Rich Morey grew up immersed in music and performed for years with the Chris Collat Band, yet he has only just begun to release his own music. The death of his mother and the pandemic ended up producing a chrysalis-like transition for Rich, the fruits of which today's listeners will witness. With an artist's hands on his guitar and a poet's tongue to create his lyrics, Rich will deepen and uplift at the same time. Find him in the DC area, playing solo, with Annette Wasilik, with Michael Occhionero, or in other configurations.
Jan Spencer is back today to guest-host today Spirit In Action with the 4th installment of his series Primer for Paradigm Shift, and this one is fun for the positive and practical examples of this kind of work actually taking place. While keeping his eye on the needed ways of seeing and thinking about the world in order to become sustainable and to leave our world-wrecking ways behind us, Jan shows us real folks making real change with real fun. Among the stories to be shared today are the case of a Portland, Oregon, candidate for city council, running on what is essentially a paradigm shift platform, another is an example of making change from within from the neighborhood association level, a third takes us to Iraq where widows have joined together to fill their tables with women power.
Guest-host Peterson Toscano of Citizens' Climate Radio is sitting in today for Spirit In Action, sharing climate info through a True Crime lens, in a series he's calling Hot Mess.
Three speeches from the October 19th meeting of the Fall Assembly of the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice. In our broadcast version we'll have only two of the three speakers, but the podcast version will have all three of them, sharing on a range of peace and justice topics. First up, only in the uncut version, is the inspirational and talented Elena Terry, member of the Ho-Chunk tribe, food sovereignty advocate and activist, and founder of WildBearies.
Some people just shine with heart and soul in their music, and Sigrid Christiansen is a perfect example. In the 5 years since I first interviewed Sigrid, she produced two new recordings, full of introspective and nature-spective music, leading us to know our coyote, fox, swans, geese, and tree neighbors much better and closer, From Detroit, Michigan, comes the blessings of arms-wide-open love and a pathway to a deep centeredness.
Past/present religious/spiritual influences: Atheist, Earth-based Spirituality
All featured music is written & performed by Sigrid Christiansen:
Usually for Spirit in Action we are talking to a person or group who are engaged in some specific world-healing work, while today We'll be talking to John Bachman and Christina Yocca, former residents of Eau Claire, currently back for a short visit, who have been living in Italy for 2 years now, which is their permanent home. Our hope is that by talking with John and Christina, we'll form a clearer view of the strengths and the weaknesses of the two different countries, and to explore the possibilities for improving the world, and ourselves, by choosing a new home.
We visit with the recent executive director of FNVW/Friends for a Nonviolent World, Leah Robshaw Robinson. Leah's first years with FNVW were as their volunteer engagement specialist, and early in COVID she took the executive director post, where she oversaw & facilitated their programs like AVP (Alternatives to Violence Project), People Camp, the Everyday Nonviolence Podcast, and much more.
An essential part of the road to full equality for women has been the opening of careers in the broad range of disciplines, many that were previously forbidden to women. Perhaps no person had as much effect as the woman known to the world as Madame Curie. We get a deep encounter with her in Dava Sobel's newly-released book, The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science, in which Dava traces the life, science, & missions of Maria Salomea Skłodowska-Curie, including eventual fruits of her life, among them 2 Nobel prizes, one in Physics and the other in Chemistry. Dava Sobel's books include titles like The Glass Universe, Galileo's Daughter, and A More Perfect Heaven.
Past/present religious/spiritual influences: Jewish, Catholic, Humanism
I was introduced to Michael Lille in the course of my tribute interview for Tom Prasada-Rao, a member of The Sherpas along with Michael and Tom Kimmel.
Membership in the Middle Class has plummeted over the past 40 years, making the American Dream out-of-reach for a great many Americans. Thom Hartmann addresses the history, present, & possible future of this saga in his book, The Hidden History of The American Dream: The Demise of the Middle Class – And How to Rescue Our Future. In addition to our visit with Thom Hartmann, we speak to former History & World Studies teacher, Myron Buchholz, discussing the nuts & bolts of how we got here and how we can get back to a healthy & thriving American experience.