On Being

More and more people in our time are disconnected from religious institutions, at least for part of their lives. Others are religious and find themselves creating a family with a spouse from another tradition or no tradition at all. And the experience of parenting tends to raise spiritual questions anew. We sense that there is a spiritual aspect to our children's natures and wonder how to support and nurture that. The spiritual life, our guest says, begins not in abstractions, but in concrete everyday experiences. And children need our questions as much as our answers. Ellen Davis is the Amos Ragan Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology at the Duke University Divinity School. Krista Tippett spoke with her on May 15, 2010 from the studios of APM in Saint Paul, Minnesota; Ellen Davis was in a studio at Duke University in Durham, NC. This interview is included in our show "Ellen Davis on The Poetry of Creatures." See more at www.onbeing.org/program/poetry-creatures/117

How we see the world is how we value it, says Ellen Davis. And poetry is a way to rediscover the lost art of being creatures. An hour of learning and slowing down, with the "Mad Farmer" poems of Wendell Berry and a new way to take in the "poetry" of Genesis.

Paul Brandeis Raushenbush opens up a hidden but possibly re-emerging influence in the DNA of American Christianity, reaching back to the Social Gospel movement at the turn of the 20th century. And, the Huffington Post religion editor shares what he's learning about religion in this century's evolving realm of technology.

Paul Brandeis Raushenbush is the Senior Religion Editor for the Huffington Post. Krista Tippett spoke with him on October 5, 2011 from the studios of APM in Saint Paul, Minnesota; Paul Brandeis Raushenbush was in the Argot Studios in New York City. This interview is included in our show "Occupying the Gospel." Download the produced show at onbeing.org.

Ricard is a French-Tibetan monk and the Dalai Lama's French interpreter. Krista Tippett spoke with him on September 30, 2009 in Vancouver, Canada. This interview is included in our show "The 'Happiest' Man in the World."

A renowned Tibetan Buddhist teacher shares his thoughts on the meaning of happiness, and how he understands spirituality as "contemplative science."

See more at www.onbeing.org/program/happiest-man-world-meeting-matthieu-ricard/201

Avivah Zornberg is a celebrated, literary teacher of the Torah. We spoke with her on April 7, 2005, from the studios of American Public Media in St. Paul, Minnesota. She was in a private recording studio in Jerusalem. This interview is included in our show "Exodus, Cargo of Hidden Stories." Download the produced show at onbeing.org.

What may one of the great literary teachers of Torah and midrash — the Jewish tradition of reading between the lines of the Bible to uncover hidden layers of meaning — teach us about our own human longings? Hear what happens when she takes on Noah and the Flood, and Adam and Eve in the garden.

A remarkable Kenyan woman and environmentalist speaks from experience about the links between ecology, human flourishing, war and peace, and democracy. And she shares her thoughts on where God resides.