Down the Wormhole

Our Digital Presence Part 1 (Oreo Communion)

Episode 38
In part 1 of our new miniseries exploring our digital presence in these "corona-days", we are looking at our religious rituals. Why do some of our rituals seem to transition easily to the internet while others feel flat and uninspiring? Can we create new digital rituals? How do we find hope and spiritual connection when our internet connection keeps cutting out? Can we replace the body and blood of Christ with Oreos and coffee without ruining the whole thing? Can you replace the shankbone of a Seder Plate with a family hug in an attempt to preserve the meaning behind it? What is sacred, what is profane, and who is deciding this stuff? 
 
Support this podcast on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/DowntheWormholepodcast
More information at https://www.downthewormhole.com/
produced by Zack Jacksonmusic by Zack Jackson and Barton Willis 
 
Scientists in Synagogues application due July 23 - https://sinaiandsynapses.org/scientists-in-synagogues/
 
Snow Notes 
::coming soon::

DtW Goes to the Movies Part 6 (Jurassic Park)

Episode 37
In the final episode of our miniseries on science and religion in film, we're taking you to a remote island off the coast of Costa Rica that is teeming with dinosaurs and valuable moral lessons. It's Jurassic Park! Let's talk about dinosaurs, the morality of genetics, what makes humans special, and why you should definitely be scared of chickens. 
Support this podcast on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/DowntheWormholepodcast
More information at https://www.downthewormhole.com/
produced by Zack Jacksonmusic by Zack Jackson and Barton Willis (though much of it was originally composed by John Williams )
Snow Notes 
::coming soon::

DtW Goes to the Movies Part 5 (Interstellar)

Episode 36
In part 5 of our miniseries on film, we are literally taking you down the wormhole to visit the 2014 scifi masterpiece, Interstellar. Zack leads the discussion on ancient apocalyptic literature, and why he thinks that the modern end-of-the-world movies are not all that different from the ancient religious texts, and can bring a similar spirit of hope in uncertain times. At least that's the idea. We'll have to wait for the live action version of The Book of Revelation to compare apples to apples. 
That's a joke by the way. Dear lord, I hope that's a joke in the future too....
 
Revised Miniseries schedule:
3/25 - Contact4/1 - 2001: A Space Odyssey 4/15 - Pan's Labyrinth 4/22 - Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi4/29 - Star Trek: Generations5/6 - Interstellar 5/13 - Jurassic Park 
Support this podcast on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/DowntheWormholepodcast
More information at https://www.downthewormhole.com/
produced by Zack Jacksonmusic by Zack Jackson and Barton Willis 
Show Notes:
::coming soon::

DtW Goes to the Movies Part 5 (Star Trek: Generations)

Episode 35
In part five of our science and religion in film miniseries, Rachael boldly leads us where no podcast has gone before. Well, at least where THIS podcast has gone before. Yeah. We're talking Star Trek. Specifically, Star Trek: Generations. How similar is "the Nexus" to our own popular images of Heaven, and what does that reveal about our deepest desires? What do we actually believe about the afterlife, and how sturdy are those beliefs when put to a few simple tests? On our voyage to the other side, we will also talk about Talmudic orgies, eyeball hooks, who gets your organs in the resurrection, and how to neuter a pigeon. You know you want to hit play... Resistance is futile... 
 
Revised Miniseries schedule:
3/25 - Contact4/1 - 2001: A Space Odyssey 4/15 - Pan's Labyrinth 4/22 - Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi4/29 - Star Trek: Generations5/6 - Interstellar 5/13 - Jurassic Park 
Support this podcast on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/DowntheWormholepodcast
More information at https://www.downthewormhole.com/
produced by Zack Jacksonmusic by Zack Jackson and Barton Willis 
 
Show Notes
::coming soon::

DtW Goes to the Movies Part 4 (Star Wars: The Last Jedi)

Episode 34
In part 4 of our science and religion in film miniseries, Ian finally gets to geek out on Star Wars. You can't tell, but he brought his own lightsaber to record this episode. Oh yeah. We're in it to win it! Since we obviously couldn't talk about everything, we focused on "The Last Jedi", and more specifically on the modern tension between religion and spirituality. Do we need the "sacred texts" to become better force users or are we stronger without the ancient traditions? Can a person be both Jedi and Sith? Do those distinctions matter or are they merely power constructs? Most importantly, what color would your lightsaber be and what would be the first thing that you would do with it? 
Revised Miniseries schedule:
3/25 - Contact4/1 - 2001: A Space Odyssey 4/15 - Pan's Labyrinth 4/22 - Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi4/29 - Star Trek: Generations5/6 - Interstellar 5/13 - Jurassic Park 
Support this podcast on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/DowntheWormholepodcast
More information at https://www.downthewormhole.com/
produced by Zack Jacksonmusic by Zack Jackson and Barton Willis 
Show Notes
Websites
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/12/why-the-last-jedi-is-more-spiritual-than-religious/549146/
http://info.reframemedia.com/hubfs/Think-Christian-A-Theology-of-Star-Wars.pdf
https://relevantmagazine.com/culture/where-theology-star-wars-breaks-down/
https://www.tmatt.net/columns/2018/1/10/those-star-wars-theology-wars-are-heating-up-again
When One Religion Isn't Enough: The Lives of Spiritually Fluid People by Duane R. Bidwellhttps://www.amazon.com/When-One-Religion-Isnt-Enough/dp/0807091243

