A retrospective of many, but not all, of the Minnesota-based Song of the Soul guests of 2018. There's gospel, folk/Americana, country, blues, rock, and more from: Mother Banjo (Ellen Stanley), Sarah Morris, Charlie Parr, Annie Fitzgerald, Braden Canfield, Joyann Parker, Kristin Lems. Click on the date to listen to the full interview.

George Lakey's new book, How We Win: A Guide to Nonviolent Direct Action Campaigning brings it all together and changes the prospects for a better world. Drawing on some 60 years experience in all kinds of social change movements & having trained activists from dozens of nations, George is a true expert and a great communicator. Among other resources, he led the creation of the Global Nonviolent Action Database and the organization Training For Change.

Past/current religious/spiritual influences:
Evangelical Christian, Quaker

Barb Tilsen became a devotee of folk music in the early '60s, and has spent a life mixing music, activism, and enrichment of children. Her circles of music & work have included the People's Music Network, the Midwest People's Music Network, and the Children's Music Network (CMN) - watch the video of Let The World Be Well - and she was the founder/early curator of the CMN Song Library.

Alaine Duncan of Integrative Healing Works started her education in the area of western science, but after contracting hepatitis C, found much-needed help through acupuncture & Asian medicine. Her new book is The Tao of Trauma: A Practitioner's Guide For Integrating Five Element Theory and Trauma Treatment. In it Alaine & co-author Kathy Kain significantly add resources for a hard-to-treat condition.

Past/current religious/spiritual influences:
Presbyterian, Quaker, Taoist 

Featured Music:
Northwest Passage Revisited - by Evalyn Parry, listen to Song of the Soul interview

Vicky Emerson touches the heart with Americana-rooted music with country tinges telling stories of relationship & connection. A mentor in the Minnesota Music Coalition and a touring partner of Sarah Morris as The Home Fires, Vicky has lived on both coasts and is now happily at home in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Dr. Katharine Hayhoe is a climate scientist, a professor in the Department of Political Science and director of theClimate Science Center at Texas Tech University. She is also a brilliant climate communicator and the host of the Global Weirding web series. She chats with show host, Peterson Toscano, about what has changed since she her famous address at the 2015 Citizens Climate International Conference. There is no more speculation; climate change is here. She talks about the many ways people are adapting, and she provides excellent climate communication tips. Dr. Hayhoe also reveals where she finds hope in these troubling times.

Volunteers in Macon, GA put up 5 miles of protected bike lanes on city streets that gave residents a new vision of what streets could be and convinced a naysaying county engineer. The Result? Permanent bike lanes. Hear from how they did it from Josh Rogers of New Town Macon and Rachel Hollar of Bike Walk Macon.  Mike Lydon explains tactical urbanism  and Neil Maizlish shares the amazing health benefits of cycling short distances.  Co hosts Wendy Ring and Brian Curtis keep the whole circus pedaling in the same direction with another great story about climate action from the bottom up. 

Launa Schweizer is lead voice & writer for New Yeller, based in Gowanus, Brooklyn, NY, dazzling musically through indie pop, prog rock, folk-rock, bluesy and jamband sounds. Previously with Bliss Point, Launa's gift with words & people is exercised in her day-job teaching English/humanities to middle schoolers at Brooklyn Heights Montessori School. Find New Yeller on Bandcamp, Reverbnation, Facebook, CDBaby, and more. Contact Bill Lienhard.

Unfortunately, Tracy Newman has far less renown for her music than her other work, but that's not so surprising given her amazing success as a writer for TV shows like Cheers and Ellen, for which she received an Emmy. Tracy was also a founder of The Groundlings, effectively the farm team for SNL. Her music can be funny and moving, whether for adults (TracyNewman.com) or for kids (RunAlongHome.com).

Scott Wittkopf helps organizations & people learn to do effective progressive messaging through his firm, Frame for the Future. It's a bit ironic that the scientific research proves that people do not make their decisions based on scientific research, but on frames, and progressives have been doing an inferior job of harnessing this knowledge to support their goals. Based on the work of George Lakoff and others, there is great untapped potential for progressive causes. Scott presented on the topic at the Eau Claire Grassroots Festival, sponsored by Wisconsin Grassroots Network.

Past/current religious/spiritual influences:
Non-affiliated, UCC - United Church of Christ