Freedom Loves Company

In his latest book, America: The Farewell Tour, Chris Hedges shows how the effects of America’s decline and decay affects its citizenry. As America sinks further into poverty and despotism, and as corporations and the military-industrial-media complex pirate the remaining assets of a nation that has lost its industry save weapons manufacturing, human beings suffer from gambling addiction, hatred, and violence in the streets. Hedges announces a spiritual call to resist.

Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist who was a foreign correspondent for fifteen years for The New York Times where he served as the Middle East Bureau Chief and Balkan Bureau Chief for the paper. He previously worked overseas for The Dallas Morning News, The Christian Science Monitor, and NPR. He writes a weekly column for the online magazine Truthdig out of Los Angeles and is host of the Emmy Award­–winning RT America show On Contact. Hedges, who holds a Master of Divinity from Harvard University, is the author of the bestsellers American Fascists, Days of Destruction­, Days of Revolt, and was a National Book Critics Circle finalist for War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning. He has taught at Columbia University, New York University, Princeton University, and the University of Toronto. He currently teaches college credit courses in the New Jersey prison system.

His Eminence the 7th Kyabje Yongzin Ling Rinpoche is on a teaching visit through the West Coast, August 15th through September 19th (See Schedule). He will be in Portland, September 7th through the 10th at the following venues:

Gala for Tibet: An Evening with HE Kyabje Yonzin Ling Rinpoche Fundraiser for Sunday Tibetan School Friday, September 7th | 6 - 10 PM NWTCA Lemelson Auditorium Limited seating. 

Public Talk: Kindness & Compassion Target Audience: Youth Saturday, September 8th | 10:30 AM - 12 Noon Maitripa College Free but pre-registration required. 

Spirituality and Humanity: An Interfaith Conversation on Creating Harmonious Community and Healthy Leadership Saturday, September 8th | 2 - 4 PM University of Portland Free and open to all. 

Dolkar Tsewang: White Tara Long Life Empowerment Sunday, September 9th | 9:30 AM - 12 Noon NWTCA Lemelson Auditorium

Lojong: 8 Verses of Mind Training Sunday, September 9th | 2 - 4 PM NWTCA Lemelson Auditorium Suggested Donation for Empowerment and Teaching on Sunday, Sept. 9th is $25. Tickets will be sold at the gate.

He was born in India on November 18, 1985. He was taken to the Tibetan Children’s Village in Dharamsala, after his mother died, and stayed there until His Holiness the Dalai Lama recognized him as the reincarnation of his Senior Tutor, the 6th Kyabje Yongzin Ling Rinpoche, who passed away in 1983.

During this interview, he spoke with John Shuck about leadership, suffering, kindness, and happiness.

Parker J. Palmer, Founder and Senior Partner Emeritus of the Center for Courage & Renewal, is a world-renowned writer, speaker and activist who focuses on issues in education, community, leadership, spirituality and social change. He has reached millions worldwide through his nine books, including Let Your Life Speak, The Courage to Teach, A Hidden Wholeness, and Healing the Heart of Democracy. He is collaborating with singer/songwriter, Carrie Newcomer, in a project called The Growing Edge. 

His tenth book is On The Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old.

Matthew Fox. Silenced by the Vatican for his views, left the Catholic priesthood in the early 1980s. Matthew Fox is a theologian and activist who has written over 30 books. He has introduced millions of people to Creation Spirituality. In 2016 he published A Way to God: Thomas Merton’s Creation Spirituality Journey. According to Fox, Merton was assassinated by the CIA. We will talk more about that as well as have a candid conversation about ecology, human rights, capitalism, and resistance.

In November 2016 I released an interview with activist, Matthew Fox. This is a rebroadcast of that episode.

Former U.S. Congresswoman (1992-2002, 2004-2006) from Georgia and 2008 Presidential candidate for the Green Party, Dr. Cynthia McKinney, speaks with John Shuck on the Beloved Community.

Topics include her entry into politics, racism, the various factions of the Deep State, 9/11, COINTELPRO, media propaganda, Hollywood, the Israel lobby, and the wars.

It is an educational hour about what it takes to awaken and “unrig” ourselves from the rigged system of partisan politics and to become activists for truth and goodness.

Follow Cynthia McKinney on Twitter.

What is moral?  How has morality changed and how does that effect how we make decisions and evaluate the decisions of others in politics, business, and sex?   In Behaving Badly:  The New Morality in Politics, Sex and Business. Eden Collinsworth embarks on a personal journey to discover morality in a new globalized culture.

