Could we say that capitalism is the religion of modernity? Or at least a part thereof? For the final topic of Rad Religion, we chatted about how money and capitalism could be ‘religious’. Hear us chat here: We also played … Continue reading →

Segment 24A – Thai Buddhist Pop

Dec 6th, 2012

I recently visited Thailand and was impressed by the richness of Thai popular religious traditions. We played a couple of Thai pop songs as part of this week’s segment. It was the first half of a double feature to mark … Continue reading →

Segment 23 – American Buddhist Folk

Nov 15th, 2012

Guitar-pickin’ monks and bluesy Buddhists are our topic today. Listen to us chat about the cultural flexibility of Buddhism here: We played a couple of American Buddhist folksy tracks: ‘Yashodara‘ from the Venerable Heng Sure; and ‘Zen Gospel S

Contemporary Torii Gates

Oct 24th, 2012

Click to view slideshow.Torii gates are a distinctive feature of Japanese architecture, and in recent years some of them have been updated with elements of contemporary design; they’ve also become inspiration for other constructions.Image cre

Segment 22 – Romantic Love

Oct 18th, 2012

Today we looked at what might be the most widespread myth in Western culture: the myth of romantic love. Hear us chat about it here: We played ‘This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)’ by Natalie Cole – which my girlfriend reliably … Continue readin

Spontaneous Shrines

Oct 11th, 2012

Click to view slideshow.Image credits: Princess Diana; Colombia; September 11; Aurora.Just a brief post this week, nodding towards an interesting new mourning ritual that has emerged in the West over the last twenty years or so. We’ve all see

Segment 21 – Sikh Rock

Oct 4th, 2012

Christians aren’t the only ones rockin’ in God’s name – today we looked at the Sikh bands who are doing the same thing. Listen to some tracks and our discussion here: We listened to ‘Tu Kaun Hai‘ by The Roving … Continue reading →

Segment 20 – Day of the Dead

Sep 27th, 2012

Today we tried to get ourselves immersed in Mexican culture with the quirky traditions of la Día de los Muertos. Hear us chat about it here: We played a couple of traditional Mexican tunes to get in the mood: ‘Cruz … Continue reading →

Segment 19 – Zen Jazz

Sep 20th, 2012

Flow, oneness, connection, selflessness, immediacy – all of these notions are central to both Zen Buddhism and jazz improvisation. Hear us chat about the links here: Tracks we played were ‘Rita‘ by Jazztronik, and ‘Kogun‘ by Toshiko Akiyoshi. Z

Segment 18 – Hindu Rap

Sep 13th, 2012

Take some Indian mythology and put it to a beat, and you’ll get today’s topic – Hindu rap. Listen to the segment here: (NB: The tracks are now included in the audio here, due to changed agreements between community broadcasters … Continue readi

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