April 2010
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In Praise of Open Windows
Shari Motro, guest contributor
Painting by Ola Schary. “It’s a copy of a postcard my grandmother painted for me when I was a child. She was a great lover of fresh air, a gentle and beautiful soul.”
Krista’s interview with Bill McKibben inspired me to write this, so I thought it would be fitting to post it on this blog.
Last spring, the Obamas planted a White House...
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“And, then, I later read ‘The Power of Now’ by Eckhart Tolle, and it...”
– —Starlee Kine, from her story “Radical Honesty” (mp3, 19:59) on The Moth podcast.
We’ve received countless stories about the positive impact of Eckhart Tolle’s teachings on people’s lives. I had to smile when I heard this humorous story from a person who was on the...
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"What I Read" →
Trent Gilliss, online editor
The Atlantic Wire’s ongoing feature asking journalists about their “media diets” is invaluable if you have as much difficulty as the rest of our staff in sifting through the massive amount of information being disseminated every minute of the day. Don’t be mistaken by the title of the series; it involves all types of media not just print.
And,...
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Encountering Min and Mao
Shubha Bala, associate producer
Being new on the staff, I love hearing older programs that are new to me. Preparing for the Mayfair Yang show this week, Krista mentioned a past conversation with author Anchee Min, whose name came up again the next day when we received a copy of her latest book, Pearl of China.
Her interview in “Surviving the Religion of Mao” is a personal view...
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"Why There Are No ‘Best’ Investments" →
Trent Gilliss, online editor
Over on the New York Times Bucks blog, Carl Richards challenges his readers to spend more time asking themselves what’s really important and then creating financial plans accordingly: “What good would it do to find the mythical best investment and end up with a bankrupt personal life?”
And, he advises his readers:
Here are two sites to spark ...
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“Is my life any different since I became a Jesuit? Oh, yes. The rules of...”
– —from Brother Astronomer: Adventures of a Vatican Scientist by Brother Guy Consolmagno
Nancy Rosenbaum, associate producer
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Tonight! SOF Live from Washington, D.C.
Trent Gilliss, online editor
Watch the live video stream in this post or chat with others while you watch on our SOF Live page.
Monday, April 5th, 2010 (7pm Eastern) The Shakespeare Theatre Company 610 F Street Northwest Washington, D.C.
Beginning at 6:30pm Eastern tonight, we’ll be opening up the live video stream of a sold-out public event with Krista and Michel Martin, host of...
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Writing as Compassion
Kate Moos, managing producer
William Maxwell treats his personal material as if it were history. It is one part memory, one part research and one part hearsay but one hundred percent compassion. Compassion in my mind is an admixture of feeling and sustained attention with regard to others. Compassion is the absence of cruelty. Compassion is steady and relaxed—allowing patience where we may not...
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Learning from Your Garden — and Sharing
by Nancy Rosenbaum, associate producer
It’s Easter weekend and a lot of people are away for the holiday. When we sent out our e-mail newsletter this week, one listener’s auto-reply featured this quote:
“Spring has returned. The earth is like a child that knows poems.” —Rainer Maria Rilke
Indeed the telltale signs of spring — green shoots, the earliest hints of flower buds...
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A Catholic Answer to the Question: Why Stay? →
Kate Moos, managing producer
Elizabeth Scalia, also known as “The Anchoress” on her First Things blog, offered this compelling and nourishing reflection today on NPR’s website.
“The darkness within my church is real, and it has too often gone unaddressed. The light within my church is also real, and has too often gone unappreciated. A small minority has sinned,...
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WatchThe Dance of the Fertile Universe Trent Gilliss, online editor
Fr. George Coyne, former director of the Vatican Observatory and a guest on this week’s show, often speaks about our 13.7 billion-year-old universe in terms of fertility. In this lecture (jump to the 3:25 mark), he describes a rich cycle of cosmic birth, death, and replenishment. Three generations of stars, he says, had to live...
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