Inner Compass SEASON
5 (2004-2005)
Episode Descriptions (long)
#501 RATINGS-DRIVEN TV NEWS
How would you like your job to be a continual popularity contest? (Professors
are saying “would?”) The real story should not have to take
back seat to the fun story or the thrilling story, but all too often
this happens in the world of journalism. Tom Bradford,
long-time ABC News journalist and producer, describes the pressures
to host Shirley Hoogstra.
#502 HI-TECH CHURCHES
New technological inventions offer exciting options for churches looking
to update and streamline their worship services. If there’s enough
money in the budget, is that all we need to know? Quentin
Schultze of the Calvin
College Communication Arts & Sciences dept. and author of High-Tech
Worship: Using Presentational Technologies Wisely, describes
to host Shirley Hoogstra how a church can examine the fittingness of
such changes for its worship service.
#503 RAINFOREST UPDATE
The trouble with an environmental awareness success is that people get
tired of any danger that isn’t solved within a year or so. Where
does that leave global warming? The rainforests? Still a problem. Economic
botanist Sir Gillian Prance
discusses with host Shirley Hoogstra the physical, economic, and spiritual
nature of what’s going on.
#504 AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: DOORWAY OR DECOY?
Pretty regularly the question arises: do we still need affirmative action?
Followed by a second: you don’t think racism is over, do you?
And so the misunderstandings and misfirings continue for another round.
William Allen,
political scientist at Michigan State University, describes for host
Shirley Hoogstra why he thinks there’s a better way to fight the
disadvantages so many minorities experience.
#505 DRAWN TO THE DARK SIDE
Do you know anyone who seems to celebrate Halloween in some way or another
all year around? Clinical psychologist Julie
Schaefer-Space suggests to host Karen Saupe what to do
when concerned about a young person who seem a little too interested
in the occult, witchcraft, or other things that scare you.
#506 RECOVERY FROM RAPE
Though secrecy about trauma can help a victim survive, it can sometimes
bring more pain. Heather
Gemmen, author of the book Startling Beauty: My Journey
from Rape to Restoration, tells host Shirley Hoogstra what she has gained
from sharing her story with others.
#507 CARING FOR TEENAGERS
Why do so many loving children morph into mysterious creatures with
huge chips on their shoulders? What can parents and others who care
do about it? Can the church come to the rescue? Youth ministry consultant
Mark
DeVries offers wise suggestions and words of comfort in
his discussion with host Karen Saupe.
#508 ETHICS OF SURVIVAL: ERNEST SHACKLETON
1914 Antarctic explorer Ernest
Shackleton is the subject of numerous books and movies because of
his amazing leadership in keeping a shipwrecked crew of 27 alive for
20 months in a subzero wasteland until he was able to secure their rescue.
Rand Shackleton, filmmaker and amateur historian of
polar exploration, explains to Karen Saupe what about this story has
gripped so many hearts.
#509 THE TROUBLE WITH CHURCH DIVERSITY
With so many churches working hard to reach out to ethnic minorities,
why are most still looking so homogeneous? Robert
Upton, author of the book Racism
at Work Among the Lord’s People, describes the roadblocks
that cannot be ignored in a candid discussion with host Karen Saupe.
#510 AFRICA & GLOBALIZATION: NOT CASHING IN
With the rich resources found in most African countries, what keeps
them from prospering in this era of globalization? Randal Jelks,
director of Calvin’s Africa
& African Diaspora Studies minor, explains to host Karen Saupe
what is happening, what history tells us about it, and how our lack
of awareness makes everything worse.
#511 MIDWIFE, MOTHER, OR DOCTOR?
Are women in labor sick patients in need of intervention, or are they
simply doing one of the things they’re designed to do? Helen
Sterk of the Calvin
College Communication Arts & Sciences dept. and author of the
book Who’s
Having This Baby: Perspectives on Birthing discusses
with host Shirley Hoogstra the vast difference in midwife and hospital
mindsets.
#512 AMERICAN MORALITY
Some say there’s an eleventh commandment: Do not judge. Americans
have elevated this ideal till it has become unacceptable to tell anyone
else how they should think or live. Alan Wolfe of the
Boston College political
science department and author of Moral
Freedom: The Search for Virtue in a World of Choice discusses
with host Shirley Hoogstra what this says about our obligations to one
another. (Guest from The January
Series of Calvin College.)
