On Being with Krista Tippett

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 Tippett interviewed author and astrophysicist Janna Levin on November 15, 2007 from the studios of APM in St. Paul, Minnesota. Levin was in a private recording studio in New York City. This interview is included in the show "Mathematics, Purpose, and Truth." Download the mp3 of the produced show at onbeing.org.

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.

Krista's unedited conversation with Michael McCullough, author of "Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct." Krista spoke with him on August 29, 2008 from the studios of American Public Media in St. Paul, Minnesota, and he was in the studios of WLRN in Miami, Florida. This interview is included in our program "Getting Revenge and Forgiveness." Download the mp3 of the produced show at onbeing.org.

Sarah Kay is a 23-year-old spoken word poet who has become a role model and teacher to teenagers around the world. Millions have viewed her TED talk, where she shared the main stage with figures like Bill Gates and Jamie Oliver. She puts words around what she knows about poetry, stories, and being human and connected in this age.

Krista Tippett interviewed spoken word poet Sarah Kay on April 12, 2012. This interview is included in the show "Sarah Kay's Way with Words." Download the mp3 of the produced show at onbeing.org.

Silence, Gordon Hempton says, is not a luxury but is essential to our well-being. A lush hour with an acoustic ecologist who has dedicated his life to recording nature's last great quiet places -- places that are endangered.

Krista Tippett interviewed acoustic ecologist on April 27, 2012. This interview is included in the show "The Last Quiet Places." Download the mp3 of the produced show at onbeing.org.

Through the sounds of the Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park, acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton guides us on hike to One Square Inch of Silence. This extended version of the guided walk is included in the On Being show "The Last Quiet Places." Download the mp3 of the produced show at onbeing.org.

Matthew Sanford says he's never seen anyone live more deeply in their body -- in all of its grace and all of its flaws -- without becoming more compassionate toward all of life. He is a renowned yoga teacher, and he has been paralyzed from the chest down since he was 13. He teaches yoga to the able-bodied and adapts yoga for people with ailments and disabilities, including military veterans. With Krista Tippett, he shares his story on finding his own way in to what we call the mind-body connection, and what might be discovered there. His wisdom holds lessons for how all of us can fully inhabit our bodies across the span of our lives.

Krista Tippett interviewed author and yoga instructor Matthew Sanford on July 7, 2006. This interview is included in the show "The Body's Grace." Download the mp3 of the produced show at onbeing.org.

What if we understand death as a developmental stage -- like adolescence or mid-life? Dr. Ira Byock is a leading figure in palliative care and hospice in the United States. He says we lose sight of "the remarkable value" of the time of life we call dying if we forget that it's always a personal and human event, and not just a medical one. From his place on this medical frontier, he shares how we can understand dying as a time of learning, repair, and completion of our lives.

Krista Tippett interviewed Dr. Ira Byock on March 2, 2012. This interview is included in the show "Contemplating Mortality." Download the mp3 of the produced show at onbeing.org.

Sitting Bull is best known for defeating General Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn. But for many Lakota, his resistance to federal appropriation of sacred lands reflects humility towards the land and compassion towards his people -- with his death 120 years ago being his ultimate moment of sacrifice. We explore Sitting Bull's spiritual legacy as a force for identity and healing among the living.

Krista Tippett interviewed Ernie LaPointe, great-grandson of Sitting Bull, on October 20, 2009. This interview is included in the show "Tatanka Iyotake: Reimagining Sitting Bull." Download the mp3 of the produced show at onbeing.org.