by cameron | Apr 11, 2009 | Podcast
Tara Hunt, author of the new book “The Whuffie Factor”, chats with me about whuffie – what it is, what we do with it, and how it changes the game.
Follow Tara on Twitter or her blog and read about the book here.
If you want to join me in celebrating
Vanini Day, then join the club.
If you want to listen to some of my other podcasts on the history of Jesus, see this page.
And finally, please support TPN’s April drive! We need your support!
If you want to keep TPN on the air, please show your support. If just the listeners of this show contributed $20 a month, I could fund TPN indefinitely! Is the information and entertainment you get from TPN worth a bottle of cheap wine?
http://widget.chipin.com/widget/id/d3b7a44909380763
by cameron | Apr 11, 2009 | Christianity
When I asked that question on Twitter today, I had a few people tell me “Wodewick” or “Woger”. Oh and in typical Christian fashion, I was also called “an asshole” by @Griffmiester for asking the question.
But I learned something interesting today, another twist in the New Testament that I wasn’t previously aware of.
Most versions of the NT say that the man that Pilate released (it was apparently a custom for the the praefectus or governor of Judaea to commute one prisoner’s death sentence by popular acclaim) was a criminal called Barabbas.
For example, in the New International Version of the NT, in Matthew 27:16 it reads:
At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?”
HOWEVER…
If we look instead at the Contemporary English Version, the same passage reads:
At that time a well-known terrorist named Jesus Barabbas was in jail. So when the crowd came together, Pilate asked them, “Which prisoner do you want me to set free? Do you want Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”
Apparently some of the oldest versions of the NT, including the Syriac Sinaiticus, have the name of the prisoner as “Yeshua bar Abbas” but the “Yeshua” was dropped from later versions – yet another example of early Christian authorities editing the manuscripts to suit their agenda.
In Amaraic (and in Latin), “bar Abbas” translates as “Son of the Father”.
So the crowd was given a choice of “Jesus, Son Of The Father” or “Jesus, who is called The Messiah”. Don’t they sound like the same person to you?
What was Yeshua bar Abbas’ crime? In the different gospels, he is referred to in a variety of ways: a “notorious prisoner”, a “bandit”, an “insurrectionist” and a “murderer”.
When Pilate asked the crowd which prisoner he should release, they said “bar Abbas!” (The Son of the Father!).
What do you think? Confusing?
by cameron | Apr 8, 2009 | capitalism, Podcast
OMFG. Last night I did a live show with my most-excellent co-host Mr Nick Hodge and WE TALKED FOR FOUR HOURS. I kid you not. I only recorded the first THREE HOURS and I present them to you here (well the audio version anyway – to see the video you have to turn up on the night). Oh and this audio recording only has two of the five live numbers I performed during the show. One was in the pre-show festivities (“Come On Eileen”) and there were a couple during the post-show wind-down (including “Ship Song”by Nick Cave).
During this four hour marathon, Nick and I discussed:
Australia’s National Broadband Network
America’s bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Whether or not Nick is an atheist or an agnostic
The financial crisis scam and what we might replace capitalism with
The ethics of veganism
The Church of LOTU
The historicity of Jesus (or lack thereof)
And much, much more.
Listen to the full three hours – if you dare.
Tune in to future live shows every Tuesday night at 8pm here.
by cameron | Mar 25, 2009 | Uncategorized
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Children will no longer have to study the Victorians or the second world war under proposals to overhaul the primary school curriculum, the Guardian has learned.
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However, the draft plans will require children to master Twitter and Wikipedia and give teachers far more freedom to decide what youngsters should be concentrating on in classes.
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I hope this goes through in the UK and that it inspires the various state education departments in Australia lift their game. I’m still horrified at how little integration there is in my kids’ classroom with the net. At home they LIVE on the web, research on it, watching videos, play games, talk to their family and friends. At school, they get MINUTES on the web over the course of an entire week. It’s a joke.
by cameron | Mar 24, 2009 | Brisbane
My mate Ian Kath (
@iankath) who joined me on last week’s live podcast, does his own terrific podcast “Your Story”. I listened to his most recent episode where he interview Andrew Leavold, owner of Brisbane’s infamous “Trash Video”. It’s a terrific story about a guy with a passion for obscure films who realizes his dream to own a boutique video store but it’s more than that. Andrew also is making a documentary about forgotten Filipino “midget-xploitation” film star “Weng Weng”. You have to check out the clips on Ian’s site to realize how brilliant this guy was. An 84cm-tall action film star who made James Bond spoofs – as the James Bond character. And listen to Andrew’s story, it’s one of the most entertaining podcasts I’ve heard in ages.
