Janna Levin — Mathematics, Purpose, and Truth

Men of all ages say Richard Rohr has given them a new way into spiritual depth and religious thought through his writing and retreats. This conversation with the Franciscan spiritual teacher delves into …

Men of all ages say Richard Rohr has given them a new way into spiritual depth and religious thought through his writing and retreats. This conversation with the Franciscan spiritual teacher delves into …

The poet Jericho Brown reminds us to bear witness to the complexity of the human experience, to interrogate the proximity of …

The poet Jericho Brown reminds us to bear witness to the complexity of the human experience, to interrogate the proximity of …

There are places in the human experience where ordinary language falls short but where poetry can find a way in. Gregory Orr has used lyric poetry to wrest gentle, healing, life-giving words from one of …

There are places in the human experience where ordinary language falls short but where poetry can find a way in. Gregory Orr has used lyric poetry to wrest gentle, healing, life-giving words from one of …

Today young people are trying to balance the question of “What do I want to do when I grow up?” with the question of “Who and how do I want to be in the world?” Physician and writer Abraham Verghese and …

Today young people are trying to balance the question of “What do I want to do when I grow up?” with the question of “Who and how do I want to be in the world?” Physician and writer Abraham Verghese and …

Community organizers Rami Nashashibi and Lucas Johnson have much to teach us about using love — the most reliable muscle of human transformation — as a practical public good. Nashashibi is the founder …

Community organizers Rami Nashashibi and Lucas Johnson have much to teach us about using love — the most reliable muscle of human transformation — as a practical public good. Nashashibi is the founder …

Sylvia Boorstein says spirituality doesn’t have to look like sitting down and meditating. A Jewish-Buddhist teacher and …

Sylvia Boorstein says spirituality doesn’t have to look like sitting down and meditating. A Jewish-Buddhist teacher and …

“What does a good day look like?” That question — when asked of both terminally-ill and healthy people — has transformed Atul …

“What does a good day look like?” That question — when asked of both terminally-ill and healthy people — has transformed Atul …

A Buddhist philosopher of ecology, Joanna Macy says we are at a pivotal moment in history with the possibility to unravel or create …

A Buddhist philosopher of ecology, Joanna Macy says we are at a pivotal moment in history with the possibility to unravel or create …

The late Wangari Maathai was a biologist, environmentalist, and the first African woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize. She was born …

The late Wangari Maathai was a biologist, environmentalist, and the first African woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize. She was born …

Pádraig Ó Tuama is a poet, theologian, and extraordinary healer in our world of fracture. He leads the Corrymeela community of …

Pádraig Ó Tuama is a poet, theologian, and extraordinary healer in our world of fracture. He leads the Corrymeela community of …

A prolific writer on sociology, history, economics, and politics, W.E.B. Du Bois was one of the most extraordinary minds of American …

A prolific writer on sociology, history, economics, and politics, W.E.B. Du Bois was one of the most extraordinary minds of American …

A prolific writer on sociology, history, economics, and politics, W.E.B. Du Bois was one of the most extraordinary minds of American …

A prolific writer on sociology, history, economics, and politics, W.E.B. Du Bois was one of the most extraordinary minds of American …

This interview accompanies the On Being episode “Maya Angelou, Elizabeth Alexander, and Arnold Rampersad — W.E.B. Du Bois & the …

Over the years, listeners have asked for shorter-form distillations of On Being — something to listen to while making a cup of tea. Becoming Wise is this offering, designed to help you reset your day …

Rabbi Lawrence Kushner is a long-time student and articulator of the mysteries and messages of Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical …

Rabbi Lawrence Kushner is a long-time student and articulator of the mysteries and messages of Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical …

When the wise and whimsical Sharon Olds started writing poetry over 40 years ago, she explored the subjects that interested her most …

When the wise and whimsical Sharon Olds started writing poetry over 40 years ago, she explored the subjects that interested her most …

A philosopher and Catholic social innovator, Jean Vanier is one of the great elders in our world today. The L’Arche movement, which …

A philosopher and Catholic social innovator, Jean Vanier is one of the great elders in our world today. The L’Arche movement, which …

Writer and photographer Teju Cole says he is “intrigued by the continuity of places, by the singing line that connects them all.” He …

Writer and photographer Teju Cole says he is “intrigued by the continuity of places, by the singing line that connects them all.” He …

Béla Fleck is one of the greatest living banjo players in the world. He’s followed what many experience as this quintessential …

Béla Fleck is one of the greatest living banjo players in the world. He’s followed what many experience as this quintessential …

Neuroscientist Richard Davidson is one of the central people who’s helped us begin to see inside our brains. His work has illuminated the rich interplay between things we saw as separate not that long …

Neuroscientist Richard Davidson is one of the central people who’s helped us begin to see inside our brains. His work has illuminated the rich interplay between things we saw as separate not that long …

She has called Brain Pickings, her invention and labor of love, a “human-powered discovery engine for interestingness.” What Maria Popova really delivers, to hundreds of thousands of people each day, is …

She has called Brain Pickings, her invention and labor of love, a “human-powered discovery engine for interestingness.” What Maria Popova really delivers, to hundreds of thousands of people each day, is …

With his book “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” Daniel Kahneman emerged as one of the most intriguing voices on the complexity of human …

With his book “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” Daniel Kahneman emerged as one of the most intriguing voices on the complexity of human …

The topic of the day was “courage,” with two singular, admired women (who happen to be married to each other): soccer icon Abby …

The topic of the day was “courage,” with two singular, admired women (who happen to be married to each other): soccer icon Abby …

Mary Oliver was one of our greatest and most beloved poets. She is often quoted by people across ages and backgrounds — and it’s fitting, since she described poetry as a sacred community ritual. “When …

Mary Oliver was one of our greatest and most beloved poets. She is often quoted by people across ages and backgrounds — and it’s fitting, since she described poetry as a sacred community ritual. “When …

The poet, essayist, and playwright Claudia Rankine says every conversation about race doesn’t need to be about racism. But she says all of us — and especially white people — need to find a way to talk …

The poet, essayist, and playwright Claudia Rankine says every conversation about race doesn’t need to be about racism. But she says all of us — and especially white people — need to find a way to talk …

Writer and illustrator Maira Kalman is well known for her books for children and adults, her love of dogs, and her “New Yorker” …

To be in conversation with Maira Kalman is like wandering into one of her cartoons in The New Yorker. Millions have been prompted to smile and think by her illustrated revision of Strunk and White’s …

The poet-philosopher. To ask beautiful questions in unbeautiful moments. “Your great mistake is to act the drama / as if you were …

The poet-philosopher. To ask beautiful questions in unbeautiful moments. “Your great mistake is to act the drama / as if you were …

The great scholar and preacher. “The task is reframing so that we can re-experience the social realities that are right in front of …

The great scholar and preacher. “Reframing so that we can re-experience the social realities that are right in front of us, from a …

The family therapist who created the field of “ambiguous loss” — loss without closure. Complicated grief: parents, divorce, addiction, dementia, aging. “You love somebody. And when they’re lost, you …

The family therapist who created the field of “ambiguous loss” — loss without closure. Complicated grief: parents, divorce, addiction, dementia, aging. “You love somebody. And when they’re lost, you …

The feminist journalist and the psychotherapist. “It’s partners and lovers and spouses…fathers and brothers and sons and friends.” …

The feminist journalist and the psychotherapist. “It’s partners and lovers and spouses…fathers and brothers and sons and friends.” …

A question from Kevin: “I have been hearing a lot of deconstruction of the word ‘civility.’ The debate around this word has become, …

Absorption as a definition of happiness. “To bring that calm into the motion, the commotion of the world.” Traveling not in order to move around but in order to be moved. His friend Leonard Cohen. …

Absorption as a definition of happiness. “To bring that calm into the motion, the commotion of the world.” Traveling not in order to move around but in order to be moved. His friend Leonard Cohen. …

The wise physician and lyrical author. How our losses actually help us to live. Perfection as the booby prize in life. “Wholeness is …

The wise physician and lyrical author. How our losses actually help us to live. Perfection as the booby prize in life. “Wholeness is …

