On Being with Krista Tippett

South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission created a new model of national healing after a history of extreme violence. Two people who did the work of the commission -- Charles Villa-Vicencio, a white theologian, and Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, a black psychologist -- speak on the religious lessons and legacy of that process.

In the final episode of this two-part series, we delve into Einstein's Jewish identity, his passionate engagement around issues of war and race, and modern extensions of his ethical and scientific perspectives with theoretical physicist S. James Gates, Jr. and biographer Thomas Levenson.

In the first episode of this two-part series, we use Einstein's science as a starting point for exploring the great physicist's perspective on ideas such as mystery, eternity, and the mind of God -- with theoretical physicists Freeman Dyson and Paul Davies.

The 13th-century Muslim mystic and poet Rumi has long shaped Muslims around the world and has now become popular in the West. Rumi created a new language of love within the Islamic mystical tradition of Sufism. We hear his poetry as we delve into his world and listen for its echoes in our own.

Isabel Mukonyora has followed and studied a religious movement of her Shona people, the Masowe Apostles, that embraces Christian tradition while addressing the drama of African life and history. The founder of this movement, Johane Masowe, emphasized an ancient Jewish and Christian pull to the wilderness. Through her stories we explore modern African spirituality, diaspora, and finding meaning, as Mukonyora says, "in the margins."

Environmentalist Adrian Ivakhiv pursued the ecological impulse of Paganism, from its ancient roots to its modern revival in Europe and North America. He discusses his observations about the spirit of Paganism and its influence on everyday Western culture — and even on old-time religion.

Abraham is the common patriarch of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. His story spans dramatic territory of the modern world — both physical and spiritual — beginning in southern Iraq and ending in the West Bank city of Hebron. Journalist Bruce Feiler went in search of Abraham to understand the crises and possibilities of the 21st-century world. The story of Abraham, Feiler says, illuminates God and politics, sacred geography, and modern spirituality.

Our guest, Katy Payne, is an acoustic biologist with a Quaker sensibility. In a career that has spanned the wild coast of Argentina and the rainforests of Africa, she discovered that humpback whales compose ever-changing songs; and that elephants communicate across long distances by way of sounds beyond the realm of human hearing. She reflects on life in this world through listening to two of its largest and most mysterious creatures.

The greatest threat in the post-Cold War world, says Douglas Johnston, is the prospective marriage of religious extremism with weapons of mass destruction. Yet the U.S. spends most of its time, resources, and weapons fighting the symptoms of this threat, not the cause. The diplomacy of the future, he is showing, must engage religion as part of the strategic solution to global conflicts.

Author and surgeon Sherwin Nuland reflects on life by way of elegant detail about physiological realities. He speaks about his sense of wonder at the body's capacity to sustain life and support our pursuits of order and meaning, and why he believes the spirit is an evolutionary accomplishment of the brain.

Environmentalism and climate change are hot topics; yet they're still often imagined as the territory of scientists, expert activists, and those who can afford to be environmentally conscious. We discover two people who are transforming the ecology of their immediate worlds — Majora Carter, a secular urban strategist unraveling ties between ecology and injustice as she strives for balance and beauty in the South Bronx; and Calvin DeWitt, a scientist and evangelical Christian who's been pioneering sustainability in the rural Midwest for three decades.

Zen master and poet Thich Nhat Hanh offers stark, gentle wisdom for living in a world of anger and violence. This hour we'll revisit my intimate 2003 conversation with him and with others who make use of his teachings in surprising settings. We'll explore the spiritual discipline of mindfulness, tangibly affecting suffering in the world by facing it in oneself and in others head-on.

We explore creative and generous approaches to prayer in three very different lives: Hindu chant with musician Anoushka Shankar; poetry and "non-religious" prayer with translator Stephen Mitchell; and theologian Roberta Bondi on learning to pray with the Desert Fathers and Mothers. Also, a reflection on prayer by poet and memoirist Patricia Hampl.

For the holiday season, a story of human activism, courage and hope. Krista speaks with Kenyan environmentalist and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai. Sitting in her remarkable presence, it is not hard to imagine that this woman stood up to a dictator and won, and that she has fought off encroaching desert by planting 30 million trees. Maathai speaks about the global balance of human and natural resources, and she shares her thoughts on where God resides.

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.