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Society & Culture

Contemplify

Paul Swanson

The Contemplify podcast kindles the examined life through artful musings with scholars, creatives and master teachers. Each episode delivers a subtly intoxicating* exchange on the contemplat...

Episodes

20 of 193 episodes

Thomas Gardner on Poverty Creek Journal

"The achievement of 'Poverty Creek Journal' is precisely that it does retrace that kind of wandering--and, in so doing, makes something love...

01:02:07Oct 1, 2026

Noah Davis on The Last Beast We Revel In

"Noah Davis is a poet whose capacious imagination runs on river sounds and open air." — Adrian Matejka, Pulitzer Prize Finalist and editor o...

01:06:58Sep 1, 2026

Todd Goddard on Jim Harrison (author of Devouring Time: Jim Harrison, A Writer's Life)

Todd Goddard is an award-winning writer with a Ph.D in literary studies to go along with J.D. Todd Goddard joins me to talk about his unpara...

01:02:56Aug 1, 2026

Sasha Waters on Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World

Sasha Waters, an American documentary and experimental filmmaker, feminist and educator. She has produced and directed over twenty films and...

57:07Jul 1, 2026

Beverly Lanzetta on Birthing a New Mysticism

"With poetic clarity and theological depth, Beverly Lanzetta names the sacred within the human, the Divine Feminine within tradition, and th...

01:13:44May 20, 2026

Dr. Liza J. Rankow on Soul Medicine for a Fractured World

"In the ashes of all we have lost, a world of liberation is waiting to be born, if we are brave enough to labor for it. Like the wisest midw...

01:21:24May 1, 2026

Philip Connors on The Mountain Knows the Mountain: A Fire Watch Diary

Philip Connors is a fire lookout, essayist, and author of four books. A former journalist at the Wall Street Journal , Connors has been a fi...

01:17:53Apr 1, 2026

Anna Tivel on Animal Poem, Short Stories, and Checking Your Shoes

"Through her graceful poetry and pristine instrumentation, the folk singer delivers indictments of modern indignities alongside moments of h...

01:31:19Mar 4, 2026

Dr. Martin Shaw on Liturgies of the Wild

"Here is a rosary of soaring myth, gripping narrative, and deep wisdom, all told with breathtaking verve that enchants and sweeps us along,...

59:30Feb 1, 2026

Vision for a New Cabinet by Teddy Macker (Season 7 Trailer)

Season 7 is hatching. A series of conversations has come together, mighty and beautiful folks offering feathered insight and story from thei...

05:56Jan 26, 2026

The Famous One

Musing on obituaries with your name on it.

05:57Jan 2, 2026

Remembering Lerita Coleman Brown on Waiting for a Word in the Heart

Remembering Lerita Coleman Brown

59:13Dec 20, 2025

Stay Outside (or Non-Liturgical Liturgical Calendar Musing)

Musing on my personal non-liturgical liturgical calendar that runs from December 11 - December 10 each calendar year.

06:25Dec 12, 2025

Gail Straub on Embracing Our Human Family

"In radiant, lyrical prose, Gail Straub takes us on a voyage like no other, both into little-known places across the globe and, most memorab...

01:15:46Nov 1, 2025

Mark Longhurst on The Holy Ordinary

Mark Longhurst is an author and contemplative guide who has spent years exploring the sacred dimensions of everyday life. In our conversatio...

46:28Oct 18, 2025

Haleh Liza Gafori Brings Water to the Thirsty

Haleh Liza Gafori is a translator, performance artist, vocalist, and educator whose work bridges ancient Persian mysticism with contemporary...

59:23Oct 4, 2025

Contemplative Parenting with Aizaiah G. Yong and Nereyda Yong

"This book is just what the world needs right now. At a time when tensions are hot, divisions are growing, and uncertainty is the order of t...

46:06Sep 20, 2025

[Rebroadcast] Dr. Larry Ward on America's Racial Karma, the Fragrance of Wisdom, and Learning How To Suffer Less

This is a repost of my conversation with Dr. Larry Ward. Dr. Ward passed away on August 19 at his home in Rhode Island. He was a Buddhist te...

46:16Sep 13, 2025

Amy Frykholm on Journey to the Wild Heart

"You can trust Amy Frykholm as a modern-day amma who knows the terrain of the soul. Reading Journey to the Wild Heart is like going out to t...

01:00:17Sep 6, 2025

Todd Davis on Ditch Memory

"To read a new and selected collection is to experience the evolution of a voice, in this case an essential voice in American poetry. To sit...

01:10:00Aug 23, 2025