SOF Observed

History Written in Charcoal & SandAndy Dayton, associate web...

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 08:09:00 -0500

History Written in Charcoal & Sand
Andy Dayton, associate web producer

The video above made its way into my inbox last week, apparently after making the rounds through the rest of the internet. It’s a performance by 24-year-old Ukrainian artist Ksenya Simonove, first prize winner of the TV competition “Ukraine’s Got Talent” in 2009. She creates and transforms her images by manipulating sand on a light box, in this case telling a story from life in the Soviet Union during WWII. From the wet eyes in the audience, Simonove seems to have tapped into a part Ukrainian history that is still emotionally raw for those connected to it.

Simonove’s continually transforming images reminded me of another artist — South African filmmaker William Kentridge. Rather than drawing with sand, Kentridge is known for using charcoal and pastel on paper. But his animations have the same sense of “history.” Rather than using a fresh image for each frame, he continually erases and adds to his drawings to make them come alive on film.

Many of Kentridge’s films also carry with them a painful story from a difficult national history — in this case, apartheid in South Africa. From the Tate Modern’s description of his animation, History of the Main Complaint (video below):

”[History of the Main Complaint] was made shortly after the establishment in South Africa of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, headed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. It was set up to conduct a series of public hearings into abuses of human rights perpetrated during the apartheid era. The hearings, in which individuals told their stories of personal suffering, were held in order to make reparation for abuse and in the hope of creating reconciliation between peoples.
The underlying theme of this film is a (self) recognition of white responsibility. This is played out through a ‘medical’ investigation into the body of Soho Eckstein, the white property-developing magnate and greedy-capitalist protagonist of most of the preceding films, which provides the starting point for a revelation of conscience.”

Joanna Macy and the Great Turning Trent Gilliss, online...

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:00:00 -0600

Joanna Macy and the Great Turning
Trent Gilliss, online editor

“It’s that knife edge of uncertainty where we come alive.”

“I see such promise in the human heart and at the same time I see such tragedy. And, so, my heart breaks over and over.”

Remember the name Joanna Macy? If not, she’s the person who collaborated with Anita Barrows (“The Soul in Depression”) on translating Rilke’s Book of Hours. By the way, they recently collaborated on another book, A Year with Rilke, published this past fall by HarperOne.

I stumbled upon two videos of her for an upcoming film called The Great Turning — her concept of a period of transition for our society that she describes as “the essential adventure of our time: the shift from an industrial growth society to a life-sustaining civilization.” She speaks about ecology in human terms of reconnection and references wisdom traditions and work as a way back to sustainability.

What’s interesting is that her efforts don’t simply focus on repairing the physical world. She emphasizes the spiral of connectivity as a way back to choosing a vibrant life rather than apathy: seeing the world and people with new eyes by coming from a place of gratitude and recognizing the pain of the world as a way of seeing anew and then engaging (“going forth”).

She’s a compelling character with a way of speaking that really draws me in — sensual with a gruffness like Vigen Guroian, a little new-agey, I guess, but more along the lines of an engaged Buddhist. She speaks somewhat softly but with a verve, with energy and intensity and a self-awareness of a teacher who has answered many questions and knows many remain unasked and unable to be answered. She speaks about being present, mindfulness, mystery, the interconnectedness of all things — ideas that engage all kinds of people on many levels.

If you want to know more about Ms. Macy and her work, her site is a great starting point. And this interview is helpful too.

(h/t Time for Awakening)

What's Your Hindu Star Birthday?

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:28:37 -0600

Shubha Bala, associate producer A couple of weeks before my birthday, my mom sent me an e-mail...

Producing a "LIVE" Event

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:21:16 -0600

Colleen Scheck, senior producer We were pleased to see The Daily Beast featured the New York Public...

Baha’i Reaction to Robert Wright Shubha Bala, associate...

