Palmistry: Science? Pseudo-Science? You Decide Parts 1 & 2

OK Kids, I'm really hesitant to share this with you, but I do want to upload as many episodes as I can. If you've been around for a while you know that every once in a while I find an old cassette tape or CD of shows we did decades ago. And the sound quality is not always great. Well, this is an example of that. I just found this in the basement after cleaning it out due to a flood. For those of you who can handle real lo-fi, you might enjoy these 2 examples of really, really early Common Threads. I can't even hazard a guess as to when we had Dr. BK Parmar in the studio to talk about palmistry, astrology and such. I'm guessing that it could have been in the late 1990s. Early 00s at best. Anyway, I'm putting up this version today and hoping I might find a way to clean it up a bit and repost. Theme music "Nigal."

In the chaos of today’s world, we’re all searching for meaning. The wellness industry has sold us a promise that we can find it if we just buy the right products, attend the right retreats, and follow the right celebrity gurus. But is this true? Or are we picking and choosing from a self-care salad bar in ways that satisfy our hunger but don’t truly nourish us?When we approach practices like yoga and ayahuasca as fitness routines and life hacks, we miss out on the sacred wisdom they have to offer us. But by digging into the real and often ancient religious traditions behind these practices, from Buddhism to Christianity and beyond, we can make them more meaningful, ethical, and effective—without the often unpleasant baggage of joining an organized religion. In this engaging and deeply personal book, award-winning scholar and writer Liz Bucar embarks on a quest to get to the heart of “spiritual but not religious” activities from detox diets to sound baths. As she tries out each practice for herself, she asks how we can get more out of it by tuning out the hype and taking the religious meaning behind it seriously—with emotionally profound and often surprising results. Whether it’s as simple as setting an intention for a yoga asana or as complex as reevaluating what a “higher power” is, it’s time to understand, experience, and simply get more out of our spiritual practices. It’s time to dig deeper with Beyond Wellness. Theme music "Nigal."

Coptic Christians, the largest Christian minority in Egypt, have maintained a distinct religious and cultural identity for centuries, but they often face challenges living as a minority in a predominantly Muslim society. They frequently encounter social discrimination, periodic outbreaks of sectarian violence, and economic or political marginalization, especially in rural areas. Despite constitutional protections, bureaucratic hurdles, such as difficulties obtaining permits to build or repair churches, continue to affect daily religious life. Yet the Coptic community remains resilient, playing a significant role in Egypt’s history, culture, and professional life while working to preserve its traditions and secure equal participation in public life. And at the same time, those Coptics who are able to migrate to the U.S. have faced a significant amount of discrimination, as many Arab Christians (along with Indian Hindus, Sikhs, etc.) are taken for Muslims. In these episodes Fred Stella speaks to Dr. Candace Lukasik from Mississippi State University to continue to talk about her documentation of this issue in the book Martyrs and Migrants. Theme music "Nigal."

What if your deepest longing wasn’t a problem to solve, but an invitation? Many of us move through life carrying an unnameable ache - an irrepressible void we try to fill with achievement, admiration, or distraction. Yet beneath this yearning lies something far greater: an invitation to awaken, heal, and reclaim our quiet power within. In Longing: A Pilgrimage to Your Quiet Power Within, Christopher Sansone, PhD, weaves personal insight, psychology, and spiritual wisdom to reveal how our innate longing - often mistaken for emptiness or suffering - is actually our inner voice of wisdom calling to us. By blending modern psychology, ancient wisdom, and self-guided transformational practices, Sansone guides readers through personal transformation to living a fulfilled life by: Healing from inherited wounds of shame, fear, and separation; Reconnecting with true life purpose, intuition and inner wisdom; Moving beyond societal conditioning to reclaim personal freedom; Embracing longing as a catalyst for transformation; Practical exercises to deepen self-awareness and release limiting beliefs. By making ancient wisdom relevant and reflective practices easy, and by sharing stories of courageous journeys of transformation, this book serves as a guide for transcending old patterns, embracing the authentic self, and stepping into a life of fulfilling purpose, presence, and love. Theme music "Nigal."

