Valentina Suzukei and the Music of Tuva
"Tuva is the epicenter of a rare form of throat singing, in which our ears seem to magically hear multiple pitches and melodies emerging all at once from a single note sung in a drone. Valentina Szkei is the world's leading expert on Tuvan music, especially the variant known as Xmei. Unfortunately, her research and preservation of Tuvan culture has never been translated into English, despite its i... posted on Sep 2, 3832 reads

Where I'm From...
Appalachian poet George Ella Lyon's poem, "Where I'm From," evokes the particular world of a particular childhood through a poem quilted from scraps and patches of memory... Memories of specific sights and sounds, objects, instructions, tragedies, and delights. It has been used in classrooms around the world as a prompt for people to write their own versions of, "Where I'm From." More recently in ... posted on Sep 23, 6743 reads

Window of Possibility
"We live on Earth. Earth is a clump of iron and magnesium and nickel, smeared with a thin layer of organic matter, and sleeved in vapor. It whirls along in a nearly circular orbit around a minor star we call the sun. I know, the sun doesn't seem minor. The sun puts the energy in our salads, milkshakes, hamburgers, gas tanks, and oceans. It literally makes the world go round. And it's huge: The Ear... posted on Oct 5, 4489 reads

Health & Justice: The Path of Liberation Through Medicine
"I am the mother of two beautiful mixed heritage boys. I am a farmers wife. I am a physician who works in adult medicine, witnessing societys ills manifest in my patients bodies, a doctor who sees racism and state violence as urgent public health issues. I am a touring musician who has played in 29 different countries singing in 5 different languages with my band Rupa & the April Fishes. And to us... posted on Oct 11, 3859 reads

Soul Biographies: Nic Askew
Creator of Soul Biographies, Nic Askew's life took an unexpected turn in 2005 when a lucid daydream to pick up a film camera and use it in a profound fashion consumed him and dissolved any internal doubt. He describes this moment as one of "knowing" what he just had to do, as opposed to "believing" or "wanting" something.
Since that day, Nic has used this camera to capture bare human prese... posted on Oct 17, 4622 reads

6 Causes of Burnout at Work
"Job burnout is on the rise, according to several surveys. People are feeling emotionally exhausted, detached from their work and colleagues, and less productive and efficacious. This makes them more likely to suffer health consequences, need sick days, and quit their jobs. A new book "The Burnout Epidemic: The Rise of Chronic Stress and How We Can Solve It," explains the root causes of burnout an... posted on Nov 22, 5326 reads

Wise Hope in Social Engagement
"It's when we discern courageously, and at the same time realize we don't know what will happen that wise hope comes alive. In the midst of improbability and possibility is where the imperative to act rises up. Wise hope is not seeing things unrealistically but rather seeing things as they are, including the truth of impermanence... as well as the truth of suffering--both its existence and the pos... posted on Nov 15, 4533 reads

Finding the Courage for What's Redemptive
"How to embrace what's right and corrective, redemptive and restorative -- and an insistence that each of us is more than the worst thing weve done -- these are gifts Bryan Stevenson offers with his life. He's brought the language of mercy and redemption into American culture in recent years, growing out of his work as a lawyer with the Equal Justice Initiative based in Montgomery, Alabama. Now th... posted on Nov 20, 2848 reads

An Unbroken Grace
"When I first arrived at the home of Barry Lopez one November day in 2018, he pointed to a fresh Douglas fir stump and said, "We had to put down that tree." The Douglas fir was one of many old-growth trees surrounding Barry's home at Finn Rock, Oregon, along the McKenzie River. The tree had become diseased and Barry worried that it might fall on the house, so a few days before my visit, he and a n... posted on Dec 19, 3905 reads

Heart Light in Dark Times
"I've been reflecting on the environmental crisis, and as I do, I find myself in the darkness, as I imagine we all are to some degree. And that says something, something we shouldnt brush aside or try to make go away. This is a place for sharing truth -- and the truth right now is darkness. I sometimes reflect on how I've been practicing meditation, morality, restraint, generosity, sharing, and si... posted on Dec 3, 4918 reads

