Disqus - Latest Comments for shirazjanjua

Re: Reading Pakistan Reports with a Skeptical Eye

shirazjanjua — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:43:58 -0000

I'm also wondering what the take-away for the reader is in a case like this. "OMG, al-Qaeda's training babies" or whatever.

Krista mentioned a desire to interview renowned scholar Akbar Ahmed about Pakistan. I'm also looking at a couple of other voices. I'm intrigued by Mohsin Hamid, the author of the Booker Prize-nominated The Reluctant Fundamentalist. He's very mellow, but he reminds me of Binyavanga Wainaina from our Ethics of Aid show, one of these post-colonial literary intellectuals with stakes in several countries.

And really, a lot of that Ethics of Aid show echoes in my ears in the context of this article: a foreign-educated middle class, a government that did (or didn't) emphasize education and a track to employment, and even an obliviousness to violence: "What's really ironical about it is that as you sit here watching it on CNN, in Nairobi you're watching yourself on CNN too."

Re: http://blog.speakingoffaith.org/post/70764752

shirazjanjua — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 11:23:29 -0000

It is wonderful to hear from you. It reminds me of my old English teacher from high school, meeting her years later, and sharing those fond memories of being in her class. I will forward your information to Pankaj. I'm sure he would love to get back in touch with you.

Re: SOF Observed

shirazjanjua — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 23:54:39 -0000

LOL, what an entertaining piece, Mitch! That last question was gold. You really poured some sugar on me... ;)

Re: http://blog.speakingoffaith.org/post/70764752

shirazjanjua — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 11:44:14 -0000

Thanks all for commenting. The program, this latest interview, and a lot of Pankaj Mishra's writing is so incredibly relevant nowadays. I'm happy I had a chance to speak to him. We've received some great response to the re-airing of this program, and his cautious, skeptical take on modernity. We originally thought of airing the program around October, when the meltdown was in full force, but I think the program is even more relevant now than it was then, or when we originally aired it.

Re: SOF Observed

shirazjanjua — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:01:21 -0000

Pádraig, if you liked Anne, you'll love Mary Doria Russell. As I understand it, Anne was a stand-in for the author in the series. She's certainly in no shortage of energy during the interview. It's a high-minded but thoroughly wacky theological conversation.

Re: Warming Coles

shirazjanjua — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 19:04:27 -0000

As much as the show has this infamous rep among the staff, this was one of the first two or three programs I listened to as well, and it got me right there. It brings me back not so much to childhood, but to stories I wrote even eight or nine years ago while in school, stuff that still resonates with me today. I'm feeling this is at least a four-hanky show (out of a possible five hankies).

Re: SOF Observed

shirazjanjua — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 10:16:25 -0000

Fathers and their common sense! I've had my fair share of that too. But now I can be as nutty as I want :)

Re: Don't Say the Words

shirazjanjua — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 13:33:31 -0000

Katie, I really appreciate what you wrote. I think back to a few years ago when I was living in Montreal, there had been no mention in the newspaper of Ramadan for the whole month. Then, on the last day, on something like Page A16, there was mention of some bloodbath in Iraq at a mosque. And there is a sizable Muslim community in Montreal. I thought, "My God, is that the only thing they can report about "Islam" at all?" (I hear echoes of this in the upcoming interview on the Ethics of Aid with Binyavanga Wainaina, in his stark critique of what place Africa occupies in Western journalism.) It made me furious. That's not the emotion I want to be feeling during at that time.

And though the program with Vali Nasr was very intelligent and well received, for which I was glad, I'm also glad we could give the Muslim listeners a bit of a break, not have to think about geopolitical wars and such during that time. And somehow, maybe I'm just rationalizing, it seemed to fit the post-election mood better than our original intended broadcast in the middle of September.

Re: SOF Observed

shirazjanjua — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:28:06 -0000

Reminds me of what they do in video games, like flight simulators or racing games, where the game loads into the computer's memory all the graphics for your surroundings, but only up to a certain radius (since loading the graphics for the whole world would grind the computer to a halt). So basically the world only exists in the radius defined by the player's view. I have no way to verify that that's not true in real life. Uh oh, I think I'm going to freak out...

Re: SOF Observed

shirazjanjua — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:42:07 -0000

Glad you posted that; I was thinking about the Marshall Plan as I was doing that first cut of the show. I think that the Marshall Plan is thought of as a model for how aid should be done, but that model doesn't necessarily work everywhere. Which leads to the problems Binyavanga Wainaina is going to talk about. I should post some preview audio...

