PODCASTS RECOMMENDATIONS
- Top 5 Picks this Season
- Interfaith/World Religions
- Faith-Specific
- General Spirituality
- Mental Health and Spirituality
Do you know of one we haven't listed? morsl [at] mcgill.ca (subject: New%20online%20resource%20suggestion) (Email us) with the link to help us grow our listings!
Our Top Picks
- Interfaith Voices: “Interfaith Voices is an independent public radio show fostering interfaith understanding by providing engaging conversation about religion, across many traditions and beliefs. We explore how faith intersects with culture, public policy, and the news of the day.” Episodes include “Faith communities respond to rising hate,” “Trans in the Eyes of God,” and “Modern paganism, ancient spirituality.”
- BBC Heart and Soul: “Personal approaches to spirituality from around the world.” Recent episodes include “Walking the Kartarpur Corridor for Guru Nanak,” “Joining the mosque I planned to destroy,” and “A female rabbi in training.”
- On Being: “A Peabody Award-winning public radio show and podcast. What does it mean to be human? How do we want to live? And who will we be to each other? Each week a new discovery about the immensity of our lives. Hosted by Krista Tippett.” Examines universal themes of life through discussions with politicians, artists, scientists, etc. Tippet has accumulated twenty years of spiritually uplifting and thought-provoking interviews.
- The Ministry of Ideas is an initiative of Harvard Divinity School dedicated to investigating and illuminating the ideas that shape our society. Different series within the podcast explore religions, meaning, and philosophy through diverse lenses, questions, and themes.
Interfaith/World Religions
- Research on Religion Podcast: “Our goal for this podcast series is to make scholarly research on religion interesting, relevant and accessible to a broad audience. We intend this audience to include other scholars, clergy members and any one else who has an interest in religion. The conversational format of our podcast is designed to facilitate a jargon-free discussion of major topics within the social scientific study of religion. In addition to featuring academic research, we are also committed to highlighting the insights of individuals who are involved in the day-to-day operation of religious organizations, people we call “practitioners.” This may include members of the clergy, government officials, legal professionals or those who operate religious charities…This is not a podcast series on theology; there are a vast number of websites on the internet that deal with theological issues. Instead, our focus is on the social scientific study of religion.”
- Spirits and Spirituality: “Recorded live at the Museum of Jewish Montreal, join talk radio legend Tommy Schnurmacher, the Rabbi Avi Finegold and a rotating, round-table panel of guests from the arts, the media and the academic and religious communities for a bi-weekly conversation on faith and life over a couple of cocktails.”
Faith-Specific
- The Samaritan Soapbox: This podcast from Student Christian Movement of Canada features Join Divy (SCM Canada secretary) and Dunc (a Master of Divinity student at Emmanuel College University of Toronto) where, in good Student Christian Movement tradition, they question everything we’ve been taught about faith. Listen to their unfiltered discussions with awesome guests as we explore liberating spiritualities true to our experiences.
- The RobCast: Progressive Christian pastor Rob Bell looks at the Bible, sometimes in conversation with a celebrity guest. He considers how his liberal interpretation of Christianity fits in with daily life.
- Stories We Tell: “Judaism has a deep and rich tradition of storytelling, of passing down stories from one generation to the next. To carry on that tradition, Stories We Tell, from ReformJudaism.org, will share a new story with you every Thursday. […] each episode will give you a new story to reflect on and discuss with the people in your life.”
- A Bahá'í Perspective: “A Bahá'í Perspective is a podcast of biographical interviews of people who have either chosen the Bahá'í Faith as a way of life or who have a relationship with the Bahá'í Faith.”
- #GoodMuslimBadMuslim: “The #GoodMuslimBadMuslim monthly podcast featuring Tanzila "Taz" Ahmed and Zahra Noorbakhsh is about the good and the bad of the American Muslim female experience. But you know, satirically & disturbingly hilarious.”
- On the Square: "On The Square: Real Talk on Race and Islam in the Americas” is a podcast produced by Sapelo Square in collaboration with the Maydan. Sapelo’s editors get “on the square” with guests in lively and unfiltered conversations on a wide range of real issues from settler colonialism and the police state to the question of being Black and Muslim in the world.
- Maxwell Institute Podcast: "The Maxwell Institute Podcast is where faith and scholarship have a nice conversation over lunch. Scholars from the Latter-day Saint tradition and beyond talk about faith, history, scripture, philosophy, theology, and more."
- Buddhist Geeks: “Buddhism, meditation, mindfulness, society, technology, Tibetan Buddhism, vajrayana, vipassana, zen. Bringing Dharma to Life”
- Sermon Slam: From Jewish Public Media, “SermonSlam is a poetry slam for sermons, poems, stories, narratives, plays and anything else short and on topic. We record live and post selections online.”
- Treyf Podcast: “Treyf is an anarchist Jewish podcast recorded in occupied Tio’tia:ke (Montreal), Kanien’kehá:ka territory. The show features discussions about radical leftist politics and history, highlighting perspectives often excluded from mainstream Jewish spaces.”
- Quaker Speak: “We interview Friends of all different backgrounds and ask them the core questions of our faith. QuakerSpeak interviews are personal and intimate. We seek to give viewers worldwide an experience that is entertaining, informative, inspiring, challenging, inviting, unifying and collaborative.”
General Spirituality
- Queer Devotions: Rainbow Faith and Freedom presents this podcast hosted by researcher Brigitte Pawliw-Fry. Brigitte speaks with a wide variety of 2SLGBTQ+ people, including activists, scholars, religious leaders, artists and elders, about what it means to navigate the world of faith or spirituality. In recognition that people within queer communities are often pushed out of their spiritual or religious faith in order to affirm their identity, this podcast seeks to hold space for the ways in which both identities can coexist and inform each other
- Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations: “Awaken, discover and connect to the deeper meaning of the world around you with SuperSoul. Hear Oprah’s personal selection of her interviews with thought-leaders, best-selling authors, spiritual luminaries, as well as health and wellness experts. All designed to light you up, guide you through life’s big questions and help bring you one step closer to your best self.”
- Tara Brach: ”Tara Brach, Ph.D is an internationally known meditation teacher and author of bestselling Radical Acceptance and True Refuge. Tara shares a weekly guided meditation and talk that blend Western psychology and Eastern spiritual practices. The podcast addresses the value of mindfulness meditation and self-compassion in relieving emotional suffering, serving spiritual awakening and bringing healing to our world.”
- The One You Feed: “The One You Feed podcast uses the parable of two wolves at battle within us as a jumping-off point for meaningful discussions about how to live skillfully amidst life’s inherent challenges. Each week on The One You Feed podcast, the show’s host, Eric Zimmer, talks with experts such as scientists, authors, researchers, psychologists, thought leaders, spiritual teachers, and public figures about how listeners can act their way into a better, more fulfilling life. These conversations center around offering listeners powerful but practical tools that they can use in their daily lives so that they suffer less and live with more joy, love, peace and fulfillment.” Episodes include “Jeff Warren on How to Meditate with a Busy Brain.”
- All Together: “From the Pope to Patti Smith -- All Together is dedicated to exploring how religion ideas, ethics and spiritual practices inform and shape our personal lives, our communities and our world. Host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush is the Executive Editor of HuffPost Religion, which is America's most widely-read religion website.” See also: website
Mental Health and Spirituality
- Sanctuary Mental Health Podcast: Can mental health challenges and faith co-exist? Join our host Sarah Kift, as she interviews theologians, writers, leaders, and people living with mental health challenges. If you want inspiration, insight, and resources to equip your community to be a sanctuary for all people, at all stages of their mental health journeys, this is the podcast for you.
