The wonderful civil rights elder Vincent Harding liked to look around the world for what he called "live human signposts"... more

An impassioned plea, a yearning for connection — the poem U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón wrote when she says all... more

We are strange creatures. It is hard for us to speak about, or let in, the reality of frailty and... more

Today, a poem with a poignant question to live: “...and are we not of interest to each other?” Carry Elizabeth... more

We humans have this drive to erect barriers between ourselves and others, Luis Alberto Urrea says, and yet this makes... more

In our world of so much suffering, it can feel hard or wrong to invoke the word "joy." Yet joy... more

In this all-new episode, Krista engages biomimicry pioneer Janine Benyus in a second, urgent conversation, alongside creative biomimicry practitioner Azita... more

In a time of stress, uncertainty, and isolation, Christine Runyan turns our attention to what often evades our awareness —... more

The years of pandemic and lockdown are still working powerfully on us from the inside. But we have trouble acknowledging... more

We are overjoyed to share this heart-stirring performance with you, which transpired when we invited the ornithologist/poet/former On Being guest... more

Here is a stunning sentence for you, written by Lyndsey Stonebridge, our guest this hour, channeling the 20th-century political thinker... more

A taste of a special mini-season of Poetry Unbound — bringing contemplative curiosity and the life-nurturing tether of poetry to the... more

There is an ecological transformation unfolding in the places we love and come from. On a front edge of this... more

In her writing, it is Kate DiCamillo's gift to make bearable the fact that joy and sorrow live so close,... more

A special two-month season of On Being starts May 9. Freshly curated conversations from across the On Being archive. Big... more

Here are some experiences to which Nick Cave gives voice and song: the "universal condition" of yearning, and of loss;... more

A little musing on this season, the spectacular finale headed your way — and ways to stay connected in the... more

Our built world is designed around something called "normal," and yet every single one of our bodies is mysterious, and... more

The ecological crisis we are standing before is at once civilizational and personal — intimately close to each of us... more

This phrase recurs throughout Clint Smith's writing: "in the marrow of our bones." It is an example of how words... more

Clint Smith reads his poem, “Dance Party.” This poem is featured in Clint’s On Being conversation with Krista, “What We... more

Clint Smith reads his poem, “Ode to Those First Fifteen Minutes After the Kids Are Finally Asleep.” This poem is... more

This phrase recurs throughout Clint Smith's writing: "in the marrow of our bones." It is an example of how words... more

From Krista: I loved being interviewed by Dan Harris as much as I've ever enjoyed being on the other side... more

You may not know Latanya Sweeney's name, but as much as any other single person — and with good humor and... more

You may not know Latanya Sweeney's name, but as much as any other single person — and with good humor... more

A wondrous, buried treasure from the 20-year On Being archive, with renowned yoga teacher Matthew Sanford. Be prepared, as you... more

Baratunde Thurston is a comedian, writer, and media entrepreneur. He has eyes open to the contradictions, strangeness, and beauty of... more

In this season of On Being and those to come, we are going to train the core human questions on... more

“Becoming other people” for a living, as Kerry Washington likes to describe her craft, turns out to be a revelatory... more

We love the theologian Kate Bowler's allergy to every platitude and her wisdom and wit about the strange and messy... more

This blessing is featured in Kate’s conversation with Krista, “On Being in a Body.” It's published in her book The... more

A big conversation to live by starting NEXT WEEK — every Thursday — from September 21. Loss — and love. AI... more

From Krista: I have been texting this exquisite poem from our archives to my beloveds. Perhaps it will touch you... more

Hello friends, it is a joy to introduce the new season of Poetry Unbound, which is underway. As Krista shares... more

Pádraig makes an announcement, and we listen to a few lovely moments from the On Being season we've just brought... more

We need a modicum of vitality to simply be alive in this time. And we're in an enduringly tender place.... more

An excerpt from the On Being episode, "To Be a Healer." The extraordinary physician and public servant stilled a raucous... more

We need a modicum of vitality to simply be alive in this time. And we're in an enduringly tender place.... more

"I like it much better than ‘religious’ or ‘spiritual’ — to be a seeker after the sacred or the holy,... more

"I like it much better than ‘religious’ or ‘spiritual’ — to be a seeker after the sacred or the holy,... more

To say that Ruth Wilson Gilmore is a geographer, which she is, is not to convey the vast and varied... more

There is a quiet, redemptive story of our time in this conversation — a radical way of approaching the gravest... more

The flow and the ingredients by which an idea becomes an offering — and life practices which call that alchemy... more

In this rich, expansive, and warm conversation between friends, Krista draws out the heart for humanity behind Isabel Wilkerson's eye... more

You might want to take a walk with this one. It is big and full of brain food and an... more

You might want to take a walk with this one. It is big and full of brain food and an... more

Nick Offerman has played many great characters, most famously Ron Swanson in Parks and Recreation, and he starred more recently... more

An electric conversation with Ada Limón's wisdom and her poetry — a refreshing, full-body experience of how this way with... more

Ada Limón reads her poem, “Dead Stars.” This poem is featured in Ada’s On Being conversation with Krista, “To Be... more

Ada Limón reads her poem, “The Quiet Machine.” This poem is featured in Ada’s On Being conversation with Krista, “To... more

Ada Limón reads her poem, “A New National Anthem.” This poem is featured in Ada’s On Being conversation with Krista,... more

Amanda Ripley began her life as a journalist covering crime, disaster, and terrorism. Then in 2018, she published a brilliant... more

One of the most fascinating developments of our time is that human qualities we have understood in terms of virtue... more

We are immensely grateful for your patience in our season of podcasting pause. But enough already. Starting Thursday, February 2,... more

In the modern western world, vocation was equated with work. But each of us has callings, not merely to be... more

We inhabit a liminal time between what we thought we knew and what we can’t quite yet see. But time... more

We live in a world in love with the form of words that is an opinion, and the way with... more

The first of four short offerings, more wisdom practice than podcast: life-giving, hope-generating words, ideas and practices that can literally... more

Three years ago, Krista texted Pádraig Ó Tuama with a simple question: what if he were to start a poetry... more

Krista returns from her summer in Berlin, where her present-day self reunited with the 25-year-old of the 1980s, at large... more

A special offering from Krista Tippett and all of us at On Being: an incredible, celebratory event — listening back... more

The beloved civil rights elder Vincent Harding liked to look around the world for what he called "live human signposts"... more

Krista interviewed the wise and wonderful writer Ocean Vuong on March 8, 2020 in a joyful, crowded room full of... more

We are in the final weeks as On Being evolves to its next chapter — in a world that is... more

Amidst all of the perspectives and arguments around our ecological future, this much is true: we are not in the... more

Amidst all of the perspectives and arguments around our ecological future, this much is true: we are not in the... more

The conversation of this hour always rises as an early experience that imprinted everything that came after at On Being.... more

The conversation of this hour always rises as an early experience that imprinted everything that came after at On Being.... more

It has ever and always been true, David Whyte reminds us, that so much of human experience is a conversation... more