A dive deep into the analysis and understanding of why & how evil is done in the world - not theologically, but behaviorally - with our guest Elizabeth Minnich, author of The Evil of Banality – On the Life and Death Importance of Thinking. Instead of focusing on the figureheads of evil, like Hitler, we'll be looking to understand, and maybe change, the common people who go along with and make great evils possible, trying to see also why & how people can do that for great good. Among Elizabeth's credentials are her title as a Distinguished Fellow for the American Association of Colleges and Universities and her position as a former professor of moral philosophy at Queens University.

Jan Spencer is guest-host today for the sixth time, sharing an episode of Creating A Preferred Future, equipping us further in anticipation of changes we need for a better future. Jan explains why anyone interested in emergency preparedness can "graduate" to an interest in paradigm shift and moving towards sustainability. Preparedness for unplanned disruption is a very prudent idea. Current trends in economics, social well-being, the environment are all on the descent and more consumer culture will only make what we already see worse in many ways. The logical goal of preparedness is sustainability.

Today for Spirit in Action we welcome back Pamela Boyce Simms of Singularity Botanicals. In 2017 we visited with her about Evolutionary Cultural Design, and in 2019 the topic was the African Diaspora Plant Medicine Project. She did further innovation & healing during COVID and since, when she's been assembling a project around several different health concerns, including prostate cancer and brain issues. A part big part of her work has been to bring together diverse resources to study and handle these health challenges.

Today's guest-host, Peterson Toscano, brings deep riches from his occasional podcast called Bubble and Squeak. There is deep encounter & meaning in this episode, wrestling with stories, overtones of stories, & personal resurrection of Lazarus in the Bible, and recovering from conversion therapy in reality, a recovery of oneself through true unbinding. Peterson starts with Father James Martin, SJ, whose book Come Forth: The Promise of Jesus’s Greatest Miracle explores the spiritual and emotional depth of the Lazarus story.

Our guest-hosts today are Peterson Toscano & Elise Silvestra of Citizen's Climate Radio, bringing together voices exploring how emotional honesty, sound, and art can open pathways from climate despair to collective action. Guests include Kate Schapira, a writer and educator from Rhode Island who has run the Climate Anxiety Counseling Booth, inviting people to share their fears and hopes about the climate crisis since 2014. Kate's new book is Lessons from the Climate Anxiety Counseling Booth.

Today's Song of the Soul guest brings us a special gift today in the form of the mountain dulcimer, too little heard from current music scenes. Heidi Muller's first instrument was the guitar, she's become a special friend, performer, & teacher, of the dulcimer. Heidi has lived East Coast and West Coast, she been great-big-city urban, and tiny village in the country rural, but through it all, her music has kept flowing, now in partnership with Bob Webb. Heidi & Bob live in rural Northeast Oregon.

Past/present religious/spiritual influences: Methodist, Nazarene, Center for Spiritual Living, Buddhism

All featured music is written & performed by Heidi Muller, unless otherwise noted:

Cassiopeia - from Dulcimer Moon, performed with Bob Webb

President Trump has been wreaking havoc in so many corners of our country, including the disruption caused by his executive order to dismantle all DEI (Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion) programs throughout the country. Harvard has been the most prominent school to refuse the order, causing joy & celebration among many. Today we're talking with John Bach about Harvard's policies and ethics from his perspective as a Harvard chaplain. As a Quaker, John's credentials are experiential instead of academic or educational, including his work with the Civil Rights movement, his time in prison as a draft refuser, and his work as a house painter. John is also author of Short Time: A Season’s Prison Journal, around John's short stint in prison for civil disobedience.

Past/present religious/spiritual influences: UCC, Quaker

I first interviewed Tim Case early in 2024, after the release of his Great Big Moon EP, a reemergence of his music after more than a decade on the back-burner, but then he turned right around and released his new album, House of Mirrors, just recently. Before leaving Madison, Tim was on the cusp of music success as part of Ghost Town Council, but now he performs mostly solo, though also collaborating with Songa (Mario & Sherry Friedel), and with members of the Chippewa Valley Songwriter Circle, among others. Tim's musical quest is for truth, accessed through heart-opening music & he does it well.

We've had Annie Patterson as a guest many times on NSR programs, but today we're going full-spectrum on Annie. She's known by many as a folk singer and the co-creator of the group singing songbooks, Rise Up Singing and Rise Again, but she also performs a variety of music genres like swing, blues, soul, gospel and more with groups like Dear Ella and Girls from Mars, and others. We're headed to Amherst, MA, to visit with the full-spectrum Annie Patterson.

Past/present religious/spiritual influences: Methodist, Quaker

All featured music is written & performed by Annie Patterson, unless otherwise indicated:

Most of the time it is the top officials in an organization who are interviewed to learn about & understand the group, but today we're exploring The Sierra Club from the ground up. Paul Wagner has been very active with The Sierra Club for over forty years, connecting at the local, Chippewa Valley level, within the state of Wisconsin, and also nationally. Paul walks us through the club, its way of functioning, and the kind of work it accomplishes, including through its volunteer vacations, service trips with an Earth-connecting core. With a ground-level view, we get to see the wonderful aspects and possibilities of The Sierra Club. Paul Wagner joins us in person, in Eau Claire, WI, to share his experience.