The Magnificast

This week, we talk with Sargon Donabed, author of the book "Reforging a Forgotten History: Iraq and the Assyrians in the Twentieth Century." Sargon tells us some of the history of the Assyrian people, an indigenous people to West Asia/North Africa who are often overlooked and misunderstood. We also talk about how the Assyrians do and don't show up in the academy and in public discourse, what role media plays in shaping our understanding of the WANA region, and how non-Assyrians can do better when it comes to showing solidarity. There's also some bonus stuff on "panenhistoricism," which is the coolest methodology word you'll learn this week for sure. The suggestion for this episode and for reading Sargon's book came from our new friend Meia, who blogs at ninwa.home.blog. Meia is an Assyrian who spent a lot of time helping us put this episode together. In her blog "WANA Christianity and Western Leftism," she explains the left's general ignorance and failure to acknowledge the persecution of minority Christian groups like Assyrians. We encourage you to read Meia's post in full, and also to check out her patreon for more! https://ninwa.home.blog/2018/12/22/wana-christianity-and-western-leftism/ https://www.patreon.com/ninwa Music by Amaryah Armstrong and theillalogicalspoon.

This week on The Magnificast we celebrate Dean's birthday and talk about Ernesto Cardenal's recent rehabilitation. We get into what this means and learn some cool stuff about Cardenal's life and Solentiname! intro music by Amaryah Armstrong outro music by theillogicalspoon

We did it everyone. We made it to ~The Big Hundo~, 100 straight weeks in a row and the Magnificast train is still a-rollin'! To celebrate, we start by going back to reddit where we met and tackle some of the most pressing theology questions we could find. Then we think through some of the theology questions sent in by listeners and prove once and for all that we're no good at theology. Thanks for coming along on this bizarre podcast adventure! Intro music by Amaryah Shaye Armstrong. Outro by theillalogicalspoon.

Infighting on the left is a huge problem. Marxists hate anarchists, anarchists hate Marxists, everyone hates primitivists, etc. In this episode, we'll take a look at a leftist who can add some nuance to all this infighting: Dorothy Day! In this episode, we'll listen to Dorothy Day's (of the Catholic Worker Movement) reflection on a trip she took to Cuba in 1962. Following her reflections, we'll see how an anarchist, Catholic, pacifist finds a way to support the revolution in Cuba.

In light of the ongoing coup in Venezuela, this week Matt and Dean talk with Jim Hodgson. Hodgson is the Program Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean for the United Church of Canada and was an observer of the recent elections in Venezuela. Intro Music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro Music by theillogicalspoon

Ever feel like you're working harder than ever and not really getting anywhere? Do you find it weird that people blame you and other folks for being poor when 26 people own as much wealth as half the planet? It might be because you've been demonized. This week we talk with Adam Kotsko, author of Neoliberalism's Demons, to find out all about the political theology behind this very messed up society. Be sure to also check out Adam's other books (there are a lot of 'em), his twitter feed [@]adamkotsko, and all the very hot takes at itself.blog, written by Adam and plenty of others! Music by Amaryah Armstrong and theillalogicalspoon.

Last week we talked about Christians and communist parties. This week we decided to take a look at how Christians related to the Socialist Party of America in the early 20th century. We read Dan McKanan's article "The Implicit Religion of Radicalism: Socialist Party Theology, 1900–1934" to get an idea of what kind of theology emerged from the Socialist Party. We also descended into the bunker of Christian Preppers. Please send us your iTunes reviews. Please. Oh, and episode 100 is coming up! Send us all your Big Theology Questions at themagnificast [at] gmail [dot] com. Music by Amaryah Armstrong and theillalogicalspoon.

We talk a lot about Christian communist and communists who like Christians, but we never really got around to talking about communist parties themselves! In this episode we get a little help from some Very Good books by Jodi Dean to think about the communist party, and then we reach through the archives to see if some of the people and movements we've talked about in the past might help us think through how Christians have related to communist parties. Oh hey we also got a new iTunes review, and we forgot how fun they are, so why don't you drop us another one? Also! Don't forget to check out Amaryah's new EP and kick some cash her way. https://amaryahshaye.bandcamp.com/album/my-mothers-house-ep Intro music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro by theillalogicalspoon

It's 2019 and we're back on our bullshit. Joining us for the New Year is John Thornton Jr! In this ep, Matt and Dean talk with John about the political theology of debt and decide on the theme for this year. Intro music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by theillogicalspoon

In this episode, Matt and Dean talk with Lilian Calles Barger about her new book: The World Come of Age: An Intellectual History of Liberation Theology. You can check out Lilian's book here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-world-come-of-age-9780190695392?cc=us&lang=en& Intro music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by theillogicalspoon