The Paths To Understanding Podcast

A popular social media post notes “The late CBS News Anchor Walter Cronkhite read the news and kept his opinions to himself”. This resonates with many at a time of polarization that rivals, if not exceeds that of the 1960’s…and information that conflicts with personal opinion is viewed as fake.  In reality, Cronkhite pointedly revealed the difference between government accounts and the reality of...

Muskwa Park is a place steeped in history and tragedy. Now a sacred meeting place for the Cree Nation in Alberta, Canada…it was once the site of a Catholic-run residential boarding school. Memories of the abuses committed there continue to haunt Indigenous Canadians. And it was clear those abuses haunt Pope Francis…who came to the park to meet with tribal leaders…and apologize for those abuses. Th...

In last week’s edition of Challenge 2.0, we spoke with a documentary producer who explored the impact of our criminal justice system-not only on those imprisoned, but on their families and entire communities. We continue our exploration on the changes needed to keep prison from becoming a life sentence for entire generations, and also hear from  faith leaders who are seeking to end what they call...

A prison sentence doesn’t impact just the person incarcerated…it affects entire families. This week we talk with a college professor and documentary producer who examines the impact of our justice system. She shares ideas on needed changes to keep prison from becoming a life sentence for entire generations, and how she’s enlisting others to make such changes reality.   

In last week’s edition of Challenge 2.0, we examined a program that allows men and women to pursue education while still in prison; a program that enables them to build a new life and stay out of prison. This week, we examine a program called Underground Ministries, in which faith communities adopt a prisoner to ease their transition to life beyond bars.  

Find out more at pathstounderstanding.org   ‘They paid their debt to society’. That phrase is supposed to describe how someone convicted of a crime, and done their time, should be free to rebuild their life and that of their families. That’s not reality. But an imaginative program based in Seattle is aimed at transforming that situation. In this edition of Challenge 2.0; Emerging from the Prison B...

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org In this episode of Wisdom from Our Neighborhood, Terry talk with Nina Fernando. Nina serves as the Executive Director of the Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign (S2S). S2S is an interfaith organization that works across the nation to counter anti-Mulsim bigotry. Terry...

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org   http://chris-hoke.com/undergroundministries   Terry is joined by the executive director of Underground Ministries: Since 2015 I’ve found a level of friendship, electric spiritual reflection, and heartbending stories in relationship with the incarcerated. The lo...

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org In last week’s edition of Challenge 2.0, we joined the two thousand mile journey of a totem pole created by the Lummi Nation House of Tears carvers. We also joined a discussion of what that journey represents and what it calls for-a change in our relationship to...

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org The Spirit of the Waters Totem Pole Journey in May stretched over seventeen days and more than two thousand miles. But the journey of this sixteen foot pole, created by the Lummi Nation House of Tears carvers, extends much farther in time. It reviews the relation...

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org In last week’s edition of Challenge 2.0, faith leaders from Judaism, Christianity and Islam looked at the environmental crisis and how it models a crisis within our lives-our faiths, our values. We continue and expand that conversation this week, looking at how s...

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org Last year brought the hottest month ever recorded on this planet, the longest drought ever recorded over the western United States and record rainfall and flooding over the eastern United States. Climate researchers agree it is a crisis demanding careful science...

The Christian church recently celebrated Pentecost, which observes the descent of the Holy Spirit upon people of all nations, ethnicity and races. As Deacon Joseph Connor noted in last week’s edition of Challenge 2.0, the reality is that no faith is truly color blind, offering equal welcome or opportunities for leadership to all. We continue that conversation this week.   

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org Seven years ago, a twenty one year old white man walked into a predominantly black church in South Carolina, opened fire and killed nine members of that faith community.  Most religious communities condemned the action and beliefs of Dylan Roof. But many  have al...

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org In last weeks’ edition of Challenge 2.0, we began a conversation with two prominent atheists/humanists. What do those terms mean? Does their disbelief mean they don’t share common values with those who do profess a religious faith? Is there room for collaborative...

Terry is joined by Devin Burghart of Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights to discuss countering the right wing populist movement that has coalesced in the last 10 years. Terry and Devin discuss this movement, how it has changed, and what role each of us can play to counter it. Devin Burghart is president of Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights and coordinates the Se...

They are children with great needs but little ability to express them. The challenge these children and their families face have often resisted traditional therapies. But a talented recording Seattle artist has developed a program that harnesses the power of music to give these young people a voice and a future that once seemed impossible. That’s the focus of this week’s Challenge 2.0-Singing Away...

Parenting is never an easy job, but the demands of parenting expanded during the pandemic. It wasn’t confined to teaching or supervising remote schooling. Parents also needed to help guide their children through the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Brianna Taylor, the increasing gulf between the haves and have nots plus the violent takeover the US Capitol. In this edition of Challenge 2....

The death of a teenager from bone cancer seems to be an unlikely source of inspiration. But it led to the establishment of a unique camp that has lifted the spirits of thirty five thousand children and their families; each facing life altering medical conditions. Camp Korey is an inspiring story of compassion, connection and personal transformation; a story that offers lessons even to families who...

In last week’s edition of Challenge 2.0, we examined the connection but also the tension between personal rights and personal responsibilities…a tension which has increased during the COVID pandemic. In “No One Tells Me What to Do-Part Two”, we continue this discussion on the implications, the dangers of this tension, and what balance is needed. 

Sixty one million Americans have been diagnosed with COVID as of this date-eight hundred and thirty eight thousand have died. The COVID Pandemic is proof of our interconnection, our interdependence. Yet instead of focusing on how we can meet and beat this threat together, we’re hearing much about personal ‘rights’. That’s the focus of this edition of Challenge 2.0, “No One Tells Me What to Do”.  

When we celebrate holidays such as Christmas or Hanukkah, seasons marked less by personal or collective celebrations of faith and more by gatherings at stores-online or brick and mortar. Is this so much a trend related to a decline in religious faith or a larger question of what our society has come to value? That’s the subject of this weeks’ Challenge 2.0-“In Shopping We Trust”. 

Like it or not, Christmas has become the most commercialized holiday in the U.S. Americans spend over 600 billion dollars on the holiday, compared to 6 billion dollars for Halloween-the second most commercialized holiday. One in five Americans go into debt to finance their gift and decoration purchases. What is lost by the focus on consumer spending? What are alternatives? That’s the focus of this...

Learn more about Paths to Understanding at https://www. PathsToUnderstanding.org Join the Paths Network at https://www. PathsNetwork.org Health impacts have been the most recognized cost of the COVID epidemic. But perhaps a longer lived impact will be on the learning and future of today’s children. The damage depends upon where the children live and attend school. In this edition of Challenge 2.0,...

Chief Seattle is among the best known of Native American leaders. A tribe he led, the Duwamish, were the first to sign the Treaty of Point Elliott in 1855.  Yet the Duwamish people have been denied federal recognition. This episode will examine the struggle of the Duwamish and the prospects to achieve the recognition promised more than a century ago.