On Being with Krista Tippett

Krista's unedited conversation with Michael McCullough, author of "Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct." She spoke with him using a broadcast-quality telephone connection on August 29, 2008. Krista was in the studios of American Public Media in St. Paul, Minnesota, and he was in the studios of WLRN in Miami, Florida. This interview was included in our program "Getting Revenge and Forgiveness" and originally podcast in November 2008. Download the mp3 of the produced show at speakingoffaith.org.

The word "healing" means "to make whole." But historically, Western medicine has taken a divided view of human health. It has stressed medical treatments of biological ailments. That may be changing -- Mehmet Oz, a cardiovascular surgeon, is part of a new generation of doctors who are taking medicine to new technological and spiritual frontiers.

Krista's unedited conversation with Mehmet Oz. He is a Professor of Surgery and director of the Cardiovascular Institute at Columbia University. He also directs the Complementary Medicine Program at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Krista spoke with him on August 4, 2004, from the studios of American Public Media in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was in the studios of the Radio Foundation in New York City. This interview is included in our program "Heart and Soul: The Integrative Medicine of Mehmet Oz." Download the mp3 of the produced show at speakingoffaith.org.

As a theoretical physicist, Janna Levin probes whether the universe is finite or infinite. As a novelist, she explored the separate but parallel lives of two influential 20th-century scientists: Kurt Godel and Alan Turing. Their work laid the foundations for computer intelligence while challenging fundamental notions about how we can know what is true.

Krista's unedited conversation with theoretical physicist and author Janna Levin. Krista spoke with her on November 15, 2007 from the studios of American Public Media in St. Paul, Minnesota. She was in a private recording studio in New York City. This interview is included in our program "Mathematics, Purpose, and Truth". Download the mp3 of the produced show at speakingoffaith.org.

Robert Wright's book, "The Evolution of God," charts an intellectual path beyond the faith versus reason debate. He takes a relentlessly logical look at the history of religion, exposing its contradictions. Yet Wright also traces something "revelatory" moving through human history. In this public conversation -- recorded before a live audience -- we explore the story he tells, the import he sees in it for our culture, and where it has personally taken him.

Krista' unedited conversation with journalist and scholar Robert Wright. He is the author of several books including "The Evolution of God". I spoke with him on February 2, 2010 in front of a live audience at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. This interview is included in our program "The Evolution of God." Download the mp3 of the produced show at speakingoffaith.org.

Albert Einstein's quip that "God does not play dice with the universe," was about quantum physics, not a statement of faith. But he did ponder the relationship between science and religion and his sense of "the order deeply hidden behind everything." With guests Freeman Dyson and Paul Davies we explore Einstein's wisdom on mystery, eternity, and the mind of God.

Robi Damelin lost her son David to a Palestinian sniper. Ali Abu Awwad lost his older brother Yousef to an Israeli soldier. But, instead of clinging to traditional ideologies and turning their pain into more violence, they've decided to understand the other side -- Israeli and Palestinian -- by sharing their pain and their humanity. They tell of a gathering network of survivors who share their grief, their stories of loved ones, and their ideas for lasting peace. They don't want to be right; they want to be honest.

Krista's unedited conversation with Robi Damelin and Ali Abu Awwad. They are members of the Parents Circle -- Bereaved Families Forum, a network of Israelis and Palestinians who've lost loved ones on both sides of the crisis between their people. Krista spoke with them on November 14, 2006 at a restorative justice conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This interview is included in our program "No More Taking Sides." Download the mp3 of the produced show at speakingoffaith.org.

E. Ethelbert Miller is a poet and self-described literary activist at Howard University. His writing and thought have pushed at the parameters of the evolving narrative of blackness -- determined not by the color of skin, but by the color of ideas. We'll explore his poetry along with the words and art of others including Malcolm X, Charles Johnson, Lucille Clifton, and John Coltrane.

Krista's unedited conversation with E. Ethelbert Miller. He is a poet and literary activist. Krista spoke with him on January 22, 2010, from the studios of American Public Media in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was in the studios of National Public Radio in Washington, DC. This interview is included in our program "Black & Universal -- Meeting E. Ethelbert Miller." Download the mp3 of the produced show at speakingoffaith.org.

As our eyes are trained on Haiti, we speak with Patrick Bellegarde-Smith -- a scholar and Vodou priest who sheds light on the history, culture, and inner life of the Haitian people. And, we explore the metaphysical world of Vodou, the religion of Haiti with ancient roots in Africa.

Krista's unedited conversation with Patrick Bellegarde-Smith. He is a professor of Africology at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Krista spoke with him on May 16, 2007 from the studios of American Public Media in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was in the studios of public radio station WHAD in Milwaukee. This interview is included in our program "Living Vodou." Download the mp3 of the produced show at speakingoffaith.org.

The devastation of the Haiti earthquakes and the lack of infrastructure for responding to the disaster have deepened an ongoing debate over foreign aid, international development, and helping the poorest of the world's poor. Jacqueline Novogratz, whose Acumen Fund is reinventing that landscape with what it calls "patient capitalism," is charting a third way between investment for profit and aid for free.