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Diwali. Phote by Queensland University and used under a Creative Commons By Attribution License
An Inclusive Diwali Story for Children and the Politics of Weaponizing the Wafer
November 05, 2021
A children’s book about Diwali and a discussion of what is at stake as the US Conference of Catholic Bishops considers denying communion to politicians who support abortion.
Thrity Umrigar, courtesy Thrity Umrigar
A Conversation with Thrity Umrigar about Binny’s Diwali November 05, 2021

Thrity Umrigar is a much-lauded author of literary fiction, much of it set in India and among the Indian diaspora. Now, she returns to the Diwali celebrations of her Indian childhood for Binny’s Diwali, a picture book for children that explains how her family celebrates this important but little understood Indian festival.

Thrity Umrigar.  Best-selling author of both children's books and the novels Bombay Time, The Space Between Us, If Today Be SweetThe Weight of HeavenThe World We Found, The Story Hour, Everybody’s Son, The Secrets Between Us,, and Honor. She is also the author of the memoir, First Darling of the Morning.  Her books have been translated into several languages and published in over fifteen countries. She is a Distinguished University Professor of English at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

 

Binnis Diwali, Scholastic Press
Binnis Diwali
Scholastic Press

Communion wafer. Image courtesy York Minster via flickr. Used under a Crative Commond By Attribution license.
Weaponizing the Wafer: The Political Undercurrents in American November 05, 2021
Dr. Massimo Faggioli, a professor of theology and religious studies at Villanova University, is an expert on American Catholicism and keeps his eyes on the many ways Catholicism plays out in the public square. In this segment, he looks at the subtext of President Joseph Biden’s recent meeting with Pope Francis -- only the second time in history a sitting Catholic president has met with a sitting Pope.

Massimo Faggioli. Ph.D. Historian of the Catholic Church, Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University, and author most recently of Joe Biden and Catholicism in the United States, from Bayard.

Massimo Faggioli

Massimo Faggioli




Our theme music is by MC Yogi

This week's closing music, New Hope, by Audiobinger,
used under a Creative Commons By Attribution 4.0 license.

The Diwali instrumental music used in this episode is in the Public Domain

All additional music by Blue Dot Sessions.

Remixes and sound design by Dissimilation Heavy Industries
.