The ThinkND Podcast

Episode Topic: The Journey The Truce operates on several different levels. It is a richly detailed account of an actual journey of nine months, on trains, on foot, on horse drawn cart, across mountains, rivers, and plains, through Poland, the USSR, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Germany, and finally Italy; it gives realistic descriptions of the temporary communities that spring up in the var...

Episode Topic: The Thaw: The Many Meanings of 'Truce' The Truce , written in 1962, takes up where If This is a Man left off, recounting Primo Levi’s epic journey on trains, on foot, and on horse-and-cart, as he makes his way across war-scarred Europe from liberated Auschwitz back to Turin. But it is also a psychological journey from disenchantment to re-enchantment, from imprisonment to...

Episode Topic: The Church in China Today This discussion focuses on the Church in China today. Some surveys suggest that Christians are four percent of the Chinese population, perhaps about 50-60 million believers. Thus, the population of Christian believers in China is greater than that of most European countries. The substantial presence of Christianity in China reflects the significant legacy o...

Episode Topic: The Relationship Between Buddhism and Christianity in China This discussion of The Church in Asia focused on the relationship between Buddhism and Christianity in China. In China, Buddhism was in close contact with Confucianism and Taoism almost from the beginning, and ultimately with Christianity, including Catholicism. While Buddhism has distinct teachings on the human person, its...

Episode Topic: Origins and Development of the Christian Church in China, Christian Missions This discussion traces the beginning of Christianity in China, when missionaries from the Church of East entered the country in the sixth century, and introduced their religion as Jingjiao — Teaching of Light. The next missionary group that came to China were from the newly-founded Society of Jesus, who arr...

Episode Topic: (In)civilities Survival for marginalized folks requires communication skills and understanding power dynamics in ways that often result in polite and/or civil discourse. This final session in the Civil Discourse: Becoming a Better Conversation Partner series examines how we survive through politeness, the consequences of such politeness, and how politeness is policed through power s...

Episode Topic: The Freedom to Listen Beyond recognizing the inherent importance of public discourse to democracy, a reckoning must be made that listening itself constitutes discourse as much as does speech — that in formulations such as free expression, the incessant equation of speech with discourse, conversation and discussion, obscures the fact that there is no speaking without listening. To li...

Episode Topic: What is the Role of Business to Reduce Polarization in Our Society? Over the past decade, two trends have collided: Polarization in our society has steadily increased in its breadth and severity, and business leaders have been asked to take a more active role in society’s issues. Is that part of the problem, or can business be a force for good to combat polarization and help us find...

Episode Topic: Navigating the Paths to Migration What is the current reality in Central America and why are people leaving the region? Global affairs experts will provide context to this question by giving an overview of the current levels of migration, its various drivers, and the different ways people and organizations are responding. Featured Speakers:  Tom Hare, Senior Technical Associate, Pul...

Episode Topic: Voices from Central America Central American policymakers and researchers will join us in a discussion to analyze the role that governments, civil society, and the private sector play in regional development. Featured Speakers:  Tom Hare, Senior Technical Associate, Pulte Institute for Global Development Hugo Noé Pino, Honduran Economist and Former President & Minister of Financ...

Episode Topic: Creating Action for Safe, Dignified Migration Our final session of the series will explore what the United States, businesses, the church, and each of us as global citizens can do to create safe, dignified paths for migrants. Featured Speakers:  Michael Camilleri, Senior Advisor to the USAID Administrator and Executive Director of USAID’s Northern Triangle Task Force, United States...

Episode Topic: On the Shakespeare Trail Trailers are everywhere. No longer only in the movie theatre, they fill our televisions and are all over the web. One major area of Shakespeare marketing that Shakespeare scholarship has almost completely ignored is the film — and now also the theatre — trailer. Peter Holland considers how they conceptualize and lure us into watching on-screen and live versi...

Episode Topic: Shakespeare and Community: Emerging Voices Shakespeare remains the world’s most produced and studied playwright. However, these pursuits have disenfranchised significant segments of society by perpetuating a cultural elitism that belies the notion of accessibility inherent in his works. In the 20th century, a movement of programs, designed with and for the incarcerated, the differen...

