Religion and Babies

Since I have lived in Canada, I have heard several people say that Muslims are out-pacing Christians because they are having more children.  My question:  is this correct?  And the broader question:  do some religions have a higher birth rate than others?

As you might imagine, this is a delicate topic, which is why I appreciate this interview so much.

Rosling’s research looks at the global reality and takes into account some of the subtleties of population issues and religion itself since 1960 until the present day.  Rosling also accounts for other factors such as economic status as he searches for an answer to this question.

The evidence is fascinating and presented in a most incredible manner.  So tune in and look at this most amazing developments in our population and cultures.

DOWNLOAD: RELIGION AND BABIES (13 minutes)

Credits:  Rosling, Hans.  “Religion and Babies.”  TED.  April 2012.

My Life Should Look Better on Facebook

Facebook is such a huge part of our lives, but the question is if it is a good part of our lives or a bad part?

In order to consider this questions, Brian Lehrer interviews Meg Jay, author of The Defining Decade:  Why Your Twenties Matter, and How to make the Most of Them Now.  This book is one I purchased as soon as I discovered it and have since loaned it to many 20 year olds, all of whom said it was a book every one in college should read.

According to Jay, the issue with Facebook is that people have so much control over what we put online – it is always the best parts of our lives and rarely the worst.

So what is one to do with Facebook?

DOWNLOAD: MY LIFE SHOULD LOOK BETTER ON FACEBOOK (15 minutes)    

Credits :Lehrer, Brian. “My Life Should Look Better on Facebook”  Interview with Meg Jay.  The Brian Lehrer Show, WYNC, May 10, 2012. 

How to Build Your Creative Confidence

Ask yourself the question:  What keeps you from being creative?  What keeps you from doing something that you have always wanted to do, but hasn’t been done that often?

Judgment.  We are afraid of being judged by our peers, supervisors, loved ones, etc. . .

The reality is that we are all creative; we just have to let go of our fear of being judged.  David Kelley shares some of the information he learned from Albert Bandura, who is considered to be one of the most important psychologists in history.  His process of guided mastery is used to over come phobias in a very short amount of time.

So how does this apply to creativity?  You will have to just tune in to find out!

DOWNLOAD: HOW TO BUILD YOUR CREATIVE CONFIDENCE (11 minutes)

Credits:  Kelley, David.  “How to Build Your Creative Confidence”  TED.  March 2012.

Getting Revenge and Forgiveness

We have all heard it before, “forgive and forget”; yet, revenge is a huge part of our society.  Michael McCullough is a professor of psychology at the University of Miami, author of Beyond Revenge and guest on On Being, with Krista Tippett.

McCullough writes that forgiveness is more than just a nice notion, but instinctually embedded in each of us.  Thus, the question is how we embolden our instincts to forgive and quell the desire for revenge?  The surprisingly ally, at least to me, was not religion, but science which says that we instinctually cooperative and thus have a tolerance for mistakes.  Without that tolerance, we would never be able to achieve all that we have because there would be no cooperation.

As for revenge, while it is often the popular subject of many songs, revenge does not work very well in the animal kingdom – in fact, it usually works against us.  So does revenge serve a purpose?  Tune in to find out.

DOWNLOAD: GETTING REVENGE AND FORGIVENESS (50 minutes)

Credits: Tippett, Krista. “Getting Revenge and Forgiveness”  On Being,  American Public Media.  May 24, 2012. 

The Outsourced Self

Brian Lehrer interviews Arlie Hochschild about her new book, The Outsourced Self:  Intimate Life in Market Times.  In short, the book is about how people outsource their private lives, much like businesses outsource services that fall outside their expertise.

The interview is a learning experience about the many ways people can outsource their private lives – everything from nannies to housekeepers to shoppers to home decorators.

Hochschild addresses what effects these social changes have made to our social structure – largely an imbalance in our lives.  The trend, as she says, is that we are privatizing public services, while publicizing private services.  The concern is easy to understand as it takes away from community and the social fabric that unites us.    

This is not to say that outsourcing is bad, but that the right balance is needed.

DOWNLOAD: OUTSOURCED SELF (13 minutes)  

Credits :Lehrer, Brian. “Outsourced Self”  Interview with Arlie Hotchschild.  The Brian Lehrer Show, WYNC, May 14, 2012. 

