On Being with Krista Tippett

Poet and historian Jennifer Michael Hecht says that as a scholar she always noticed the "shadow history" of doubt out of the corner of her eye. She shows how non-belief, skepticism, and doubt have paralleled and at times shaped the world's great religious and secular belief systems. She suggests that only in modern time has doubt been narrowly equated with a complete rejection of faith, or a broader sense of mystery.

Psychiatrist Robert Coles has spent his career exploring the inner lives of children. He says children are witnesses to the fullness of our humanity; they are keenly attuned to the darkness as well as the light of life; and they can teach us about living honestly, searchingly and courageously if we let them.

Our SOF First Person series continues with Benedictine nun and author Joan Chittister. She's been thinking and writing about Christmas, the prism through which economic crisis is coming home uncomfortably to many of us right now. The gold, frankincense, and myrrh of the kingly biblical gift-givers, she's learned, are not displays of wealth but of blessings of character -- generosity, serenity, and spirit. And her vow of stability takes on new meaning in tumultuous times.

Auburn University's Rural Studio in western Alabama draws architectural students into the design and construction of homes and public spaces in some of the poorest counties in the United States. They're creating beautiful and economical structures that are unique in the world -- and that nurture sustainability of the natural world as of human dignity.

For three centuries, medieval Jewish families used an illustrated guide, the Book of Customs, to navigate the Jewish year. Scott-Martin Kosofsky, a book designer and editor, decided to revise the "Book of Customs," adapting it for modern use in English. We'll hear what he learned about the ancient and evolving world of Jewish practice. Also, what he calls the "surprising" season of Hanukkah.

Our SOF First Person series continues with Evangelical monastic Shane Claiborne, author of "Jesus for President." He sees the economic downturn as a chance to reacquaint ourselves with our local communities and our need for stewardship for those least able to help themselves.

Our SOF First Person series continues with physician Rachel Naomi Remen, author of "Kitchen Table Wisdom." She sees these fiscally hard times as an opportunity to find our way back to the largeness of our collective story, which is part of the spiritual path we are on as we ask ourselves questions during this economic crisis: What do I trust? What do I really need?

We explore human and spiritual aspects of economic downturn with a wise public intellectual of our time, the Quaker author and educator Parker Palmer. He works with people from all walks of life at the intersection of spiritual, professional, and social change, and stresses the need to acknowledge the inner life of human beings as a source of reality and power.

As promised, we continue our SOF First Person project by turning to Swiss banking expert, Prabhu Guptara. Several years ago, Krista spoke with Guptara when the fallout of the Enron scandal was wreaking havoc on the U.S. economy and shaking investor confidence in corporate practices and business fundamentals. His message was simple but challenging, and also quite liberating for much of our audience -- bring your personal values into the workplace. For Guptara, doing this is one of the best ways of making ethical decisions that will lead to moral integrity -- and less corruption and scandal.

We explore the complex ethics of global aid with a young writer from Kenya, Binyavanga Wainaina. He is among a rising generation of African voices who bring a cautionary perspective to the morality and efficacy behind many Western initiatives to abolish poverty and speed development in Africa.

The SOF First Person project kicks off with our search for fresh ways to talk about the current economic crisis -- beginning with reflections from an acclaimed historian and theologian. He shares a good deal of his "lived theology" -- the personal, daily acts of faith that preserve sanity and restore trust even at the most uncertain times.

Rachel Naomi Remen's lifelong struggle with chronic illness has shaped her philosophy and practice of medicine. She speaks with us about the art of listening to patients and other physicians, the difference between curing and healing, and how our losses help us to live.

We seek fresh insight into the history and the human and religious dynamics of Islam's Sunni-Shia divide. Vali Nasr says that it is not so different from dynamics in periods of Western Christian history. But he says that by bringing the majority Shia to power in Iraq, the U.S. has changed the religions dynamics of the Middle East.

We remember Studs Terkel, who recently died at the age of 96. The legendary interviewer chronicled decades of ordinary life and tumultuous change in U.S. culture. We visited him in his Chicago home in 2004 and drew out his wisdom and warmth on large existential themes of life and death. A lifelong agnostic, Studs Terkel shared his thoughts on religion as he'd observed it in his conversation partners, in culture, and in his own encounters with loss and mortality.

Professor of psychology Michael McCullough describes science that helps us comprehend how revenge came to have a purpose in human life. At the same time, he stresses, science is also revealing that human beings are more instinctively equipped for forgiveness than we've perhaps given ourselves credit for. Knowing this suggests ways to calm the revenge instinct in ourselves and others and embolden the forgiveness intuition.