DtW Goes to the Movies Part 3 (Pan's Labyrinth)

Episode 33
In Part 3 of our miniseries on science and religion in movies, Adam does what Adam does and rejects the premise to get to the point through the back door! the 2006 Guillermo del Toro masterpiece, Pan's Labyrinth (available on Netflix) is not even a little bit scifi. It is a fantasy-realism film that centers on a young girl who is trapped in the crossfire of 1944 Falangist Spain, and is confronted by a mythical creature who tells her that she is so much more than she thinks she is. While this film is not overtly scientific, it is an excellent vehicle for helping us to examine what we believe is real and how we know that. Is science magic? What makes it compelling? Can we become re-enchanted once we have lost the faith of our childhood? How can those of us without mythical spirit guides make sense of the world? 
Miniseries schedule:
3/25 - Contact4/1 - 2001: A Space Odyssey 4/15 - Pan's Labyrinth 4/22 - Interstellar 4/29 - Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi5/6 - Star Trek: Generations
Support this podcast on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/DowntheWormholepodcast
More information at https://www.downthewormhole.com/
produced by Zack Jacksonmusic by Zack Jackson and Barton Willis 
 
Show Notes
Stephen Hunt -The Chour of the Air
https://www.amazon.com/COURT-AIR-STEPHEN-HUNT/dp/0765380218
 
Wizard in Harry Potter reading A Brief History of Time
https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Wizard_in_the_Leaky_Cauldron
 
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” ~  Arthur C. Clarke (NOT Isaac Asamov as Zack says in the episode)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarke%27s_three_laws
 
“The second naivete” as a concept in spiritual development 
https://www.mpjauthor.com/spiritual-development-concept/Paul-Ricoeur.html
https://c1b9a88f-157e-47ac-91dd-90f00bc73c13.filesusr.com/ugd/18a280_3bcaa8e62ed848ac954aeae897a5a4a7.pdf
 
Zack’s Uncle Ed Zacharewicz’s arthttps://www.facebook.com/Edward-C-Zacharewicz-268270439887/
 
Albert Camus’s joyful philosophy 
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7699175-the-literal-meaning-of-life-is-whatever-you-re-doing-that

DtW Goes to the Movies Part 2 (2001: A Space Odyssey)

Episode 32
It's part 2 of our miniseries on movies, and Kendra leads us in discussing perhaps the most influential scifi movie of all time, 2001: A Space Odyssey. Despite its preeminence, however, she is the only one among us who truly love it. Can she make believers out of the rest of us? Can she help us to appreciate silence and multiple layers of acceptable meaning? Will that draw us deeper into our own spiritual journeys as well? You be the judge. Just make sure you watch the film first, or this episode will make even less sense! 
Miniseries schedule:
4/1 - 2001: A Space Odyssey 4/8 - Pan's Labyrinth 4/15 - Interstellar 4/22 - Rachael's Pick!
Support this podcast on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/DowntheWormholepodcast
More information at https://www.downthewormhole.com/
produced by Zack Jacksonmusic by Zack Jackson and Barton Willis 
Show Notes 
John Cage 4’33 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr9YnBaZBgc
Rudolph Otto Mysterium tremendum : 
https://www.britannica.com/topic/mysterium-tremendum-et-fascinans ; 
https://magiscenter.com/the-1st-pole-mysterium-tremendum-in-the-numen-i-b-gods-presence-to-our-consciousness-the-numinous-experience-intuition-of-the-sacred-and-conscience/ 
https://spectrummagazine.org/article/2017/10/10/mysterium-tremendum 
 
Articles on the movie 
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/hearing-and-seeing-2001-a-space-odyssey-anew 
http://decentfilms.com/reviews/2001aspaceodyssey 
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-from-the-archive-2001-space-odyssey-20180517-story.html 
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3592986?seq=1 [behind a login/pay-wall, but can get a few free articles each month]

DtW Goes to the Movies Part 1 (Contact)

Episode 31
In Part 1 of our new miniseries on science and religion in film, Ian takes us on a tour of perhaps the most famous and influential modern scifi movie that openly grappled with science and religion. If you found quantitative evidence of God, would it change anything? If you never found evidence of God, would THAT change anything? Does good science contain an element of storytelling? What if God were just an alien that looked like your dad? 
Miniseries schedule:
4/1 - 2001: A Space Odyssey 4/8 - Pan's Labyrinth 4/15 - Interstellar 4/22 - Rachael's Pick!
Support this podcast on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/DowntheWormholepodcast
More information at https://www.downthewormhole.com/
produced by Zack Jacksonmusic by Zack Jackson and Barton Willis 
Show Notes
Faith and Film: Theological Themes at the Cinema by Bryan Stone 
https://www.amazon.com/Faith-Film-Theological-Themes-Cinema/dp/0827210272/
Religion and Science (Gifford Lectures Series) by Ian Barbour
https://www.amazon.com/Religion-Science-Gifford-Lectures-Barbour/dp/0060609389