Born On Third Base
At age 26, a powerful experience defined multi-millionaire Chuck Collin's path. Realizing that "there was no rationale that could justify this disparity" whereby his inherited wealth was increasing through no sweat of his own, but wages were going down for so many, he decided to give away his wealth. "I wrote my parents a letter thanking them for the tremendous opportunities this wealth made possi... posted on Dec 6, 6923 reads

Breaking Free From the Tyranny of Positivity
Ever been told to 'just be happy' or, to 'lighten up'? Does that really make you feel happier? For many, this advice leads to the opposite effect. Author of Emotional Agility and leading Harvard Medical School psychologist Susan David recently teamed up with award-winning journalist and author Maria Shriver for a unique conversation on why positivity doesn't necessarily lead to happiness. Read mor... posted on Dec 11, 31257 reads

Love: Life's Greatest Gift
"Love is life's greatest gift. We seek for love, and yet it is all around and within us. It belongs to the oneness of life, to every dewdrop on every leaf, to the spider spinning its web, the child looking at the stars. If we open our senses and open our hearts, we can feel its presence. Love is life speaking to us of its real mystery. And in that conversation so many things can happen, so many mi... posted on Dec 30, 6359 reads

Time Management for Mortals
"Journalist Oliver Burkeman has made a delightful and important philosophical, spiritual, and practical investigation of all that is truly at stake in what we blithely refer to as 'time management.' At this time of year, many of us are making plans and resolutions -- treating time as part bully, part resource -- something we could fit everything we want into if only we had the discipline. This con... posted on Jan 31, 5456 reads

Practicing Rehumanization as We Move Into Uncertainty
"This is a powerful practice that was shared with me by John Paul Lederach. John Paul is a sociologist and specialist in conflict transformation. He has served as a peacebuilder in Nepal, Somalia, Northern Ireland, Colombia, and Nicaragua around issues related to direct violence and systemic oppression. He has dedicated his life to exploring and implementing alternatives to dehumanization and viol... posted on Feb 6, 4495 reads

RIE: More Than An Unusual Parenting Theory
"RIE is centered on the idea that infants and toddlers are whole people worthy of respect. It gets attention for some weird recommendations, like how we should ask babies' permission before changing a diaper or picking them up and how we should avoid distracting toddlers from a tantrum or seating them in a high chair. But underneath all that is something profound. A theory of how to build a relati... posted on Feb 20, 3955 reads

Letters from Two Gardens
"In the late July swelter and dragonfly buzz of summer, poets Aimee Nezhukumatathil and Ross Gay began a correspondence of poems -- sent the old-fashioned way, through the mail. Aimee wrote from her flower garden in Fredonia, New York, Ross from his fruit and vegetable garden in Bloomington, Indiana. Here, then, is how they made sense and record of a full year in their respective gardens. "It is o... posted on Jul 3, 2218 reads

Resilience
This beautiful video was developed by a group of National Park Service staff and interns to explore the trauma, resilience, and beauty of the African American experience in our country. The story of black history in America may have been lost and forgotten at times, but this film uses beautiful photography and the words of Maya Angelou's poem "Still I Rise" to illustrate the beauty and courage of ... posted on Mar 5, 2794 reads

How to Awaken Your Inner Healer
"I was half-asleep. It was a few minutes past 5:00 a.m. and the mornings larks were half-asleep, too. The sky was deep indigo. My house was rarely so quiet and still. Id just rolled out of bed, tiptoed to my study for privacy, and turned on my laptop. Teacher Wei Qifeng was on the screen, projecting from over 6,000 miles away in Dali, China, where it was 8:00 p.m. Sporting a shaved head and a perf... posted on Mar 17, 5460 reads

My Pen is the Wing of a Bird
"'My Pen Is the Wing of a Bird' came about through the efforts of Untold Narratives, a UK-based organization which works to develop and amplify the work of writers marginalized by social, geopolitical or economic isolation, particularly those in areas with recent or ongoing conflict. In 2019 and early 2021, Untold put out open calls across Afghanistan, asking women to submit short stories in eithe... posted on Mar 25, 2218 reads

