Podcasts: 2020

This week, from our Podcast Greatest Hits Selection, we revisit a conversation between Religica Theolab Founder Michael Reid Trice and Diane Jacobson. Jacobson is Professor Emerita of Old Testament at Luther Seminary, having taught there from 1982-2010. She also served as Director of the Book of Faith Initiative for the ELCA until 2016. The two had a chance to speak about wisdom, literature that changes our lives, and how we become creative in responding to the challenges of our moment. Take a listen!

This podcast was produced in cooperation with the Northwest Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Seattle University Center for Religious Wisdom and World Affairs at STM.

Greatest Hits Selection: Diane Jacobson — Wisdom, Literature, and Creative Responses to Challenge

Religica Theolab Founder Michael Reid Trice recently had an opportunity to speak with Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, who serves as the Rabbi and Cantor of Tree of Life – Or L’Simcha Congregation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. On October 27, 2018, Tree of Life was the target of an act of violence that left eleven people murdered.

In this episode, Rabbi Myers reflects on ways to engage the sacred, the process of healing, and the role of solidarity in creating change. Take a listen.

Rabbi Jeffrey Myers — Hope, Community Healing, and the Need to ‘Do Better’

This podcast was produced in collaboration with URI: United Religions Initiative.

Wambui Ngigi is an attorney based in Nairobi, Kenya. Her experience in research and advocacy on youth and women’s rights has enabled her to use unity of religions to bring women and young people together as a way of fighting extremism and uniting Kenyans. Wambui strives to help URI engage and sustain interconnected communities to promote respect for diversity, non-violent resolution of conflict, and social, political, economic, and environmental justice. Take a listen!

Wambui Ngige — The 100 Year Test and Being an Instrument of Peace

This podcast was produced in collaboration with URI: United Religions Initiative.

Duncan Wielzen is the current URI Europe Chairperson. Mr. Wielzen is employed as a pastoral worker in the Roman Catholic diocese Rotterdam (Netherlands). He has MA degrees in Theology, Religious Studies (Intercultural Ministry), and Educational Studies. He also has a Ph.D. in Theology from Catholic University Leuven (Belgium). Mr. Wielzen works at the intersection of pastoral ministry and religious education and is the Chief Editor of Interfaith Education for All: Theoretical Perspectives and Best Practices for Transformative Action (2017). Take a listen!

Duncan Wielzen — United Religions Initiative: Speaking of the Circles

This podcast was produced in collaboration with URI: United Religions Initiative.

The Rev. Victor Kazanjian leads URl’s global grassroots interfaith peacebuilding network of over 1,000 groups working in more than 100 countries and at the United Nations to build bridges of cooperation between people of all beliefs and cultures. Co-Founder of Education as Transformation Inc., an international organization that works on religious diversity and spirituality in higher education, Victor is also an author, educator, recognized thought-leader and trainer in areas of intergroup dialogue, multicultural and interreligious understanding, conflict transformation, diversity and democracy, social justice, community organizing, and peacebuilding. He holds degrees from the Episcopal Divinity School and Harvard University. Take a listen!

A Conversation with Victor Kazanjian of URI: United Religions Initiative

In this week’s episode, Religica Co-Founder Michael Reid Trice speaks with Jennifer Cate, who is the Executive Director of Hands Along the Nile. Jennifer and Michael discuss the Zabbaleen, the important work of Hands Along the Nile, and the power of language as a cultural influencer that is essential to our shared future in the world. Take a listen!

Jennifer Cate — Hands Along the Nile

The week on our “Greatest Hits” episode we revisit Steve Wilhelm’s conversation with Elder Vernon Masayesva.

Vernon Masayesva is the Executive Director of Black Mesa Trust, a Hopi Leader of the Coyote Clan, and a former Chairman of the Hopi Tribal Council from the village of Hotevilla – one of the oldest continuously inhabited human settlements in the Americas in Arizona.

Greatest Hits: Elder Vernon Masayesva – On Black Mesa and Hopi Leadership — Cherishing the Spirit of Water

 Interview by Steve Wilhelm

With the 2020 United States presidential election just around the corner, this week, we revisit a conversation between Marianne Williamson and Religica Co-Founder Michael Reid Trice.