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:24:58 -0600

Baha’i Reaction to Robert Wright
Shubha Bala, associate producer

Several listeners, including Dan Haghighi, have commented on the Robert Wright show and how it reminded them of the Baha’i view towards science and religion. Dan sent us a link to the Baha’i Topics website, containing a beautiful quote by ‘Abdu’l-Baha, the son and successor of the head of the Baha’i Faith:

“Religion and science are the two wings upon which man’s intelligence can soar into the heights, with which the human soul can progress. It is not possible to fly with one wing alone! Should a man try to fly with the wing of religion alone he would quickly fall into the quagmire of superstition, whilst on the other hand, with the wing of science alone he would also make no progress, but fall into the despairing slough of materialism.”

—from Paris Talks

Another listener, Bill Thompson, explained how Baha’i understanding overlaps with the Robert Wright conversation:

“Each One, limits Their revelation to what can be understood and benefit at the time. For example, look how the simple Genesis story of creation describes how the universe became, but in “seven days” (approx.: dark, light, form, water, life) and for apt for a rudimentary human understanding. No Prophet is less than or would repudiate Those before, but are Themselves dependably denied by leaders of belief of their time.

Science now tells it accurately, and a teaching today is that true science does not contradict God — unimaginable that it would. So all “errors” between them have some base to look over. Above it all, God and religion are one, and in this revelation we are told — and ordered, I guess — that man is one and the virtues, again being revivified, are this time to realize the oneness of humanity and practice it.

To avoid the man-made divisions, Baha’u’llah said we approaching the maturity of humankind, and all must be educated (girl child in preference to boy child if the resource is limited!), and each person must understand God’s will individually and now have no priests, pastors, or other interpretations. And obviously, there will be more guidance every millennium or so as God guides us out of the next deterioration of the message, and according to conditions and readiness due to our advancement.”

(“Bahai star” by pourquoitesla/Flickr)

The “Residue” of God’s ImageAndy Dayton,...

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:50:01 -0600

The “Residue” of God’s Image
Andy Dayton, associate web producer

I was lucky enough to have the best seat in the house for Krista’s live interview with Robert Wright (in the very front, manning the video cameras), and this was probably my favorite part of the entire conversation. I was fascinated by Wright’s intersection of belief in physics and belief in God, which he sums up in the afterward to The Evolution of God:

“Maybe the most defensible view — of electrons and of God — is to place them somewhere between illusion and imperfect conception.”

Reading Wright’s 1988 book, Three Scientists and Their Gods, I saw a role reversal from his conversation with Krista. In 2010, he played the part of the “relentlessly logical” theorist, but in ‘88 he was the questioner who was probing rationalistic scientists like Edward Fredkin and E.O. Wilson with his own challenging questions.

For instance, Wright talks to digital physicist Edward Fredkin about his conception of the universe as a computer. Fredkin seems resistant to any conversation of the theological implications of this idea, but Wright probes him until he gets this response:

“‘I guess what I’m saying is: I don’t have any religious belief. I don’t believe that there is a God. I don’t believe in Christianity or Judaism or anything like that, okay? I’m not an atheist … I’m not an agnostic … I’m just in a simple state. I don’t know what there is or might be. … But on the other hand, what I can say is that it seems likely to me that this particular universe we have is a consequence of something which I would call intelligent.’

‘You mean that there’s something out there that wanted to get the answer to a question?’

‘Yeah. Something that set up the universe to see what would happen? In some way, yes.’”

Edward O. Wilson (photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Wright challenges sociobiologist E. O. Wilson as well, asking:

“‘The knowledge that we are all related to bacteria makes it no easier to swallow the harsh facts of hard work, brief retirement, and death. How can scientific materialism give meaning to our lives?’”

Even though Wilson shares Wright’s (and Krista’s) Southern Baptist upbringing, he seems to have completely avoided the same “residue.” Or at least, almost completely avoided it:

“Still, a funny thing happened a couple of years ago. Harvard was honoring Martin Luther King, Sr., and Reverend King, as part of the festivities, was preaching at the Harvard Memorial Chapel. Wilson, being a southerner, was invited to the service. There was a large turnout. The reverend preached fervently, and the congregation sang richly, and one of the hymns hit home with Wilson — ‘one of the good, old-timey ones that I hadn’t heard since I was a kid.’ Partway through it, E. O. Wilson — scientific materialist, detached empiricist, confirmed Darwinian — started crying.

