Best Buddhist Economics Podcasts (2025)

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Is a River Alive?: A Conversation with Robert Macfarlane 34:00

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8h ago34:00

34:00

Hailed in the New York Times as "a naturalist who can unfurl a sentence with the breathless ease of a master angler," Robert Macfarlane brings his glittering style to a profound work of travel writing, reportage, and natural history. Is a River Alive? (W.W. Norton, 2025) is a joyful, mind-expanding exploration of an ancient, urgent idea: that river…

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Paulette F. C. Steeves, "The Indigenous Paleolithic of the Western Hemisphere" (U Nebraska Press, 2021) 40:01

4h ago40:01

40:01

The Indigenous Paleolithic of the Western Hemisphere (U Nebraska Press, 2021) is a reclaimed history of the deep past of Indigenous people in North and South America during the Paleolithic. Paulette F. C. Steeves mines evidence from archaeology sites and Paleolithic environments, landscapes, and mammalian and human migrations to make the case that …

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Marc Sommers, "We the Young Fighters: Pop Culture, Terror, and War in Sierra Leone" (U Georgia Press, 2023) 1:18:50

1d ago1:18:50

1:18:50

We the Young Fighters: Pop Culture, Terror, and War in Sierra Leone (U Georgia Press, 2023) by Dr. Marc Sommers is at once a history of a nation, the story of a war, and the saga of downtrodden young people and three pop culture superstars. Reggae idol Bob Marley, rap legend Tupac Shakur, and the John Rambo movie character all portrayed an upside-d…

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Kerplunk! (Zen and the Art of Art) w/ Matthew Sherling 32:17

3d ago32:17

32:17

ACZC’s favorite poet in residence Matthew gives us a talk on Zen, creativity, and art and the many frictions and harmonies between them. Can we train spontaneity? Does Zen’s famous skepticism of the written word discourage or liberate our writing? If we’re so focused on letting our thoughts go, will we still be able to grab the good ones and get th…

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Allison Christine Meier, "Grave" (Bloomsbury, 2023) 50:17

3d ago50:17

50:17

Grave (Bloomsbury, 2023) by Allison C. Meier takes a ground-level view of how burial sites have transformed over time and how they continue to change. As a cemetery tour guide, Meier has spent more time walking among tombstones than most. Even for her, the grave has largely been invisible, an out of the way and unobtrusive marker of death. However,…

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VCP: Farm Management and Rural Appraisal in our chaotic age 1:04:22

5d ago1:04:22

1:04:22

In this live episode recorded at an ASFMRA conference, Vance sit down with veteran farm manager and rural appraiser Dennis Raymond of Stalcup Ag Service to bridge two audiences: an in-room crowd steeped in modern agriculture and a wider listenership curious about how farmland is owned, managed, and valued. Dennis shares a career’s worth of perspect…

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#837: How to Simplify Your Life in 2026 — New Tips from Derek Sivers, Seth Godin, and Martha Beck 32:18

5d ago32:18

32:18

As we head into the new year, many of us feel like we’re drowning in invisible complexity. So I wanted to hit pause and ask a simple question: What are 1-3 decisions that could dramatically simplify my life in 2026? To explore that, I invited three close friends and long-time listener favorites—Derek Sivers, Seth Godin, and Martha Beck. This episod…

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Elizabeth Anne Davis, "The Time of the Cannibals: On Conspiracy Theory and Context" (Fordham UP, 2024) 1:30:48

6d ago1:30:48

1:30:48

In 2009, the body of a former president of the Republic of Cyprus, Tassos Papadopoulos, was stolen from his grave. The Time of the Cannibals reconsiders this history and the public discourse on it to reconsider how we think about conspiracy theory, and specifically, what it means to understand conspiracy theories “in context.” The months after Papa…

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Sarah Hoiland, "Righteous Sisterhood: The Politics and Power of an All-Women's Motorcycle Club" (Temple UP, 2025) 44:53

8d ago44:53

44:53

A righteous sister identifies herself as a biker. She might wrench, or maintain, her own bike, and she prefers to ride with other righteous sisters. Righteous Sisterhood: The Politics and Power of an All-Women's Motorcycle Club (Temple UP, 2025) is Dr. Sarah Hoiland’s insightful ethnography about an all-women motorcycle club (MC). She recounts stor…

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The Golden Tone (Nostalgia) w/ Sara Campbell 28:56

10d ago28:56

28:56

“You can go home again, so long as you understand that home is a place where you have never been.” - Ursula Le Guin Sara kicks off the holiday season with a Zen look at nostalgia, going home, and living the past right here in the present moment. How do we honor where we’ve been without missing where we are? Does trying to live in the present mean w…