We Americans revere the creation of wealth. Anand Giridharadas wants us to examine this and how it shapes our life together. This is a challenging conversation but a generative one: about the implicit …

We Americans revere the creation of wealth. Anand Giridharadas wants us to examine this and how it shapes our life together. This is a challenging conversation but a generative one: about the implicit …

A brain surgeon. “The brain is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.” The science of compassion. The baggage of …

A brain surgeon. “The brain is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.” The science of compassion. The baggage of …

The U.S. Poet Laureate. “There’s this whole other narrative unfolding.” How history “which once felt so remote, feels closer and …

The U.S. Poet Laureate. “There’s this whole other narrative unfolding.” How history “which once felt so remote, feels closer and …

Co-creator of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society. “There is a calming, quieting, centering practice that leads to insight …

Co-creator of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society. “There is a calming, quieting, centering practice that leads to insight …

A creator of the field of the sociology of emotion. Treating emotion seriously in our life together. “I could see what they couldn’t …

A creator of the field of the sociology of emotion. Treating emotion seriously in our life together. “I could see what they couldn’t …

“The sense of having walked from far inside yourself / out into the revelation, to have risked yourself / for something that seemed to stand both inside you / and far beyond you, that called you back”

…

What happens when you call your Internet trolls. The peril of forgetting our next door neighbors. “You don’t have to love people to …

“People believe things that are mutually contradictory; I think we all do. I know I do.” — Erick Erickson

Earlier this year, the University of Montana invited On Being to attempt an outside the box …

“Conversation is not just about words passing between mouths and ears. It’s about shared life. Listening is about bringing our lives into conversation.”

About the Living the Questions series, from …

The Oglala Lakota poet. “I wanted as much as possible to avoid this nostalgic portraiture of a Native life.” The reward and joy of patience. The difference between guilt, shame, and freedom from denial. …

The Oglala Lakota poet. “I wanted as much as possible to avoid this nostalgic portraiture of a Native life.” The reward and joy of patience. The difference between guilt, shame, and freedom from denial. …

A series of haikus from peacemaker John Paul Lederach on the fourth day of our On Being Gathering.

This year, we were thrilled to …

From abortion activist to bridge person. Questions to break out of intractable polarization. Wisdom beyond the news cycle. “What is …

From abortion activist to bridge person. Questions to break out of intractable polarization. Wisdom beyond the news cycle. “What is …

A morning of poetry with Marilyn Nelson from the third day of our On Being Gathering.

This year, we were thrilled to host our very first On Being Gathering — a four-day coming-together of the On Being …

“We are flying too low. We built this universe, this technology, these connections, this society, and all we can do with it is make …

“We are flying too low. We built this universe, this technology, these connections, this society, and all we can do with it is make …

A morning of poetry with Naomi Shihab Nye from the second day of our On Being Gathering.

This year, we were thrilled to host our very first On Being Gathering — a four-day coming-together of the On …

“If you can’t talk about something, you can’t think about something. I’ve worked with students who could barely let themselves …

“If you can’t talk about something, you can’t think about something. I’ve worked with students who could barely let themselves …

An evening of poetry with David Whyte from the first day of our On Being Gathering.

This year, we were thrilled to host our very first On Being Gathering — a four-day coming-together of the On Being …

Two poet/contemplative/social creatives. To make sense in times of senselessness. Prayer is words and shape and art around desperation and delight and disappointment and desire. “Shame’s first language …

Pádraig Ó Tuama and Marilyn Nelson are beloved teachers to many. To bring them together at the On Being Gathering was a delight and a balm. Marilyn is a poet and professor and contemplative, an …

A beloved pastor and biblical interpreter. The poetry of the Bible as what keeps it alive to the world. The spirituality of loving …

A beloved pastor and biblical interpreter. The poetry of the Bible as what keeps it alive to the world. The spirituality of loving …

An architect of the science of implicit bias. How our conscious minds are ahead of our less conscious minds. Letting go of “I’m a bad human being” — moving out of the realm of guilt, into the realm of …

The science of implicit bias is one of the most promising fields for animating the human change that makes social change possible. …

How to get to the heart of the human experience without speaking? This question drove Alan Rabinowitz, after a childhood with a …

How to get to the heart of the human experience without speaking? This question drove Alan Rabinowitz, after a childhood with a …

“Magic, shining songs.” Reaching back to the ancestors. How do we survive when the worst happens? Transcendence and code: “Steal Away,” “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” Music as a secret door. The roots of …

An exuberant experience of conversation and singing. There are nearly 5,000 spirituals in existence. Their organizing concept is not the melody of Europe, but the rhythm of Africa. They were composed by …

How can we embrace vulnerability in ourselves and in our culture?

Krista reflects on how vulnerability can bring us closer to …

The philosopher and creator of The School of Life. The question we should ask on an early date is, “How are you crazy? I’m crazy …

What if the first question we asked on a date were, “How are you crazy? I’m crazy like this”? Philosopher and writer Alain de Botton’s essay “Why You Will Marry the Wrong Person” was one of the …

“If my kids ever said ‘I’m bored,’ I would say, ‘That is great. I’m so glad to hear that. Maybe you’re gonna get creative right …

The U.S. Senator. From merely tolerating each other to manifesting love. “Hope confronts.” Self-care in a world “so elegantly …

We don’t really reward or allow our politicians, good or bad, to be searching, or to change their minds and grow — to admit their …

How can we help young people feel like they have a voice in the world?

Krista reflects on the voice and agency of young people and the importance of fostering intergenerational relationships. The second …

The problem with calling another living being “it.” Photosynthesis envy. The renewal of the world for the privilege of breath. Mosses as a celebration of the power of smallness. The science of why …

“The rocks are beyond slow, beyond strong, and yet yielding to a soft green breath as powerful as a glacier, the mosses wearing away …

How can we stay present to what’s happening in the world without giving in to despair and hopelessness?

Good conversation is an adventure. A few weeks ago, Krista asked on social media for the questions …

A border as liminal space, an imposed metaphor on the family, a place of crossing, a place of pressure. “There is no them. There is …

The wonderful writer Luis Alberto Urrea says that a deep truth of our time is that “we miss each other.” We have this drive to erect …

The great cellist shares his philosophy of living. Turning fear into joy. Performance as hospitality and communal witnessing. Beauty as a transfer of life. Sound as visual. How music makes us better. …

The great cellist Yo-Yo Ma is a citizen artist and a forensic musicologist, decoding the work of musical creators across time and …

Nothing is helping us more right now, as we watch human tragedies unfold on the U.S.-Mexican border and elsewhere, than a …

Nothing is helping us more right now, as we watch human tragedies unfold on the U.S.-Mexican border and elsewhere, than a …

Nobel physicist Frank Wilczek sees beauty as a compass for truth, discovery, and meaning. His book “A Beautiful Question: Finding …

Nobel physicist Frank Wilczek sees beauty as a compass for truth, discovery, and meaning. His book “A Beautiful Question: Finding …

“Our discomfort and our grappling is not a sign of failure,” America Ferrera says, “it’s a sign that we’re living at the edge of our …

“Our discomfort and our grappling is not a sign of failure,” America Ferrera says, “it’s a sign that we’re living at the edge of our …

Maria Shriver’s life is often summarized in fairy tale terms. A child of the Kennedy clan in the Camelot aura of the early 1960s. Daughter of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who founded the Special Olympics, …

Maria Shriver’s life is often summarized in fairy tale terms. A child of the Kennedy clan in the Camelot aura of the early 1960s. Daughter of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who founded the Special Olympics, …

Her name is synonymous with her fantastically best-selling memoir “Eat Pray Love.” But through the disorienting process of becoming a celebrity, Elizabeth Gilbert has also reflected deeply on the gift …

Her name is synonymous with her fantastically best-selling memoir “Eat Pray Love.” But through the disorienting process of becoming a celebrity, Elizabeth Gilbert has also reflected deeply on the gift …

Derek Black grew up the heir apparent of a prominent white nationalist family. David Duke was his godfather. When Derek was 11, he designed the kids’ page for what is known as the first major internet …

