Podcast

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Season Seven

EPISODE TWO
Anna Tivel on Animal Poem, Short Stories, and Checking Your Shoes

“Through her graceful poetry and pristine instrumentation, the folk singer delivers indictments of modern indignities alongside moments of hope.”

— Pitchfork

EPISODE ONE
Dr. Martin Shaw on Liturgies of the Wild

“Here is a rosary of soaring myth, gripping narrative, and deep wisdom, all told with breathtaking verve that enchants and sweeps us along, from first word to last. A superb, inspiring read.”

— Gabor Maté, author of The Myth of Normal

TRAILER
Vision for a New Cabinet by Teddy Macker 

“As Christians…we are Ceremony people, story people, poetic people.” 

— Martin Shaw

Season Six

EPISODE THIRTEEN | BONUS
The Famous One

“Always keep death before you.”

— Rule of St. Benedict

EPISODE TWELVE | BONUS
Remembering Lerita Coleman Brown on Waiting for a Word in the Heart [Repost from 2023]

“I highly recommend What Makes You Come Alive to churches, religious and educational institutions, and spiritual seekers everywhere who are looking for an inward journey that finds its home in the world of nature, people, and things.”

— Walter Earl Fluker – Editor and Director of the Howard Thurman Papers Project

EPISODE ELEVEN | BONUS
Stay Outside (or Non-Liturgical Liturgical Calendar Musing)

“Some people need to stay outside.”

— Jim Harrison

EPISODE TEN
Gail Straub on Embracing Our Human Family

“In radiant, lyrical prose, Gail Straub takes us on a voyage like no other, both into little-known places across the globe and, most memorably, the inner realms of the soul. …..this is a journey that no reader will forget and, I believe, all readers will, in their own way, hope to emulate.”

— Andrew Carroll

EPISODE NINE
Mark Longhurst on The Holy Ordinary

“A truly beautiful book that can take you to the very heart of who you are meant to be in God.”

— Fr. Adam Bucko

EPISODE EIGHT
Haleh Liza Gafori Brings Water to the Thirsty

“Water is immediate and timeless. These poems imprint on the heart. To read these verses is to enter mystery and paradox, to be burnished by the sacred fire and broken open by the holiest dance.”

— Suleika Jaouad

EPISODE SEVEN
Contemplative Parenting with Aizaiah G. Yong and Nereyda Yong

“In this taut, fearless, and well-argued manifesto, Larry Ward offers us a deeply insightful analysis of America’s racial karma—of how it operates individually and collectively—and how it can be worked with and transformed. Drawing on Buddhist psychology, trauma theory, neuroscience, and years of practice … the result is a searing, liberative, and tender work—a book that is both urgent and necessary.”

— David M. Csinos, founder and president of Faith Forward, research director for Family Faith Every Day

EPISODE SIX | BONUS
[Rebroadcast] Dr. Larry Ward on America’s Racial Karma, the Fragrance of Wisdom, and Learning How To Suffer Less

“In this taut, fearless, and well-argued manifesto, Larry Ward offers us a deeply insightful analysis of America’s racial karma—of how it operates individually and collectively—and how it can be worked with and transformed. Drawing on Buddhist psychology, trauma theory, neuroscience, and years of practice … the result is a searing, liberative, and tender work—a book that is both urgent and necessary.”

— Jan Willis, author of Dharma Matters: Women, Race, and Tantra

EPISODE FIVE
Amy Frykholm on Journey to the Wild Heart

“You can trust Amy Frykholm as a modern-day amma who knows the terrain of the soul. Reading Journey to the Wild Heart is like going out to the desert for a word. It helps us slow down, let go, unknow in Silence, and embody Love.”

— Carmen Acevedo Butcher, author of Practice of the Presence

EPISODE FOUR
Todd Davis on Ditch Memory

“To read a new and selected collection is to experience the evolution of a voice, in this case an essential voice in American poetry. To sit with the whole of these transportive, immersive poems is to awaken like a wild riparian corridor in spring. Wildflowers on the banks. Birdsong in the branches. The reader’s heart is a bud: open. Beautiful work.”

— Chris Dombrowski, The River You Touch

EPISODE THREE
Sr. Laura Swan, OSB on the Radical Wisdom of the Beguines

“…Swan’s book provides an accessible overview of beguine spirituality in the context of their own times…[it] does a good job of explaining both the beguines’ spiritual practices and their continuing legacy.”

— Commonweal

EPISODE TWO
Patrick Boland on Contemplative Leadership

“Such a generous and skillful offering! If you want to use your power and influence for good in this world, here is your practice manual. May you have the discipline and commitment to use it well.”

— Margaret J. Wheatley

EPISODE ONE
Cynthia Bourgeault on Thomas Keating, Christian Nonduality, and Mystical Maps

“As a close student and friend of Thomas Keating’s for thirty-five years, I was exhilarated reading this lively and profound exploration of his journey into unity consciousness, and grateful the world has the opportunity to glimpse the inner life, struggles, and spiritual evolution of this extraordinary soul. A must-read for Centering Prayer practitioners in navigating the farther, subtler terrain of their path and for anyone seeking a model of embodied Christian nonduality. Cynthia has given Thomas, and the world, a tremendous gift with this masterpiece of modern mysticism.”

— David Frenette, author of The Path of Centering Prayer: Deepening Your Experience of God

TRAILER
Intensification of Life

“Practice simply is one intensification of what is natural and around us all the time. Practice is to life as poetry is to spoken language. So as poetry is the practice of language, “practice” is the practice of life.”