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#836: The 4-Hour Workweek Principles — 13 Mistakes to Avoid, The Art of Mini-Retirements, and Navigating the Dizziness of Freedom 1:37:45

12d ago1:37:45

1:37:45

This time around, we have a bit of a different format, featuring the book that started it all for me, The 4-Hour Workweek. Readers and listeners often ask me what I would change or update, but an equally interesting question is: what wouldn’t I change? What stands the test of time and hasn’t lost any potency? This episode features three of the most…

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Christina Jerne, "Opposition by Imitation: The Economics of Italian Anti-Mafia Activism" (U Minnesota Press, 2025) 56:40

12d ago56:40

56:40

For more than 150 years, Italy has been home to a resilient and evolving resistance against the pervasive influence of mafias. While these criminal organizations are renowned for their vast international business enterprises, the collective actions taken to oppose them are less known. In Opposition by Imitation: The Economics of Italian Anti-Mafia …

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Heath Pearson, "Life Beside Bars: Confinement and Capital in an American Prison Town" (Duke UP, 2024) 1:05:01

13d ago1:05:01

1:05:01

In Life Beside Bars: Confinement and Capital in an American Prison Town (Duke UP, 2024), Heath Pearson showcases dynamic, interdependent community as the best hope for undoing the systems of confinement that reproduce capital in Cumberland County, New Jersey—a place that is home to three state prisons, one federal prison, and the regional jail. Pea…

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Nayma Qayum, "Village Ties: Women, NGOs, and Informal Institutions in Rural Bangladesh" (Rutgers UP, 2021) 1:02:46

15d ago1:02:46

1:02:46

Across the global South, poor women’s lives are embedded in their social relationships and governed not just by formal institutions – rules that exist on paper – but by informal norms and practices. Village Ties: Women, NGOs, and Informal Institutions in Rural Bangladesh (Rutgers UP, 2021) takes the reader to Bangladesh, a country that has risen fr…

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An Unwanted Koan (What Am I Doing Here??) w/ Resa Alboher 44:31

17d ago44:31

44:31

“She said, ‘This isn’t the koan you wanted.’ And I thought about that. What do you do with a koan you don't want? Usually, if it's a koan, you didn't want it.” - Resa Alboher Long time sangha stalwart and dear friend Resa Alboher brings us the epic adventure of what brought her to ACZC across continents, decades of earth shaking world events, and m…

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#835: Ben Patrick (KneesOverToesGuy) — 20-Minute Workouts That Produce Wild Results, From Chronic Knee Pain to Dunking Basketballs, Lessons from Charles Poliquin, Bulletproofing the Lower Body, and More ... 1:37:03

20d ago1:37:03

1:37:03

Ben Patrick, better known as “Kneesovertoesguy” (@kneesovertoesguy), is the founder of Athletic Truth Group (ATG), an online and brick-and-mortar training system rooted in rehabilitative strength and joint health. After years of debilitating knee and shin pain (including multiple surgeries), he rebuilt his body and performance, going from a sub-20″…

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Karine Gagné, "Caring for Glaciers: Land, Animals, and Humanity in the Himalayas" (U Washington Press, 2019) 1:41:53

22d ago1:41:53

1:41:53

In her new book, Caring for Glaciers: Land, Animals, and Humanity in the Himalayas (University of Washington Press, 2019), Karine Gagné explores how relations of reciprocity between land, humans, animals, and glaciers foster an ethics of care in the Himalayan communities of Ladakh. She explores the way these relations are changing due to climate ch…

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Vania Smith-Oka, "Becoming Gods: Medical Training in Mexican Hospitals" (Rutgers UP, 2021) 49:05

23d ago49:05

49:05

In Becoming Gods: Medical Training in Mexican Hospitals (Rutgers University Press, 2021), Vania Smith-Oka follows a cohort of interns throughout their year of medical training in hospitals to understand how medical students become medical doctors. She ethnographically tracks their engagements with one another, interactions with patients, experience…

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The Authenticity Problem (Hopeless Faith) w/ Dave Cuomo 34:13

24d ago34:13

34:13

“What are you doing if you're not trying, or trying not to be doing something? Everything you're doing.” - Dave Cuomo Dave gives us an exhortation to hopeless faith for the hopelessly secular who might still be in the market for meaning and purpose. Can we really base a strong and sincere faith on literally nothing? Can skepticism and doubt be bot…

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ATR: Secretary Rawlins; Cheerleader or Change Maker? with Elliot Henderson 42:13