Derek Black grew up the heir apparent of a prominent white nationalist family. David Duke was his godfather. When Derek was 11, he designed the kids’ page for what is known as the first major internet …

“Race is a little bit like gravity,” john powell says: experienced by all, understood by few. He is a refreshing, redemptive thinker who counsels all kinds of people and projects on the front lines of …

“Race is a little bit like gravity,” john powell says: experienced by all, understood by few. He is a refreshing, redemptive thinker who counsels all kinds of people and projects on the front lines of …

What does it mean to be human? How do we want to live? Who will we be to each other? These questions have been at the heart of On Being from the start — as it grew from a radio project into a thriving …

“The sudden passionate happiness which the natural world can occasionally trigger in us,” Michael McCarthy writes, “may well be the most serious business of all.” He is a naturalist and journalist, and …

“The sudden passionate happiness which the natural world can occasionally trigger in us,” Michael McCarthy writes, “may well be the most serious business of all.” He is a naturalist and journalist, and …

“We don’t understand the world as made by stones — by things. We understand the world made by kisses, or things like kisses: happenings.” Carlo Rovelli offers vast, complex ideas beyond most of our …

“We don’t understand the world as made by stones — by things. We understand the world made by kisses, or things like kisses: happenings. Carlo Rovelli offers vast, complex ideas beyond most of our …

She’s one of our wisest voices on social evolution and the spiritual aspect of social healing. angel Kyodo williams is an esteemed …

She’s one of our wisest voices on social evolution and the spiritual aspect of social healing. angel Kyodo williams is an esteemed …

To reassert the liveliness of ordinary things, precisely in the face of what is hardest and most broken in life and society — this has been Michael Longley’s gift to Northern Ireland as one of its …

To reassert the liveliness of ordinary things, precisely in the face of what is hardest and most broken in life and society — this has been Michael Longley’s gift to Northern Ireland as one of its …

Anthropologist Helen Fisher explores the biological workings of our intimate passions, the brew of chemicals, hormones, and …

Anthropologist Helen Fisher explores the biological workings of our intimate passions, the brew of chemicals, hormones, and …

A literary thinker with a “telescopic view of time”; an astrophysicist with an eye to “cultural evolution towards good.” What …

A literary thinker with a “telescopic view of time”; an astrophysicist with an eye to “cultural evolution towards good.” What …

We’re fluent in the languages of psychology and medication, but the word “depression” does not do justice to this human experience. …

We’re fluent in the languages of psychology and medication, but the word “depression” does not do justice to this human experience. …

We’re fluent in the languages of psychology and medication, but the word “depression” does not do justice to this human experience. …

We’re fluent in the languages of psychology and medication, but the word “depression” does not do justice to this human experience. …

“When you’re in a very quiet place, when you’re remembering, when you’re savoring an image, when you’re allowing your mind calmly to leap from one thought to another, that’s a poem.” Naomi Shihab Nye’s …

“When you’re in a very quiet place, when you’re remembering, when you’re savoring an image, when you’re allowing your mind calmly to leap from one thought to another, that’s a poem.” Naomi Shihab Nye’s …

Flutist and vocalist Nathalie Joachim is a magnetic voice of one of the unexpected aspects of our globalized world — new generations reclaiming and falling in love anew with the places their parents …

Flutist and vocalist Nathalie Joachim is a magnetic voice of one of the unexpected aspects of our globalized world — new generations reclaiming and falling in love anew with the places their parents …

Stephen Batchelor’s secular Buddhism speaks to the mystery and vitality of spiritual life in every form. For him, secularism opens …

Stephen Batchelor’s secular Buddhism speaks to the mystery and vitality of spiritual life in every form. For him, secularism opens …

Oceanographer Sylvia Earle was the first person to walk solo on the bottom of the sea, under a quarter mile of water. She has …

Oceanographer Sylvia Earle was the first person to walk solo on the bottom of the sea, under a quarter mile of water. She has …

Movies delight and inspire and repel. They’re places the big questions we take up at On Being land in the heart of our lives. They change our lives and our life together. Get out the popcorn for this …

“When we’re our best selves with each other, I don’t think that’s what’s possible between people; I believe that’s what’s true between people.” A wise thinker and writer, and a sought out teacher by …

“When we’re our best selves with each other, I don’t think that’s what’s possible between people; I believe that’s what’s true between people.” A wise thinker and writer, and a sought out teacher by …

The tensions of our time are well-known. But there are stories that are not being told, because they are not violent and not …

The tensions of our time are well-known. But there are stories that are not being told, because they are not violent and not …

“A dysfunctional family is any family with more than one person in it.” Mary Karr has a captivating ability to give voice to what is funny in life’s most heartbreaking moments. She is beloved for her …

“A dysfunctional family is any family with more than one person in it.” Mary Karr has a captivating ability to give voice to what is funny in life’s most heartbreaking moments. She is beloved for her …

“It’s very likely that the universe is really a kind of a question, rather than the answer to anything,” says philosopher …

“It’s very likely that the universe is really a kind of a question, rather than the answer to anything,” says philosopher …

Go to the doctor and they won’t begin to treat you without taking your history — and not just yours, but that of your parents and …

Go to the doctor and they won’t begin to treat you without taking your history — and not just yours, but that of your parents and …

The poet Christian Wiman is giving voice to the hunger and challenge of being religious now. He had a charismatic Texas Christian upbringing, and was later agnostic. He became actively religious again …

The poet Christian Wiman is giving voice to the hunger and challenge of being religious now. He had a charismatic Texas Christian upbringing, and was later agnostic. He became actively religious again …

We often find ourselves talking to poets and writers about the vivid connections between art and faith. This special hour came out …

Mysticism is the birthright of every human being, says Br. David Steindl-Rast. He speaks of the anatomy and practice of gratitude as …

Mysticism is the birthright of every human being, says Br. David Steindl-Rast. He speaks of the anatomy and practice of gratitude as …

“When all the ordinary divides and patterns are shattered, people step up to become their brothers’ keepers. And that purposefulness …

A singular writer and thinker, Rebecca Solnit celebrates the unpredictable and incalculable events that so often redeem our lives …

The wise and lyrical writer Adam Gopnik muses on the ironies of spiritual life in a secular age through the lens of his many …

The wise and lyrical writer Adam Gopnik muses on the ironies of spiritual life in a secular age through the lens of his many …

No challenge before us is more important — and more potentially life-giving — than that we come to see and know our fellow citizens, our neighbors, who have become strangers. Journalist Anand …

No challenge before us is more important — and more potentially life-giving — than that we come to see and know our fellow citizens, our neighbors, who have become strangers. Journalist Anand …

A Jesuit priest famous for his gang intervention programs in Los Angeles, Fr. Greg Boyle makes winsome connections between service and delight, and compassion and awe. He heads Homeboy Industries, which …

A Jesuit priest famous for his gang intervention programs in Los Angeles, Fr. Greg Boyle makes winsome connections between service and delight, and compassion and awe. He heads Homeboy Industries, which …

Ta-Nehisi Coates is a poetic journalist and a defining voice of our times. He’s with us in a conversation that is joyful and hard …

Ta-Nehisi Coates is a poetic journalist and a defining voice of our times. He’s with us in a conversation that is joyful and hard …

The new field of epigenetics sees that genes can be turned on and off and expressed differently through changes in environment and behavior. Rachel Yehuda is a pioneer in understanding how the effects …

The new field of epigenetics sees that genes can be turned on and off and expressed differently through changes in environment and behavior. Rachel Yehuda is a pioneer in understanding how the effects …

Her unconventional studies have long suggested what neuroscience is now revealing: Our experiences are formed by the words and ideas we attach to them. Naming something play rather than work — or …

Her unconventional studies have long suggested what neuroscience is now revealing: our experiences are formed by the words and ideas we attach to them. Naming something play rather than work — or …

“When it comes to moral judgments, we think we are scientists discovering the truth, but actually we are lawyers arguing for …

“When it comes to moral judgments, we think we are scientists discovering the truth, but actually we are lawyers arguing for …

It’s easy to despair at all the bad news and horrific pictures that come at us daily. But Roshi Joan Halifax says this is a form of …

