RAD RELIGION

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Religion & Spirituality

Music

Charting the borderlands between religion and pop culture

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Episodes

Segment 24B – Money and Capitalism

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: https://radreligion.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/rr-final-money.mp3 We also played a couple of great money-themed tracks: ‘ Money ‘ by Pink Floyd (of course) and ‘ I Need a Dollar ‘ by Aloe Blacc. Money itself is a matter of belief. If we didn’t believe it meant something, it simp...

Dec 06, 2012

Segment 24A – Thai Buddhist Pop

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 the end of the segment! https://radreligion.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/rr-final-thai.mp3 We played ‘ Chamloei Rak ‘ by Phumphuang Duangchan, and the ubiquitous Loy Krathong song . Over 90% of people in Thailand are Buddhist, of the Theravada school . Theravada is ost...

Dec 06, 2012

Segment 23 – American Buddhist Folk

Guitar-pickin’ monks and bluesy Buddhists are our topic today. Listen to us chat about the cultural flexibility of Buddhism here: https://radreligion.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/rr-15-nov.mp3 We played a couple of American Buddhist folksy tracks: ‘ Yashodara ‘ from the Venerable Heng Sure; and ‘ Zen Gospel Singing ‘ from Bryan Bowers. Buddhism, throughout its couple of millennia of history, has exhibited an incredible ability to adapt to new areas.There are plenty of stories of Sidd...

Nov 15, 2012

Segment 22 – Romantic Love

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: https://radreligion.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/rr-18-oct1.mp3 We played ‘ This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)’ by Natalie Cole – which my girlfriend reliably informs me is featured in at least five rom-coms – and ‘ Heaven is a Place on Earth ‘ by Belinda Carlisle – a track that exposes the religious nature of romantic love in no uncertain terms. So wha...

Oct 18, 2012

Segment 21 – Sikh Rock

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: https://radreligion.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/rr-october-4.mp3 We listened to ‘ Tu Kaun Hai ‘ by The Roving Sikhs, and ‘ Ik Ongkar ‘ by Anhad. Sikhism isn’t very well known, but it’s actually the fifth largest organised religion in the world, with about 30 million adherents globally. Most Sikhs live in Punjab, a regi...

Oct 04, 2012

Segment 20 – Day of the Dead

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: https://radreligion.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/rr-27-sept.mp3 We played a couple of traditional Mexican tunes to get in the mood: ‘ Cruz Olviada ‘ by Dorance Ospina and ‘ Vamonos ‘ by Lila Downs . The Day of the Dead is a national holiday in Mexico that goes for two days, 1-2 November. The basic idea is celebrating the deceased. People make al...

Sep 27, 2012

Segment 19 – Zen Jazz

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: https://radreligion.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/rr-20-sept.mp3 Tracks we played were ‘ Rita ‘ by Jazztronik , and ‘ Kogun ‘ by Toshiko Akiyoshi. Zen is great fun – it’s whole aim is to mess with your understandings of logic and your normal view of the world. Although Buddhism began in India, the Chan school can be trace...

Sep 20, 2012

Segment 18 – Hindu Rap

Take some Indian mythology and put it to a beat, and you’ll get today’s topic – Hindu rap. Listen to the segment here: https://radreligion.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/rr-13-sept.mp3 (NB: The tracks are now included in the audio here, due to changed agreements between community broadcasters and the music industry. Yay!) The tracks were ‘ Ganesh is Fresh ‘ by MC Yogi and ‘ Siva Siva ‘ by Yogi B and Natchatra. Rap is effectively words spoken rhythmically, and ostensibly has its roots i...

Sep 13, 2012

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