Unicorns have captured our imaginations for centuries. Their horns were sought after for medicinal and spiritual purposes all the way up through the late 1800s. Christ has been referred to as a unicorn and the unicorn's ability to purify water has been compared to Moses cleansing the waters of Marah. Scotland's National Animal is the Unicorn (can this country get any more magical?) and America's 1982 "The Last Unicorn" MAY be one of the easiest songs ever to get in your head. To sum up - there's a lot to discuss! Rediscover some magic on today's episode as we explore the history and symbolism of unicorns.

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A bonus episode before we launch into Season 6!

Mary Oliver loved to go on long solitary walks around the Cape in New England. She watched the tide for hours on end. In and out, in and out. She listened to the geese flying south and she prayed earnestly while counting sparrows and watching the clouds. She is a poet of deep attention and quiet.

In her poem “When Death Comes” Oliver celebrates the endless wonder she finds in the world: “When it’s over, I want to say: all my life / I was a bride married to amazement. / I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.”

Enjoy this Sound Escape, hopefully an experience that allows you to get lost in the quiet peace of nature and to remember your place in the family of things.

Many thanks to Chris Marquette for his wonderful guitar playing throughout this episode.

Poems in this episode:

Wild Geese

Six Recognitions of the Lord

Frasier was a hit sitcom that ran for 11 seasons from the early 1990s through the early 2000s. It was also the backdrop to much of Katie and her sister Chrissy's childhood. Today on the show Katie is joined by Chrissy to chat about what makes Frasier such a great show - how it's an excellent introduction to theatre, encourages a love of learning, celebrates families connecting despite big differences, and also what makes it different from other sitcoms of the era (especially Seinfeld and Friends). Coffee, theatre, radio, a cloudy, rainy city -- what could be better! A fun, light-hearted episode about a truly great show! Hope you enjoy! 

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Katie pulled the plug and deleted all her social media. She updates us how it's going, how she's surviving the existential despair brought on by midsummer heat, and what she hopes the podcast is contributing to the world. 

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Every night our mind enters another world, a strange place of images, memories, ideas, often a place filled with anxiety or unease, but also sometimes a place of artistic inspiration, love, and hope. Today on the podcast we'll be discussing that strange in-between state of dreaming - and how we use the word 'dream' in the waking world - MLK Jr's "I have a dream" and Fantine's "I dreamed a dream"... to rowing merrily down the stream, life is but a dream... to Christopher Nolan's Inception. This a sound rich episode inviting you to meditate, wonder, and get a little lost in some dreamscapes of your own. 

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“To know that one is dreaming

“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” 

On this episode Katie is joined by her husband Chris to discuss their shared love of owls. We'll learn about the time Katie and Chris found an injured screech owl on one of their walks... An experience that greatly impacted them both. We'll discuss the symbolism of owls... Harbingers of death, symbols of wisdom, good luck... Athena's familiar and companion... And why the animal world and these 'touches with the wild' can bring us back to the reality of all things. A fun episode to rekindle your interest in the animal world and all that it can teach us. 

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On today's episode, Katie shares a radio piece she produced for PRX/The Goethe Institut called "The Night." This is a chance to meditate on our charged perceptions of the Night - its darkness, its hopes, dreams, promises, myths, and legends. A particularly poignant topic for Mother's Day as we focus in on how sleepless nights with a new baby can have us asking all those 'big questions' that seem too scary or distant during the day. 

We're being overwhelmed with stories of artificial intelligence - AI's ability to mimic human emotion, write faster than any person, create beautiful art, play music, find any fact in less than a second. We're also being told of AI's less desirable effects - the prevalence of fraud, plagiarism, hacking, even targeted threats. So what do we make of this pandora's box? And where does that leave us hum-drum human beings, with our ordinary minds, hearts, and souls? On this episode we'll explore the UNIQUELY HUMAN capacity for imagination and celebrate the beauty and uniqueness of the human experience, ultimately emphasizing just how much AI can never give us. 

It's Eastertide! The world is waking up and the natural world is reflecting the resurrected joy of the liturgical year. We'll hear a seasonal poem from Mary Oliver, an enchanting fairy tale from Hans Christian Anderson, and Katie shares some of 'life right now' - two exhausting, cute kids, creative work, and the beauty of the natural world. 

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"Spring" by Mary Oliver

"The Last Dream of the Old Oak" by Hans Christian Anderson

Music - Bluedot sessions 

St. Joseph never saw an angel the way Mary did, clear as day, with her waking eyes. He never saw the burning bush or heard the thunderous voice of God, “I am that I am.” St. Joseph only heard God in the quietest of ways. He dreamed of angels. He heard God while he slept.