#42 with Greg Bennick on Ernest Becker, Discourse and Denial of Death

Greg Bennick is BACK!!! For another great episode. Greg Bennick is the author of the upcoming official biography of Ernest Becker. Greg has been speaking on stages worldwide for over thirty years.  Greg is a performer thought provoker, punk rock singer, and world traveller who infuses ideas and action everywhere he goes. He is the Executive Director and founder of One Hundred for Haiti, a non-profit supporting development programs in rural Haiti, and he is a co-founder of the Portland Mutual Aid Network, which collectively supports the houseless and unsheltered community in Portland, Oregon. He lives in Seattle, Washington.

Greg’s previous episode with us is https://learningtodie.com.au/podcasts/3-dolphins-to-wwii-with-greg-bennick-on-the-work-of-ernest-becker/

Contact our guest Greg: https://gregbennick.com/

Check out our research study on dreams, death anxiety and religion. Open to all >18 years https://dreamteam.study/

 

Links from our discussion

Podcasts

Dr Rachel Menzies on her book about denial of death “Mortals” https://learningtodie.com.au/podcasts/27-dr-rachel-menzies-mortals-how-the-fear-of-death-shaped-human-society/

Freeman Dyson and Stephen Blackwood: On the Freedom of Thought and Nature

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSbY8I-3338

 

Books

Ernest Becker books https://www.thriftbooks.com/a/ernest-becker/205137/

Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind by Tom Holland https://www.amazon.com.au/Dominion-Making-Western-Tom-Holland/dp/1408706954

Dr Iain McGilchrist “The Matter with Things” https://channelmcgilchrist.com/matter-with-things/

Rene Girard, Scapegoats https://www.amazon.com.au/Scapegoat-Ren%C3%A9-Girard/dp/0801839173

Yukio Mishima Sun and Steel

 

People

Ernest Becker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Becker

Freeman Dyson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeman_Dyson

Alan Watts https://alanwatts.org/life-of-alan-watts/

Yukio Mishima Sun and Steel

 

Information: Religious affiliation in Australia https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/religious-affiliation-australia

Academic paper: Riordan, D.V. The Scapegoat Mechanism in Human Evolution: An Analysis of René Girard’s Hypothesis on the Process of Hominization. Biol Theory 16, 242–256 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13752-021-00381-y

Follow us

• Ciaran on Substack https://substack.com/profile/23799980-quarrelsome-life
• The YouTube version of this episode has a video and some slides.
• Contact us at ian@learningtodie.com.au or ciaran@learningtodie.com.au.