by cameron | Jan 31, 2007 | Podcast, US politics
Scienta’s post on why not everyone in Australia likes to celebrate the coming of the Europeans reminded me of a podcast I listened to this morning in a similar vein.
The latest episode of Learn Out Loud’s excellent “Great Speeches in History” podcast has a speech by Frederick Douglass who confronts the country at the height of the Civil War. I’d never heard of Douglass before and in the podcast I learned that he was was an American abolitionist, editor, orator, author, statesman and reformer. Called “The Sage of Anacostia” and “The Lion of Anacostia,” Douglass was one of the most prominent figures of African American history during his time, and one of the most influential lecturers and authors in American history.
He was born in 1818 as a slave in Talbot County, Maryland. Douglass escaped slavery on September 3, 1838 boarding a train to Havre de Grace, Maryland dressed in a sailor’s uniform and carrying identification papers provided by a free black seaman. After crossing the Susquehanna River by ferry boat at Havre de Grace, Douglass continued by train to Wilmington, Delaware. From there Douglass went by steamboat to “Quaker City”—Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His escape to freedom eventually led him to New York, the entire journey taking less than twenty-four hours. He spent the rest of his fighting against slavery, for equal rights for African-Americans and became a newspaper publisher.
In the amazing speech linked to above, he absolutely eviscerates the USA’s self-image as being a “The Land Of The Free” and a Christian nation. Here’s a short quote:
“I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the South is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes – a justifier of the most appalling barbarity, a sanctifier of the most hateful frauds, and a dark shelter under which the darkest, foulest, grossest, and most infernal deeds of slaveholders find the strongest protection.”
Definitely listen to it, it’s a powerful 8 minutes.
Getting back to Scienta’s post, she says:
It’s Australia Day here down under, which is supposed to be a celebration of Australia as a nation. Unfortunatly, the date chosen happens to be the day Australia was invaded by the British and for many is a Day of Mourning. As a nation I think it’s time we selected a date that’s a little more appropriate for celebration, one that’s less drenched in blood. Celebrating slaughter is not very Australian.
by cameron | Jan 29, 2007 | Podcast, science, science vs religion
I was listening today to an episode of The Infidel Guy’s show and he was interviewing a bloke by the name of Dan Garvin. Dan Garvin was a Scientologist for 27 years and a Sea Org member (their senior ranks, so-called because all the secret stuff happens on an ocean liner) for 25 years. He worked for ten years in their intelligence, PR, and Legal branch, the Office of Special Affairs (OSA). Dan got out two and a half years ago because a series of realizations that lead him to atheism and skepticism. All this got me thinking about how ludicrous the claims of the Scientologists are. But are they any more ridiculous than the claims of other religions?
Links from the show:
Infidel Guy interview with Dan Garvin
Wikipedia “Scientology“.
If you haven’t already, make sure you fill out my SCIENCE v FAITH poll.
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The G’Day World Theme Song is “Save Me†by The Napoleon Blown Aparts.
by cameron | Jan 24, 2007 | Christianity, Podcast, science vs religion
Okay okay, so it’s time I gave the Christians some airtime.
Today my guest is John Dickson.
John has degrees in theology (Moore Theological College) and ancient history (Macquarie University). He holds the position of Honorary Associate in the Department of Ancient History, Macquarie University, and is engaged in ongoing research into early Christianity. He also teaches a course on World Religions for the Macquarie Christian Studies Institute. John began his writing career in 1993 and has since produced twelve titles, winning Australian Christian Book of the Year in 2000 and 2005. His books have focused on the relevance of the Christian faith in the contemporary world. An ordained Anglican, John has spent the best part of a decade working as a local church minister (most recently with St Andrew’s, Roseville). He has since accepted the role of Writer-in-Residence for Blue Bottle Books, a position which affords him the freedom to research, write and speak on a fulltime basis. John also hosts ‘Reflection’, weeknights at 10pm on Sydney’s FM 103.2.
John and I discuss the historical argument that Jesus of Nazareth actually did exist, based on his book “The Christ Files”.
This is a pretty long show, about one hour twenty. I’m going to be in Sydney until late tomorrow night so there won’t be a show Thursday. This one is long enough to last you at least a couple of days.
If you’re interested in reading more about some of the subjects we discuss in this show, such as the Q Document, the Gospel of Thomas, or the background behind the ancient pagan and Jewish sources which mention Christianity, you can find my source sites on my religion del.icio.us page.
by cameron | Jan 23, 2007 | censorship, Podcast, science vs religion
Today my guest is John Allsopp – a software engineer, speaker, writer, educator and surf lifesaver, with a long standing interest in CSS, web design and development. He is also one of the founders and organizers of the web design and development conferences “Web Directions“.
We discuss “Web 2.0”, what it means, and why it is goodness. We also discuss the Web Directions conference that John is involved in running and Western Civilisation, the software business that he and his business partner Maxine run.
Then we venture in John’s views on religion and touch on Qantas’ decision to prevent a passenger from boarding a plane due to his t-shirt.
All this and more (well… not much more actually) on today’s episode!
Don’t forget – if you want to win yourself a $50 Amazon voucher, then enter the G’Day World promotion. All you need to do is send more referrals to this gdayworld.com than any other registered referrer in the month of January. So far there are only a couple of people registered and they should be EASY to beat. Please try to avoid gimmicks like “See Britney Spears Naked”. The objective here is to get people to listen to the show, not get to the site and be annoyed at being mislead. Molly.
Details of the promotion here.
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The G’Day World Theme Song is “Save Me†by The Napoleon Blown Aparts.
by cameron | Jan 22, 2007 | Podcast, TPN
John Havens, who writes the Podcasting site for about.com, recently did an interview with TPN’s Wayne Turmel, who does the Cranky Middle Manager podcast, and his show’s first sponsor, James Manktelow, CEO of MindTools. It’s got a lot of detail in it and is a terrific overview from both Wayne and James on TPN’s model of podcast advertising. I’d like to thank John for doing the interview and to James from Mindtools for both talking publicly about his experience as well, of course, for sponsoring the show!
by cameron | Jan 22, 2007 | Melbourne, Podcast
On the show tonight….
Evan Maloney is an Aussie, living in Poland, getting paid to blog for News.com.au, writing (and selling!) screenplays and once upon a time got his head literally kicked in for trying to protect a couple of girls in Melbourne. He ended up in a coma for his trouble. Check out his blog here.
If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed.
The G’Day World Theme Song is “Save Me†by The Napoleon Blown Aparts.