24d ago42:13

42:13

In this week’s Ag Tribes Report, Vance Crowe is joined by entrepreneur, farmer, and Iowa Corn Growers director Elliot Henderson for a fast-moving breakdown of four big stories shaping agriculture. They react to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins’ media blitz and her tightly messaged take on trade, cattle, and screw worm—praising her talent while questio…

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Birgit Abels and Patrick Eisenlohr, "Atmospheric Knowledge: Environmentality, Latency, and Sonic Multimodality" (U California Press, 2025) 46:45

24d ago46:45

46:45

How do we know through atmospheres? How can being affected by an atmosphere give rise to knowledge? What role does somatic, nonverbal knowledge play in how we belong to places? Atmospheric Knowledge takes up these questions through detailed analyses of practices that generate atmospheres and in which knowledge emerges through visceral intermingling…

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Russell T. McCutcheon, "Our Primary Expertise: A Future for the Study of Religion" (Rutgers UP, 2025) 53:15

25d ago53:15

53:15

Our Primary Expertise argues counter to the longstanding trend in the field by seeing religion as mundane and not unique, which means that the field's research and teaching can have relevance all across human culture, and well beyond academia. Russell McCutcheon offers a timely argument by taking seriously threats to the humanities now happening al…

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Christopher Nelson, "When the Bones Speak: The Living, the Dead, and the Sacrifice of Contemporary Okinawa" (Duke UP, 2025) 1:08:00

26d ago1:08:00

1:08:00

Haunted by the past, ordinary Okinawans struggle to live with the unbearable legacies of war, Japanese nationalism, and American imperialism. They are caught up in a web of people and practices--living and dead, visible and immaterial--that exert powerful forces often beyond their control. In When the Bones Speak, Christopher T. Nelson examines the…

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#834: David Baszucki, Co-Founder of Roblox — The Path to 150M+ Daily Users, Critical Business Decisions, Ketogenic Therapy for Brain Health, Daily Routines, The Roblox Economy, and More 1:55:56

27d ago1:55:56

1:55:56

David Baszucki is the founder and CEO of Roblox. TIME named Roblox one of the “100 Most Influential Companies,” and it has been recognized by Fast Company for innovation on their “Most Innovative Companies” and “Most Innovative Companies in Gaming” lists. This episode is brought to you by: Qlosi prescription eye drop used to treat age-related blurr…

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Patrick Brittenden, "Algerian and Christian: Christian Theological Formation, Identity and Mission in Contemporary Algeria" (Regnum Books, 2025) 1:10:02

29d ago1:10:02

1:10:02

Algerian and Christian are two words that many people do not put together. Dr. Patrick Brittenden does. In this episode, we talk with Patrick about his new book Algerian and Christian: Christian Theological Formation, Identity and Mission in Contemporary Algeria (Regnum Books International, 2025). He invites readers into the complex, often painful,…

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Stephen Huard, "Calibrated Engagement: Chronicles of Local Politics in the Heartland of Myanmar" (‎Berghahn Books, 2024) 52:03

30d ago52:03

52:03

This episode of New Books in Southeast Asian Studies features Stéphen Huard talking about Calibrated Engagement: Chronicles of Local Politics in the Heartland of Myanmar (‎Berghahn Books, 2024), in which he takes a deep dive into the history and anthropology of village leadership in Myanmar’s central dry zone, or anya. In it, Stéphen develops “cali…

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The Economics of Enlightenment (Abundance?) w/ Sara Campbell 32:11

1M ago32:11

32:11

Sara explores the trend of abundance mentalities and the uncertain economics of trying to do what you want with your life. Do we already always have what we need? Is manifesting actually a Zen thing? How much work does it take to have pulled your weight, and what’s a fair price for staring at a wall these days?? Find out here!…

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ATR: Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling bill BACK, China deal is a letdown with rancher Casey Kimbrell 39:17

1M ago39:17

39:17

In this week's Ag Tribes Report, Vance Crowe is joined by fifth-generation Texas Panhandle farmer Casey Kimbrell for a fast, candid breakdown of three stories rocking agriculture. They unpack the touted Trump–Xi "soybean breakthrough," asking whether a 25 MMT annual commitment is progress or just a return to pre-trade-war status quo. Then they wade…

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Pablo Meninato and Gregory Marinic, "Urban Labyrinths: Informal Settlements, Architecture, and Social Change in Latin America" (Routledge, 2025) 1:17:22

