Thursday, 14 June 2012

Twenty questions atheists struggle to answer

From the Christian Medical Comment blog.

The complete list is below: and the discussion on 1-6 is here and discussion on 7-11 here.

Twenty questions atheists struggle to answer

1.What caused the universe to exist?

2.What explains the fine tuning of the universe?

3.Why is the universe rational?

4.How did DNA and amino acids arise?

5.Where did the genetic code come from?

6.How do irreducibly complex enzyme chains evolve?

7.How do we account for the origin of 116 distinct language families?

8.Why did cities suddenly appear all over the world between 3,000 and 1,000BC?

9.How is independent thought possible in a world ruled by chance and necessity?

10.How do we account for self-awareness?

11.How is free will possible in a material universe?

12.How do we account for conscience?

13.On what basis can we make moral judgements?

14.Why does suffering matter?

15.Why do human beings matter?

16.Why care about justice?

17.How do we account for the almost universal belief in the supernatural?

18.How do we know the supernatural does not exist?

19.How can we know if there is conscious existence after death?

20.What accounts for the empty tomb, resurrection appearances and growth of the church?

Tuesday, 12 June 2012

NPR Best songs of the Year so Far (Podcast)

Podcast from NPR's excellent All Songs Considered Podcast.

Discussion: NPR Our Favorite Music Of The Year (So Far)

Hear The Discussion

All Songs Considered

[1 hr 11 min 56 sec]

Add to Playlist

Hear The Songs

Courtesy of the artists Clockwise, from upper left: Kishi Bashi, Simone White, Bobby Womack, Aleksa Palladino of Exitmusic, Sinead O'Connor.

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June 12, 2012

The biggest surprise of the year? Bob is into a Swedish pop song with the lyrics "You're from the 70's/but I'm a 90's b*tch." This week on All Songs Considered, Co-Hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton are joined by NPR Music's Stephen Thompson and Ann Powers to take a step back, catch their breaths and consider the past six months of music. They share their favorite new artists, biggest surprises, favorite albums and songs of 2012, so far.
Second to Bob's unexpected pop pick: the heated discussion on Carly Rae Jepson's sugary song of the summer "Call Me Maybe". This week's show features a batch of poptimistic, feel-good songs (along with a few tracks better heard alone in a dark, quiet room.) These favorite songs of the year are not necessarily the most delicately crafted, but the "awesomeist" songs. Particularly awesome is Japandroids' rebellious "Fire's Highway," with a shout-to-the-heavens chorus and brash guitar and drums. Bob and Robin's favorite new artist of the year so far, Kishi Bashi, uses layers and loops to create a radiant, uplifting soundscape in the song "Bright Whites."
Another theme of the year seemed to be artists who've been around for a while, like Sinead O'Connor and Bobby Womack, and made the list with triumphant comeback albums. Fiona Apple's record, The Idler Wheel...
You can listen to the entire discussion above and each track discussed below.