On Being with Krista Tippett

This year Muslims are experiencing a Ramadan like no other. The month is usually a period of both intimacy and great community. Now Muslims are improvising, as in many places the rituals of Ramadan must be experienced at home or online. This show, recorded in 2009, grew out of an invitation to Muslim listeners to reflect on what it means to be part of what often is referred to in the abstract as “the Muslim world.” We received responses from all over the world and were struck by the vivid stories about Ramadan itself, across a remarkable spectrum of life and spiritual sensibility.Sixteen Muslims, in their own words, speak about the delights and gravity of Islam’s holiest month.GUEST BIOAllee Ramadhan is a retired federal prosecutor and the father of 11 children. He lives in Maryland.Ilana Alazzeh is a multimedia artist, photographer, and activist. She is the founder of several interfaith, diversity, and economic justice groups, including Muslims Against Homophobia and LGBT Hate.Nadia Sheikh Bandukda is an attorney specializing in labor and employment issues.Nicole Queen is a photographer living in Dallas. She co-hosts the podcast, Salam, Girl!Sabiha Shariff lives in Dallas, where she volunteers with the Texas Muslim Women’s Foundation.Steven Longden is a Mancunian who converted to Islam in 1993.Samar Jarrah is an author, journalist, and co-host of “True Talk”, a global affairs talk show on WMNF in Tampa. She grew up in Kuwait.Wajahat Ali is a New York Times contributing op-ed writer, a playwright, an attorney, a public speaker, and a first-generation Pakistani American. Yanina Vaschenko emigrated from Russia to Dallas when she was eight years old. She is a bilingual elementary school teacher. She grew up in the Russian Orthodox Church.Maria Romero is Mexican American, an attorney working in legal services, and a mother. She lives in Seattle.Ibrahim Al-Marashi is an associate professor of History at California State University in San Marcos. He has also taught in Turkey and Spain.Sahar Ullah is an artist and academic. She’s a lecturer in Literature Humanities at Columbia University and the founder of the theater project, Hijabi Monologues.Mary Hope Schwoebel is a former senior program officer in the Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding at the United States Institute of Peace. She is an associate professor of Conflict Resolution Studies at NOVA Southeastern University.Adnan Onart is a poet. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he is an active Muslim member of a Unitarian Universalist congregation.Feruze Faison grew up in Istanbul and, when we spoke with her, was teaching elementary school in New York.Tayyaba Syed is a Pakistani American author of children’s books, including The Blessed Bananas. She is also a freelance journalist and writing coach. Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org This show originally aired in September 2009.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this “spiritual book club” edition of the show, Krista and musician/artist Devendra Banhart read favorite passages and discuss When Things Fall Apart, a small book of great beauty by the Tibetan Buddhist teacher Pema Chödrön. It’s a work — like all works of spiritual genius — that speaks from the nooks and crannies and depths of a particular tradition, while conveying truths about humanity writ large. Their conversation speaks with special force to what it means to be alive and looking for meaning right now.Devendra Banhart is a visual artist, musician, songwriter, and poet. His albums include Ma, Mala, What Will We Be, Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon, and Cripple Crow, among others. His book of poetry is Weeping Gang Bliss Void Yab-Yum.Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this “spiritual book club” edition of the show, Krista and musician/artist Devendra Banhart read favorite passages and discuss When Things Fall Apart, a small book of great beauty by the Tibetan Buddhist teacher Pema Chödrön. It’s a work — like all works of spiritual genius — that speaks from the nooks and crannies and depths of a particular tradition, while conveying truths about humanity writ large. Their conversation speaks with special force to what it means to be alive and looking for meaning right now.Devendra Banhart is a visual artist, musician, songwriter, and poet. His albums include Ma, Mala, What Will We Be, Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon, and Cripple Crow, among others. His book of poetry is Weeping Gang Bliss Void Yab-Yum.This interview is edited and produced with music and other features in the On Being episode "Devendra Banhart — ‘When Things Fall Apart’." Find more at onbeing.org.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

To a question from listener Vanessa Parfett in Melbourne, Krista reflects on "Zoomzaustion" and relearning the primacy of our bodies. Also, how this helps explain poetry's rise in our midst, and can make us more whole.Living the Questions is an occasional On Being segment where Krista muses on questions from our listening community. Submit your own at ltq@onbeing.org.Krista Tippett created and leads The On Being Project, hosts the On Being radio show and podcast, and curates The Civil Conversations Project. She received the National Humanities Medal at the White House in 2014. She speaks widely and writes books including Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living. Read her full bio here.Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this intimate conversation between Krista and one of her beloved teachers, we ponder the world and our place in it, through sacred text, with fresh eyes. We’re accompanied by the meditative and prophetic poetry of Wendell Berry, read for us from his home in Kentucky: “Stay away from anything / that obscures the place it is in. / There are no unsacred places; / there are only sacred places / and desecrated places. / Accept what comes of silence."Ellen Davis is the Amos Ragan Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology at the Duke University Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina. She’s the author of Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible. Wendell Berry is a farmer, poet, and environmentalist who has published more than 50 books. He lives in Port Royal, Kentucky.Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org.This show originally aired in June, 2010 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Wendell Berry reads his poem “The Peace of Wild Things”Wendell Berry is a farmer, poet, and environmentalist who has published more than 40 books. He lives in Port Royal, Kentucky. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Wendell Berry reads his poem “How to Be a Poet (to remind myself)”Wendell Berry is a farmer, poet, and environmentalist who has published more than 40 books. He lives in Port Royal, Kentucky. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Wendell Berry reads his poem “Sabbaths – 1985, I”Wendell Berry is a farmer, poet, and environmentalist who has published more than 40 books. He lives in Port Royal, Kentucky. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Wendell Berry reads his poem “Sabbaths – 1979, IV”Wendell Berry is a farmer, poet, and environmentalist who has published more than 40 books. He lives in Port Royal, Kentucky. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Wendell Berry reads his poem “The Man Born to Farming”Wendell Berry is a farmer, poet, and environmentalist who has published more than 40 books. He lives in Port Royal, Kentucky. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.