#513 GENDER & COMPETITION
Coach Kathleen DeBoer
was tired of hearing male coaches proclaim that female athletes aren’t
as competitive as males, so she decided to examine the gender differences
that she had preferred to ignore. Her discoveries carried over to the
workplace as well, and now she discusses with host Karen Saupe her book
Gender & Competition: How Men and Women Approach Work &
Play Differently. (Guest from The
January Series of Calvin College.)
#514 HEALTHCARE FOR THE POOR
How do you go about truly caring for the millions of impoverished humans
dying of curable diseases? One at a time. Paul
Farmer, a medical anthropologist who divides his clinical
time between Boston and rural Haiti, discusses with host Shirley Hoogstra
innovative ideas from his new book Pathologies of Power: Health,
Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor. (Guest from The
January Series of Calvin College.)
#515 CULTURE OF IMMATURITY
Why are the young people of today taking so long to settle into careers
and families? Did the baby boomers turn out to be bad parents? Author
and columnist Frederica Mathewes-Green
discusses with host Karen Saupe what happens when young people postpone
the maturing duties of adulthood. (Guest from The
January Series of Calvin College.)
#516 THE MEANING OF EASTER
(watch now [.mov 75 Mb]) (listen now [.m4a 12.6 Mb])
Easter Sunday claims the year’s highest attendance at most churches.
Why doesn’t the miraculous story of Christ’s resurrection
and its implications bring everyone back for more? January Series guest Fleming Rutledge,
parish priest and speaker, discusses with host Shirley Hoogstra “full-throttle
belief” in the resurrection. (Guest from The
January Series of Calvin College.)
#517 WHY DEMOCRACY TAKES SO LONG
Democracy seems like such a good idea. Why don’t formerly oppressed
citizens embrace it more quickly? January Series guest and Russian sociologist
Vsevolod Marinov describes Russia’s long journey to democracy,
suggesting to host Shirley Hoogstra why more patience with Iraq would
be in order. (Guest from The
January Series of Calvin College.)
#518 AMERICAN CATHOLICISM
As the numbers of ordained Catholic clergy drop in America, who will
pick up the task of nurturing the old institutions and the young Catholics?
January Series guest Peter
Steinfels, writer for the New York Times and
author of A
People Adrift: The Crisis of the Roman Catholic Church in America,
describes for host Karen Saupe the new role for American Catholic laypeople.
(Guest from The January Series
of Calvin College.)
#519 HANDLING GRIEF ON HOLIDAYS
Many bereaved people have been blindsided by unexpected emotions at
a holiday gathering, and wonder how to best approach the next holiday.
Susan Zonnebelt-Smeenge, clinical psychologist at Pine
Rest Christian Mental Health Service and Robert
De Vries, professor of church education at Calvin Theological
Seminary, share advice with host Shirley Hoogstra from their book The
Empty Chair: Handling Grief on Holidays and Special Occasions.
#520 LOVING THE UNLOVELY
Did Jesus ever encounter a prostitute? Some would say He never did,
because He looked past the sins of society’s rejects and saw only
humble human beings who knew they needed Him. Evangelist and author
Tony Campolo
describes for host Shirley Hoogstra his mindset when reaching out to
those most Christians are uncomfortable with.
#521 HOW WOULD JESUS VOTE?
Some might say that Jesus didn’t make many political statements
besides something about taxes and Caesar. But Alan Storkey,
a political theorist from Cambridge, England and author of Jesus
and Politics: Confronting the Powers, reveals what a revolutionary
Jesus was—not to overthrow a present power, but to overthrow most
of our notions about what is political success.
#522 BLACK INFANT MORTALITY IN WEST MICHIGAN
African American babies in Grand Rapids are three times as likely to
die in their first year as white babies. Because this comes up in the
news now and then, everyone assumes something is being done. But this
mysterious problem is plagued by myths that cloud the issues, and progress
is minimal. Lisa King, executive director of the advocacy
group Our Kitchen Table, describes the current state of affairs to host
Shirley Hoogstra.