It’s easy to despair at all the bad news and horrific pictures that come at us daily. But Roshi Joan Halifax say this is a form of …

“When it comes to the world around us,” Lisa Randall has written, “is there any choice but to explore?” As one of the most influential theoretical physicists working today, she’s interested in the …

“When it comes to the world around us,” Lisa Randall has written, “is there any choice but to explore?” As one of the most influential theoretical physicists working today, she’s interested in the …

“In a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible.” A mystic, a 20th-century religious intellectual, a social change agent, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel marched alongside Martin Luther King, …

“In a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible.” A mystic, a 20th-century religious intellectual, a social change agent, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel marched alongside Martin Luther King, …

“From the bottom will the genius come that makes our ability to live with each other possible. I believe that with all my heart.” …

“From the bottom will the genius come that makes our ability to live with each other possible. I believe that with all my heart.” …

No conversation we’ve ever done has been more beloved than this one. This Irish poet, theologian, and philosopher insisted on beauty …

No conversation we’ve ever done has been more beloved than this one. This Irish poet, theologian, and philosopher insisted on beauty …

In the 1960s, Nikki Giovanni was a revolutionary poet of the Black Arts Movement that nourished civil rights. She had a famous …

In the 1960s, Nikki Giovanni was a revolutionary poet of the Black Arts Movement that nourished civil rights. She had a famous …

The civil rights icon Ruby Sales names “a spiritual crisis of white America” as a calling of this time. During the days of the movement, she learned to ask the question, “Where does it hurt?” It’s a …

The civil rights icon Ruby Sales names “a spiritual crisis of white America” as a calling of this time. During the days of the movement, she learned to ask the question, “Where does it hurt?” It’s a …

The band Cloud Cult is hard to categorize — both musically and lyrically — though it’s been called an “orchestral indie rock …

The band Cloud Cult is hard to categorize — both musically and lyrically — though it’s been called an “orchestral indie rock …

Life as an improvisational art, at every age. This idea animates the wise linguist and anthropologist Mary Catherine Bateson, whose …

Life as an improvisational art, at every age. This idea animates the wise linguist and anthropologist Mary Catherine Bateson, whose …

Steeped in cutting edge research around the social lives of networked teens, danah boyd demystifies technology while being wise …

Steeped in cutting edge research around the social lives of networked teens, danah boyd demystifies technology while being wise …

A French-born Tibetan Buddhist monk and a central figure in the Dalai Lama’s dialogue with scientists, Matthieu Ricard was dubbed “The Happiest Man in the World” after his brain was imaged. But he …

A French-born Tibetan Buddhist monk and a central figure in the Dalai Lama’s dialogue with scientists, Matthieu Ricard was dubbed “The Happiest Man in the World” after his brain was imaged. But he …

Forms of religious devotion are shifting just like every institution right now. But there’s a new world of creativity towards crafting spiritual life while exploring the depths of tradition. Rabbi …

Forms of religious devotion are shifting just like every institution right now. But there’s a new world of creativity towards crafting spiritual life while exploring the depths of tradition. Rabbi …

We explore a topic our listeners have called out as a passionate force and a connector across all kinds of boundaries in American …

In life, in families, we shine a light on the past to live more abundantly now. In this conversation at the Citizen University annual conference, historian Annette Gordon-Reed and painter Titus Kaphar …

In life, in families, we shine a light on the past to live more abundantly now. In this conversation at the Citizen University annual conference, historian Annette Gordon-Reed and painter Titus Kaphar …

The renowned actor as you’ve never heard him before. He has appeared in over 100 films, including Apocalypse Now. He’s best known on television as President Bartlet in The West Wing. But Martin Sheen, …

The renowned actor as you’ve never heard him before. He has appeared in over 100 films, including Apocalypse Now. He’s best known on television as President Bartlet in “The West Wing.” But Martin Sheen, …

A philosopher’s questioning and a scientist’s eye shape Enrique Martínez Celaya’s original approach to art and to life. A world-renowned painter who trained as a physicist, he’s fascinated by the deeper …

A philosopher’s questioning and a scientist’s eye shape Enrique Martínez Celaya’s original approach to art and to life. A world-renowned painter who trained as a physicist, he’s fascinated by the deeper …

Humor lifts us up but it also underscores what’s already great; it connects us with others and also brings us home to ourselves. And …

A thrilling, mind-bending view of the cosmos and of the human adventure of modern science. In a conversation ranging from free will …

A thrilling, mind-bending view of the cosmos and of the human adventure of modern science. In a conversation ranging from free will …

Black Lives Matter co-founder and artist Patrisse Cullors presents a luminous vision of the spiritual core of Black Lives Matter and …

Black Lives Matter co-founder and artist Patrisse Cullors presents a luminous vision of the spiritual core of Black Lives Matter and …

We need to be ready to let others surprise us, offer forgiveness, and ask hard questions of our own part in this moment. This …

If we’re going to create the world we want our children to inhabit, we’re going to have to find ways to hold more complexity …

The moral life, Marie Howe says, is lived out in what we say as much as what we do. She became known for her poetry collection “What …

The moral life, Marie Howe says, is lived out in what we say as much as what we do. She became known for her poetry collection “What …

Sheryl Sandberg is synonymous with Facebook, and Silicon Valley success, and she’s the voice of “Lean In.” She joins us, frank and …

Sheryl Sandberg is synonymous with Facebook, and Silicon Valley success, and she’s the voice of “Lean In.” She joins us, frank and …

It’s hard to imagine honest, revelatory, even enjoyable conversation between people on distant points of American life right now. But in this public conversation at the Citizen University annual …

It’s hard to imagine honest, revelatory, even enjoyable conversation between people on distant points of American life right now. But in this public conversation at the Citizen University annual …

For as far back as Joy Ladin can remember, her body didn’t match her soul. Gender defines us from the moment we’re born. But how is …

For as far back as Joy Ladin can remember, her body didn’t match her soul. Gender defines us from the moment we’re born. But how is …

Human memory is a sensory experience, says psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk. Through his longtime research and innovation in trauma …

Human memory is a sensory experience, says psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk. Through his longtime research and innovation in trauma …

Marilyn Nelson has taught poetry and contemplative practice to college students and to West Point cadets. She gives winsome voice to …

Marilyn Nelson has taught poetry and contemplative practice to college students and to West Point cadets. She gives winsome voice to …

A passionate translator of the beauty and relevance of scientific questions, Margaret Wertheim is also wise about the limits of …

A passionate translator of the beauty and relevance of scientific questions, Margaret Wertheim is also wise about the limits of …

White Evangelical Christians helped secure the election of President Trump. Many said that his views on abortion were decisive, overriding concerns they had on other matters. But to be Evangelical is …

This conversation about Christianity and politics with three generations of evangelical leaders — Shane Claiborne, Greg Boyd, and …

We take in the extraordinary wisdom of Congressman John Lewis on what happened in Selma on Bloody Sunday and beyond – and how it might inform common life today. A rare look inside the civil rights …

The extraordinary wisdom of Congressman John Lewis. A rare look inside the civil rights leaders’ spiritual confrontation with themselves – and their intricate art of “love in action.” This interview is …

A wildly popular blogger, tech entrepreneur, and Silicon Valley influencer, Anil Dash has been an early activist for moral …

Anil Dash is the CEO of Fog Creek Software. He also founded Makerbase, Activate, and the non-profit Expert Labs, a research initiative backed by the MacArthur Foundation and the American Association for …

Silence is an endangered species, says Gordon Hempton. He defines real quiet as presence — not an absence of sound, but an absence …

Gordon Hempton is founder and vice president of The One Square Inch of Silence Foundation, based in Joyce, Washington. This interview is edited and produced with music and other features in the On Being …

Two legendary Buddhist teachers shine a light on the lofty ideal of loving your enemies and bring it down to Earth. How can that be realistic, and what do we have to do inside ourselves to make it more …

Sharon Salzberg is a meditation teacher and the cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts. She is the co-author of “Love Your Enemies.” Her other books include “Real Happiness: …

