Podcast Highlight: “On Being with Krista Tippett.”

The podcast On Being with Krista Tippett has been an integral and grounding voice in my social and political growth. Through fostering civil conversation and asking questions about human nature, On Being has allowed me to better understand the deep connection between each of us as humans and
how it relates to our social and political reality. For those who enjoy podcasts and big questions, On Being is a must-listen.

This podcast is based in the On Being Project, a nonprofit organization (funded by our very own John
Templeton Foundation) aiming to pursue “deep thinking and moral imagination, social courage and joy, to renew inner life, outer life, and life together.” The initiative is based on six virtues which guide its conversation and interviews: words that matter, hospitality, humility, patience, generous listening, and adventurous civility. These values give an empathetic and holistic perspective to the podcast while questioning our social and political realities.

Each episode is a little over a half hour long, and is guided by Krista Tippett as she asks about these
thinkers’ background, studies, and personal philosophy. By engaging with the people interviewed, the listener is pulled into the conversation and asked to analyze their own views and behaviors within the scope of care, kindness, and mutual respect. Many of the topics covered by On Being are centered around “the moment” we are in, informed by our mutual humanity and historic progression.

Krista Tippett interviews people from a variety of backgrounds, religions, fields of study, cultures, and ideologies to talk about themes such as honesty, empathy, wisdom, ecology, time and love. Some of the
people featured on this podcast include former U.S. Rep. John Lewis, anthropologist Jane Goodall, therapist and author Resmaa Menakem, and Father George Coyne.

By bringing these people and perspectives together, Tippett succeeds in creating a space fostering growth and wisdom, managing to integrate philosophy with grounded reality. Tippett herself is an American journalist, author, and entrepreneur, born and raised in Shawnee, Oklahoma. As described by the New York Times, “The Tippett style represents a fusion of all her parts – the child of small-town church comfortable in the pews; the product of Yale Divinity School able to parse text in Greek and theology in German; and, perhaps most of all, the diplomat seeking to resolve social divisions.”

Some of her more famous perspectives include “anger is often what pain looks like when it shows itself
in public” and “I can disagree with your opinion, it turns out, but I can’t disagree with your experience. And once I have a sense of your experience, you and I are in relationship, acknowledging the complexity in each other’s position, listening less guardedly. The difference in our opinions will probably remain intact, but it no longer defines what is possible between us.”

On Being with Krista Tippett has something for everyone, and will open your mind to the vast and diverse social political reality. It’s definitely worth a listen, and may even become a staple in your podcast
library!

Sources: On Being