Doug Gwyn was our guest for Spirit In Action about his book, A Sustainable Life, back in 2015, but he joins us today to share from the music he's been creating & sharing for decades. Doug retired in 2018 from his work as a Quaker pastor, which freed him up to produce & remaster songs he's had for years. Doug grew out of the music of the 60s and 70s, but he's got a take all-his-own in his songs. Perhaps his best known song is, "That of Odd in Everyone," a take-off on the common Quaker expression, “That of God in Everyone”. Find Doug's writings at DouglasGwyn.life. Doug Gwyn joins us from Richmond, Indiana.
Past/present religious/spiritual influences: Methodist, Quaker
P.J. Hoffman was a musician, performer, songwriter, & social justice worker in his youth, playing violin, French horn, tuba, guitar and piano, including 4 years with a group called The Mystics. But one day he woke up without the gift of music which he had always had within, and he ended up on a different path for decades. Retirement brought him back to his gift and his roots, born out of 1960's folk music and activism, resurrecting & updating his slate of music. We had him on NSR previously for an interview he did with George Lakey for the Everyday Nonviolence Podcast. P.J. Hoffman joins us from Minnesota's Twin Cities.
Past/present religious/spiritual influences: Methodist, Quaker
A visit with Ahmed Quereshi, the executive director of the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee, a wide variety of 22 judicatories, large and small, working to build “a strong, peaceful, and sustainable community where all are treated with justice, mutual respect, and dignity”. Founded in 1970, the organization includes representatives of Hindus, Jews, Sikhs, Moravians, Catholics, Baptists, Quakers, Episcopals, Unitarians, Lutherans, Mormans, and many more, all aiming to find mutual understanding & connection. Ahmed is an almost retired attorney who has been active with the Interfaith Conference for decades, and has served as its executive director for 3 years.
Past/present religious/spiritual influences: Muslim
Our guest-host today is Jan Spencer, and in this episode of A Primer For Paradigm Shift, Jan Spencer describes several examples of "push back" to the System. We will have a look at nuclear power, the iconic book Your Money or Your Life, message music from the 1960's, the Black Panthers, a new report about the Global Justice Project from the Paris School of Economics and more. Paradigm shift is all about thoughtful and positive pushback to capitalism and the consumer culture.
I've seen mentions of the music of Bettman & Halpin for years, but it took running into a video of a new song by Stephanie Bettman to lead me into the wealth of music she's written and performed. Just recently Stephanie released her own album, Out of the Darkness. Stephanie's range is astonishing in oh-so-many ways. Certainly in terms of vocal range, genre range, and the range of themes & ideas, but also in that she's also been an actor and a trapeze artist! Whether tracing the steps of the Trail of Tears or seated in a lounge, crooning a torch song, Stephanie invites you to the heart's center. Stephanie Bettman joins us via Zoom from Denver, Colorado.
Past/present religious/spiritual influences: Seeker, Yoga, New Age, Course In Miracles
Today we'll introduce you to Betsy Small, and we'll take you on Betsy's moving saga in Sierra Leone, exploring the tribulations and elations of her Peace Corps experience in the West African country, as told in her book, Before Before: A Story of Discovery and Loss in Sierra Leone. Betsy shares the depth of her struggles, and the deep belonging and bond that grew in her over the course of her three years as a volunteer, while we also learn of the ravages and rebuilding that took place in the country after Betsy's departure. She has already received several awards and recognitions for the book, and she is doing an audiobook version as well.
We're back today with Part 2 of our Song of the Soul visit with Arielle Silver. If you missed part 1 last week, it can be easily found on our website, and it was a visit steeped in song, story, and Arielle's silky-soaring voice. We finished just as she was explaining some of the riches & wonderings that were gifts of her Jewish upbringing, including her deep dive into Eastern and Earth-based inspirations. We'll continue today, exploring some of the fruits of her 2 more recent albums, as we magically continue our visit with Arielle Silver, near Los Angeles, California.
Past/present religious/spiritual influences: Jewish, Earth-based Spirituality, Pantheism, Yoga, Meditation
Arielle Silver is on a mission, and she takes this pursuit seriously. We'll get to know her music today, but her deep encounter with Eastern Spirituality, including her practice of yoga, meditation, and more, could easily fill all our broadcast time. Arielle had music flowing into her from her father's guitar playing, and it also was a rich part of her Jewish background, but she definitely found the need for her music to rise out of and be rooted in her spirituality. Arielle made 3 albums, but then took a 10-year detour, eventually leading her back to the work of a songwriter, with 2 new albums and another in gestation. She can do it all, musically, but today you'll hear more folkish influences than pop, rock, jazz, or punk. Whatever she sings, she shapes into an elevating, moving, spell-binding flow of music. Today is part 1 of her Song of the Soul, with part 2 next week.
Peterson Toscano helps create a variety of podcasts, among them Climate Changed, Bubble & Squeak, Quakers Today, The Seed: Conversations for Radical Hope, Stories That Stay, and many others.
Today we're going on an adventure with Kazu Haga, a high school dropout whose path turned radically into a passionate study & sharing of nonviolence. Having learned from/with & befriended some of the greatest activist and nonviolence workers & trainers of the past 70 years, Kazu found & refined his life's mission in many phases.