As if in atonement, he has a perfectly rational explanation. ‘It was tribal,’ he says. ‘It was the feeling that I had been a long way away from the tribe.’”

Behind the Scenes: Editing for Story Nancy Rosenbaum, associate...

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:25:00 -0600

Behind the Scenes: Editing for Story
Nancy Rosenbaum, associate producer

“Like everything good in life, the art of editing takes time to learn and it never becomes a matter of rote mastery. You start out fresh with every interview and every interview presents its own distinctive challenges and idiosyncrasies….

Stories are magic. Be very slow to throw them out. That said, all stories are not equal. And some stories are too long and you’ll have to work and experiment with creative ways to keep them in…”
—Krista Tippett from “Notes on Editing Speaking of Faith”

Krista recently resurfaced some reflections about the “art of editing” for radio. With Shubha joining us as an associate producer, it was a good occasion to dust off some guiding principles that undergird SOF’s work.

Our production staff works collaboratively to whittle down Krista’s 90+ minute studio interviews into an hour of radio. With music, Krista’s scripting, and other elements like poems and readings, each produced show has room for 40-45 minutes of interview material.

So what stays and what goes? There’s no magic formula. But as Krista notes, “stories are magic” and so we listen for the jewels.

In Krista’s recent interview with Jacqueline Novogratz, she told so many good stories we struggled editorially with which ones to include. And our choices shifted as we progressed through the editing process.

The audio above is a story about an ambulance company in Mumbai that we liked but was left out in the early stages of production. The story comes at a juncture in the conversation when Novogratz shares a succession of examples of projects she’s working on. We decided that all of those stories would be too much for the listener to digest, so this is one we reluctantly cut.

Even though we didn’t use the story, Trent decided to use a photo of the ambulance company as the signature image for this show:

(photo: Acumen Fund/Flickr)

Then there are stories that get cut and we later pull back in. That was the case with what we nicknamed “the Jane story” — about a woman living in a Kenyan slum who saves to buy her own home. In our final listen, Colleen and others felt the final section of the show would benefit from another concrete story to ground Novogratz’s work and its impact. You can listen to the produced version of “the Jane story” here:

One of my radio mentors likes to say, “Who’s doing what and why do we care?” Good stories help to answer the “why do we care” question.

Einstein and Buddhism, The Elusive Quote

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 06:03:00 -0600

Shubha Bala, associate producer A listener, Russell, e-mailed the other day saying he had been on...

The Plight of the "Distant Stranger"

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 05:51:35 -0600

Trent Gilliss, online editor Many of us have read Nick Kristof’s columns over the...

White Mountain Milky Way Trent Gilliss, online editor This...

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 05:08:00 -0600

White Mountain Milky Way
Trent Gilliss, online editor

This one-minute time lapse film taken in Mauna Kea, Hawai’i made me ache for the magic dome of my home state of North Dakota — the thickness of the galaxy in plain site. The canvas overhead will surely spark your sense of wonder for the weekend. Enjoy heartily.

The Ramayana, IllustratedShubha Bala, associate producer Sanjay...

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:40:00 -0600

The Ramayana, Illustrated
Shubha Bala, associate producer

Sanjay Patel, supervising animator at Pixar, has come out with his second illustrated book on Hinduism, Ramayana: Divine Loophole. Patel is one of the few people who have presented Hindu mythology in a way for North American kids to understand, and enjoy. But he also presents the Ramayana, one of the Hindu epic mythological stories, in a wonderful way for adults too — complete with illustrated character bios and geography lessons in the back.