— Gary Snyder

Season Five

EPISODE FIFTEEN | season finale
Peter Traben Haas on Prayer as a Practice of Centering, Abiding, & Radiating

“These prayers act as both a holy pause – a space to rest into when our own words seem to fail us – and a spark – a way of igniting our recommitment to be a loving presence in the world. Full of gratitude, humility, and devotion, Haas calls us back into communion with ourselves, with creation, and with the Holy One.”

— Christine Valters Paintner

EPISODE FOURTEEN | BONUS
Backporch Advent Outpost with Hadewijch and the Mother of Love

“We must, without sparing, lose all for all.”

— Hadejwich of Antwerp

EPISODE THIRTEEN
Katherine May on Enchantment, Building Community, Tasting Words, and a Drink of Lake Water

“I love Katherine May’s new book, Enchantment.… It’s a beautiful offering of light, truth and charm in these strange, dark times.”

— Anne Lamont

EPISODE TWELVE
Andrew Krivak on the Inheritance of Loss, Death as a Character, and Like the Appearance of Horses

“Krivak is a novelist, poet, and memoirist whose work has been compared to William Faulkner’s in its rich sense of place, to Wendell Berry’s in its attentiveness to natural beauty, and to Cormac McCarthy’s in its deep investigation of violence and myth. Yet all of Krivak’s writing, and especially his fiction, presents a truly singular vision.”

— Image Journal

EPISODE ELEVEN | BONUS
Remembering Dr. Barbara Holmes (Replay of 2016 Conversation)

“Dr. B was passionate about expanding our understanding of the Christian contemplative tradition, reminding us that contemplation isn’t the sole domain of those who can retreat to quiet places. She understood, from her own life and from the traditions she carried forward, that contemplative practices must also arise in the midst of struggle, in the heart of communities pressed against the weight of history and oppression. She helped us see that the Christian contemplative tradition, too often framed through a narrow, Eurocentric lens, was far richer and more diverse than we had realized. It’s a tradition that belongs to all of us—and she called us to honor it fully by embracing its breadth and depth.”

— Brian McLaren

EPISODE TEN
Amy Leach on Becoming Salt of the Universe

“I was recently giving a sermon and found myself spontaneously quoting from Amy Leach’s singular and surprising new book. I expect many readers will find their own lives troubled (in the Biblical sense) and enlightened by her fresh perceptions. She has lived into a hard-earned and entirely credible wisdom, the best evidence for which is her irrepressible sense of humor. One feels companioned by this book, and sorry when it ends.”

— Christian Wiman

EPISODE NINE
Ben Katt on Getting Quiet, Midlife, and the Power of Ritual (also, we chat about David Hasselhoff)

“A fantastically written, powerfully wise offering from Ben Katt…a gift to our world of pain and promise.”

— Krista Tippett

EPISODE EIGHT
Jeffrey Martin on Thank God We Left the Garden, Letters, and Literature

“Songs that are stark in their simplicity, yet emotionally rich in a way that can catch your breath in your throat or leave your eyes suddenly damp.”

— Paste

EPISODE SEVEN
Susan Murphy on Zen Koans for Facing the Climate Crisis, the vast meaning of Country, and Cooling Fires

“A powerful and important plunge into the reality of the mind and climate.”

— Joan Halifax

EPISODE SIX
Drew Jackson on Touch the Earth, Poetry as a Lifesaver, and the Importance of Lucille Clifton

“In Touch the Earth, Drew Jackson’s poetry offers a word-weary world a new language of engagement, disruption, and insight.”

— Dr. Barbara Holmes

EPISODE FIVE
Tracy Cochran on the Art of Presence, Mistakes as Practice, & the Grief of Awakening

“This is a wonderful, wise, and tender book. Its elegant and gifted storytelling will change you.”

— Jack Kornfield

EPISODE FOUR
Brian McLaren on Life After Doom, Patient Urgency, & Complexifying Hope

“As rich and thoughtful as all of Brian McLaren’s work, but with a particular urgency!”

— Bill McKibben

EPISODE THREE
Cassidy Hall on Queering Contemplation, Letting Go of Thomas Merton, and Expanding Foundations

“Hall retrains our imaginations for a spirituality that is more strange, more beautiful, and more honest than the doctrines we’ve often been cornered into.”

— Cole Arthur Riley

EPISODE TWO
Dr. Larry Ward on America’s Racial Karma, the Fragrance of Wisdom, and Learning How To Suffer Less

“In this taut, fearless, and well-argued manifesto, Larry Ward offers us a deeply insightful analysis of America’s racial karma—of how it operates individually and collectively—and how it can be worked with and transformed. Drawing on Buddhist psychology, trauma theory, neuroscience, and years of practice … the result is a searing, liberative, and tender work—a book that is both urgent and necessary.”

— Jan Willis

EPISODE ONE
David James Duncan on the Unintentional Menagerie of Sun House, Friendship, and the Beguines

“Sun House is not a mere book, but a singular world in which to reside, and to feel more alive. Laced with humor and high-lonesome lyricism, this sweeping tale locates the grand in the smallest particulars, reaches its heights by flooding us with light and loss, and arrives, ultimately, in hard-won hope.”

— Chris Dombrowski

TRAILER
Harmonizing In The Empty Fullness

“All things speak God…all creatures would like to echo God in all their works.”

— Meister Eckhart