The Classical Ideas Podcast

Mary DeMocker is cofounder and creative director of 350.org's Eugene, Oregon, chapter. She has written about conscious parenting and climate activism for the  Sun ,  EcoWatch , Mothering.com,  Spirituality & Health ,  Oregon Quarterly , and the  Oregonian . She lives with her family in Eugene, Oregon. You can find her at:  www.marydemocker.com  and  https://twitter.com/MDeMocker/

Dr. Francis Stewart completed her doctoral thesis on punk rock as a surrogate for religion, with a particular emphasis on Straight Edge punk, in 2011 at the University of Stirling.  Within the thesis, Stewart examined the notions of community, authenticity, integrity, DIY, and salvation. She also engaged with the connections between music and the expression of emotions, particularly those emotions...

Michael R. Cohen  is Associate Professor of Jewish Studies at Tulane University, where he holds a Sizeler Professorship. He is the author of the newly published" Cotton Capitalists: American Jewish Entrepreneurship in the Reconstruction Era from NYU Press, as well as  The Birth of Conservative Judaism: Solomon Schechter's Disciples and the Creation of an American Religious Movement  from Columbia...

Dr. Pablo Mendoza is Assistant to the President for Social Equity at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He received his PhD from the University of Missouri and was previously the Director of the Mizzou Multicultural Center. He has taught Cheng Man-Ch'ing (Zhang Manqing) Yang-style Tai Chi Ch'uan (Taijiquan). This form is based on martial applied defensive moves that are synchronized to breathing...

Michael Downing teaches creative writing at Tufts University. This conversation features a deep dive into Michael's nonfiction book " Shoes Outside the Door: Desire, Devotion, and Excess at San Francisco Zen Center , hailed by the  New York Review of Books  as a 'dramatic and insightful' narrative history of the first Buddhist monastery outside of Asia, and by the  Los Angeles Times  as 'a highly...

A veteran journalist, essayist, and award-winning education writer, Linda K. Wertheimer is the author of   Faith Ed: Teaching about Religion in an Age of Intolerance .  Faith Ed , released on Aug. 18,  2015, by Beacon Press, focuses on public schools' ups and downs as they teach about world religions. See  https://www.lindakwertheimer.com/  for more information Linda on Twitter:  https://twitter.c...

Raghunath tours the world, leading yoga workshops, yoga teacher trainings, kirtans, & the practical applications of yogic philosophy. He annually takes a group on pilgrimage through holy places of India and sometimes fronts the bands Youth of Today and Shelter.   Find him on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/raghunathyogi/ Visit his website:  https://www.raghunath.yoga/ Buy his kirtan album, K...

Shulem Deen is a writer, journalist, and author of the award-winning memoir "All Who Go Do Not Return."  He is a regular contributor to the  Forward , and in 2015 was listed in the Forward 50, an annual list of American Jews with outsized roles on political and social issues. His articles have appeared in the  New York Times , the  New Republic ,  Salon ,  Tablet  Magazine, and elsewhere .  He ser...

Griffin Hardy is the Communications Director for Ministry Against the Death Penalty (MADP), founded by Sister Helen Prejean, author of "Dead Man Walking."  Mission Statement: "The Ministry Against the Death Penalty believes in the dignity of all people and fosters creative, reflective and educational programs that awaken hearts and minds, inspire social change, and strengthen our democracy's commi...

Dr. Daniel Hummel is a Scholar, writer, researcher, and teacher of religion, politics, and foreign policy in the United States and the modern Middle East. He is currently a Robert M. Kingdon Fellow at the Institute for Research in the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Hummel is also a specialist in the concept of Christian Zionism and has a forthcoming book from the University...

Meido Roshi is the abbot of Korinji monastery in Wisconsin. In 2008 Meido Roshi received inka shomei ("mind seal"), designating him an 86th-generation Zen dharma heir and a 48th-generation holder of the lineage descended from Rinzai Gigen. Meido Roshi's book The Rinzai Zen Way: A Guide to Practice is out from Shambhala Publications in March 2018. The focus of our conversation is this book and I hi...

Michael Vanhartingsveldt is a contributing columnist at Buddhistdoor Global. He works full-time at the Los Angeles Country Museum of Art. He did his masters in East Asian Art Business at Sotheby's Institute of Art, and he also works as a lecturer for the Japan Foundation. Michael collaborates on "Carving the Divine TV" with filmmaker Yujiro Seki. 