Singing is able to touch and join human beings in ways few other arts can. Alice Parker is a wise and joyful thinker and writer on …

Alice Parker is the artistic director of the non-profit Melodious Accord and is the author of “Melodious Accord: Good Singing in …

Before Pope Francis, James Martin was perhaps the best-loved Jesuit in American life. He’s followed the calling of St. Ignatius of …

James Martin is a Jesuit priest and editor at large of America magazine. His books include “The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything,” “Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy, Humor and Laughter are at the …

In an unsettled political moment, at the end of a divisive campaign, the late, great civil rights elder Vincent Harding is a voice …

The late civil rights elder Vincent Harding was chairperson of the Veterans of Hope project at Iliff School of Theology in Denver, …

This political season has surfaced our need to reimagine and re-weave the very meaning of common life and common good. We take a …

Natasha Trethewey was the 19th U.S. Poet Laureate. Her books include “Domestic Work,” “Native Guard,” and “Beyond Katrina: A …

This is a strange, tumultuous political moment. With columnists David Brooks and E.J. Dionne, we step back from the immediate …

David Brooks is a columnist for The New York Times. His books include “The Social Animal” and “The Road to Character.” E.J. Dionne …

Fundamental forces of physics somehow determine everything that happens, “from the birth of a child to the birth of a galaxy.” Yet physicist Leonard Mlodinow has an intriguing perspective on the gap …

Leonard Mlodinow is a physicist, and the author of several books including “The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives” and …

Alain de Botton is a philosopher who likes the best of religion, but doesn’t believe in God. He says that the most boring question you can ask of any religion is whether it is true. But how to live, how …

Alain de Botton is the founder and chairman of The School of Life. His books include “Religion for Atheists” and “How Proust Can …

The history of rebellion is rife with excess and burnout. But new generations have a distinctive commitment to be reflective and activist at once, to be in service as much as in charge, and to learn …

Parker Palmer is founder and Senior Partner of the Center for Courage and Renewal. He’s the author of bestselling books including …

In the 15 years since its inception, Wikipedia has become as much a global community as a business venture — a living organism with a mission statement to make “the sum of all human knowledge available …

Jimmy Wales is the co-founder and promoter of Wikipedia and chair emeritus of the Wikimedia Foundation. This interview is edited and produced with music and other features in the On Being episode “Jimmy …

Movies, for some of us, are a form of modern church. The Argentinian composer and musician Gustavo Santaolalla creates cinematic …

Gustavo Santaolalla has composed film scores for over a dozen features including “Amores Perros,” “The Motorcycle Diaries,” …

The Brazilian lyricist Paulo Coelho is best known for his book “The Alchemist” — which has been on the New York Times bestseller …

Paulo Coelho is the author of many books including “The Pilgrimage,” “Veronika Decides to Die” and “The Alchemist.” His new book is …

Xavier Le Pichon, one of the world’s leading geophysicists, helped create the field of plate tectonics. A devout Catholic and …

Xavier Le Pichon is Honorary Professor at Collège de France in Paris. He founded La Maison Thomas Philippe that provides retreats …

The Vietnamese Zen master, whom Martin Luther King nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, is a voice of power and wisdom in this time of …

Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Zen monk, poet, and peacemaker. He co-founded the An Quang Buddhist Institute, the Van Hanh Buddhist University in Vietnam, and Plum Village, a Buddhist training …

Cheri Maples served in the criminal justice system for 25 years, including as an Assistant Attorney General in the Wisconsin …

Larry Ward is co-director of the Lotus Institute in Encinitas, California and an ordained Baptist minister. He also owned a …

In life as in song, Joe Henry says “we’re really called not to dispel mystery but to abide it, to engage it.” He brings an inward wisdom to the art and craft of making music. Cherished by fans and …

Joe Henry is a Grammy Award-winning producer and singer-songwriter. He’s recorded 13 albums and produced dozens of other artists. …

Sixteen Muslims, in their own words, speak about the delights and gravity of Islam’s holiest month. Through vivid memories and …

It was supposed to be a discussion about “culture and conscience” with two social scientists, as part of a public gathering of the …

Jonathan Haidt is the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University’s Stern School of Business. His books …

Kevin Kling is part funny guy, part poet and playwright, part wise man. A treasured figure on the national storytelling circuit, his voice inhabits an unusual space — where a homegrown Minnesota wit …

Kevin Kling is a performer and an advisory council member of Interact. His plays include “21A” and “Lloyd’s Prayer.” His books include “The Dog Says How.” The new PBS documentary about his life and work …

“The soul is contained in the human voice,” says David Isay, founder of StoryCorps. He sees the StoryCorps booth — a setting where …

David Isay is the founder of StoryCorps and winner of the MacArthur Genius Grant and 2015 TED Prize. His new StoryCorps book is “Callings: The Purpose and Passion of Work”. This interview is edited and …

This episode, a “theft of the dial.” Writer and traveler Pico Iyer turns the tables on our host Krista Tippett by asking her the questions. Her latest book, “Becoming Wise,” chronicles what she’s …

Krista Tippett is a journalist and host of On Being. She is the New York Times bestselling author of “Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living” and “Einstein’s God: Conversations …

The civil rights lawyer Michelle Alexander is one of the people who is waking us up to history we don’t remember, and structures most of us can’t fathom intending to create. She calls the punitive …

Michelle Alexander is an associate professor of law at the Moritz College of Law and the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and …

When Tiffany Shlain thinks of her favorite quote from naturalist John Muir, she thinks of the internet: “When you tug at a single thing in the universe, you find it’s attached to everything else.” As a …

Tiffany Shlain is the founder of the Webby Awards and a co-founder of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. She has directed and co-written 28 films, some with accompanying books, …

There’s a kind of brilliance that flashes up in early adulthood: an ability to see the world whole. Nathan Schneider has been able …

Nathan Schneider is a scholar-in-residence of media studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. He is the author of “God in …

Jean Berko Gleason is a living legend in the field of psycholinguistics — how language emerges, and what it tells us about how we …

Jean Berko Gleason is Professor Emerita of psychology at Boston University. This interview was edited and produced with music and …

“Let death be what takes us,” Dr. BJ Miller has written, “not a lack of imagination.” As a palliative care physician, he brings a design sensibility to the matter of living until we die. And he’s …

B.J. Miller is executive director of the Zen Hospice Project, an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and an attending specialist for the Symptom …

Something of a celebrity in Quaker circles, Carrie Newcomer is best known for her story-songs that get at the raw and redemptive edges of human reality. This week, a musical conversation with the …

Carrie Newcomer is a singer-songwriter. Her albums include “Betty’s Diner,” “The Gathering of Spirits,” and “A Permeable Life,” which has an accompanying book of poetry and essays. This interview is …

The Irish poet and “New Yorker” poetry editor Paul Muldoon has won the Pulitzer Prize, written for other media from radio to song, …

Paul Muldoon holds the Howard G.B. Clark chair in the Humanities at Princeton University. He has served as the poetry editor at the …

Stay. That’s the message that philosopher, poet, and historian Jennifer Michael Hecht puts at the center of her unusual writing about suicide. She’s traced how the history of Western civilization has, …

Jennifer Michael Hecht is a poet, philosopher, and historian. Her books include “Stay: A History of Suicide and the Philosophies Against It,” “Doubt: A History,” and “Who Said.” This interview is edited …

A transformation of medicine is underway, a transition from a science of treating disease to a science of health. Mark Hyman is a family physician and a pioneer in the new discipline of functional …

Mark Hyman is the director of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine. He is also the founder and medical director of the UltraWellness Center. He’s a practicing family physician and a …

The folk rock duo Amy Ray and Emily Saliers have been making music for over 25 years. They’re known for their social activism …

Amy Ray and Emily Saliers are singer-songwriters who have been making music together as the Indigo Girls for 30 years. Their latest album, “One Lost Day,” was released in June 2015. Emily Saliers is …

The philosopher Simone Weil defined prayer as “absolutely unmixed attention.” The artist Ann Hamilton embodies this notion in her …

Ann Hamilton is a visual artist and self-described maker. She is Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Art at Ohio State University. This interview is edited and produced with music …