In a time of ecological, political, and social upheaval, Dr. Liza J. Rankow locates a path to healing at the intersection of mystic spirituality and social action. In her new book Soul Medicine for a Fractured World: Healing, Justice, and the Path of Wholeness, the longtime grassroots activist shows readers how to live with purpose and meaning as a response to the rising tide of calamities around the globe. In this episode Fred Stella speaks to her about what influenced Liza to take the path that she has and how the contemplative spiritual life and social activism can make for an exhilarating existence. Soul Medicine has been praised by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker, who described it as: “Wise and beautiful, an offering of great depth.” Dr. Rankow believes the medicine the world needs is in each of us.Drawing upon spiritual wisdom that has been passed down through millennia, her guidance is rooted in our kinship with one another, the Earth, and all of life. She points to “something more powerful than the chaos: our belonging to a wholeness that is ancient, infinite and eternal.” Theme music "Nigal."

In these episodes Fred speaks with Professor Robert Wuthnow about his book, ‘Nurturing Happiness: How Religion Shapes Emotional Practice.’ His research explores how religious institutions in America have historically managed and shaped their followers' experiences of happiness, viewing it not just as a feeling but as a social and emotional practice. He argues that religious leaders use their authority to define what constitutes "proper" happiness, distinguishing it from worldly pursuits, and create social spaces (like revival meetings or church socials) where these emotions are cultivated, managed, and expressed according to specific rules. Wuthnow examines this through historical examples, from colonial-era ideas of heavenly joy to modern concepts of spiritual play, revealing an ongoing tension between strict religious rules and the encouragement of joy. Bio from Oxford University Press: Robert Wuthnow is Professor of Sociology Emeritus at Princeton University. He is also an elected fellow of the American Philosophical Society, an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Guggenheim Fellowship recipient, former president of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, and the recipient of numerous awards for his scholarly work. Theme music "Nigal."

Host Fred Stella discusses the new book ‘The Future of God’ with its author Steve Schwalbe. Together they explore the Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Islam, and Christianity) to determine how adherents will accommodate God in the future. While there are many publications about the future of God or the future of religion, they tend to reflect a specific academic field, such as theology or sociology. This book reviews the future of God reflected in 4 primary academic fields, including theology (dealing directly with God and religion), sociology (addressing how societies evolved with God and religion), biology (dealing with the scientific evidence of the existence of God), and physics (addressing God’s intelligent design of the universe). Then the book analyzes each field’s future projections for God in order to determine the most likely future. Theme music "Nigal."

Another classic from our radio archives that we recently discovered, these 2009 episodes involve a conversation with Ravi Joshi of Medha Journal. While most often our interviews are with the actual authors, this time we analyze a book that was written by someone else. Invading the Sacred is the seminal work of Rajiv Malhotra, a longtime critic of how Hindu Dharma is taught at the college level. It's a riveting discussion that unveils a prejudice that few outside of the Hindu community are aware of. Theme music "Nigal."

Well, we are getting close to the bottom of the pile. By that I mean the pile of CDs that I discovered in my basement of old CT episodes I'd forgotten about. This one, if I am correct, is from 2008. It's an interview with Dean Overman, who wrote the book A Case for the Existence of God. There is at least one other book from a different author with the same title, but what I appreciate about Dean's book is that it is rather universal in its approach. That is, for the most part it does not try to sell any particular faith (though the author is Christian). I recall this being a great conversation. Theme music "Nigal."

There are so many vulnerable populations around the world, and it's hard to keep up with them all. One group that sustained very serious abuse is the Hindu community in the Asian nation of Bhutan. Oddly, for centuries there existed a comity between Hindus and Buddhists that was inspiring to see. In Nepal, many people practice both. So it's quite disheartening to learn that over 20 years ago, the despotic Buddhist king of Bhutan expelled over 100,000 Hindu citizens of Nepali heritage. For 2 decades these hardworking people lived in cramped huts in refugee camps in Nepal before being dispersed to welcoming countries. In these episodes we talk with Narad Adhikari from the Global Bhutanese Hindu Organization about this travesty that he, his family and many dear friends survived and ultimately thrived. This one is a heartbreaker, kids. But very inspirational. Theme music "Nigal."