January 2010
34 posts
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“Salvation somehow seemed closer — yet we also knew that we could be killed at...”
– — —Samuel Pisar, from an excellent Op-Ed in The New York Times titled “Out of Auschwitz”
Trent Gilliss, online editor
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WatchDog Ogling and Ursine Den Cam: Internet as Animal Habitat Kate Moos, managing producer
It’s been a great couple of weeks for critters on the Internet. I’m an animal lover, a declaration I offer with neither pride nor embarrassment. Pictures of kittens make me smile. (Yes, you CAN HAS cheezburger!) Puppies elicit oohs of delight. I can’t help it. But although I’m not covert...
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WatchTaking the Pulse of Caprica Colleen Scheck, senior producer
Are you watching Caprica? We’ve heard from many of you who were Battlestar Galactica (BSG) fans — including our host — so I’m guessing some of you are tuning in to this prequel series. If so, you may be interested in the comments of Diane Winston, who was part of our program “TV and Parables of Our Time.” Along...
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“…unfortunately, society does not generally invest enough in...”
– -from “My Turn: Bill Gates on Education and Innovation” in the recent edition of Newsweek.
This brief commentary by Bill Gates’ nicely accentuates a point made by Jacqueline Novogratz for our show to be released this Thursday (via podcast). She sees an opportunity for social...
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"Nou Met Led Me Nou La!" (We May Be Ugly, But We...
Trent Gilliss, online editor
Patrick Bellegarde-Smith, whom we first interviewed for our program “Living Vodou,” grew up in Haiti, a member of the country’s aristocratic elite of African descent. He studied political science in the U.S. and earned his Ph.D. in International Relations from American University. Unlike his well-known grandfather, Dantès Bellegarde, Patrick...
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Should Women "Man Up" - Even If It Means Bad...
Kaeti Hinck, guest contributor
(photo: Pieter Musterd)
I’m not a narcissist. But Clay Shirky thinks I should be.
The media critic recently posted a controversy-mongering blog titled “A Rant About Women,” the premise being that women would do well to act more like men — stand up for themselves more and do what it takes to get ahead, even if it means being a “pompous blowhard”:
[Women] are bad...
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WatchThe Elusive Footage of Elephants Mourning Colleen Scheck, senior producer
This week’s guest, Katy Payne, was one of the scientists interviewed in a recent 60 Minutes feature about the ongoing study of elephant behavior in the Dzanga forest clearing in the Central African Republic. This is worth watching because it contains beautiful and moving footage of elephant interaction, including how...
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Reconciling "Intrusive Paternalism" and "Soft...
Andy Dayton, associate web producer
“This is not a natural disaster story. This is a poverty story.”
Last Friday, Krista sent around David Brooks’ recent editorial on the disaster in Haiti. As the quote above suggests, he discusses the connection between the scale of damage in Haiti and the nation’s “poorly constructed buildings, bad infrastructure and terrible...
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“…I want to beg you, as much as I can, dear sir, to be patient toward all...”
– —from Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke (translation by M.D. Herter Norton), which was cited by Jacqueline Novogratz in her interview with Krista for next week’s program, “A Different Kind of Capitalism.”
Trent Gilliss, online editor
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ARW: A Documentary Unit Worth Exploring
Colleen Scheck, senior producer
The vital work of our talented colleagues at American RadioWorks (ARW) is on my mind for a number of reasons. It’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and I’m reminded of their 2008 documentary, “King’s Last March.” I thought I knew a lot about the celebrated civil rights leader, but this program offers insight into his person that I...
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Our Former Guests' Perspectives on Vodou and...
Nancy Rosenbaum, associate producer
Sending around news articles is a regular part of workaday life here at Speaking of Faith. This AP story includes a quote from Patrick Bellegarde-Smith, who was featured in our program on Haitian Vodou:
Brazil army officials issued a statement saying many followers of the Voodoo religion would not accept the dead being touched until all of their rituals were...
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Britain Moves to Ban Islamic Group →
The British government’s decision to ban the Islamist group Terror4UK dovetails with our show this week, “Reflections of a Former Islamist Extremist,” as does this Thomas Friedman editorial about the role of moderate Muslims in counteracting terrorism. The response in the letters to the editor section is worth reading.
Nancy Rosenbaum, associate producer
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Women in Ministry: The Fashion Problem
Kate Moos, managing producer
No one has ever accused me of being fashion-forward. Neither will I ever willingly join a conversation on the relative merits of mascara brands. Nonetheless, I was completely entertained by Courtney Wilder’s essay on Sightings about a blog that enjoins women clergy to navigate the occasionally fine line between professional dress and excessive *hot-ness* as...