Marianne Williamson is an American author, lecturer, and activist. She has written 13 books, including four New York Times number one bestsellers. She is the founder or co-founder of no less than two non-profits, has run for political office, and on January 29, 2019, announced her campaign to seek the Democratic nomination for the 2020 United States presidential election. This podcast focuses on the values of a healthy Republic, the leadership necessary for a thriving democracy, and more. Take a listen!

Greatest Hits: A Religica Podcast with Marianne Williamson

This podcast was produced in collaboration with URI: United Religions Initiative.

Samira Fatma Barucija was born in Sarajevo in 1994. She is a youth leader, peacebuilder, and Co-Founder of Youth for Peace, a grassroots NGO in Sarajevo and a URI Cooperation Circle. Her personal story of loss and public commitment to peacebuilding in Bosnia and Herzegovina and beyond is a testament to living a life of service from which we can all benefit. Take a listen!

Samira Fatma Barucija — Getting to Pre-Rational Selflessness and the Virtue of Being Sneaky

Melinda Kramer and Amira Diamond Have been together as co-directors of the Women’s Earth Alliance since 2007. Women’s Earth Alliance aims to bridge the resource gap for women at the grassroots level who are tackling our world’s most critical environmental challenges. Their leadership is an inspiration to people across the world of every age. Take a listen!

This podcast was produced in collaboration with URI: United Religions Initiative.

James Patton is President of the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy, based out of Washington, D.C., and for two decades has worked in complex environments around the world. He has assessed the impacts of drug policies in Bolivia, trained Cambodian Buddhists on post-conflict stability, and much more. This is important work and he has a lot to say to all of us. Take a listen!

Jame Patton — Seeing the Spike for What it Is: Rethinking our Capacity for Change

This podcast was produced in collaboration with URI: United Religions Initiative.

Since 2016, Sarah Oliver has served as the URI Youth Coordinator for the Southern African region. In this role, she has led interfaith and leadership skills training programs with youth from Cooperation Circles across South Africa, Malawi, and Mozambique. Sarah also developed the Girls Not Brides campaign with URI Youth Ambassadors in these areas. In 2019, Sarah began serving as the URI Global Youth Coordinator, expanding on her work to connect, support, and inspire youth engagement globally in URI’s network. Take a listen!

Sarah Oliver — Learning to Listen and to Bear Witness

Initially released across Religica’s digital streaming platforms in October of 2019, James Lawson’s episode has been one of our more popular podcasts. This episode is particularly relevant not only to our forthcoming resource on leadership but to key social and political issues leading up to November’s U.S. election.

This podcast was produced in collaboration with URI: United Religions Initiative.

This podcast was produced in collaboration with URI: United Religions Initiative.

Mussie Hailu serves as the URI Director of Global Partnerships and URI Representative at the United Nations and African Union. Hailu considers himself a citizen of the world, working at numerous levels to promote peace and disarmament. Hailu previously served as a diplomat in the rank of Ambassador and Special Envoy of the President of Burundi. He is a founding member of United Religions Initiative. Take a listen!

This podcast was produced in collaboration with URI: United Religions Initiative.

Originally from Italy, Valeria Vergani moved to Canada in 2012 to attend Quest University Canada, where she studied contemporary expressions of Tibetan Buddhism in the Kingdom of Bhutan. Currently, Valeria serves as a Global Council Trustee of the URI North America Leadership Council. Additionally, she serves as Interfaith Coordinator for City in Focus Foundation, an interdenominational Christian organization, and as a Director of the InterSpiritual Sustainability Society, a registered URI Cooperation Circle in Vancouver, British Columbia. Take a listen!

Greg Thomas is a professional writer and entrepreneur with a passionate devotion to jazz as an art form and cultural technology. He has written for numerous publications over several decades and currently maintains a blog, Tuneintoleadership.com, with his life and business partner Jewel Kinch-Thomas. Together, Greg and Jewel helm the Jazz Leadership Project, an enterprise for organizational development through the methods and praxis of jazz. Recently, Church World Service Executive Vice-President and Religica Advisory Council member Maurice Bloem had an opportunity to speak with Greg Thomas about the transformative power of music, meaning-making, and creative expression. Take a listen!