Eden Collinsworth is a former media executive and business consultant.  She was formerly of Arbor House Publishing Company founder of the LA based monthly magazine Buzzbefore becoming a vice president at Hearst Corporation.

She wrote a best-selling book in China for Chinese businesspeople on Western deportment and she launched Collinsworth & Associates, a Bejing based consulting firm which specialized in intercultural communication.

This is an encore presentation of an episode that originally aired in April 2017.

Victoria Price, author of Vincent Price: A Daughter's Biography, discusses with John Shuck her latest book, The Way of Being Lost: A Road Trip to My Truest Self. Despite doing “all the right things” to successfully rebuild her life and her finances after a period of deep personal and professional turmoil where she lost almost everything, Victoria Price still felt something profoundly missing from her life. Victoria Price’s inspirational memoir is a heartfelt, candid account of rediscovering her joy and purpose after years of struggle, confusion and hopelessness. Michael P. Daley writes about crime and cultural history. His latest book is Bobby Bluejacket: The Tribe, The Joint, The Tulsa Underworld, the extraordinary true story of a man who went from career thief to prison journalist to Eastern Shawnee activist. Daley's previous books include Enjoy The Experience: Homemade Records 1958–1992, which was featured in BBC, NPR, Vice, Book Forum, Rolling Stone, and was called the greatest music book of the year by Los Angeles Magazine. He was founder/Editor of Parallax News, a digital news service for the 2016 U.S. Election. Michael was also a founding member of Boo-Hooray and Sinecure Books. He has worked on productions for Rizzoli, Four Corners, Zero Books, Brookings, and Warner Brothers.

In this episode I take us back to 2012 for a re-broadcast of interviews with Sarah Sentilles and Eugenie Scott. 

In the first part of today’s show, you will hear an interview that first aired in January 2012 with Sarah Sentilles. Sarah Sentilles broke up with the Creator of the Universe just as she was about to be ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church.  She tells all in her book, Breaking Up With God: A Love Story.  In this interview Dr. Sentilles shares her theological journey and demonstrates why if the church is going to have any relevancy to educated and inquiring minds, it is going to need to challenge its patriarchy and its outdated images of God.

Eugenie Scott, was  executive director of the National Center for Science Education from 1986 to 2014.  In 2012 she was my guest to discuss the history of the evolution/creationism controversy, and promote the teaching of science.

In this episode I take us back to 2012 for a re-broadcast of interviews with Michael Zimmerman and Barbara Kingsolver.

In the first part of today’s show, you will hear an interview that first aired in February 2012 with Michael Zimmerman, the founder of the Clergy Letter Project and Evolution Weekend.   Over 13 thousand Christian, Jewish, and Unitarian Universalist clergy have signed a letter in support of teaching evolution in public schools.   On the Sunday closest to Darwin’s Birthday faith communities all over the United States celebrate Evolution Weekend by honoring science and religion. 

Author Barbara Kingsolver lives in southwest Virginia.  She is the author of 14 books including the The  Poisonwood Bible, The Lacuna, and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.  She visited with me at the WEHC studio at Emory and Henry College to discuss her latest novel, Flight Behavior, a novel set in Southern Appalachia.   In part it is about denial and the beliefs that get assigned to us.

Heart failure, accident, or murder? John Shuck interviews Hugh Turley about the mysterious death of Thomas Merton

Investigative Reporter, Hugh Turley, makes the case that the conclusion that Thomas Merton died by accident cannot possibly be true. Hugh Turley and David Martin are co-authors of the 2018 book, The Martyrdom of Thomas Merton, An Investigation. 

John Shuck speaks live with Hugh Turley on Beloved Community about the death of Thomas Merton, who was an anti-war author and spiritual leader. He died mysteriously on December 10th, 1968 in Thailand.  

"Merton was in apparent good health and at the height of his productive powers when he died suddenly and mysteriously while attending a monastic conference, on December 10th, 1968, near Bangkok, Thailand. He was 53 years old. Up to now, no one has examined the circumstances of his death systematically, critically, and what is most important honestly. That is our purpose here." p. 2.

Hugh Turley, as a volunteer columnist for the Hyattsville Life and Times was winner of the National Newspaper Association award for best serious column, small circulation, non-daily division.

The Book's website: The Martyrdom of Thomas Merton.