1M ago1:17:22

1:17:22

Urban Labyrinths: Informal Settlements, Architecture, and Social Change in Latin America examines intervention initiatives in informal settlements in Latin American cities as social, spatial, architectural, and cultural processes. From the mid-20th century to the present, Latin America and other regions in the Global South have experienced a remark…

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Claudia Gastrow, "The Aesthetics of Belonging: Indigenous Urbanism and City Building in Oil-Boom Luanda" (UNC Press Books, 2024) 58:19

1M ago58:19

58:19

After centuries of colonial rule, the end of Angola’s three-decade civil war in 2002 provided an irresistible opportunity for the government to reimagine the Luanda cityscape. Awash with petrodollars cultivated through strategic foreign relationships, President José Eduardo dos Santos rolled out a national reconstruction program that sought to tran…

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Nora Kenworthy, "Crowded Out: The True Costs of Crowdfunding Healthcare" (MIT Press, 2024) 44:28

1M ago44:28

44:28

In Crowded Out: The True Costs of Crowdfunding Healthcare (MIT Press, 2024), Dr. Nora Kenworthy presents an eye-opening investigation into charitable crowdfunding for healthcare in the United States—and the consequences of allowing healthcare access to be decided by the digital crowd. Over the past decade, charitable crowdfunding has exploded in po…

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#833: Jack Canfield — Selling 600+ Million Books, Success Principles, and How He Made The 4-Hour Workweek Happen 1:37:36

1M ago1:37:36

1:37:36

Jack Canfield is the coauthor of more than two hundred books, including, The Success Principles™: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be and the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series, which includes forty New York Times bestsellers and which has sold more than 600 million copies in 50-plus languages around the world. This episode is brou…

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Luke Gromen "print the money or trigger the revolution" 1:14:18

1M ago1:14:18

1:14:18

In this episode, Vance Crowe sits down with economist and FFTT founder Luke Gromen to unpack where inflation, debt, and commodities are pushing the global financial system—and what that means for farmers, savers, and investors. They explore how slow, sustained inflation erodes trust and value, why central banks keep choosing to “print the money or …

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Joe Watkins, "Indigenizing Japan: Ainu Past, Present, and Future" (U Arizona Press, 2025) 44:06

1M ago44:06

44:06

In Indigenizing Japan: Ainu Past, Present, and Future (University of Arizona Press, 2025), archaeologist Joe E. Watkins provides a comprehensive look at the rich history and cultural resilience of the Ainu, the Indigenous people of Hokkaido, Japan, tracing their journey from ancient times to their contemporary struggles for recognition. Relaying th…

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So Intimate (Not Knowing) w/ Heather Ross 28:42

1M ago28:42

28:42

Heather makes some big life changes and takes the opportunity to explore the intimacy of not knowing. Do we need to find clarity before making a leap? Is the easiest way to steer to now know where you going? Can awkward silence be the sweetest of intimacies?? Find out here!By Angel City Zen Center

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ATR: Trump takes credit for beef prices, SNAP benefits FROZEN? with JR Burdick 50:08

1M ago50:08

50:08

In this week’s Ag Tribes Report, host Vance Crowe is joined by dairy farmer and Bitcoiner JR Burdick for a fast-paced tour through the biggest stories shaping agriculture. They unpack President Trump’s viral post urging ranchers to lower beef prices and the backlash from cattle producers who point to low herd size, packer settlements, and market vo…

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Hindutva and Anti-Christian Violence in Contemporary India 19:53

1M ago19:53

19:53

Kenneth Bo Nielsen is Associate Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oslo and leader of the Centre for South Asian Democracy. M. Sudhir Selvaraj is Assistant Professor at the Department of Peace Studies and International Development at the University of Bradford. Kathinka Frøystad is Professor of South Asia Studies at the Universit…

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#832: The Return of The Lion Tracker — Boyd Varty on The Wild Man Within, Nature’s Hidden Wisdom, and How to Feel Fully Alive 2:02:31

1M ago2:02:31

2:02:31

Boyd Varty is the founder of Track Your Life, which offers a limited number of premium retreats in South Africa’s bushveld, and author of one of my favorite books, The Lion Tracker’s Guide to Life. As a fourth-generation custodian of Londolozi Game Reserve, Boyd grew up with lions, leopards, snakes, and elephants and has spent his life in apprentic…

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VCP: Devon Eriksen on cowards, leftists and culture change 2:28:33

1M ago2:28:33

2:28:33

In this episode, Vance Crowe sits down with author Devon Erickson to explore why he calls himself a compulsive explainer and how he sees the role of an intellectual: not to end debates, but to start them with powerful metaphors and fresh lenses. They dive deep into empathy as a writer’s core skill—simultaneously inhabiting a character’s inner world…

