Progressive Commentary Hour – 05.02.17

 CONVERSATIONS WITH REMARKABLE MIND The need for a new theological or spiritual ethical agenda in the age of Trump Professor Harvey Cox is one of America’s most preeminent theologians and the Hollis Research Professor emeritus at Harvard Divinity School, the oldest professorship at Harvard going back to 1721. Prof. Coxhas been called one of the most important liberal theologians during the last half century …

The Gary Null Show – 03.10.17

Prof. Susannah Heschel is the Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies and a member of the Women’s and Gender Studies faculty at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. She is the daughter of the renowned Jewish civil rights activist and spiritual leader Rabbi Abraham Heschel, who is well known for his marching alongside Martin Luther King during the Selma, Alabama protests. The King family regarded her father as “one of the great men of our time.” Susannah edited a collection of Rabbi Heschel’s essential teachings for the Modern Spiritual Masters Series. Her very important publication — “The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany” — is the result of 20 years research into the history of anti-Semitic doctrine within the German Christian movement and Catholic Church in Nazi Germany and details how Christianity was perverted to foment a racist doctrine serving the political ambitions of the Nazi regime.

Pope Francis calls out journalists: Does the media needlessly foster fear?

The Vatican’s Pope Francis has strived to be a voice of peace and unity on a continent struggling to deal with a refugee crisis. On Thursday he spoke out once again, this time against mass media, which he says has the power to shape the public’s response to that challenge. During an address to Italy’s national journalism guild, Pope Francis …

DANIEL LIPPMAN – The Economist rates Trump presidency among its top 10 global risks

A Donald Trump presidency poses a top-10 risk event that could disrupt the world economy, lead to political chaos in the U.S. and heighten security risks for the United States, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit. Electing Trump could also start a trade war, hurt trade with Mexico and be a godsend to terrorist recruiters in the Middle East, according …

Why People Don’t Take Right-Wing Evangelicals So Seriously Anymore

Back before 9/11 indelibly linked Islam with terrorism, back before the top association to “Catholic priest” was “pedophile,” most Americans—even nonreligious Americans—thought of religion as benign. I’m not religious myself, people would say, but what’s the harm if it gives someone else a little comfort or pleasure. Back then, people associated Christianity with kindness and said things like, “That’s not very Christian …

DANIEL DENVIR – DONALD TRUMP’S REMEDIAL GUIDE TO FOREIGN POLICY: THE GOP FRONTRUNNER HAS NO IDEA HOW STATECRAFT ACTUALLY WORKS

Over the past several months, Donald Trump has famously said a lot of nasty things about Mexican immigrants. What’s less often noted is that he thinks the Mexican government is run by the world’s most hyper-competent  supervillains. The upshot is that only Trump has the wherewithal to beat them.  “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,” he said …

Project Censored – 12.29.15

Peter and Mickey spend the hour with author and theologian Matthew Fox, who explains his ideas of ‘creation spirituality’ and the ‘cosmic Christ.’ Fox also discusses his conflicts with the Vatican (“John Paul II and Benedict restarted the Inquisition”), the significance of non-Christian faiths such as Bhuddhism and Native American religions, the respect that religion should hold for science, and more.

New study shows a child’s brain absorbs twice as much cell phone radiation versus adults

A recently published study shows that a child’s brain can absorb twice as much cell phone radiation as that of an adult. It confirms that cell phone radiation is absorbed deeper into children’s brains than previous outdated cell phone test methods have suggested. The world now has more than 7 billion cell phones. Given the links between cell phone radiation and a number of …

Dylan Matthews – America’s biggest housing program is run by the IRS, and it’s a huge giveaway to rich people

The mortgage interest tax deduction is a garbage policy. It’s hugely regressive: 52 percent of the benefit goes to the richest 10 percent of Americans, and only 0.1 percent of the benefit goes to the poorest 20 percent. The deduction is supposed to encourage homeownership, but economists Edward Glaeser and Jesse Shapiro have found that it overwhelmingly goes to rich …