Many Thanks

Leave a comment August 5, 2026 Steve A. Wiggins

My thanks go out to James Annitto and Victoria Jaye for a delightful discussion about demons on last night’s Nine Gates Podcast. I will put a link to it on Spotify on the Other Social Media & Interviews page on this website. I have to admit that I was a little nervous about it. I wrote Nightmares with the Bible in 2019 and ’20, mostly. Since then, in addition to the 9-2-5 that never ends, I wrote The Wicker Man and Sleepy Hollow as American Myth. I have a good deal of another nonfiction book written, but I’ve been polishing what I hope might be my second published novel lately. In other words, would I have forgotten about demons? The amazing thing about being a podcast guest is that it suddenly brings back the past. It’s like a time machine.

On my Other Social Media & Interviews page I have links to the various podcasts to which my books have garnered invitations over the past few years. Last December Biblical Time Machine had me on to talk about Asherah. Amazingly, although I wrote that book over three decades ago, I remembered quite a lot. Some details were fuzzy around the edges, of course, but writing a book seems to seal certain facts in your gray cells. The Incarcerated Christian podcast had me on for three episodes, two for Holy Horror and one for Nightmares. My gratitude always goes out to TheoFantastique for chats about all of my books since Holy Horror on. It’s devilishly hard to get attention as an ex-professor. Being an editor is a quiet job. So I’m full of gratitude for all of those who’re willing to listen to me prattle on for an hour.

I realize, by the way, that some readers find these posts on Facebook, Goodreads, and other social media. There’s actually more to my website than my daily posts. (They are the largest part, no doubt.) I have individual pages on each of my books. There’s a bit of contextualizing biographical information on this old ex-professor. And there are links to my attempted vlogs on YouTube. Chatting with James and Victoria last night, I was reminded again how much I’d like to get back into doing videos. The only thing stopping me is time. Even a 20-minute video can take an entire weekend to put together. Thankfully there are a few folks out there who find my efforts worth an evening’s (or weekend afternoon’s) discussion. I am profoundly grateful to this who do, if you’ll pardon my brief stint of self-indulgence.

Radio Nowhere

Leave a comment November 26, 2016 Steve A. Wiggins

Those of us who somehow managed to be educated without the use of computers, at least nothing more advanced than a TI-30 calculator, fumble our way through the world-wide web. I’ve got this blog, a Twitter and a Facebook account, and I’m on Google + and Medium, and I really don’t know how any of these things work. One of my motivations for starting this blog was to continue the tradition of speaking to audiences that I used to have in my lectures while I taught. I was told that such a format was known as a podcast and I found a host site where I could leave my recordings for free. I could then make a link and bring them onto the podcast page of this blog. How any of that works, I have no idea.

Recently a few would-be listeners have asked what has happened to the podcasts. Since I don’t really know where they were in the first place, I’m not sure how to send a map to them now. One of my readers, however, has kindly set up a new webpage where all 23 podcasts are available. You can find it by clicking on this link. My thanks to Ahmed Fasih for setting this up. The podcasts cover various aspects of ancient religion. Even now, every great once in a while, a world-recognized name in academia will ask me about some of these topics. When you’re an academic you have the opportunity to spend vast amounts of time focusing on a single subject. The only subject you have that privilege with outside academia is money. I do hope my friends in the academy realize just how lucky they are.

In any case, the podcasts are back. Maybe now that they’re not invisible any more, and since in coming days it may be important to remember when things were better, I may find time to add to them. Blogs—at least those that are regularly read—are locations for discussion. I’m always glad to answer questions that are posted here. During the work week my time is constrained, so you might need to wait for a weekend, but I will respond. I know religion is passé. I know people have better things to do with their time. I also know that for the vast majority of humankind religion remains a vital and integral part of their lives. Exploring it seems to make sense to me. For those who’d rather listen than read, the podcasts are once more available.

Whence Monotheism

8 Comments July 31, 2009 Steve A. Wiggins

Here are some preliminary thoughts on the origins of monotheism, recorded on a very hot and humid day!

Stay tuned for more developments, including further posts on various gods in the non-monotheistic world.

Michael Jackson, Isaac Newton, and the Alphabet

Leave a comment July 24, 2009 Steve A. Wiggins

Here is my second podcast, complete with musings about Michael Jackson and the alphabet, neither of which I’m an expert on! I find the linguistic aspects less interesting than the big picture of how this whole wonderful enterprise of writing got started.

Puff the Magic Dagon

6 Comments July 18, 2009 Steve A. Wiggins

H. P. Lovecraft created an entire mythological world (the Cthulhu Mythos) that borrowed from ancient mythological themes and ideas. Although not part of his original Cthulhu cycle, his story concerning Dagon also draws from ancient mythology. Click to hear more.