A Year in Religion Reporting
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Date: 25 December 2009
Religion Redux
Two of our favorite news analysts count down the religion stories that mattered in 2009-- the flaps, the surprises and the triumphs. From Pope Benedict's blunders, to Obama's speech to the Muslim world, to the approval of same-sex blessings in the Episcopal church, it was a year to remember.
Kevin Eckstrom, editor of Religion News Service
Kim Lawton, managing editor of Religion and Ethics Newsweekly
The Science of Spirituality
Begins at 22 min 30 sec
National Public Radio's religion correspondent ponders the limits of science, and raises some big questions: Does spirituality run in families? Is there a God gene? And how do we explain near-death experiences? In this special rebroadcast from May, she explains how new technologies are helping scientists measure 'the fingerprints of God' in the brain.
Barbara Bradley Hagerty, author of Fingerprints of God: The Search for the Science of Spirituality
Commentary: In Defense of Kwanzaa
Begins at 48 min 20 sec
Kwanzaa was created by a Black Studies professor in the late 60s as a way to celebrate black heritage. Some call it a pseudo-holiday, but when Melonyce McAfee and her family tried it out, back in the early 90s, it turned out to be more meaningful than they expected. Our story originally aired in December 2008.
Melonyce McAfee, copy editor at Slate Magazine