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#831: Frank Miller, Comic Book Legend — Creative Process, The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City, 300, and Much More 1:32:12

1M ago1:32:12

1:32:12

Frank Miller is regarded as one of the most influential and awarded creators. He began his career in comics in the late 1970s, first gaining notoriety as the artist, and later writer, of Daredevil for Marvel Comics. Next, came the science-fiction samurai drama Ronin, followed by the groundbreaking Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year On…

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Zen Love Stories (Famous Zen Couples) w/ Dave Cuomo 38:58

2M ago38:58

38:58

Dave brings us stories of famous Zen couples and pairings from throughout Zen history and his own life to see what we can learn about intimacy, leadership, followership, service & servitude, friendship, community, family, commitment, and our possible fears of any or all of those things. When do our loyalties become a liability? Does looking up to o…

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ATR: Prop 12 gets new advocates, Nestle announces 16K firings; Vance Solo Episode 32:45

2M ago32:45

32:45

In this solo-hosted Ag Tribes Report by Vance Crowe, Vance covers four major headlines shaping agriculture and adjacent markets after the scheduled guest drops out during harvest. The report dives into the unusual coalition of farmers and food companies backing state-level animal welfare laws like California’s Prop 12, unpacks the DOJ’s massive sei…

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ATR: Prop 12, Pig Butchering, and a Nestlé Shock; Vance Solo 32:45

2M ago32:45

32:45

In this solo-hosted Ag Tribes Report by Vance Crowe, Vance covers four major headlines shaping agriculture and adjacent markets after the scheduled guest drops out during harvest. The report dives into the unusual coalition of farmers and food companies backing state-level animal welfare laws like California’s Prop 12, unpacks the DOJ’s massive sei…

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Oksana Sarkisova and Olga Shevchenko "In Visible Presence: Soviet Afterlives in Family Photos" (MIT Press, 2023) 59:37

2M ago59:37

59:37

In Visible Presence: Soviet Afterlives in Family Photos (MIT Press, 2023) is an absorbing exploration of Soviet-era family photographs that demonstrates the singular power of the photographic image to command attention, resist closure, and complicate the meaning of the past. A faded image of a family gathered at a festively served dinner table, rai…

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Chandra Chiara Ehm, "Queens Without a Kingdom Worth Ruling: Buddhist Nuns and the Process of Change in Tibetan Monastic Communities" (Vajra Books, 2024) 1:05:34

2M ago1:05:34

1:05:34

Queens without a Kingdom worth Ruling: Buddhist Nuns and the Process of Change in Tibetan Monastic Communities is a fascinating study of nuns in the Tibetan Buddhist nunnery of Khachoe Ghakyil Ling in Kathmandu. Written by Dr. Chandra Chiara Ehm, who was a member of this monastic community for nearly a decade, it offers a rare perspective on life i…

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VCP: Calm Waters: A Buddhist-Catholic Driver's Lessons on Faith & Family. 34:30

2M ago34:30

34:30

This week's episode comes from an impromptu airport ride recording, Vance Crowe captures a conversation with Thomas Nguyen, an Uber driver whose warm greeting sparks a profound dialogue about faith, culture, parenting, and restraint. The discussion traces Thomas’s childhood in Vietnam, exploring religious crackdowns and shifts through the decades, …

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William Lempert, "Dreaming Down the Track: Awakenings in Aboriginal Cinema" (U Minnesota Press, 2025) 1:06:11

2M ago1:06:11

1:06:11

The product of years of embedded fieldwork within Indigenous film crews in Northwestern Australia, Dreaming Down the Track: Awakenings in Aboriginal Cinema (U Minnesota Press, 2025) delves deeply into Aboriginal cinema as a transformative community process. It follows the social lives of projects throughout their production cycles, from planning an…

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Mukul Sharma, "Dalit Ecologies: Caste and Environment Justice" (Cambridge UP, 2024) 43:01

2M ago43:01

43:01

Prof Mukul Sharma is a professor of Environmental Studies at Ashoka University. His formal training is in Political Science and has worked as a special correspondent with a leading news outlet in India and received 12 national and international awards for his environmental, rural and human rights journalism. additionally he has also been the Direct…

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Get Lost (True Teachers) w/ Gyokei Yokoyama 37:57

2M ago37:57

37:57

Gyokei explores what it means to seek and find a true teacher through the story of his own yearning and search for one. Is the idea of a true teacher just one more delusion, will reality always betray our expectations? Should we practice with those we feel comfortable with or those who challenge us? Is giving up on people the best way to show your …