Added 3.25.19. Milt and New Testament scholars Barbara E. Reid and Klyne Snodgrass explore – as Milt puts it – “the real man Jesus, as he is knowable” with a focus on the “actual facts of the earthly career of Jesus” and its connection to the Christian faith. The starting point is an encomium to Jesus from none other than Napoleon, for founding an empire based on love rather than force. At the time of the broadcast, each guest was a a professor of New Testament Studies; Reid at the Catholic Theological Union, and Snodgrass at North Park College.

Added 1.30.19. Dim that PC, pause the iPod, put down the iPhone. Quick, now: if the point of life were to perfect the soul and the intellect, how would you go about it? Surely not by sharing another “viral” cat video. Such are the challenges posed by the discipline of philosophy, Platonic branch. Diving deep but as always, keeping it accessible and lively, Milt in this 2010 episode is joined by learned guest Kenneth Seeskin, a professor of Jewish Civilization at Northwestern University. They chart what’s inside and outside the circles of the Venn Diagram connecting the Bible, and the essential Greek, Jewish, Catholic and Muslim philosophers. Philo Judaeus, Maimonides, Spinozza, St. Thomas Acquinas and the Koran all get their due. Seeskin’s books include “The Cambridge Companion To Maimonides,” “Maimonides On The Origin Of The World,” and “Jewish Philosophy In A Secular Age.”

Added 11.27.18. Here in the fast and furious times of late 2018, the Catholic Church’s priest sex scandal has led to intensifying debate about the legitimacy of the faith itself. But, argues one current analyst in The Federalist, it’s a problem of conduct, not doctrine. There remains much that is timeless and beneficial – and yes, ripe for change – within Catholicism, it’s present-day supporters posit. In this episode from several years back, Milt with three guests explores the nature of the Catholic faith, current issues facing the church, and why and how it is that Catholic schools can be so effective in raising the bar on academic expectations and performance for at-risk minority youth. He is joined by Patrick McCloskey, author of “The Street Stops Here: A Year At A Catholic High School In Harlem;” former Canadian broadcaster Michael Coren, author of “Why Catholics Are Right;” and Rev. Thomas Baima, then Vice-Rector of Mundelein Seminary and author of “What Is A Parish? Canonical, Pastoral And Theological Perspectives.”

Added 11.14.18. If the Greek gods of antiquity were alive today, their lives would make for maximum clickbait. Their heroic exploits were equalled only by their grand appetites for sin and self-regard. Naturally, there is much to mine from their legends. With two noted classics scholars Milt delves into the gods of the Greek pantheon in ancient mythology, and follows the thread forward in history to trace their influence on the development of modern thought, religion, moral codes, and storytelling. One guest is Phillip Freeman – then of Luther College, and now Chair of Western Culture at Pepperdine University. He was author of the then-newly released, “Oh My Gods: A Modern Re-telling of Greek And Roman Myths.” The other guest: University of Chicago professor of humanities, history and classics Jonathan M. Hall, author  – among other volumes – of “History Of The Archaic Greek World, 1200-479 B.C.“

Added 11.6.18. It’s been said that to be a U.S. Presidential contender requires “ambition, stamina, and pure shamelessness.” There’s a tradition among writers and political analysts of putting successful – and unsuccessful – U.S. Presidential campaigns under the microscope. It dates back at least as far as Theodore White’s classic of the genre titled “The Making Of The President 1960,” on JFK’s White House conquest; and includes Richard Ben Cramer’s classic “What It Takes,” on the ’88 contest. Mark Edward Taylor, an ordained minister with a doctorate in communications from Northwestern University, in his 2011 analysis “Branding Obamessiah: The Rise Of an American Idol,” posits – and seeks to painstakingly document – that President Barack Obama won his first term in office in an especially remarkable manner. It was, Taylor argues, with a carefully calibrated communications strategy inspired by religious images; religious words; a creation story; sacred rituals; true believers; and “an exceptional chief” defined as “an inexplicably impressive solution to all the nation’s problems” and by his “sense of hope in himself and the nation.” Milt and frequent guest Charles Lipson, a prolific author and professor emeritus of political science at the University of Chicago, sit down here in late 2011 with Taylor to dive deeper.