If you are someone with an interest in news and cultural trends related to religion, audio podcasts are a simple way of keeping up. As with radio, podcasts have the advantage of allowing you to listen while doing other things. Podcasts can be set up to automatically download to your computer or smartphone for listening at your convenience. And in case you did not pay attention the first time around, you can replay the podcast as many times as you like. Best of all, these podcasts are free and usually carry no advertising.
While there are a large number of podcasts about religion, I recommend the following shows, which parishioners at St. John’s may find of special interest.
Interfaith Voices – Maureen Fiedler, a Roman Catholic nun, hosts this show on “religious and ethical issues behind the headlines.” Interfaith Voices deals with both controversial and mainstream topics. Recent shows include why men are missing from pews, when God talks back to evangelicals and religion in the White House. Podcast link
On Being with Krista Tippet – This weekly show is broadcast on National Public Radio and has conversations with invited guests on a wide range of topics related to spirituality and well-being, such as aging, social change, shame and morality. At times the guests on the show are pedantic and lack focus, but if you are looking for a more cerebral approach to spirituality, On Being is for you. Podcast link
The Spirit of Things – This weekly radio program, produced by the Australian Broadcasting Company (the other ABC), deals mostly with Christianity topics, but includes other faiths. As expected, discussions make reference to the Australian context. Since the Anglican church is culturally prominent Down Under, the show frequently deals with its current state of affairs. Many of the show’s guests come from around the world. Most notable is recent interview with the American theologian Marcus Borg, who passed away in March 2015, shortly after his interview. Borg was famous for his membership in the Jesus Seminar group and for debating with N.T. Wright, an evangelical Anglican scholar. Podcast Link
Rhythm Divine – Another podcast from Australia, Rhythm Divine plays and discusses music created for religious practices. While there are many shows related to traditional hymns, other shows have conversations on diverse topics, such as Bob Dylan’s gospel music, taizé and a Buddhist singing nun. Rhythm Divine is unique in its focus and worth listening to if you love church music. Podcast link
Brothers of the Society of St. John the Evangelist – The SSJE is an Episcopal religious order of men who post their weekly sermons for podcast downloading. The sermons run from 5-12 minutes with 3-4 sermons posted each week. The quality of these sermons is excellent and often surprising in their drama and humor. Of all the podcasts I listen to, this is by far my favorite. Podcast link
There are many other good religious podcasts available, in particular Baylor University’s http://www.researchonreligion.org/ but as of this writing I was not able to find the podcast feed links, so I have omitted these sites from my list. Of course, other radio and internet sources deal with religious topics from time to time. Noteworthy is a May 2015 Diane Rehm show www.thedianrehmshow.org about the rapidly declining numbers of Americans claiming no religious affiliation. http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/ 2015-05-13/causes-and-consequences-of- declining-religious-affiliation-in-the-u-s The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) produces several of what it lists as religion podcasts, but I could not find any to recommend. Oddly enough, they did not appear to be especially religious in orientation. Perhaps this is an emerging trend among Europeans because of their declining church affiliation.