Re: SOF Observed

shirazjanjua — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:38:12 -0000

We often tend to use shorthand during our production process, and you caught me using some when I talked about "black theology." I think we're referring to a specific type of socially critical preaching that we've come to associate with civil rights leaders, and African American preachers before that and after that. There's a broader spectrum than just Cone. He represents some slice of that spectrum that seemed to be helpful for some listeners.

"Theological driver" and therapy, yes, I think many forms of what we'd call ideology have that effect. It becomes so specific to its audience, though. And at surface value, that seems more immediately useful. This thing about the Samaritan woman's story is that it does indeed get us thinking not about "my identity," but moving past that, the exclusivism, so something more useful at a human level.

I'm glad for icebergs!

Re: SOF Observed

shirazjanjua — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:27:53 -0000

To your first point, I think the more traditional interpretation in Islam is (and I'm not an Islamic scholar) that the prophets were people of extraordinary piety, and it was this piety that led them to be chosen by God to perform a specific mission. I don't know how a billion-plus Muslims work with that to make it relatable, but a lot of progressive Muslim commentators like to point out that, say in the case of Muhammad, that we know more about his human life than about most other religious figures, that he's portrayed in a more human light, as a family man, with his kids, with his friends, etc. And how I understand the Sunnah, the teachings of the Prophet, is that they're meant to replicate the human actions that Muhammad did on a daily basis, as a means of attaining that higher piety. So they are, in that sense, something very human, something that is attainable. The more idealized interpretation of prophets is, I think, about striving to follow their example. Maybe it doesn't work for everyone. For myself, it's not something I really think about on a daily basis, though a lot of people do; that's where the derive the strength of their faith. I look at the prophets' ability to shake their societies out of some kind of moral complacency. It's about purpose, and that I can relate to.

As for Jeremiah Wright and Farrakhan, this is a bit harder for me to talk about, since we didn't aim to do a complete treatment on the theology of Jeremiah Wright, so I'll take it from a slightly different angle. There's a lot of casual racism that I find really upsetting, when people say, "Obama's not a Muslim." I think this is an absolutely preposterous way of trying to explain his religious convictions and identity. Colin Powell's been the only high-profile political figure, to my knowledge, who's come out and said, "So what if he were Muslim?" I don't see how the American political establishment's implicit disregard for Muslims is going to help their efforts in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. So getting back to your point, if Jeremiah Wright was making racist remarks, that should be criticized, no question. This issue of race is going to be something we aren't going to completely explore in just that one program. There's more we need to talk about.

Re: SOF Observed

shirazjanjua — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 11:09:52 -0000

So that deeper core of someone's theology is more important in this case than the (over)covered Jeremiah Wright issue. I only know that if Krista casually says, "Vashti McKenzie knew Jeremiah Wright for many years," it might beg the question of what Vashti McKenzie thinks about all this. Although, I suppose her opinion is quite clear in the Samaritan woman's story, too, and that's probably closer to her heart and more meaningful in her life than the controversy du jour. She did write a book around the Samaritan woman's story.

Re: SOF Observed

shirazjanjua — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 11:03:34 -0000

Some good comments. I was a bit surprised at the mention of cutting the James Cone audio. The whole interview with him, admittedly, is more interesting than just that one clip, but we wanted to get some "official" definition of black theology in there. It ties into that point about the African American reading of the Gospel--that understanding was something we explored earlier this year as we were researching the topic, but we never found the right voice for it, unfortunately. I'm glad we have some more names to look into. Thanks for those suggestions.

Re: Selecting Audio for "African American. Woman. Leader."

shirazjanjua — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:49:09 -0000

I'm glad the selection was effective! You mentioned that you had attended black churches in the past, and I wonder if you still do. If so, I might ask you a question that Krista asked to Bishop McKenzie: How did that experience a few months back strike you? What kind of conversations were you having in your church in response to that?

(Trinity has more videos on their YouTube channel, too, so people can get a better understanding from that.)

Re: SOF Observed

shirazjanjua — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 14:25:38 -0000

There are just so many factors in this equation that it's almost like we have to compromise for the lesser of many evils. I just read this article in Slate that talks about the labeling of fair-trade and organic food, and whether or not one or another label always implies ethical production, environmentally safe production, etc.