He says in an Atlantic Monthly interview:

“I grew up in a house where there was no explanation—there was just practice. It was like eating for me: ‘Okay, I’ve got to eat. I’ve got to sit down and pray and stare at these wild illustrations of Hindu gods.’ My parents completely subscribe to these stories as philosophy, of course, but it’s also very much a religion to them, and they do see these beings as gods. I would ask my father, ‘Dad, do you really think there’s a blue guy out there?’ I couldn’t really narrow him down on that. But he seems to believe it.

So the Ramayana was always something my parents would study and worship, but it had no meaning to me until I read the story. Then I was like, ‘Wow, the characters are so cool. The plot is so cool. What they symbolize is so cool. This totally needs to be told!’ I wanted to use all the skills and the knowledge I’d gained at Pixar to put these ancient stories in a package that’s relatable and entertaining. If I have children, I want them to know something about their cultural mythology in a way that’s fresh and dynamic.”

He’s also asked about finding existing images of the Ramayana before creating his book:

“I realized after doing some research that centuries and centuries ago, The Ramayana wasn’t actually illustrated. It was sung and performed, and the actors would bring it to life with masks and costumes. Then later, there were these amazing sculptures. So I was looking at that for sure. But artists only really depicted certain episodes in the Ramayana. I wanted to show all those other scenes, like the part where they meet Jambavan the bear! If I were a kid, I’d want to see cool icons and badass graphics.

That’s what’s so great about this story. If you want to get into the dogma you can. But on a raw level, these stories are amazing conduits for really deep philosophy. I think that’s uniquely Indian in many ways. It’s this profound stuff but told through stories that common people can completely engage with—avatars and man-gods.”

Are You a Philo Fan?Colleen Scheck, senior producer Are you a...

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:28:49 -0600

Are You a Philo Fan?
Colleen Scheck, senior producer

Are you a Philo fan? Robert Wright is, as you can see in the video above.

Wright devotes a couple of chapters in The Evolution of God to exploring the Hellinistic Jewish philosopher’s influence on religious philosophy. Here, Wright illustrates his view that Philo helped give us both a morally and an intellectually modern God:

“…it’s worth taking a look at the ancient Abrahamic thinker who tried supremely to have it both ways: to see divinity abstractly, as a kind of logic running through history, yet to do so in a way that preserved the emotional satisfaction of traditional religion.”

(photo: Andy Dayton)

My introduction to Philo came through a quote that’s posted on the desk of our managing producer: “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle” (a quote apparently often wrongly attributed to Plato or Socrates).

After hearing Wright talk about Philo, I’ve been digging around to learn more about this man who straddled two worlds, and why, though not widely accepted in his time, he holds resonance for ours. Are you a Philo fan?

Tonight! SOF Live from the New York Public Library » chat while...

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:18:54 -0600

Tonight! SOF Live from the New York Public Library
» chat while you watch on our SOF Live page

Wednesday, March 3, 2010 (7pm Eastern)
Celeste Bartos Forum of The New York Public Library
42nd Street at 5th Avenue
New York, NY

Starting at 6:45pm Eastern tonight, we’ll be streaming live video of a public event with Krista and and Andrew Solomon, a former guest on “The Soul in Depression,” at the New York Public Library on 42nd Street.

Solomon is one of the thinkers in Krista’s new book, Einstein’s God: Conversations about Science and the Human Spirit, which draws on her radio conversations to explore an emerging interface of inquiry between many fields of science, medicine, theology, and philosophy. They’ll be using Einstein’s self-described “cosmic religious sense” as the starting point for a discussion about its intriguing compatibility with 21st-century sensibilities. It should be a lively and fulfilling conversation.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about this conversation. Please add your comments here.

"U.S. Plans New Measure for Poverty"

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 06:03:06 -0600

"U.S. Plans New Measure for Poverty": Shubha Bala, associate producer “It establishes a...

"Checking your Amazon ranking every 7 minutes would qualify as what Buddhists call..."

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:02:25 -0600

“Checking your Amazon ranking every 7 minutes would qualify as what Buddhists call...

Moralist, Moralism, and Morals

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 02:30:23 -0600

Moralist, Moralism, and Morals: Trent Gilliss, online editor A fair amount of righteousness and...