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks is the former Chief Rabbi of Great Britain and one of the world’s deep thinkers on religion in our age. He’s just released a new book, “Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious …

Jonathan Sacks was Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Commonwealth for 22 years. He is now the Ingeborg and Ira Rennert Global Distinguished Professor of Judaic Thought at New …

The organizational psychologist Adam Grant, who many know from his New York Times columns, describes three orientations of which we …

Adam Grant is a professor of psychology at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is the …

When we talk about the relationship between colleges and the world, we tend to focus on economics. But what is the place of …

Nancy Cantor is a social psychologist and the chancellor of Rutgers University–Newark, one of the most diverse institutions in the …

More than 30 objects on the moon are named after the Jesuits who mapped it. A Jesuit was one of the founders of modern astrophysics. …

Brother Guy Consolmagno is director of the Vatican Observatory, appointed in this post in September, 2015 by Pope Francis. …

The High Holy Days create an annual ritual of repentance, both individual and collective. Louis Newman, who has explored repentance …

Louis Newman is an Associate Dean of Carleton College and John M. and Elizabeth W. Musser Professor of Religious Studies. He is the …

“I grew up a witness,” Mike Rose writes, “to the intelligence of the waitress in motion, the reflective welder, the strategy of the guy on the assembly line. This then is something I know: the thought …

Mike Rose is a research professor in the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. He’s the author of several …

Chinese-American philosopher and civil rights legend Grace Lee Boggs turned 100 this summer. She has been at the heart and soul of a …

Grace Lee Boggs was a philosopher and a civil rights leader and a founder of the James and Grace Lee Boggs Center. She authored the book “Living for Change: An Autobiography.” This interview is edited …

Few features of humanity are more fascinating than creativity; and few fields are more dynamic now than neuroscience. Rex Jung is a …

Rex Jung is an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. He’s a Distinguished Senior Advisor to the Positive Neuroscience Project, based at the University of …

We were made and set here, the writer Annie Dillard once wrote, “to give voice to our astonishments.” Katy Payne is a renowned …

Katy Payne is a visiting fellow with the Bioacoustics Research Program at Cornell University’s Laboratory of Ornithology. She was …

Poetry is something many of us seem to be hungry for these days. We’re hungry for fresh ways to tell hard truths and redemptive …

Elizabeth Alexander is a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and the inaugural Frederick Iseman Professor of Poetry at Yale University. She’s the author of a new memoir, “The Light of the …

Rami Nashashibi uses graffiti, calligraphy, and hip-hop in his work as a healing force on the South Side of Chicago. A Palestinian-American, he started his activism with at-risk urban Muslim families, …

Rami Nashashibi is founder and executive director of the Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN). He is a visiting assistant …

The Hubble Space Telescope, which turns 25 this year, has brought the beauty of the cosmos into our lives. Mario Livio works with discoveries it makes possible, studying things like dark energy, …

Mario Livio is a senior astrophysicist at the Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute. His books include: “Is God a Mathematician?” …

She became a national figure as the face of the “Nuns on the Bus.” Sr. Simone Campbell is a lawyer, lobbyist, poet, and Zen contemplative working on issues such as “mending the wealth gap,” “enacting a …

Sr. Simone Campbell is the executive director of NETWORK. She is the author of “A Nun on the Bus: How All of Us Can Create Hope, Change, and Community.” This interview is edited and produced with music …

It is a story of our time — the new landscape of living longer, and of dying more slowly too. Jane Gross has explored this as a daughter and as a journalist, and as creator of the New York Times’ “New …

Jane Gross is the creator of “The New Old Age” blog at The New York Times and author of “A Bittersweet Season: Caring for Our Aging Parents — and Ourselves.” This interview is edited and produced with …

He’s been called a post-millennial Schubert. Mohammed Fairouz has composed four symphonies and an opera while still in his 20s. He invokes John F. Kennedy and Anwar Sadat, Seamus Heaney and Yehuda …

Mohammed Fairouz is a composer whose opera and symphonies have been performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and The Kennedy …

What would it take to make our national encounter with gay marriage redemptive rather than divisive? David Blankenhorn and Jonathan …

David Blankenhorn is founder and president of the Institute of American Values. He’s also co-director of The Marriage Opportunity Council. His books include “The Future of Marriage.” Jonathan Rauch is a …

From the moment of his diagnosis with ALS, Bruce Kramer began writing — openly, deeply, and spiritually — about his struggle, as he puts it, to live while dying. He died on March 23, 2015, while we were …

Bruce Kramer was the creator of “The Dis Ease Diary” a blog about his life with ALS and “We Know How This Ends: Living While Dying.” …

Alzheimer’s disease has been described as “the great unlearning.” But what does it reveal about the nature of human identity? What …

Alan Dienstag is a clinical psychologist in private practice in New York City and Westchester County. This interview is edited and …

For several hundred years, much of scientific advance has been about exploring human beings, including their actions and choices, in terms of mechanism — our bodies, our brains, physical processes. …

Arthur Zajonc is president of the Mind and Life Institute. He is emeritus professor of physics at Amherst College, where he taught …

Eve Ensler has helped women all over the world tell the stories of their lives through the stories of their bodies. Her play, “The …

Eve Ensler is a Tony Award-winning playwright, performer, and activist. She is the author of “The Vagina Monologues” and “The Good …

Wisdom for how we can move and heal our society in our time as the Civil Rights Movement galvanized its own. Lucas Johnson is …

Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons is assistant professor of religion at the University of Florida. She is also a member of the National …

Courage is borne out of vulnerability, not strength. This finding of Brené Brown’s research on shame and “wholeheartedness” shook …

Brené Brown is Research Professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. Her books include: “The Gifts of …

In a probing and personal conversation, Reza Aslan opens a refreshing window on religion in the world and Islam in particular. It’s …

Reza Aslan is the founder of Aslan Media, a social media network for news and entertainment about the Middle East and the world. A …

Computer scientist Bernard Chazelle has an original take on what music works in us — especially the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Just as mathematicians talk about discovering rather than inventing …

Bernard Chazelle is Eugene Higgins Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University. He is a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the John …

She’s the tattooed, Lutheran pastor of the House for All Sinners and Saints in Denver, a church where a chocolate fountain, a …

Nadia Bolz-Weber is the pastor and founder of the Denver-based church the House for All Sinners and Saints. Her spiritual memoir is …

For over a decade, the French-American anthropologist Scott Atran has been listening to the hopes and dreams of young people from …

Scott Atran is director of research at the National Center for Scientific Research in Paris, visiting professor at the University of …

If journalism is a primary way we tell the story of ourselves and our time, Michel Martin is a person helping us tell that story — and take part in it — more completely. Her daily NPR program “Tell Me …

Michel Martin is a journalist with NPR. She previously reported for The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and ABC’s “Nightline.” She was the creator and host of the NPR program Tell Me More, …

The XIV Dalai Lama seems to many to embody happiness — happiness against the odds, a virtue that is acquired and practiced. Before a live audience in Atlanta, Georgia, Krista had a rare opportunity to …

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet is the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet. He is the author of many books, including “Ethics …

After September 11, 2001, Richard Rodriguez traveled to the Middle East to explore his kinship, as a Roman Catholic, with the men …

Richard Rodriguez is a journalist and essayist. He won a Peabody Award for his original commentary on The NewsHour and received the National Humanities Medal in 1993. His books include “Hunger Of …

Imani Perry is a scholar of law, culture, race — and hip hop. She acknowledges wise voices who say that we will never get to the …

Imani Perry is a professor of African-American Studies at Princeton University. Her scholarly books include “Prophets of the Hood: …

Dan Barber is a celebrated young chef — but his passionate ethics and intellect have made him much more. He’s out to restore food to …

Dan Barber is chef and co-owner of Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns. He’s received James Beard Awards for best chef in 2006 and 2009, and was named one of the world’s most influential people by …

What Adele Diamond is learning about the brain challenges basic assumptions in modern education. Her work is scientifically illustrating the educational power of things like play, sports, music, …

