Today we have a wide-ranging re-visit with musician-farmer, Andy Juhl. Though much of his music tilts Americana/Folk, he's also passionately into progressive rock music, and plays with a band of that character also. Raised on the farm, he's also been navigating that work in the direction of organic farming, working side-by-side with his father on 800 acres in NW Iowa. Time in the self-driving combine leaves him with more time than you might expect to write music, and he's expanding his range regularly.

Past/present religious/spiritual influences: Quaker, Hinduism

All featured music is written & performed by Andy Juhl:

Dharma Ship - from Go Where The Sun Goes

Loon Song - from Pine Island

Today we're looking at the Minnesota Uprising through the alchemy of music. Watching the events taking place in Minnesota, just next door to Wisconsin, has been both horrifying and inspirational. Watching the deaths of folks like Renee Nicole Good, Alex Pretti, and others has been frightening, but seeing how tens of thousands of common folks pulling together for their neighbors has been beautiful to watch. And there is rarely any better way to bring people together than music, so today, and also next week, we bring you newly-inspired songs birthed by the Minnesota Uprising.

El Kleiner does music from the deeper side of the pool, with profound imagery, and with sensitive sensitivity and insightful sight into the way we look below the layers of meaning of our lives. El does not define or box-in our beliefs, but creates a shifting mosaic of perception that allows the listener to flow beyond the usual constraints of analysis, all of it delivered through haunting, enrapturing, heart-opening voice, lyrics, & melodies. With El's partner, Elie Brangbour, they are The Whispering Tree, and they deliver music that weaves freely through the regions of folk, Americana, Country, and European sources. El joins us from Beacon, New York.

Past/present religious/spiritual influences: Atheist, Presbyterian, Jewish, Non-affiliated

We welcome back Katie Dahl for Song of the Soul today, plunging deeper into the soul-sharings she gifted us with just over 2 years ago. Immediately after the murders of citizens in Minneapolis, Katie wrote and recorded A Song for Minnesota, which made it urgent to welcome back this Minnesota-raised Wisconsinite. With typical Minnesotan modesty, she looks deep within, looks boldly at the world around her, and she transforms these into heart-opening music, and into theater. Katie Dahl joins us from Door County, Wisconsin.

Past/present religious/spiritual influences: Baptist, UU-Unitarian Universalist, Quaker

All featured music is written & performed by Katie Dahl :

We're fortunate to have Peterson Toscano back today as guest-host for Spirit In Action, is bringing us segments from his Bubble & Squeak podcast. This episode is about sex, gender, and Jesus - and what happens when our bodies get wrapped in shame, pleasure, politics, and power. It comes in 4 parts including a visit with Rev. Dr. Tina Beardsley, a priest, theologian, and trans woman who’s been quietly transforming the Church of England from the inside out. Part 2 is with Kyle Casey Chu, aka Panda Dulce, a drag queen, writer, and survivor of a Proud Boys ambush at Drag Story Hour. There's talk about sacred drag, queer disappointment, and how to live when the fantasy of queer community doesn’t match reality. Part 3 is with Rev. Dr.

We're headed over to Metuchen, New Jersey, today, for a visit with the amazingly talented Efrat. Efrat showed her musical gifts from a tender age, with the Oak Ridge Symphony at age 10, than with the Knoxville Youth Orchestra at 11, along the way with her dad in a Mexican Jewish band, and on and on. Though she shines powerfully in classical and jazz music, and she's top notch in klezmer, blues, & swing, she found a special place in folk & pop music. She has all kinds of bands of people she has brought together for the sub-variants of musical genres she plays. Health challenges have limited some of her output till recently, which is why we're finally able to have Efrat join us today.

Past/present religious/spiritual influences: Jewish, Buddhist, Baha'i

John Wilmerding's life as a traveling minstrel was cut short by a drunk driver, but it lead him into a vocation in peace, starting from his work with restorative justice. One of the fruits of his path and devotion has been the Theory of Active Peace, learned and lived in a wide variety of settings, like in prisons with AVP (alternative to violence project), around the Middle East, and through the John Woolman College of Active Peace. John Wilmerding joins us from his Vermont home.

Past/present religious/spiritual influences: Presbyterian, UU – Unitarian Universalist, Baha'i, Quaker

Featured music:

After a couple years hiatus, we welcome back Patricia Stansbury (AKA Sunny Gardener) as guest-host for today's Spirit In Action, sharing programming from her What Wakes Me Up shows on WRIR - Richmond Independent Radio. She speaks with 2 different military veterans, one who served in Vietnam, one who served in the Middle East, about their experiences, some while in the military, and some from after their time in the military, things like PTSD, community, veteran benefits, and much more. There's deep sharing, including the dedication to country, and the challenges of military service. This show is edited from the original WRIR broadcast, including the omission of some fine music shared in the original. See and hear more about her programs at WRIR.org.

This is the third visit of Anne Hills to Northern Spirit Radio, and she brings together for us stirring visions of our past, present, and future, often glimpsed from on the wing. Anne has a rich history of writing and performing folk music, on her own, and with the likes of folk greats like Tom Paxton, Michael Smith, David Roth, and others. Today she peers down on us from above, a wide lens capable of seeing our highest aspirations and our most painful paths. Anne lives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

All featured music is written & performed by Anne Hills, unless otherwise noted:

Few people have quite such wide roots across the globe, both the motivation & outgrowth of a life of compassionate work in many countries. Jens Braun grew up in Ecuador, the son of parents who had worked as missionaries and with the Peace Corps. After college in the US, his curious nose took him for a term to Ramallah Friends School, in the Palestinian West Bank, and his connection with Spee Beer there, eventually Spee Braun, led them to work in a number of countries, including Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Sudan, Gaza, Iraq, Kenya, Zambia, and with organizations like Save the Children, and in other positions, close to the people & the realities of many nations.