For the 8-Year-Old In You
Kate DiCamillo's books include, "Because of Winn-Dixie, The Tale of Despereaux, The Magician's Elephant, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, and Flora & Ulysses. Krista Tippett read Kate's books with her children. Then, in the early pandemic months, feeling unmoored, she cracked them open to read by herself, inspired by a piece in the New York Times by the wonderful writer of adult novels, An... posted on Mar 30, 4499 reads

Writing a Better Story
There comes a time when we choose what stories we tell ourselves personally or as a community. "So let us all honor the stories that gave us courage and personal grounding, the stories that brought us here, the finest ones the ancestors carried for us until we could carry them for ourselves. Let us acknowledge the stories that its time to finally release, to name the dragon so that the dragon can... posted on Apr 1, 2282 reads

Four Poems Born from Stillness
"When I was a child and my mother needed me to entertain myself, she would give me a poem to memorize. So began a lifelong love affair with poetry. There are so many poets I love; and new ones I discover each day. I've written poems for most of my adult life. They emerge through deep stillness. Through paying attention to what is stirring in my heart, and what is happening in the world around me. ... posted on Apr 14, 5383 reads

Seeing Truth in van Gogh
"In her book The Pursuit of Spiritual Wisdom: The Thought and Art of Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin, art historian Naomi Margois Maurer discusses the state of mystical consciousness in which an individual sees directly into the essence of reality, senses nature's unity, and 'feels himself to be part of the flow of universal life.' She goes on to describe it as a direct experience of fundamental... posted on Jun 18, 2175 reads

A Cloud Never Dies
A Cloud Never Dies is a biographical documentary of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Narrated by actor Peter Coyote, "it weaves together original film and photographic archives, telling the story of a humble young Vietnamese monk and poet whose wisdom and compassion were forged in the suffering of war. In the face of violence, fear, and discrimination, Thich Nhat Hanh's courageous path of engaged actio... posted on Jul 29, 4764 reads

A Thing of Beauty
"When the artist James Turrell was a young boy, his grandmother gave him some advice about what to do in the meetings they would attend as a Quaker family: "go inside, and greet the light". Her words appear to have struck something of a chord. Today, Turrell is virtually synonymous with light art and his work is often discussed in terms of engendering sublime experiences and representing a spiritu... posted on May 7, 2506 reads

What We Nurture
"A few years ago, Krista Tippett hosted an event in Detroit -- a city in flux -- on the theme of raising children. The conversation that resulted with the Jewish-Buddhist teacher and psychotherapist Sylvia Boorstein has been a companion to her and to many from that day forward. Here it is again as an offering for Mothers Day in a world still and again in flux, and where the matter of raising new ... posted on May 8, 4499 reads

Becoming Who You Are Meant to Be
"In this podcast, Dr. Bolen joins Sounds True founder Tami Simon to reflect on her many years as a writer, teacher, and activist, and how doing our soul work becomes the path to self-actualization, connection, and contribution throughout our lives. They also discuss our innate capacity for love and awe; becoming a whole-brain person; speaking up as a key aspect of individuation; gratitude and appr... posted on May 9, 4096 reads

Painting with Mom
"My mother requires such presence, slowing down and attentiveness. Due to a very rare blood disorder, as we move her, we cannot let any part of her body bump into anything as it will create huge internal bruises that often do not stop bleeding. Additionally, due to a traumatic brain injury and subsequent mini strokes, her left side is now paralyzed and the right side is also very limited in streng... posted on May 26, 3493 reads

This Fantastic Argument of Being Alive
"Padraig O Tuama is a friend, teacher, and colleague to the work of On Being. But before that was true, Krista took a revelatory trip to meet him at his home in Northern Ireland, a place that has known sectarianism and violent fracture and has evolved, not to perfection, yet to new life and once unimaginable repair and relationship. Our whole world screams of fracture, more now than when Krista sa... posted on May 18, 3361 reads