Adele Diamond is a professor of developmental cognitive neuroscience at the University of British Columbia. This interview is edited …

He bestowed the title “Mahatma” on Gandhi. He debated the deepest nature of reality with Einstein. He was championed by Yeats and Pound to become the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize for …

Anita Desai is an Indian novelist of Bengali descent. Her novels include “Clear Light of Day,” “The Village by the Sea,” and “Fasting, Feasting.” This interview is edited and produced with music and …

Andrew Robinson is a biographer and writer. He is the co-author of “The Myriad-Minded Man,” a biography of Rabindranath Tagore. This interview is edited and produced with music and other features in the …

Yoga has infiltrated law schools and strip malls, churches and hospitals. This 5,000-year-old spiritual technology is converging …

Seane Corn is the National Yoga Ambassador for YouthAIDS and cofounder of “Off the Mat, Into the World.” This interview is edited and produced with music and other features in the On Being episode …

Sculptural artist Dario Robleto is famous for spinning and shaping unconventional materials — from dinosaur fossils to pulverized …

Dario Robleto is a sculptural artist who lives and works in Houston, Texas. His most recent exhibit, “The Boundary of Life is …

For the Fourth of July, a refreshing reality check about the long road of American democracy. We remember forgotten but fascinating, …

Steven Waldman is the author of “Founding Faith: How Our Founding Fathers Forged a Radical New Approach to Religious Liberty.” He is the founder and former editor of Beliefnet and now heads Daily Bridge …

We tend to frame our cultural conversation about science and religion as a debate — two either/or ways of describing reality. With …

Jim Bradley is professor emeritus of mathematics at Calvin College. He’s currently helping lead a multi-year project called …

Who knew that we learn empathy, trust, irony, and problem solving through play — something the dictionary defines as “pleasurable …

Stuart Brown is founder and president of the National Institute for Play near Monterey, California. He is co-author of “Play: How It …

As the daughter of Johnny Cash, singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash describes her life as “circumscribed by music.” But, it’s through her love of language and quantum mechanics that she’s finding new sources …

Rosanne Cash is a Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter and author of several books. Her latest album is “The River & the Thread.” This interview is edited and produced with music and other …

Fairy tales don’t only belong to the domain of childhood. Their overt themes are threaded throughout hit TV series like “Game of Thrones” and “True Blood,” “Grimm” and “Once Upon a Time.” These stories …

Maria Tatar is the John L. Loeb Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures at Harvard University, where she also chairs the …

The idea of reciting an unchanging creed sounds suspicious to modern ears. But the late, great historian Jaroslav Pelikan illuminated ancient tradition in order to enliven faith in the present and the …

Jaroslav Pelikan was professor of history at Yale University for four decades. He authored many books “Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine” and “Credo.” This interview is …

With a master of midrash as our guide, we walk through the Exodus story at the heart of Passover. It’s not the simple narrative …

Avivah Zornberg is a scholar of Torah and rabbinic literature, and author of several books including “The Particulars of Rapture: …

Janna Levin is an astrophysicist and writer. She has contributed to an understanding of black holes, the cosmology of extra …

“There’s no question about the reality of evil, of injustice, of suffering, but at the center of this existence is a heart beating with love.”

South African Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu on how his …

Desmond Tutu is an Anglican archbishop emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He has written many books, including, “Made for Goodness: And Why This Makes All the …

“Let’s go back and look at our faith before it was reduced to a system, before it was reduced to a system of abstractions and beliefs. How can we rediscover our faith as a series of stories and as a …

Brian McLaren is a leading Evangelical pastor and author of several books including “A Generous Orthodoxy,” “Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road?,” and the forthcoming “We Make …

Dr. Sherwin Nuland died this week at the age of 83. He became well-known for his first book, “How We Die,” which won the National …

Sherwin Nuland was a clinical professor of surgery at Yale University, where he also taught bioethics and medical history. His books …

He is a genius of improvisation; a genre-bending vocal magician and conductor. And he sings the territory between music, mystery, and spirit. Who better to contemplate the human voice — its delights, …

Bobby McFerrin is a ten-time Grammy Award winner. He is one of the world’s best-known vocal innovators and improvisers, a world-renowned classical conductor, and a passionate spokesman for music …

The writers Flannery O’Connor and Walker Percy, social activist Dorothy Day, and the Trappist monk Thomas Merton — all four shared a …

Paul Elie is a senior fellow with the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs and the director of the American …

David Hartman died a year ago this week. The Orthodox rabbi was a charismatic and challenging figure in Israeli society, called a “public philosopher for the Jewish people” and a “champion of adaptive …

David Hartman was an Orthodox rabbi and founder of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. He authored many books, including “A Heart of Many Rooms” and “The God Who Hates Lies.” This interview is …

The coming stage of evolution, Teilhard de Chardin said, won’t be driven by physical adaptation but by human consciousness, …

Ursula King is Professor Emerita of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Bristol. This interview is edited and …

The word “Vodou” evokes images of sorcery and sticking pins into dolls. In fact, it’s a living tradition wherever Haitians are found …

Patrick Bellegarde-Smith is a professor at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and author of many books about Vodou. This interview is edited and produced with music and other features in the On …

What do a fiction writer and an astrophysicist have in common? Marilynne Robinson and Marcelo Gleiser connect the dots between the cosmos, our minds, and all the ways we discover the story of where we …

This is On Being’s unedited conversation with Marilynne Robinson and Marcelo Gleiser. She’s a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and …

Talk show pioneer Phil Donahue opens up on his remarkable perspective on the last half century of America and who we are now. He …

In this unedited interview, talk show pioneer Phil Donahue opens up on his remarkable perspective on the last half century of America and who we are now. He shares with Krista Tippett his personal …

What might words like repentance or forgiveness mean, culturally, in this moment? These are questions of the emerging church, a …

This is the unedited version of On Being’s produced show, “Racial Identity in the Emerging Church and the World.” Emerging church elder Phyllis Tickle and civil rights veteran Vincent Harding in an …

Parallel realities and the deep structure of space-time sound like science fiction. These are matters of real scientific inquiry. Lord Martin Rees is an astrophysicist and self-professed atheist who …

Some of the biggest philosophical and ethical questions of this century may be raised on scientific frontiers — as we gain a better understanding of the deep structure of space and time and the wilder …

What if we understand death as a developmental stage — like adolescence or mid-life? Dr. Ira Byock is a leading figure in palliative …

What if we understand death as a developmental stage — like adolescence or mid-life? Dr. Ira Byock shares how we can understand …

The light and smells in places like hospitals can often depress us. And, our favorite room at home keeps us sane. But why? …

Krista Tippett spoke with immunologist Esther Sternberg on March 30, 2012. This unedited interview is included in our show, “The …

David Sloan Wilson believes that evolution is not just a description of how we got here. He says it can also be a tool kit for …

David Sloan Wilson believes that evolution is not just a description of how we got here. He says it can also be a tool kit for …

Mathematical equations are like sonnets says Keith Devlin. What most of us learn in school, he says, doesn’t begin to convey what …

Keith Devlin is a mathematician and executive director of H-STAR at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. Krista Tippett …

What happens when you bring together science and poetry on something like color or light? Arthur Zajonc is a physicist and …

What happens when you bring together science and poetry on something like color or light? Arthur Zajonc is a physicist and …

A mission scientist with NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope, Natalie Batalha hunts for exoplanets — Earth-sized planets beyond our solar …

Natalie Batalha is a research astronomer at NASA Ames Research Center and a mission scientist with the Kepler Space Telescope. Krista Tippett spoke with her on December 13, 2012 via ISDN. This interview …

How can unimaginable social change happen in a world of strangers? Kwame Anthony Appiah is a philosopher who studies ethics and his parents’ marriage helped inspire the movie “Guess Who’s Coming to …

Krista Tippett’s unedited interview with Kwame Anthony Appiah was recorded in 2011 and is included in our show, “Kwame Anthony Appiah — Sidling Up to Difference.” See more at …

The push and pull between religion and science has shaped advances in geology from the beginning. David Montgomery set out to debunk …

Krista Tippett interviewed geologist David R. Montgomery on July 3, 2013. This interview is included in the show ‘Reading the …

No issue is more intractable than abortion. Or is it? Most Americans fall somewhere between the absolute poles of “pro-life” and …

Krista Tippett spoke with Christian ethicist David P. Gushee and abortion-rights activist Frances Kissling on September 26, 2012 in front of a live, public audience at the University of Minnesota’s …

A kind of archeologist of the human voice, singer and composer Meredith Monk says that “the voice could be like the body” — flexible …

Krista Tippett’s unedited interview with Meredith Monk, award-winning, composer, singer, director and choreographer. She spoke with …

Sarah Kay says that listening is the better part of speaking. A spoken word poet who’s become a role model for teenagers around the …

Krista Tippett interviewed spoken word poet Sarah Kay on April 12, 2012. This interview is included in the show ‘Sarah Kay’s Way with Words.’ Download the mp3 of the produced show at onbeing.org.

