Night-Light Radio

This extraordinary biography - written with the generous cooperation of the Henson family - covers the full arc of Henson’s all-too-brief life: from his childhood in Leland, Mississippi, through the years of burgeoning fame in America, to the decade of international celebrity that preceded his untimely death at age 53. Drawing on hundreds of hours of new interviews with Henson's family, friends, and closest collaborators, as well as unprecedented access to private family and company archives, Brian Jay Jones explores the creation of the Muppets, Henson’s contributions to Sesame Street and Saturday Night Live, and his nearly 10-year campaign to bring The Muppet Show to television. Jones provides the imaginative context for Henson’s non-Muppet projects, including the richly imagined worlds of The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth - as well as fascinating misfires like Henson’s dream of opening an inflatable psychedelic nightclub. 

An uncommonly intimate portrait, Jim Henson captures all the facets of this American original: the master craftsman who revolutionized the presentation of puppets on television, the savvy businessman whose dealmaking prowess won him a reputation as "the new Walt Disney", and the creative team leader whose collaborative ethos earned him the undying loyalty of everyone who worked for him. Here also is insight into Henson’s intensely private personal life: his Christian Science upbringing, his love of fast cars and expensive art, and his weakness for women. Though an optimist by nature, Henson was haunted by the notion that he would not have time to do all the things he wanted to do in life - a fear that his heartbreaking final hours would prove all too well founded. 

21st Century Radio® Host Dr. Bob Hieronimus sits down with author and filmmaker Christopher Hodapp to unpack the real history and persistent misconceptions about the Freemasons. Hodapp is also the writer of Freemasons for Dummies.

About Solomon’s Builders: Freemasons, Founding Fathers and the Secrets of Washington D.C. 

Unearth the fascinating history of how the Freemasons and Founding Fathers sowed the seeds of a new nation amid the tumultuous collapse of the British colonies.

To learn more about Chris’s work, head to https://freemasonsfordummies.com/

Conversation originally recorded in 2009.

“In this philosophical, psychological, and spiritual exploration of enlightenment, Jason Gregory addresses how to access the original spontaneous awareness we all came into this world with. He exposes the illusion that we must strive to reach enlightenment, uncovering how our yearning for future accomplishments, attachment to the past, and reliance on authority outside the self are social constructs that distract us from the reality of the now. The author explains how our original enlightened nature has been obscured by social, cultural, religious, and egotistical conditioning of the mind caught in time. 

21st Century Radio Host Dr. Zohara Hieronimus sits down with co-authors Jonathan and Andi Goldman to discuss all the things sound healing. 30 years ago Jonathan wrote the classic Healing Sounds: The Power of Harmonics, published by Healing Arts Press. Does his guidebook still apply? How can harmonics be used in healing? How can humming lead to better health and happiness? How do intention and gratitude effect how we use sound every day? We delve into these questions and much more.

About Healing Sounds:

Sharing many easy-to-follow sound healing exercises, such as “Vowels as Mantras” and “Overtoning,” Goldman explains in detail how to perform vocal harmonics--a form of overtone chanting--and experience their transformative and healing powers. He shows how harmonics can be used as sonic yoga for meditation and deep relaxation as well as to enhance energy and resonate the chakras, the energy centers of the body.

In their book The Humming Effect the Goldmans reveal that humming is one of the simplest and yet most profound sounds we can make. If you have a voice and can speak, you can hum. Research has shown humming to be much more than a self-soothing sound: it affects us on a physical level, reducing stress, inducing calmness, and enhancing sleep as well as lowering heart rate and blood pressure and producing powerful neurochemicals such as oxytocin, the “love” hormone.

Providing a self-healing method accessible to all, the authors reveal that, even if you have no musical ability, we are all sound healers.

21st Century Radio Host Dr. Bob Hieronimus sits down with author James Wasserman to discuss his book The Temple of Solomon: From Ancient Israel to Secret Societies.

The spiritual heart of many esoteric societies, the Temple of Solomon was located atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, a site venerated by the three great monotheistic religions as the intersection of Divine and human. Built by King Solomon at the peak of ancient Israel’s power, the Temple of Solomon housed the golden Ark of the Covenant in its Holy of Holies, a sacred chamber where one could communicate directly with God. Centuries after the temple’s destruction, the Temple Mount was used as the headquarters for the Knights Templar during the Crusades, and countless legends have come down through the centuries about the secrets they may have uncovered there, including discovery of the Holy Grail or the Ark of the Covenant.  This book explores the Temple of Solomon in the Hebrew Scriptures, the New Testament, and Apocryphal writings as well as its role in the founding of Freemasonry, the legends of the Knights Templar, the doctrines of the Kabbalah, and Muhammad’s visionary journey from the Temple Mount through the heavens. Seeking to understand the powerful desire of many religions and secret societies to re-create the temple through ritual and prayer, James Wasserman explains why it was built, the magical forces King Solomon may have used in its creation, what its destruction meant for Jews and Christians alike, and why the Knights Templar as well as several modern secret societies named their orders after it.

This is an excerpt of a conversation originally recorded in 2011.

Produced by Hieronimus & Co. for 21st Century Radio®.  Edited version provided to Nightlight Radio with permission.

The spiritual seeker’s guide to living with authenticity and integrity in troubled times by a lauded journalist and monk mentored by Thomas Merton.

Judith Valente is a former staff writer for the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in journalism. She is a former correspondent for PBS’s Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly and senior correspondent for investigative reporting and long features at the NPR affiliate in central Illinois. She was also a special correspondent covering faith and values and arts and culture for Chicago Public Radio. Valente contributes articles to US Catholic magazine and National Catholic Reporter. 

Author KENDALL PHILLIPS joins us to discuss his new publication "Kolchak:  The Night Stalker."  This one season show had cheesy but thought provoking monsters.   But what made this show such a cult classic?  Devoted fans still watch the reruns and there are social media groups with ever increasing numbers.  Kendall gives us the background on this influential show, the creation of the Kolchak mythos, the pitfalls of the monster of the week; but more importantly, it laid the foundations for more recent, standout TV shows:  "Walking Dead,"  "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and the all important "X-Files."  Join us for a fun discussion but we'll also have a look at the turbulent times from which it was spawned as well as the far reaching legacy.  "The whistling has started."

Joshua Greene, who studied meditation with the legendary Beatle George Harrison, draws on personal remembrances, recorded conversations, and firsthand accounts to create a moving portrait of Harrison's spiritual life, his profound contribution to the Beatles' music, and previously unpublished anecdotes about his time with music legends Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, and others.

"Many well-known artists have touched people's hearts with their music, but few have ever succeeded in touching people's souls. That was George's gift, and his story is described here with affection and taste. A wonderful book."

Joshua M. Greene earned his master's degree from Hofstra University, where he taught Hinduism and Holocaust history until his retirement in 2013. He has spoken at the Pentagon, the Judge Advocates College, and the New York Public Library Distinguished Author series, and he lectures frequently before state bar associations. His most recent book is a biography of Srila Prabhupada, titled Swami in a Strange Land.