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What’s Happening Down Under? | Discourse! May 2023

Podcast
RSP discourse heads Down Under once again as 2/3 of the usual suspects—Carole Cusack & Raymond Radford—discuss religion, politics, life and death in the Australian religious sphere. Be sure to tune in!

On Human Remains | Discourse! May 2021 (with video)

Podcast
It's a bumper episode of Discourse this month, as four (count them, four!) RSP editors sit down to discuss how the media are talking about religion this month. First, Breann, David, and Dave introduce Andie as the RSP's new Managing Editor, before we discuss mass COVID cremations in India, a new synagogue at the site of a Nazi massacre in the Ukraine, protests over a new telescope in Hawaiʻi, and the scandal over the remains of the victims of the MOVE bombing in Philadelphia. It's not our most lighthearted episode.

Near Death Experiences

Podcast
In this episode, Christopher Cotter discusses Near Death Experiences with Jens Schlieter. How does one study reports of such experiences from a critical study of religion perspective? How are such reports related to modern societal developments such as ‘secularization’, individualization, or advances in medical science?

Editors’ Picks, Summer 2018: Disenchanting India

Response
This week, Ella Bock tells us why she thinks you should re-listen to our interview with Johannes Quack on Indian Rationalism, and a Relational Approach to Non-religion: "A great listen for better understanding the boundary between religion and non-religion, especially outside of a western context!"

This-Lifers and Afterlifers

Response
It's some time since I talked with my namesake Douglas Ezzy so it's good to have this chance to pick up some of his points even though Tasmania may not be the perfect location to boomerang something back to him from Durham UK. Good, too, since my more frequent friendly chats with Allan Kellehear find some echo in that conversation.

‘Good’ Grief? Rituals of World Repairing

Podcast
Toys, Rabbits, and Princess Diana - three things that may not seem at all connected. However, when one starts to question the notion of grief, bereavement, and death in the contemporary West, these three are more connected than appears. In this podcast, Breann Fallon interviews Professor Douglas Ezzy of the University of Tasmania on the power of symbols...

Death, Music, and Ritual: Contemporary Requiems in the Commemoration of Death and Violence

Podcast
Hoondert discusses the step away from the liturgy associated with requiems as way for today's individual to deal with death or violence in their own way. Still, It is clear that the ritual elements of the requiem remains, hence where this contemporary music fits into the sacral landscape is up for debate.

DEATH, Religion, and Terror Management Theory

Podcast
Psychologist Dr. Jonathan Jong draws on experimental research utilizing terror management theory to discuss the role of religious and other worldviews in assuaging the fear of the inevitable—DEATH. One year before his own death in 1790, Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to the French scientist Jean-Baptiste,

Indian Rationalism, and a Relational Approach to Nonreligion

Podcast
It is unfortunate fact that in popular ‘Western’ imagination, the land of India is frequently orientalised, and naively conceptualized as ‘the quintessential land of religion, spirituality, and miracles.’ Although we would certainly not want to completely invert this stereotype by substituting one unnuanced and inaccurate construct for another, ...

Halloween Special: Religion’s Role in Terror Management Theory

Response
When confronted with mortality, humans face the possibility of experiencing a significant amount of terror. Interestingly, many times, people are able to avoid this terror and actually enjoy the mortality themes that are presented. Consider the horror movie industry. To illustrate, Paranormal Activity (Blum & Peli, 2007) brought in $19,617,650 on its opening weekend alone (IMDB, n.d.). Further, ...
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