What is a Good Teacher?

When I first began teaching, the question we all heard was, “are good teachers born or taught?”  It is a legitimate question, especially since so much depends on the quality of education.

This panel discussion, based in England, asks what qualities make a good teacher; and how can more teachers be more than just “good”?  There are questions about the nature of initial training as well as on-the-job training.  This panel also questions whether society is now putting too much on the shoulders of teachers and wonders about the responsibilities of communities in the role of education.

Admittedly, my difficulty with this discussion is that it focuses quite heavily on education in relation to economic stability and prosperity, with little discussion about the liberal notions of education as a bedrock of society.  Nevertheless, the discussion is worthy of attention.

DOWNLOAD:    WHAT IS A GOOD TEACHER? (32 minutes)

 Credits:  Sir Michael Wilshaw HMCI, Matthew Taylor, Peter Hyman, Ndidi Okezie and Gillian Hargreaves. “ What is a Good Teacher?.” RSA .  April 30, 2012.

Love Lessons

In a delightful reflection with two couples, Steve Paikin explores what makes marriage work.  The guests are a younger and older couple, all of whom tell us what they have learned about dating, love and relationships.

The result if insightful and humorous and clearly illustrates the difference between younger and older couples.  The advice, is for the most part, are things you have heard before, but certainly give any couple the opportunity for discussion.

However, the interview also features four unmarried men and women all of which are in the late 20’s and early 30’s.  The question asked to them is what they think about love and marriage.  Some are in relationships and others are not, three are heterosexual and one is homosexual.  Their reflections warrant much discussion – of all kinds.  

DOWNLOAD: LOVE LESSONS (52 minutes)

Credits:  Paikin, Steve.  “Love Lessons.” The Agenda, TVO.  Interview.  May 29, 2012.

Perspective is Everything

We have all heard the cliché:  “the glass is half-full, rather than half-empty.”  That is to say life is about how you look at it.  This week, we feature a talk that, in a rather humourous way, raises this issue to our attention.

In the beginning, this talk seems more like a comedy routine highlighting one example after another about how perspective really does change the reality.   However, just after the laughter, Sutherland’s talk takes on a more serious turn.

“Do you call it the bailout of Greece or the bailout of a load of stupid banks which lent to Greece?  Because they are the same thing.  What you call them affects how you react to them, viscerally and morally.”

Our willingness to pay money, Sutherland explains, depends on how we perceive where the money is going.  Thus, among other things, his conclusions is that people do not have an issue with higher taxes, their issue is the lack of control them money goes towards.

 DOWNLOAD: PERSPECTIVE IS EVERYTHING (18 minutes)

         Credits:  Sutherland, Roy.  “Perspective is Everything”  TED.  May 2012.

Keeping the Doubt

Over the years, we have featured a number of podcasts that speak about doubt, but mostly from those who don’t have much to do with religion, but this week, we join Mary Hynes as she speaks with a rabbi who says he isn’t religious!

No doubt (pardon the pun), this rabbi is controversial and yet, his perspective is a popular one – just that they never speak about it.  From his perspective, any given religion works as long as it exists in its own context.

The second part of this interview with the Founder of Skeptic Magazine.  Here, Michael Shermer addresses the skeptic’s response to the question, “why there is something rather than nothing?”

So join for another great podcast link from Attuned.

DOWNLOAD: KEEPING THE DOUBT (50 minutes)

Credits:  Hynes, Mary.  “Keeping the Doubt.” Tapestry.  CBC Radio, May 6, 2012.

Bad Religion

This title could be a bit confusing – Ross Douthat does not believe that religion is a bad thing (actually quite the contrary), but that the United States has become a nation of heretics who practice religion badly.

As interviewed on WNYC, Douthat speaks about his latest book:  Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics.  To be more specific, Douthat speaks from his own Catholic Tradition, and really speaks most about Christianity.

The basic idea is that most Christians have become too comfortable with a Gospel that should not leave them comfortable.  Douthat elaborates on how times have changed and how Christianity, as a religion, has responded to these changes.  There is also a lot about the impact of historical events on the movements of the changes.

DOWNLOAD: BAD RELIGION (33 minutes)

Credits :Lehrer, Brian. “Bad Religion”  Interview with Ross Douthat.  The Brian Lehrer Show, WYNC, April 27, 2012.