Surrendering and Opening to Hope in Times of Crisis
When Anna-Zoe Herr's father passed four years ago, she grappled with almost unbearable pain and grief and was finding it difficult to find hope. One night, she had a dream in which her father appeared, sitting opposite her. "I came back because you have a question for me," he said. Zoe was taken aback and then said quickly, "Yes, I do. How do I overcome your death?" "You don't overcome my death," ... posted on May 24, 3125 reads

For One Day of Freedom
""Even if life stops, love goes on." This quote of Bishop Steven Charleston's has never been more real to me than this year, which has seen the posthumous publication by ANTIBOOKCLUB of my husband Blyden B. Jackson Jr's final novel, 'For One Day of Freedom,' completed before his death in April of 2012. The publication of this novel, which was passed over by mainstream publishers when we tried unsu... posted on May 31, 2771 reads

Sami Awad: A Holy Land for All
When Sami Awad was 16, his uncle was permanently exiled for leading Palestinian nonviolent resistance during the first Intifada. That is how dangerous non-violence is, says Sami. His parents were refugees, displaced by the conflict, and Sami watched his own father abused by Israeli authorities. Yet his mother emphasized the Christian teachings of loving your enemies and forgiveness, while his uncl... posted on Jun 7, 2199 reads

Lily Yeh: Art for Social Transformation
On a 1989 trip to showcase her art in China, artist Lily Yeh witnessed the tragic events of Tiananmen Square and found her calling of "bringing colors" and beauty to communities with a dearth of hope. That put her on a journey to initiate various organizations, write a pioneering book, receive numerous awards, and most importantly, transform many communities -- from rundown areas of Philadelphia t... posted on Jun 11, 1573 reads

Let Us Make Sanctuary
"In this podcast, Sounds True founder Tami Simon speaks with Dr. Bayo Akomolafe about how sanctuary is where slowing down and healing happens. They discuss: how the function of slowing down in urgent times is not about simply resting so that we can continue forward in the same direction, but about how to engage in deep inquiry about where we are going; pouring drink to earthan African spiritual te... posted on Jun 16, 2526 reads

The Art of Soil
"Karen Vaughan is a scientist, paint maker, educator, mom, and artist. The soils she studies and learns from and with during her day job as an associate professor of pedology (the study of soil formation) have woven their way into her journey as an artist. Vaughan creates nature-inspired, soil-based watercolor paints that she uses to create art that communicates environmental challenges, condition... posted on Jun 19, 2390 reads

How Animals See Themselves
"In 1909, the biologist Jakob von Uexkll noted that every animal exists in its own unique perceptual world a smorgasbord of sights, smells, sounds and textures that it can sense but that other species might not. These stimuli defined what von Uexkll called the Umwelt an animals bespoke sliver of reality. A ticks Umwelt is limited to the touch of hair, the odor that emanates from skin and the he... posted on Jun 23, 2683 reads

Agnes Callard: A Philosophy of Change
"We can all think back to a time when we were substantially different people, value wise, from the people we are now. There was a time when we were not even aware of the existence of some of the people, activity, institutions and ideology that now figure so centrally in our lives. Maybe we had different political views or no political views at all. Maybe we used to be religious or used not to be. ... posted on Jul 11, 2088 reads

Aanchal Malhotra: Remnants of a Separation
"Aanchal Malhotra is a writer and historian reorienting the way we think and talk about our past, present and future. Inspired by objects her family had carried with them during the 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan, Aanchal began her journey of collecting and archiving objects, or material memories, treasured and preserved by displaced survivors of Partition, eventually compiled into her debut... posted on Jul 26, 1410 reads

At the Gate
"Wheelchairs in wild spaces shouldn't be an anomaly some thirty years since the Americans with Disabilities Act, but here I am, in front of another gate, asserting my right to exist in nature. The very fact of me seems to rankle the men I am here to meet. King Estates Open Space Park is a verdant area of native grasses, wildflowers, and spectacular vistas overlooking the San Francisco Bay. During ... posted on Aug 2, 1725 reads