Roger Ebert’s Buddha SmileAndy Dayton, associate web...

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 07:39:05 -0600

Roger Ebert’s Buddha Smile
Andy Dayton, associate web producer

Like many, for most of my life Roger Ebert has been a vaguely familiar and pleasant face — paired with Gene Siskel and opining with his thumbs. And, like many, I was captivated by Chris Jones’ profile of Ebert in a recent issue of Esquire. As a necessary preface to his story, Jones describes how in 2006, after a series of surgeries battling thyroid cancer, Ebert’s jaw was removed — also removing his ability to eat solid foods and talk.

What may sound like a tragedy reads in many ways as a rebirth. The challenges of his new life are very clear, but Ebert seems to have rediscovered himself in a way that he’s made public on his blog and even through his Twitter account. One of the more striking aspects of the Esquire article is a full-page portrait of Ebert that made no attempt to conceal his face, post-jaw removal. Jones describes one aspect of Ebert’s new face in detail:

“… because he’s missing sections of his jaw, and because he’s lost some of the engineering behind his face, Ebert can’t really do anything but smile. It really does take more muscles to frown, and he doesn’t have those muscles anymore. […] Anger isn’t as easy for him as it used to be. Now his anger rarely lasts long enough for him to write it down.”

I was reminded, in a way, of an essay by our recent guest, E. Ethelbert Miller, called “Langston’s Buddha Smile”:

“For me, looking at Langston, with his Buddha smile and easy laugh, makes me think about what it means to possess a poet’s heart. I too have known rivers.”

Obviously, there’s a world of difference between these two smiles in terms of circumstances, but something resonates here with me. Jones’ description of Ebert’s new life seems to hint at spiritual transformation, although perhaps as a self-declared atheist Ebert wouldn’t feel comfortable with that language. Maybe it’s a “poet’s heart” then, but it’s evident in his honest and gracious response to Jones’ profile:

“I mentioned that it was sort of a relief to have that full-page photo of my face. Yes, I winced. What I hated most was that my hair was so neatly combed. Running it that big was good journalism. It made you want to read the article.”

And perhaps moreso in his words on “dying in increments”:

“I was perfectly content before I was born, and I think of death as the same state. What I am grateful for is the gift of intelligence, and for life, love, wonder, and laughter. You can’t say it wasn’t interesting. My lifetime’s memories are what I have brought home from the trip. I will require them for eternity no more than that little souvenir of the Eiffel Tower I brought home from Paris.”

(photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

"The more tedious the work we have, the better. Because part of Crop Mob is about community and..."

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 17:00:00 -0600

“The more tedious the work we have, the better. Because part of Crop Mob is about community...

Moving Stills Trent Gilliss, online editor For those of you...

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:06:00 -0600

Moving Stills
Trent Gilliss, online editor

For those of you still stuck in the office or waiting at home for the night’s activities. The Friday video snack is back.

The Qatar-born photographer Khalid Mohtaseb has received quite a bit of attention for his striking footage (below) of the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake using a still camera (Canon 5d Mark2, if you must know) and a pocket dolly. The technical specs are fun to discuss, but it is his choice of shots and the person behind the eyes that connect me with his subjects. Even the collapsed buildings are put into context by the people moving through them, and not the buildings being the main character. I like that about Mohtaseb. People matter. They’re art forms in and of themselves.

But, I decided to lead off this post with his montage of Lebanon and Egypt. There’s so much happiness and carrying on in the grittiness of circumstances. Children swinging and twirling and playing; young men squatting and smoking and laughing. Even the silent places have a sense of peace about them; the parched, cracked earth teems with life and optimism. If you clicked on one thing, I didn’t want you to deny yourself this slice of singing beauty.

For a few minutes, I’m transported and know somebody else, some other world — and then remember my wife and children and find my silent smile. Time to find home.

The Arrow of Time?

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:55:17 -0600

The Arrow of Time?: Shubha Bala, associate producer (image: Toni Verdú...