Read transcript of Ep 3: Pythagoreans
Alternatively,follow this link to hear the episode & read the show notes. Transcription by Amy Carpenter.
[Chatter, doors, steps]
Pythagoreans
In Ancient Greece, vegetarianism belongs to a secretive subculture – amongst the mystery religions of Orpheus and the musical mathematical cult of Pythagoras.
Episode 3: Pythagoreans
The Greek philosophers knew about vegetarians. But they were part of cults associated with the mythical figure of Orpheus, and the guru of harmony and number – Pythagoras. The people who introduced the concept of reincarnation into Greece.
In the British Museum, Ian talks to Hugh Bowden, the head of the classics department of King’s College London and mystery religion specialist. There, Prof Bowden examines what its artefacts of Greek life and death tell us about attitudes to animals. Including – some suspect – an Orphic pocket guide to Hades.
Read transcript of Ep 2: Middle Path
Alternatively, follow this link to hear the episode & read the show notes. Transcription by Amy Carpenter.
[Tibetan horns. Buddhist chanting]
The Middle Path
Ian travels to the tree where the Buddha is said to have achieved enlightenment, and explores the paradox of his early followers’ attitudes to vegetarianism.
Episode 2: The Middle Path
Of the many monks of the ancient Indian kingdom of Magadha, only one has become a global household name. Buddhism will spread ahimsa to the ends of the earth, and inspires many millions of vegetarians today.
And yet the oldest Buddhist texts seem to portray the Buddha eating meat. Hear commentary from theologians from both vegetarian and meat-eating interpretations of Buddhism, the insights of world-leading historians, and a dramatisation of the moment in early texts where vegetarian Jain activists clash with Buddhist meat-eating.
Play or download (43MB MP3) (via iTunes) or read transcript.
Read transcript of Ep 1: Ahimsa
Alternatively, follow this link to hear the episode & read the show notes. Transcription by Amy Carpenter.
[Indian music, broadcast over small tinny speakers]
VegHist Episode 1: Ahimsa
In the Ganges plain in Northen India in the middle of the first millennium BCE, the idea of “ahimsa” – non violence – emerges.
Episode 1: Ahimsa
Ian visits the intellectual hub of iron age India – the Kingdom of Magadha. He discovers a subculture of vagabond philosophers that developed two world religions; and the vegetarian order of monks and nuns who became the torchbearers of ahimsa.
Play or download (41MB MP3) (via iTunes) or read transcript.
Ten Days to Launch!
“Vegetarianism: The Story So Far” Update #17 on Kickstarter.com
(Updates #15 and #16 were only visible to backers on Kickstarter.)
Adding American Colours
“Vegetarianism: The Story So Far” Update #14 on Kickstarter.com
Putting the Jigsaw Together
“Vegetarianism: The Story So Far” Update #13 on Kickstarter.com
What the 2015 UK Election means for Animals
When the UK elected a new parliament last week, voters confounded all the pundits (including me) who had trusted the polls. Two of the three vegan MPs lost their seats. Three other other animal advocates lost seats in the collapse of the Liberal Democrats (the former minority government party). The new Conservative majority government is planning a vote to repeal the ban on foxhunting. Meanwhile, the tiny “Animal Welfare Party” expanded their profile and vote share.