Re: Forgiveness and Revenge, A Call for Music Ideas

shirazjanjua — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:30:40 -0000

Just going over the show and this came to mind:
John Legend, "Ordinary People"
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Re: Of Veggie Omelets and Cognitive Dissonance

shirazjanjua — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:44:00 -0000

Pádraig, I'm happy to share and yet I'm wary because I just can't seem to come to any complete or applicable answers to these questions at this stage in my life. This issue of hurricanes, for one, is going to get worse throughout my lifetime. I feel it's all big, too big. There must be a thin line between feeling grateful and feeling guilty.

Re: SOF Observed

shirazjanjua — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:28:42 -0000

Peg, I myself started listening to SoF through the podcast, as we didn't get the show up in Montreal. Well, there was a faint signal coming across the border from Vermont, I think, which I'd only hear in other people's cars (never mine for some reason). So I <3 Internet.

Oddly, working at a large radio station, I never get to listen to the radio...

We've had some programming changes and that program is now slated for the first week of October. We're in production but we're moving a few things around to respond to events in the news.

Re: SOF Observed

shirazjanjua — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:15:55 -0000

Peg, I think you'll enjoy the program, although McCullough does take a quite different tack, in that through his research, he's actually arguing that our social bias (if you can call it that) to consider forgiveness something difficult is perhaps over-emphasized. If we keep calling it difficult, then we make it so, we turn that into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

What he's ultimately saying, I think, is that it's a daily choice, like you said. There are everyday acts that, if we build on them, can lead us to be more gracious overall. Maybe that exceeds what we label "forgiveness," but our definition of forgiveness is something he's keen on challenging.

Re: Don't Say the Words

shirazjanjua — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:07:13 -0000

Yeah, I guess we typically try to peg things to an event, as opposed to specifically not pegging things because of an event. And that lunar calendar sure doesn't help people keep track of this month that keeps moving back 11 days every year (in comparison to the solar calendar). It even seems to creep up on us. I feel like we're in the middle of summer and yet I'm thinking about something that will be in "fall" when things are more "serious." Maybe it's just this intrusion of fall thinking into summer...

Re: SOF Observed - Mental blocks

shirazjanjua — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:42:22 -0000

Argh, peer pressure! Must...buy...LEGO! I don't know how much longer I can hold out. All sense and logic should go out the window. This is about fun, and fun doesn't have to make sense. If anyone wants to send me that deluxe LEGO Millennium Falcon, I'll give you my address. :P

Re: SOF Observed

shirazjanjua — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 23:15:42 -0000

I highly recommend the 2005 book Night Draws Near by Anthony Shadid of the Washington Post. It's about the few years he spent before, during and after the invasion in 2003, told through the eyes of everyday people caught in the war there. I believe Mr. Shadid received a Pulitzer Prize for his ongoing reporting during those years for the Post. Anyway, it's an extraordinary book full of the lives of people, not the talk of policy wonks. For me, it represents what journalism can sometimes be and should always strive to be.

Re: SOF Observed - Mental blocks

shirazjanjua — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:46:04 -0000

OK, more!

After writing this post, I went on the LEGO website and saw the LEGO Star Destroyer on sale, albeit it is still $200. It's ginormous, and something about that just seems so tempting, but I fear that carrying that home on the bus will make me seem like an uber-dweeb. Besides, the $500 Millennium Falcon is so much cooler.

In any case, this whole child-like wonder thing sure is expensive. I also have no idea where I would put said Star Destroyer in my apartment. (Maybe that would give me an excuse to clean up the dining table I never eat on.) I wonder if I should get back into drawing, too, since for years and years and years that was one of my favorite things to do. I do have this desire to make a graphic novel some day, but there's something too purposeful about drawing. LEGO, playing with all those blocks, it's all so much simpler. Until then, I have my LEGO Obi-Wan and Darth Vader and Chewie at my desk at work...

Do you have fond memories with LEGO?

Re: SOF Observed - Your Top 3 Shows of the Past Year

shirazjanjua — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:20:55 -0000

All right, so the final four (now it's four) are going to be clips from:

-The Ecstatic Faith of Rumi (Peabody)
-Mathematics, Purpose and Truth (science)
-The Inner Landscape of Beauty (spirituality)
-Burma: Buddhism and Power (politics)

I'm going to be listening to these four shows hopefully on Thursday to find the strongest segment in each, then create The Greatest S.O.F. CD of All Time Ever (TM).

Again, these are shows that are new shows produced in the past 12 months (Rumi's about 16 months old, but it's the Peabody...we do love Lil' George...).