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Can We Really Prevent a Viral Terrorist Mindset?
Krista Tippett, host
As I’ve listened to all the noise around intelligence- gathering and airport security in response to the attempted Christmas Day terrorist act, Ed Husain’s voice has been ringing in my ears. Not that we don’t need to think about intelligence and security — we do — but do we spend a corresponding amount of energy and planning on how to prevent a viral...
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Manifestations of the Living Earth Trent Gilliss,...
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Being Educated in Not-So-Obvious Places
Krista Tippett, host
Wonderful reactions to our show on the meaning of intelligence with Mike Rose. Here’s a line from his book Why School?, which didn’t make it into my interview or the script, but that I love:
We are driven — as surely as we are driven to survive — to find meaning in our lives, to interpret what befalls us, the events that swirl around us, the people who cross our...
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WatchWhat Does Forgiveness Mean in Buddhism and Christianity Trent Gilliss, online editor
In the wake of Brit Hume’s comments about Tiger Woods’ religious beliefs on Fox News Sunday on January 3rd,
WNYC’s Brian Lehrer invited Krista to flesh out the concepts of forgiveness and redemption in Christianity and Buddhism. Although it’s rather difficult to gain a decent...
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WatchJacqueline Novogratz’s Favorite Teachers Nancy Rosenbaum, associate producer
In response to Krista’s interview with Mike Rose, many people shared stories of teachers who noticed a talent or interest and encouraged their students to develop it in ways that opened up doors of possibility. Likewise, Jacqueline Novogratz, an upcoming guest on SOF, tells stories about three of her most...
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“I look back at the fork in my road and often wonder if I should have, could...”
– — Michael Sanchez, a chemical engineer living in upstate New York who grew up on a farm in east Texas, in his lovely reflection on “The Meaning of Intelligence.”
Trent Gilliss, online editor
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WatchPrayer, Attention, and Will Andy Dayton, associate web producer
As I was listening to last week’s program, one part that stood out to me was Krista’s question to Stephen Mitchell about the last line in his book, The Enlightened Mind, “Absolutely unmixed attention is prayer.” A quote from the French philosopher Simone Weil, Mitchell responded:
Well, that’s a...
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Kindred Spirits: Studs Terkel and Mike Rose...
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Galway Kinnell's "Wait" →
Kate Moos, managing producer
A dear friend of mine has been suffering serious depression for several weeks, and I’ve been struggling with feelings of powerlessness over her pain. Mental illness, of which I have had my own personal experience, still comes with stigma, and creates fear.
My friend seems to be getting better and today I sent her this poem by Galway Kinnell, which has given me...
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Collecting Sound in a Dining Car
Chris Heagle, producer/technical director
As we listened to the rough version of this week’s show with Mike Rose, the idea came up to drop one of the readings, which describes working in a restaurant from the server’s point of view and what it takes to be a good waitress. Sure, the reading was evocative, but we realized that since Mike spoke with such detail in our interview about his...
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My Pocket Prayers
Colleen Scheck, Producer
This week’s program “Approaching Prayer” is on my list of SOF classics. It’s a busy program: three interviews, readings and poetry, chants and music, biblical stories and Rilke quotes.
I love Anoushka Shankar’s description of Hinduism’s connection to nature and how prayer is about sound as much as words. I appreciate Stephen...
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A Rare Chagall "Crucifixion" Painting Surfaces
Trent Gilliss, online editor
Saw this over the weekend in the London Times and thought it was worth sharing for those of you who missed it.
Quite some time ago, we chose Marc Chagall’s “La Crucifixion Blanche” (1938) as the lead image for our program, “The Jewish Roots of the Christian Story” with our guest, Joel Marcus. “White Crucifixion” is the first...
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“All things have a home: the bird has a nest, the fox has a hole, the bee has a...”
– — from the essay “On Prayer” by Abraham Joshua Heschel
Joseph Coen, a listener in Valley Stream, New York, wrote to us with a similar version of this Heschel quote. Coen first encountered Heschel’s words on a prayer card he received at a retreat, and they continue to speak to him...
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More Than Two Million in Two Days
Trent Gilliss, online editor
Tony Blair, David Harris, and Rick Warren at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in 2008.
We’ve all read the stories about how the economic collapse has left no institution or business untouched. Rick Warren, a close friend of business management and leadership guru Peter Drucker, and his Saddleback Church of 22,000 members are...
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“The brain is plastic and continues to change, not in getting bigger but allowing...”
– —Kathleen Taylor, a professor at St. Mary’s College of California, as quoted in “How to Train the Aging Brain.”
I rather enjoyed this observation and the additive notion of our brains growing older and not just simply deteriorating. And, by regularly jarring our brains with a... 