Tapestry

Studying the culture of the 17th and 18th centuries gave historian Keith Johnston a vision for how we could mark the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. Johnston says we can draw inspiration from a 10-day festival hosted in Naples at the end of the 1656 epidemic.

The Mahabharata is a 2,000 year old sacred text from India whose central message is “everyone dies.” And yet University of Toronto associate professor Arti Dhand has found it a place of solace through the horrors of the pandemic.

When COVID-19 struck, Aisha Ahmad recognized very few people around her had lived through a large-scale disaster. Despite being a professor of political science, she found herself acting as an online counsellor, sharing wisdom she earned living in conflict around the world.

This episode was first broadcast on May 8, 2020.

You’re going to meet two women with profound connections to the land. Memona Hossain is a PhD student in Applied Ecopsychology. She has spoken to dozens of Muslim women around the world whose faith drives their work as climate activists. Jenna Vandal recounts the long, winding path to connecting with her Métis heritage.

The fertile fields in Washington state provided Noé Alvarez a playground and a place to unwind, but they were a source of pain for migrant workers in his community who toiled for a better life. On an epic transnational run, Alvarez learned to carry the stories of others, made peace with his past and rewrote his family’s story.

Meanwhile, philosopher Andreas Elpidorou says the widespread experience of boredom during the pandemic is far from dull. He believes taking a closer look at our boredom can help us craft a better life and a more just society.

Episode Two looks at sexual abuse in spiritual communities from the perspective of survivors. It explores what tends to happen to survivors who speak out against their spiritual leaders and groundbreaking ways we can listen to abuse survivors who choose to remain silent.

Episode One looks at sexual abuse allegations that surfaced in the Shambhala Buddhist community and explores the power imbalances in guru-student relationships. We ask why this keeps happening in spiritual communities around the world and hear from Shambhala's board of directors.

Poet Ross Gay, author of The Book of Delights, says observing small joyful moments is a social and political act in a world that prefers proficiency. How inclusive design to give access to people with disabilities can deepen the artistic experience for everyone.

We talk to an Anglican priest and a man who grew up with a radical sense of honesty about the responsibilities we have when we speak. Malcolm Guite talks about the consequences of lying, while Michael Leviton recalls the costs of telling the truth.

It ain’t no thing. Or is it? The objects around us can have a profound impact on how we think about and interact with the world. From the scientific to the sacred, human beings may invent the things, but those creations end up shaping humanity.

Bina Venkataraman, author of The Optimist’s Telescope: Thinking Ahead in a Reckless Age, studies the art of looking ahead for solutions during dangerous times. It's a skill she honed while working on the Ebola Task Force for former U.S. president Barack Obama.