Silent Drum: Tips for Rhythmic Meditation
"'Drumming may be the oldest form of active meditation known to humanity.' What could meditation and drumming possibly have in common? I've been asking myself this question ever since I heard world-famous sound healing expert Jill Purce say, 'The purpose of sound is silence.' First, both meditation and drumming help us get out of our heads and into our hearts. They just go about it in different wa... posted on Sep 6, 4225 reads

The Greatest Nature Essay Ever
"The Greatest Nature Essay ever would begin with an image so startling and lovely and wondrous that you would stop riffling through the rest of the mail, take your jacket off, sit down at the table, adjust your spectacles, tell the dog to lie down, tell the kids to make their own sandwiches for heavenssake, thats why god gave you hands, and read straight through the piece, marveling that you had i... posted on Sep 24, 3084 reads

Horse Medicine, Horse Mystery
"Whether we love horses or not, whether we have contact with horses or not, they can teach us a lot about wisdom, love, and beauty. How do we get close to an honest openness to the potential magic of horses? And what does it even mean? The horse as a mirror for the soul and a vehicle for the soul could show us our true nature, and carry us into sacred spaces, initiating us into transformational he... posted on Oct 19, 3852 reads

George Saunders on Writing
"As a writer, the work is always particularization to move from mere concept (tree, forest) into specific descriptions that sort of take that thing apart and then cause a new and more intense perception of it to occur within a particular mindstate (usually that of a character). So, what really happens is that you start to dissolve the traditional distinction between the natural and man-made world... posted on Nov 1, 1553 reads

Activating Moral Discomfort & Spiritual Community for the Earth
"The Rev. Fletcher Harper believes that he felt God while mourning his fathers death on a solo camping trip in Montana. A violent hailstorm struck one night, and he sought shelter in the lee of a rock. "At about three in the morning, I felt this deep sense of well-being, he recalls. "I realized that I was going to be OK. I thought, 'I can move on with my life now.'"Later in his life and career whe... posted on Nov 17, 2062 reads

Shinrin-Yoku: Forest Bathing
Hopefully you have a little piece of green forest--a kind of a heaven on earth-- where you can find peace. If so, you already have experienced the health benefits of soaking up the beauty of nature. Forest bathing, in Japan where the practice originated, is called shinrin-yoku. This is the practice of walking through the forest slowly and quietly as a way to heal body, mind and spirit. This film, ... posted on Dec 8, 2165 reads

Balakrishnan Raghavan: Belonging to the World
When he was ten years old, Balakrishnan Raghavan was moved to tears listening to a centuries-old Tamil hymn about Lord Shiva, sung by musician M S Subbulakshmi. "I was wailing. Subbulakshmi's voice soaring high and low, calling out to that divine-beloved, the voice of the poet who lived hundreds of years before us, the fierceness of their devotion, the ultimate surrender of the devotee, the madnes... posted on Dec 15, 2101 reads

Davis Dimock: The Gift
"A guy came here once from some outsider art magazine. He was taking pictures and he asked, "Do you do anything else?" So, I showed him some of my drawings. He said, "These are great. We could use these." I told him I didn't want them out in the world. It seems pretentious to think of myself as an artist. I think of artists as people who are going through the angst of creating stuff, and then the ... posted on Dec 16, 1568 reads

A Special Kind of Grace: The Remarkable Story of the Devadosses
He was a writer and an artist whose captivating pen-and-ink drawings, books and greeting cards reflect the beauty of southern India. His wife helped compose his work. What makes their story extraordinary? Manohar Devadoss was near blind. His art was produced through a painstaking process of extraordinary will-power and dedication. His wife Mahema was paralyzed below the shoulders, the result of a ... posted on Dec 27, 0 reads

Five Thoughts About Sacrifice
"Sacrifice zone is defined as a geographic area that has been permanently impaired by environmental damage, often through locally unwanted land use. Take, for example, the boreal forest surrounding Fort McMurray near the Athabasca River in Alberta, once an expanse of wetlands, bogs, and trembling-aspen and white-spruce forest hunting grounds for First Nations people and habitat to caribou, bears,... posted on Jan 8, 1739 reads