Interviews - Audio/Video
Lockdown Conversations on Death and Life - Miles and the co-author of his most recent book, A Friendship in Twilight, had a discussion about their work recently published as a podcast by Things Not Seen on July 31, 2022.
P&P Live! with Francesca Stavrakopoulou and Jack Miles - The two authors and scholars discussed Stavrakopoulou's forthcoming God: An Anatomy Sun, January 30, 2022, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM PST as part of Politics and Prose's live authors series.
What Matters to Me and Why - an interview done in the WMMW series at UCI on March 10, 2021, including a Q&A at the end, posted May 10, 2021 on YouTube.
Reopening Muslim Minds: A Return to Reason, Freedom, and Tolerance - Miles comments on Mustafa Akyol's new book Reopening Muslim Minds in conversation with him online from the Cato Institute's Live Online Book Forum series, posted April 8, 2021.
Jack Miles on "World Religions" - Miles spoke with University Synagogue's Rabbi Arnold Rachlis on January 1, 2021. The interview begins at about 34 minutes into the video (the link should jump you to that timestamp).
Jack Miles interviewed T.M. Luhrmann on her book How God Becomes Real: Kindling the Presence of Invisible Others for Harvard Bookstore's virtual Friday Forums series on November 6, 2020.
Jack Miles: Religion As We Know It. Miles speaks with Tricycle’s Editor and Publisher James Shaheen about what we mean when we say something is a religion and how Miles’s own life has led him back to this question time and again, posted October 28, 2020.
Jack Miles and Stephen Greenblatt spoke about Greenblatt's new book The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve: From Fiction to Faith at the Los Angeles Public Library's ALOUD program on October 5, 2017. Listen to the podcast here.
They viewed six images from this presentation of 33 artworks of Adam and Eve Greenblatt collected. Open the presentation side-by-side with the podcast for a more enriching experience:
First, no. 1 in the presentation, the cover of Greenblatt's book
Third, no. 18 in the presentation
Fourth, no. 9 in the presentation
Fifth, no. 6 in the presentation
Sixth, no. 20 in the presentation
Is it About Islam? How to Talk Responsibly About Religious Conflict - Amir Hussain, author of Oil and Water: Two Faiths, One God, will explore this question in conversation with Miles, posted by UCI Media October 25, 2016.
Jack Miles on Turkey - Hizmet volunteers are the future of Turkey, and to some extent, the future of Islam. Miles interviewed by Spectra Media, posted December 21, 2015.
Jack Miles on Islam and ISIS - Miles talks about his choices for Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, posted August 10, 2015.
Global Warming and Religion: The Good News and the Bad - Miles suggests that interior spiritual life can bring about the necessary social and political change that are needed to improve the world’s ecological health. From UCI Media Services, posted February 10, 2015.
Editor Picks Religions For The First Norton Anthology of World Religions - Miles talks about his choices for the Norton Anthology of World Religions on NPR, posted February 6, 2015.
The Future of the Religious Past: Assessing The Norton Anthology of World Religions - Miles questions whether religion can be defined, and considers how, sometimes, the supposedly ancient turns out to be quite recent, and the truly ancient turns out to be surprisingly modern. In conversation with Reza Aslan and Rabbi Sharon Brous at the Los Angeles Public Library's ALOUD program on November 20, 2014.
The Ancient Romans and Jews (The Jewish War and Revolt) - Miles is interviewed for this History Channel documentary, posted June 15, 2014.
The Quest For Peace - Miles shares his thoughts on the quest for peace in the 21st Century, posted Jun 11, 2012.
The Spirit of Things Interview - Miles talks about religious literature and his new project as Editor of the Norton Anthology of World Religions, posted February 6, 2011.
Growing hostility towards Islam from some within the US - Jack Miles says that his Muslim colleagues feel there is more hostility towards them now than there was immediately after the September 11 tragedy nine years ago. Posted by the United States Study Centre on September 15, 2010.
America, Islam and the 'ground zero mosque' - Professor Jack Miles of the University of California at Irvine gives this lecture at The Australian National University on September 9, 2010.
Republicans, religion and a President under siege - Miles discusses the furore surrounding the "Ground Zero Mosque" as well as President Obama's predicament as the country enters another election season. Posted by the United States Study Centre on September 8, 2010.
September 11 a hot topic - Nine years after the Al-Qaeda terrorist group made its successful attack on American soil. In this interview Jack Miles discusses why American Muslims are this year more fearful than they were in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. Posted by the United States Study Centre on September 8, 2010.
The World Today Interview - Discussion of the furor over the building of a mosque near Ground Zero, posted September 6, 2010.
Memoir: Keeping the Faith - Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Panel 1024, narrated by Jack Miles. With Hope Edelman, Eric Lax, William Lobdell, and Dani Shapiro. Nominal fee to listen, or free with Audible trial. Posted August 10, 2010.
Violence. Miles in conversation with Slavoj Žižek about his recently published book, Violence, at the Los Angeles Public Library's ALOUD program on September 10, 2008.
Propaganda Then and Now: What Orwell Did and Didn't Know - A panel on propaganda. From the New York Public Library, November 7, 2007.
Book Discussion on The Lucifer Effect - Later in this video, Miles joins author Philip Zimbardo, to discuss Zimbardo's book on evil. From C-SPAN, May 13, 2007.
The Politics of Faith Panel - The panelists debated the topic, “Religion: The Politics of Faith,” moderated by Jonathan Kirsch. They also talked about their books on this topic. Panelists were: Jack Miles, Reza Aslan, Jonathan Kirsch, and Chris Hedges. From C-SPAN, April 8, 2007.
Reza Aslan in Conversation with Miles - Two acclaimed thinkers about religion—Reza Aslan and Jack Miles—conduct an enlightening on-stage conversation about the state of Islam. From UC Television, March 13, 2006. Also on YouTube here.
Realities of Political Extremism - Participants talked about political extremism in the Arab world, the influence of fundamentalist Islam in the region, the impact of U.S. policies in the Middle East and Iraq, and building stronger ties to Arab governments and democratic movements. C-SPAN, December 18, 2004.
In the Beginning: Revisiting the Bible - Authors who have written about the Bible in a variety of ways talked about their books. Jack Miles, Anita Diamant, and Jonathan Kirsch. From C-SPAN, July 14, 2002.
WILL: Focus 580 - On Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God. [Scroll down to November 26, 2001.]
Talking History: Jack Miles on the Bible as Art and History - On Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God. [Scroll down to Dec. 26, 2002, Segment 2.]
NPR - Fresh Air - A 2004 rebroadcast of an April 18, 1996 interview by Terry Gross on Fresh Air on God: A Biography.
Jack Miles on God: A Biography - The John Adams Institute - Audio-only interview with Miles by Antoine Bodar for the John Adams institute about God: A Biography, from 1996.
Charlie Rose - A discussion with Richard Ford, author of Independence Day, which is the first novel ever to win both the Pulitzer Prize and the Penn/Faulkner Award, and Jack Miles, whose book God: A Biography has been honored in the biography category.
Tom Wolfe Dissects Communism, Cuba, and the Commentators. UCLA, May 19, 1985. Intro by Jack Miles, LAT Book Review Editor. In his talk, Wolfe attacks communism, calling it "Fascism with a human face."