Hugo Bernard is the author of "Naked Monk." His first work of Buddhist fiction was a short story written in high school. He is working on several novels, in different genres, using fiction as a tool to better grasp Buddhist teachings. With these stories, his goal is not to 'teach' but to 'explore' how the Dhamma resonates in challenging scenarios. He hopes to accomplish this while telling stories...

Professor Rabia Gregory's primary research interest is the history of Christianity in Medieval and Early Modern Europe. She approaches the study of religion through book history, material culture, and theories of gender. Her first book, Marrying Jesus in Medieval and Early Modern Northern Europe: Popular Culture and Religious Reform, published by Ashgate, uses previously unpublished cultural artif...

Sonny Zaide is a 23rd Generation Quanzhen Longmen (Qingcheng Shan) Taoist / Daoist Initiate and the owner of the Purple Cloud Center for Eastern Medicine. He is a Licensed Acupuncturist, Certified Practitioner and Teacher of Qigong and Qigong Healing. Sonny on Twitter Purple Cloud Center

Professor Peter Adamson holds a joint appointment with the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and King's College London. His primary areas of interest are late ancient philosophy and Arabic philosophy. He is also the host of the  History of Philosophy podcast . Find his work at:  https://historyofphilosophy.net/  

Janica Towne Anderson  (author of "Zen Odyssey)" is a master falconer and has been a student and teacher of esoteric traditions for fifty years. She has worked as a research assistant in the psychology department at Harvard University and served as an instructor at Esalen Institute. She founded Big Sur Tapes, which preserved and published audio archives from teachers such as Ram Dass, Buckminster...

Miguel Chen is the bass player for long-running Fat Wreck Chords punk rock band Teenage Bottlerocket. He is the author of I Wanna Be Well, out 2/20/2018 on Wisdom Publications. He is a meditation practitioner, an RYT-500 yoga instructor, and the owner of Blossom Yoga Studio in Laramie and Cheyenne, Wyoming. In addition to appearing in countless Teenage Bottlerocket press pieces, Miguel has been fe...

Shozan Jack Haubner is the pen name of a Zen monk whose essays have appeared in The Sun, Tricycle, Buddhadharma , and the New York Times , as well as in the Best Buddhist Writing series. His book Zen Confidential: Confessions of a Wayward Monk is the winner of a 2012 Pushcart Prize . His most recent book, "Single White Monk: Tales of Death, Failure, and Bad Sex (Although Not necessarily in that or...

Kevin Singer is co-host of the Neighborly Faith Podcast.  After graduating from college at N. Illinois University, he planted (a term indicating the establishment of a new church) two churches with the Southern Baptist Convention while earning an M.A. in Theological Studies from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  Kevin earned a second M.A. in theology from Wheaton College studying Christian...

Robert Kennedy, S.J. is one of several practicing Catholic men and women who are recognized by the Buddhist community as zen teachers.  He is a licensed psychoanalyst and professor emeritus of theology at St. Peter's University in Jersey City. As a Christian Fr. Kennedy has found meaning and deep reverence in the practice of zen.   He is active in interfaith work, teaching zen to persons of all fa...

Born and raised in Japan, Yujiro Seki discovered his passion for film-making when he was in high school. Yujiro earned a BA Degree in Film from the University of California, Berkeley. His forthcoming documentary film, "Carving the Divine,"  offers a rare and intimate look into the life and artistic process of modern-day Būshi – practitioners of a 1400 year lineage of woodcarving that's at the beat...

Guo Gu (Dr. Jimmy Yu) is the founder of the Tallahassee Chan Center (www.tallahasseechan.com) and is also the guiding teacher for the Western Dharma Teachers Training course at the Chan Meditation Center in New York and the Dharma Drum Lineage. He is one of the late Master Sheng Yen's (1930–2009) senior and closest disciples, and assisted him in leading intensive retreats throughout the United Sta...

The author of The Five Roles of the Master Herder and the bestseller  The Tao of Equus , Linda Kohanov speaks and teaches internationally. She established Eponaquest Worldwide to explore the healing potential of working with horses and offer programs on everything from emotional and social intelligence, leadership, stress reduction, and parenting to consensus building and mindfulness. Her main web...

Melissa M. Wilcox received her doctorate in Religious Studies from U.C. Santa Barbara in 2000. Her transdisciplinary research program focuses on gender studies and queer studies in religion, with particular emphasis on the U.S. and Europe in the context of transnational queer and religious politics. Her books include  Coming Out in Christianity: Religion, Identity, and Community  (Indiana Universi...