Are we in the matrix? Physicist James Gates reveals why string theory stretches our imaginations about the nature of reality. Also, how failure makes us more complete, and imagination makes us more …

Krista Tippett interviewed S. James Gates Jr., Toll Professor of Physics and Director of the Center for String and Particle Theory …

You might call Tami Simon a spiritual entrepreneur. She’s built a successful multimedia publishing company with a mission to …

Krista Tippett interviewed entrepreneur Tami Simon on April 4, 2013 via ISDN. Ms. Simon is publisher, CEO, and founder of Sounds True. This interview is included in the show “Inner Life at Work: Tami …

Disruption is around every corner by way of globally connected economies, inevitable superstorms, and technology’s endless …

One of the values of science is to make us uncomfortable says Lawrence Krauss. The particle physicist explains why we should all …

This is Krista Tippett’s unabridged interview with physicist Lawrence Krauss. One of the values of science is to make us …

Esoteric teachings on reincarnation and consciousness; simple teachings on compassion and ethics. Geshe Thupten Jinpa is a man who finishes the Dalai Lama’s English sentences. Meet this philosopher and …

Esoteric teachings on reincarnation and consciousness; simple teachings on compassion and ethics. Geshe Thupten Jinpa is a man who finishes the Dalai Lama’s English sentences. Meet this philosopher and …

Jon Kabat-Zinn has learned, through science and experience, about mindfulness as a way of life. This is wisdom with immediate …

Jon Kabat-Zinn has learned, through science and experience, about mindfulness as a way of life. This is wisdom with immediate …

Kate Braestrup is a chaplain to game wardens, often on search and rescue missions, in the wilds of Maine. She works, as she puts it, at hinges of human experience when lives alter unexpectedly — where …

Kate Braestrup is a chaplain to game wardens, often on search and rescue missions, in the wilds of Maine. She works, as she puts it, at hinges of human experience when lives alter unexpectedly — where …

Robi Damelin lost her son David to a Palestinian sniper. Ali Abu Awwad lost his older brother Yousef to an Israeli soldier. But, …

Robi Damelin is an Israeli who lives in Tel Aviv. She speaks with community groups about her experiences as part of the Parents Circle – Families Forum. Ali Abu Awwad is a Palestinian who lives in the …

Each of us, in our everyday interactions, chooses between letting technology shape us and shaping it towards human purposes, even …

Each of us, in our everyday interactions, chooses between letting technology shape us and shaping it towards human purposes, even …

A veteran Republican senator and Democratic economist are political bridge people who’ve brought differing approaches and shared …

A veteran Republican senator and Democratic economist are political bridge people who’ve brought differing approaches and shared …

Two Christian leaders are working to restore Christian engagement in the world. Gabe Lyons and Jim Daly discuss how they who are reshaping their part in common life, and the common good. This often …

Jim Daly is president of Focus on the Family. He’s also a Christian radio broadcaster and author of several books, including ReFocus: Living a Life that Reflects God’s Heart. Gabe Lyons is founder of Q: …

From “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” to CNN, Joanna Brooks has become a go-to voice during our national inspection of Mormonism in this presidential campaign. As Mitt Romney makes history, we revisit …

Joanna Brooks is chair and associate professor of English and Comparative Literature at San Diego State University. She’s also blogs at Religion Dispatches and Ask Mormon Girl.

The second show from our recent trip to Istanbul. We meet a Dominican friar whose Christianity is inspired by the mystical tradition …

Fr. Alberto Ambrosio is a Dominican friar and scholar of Sufism. Metropolitan Elpidophoros Lambriniadis is the Metropolitan of Bursa …

Terry Tempest Williams is a naturalist and writer, a biologist by training with a literary mind, who comes from a long Mormon …

Terry Tempest Williams is a naturalist and writer, a biologist by training with a literary mind, who comes from a long Mormon …

There’s a country between Europe’s debt crisis and the Arab Spring, where democracy is valued and the economy is growing. It’s …

Mustafa Akyol is a Turkish columnist for the English-language Hürriyet Daily News. He’s also the author of “Islam without Extremes: …

Krista Tippett speaks with philosopher Jacob Needleman. As new democracies are struggling around the world, it’s easy to forget that U.S. democracy was shaped by trial and error. A conversation about …

Krista Tippett speaks with philosopher Jacob Needleman. As new democracies are struggling around the world, it’s easy to forget that U.S. democracy was shaped by trial and error. A conversation about …

Neuroscientist Richard Davidson is revealing that the choices we make can actually “rewire” our brains. He’s studied the brains of meditating Buddhist monks, and now he’s using his research with …

Neuroscientist Richard Davidson is revealing that the choices we make can actually “rewire” our brains. He’s studied the brains of meditating Buddhist monks, and now he’s using his research with …

Michael McCullough describes science that helps us comprehend how revenge came to have a purpose in human life. At the same time, he …

Michael McCullough describes science that helps us comprehend how revenge came to have a purpose in human life. At the same time, he …

An unusual take on the mind-body connection with author and yoga teacher Matthew Sanford. He’s been a paraplegic since the age of 13. He shares his wisdom for us all on knowing the strength and grace of …

An unusual take on the mind-body connection with author and yoga teacher Matthew Sanford. He’s been a paraplegic since the age of 13. He shares his wisdom for us all on knowing the strength and grace of …

As some Lakota make an annual pilgrimage on horseback to Wounded Knee in memory of Sitting Bull’s death, we’ll pull out some of the …

As some Lakota make an annual pilgrimage on horseback to Wounded Knee in memory of Sitting Bull’s death, we’ll pull out some of the …

An understanding of Easter from inside the Armenian Orthodox tradition that is at once mystical and literally down to earth. Vigen …

An understanding of Easter from inside the Armenian Orthodox tradition that is at once mystical and literally down to earth. Vigen …

The 13th-century Muslim mystic and poet Rumi has long shaped Muslims around the world and has now become popular in the West. Rumi …

The 13th-century Muslim mystic and poet Rumi has long shaped Muslims around the world and has now become popular in the West. Rumi …

Can journalism be a humanitarian art? New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has learned that reportage can deaden rather than …

Can journalism be a humanitarian art? New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has learned that reportage can deaden rather than …

For Black History Month: a MacArthur “genius” who’s unearthing an especially painful chapter of the American experience — the …

Krista Tippett’s unedited interview with Tiya Miles, Chair and Professor in the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She spoke with her on November …

What happens when people transcend violence while living in it? John Paul Lederach has spent three decades mediating peace and …

What happens when people transcend violence while living in it? John Paul Lederach has spent three decades mediating peace and …

Could a Yiddish text from the Middle Ages serve as a guide to living now? Book composer and typographer Scott-Martin Kosofsky …

Scott-Martin Kosofsky is a book composer, typographer, and author of “The Book of Customs.” Krista Tippett spoke with him on …

Amoral zombies. Loving vampires. Righteous serial killers. And lots of God. That’s all in the new TV season — a place where great …

Diane Winston is the Knight Chair in Media and Religion at the Annenberg School for Communication + Journalism at the University of …

How we see the world is how we value it, says Ellen Davis. And poetry is a way to rediscover the lost art of being creatures. An hour of learning and slowing down, with the “Mad Farmer” poems of Wendell …