dialogue that’s only helpful? And, as always, they close by letting us know what they're into this week.

On this week's Blue Ocean World podcast, Dave, Val and Tom talk about a recent New York Times article that says most of us connect by way of letting our friends and loved ones know about all the small complaints of our day. Is this just annoying or is there something to be said for microcomplaints? In their second segment, they interview the dynamic Nancy Ellen Abrams, wife of famed physicist Joel Primack, who to her surprise discovered “A God That Could Be Real” from science and atheism. And, as always, they close by letting us know what they're into this week.