New World Now

“When we accept the invitation to participate in Spirit’s cosmic celebration,” Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith says, “we align ourselves with the Law of Emergence and become vehicles of that which seeks to express in, through and as us.” In this episode, Rev. Beckwith will share how a unified intention and commitment can pave the way for a new spiritual culture to emerge through the New Thought-Ageless Wisdom movement. Rev. Beckwith, founder of Agape International Spiritual Center and Association of Global New Thought, was featured in the best-selling book and film The Secret and has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and Larry King Live. He was also recently featured in the PBS national television special The Answer Is You.

Legendary hip hop producer Russell Simmons has transcended a rough past to become respected not only in the music world, but as an author and proponent of a metaphysical power of possibility. The title of his newest book, Super Rich: A Guide to Having it All, may sound like "The Secret: Part 2," but it's really a forward-thinking inspirational look at what Unity considers New Thought. Is this a first: Hip Hop and Unity-style spirituality? Listen in to hear Simmons talk with Laura and Christopher about his evolution and why this book, why now, and for whom.

Don Lattin, author of the new best-selling book The Harvard Psychedelic Club, examines how the introduction of LSD to American culture—chiefly via Tim Leary, Richard Alpert (Ram Dass), Andrew Weill and Huston Smith—revolutionized the way we see God and forever changed the spiritual landscape of our nation.

Corinne McLaughlin, author of The Practical Visionary and founder of The Center for Visionary Leadership, gives her perspective of the tragic shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and others in Tucson, Arizona. McLaughlin looks at the symbolic, metaphorical and very real meaning of this event—and what it means to the soul of a nation. Laura and Christopher will also wend in clips of Giffords, Jon Stewart and Deepak Chopra, and quotes from Marianne Williamson, Neale Donald Walsch and others.

Author Charles Eisenstein has written a compelling new book, The Ascent of Humanity, which suggests that the gathering crises of our age demonstrate that our current way of being is on the verge of collapse. And this collapse is setting the stage for a revolution in human beingness whose stirrings we already begin to feel. What is the purpose of the grandeur and the ruin we have wrought? If civilization is to collapse, why? And what for? Will we then go back to the Stone Age, or will we be born into something entirely new? More than anything, The Ascent of Humanity and Charles' interview with Christopher and Laura, are about how to create the more beautiful world our hearts tell us is possible.

Historians refer to several Great Awakenings throughout our country’s history. Recently PBS’s “God in America” highlighted these “Awakenings,” but did so in terms of broad, usually fervent evangelical movements. What about the metaphysical, mystical underpinnings of these movements? Have they been largely missed or skirted by historians? And what of Awakenings to follow? Christopher welcomes Mitch Horowitz, author of Occult America, to discuss the vital underpinnings of spiritual movements—and render insight on some American Awakenings of their own.

Today Laura and Christopher welcome Unity minister Diane Scribner Clevenger into the studio to discuss an emerging Atheism—with a more pronounced "feminine" tone. The program will also incorporate sound bites from comedian and author Bill Maher, author S.E. Cupp and author Mitch Horowitz.

Is July 4 a psyche birth force? Occult America author Mitch Horowitz joins Christopher and Laura as they discuss the amazing synchronicities that swirl about July 4 and the metaphysical founding of our nation. Did the fact that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on July 4—50 years to the date of the signing of the Declaration of Independence—mean anything to the soul of a young nation? With clips from Caroline Myss, Mark Victor Hansen, Jacob Needleman and others.

New Thought churches watched as their evangelical and spiritually conservative counterparts got political in the 1980‘s ... and remain so today. Unlike its American Transcendental founders, has today’s New Thought movement been reluctant to speak out on social issues, fearing they could be politically charged? That’s the challenge for “Unity in the World” that dares to get involved in the social realms, such as promoting a Department of Peace, despite the possibility of political overtones. Rev. Dorene Lake, co-founder of Unity in the World, joins Laura and Christopher for this one-hour conversation.

From recent 7.0-magnitude earthquakes to the world-galvanizing event of the Icelandic volcano ... are we seeing an indication of quantum change in the earth’s geosphere? Or is it simply “weather as usual”? Laura and Christopher speak to author/speaker Gregg Braden (Fractal Time, The Science of Miracles) about these recent events and how they may or may not dovetail into his perspective of what 2012 represents to us ... and the planet.