partsofspeaking

Podcasts have been around since the time of the iPod (2004 marks the first “podcast”) and have a longer history than our smart phones (born in 2007), the way most of us listen to them today. And we do listen to them. Depending on where you get your information (I used HubSpot DemandSage for this article), as of September 2023 there were 70 million episodes created by 5 million podcasters, listened to by more than 467 million people. That many podcasts gives a potential listener plenty to choose from: politics, literature, sports, business, religion, true crime, leadership, arts, marketing a small business . . . the list is endless. Some podcasts are very “niche,” while some are designed for a wide public. The most listened to podcaster? Love him or hate him, it’s Joe Rogan, yes, the Fear Factor guy. Finally, video podcasting is growing exponentially.    Let’s look four angles on podcasts.   PODCASTING AS EDUCATION   Ms. Amanda Triplett approached me last sprin...

Yesterday I interviewed a person for my podcast. That is not unusual. However, this experience was. First, it was deeply spiritual and intellectual. It was in a stimulating environment—not a videoconference, but in her home. Third, it was with a visual artist, only the second of those in my podcast career. And this is a snippet: “I lived near the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, and that had a big influence.” “You know, I was reading Psalm 143, and I think it was verse 5, where it says, ‘I muse on the works of Thy hands,’ and it occurred to me that that is what artists do. I know that in the original language it wasn’t the same, but in a museum I think we should muse.” “I was reading that this morning, too.” And discussion followed. Now, how unusual that we had read the same Scripture that morning! And that it came up in the conversation, and that it was relevant. The rest of the dialogue was similar, lots of back and forth, and wide-ranging questions. The reason I remembered the S...

 This is the kind of thing--a meme, I suppose--one sees on Facebook. Perhaps I get too analytic about the hidden meanings of what people (women, mostly) put on FB, but this pushed me to some "interrogation." This may be taken as a cry for help, or an assertion of identity, or a slap in someone's face.  "You have no idea Who I Am." Why think yourself such a sphinx, such an enigma. Maybe it's more of a sign of narcissism: I'm so special I can say you're incapable of knowing me.  No idea? I think anyone who would posts this probably is surrounded by people who know exactly who they are. But to move out of the realm of the sarcastic about people who post self-absorbed little sayings such as this--Maybe the problem is not that we don't know who other people are, but that we don't let each other know who we are--and why is that? I am not being smart here, because I could have posted that in the past too. But I would have to ask myself, seriously (n...

 I received this email from a higher education "organization" with which I am affiliated. Fortunately, I no longer have to be to continue my employment.  Such arrogance that they thought the world needed their "statement." This is why academics are dismissed and sometimes despised. Statement on the Israel-Gaza War   The XXX is deeply concerned and saddened by the recent outbreak of violence in Israel and Gaza and by the resulting loss of life. We express our sympathy for all those now caught up in the escalating conflict.  (Note the removal of agency. The violence just broke out; no one committed it, apparently.)   XXXX also recognizes the profound effects of the crisis on Israeli and Palestinian scholars and students as well as on members of campus communities across the United States and around the world. As the horrific events in Israel and Gaza continue to unfold, (again, no agency) we call upon colleges and universities to promote free and open dia...

Maria and Merari are in there chatting and chattering. I think Spanish is a beautiful language, even the grammar (why shouldn’t there be two past tenses, and two words for to be, and why shouldn’t the adjectives mostly come after the noun?) but it does have a staccato rhythm, especially when I can only catch every third word.   Why am I hearing them? Because I am in Greensboro for Merari's baby shower. The AirBnB I reserved was a problem; long story.  So I am staying with my son's in-laws.    I suspect I will be the only pair of blue eyes and freckled face there. I call myself a Viking because the DNA tests claims I am 48% Scandinavian. The only excuse for that is the Nordic invaders of Scotland from 800-1000. How strange! And how, really, inconsequential. My life has absolutely nothing to do with those barbarians. (I am reading The Last Kingdom and learning a lot about them).    Maria, I know, is happy to have her six and a half mon...

Then read Psalm 139:1-6. You'll know you don't.  This psalm is about the width and depth and breadth and height of God's power and knowledge. He has intimate knowledge of us. It is not reciprocal. We know His character; He knows our inmost thoughts. We know His past deeds; He knows our future. And so on.  The Psalmist says "such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it." Yet I hear people talking about God like they know exactly what He is doing and thinking and planning, that God's Word as we have it means we can extrapolate anything we want from it about His whole being.  The Scriptures are what He has given us, not everything we can know and definitely not every He knows.  Let's quit talking like we have God in a box, figured out. It's rather contemptible.