Spirit in Action

Eric Foner is one of the preeminent US historians, particularly for the period of the 1800s involving slavery, the Civil War, & Reconstruction. His latest book is Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad , which follows The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln & American Slavery .

Robert Wolf, author of  Building the Agricultural City: A Handbook for Rural Renewal  advocates a move away from globalization and toward regionalism. Robert is co-host today, completely in charge of the 2nd half of this program. Robert is also author of American Mosaic , and has a vision of government small enough to be responsive, but large enough to accommodate the diverse needs of a...

All ages, all personalities, all disciplines have their roles in world-healing. Peterson Toscano of  Citizen's Climate Radio  is host today, speaking with all kinds of folks, including an environmental engineer in the Caribbean,  Dr.

Some things just beg to be called evil, and when we see them we cry out "Why?" Charlene Embrey Burns traces 1000's of years of answers to that question in  Christian Understandings of Evil: The Historical Trajectory , and talks of her grappling with evil in both personal and wider religious experience. Past/current religious/spiritual influences: Buddhism, Episcopalian, Meditation,&...

Joe Luginbill  is a prodigy and unstoppable dynamo. As Eau Claire's youngest ever elected official, he joined the school board at 20, powerfully influencing policies on transgender, homeless, sustainability issues, and much more. Strong, young, local, progressive officials are crucial in healing our nation, and Joe stands high among them.

Kim Callinan is Chief Program Officer of  Compassion & Choices , an organization that works for and attempts to empower personal choice in end-of-life decisions. After Oregon approved the Death With Dignity Act in 1997, other states have continued and advanced the ways in which medical consumers were put in control of their own life decisions. The latest initiative by  Compassion &am...

Scott MacLeod is founder & president of  World University and School (WUaS) , an effort to make a high-quality, versatile, free education available to all who desire it, via the Internet. Drawing on wiki technology and with a tremendous supply creative commons-licensed open courseware from MIT & Yale, WUaS is launching its first 4-year class this fall. This project aims to make the ed...

It's time for a super-charged, profoundly-rooted, sustainable and transformative revolution, and Chris Moore-Backman has an inspired take on the needed way forward. He is the author  The Gandhian Iceberg: A Nonviolence Manifesto for the Age of the Great Turning , loaded with thoughts, words, and images which will radically enrich the path of all who read it. Chris has a couple decades experie...

A vital part of improving the world is organizing people by getting the word out, which is the work of  The Progressive Populist  and its editor/founder, Jim Cullen. The populist movement and it's message prioritizing people over corporations has be transforming this country since the 1880's, and continues to do so today.

We care about & for that which we know, so  B.J. Hollars  leads us into  Flock Together: A Love Affair with Extinct Birds . While captivating & enjoyable, B.J. also narrates a story that is deeply compelling in how we live in relationship to our world. He is founder of  Chippewa Valley Writers Guild and associate professor of English at UW-Eau Claire. Among his other bo...

Students of higher education have valuable knowledge & skills to offer to organizations outside of school walls, and rural areas can provide real-life opportunity & experience to such students, while helping bridge the town-gown gap.

Ash Kyrie  spent 18 months serving the USA as a Wisconsin National Guardsperson sent to Iraq, and it changed him. The road home to fullness includes time with other vets, support from family & community, and a long peace march in Japan, plus lots of subsequent Japanese connections. And art that helps bridge the gap from soldier to civilian, and war zone to back home.

Josette Jackson is an ordained Unity pastor, international speaker, spiritual educator, and peace educator, who helps Unity and the wider world tap into the power of  Nonviolent Communication,  A Season of Nonviolence: 64 Ways in 64 Days , and  Inclusivity 101 , and more. As an African-American, Josette can help lead predominantly white groups to wider inclusively and empowerment.

Guest host for the week is  Peterson Toscano of Citizens' Climate Radio , speaking with Chandler Green on discussing climate issues with Republicans, poet & writer  Lilace Mellin Guignard , Elke Arnesen of the  Put A Price On It  campaign, Dr. Natasha DeJarnett on the health risks of a warmer planet, Dr.

Three strong men among the thousands led to the confrontation with the DAPL (Dakota Access Pipeline) at Standing Rock.  Myron Buchholz  was born & raised in North Dakota, and both  Ash Kyrie  &  Kevin Basl  felt called to join the Oceti Sakowin Camp for a variety of reasons, including as part of the Veterans Stand.

Nelia Sargent is a life-long activist, with decades under her belt doing and teaching nonviolence methods, coming of age with the anti-nuclear organization called the Clamshell Alliance . She's chair of the board of the Albert Einstein Institution , founded by Gene Sharp to advance the study & use of nonviolent action.

Today's topic is  Venerable Women: Transform Ourselves, Transform the World , a book and work into which Dawn Morningstar was launched by a statement by the Dalai Lama,  "The world will be saved by the Western woman" . As a Master Coach from Learning Journeys, a former DJ in the Twin Cities on a show called Delicious Conversations, and as a passionate advocate for love, light and laughte...

Aaron Dunn makes the world a better place as co-founder & medical director of  Community Connections Free Clinic  in Dodgeville, WI, through his use of Integrative Medicine, and with the music he makes as part of the  PointFiveBand.com . What's not to love in such a free & charitable doctor?

A visit with Texas-raised attorney J.E. McNeil about the need to hear each other beyond the liberal/conservative, urban/rural, ivory tower/commonfolk divides, what holds us back, and how to bridge the gap. J.E. is the former executive director of the  Center on Conscience & War  and author of a  review of the book  Dark Money  in Friends Journal . Also part of this dis...

Iranian-born Fathali Moghaddam is the editor of Peace & Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology , from the American Psychological Association .

We ask 3 sustainable energy professionals about their visions of our future, both technologically and personally, living responsibly on the Earth. We speak with Jeff Knutsen of A-A Exteriors , Jim Olson of E3 Coalition , and Zeus Stark of Next Step Energy . Who and how will we be as we grow into a responsible energy future?

What led Prairie Cutting (now Sister Confianza del Señor) & Beth Blodgett (now Sister Alegria del Señor) to leave the USA & create the Methodist-Quaker Amigas del Señor Monastery in Honduras? One key motivation was a calling to lead a life of poverty, explained in an article in Western Friend called Overcoming Need .  

The dramatic events at the Standing Rock Reservation are inspiring support for the work there, but also in many places across the country where the same kind of work is needed to care for our land, water, & future. The  Chippewa Valley Earth Keepers (CVEK)  were birthed in September, 2016, and have hit the ground running, making both practical and inspirational differences for our Ea...

Anne Hills  opens eyes and changes hearts & minds with the kind of beautiful music that obviates the need of any kind of lecture, putting us all in the same family and with the same cause. Because her day job is in the social work domain, she has plenty of opportunities to work on concrete on-the-ground improvements, at the same time she uplifts and inspires us with her music. All songs i...

Katherine van Wormer's  book,  The Maid Narratives: Black Domestics and White Families in the Jim Crow South  draws on interviews from black maids and white women who had maids, to understand the reality of segregation, its norms, and its consequences.