Michael Pollan — The Mystery of Consciousness
From Krista: Michael Pollan’s latest book, A World Appears, is an exploration — with scientists and journalists and technologists and spiritual teach...
“The Fierce Urgency of Now” — Michelle Alexander and Lucas Johnson
From Krista: On April 4, 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech at Riverside Church in New York City called “A Time to Break Silence.” This is of...
Shai Held — On Love, and Judaism
From Krista: I'm on record bemoaning across the years that “love” is the most watered-down word in the English language. I know that invoking love fee...
Jason Reynolds — On Hopelessness, the Virtue of Stamina, and Showing Grace to Ourselves
From Krista: I was longing for a deep dive on the radiant and common-sense hope that Jason Reynolds embodies after I interviewed him at a Georgetown e...
Arab Aramin, Robi Damelin, Liora Eilon, Mohamed Abu Jafar — Turning Unbearable Loss Into Ground of Shared Life
From Krista: A few months ago, I was invited to sit with four people sharing a very different Israeli-Palestinian story than that which comes to us in...
Gül Dölen — Psychedelic Science and Radical Healing
From Krista: The word “trauma” is used so widely at present, arguably too widely. But it bespeaks a tenor of our shared reality. This episode is a jou...
Joy Harjo and Tracy K. Smith – "This world is full of everything good, everything beautiful."
From Krista: These days I sometimes have to remind myself to keep breathing. I think this is true of human beings across all of our differences and di...
A New Season for a Tender New Year
Five new On Being episodes will begin to roll out next week … We begin with the delightful beloved poets (and friends) Joy Harjo and Tracy K. Smith in...
Jane Goodall, In Memoriam — What It Means to Be Human
The great primatologist and humanitarian, Jane Goodall, died on October 1, 2025, at the age of 91. It is a joy and a comfort to revisit our last broad...
Joanna Macy, In Memoriam — Beauty and Wisdom and Courage (and Rilke) to Sustain Us
This rich, gorgeous conversation will fill your soul. The singular and beloved Joanna Macy died at home at the age of 96 on July 20, 2025. She has lef...