The stories we tell are the stories we live, and the words we use to tell these stories shape what we learn from them. In the time of Covid certain words have become charged and contentious, because their meanings have been altered to support one or another narrative. We zone in on this verbal minefield.

Duration - 40:41

Concert pianist, teacher, and promoter of all things cultural, Erato Alakiozidou shares her love for music, her students and her international family of friends. Born in, and a current resident of, Thessaloniki (Θεσσαλονίκη), Greece, Erato’s lifelong commitment to fostering the arts spans over three decades and continues to inspire a new generation of musicians. Erato Alakiozidou: https://www.eratoalakiozidou.com

Duration - 28:25

Photo Credit: Podcast image - Photo by Leuteris Tectonididis - https://www.facebook.com/lefteris.tektonidis
Artworks by Kostas Kochaimidis - https://www.facebook.com/kostas.kochaimidis

Although 2021 left us with a plethora of things we’d like to forget, it also gave us plenty of fodder for conversation that resulted in many of the 26 episodes produced this year. From adding a new podcast series - Planetary Postcards - to exploring several new books, to deep-diving into issues central to understanding the pandemic world, The Sill continues to shed light on the human experience.

Duration - 32:23

Assessing where we are now, globally, relative to the pandemic, goes beyond the evolution of the Covid virus. We are now seeing pandemics of individual and social dis-ease, from increasing tribalism to intimations of potential violence to fear-based compliance. Where are we headed?

Duration - 38:59

Confusion Sample: Possible confusion related messages - https://youtu.be/cd4Q3Tw1Pmc

Over the last two years living with Covid has profoundly impacted our perception of time. The uncertainties that have enveloped us during this period has served to disconnect us from the flow of time, and our psychological experience of time. Is the 'forever moment' attainable?

Duration - 33:30

Credits: From William Shatner’s 2002 album 'Has Been'

Where are we headed? What will the world, post Covid, look like? From the obvious economic, social, and political changes to the deepening of personal and spiritual awareness, the future though for the most part unknown, is ours to create.

Explicit Content (two words in the entire podcast)

Duration - 42:06

Credits: Jordan Peterson’s Warning To The World

Just when you think there’s nothing more to know or learn about The Beatles, a Canadian born writer, whose life-long passion with the band and their music ventures to explore it from his own national connection. The result is a story about the fab four, profound in its purely Canadian perspective. John Arnone: https://www.beatlesandcanada.com

Duration - 40:47

Credits: John Lennon & The Beatles interview segments

Posted: November 7, 2021

Journey to Berlin through the eyes of an AI developer and psychotherapist. Berlin resident Ansgar Bittermann shares his thoughts and feelings about this highly cosmopolitan city steeped in history and culture that spans millennia. Ansgar Bittermann: https://pocketguide.ai

Duration - 35:42

Credits: John F. Kennedy's Speech at the Berlin Wall

Perhaps even more important than the physical challenge of Covid-19 is the impact brought on by the increasing divisiveness evident in communities, small and large. Do we have enough energy and goodwill left to avoid the potential for a social Chernobyl?

Duration - 38:25

Credits: Harry Posner - ‘Prayer For Healing’

Brown eyes and blue eyes Racism experiment Children Session - Jane Elliott
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGvoXeXCoUY Jane Elliott on her "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes Exercise" and Fighting Racism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2z-ahJ4uws the famous experiment with school kids (re: how easy it is to persecute those who are different). Jane Elliott (née Jennison; born November 30, 1933) is an American diversity educator. As a schoolteacher, she became known for her "Blue eyes/Brown eyes" exercise, which she first conducted with her third-grade class on April 5, 1968, the day after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.)

Posted: October 10, 2021

Where do my individual rights end, and your public rights begin? The crux of this moral and societal dilemma revolves around agreeing on a satisfactory answer to this question, which may affect the way we understand ‘the common good’ for the foreseeable future.

Duration - 41:40