My favorite podcast these days is “On Being,” hosted by the insightful and skillful interviewer, Krista Tippett. As a definite aside, she looks quite a bit like Bonnie Raitt, which is not at all how I pictured her.
It’s not an easy podcast to warm up to. I find that most interviews don’t really take off until about 20 or 30 minutes into the hour-long conversation. That’s when I find myself reaching for a pen and scribbling down an observation or a particularly insightful quote. Tippett admits it is true that it takes some time to become immersed in her interviews, but that this reflects the nature of authentic conversations.
It’s worth the effort. I have been listening to her conversations about the big questions of life for about a year now now. These are questions like: How do we find meaning in life? How should we treat each other? How do courageous people face illness, and trauma, and death? What motivates us to be generous, and kind, and loving? How do people find a spiritual center for their lives? What spiritual practices help people keep the important things of life in focus and let go of the rest?
The conversations are not in the least bit prescriptive. Instead, they are a deep look inside the inner life of one thoughtful person at a time. They are Catholic nuns, and Buddhist monks, and community gardeners, and musicians, and activists, and artists, and poets, and neurologists, and physicists, and sociologists, and writers and many others.
These conversations have helped me pick myself up when life feels bleak and like I have used up all my options. I have found energy, inspiration, perspective, and creativity for thinking about life and all its parts from listening to these interviews. There are no easy answers, and the conversations never offer any. Instead, the insights about religion and God and family and work and relationships and the universe are ultimately helping me to shape my life in a more deliberate, meaningful way.
Here, in no particular order, are 10 On Being episodes that have particularly touched me in some way. In almost every case I have written down a quote from the episodes and thought about them for days.
1. Krista Tippett, The Mystery and Art of Living. The podcast turned on its head. A writer and former guest of On Being, Pico Iyer, interviews the host. This is a good introduction to the podcast and Tippett’s approach to and intentions for her interviews.
2. B.J. Miller, Reframing Our Relationship to That We Don’t Control. A palliative care physician who runs a hospice center talks about his personal trauma and helping others approach death with imagination.
3. Bruce Kramer, Forgiving the Body: Life with ALS. A patient with ALS shortly before his death about accepting the constant losses that accompany ALS and living with dignity.
4. Louis Newman, The Refreshing Practice of Repentance. An ethicist and professor of religious studies on a spiritual practice of renewal.
5. David Steindl-Rast, Anatomy of Gratitude. A Benedictine monk nearing his 10th decade on the spiritual practice of gratitude.
6. James Doty, The Magic Shop of the Brain. A brain surgeon on the connection between the brain and the heart.
7. Mary Oliver, On Listening to the World. The brilliant poet on the salvation of poetry and the healing power of the natural world.
8. Simone Campbell, How to Be Spiritually Bold. A Catholic nun, lawyer, lobbyist, poet, and Zen contemplative on listening to God and finding your calling.
9. Jennifer Michael Hecht, Suicide, and Hope for Our Future Selves. A poet, philosopher, and historian on our essential need for one another.
10. Ellen Langer, Science of Mindlessness and Mindfulness. A Harvard psychologist and “the mother of mindfulness,” on the illusion of control, aging, and living mindfully.
