The New York Times reports on a recently released report by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life on religious affiliation in the United States.

The graphic below tells the whole story:

As a “protestant” it does sadden me to see this, but it also gives me that internal nudge that every Christian asks of themselves periodically: “What am I doing to make a difference?”

Read the NY Times article to get the overall look at the report and read the full Pew report to find out more details, but here is the key paragraph that stood out for me:

The survey finds that the number of people who say they are unaffiliated with any particular faith today (16.1%) is more than double the number who say they were not affiliated with any particular religion as children. Among Americans ages 18-29, one-in-four say they are not currently affiliated with any particular religion.

Broken down this says that a very large chunk of the unaffiliated are the younger demographic in our society. I have heard many pastors and speakers talk about the importance of teaching our youth what we know to be true, and this is the data to prove it.

What are your thoughts?

I’d like to say thanks to Don from the poetry podcast “Classic Poetry Aloud“.

He wrote an article for “Open Culture” entitled “Listening to Poetry Online” and said some very kind words about my poetry podcast “Cloudy Day Art”.

Cloudy Day Art (iTunes - Feed - Web Site) similarly involves interviews, most recently with former US Poet Laureate Ted Kooser, but with a different focus. A home-produced show by Washington DC resident Will Brown, the aim is to draw out of those he interviews thoughts, tips and advice for those who, like the ever-enthusiastic Will himself, are writing poetry, for publication or just for themselves.

I did an interview with Don back in September on an episode entitled “Tips For Reading Poetry Aloud“. Check it out if you are interested in learning how to improve your recitation of poetry or any other written work in public.

NaBloPoMo #7

My audio poetry podcast Cloudy Day Art, along with other members of the Association of Poetry Podcasting, were featured in an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Podcast options aplenty for poetry

Type the word poetry into a podcast directory search and you’ll get about 140 results, often more. Some poetry podcasts are based at institutions and have money behind them, such as Poetry Off the Shelf, which is produced by the Poetry Foundation, the publisher of Poetry magazine. Likewise, Jim Lehrer of the PBS program NewsHour hosts a poetry series that features readings and interviews with nationally known poets.

But individuals with an interest in poetry have found the medium accessible enough for them to make programs, too. From bedrooms and laptops around the world people are recording podcasts, registering them with directories such as iTunes, promoting them, and garnering a listenership - all for very little money.

Thanks to Katie Haegele for contacting us and conducting the interviews. We really appreciate the exposure she gave to poetry podcasting. Awesome!

Read entire article here.