PZ's Podcast

A penetrating and courageous televison program from Germany opened me up recently. It was an instance of what Stefan Kolditz, the writer of the program, called a "non-ideological access" to a tragedy. But not just their tragedy. My tragedy. Yours, too, maybe.

This is all about one thing. It didn't take Melanchthon to teach me about it, nor Thomas Cranmer. No. It took Burton Cummings to teach me about it. And life! So Stand Tall; and for God's sake, don't do something foolish.

Well, the glass ceiling is finally breaking. It's happening right before our eyes. But Aretha's going to help us see the "Kehrseite". With a little help from Lesley Gore, too. "Come and see." (John 1:46)

Meister Eckhart, meet Burton Cummings. And Randy Bachman. And me.

"No use calling, 'cause the sky is falling, and I'm getting pretty near the end." This concerns the practical consequences of (near-)death in life. Join forces with Wolfman Jack (R.I.P.) and The Guess Who; and 'Charlie Kane'.

It's getting bigger. Bigger, at least, from where I sit. The Contraption, I mean. And thank you, Karen Young! And thank you, Mike Francis! This podcast is dedicated to JAZ, the Minister of Edits.

Thinking about Obamacare got me onto this one. But it's not about Obamacare! It's about Reality. And Guess What?

That's Percy Bysshe Shelley, who gets a little help -- as if he needed it -- from Eric Burdon, and B.T.O, and John Harris Harper. And MAY this meditation on termination not be half-baked.

How can we know God? Where is God locatable? With a little help from D. Warwick and a little from St. John, I want to answer. Podcast 160 is dedicated to Jono Linebaugh.

It's really possible: "the happiest actual life", I mean. That was Booth Tarkington's phrase for the hope we could have in real terms, even when circumstances went against us and our intrinsic indelible nature went against us. Case in point: his novel "Alice Adams" (1921). Case in point: his character 'Alice Adams'. I think the story is so real as to be Real.

Boy, do we need a miracle. Such things really happen. As in Booth Tarkington, and as in John Galsworthy. As in me and you. And as in: The Buckinghams.

Taking a break now for a couple weeks, but wanted to leave a little white-pebble trail -- not of tears, but of hope. "Come on down to my boat, baby"; and I'm talking about you, Miss Wyckoff; and you, Mr. Cardew; and you, Mr. Zahl.

A Protestant spin on a Golden Oldie from Sweden. This is also a warning against categorization -- a very personal warning, as I've suffered from categorization and feel it keenly still. "Och du?"

Alternate title: Mandy and the Episcopals. Irving Berlin sets the stage; Sandra Dee plays the lead, together with Troy Donohue; and James Gould Cozzens, like Sister Mary Ignatius, Explains It All for You.

Kramer is my word for transmitted family dis-function and disease. Kramer in this sense requires acute attention. With help from The Contraption, Kramer actually can be reduced. In this podcast, Richard Egan steps up to help us, with a little help from Faith. Percy, I mean.

When you're 'mature', you're sometimes not. I learned this in my 40s. I first learned it in a parish, in 'Cheever country'. But it was also in 'Miami Vice', every Friday night. Valerie and Tubbs taught me, as did 'Sonny' and Theresa. And Jan Hammer. There was all this dread, too. Was it a dream?

The text is Isherwood's journal entry for August 3, 1967. The topic: How to grow in love for the people who are right around you. Lesley Gore is going to help us, plus, naturally, William Hale White; plus Gerald Heard; plus Wayne Fontana.

I've just written a book. It is called "PZ's Panopticon: An Off-the-Wall Guide to World Religiion". It's not about gender differences nor does it concern ideology. It looks at the religions of the world in terms of one question: What does this or that religion have to offer a dying person? My book concerns religion for a person in extremis. Dying seems to "concentrate the mind wonderfully" (Samuel...

This is about the Ancient Romans: their psychic position, their spirit-world of augury, and the effect of the birth of Christ. With help from Bob Dylan. Two corrections, too: The Thornton Wilder book is "The Woman of Andros", and 'Camulodunum' was the Roman name for Colchester.

This is a reflection on 45 years of New Testament scholarship. That's 45 years in 45 minutes -- one minute for every year. And Dave Mason puts it all in perspective.

"A little trick with Dick" (The Name Game): This is about language, control, and Purr-FEC tion. With thanks to Eric Blair, too.

What can you do when you're face to face with The Antagonist? I'll tell you this much: no one gets out of here alive. Unless there are Martians. This podcast is about suffering, and it's also about transcendence.

It's about nervous breakdowns -- maybe your 19th. It's about George's Way with us. And it's about the music.

What's really important? "Soul Coaxing" is really important. But not the practice. The song! By Raymond Lefevre and his Orchestra. THAT's really important. Gosh, I hope you like this.

Here we journey to the outer limits of compassion. Will that suffice? Or do we need a little help from our friends -- like Jeff Beck, maybe.