Episode Topic: The Heart’s Desire & Educational Access Rev. Dan Groody, C.S.C., interviews Notre Dame Trustee and Fellow Sara Martinez Tucker. She will discuss her passion for expanding educational access for the nation's youth. Sara served as undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Education. She was nominated to that post, the nation's top higher education official, by President G...

Episode Topic: The Heart’s Desire & Being on the Margins Fr. Dan Groody interviews Notre Dame Vice President for University Relations Lou Nanni. Lou will describe how he discerned his “heart’s desire” at a young age and begin creating social change through his professional career. For two years following graduation he served as a lay missioner working in Santiago, Chile, shantytown as part of...

Episode Topic: The Heart’s Desire & Listening for Vocation Fr. Dan Groody interviews Parker Palmer, a world- renowned writer, speaker, activist, and founder and Senior Partner Emeritus of the Center for Courage & Renewal. His wisdom has reached millions worldwide through his ten books, including the bestselling Healing the Heart of Democracy, Let Your Life Speak, The Courage to Teach, and...

Episode Topic: Who was Raphael? The Artist, His World, and His Painting This week we will meet Raphael. We’ll start in his birthplace and follow his travels and growth from a young orphan to an independent master. From Urbino, to Umbria, to Florence, and finally to Rome, we’ll see how his self-education prepared him for painting in the papal palace. Featured Speakers:  David Mayernik, Associate Pr...

Episode Topic: What is Fresco Painting? Materials and Process This week we will learn about the fresco painting process: What were the materials involved, and how did the artist prepare and paint on the wall? Follow along as a fresco copy of a figure from the School of Athens brings the ancient process to life. Featured Speakers:  David Mayernik, Associate Professor, School of Architecture, Univer...

Episode Topic: What Does it All Mean? The Painting and its Subject Finally, we come to terms with the School of Athens. How was it painted, and what does it mean? How do how it was painted and what it means intersect? Featured Speakers:  David Mayernik, Associate Professor, School of Architecture, University of Notre Dame Read this episode's recap over on the University of Notre Dame's o...

Episode Topic:   Inspiring Girls to Achieve Raised on a sugarcane farm in rural Western Kenya, Dr. Juliana Otieno was an exceptionally bright child and at age 14 was called to a top national school. Her family could not afford to send her, but her village took up a collection so she could go. It was a kindness she would never forget and has paid back several times over. Dr. Otieno would return to...

Episode Topic:   The Art of Creating Renaissance This Tuesday’s discussion will be the “The Art of Creating Renaissance” and features Paul Grangaard, the Chairman and CEO of Faribault Woolen Mill Co. and former CEO of Allen Edmonds, two roles he assumed after leaving senior leadership roles in financial services. Paul’s leadership has transformed these iconic businesses, which are also the corners...

Episode Topic: Leadership Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Pandemic It sounds liberating and exciting to own your own business, but it also feels risky — a drawback that’s been clearly exposed this past pandemic year. Our next Inspiring Conversations speaker knows all about the risk and reward of entrepreneurship. John Ebert ’82 left the comforts of a stable career with an established firm for...

Episode Topic: Chosen to Lead While the residents of Sorin Hall often seize the opportunity to sit down with their priest in residence, Notre Dame President Emeritus Rev. Edward A. “Monk” Malloy, C.S.C., it’s a prospect that doesn’t often present itself to the rest of the world. But here’s your chance! Join us for this week’s Inspiring Conversations session: “Chosen to Lead.” We will have the oppo...

Episode Topic: The Myths and Terrible Truths of Human Trafficking Human trafficking is a horrible reality in our world today. Our guest speakers this week have dedicated their lives and careers to addressing this issue, working alongside consecrated women from around the world as part of the Talitha Kum network. Sister Gabriella Bottani, S.M.C., and Sister Ann Oestreich I.H.M., will spend this hou...

Episode Topic: The American Justice System and the Future During this session of Inspiring Conversations, we will discuss “The American Justice System and the Future" with Attorney General for the District of Columbia Karl Racine and Richard (Dick) Nussbaum '74, Partner at Sopko, Nussbaum, Inabnit & Kaczmarek in South Bend, Ind. In our time together, Mr. Racine will share about his p...