Some people always seem to be on a diet. They count every calorie and can’t stop talking about food. Others exercise with a diligence that seems beyond normal. Are these signs of an eating disorder, or just disordered eating? Is it any of our business? Trina Weber from the Comprehensive Treatment for Eating Disorders clinic in Grand Rapids, Michigan, offers the perspective of a registered dietician. Karen Saupe hosts.

A new kind of contemplative life is gaining traction among Christians who want to live simply and carefully. Sometimes called the New Monasticism, this lifestyle looks for ways to expand community into neighborhood streets & homes. Shane Claiborne, co-founder of The Simple Way community in Philadelphia, and author of The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical, describes this mindset and how it works. Karen Saupe hosts.

Many thought hip hop music would be a short-lived fad, but it has lasted decades and is even growing in popularity. Clearly this type of music connects with many people. Daniel White Hodge, author of two books about the messages of hip hop, looks past the commercialized material to the complex themes of a music that turns to God surprisingly often. Shirley Hoogstra hosts.

When Edith Mirante traveled to Thailand to study art, she found herself distracted by stories of atrocity in Burma. She became deeply involved in raising awareness about the plight of the people she met, traversing jungles and camping with soldiers to collect eyewitness accounts. Her tales come from the two travelogues she wrote about her adventures. Shirley Hoogstra hosts.

Running a business in Haiti was a challenge even before the 2010 earthquake. Now afterwards, with all the aid and free products flowing into the country, the few surviving businesses have been crippled. Business mentor Ralph Edmond, owner of the Haitian pharmaceutical company Laboratoires Farmatrix, shows how supporting and strengthening businesses can make all the difference for Haiti. Shirley Hoogstra hosts.

Three quarters of Muslims in the Middle East are young (18-35 years old), and today's communication technologies allow them to form a new kind of community that bridges ethnic, national, and sectarian borders. As these Muslims actively pursue democracy, the resulting changes--according to writer and religion scholar Reza Aslan, author of No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam--will be as monumental as the Protestant Reformation was for Christianity. Karen Saupe hosts.

Anglican bishop N. T. Wright, who has written over 50 books on understanding New Testament Scriptures and who Newsweek calls "the world's leading New Testament scholar," discusses his conclusions about what the Bible says about heaven, hell, and what he calls "life after life after death." Karen Saupe hosts.

Considering the highly organized, successful marches and protests of the civil rights era, why don't we see similar action today? Aimless park campouts or overseas service projects seem to be the preferred responses to injustice now. Adam Taylor, author of Mobilizing Hope: Faith-Inspired Activism for a Post Civil Rights Generation, explores successes and failures of activism through the decades. He illustrates how activism can be a way of life. Shirley Hoogstra hosts.

In a society where the term Christian is too often associated only with hypocrisy, judgmentalism, and anti-homosexuality, many young people of the faith are distancing themselves from religious labels. They say their focus is fighting FOR the world and its restoration—not fighting OFF the world. Gabe Lyons is founder of Q ideas.org, a learning community that mobilizes Christians to advance the common good. He discusses his research for his book The Next Christians: the Good News About the End of Christian America.

Stories of failing schools are all too common--schools that look and feel like prisons, with teachers who fear losing their jobs if they don’t stay focused on test scores. But there are also many public schools that have learned how to help any student succeed, no matter how poor or disadvantaged. New York University urban sociologist Pedro Noguera, co-chair of the public policy group Broader Bolder Approach to Education, shares what we can learn from schools that have excelled in dire circumstances. Karen Saupe hosts.