Becoming Wise

One of the world’s leading experts on torture, Iranian-American political scientist Darius Rejali discusses, in particular, how democracies change torture and are changed by it. In the wake of Wikileaks revelations about torture in U.S.-occupied Iraq, we explore how his knowledge might deepen our public discourse about such practices — and inform our collective reckoning with consequences yet to unfold.

Using stem cells, Doris Taylor brought the heart of a dead animal back to life and might one day revolutionize human organ transplantation. She takes us beyond lightning rod issues and into an unfolding frontier where science is learning how stem cells work reparatively in every body at every age.

Using stem cells, Doris Taylor brought the heart of a dead animal back to life and might one day revolutionize human organ transplantation. She takes us beyond lightning rod issues and into an unfolding frontier where science is learning how stem cells work reparatively in every body at every age. In this unedited conversation, Krista speaks with Doris Taylor, the director of the Center for Cardiovascular Repair at the University of Minnesota. They speak about the science of stem cells and their regenerative/reparative potential, and the ethics surrounding such work. This entire, unedited interview is included in the program, “Stem Cells, Untold Stories.” See more at onbeing.org/program/stem-cells-untold-stories/178

We delve into the world and meaning of the Jewish High Holy Days — ten days that span the new year of Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur’s rituals of atonement. A young rabbi in L.A. is one voice in a Jewish spiritual renaissance that is taking many forms across the U.S. The vast majority of her congregation are people in their 20s and 30s, who, she says, are making life-giving connections between ritual, personal transformation, and relevance in the world.

We’ll delve into the world and meaning of the approaching Jewish High Holy Days — ten days that span the new year of Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur’s rituals of atonement. Sharon Brous, a young rabbi in L.A., is one voice in a Jewish spiritual renaissance that is taking many forms across the U.S. The vast majority of her congregation are people in their 20s and 30s, who, she says, are making life-giving connections between ritual, personal transformation, and relevance in the world. In this unedited conversation, Krista interviewed Sharon Brous, a Conservative rabbi in Los Angeles who is part of a Jewish spiritual renaissance. See more at onbeing.org/program/days-awe/82

The devastation of the Haiti earthquakes and the lack of infrastructure for responding to the disaster have deepened an ongoing debate over foreign aid, international development, and helping the poorest of the world’s poor. Jacqueline Novogratz, whose Acumen Fund is reinventing that landscape with what it calls “patient capitalism,” is charting a third way between investment for profit and aid for free.

The devastation of the Haiti earthquakes and the lack of infrastructure for responding to the disaster have deepened an ongoing debate over foreign aid, international development, and helping the poorest of the world’s poor. Jacqueline Novogratz, whose Acumen Fund is reinventing that landscape with what it calls “patient capitalism,” is charting a third way between investment for profit and aid for free. Krista’s unedited conversation with Jacqueline Novogratz. She’s the founder and CEO of the Acumen Fund and author of the memoir, “The Blue Sweater.” Krista spoke with her on January 8, 2010, from the studios of American Public Media in St. Paul, Minnesota. She was in a private recording studio in New York City. This interview is included in our program “A Different Kind of Capitalism – Jacqueline Novogratz and the Reinvention of Aid.” See more at http://onbeing.org/program/different-kind-capitalism/50

A conversation about climate change and moral imagination with a leading environmentalist and writer who has been ahead of the curve on this issue since he wrote The End of Nature in 1989. We explore his evolving perspective on human responsibility in a changing natural world.

We had to cut some great segments from Krista’s conversation with Bill McKibben. Here you can listen to it all, and tell us what you think of our edits from our produced show “Bill McKibben on The Moral Math of Climate Change.” A conversation about climate change and moral imagination with a leading environmentalist and writer who has been ahead of the curve on this issue since he wrote The End of Nature in 1989. We explore his evolving perspective on human responsibility in a changing natural world. See more at onbeing.org/program/moral-math-climate-change/209

Kingsolver describes an adventure her family undertook to spend one year eating primarily what they could grow or raise themselves. As a citizen and mother more than an expert, she turned her life towards questions many of us are asking. Food, she says, is a “rare moral arena” in which the ethical choice is often the pleasurable choice.