Now you can listen to the latest Sound & Spirit broadcasts right here!
Every week, a number of the most recent programs will be available for on-demand listening. You'll need RealPlayer to hear the files.
You can also find more shows available for listening online listed "Alphabetically": If it says "Listen" under a program, you can hear it on RealPlayer.
Week of August 31, 2008
Teachers and Students
"Every time an old man dies, it is as if a library burned down" says a griot of Mali, and for them it is true - much of their peoples' tradition is taught in songs from one generation to the next. Ellen Kushner speaks with Los Angeles teacher Rafe Esquith and explores the spiritual dimensions of the relation between teachers and their students, and music of teachers ranging from the Sieur de Sainte Colombe and Nadia Boulanger to the Rev. Gary Davis and Malian griots.
Week of August 24, 2008
Tricksters
Discover why the trickster lives to play tricks, and plays tricks to live! From male culture heroes to prodigal daughters, Bugs Bunny to Dennis Rodman and the Native American Coyote to the West African Spider, Ellen Kushner explores global traditions of the trickster. We'll hear music from Spike Jones and Richard Strauss, and talk with storyteller Bill Harley about how trickster sneaks into our own lives everyday!
Week of August 17, 2008
Walking the Path
A journey on foot - in a meditative circle, through a complex maze, or to a sacred destination - can be a profound religious experience. From medieval pilgrimages and the labyrinth of Chartres Cathedral, to Buddhist walking meditation and Dreamtime walkabouts in the Australian outback, trace some of these spiritual paths with host Ellen Kushner and hear some of the music and insights they offer.
Week of August 10, 2008
Water
Water...It ensures our survival - and according to some, purifies our soul, heals our infirmities and nurtures our spirit. Join Ellen Kushner as she explores the influence of water in all its forms through music from medieval Europe, modern Spain, and even the Sons of the Pioneers! We'll discover how to bring rain, learn the bathing rituals of a Moorish princess and much more.
Week of August 3, 2008
Sacrifice
Sacrifice...the ritualized killing and destruction of plants, animals or people in worship of a higher power: Over the centuries, it has been a critical element of spiritual connection for people around the world. Sacrifice turns up in a wide variety of ways: From the Passion of Christ to the Sun Dance of the Lakota people; the Biblical Binding of Isaac to English harvest folksongs or patriotic acts of gallantry. Ellen Kushner explores the complex meanings of sacrifice in our lives.
Week of July 27, 2008
Cities
Cities - for some, they're an endless candybox of possibility and excitement! But for others, cities can frightening and alienating. Join Ellen Kushner this week as Sound & Spirit explores the heart, soul and sounds of the City, from the thrill of making it in New York to the mysteries of ancient Damascus; the loneliness of the immigrant looking for work to the romance of a night on the town with the tango in Buenos Aires.
Week of July 20, 2008
Sisterhood
Sisterhood is beautiful...and complicated...and sometimes just a little murderous! It's also a model for the deepest kind of friendship. Ellen Kushner joins the sorority of the Brontes, the Andrews, the McGarrigles - we'll learn from the wisdom of the African American Delany Sisters, taste the inspired silliness of the Roches and more - in a celebration of the inescapable intimacy of sisters.
Week of July 13, 2008
Stuff
Too much Stuff--but can't seem to get rid of it?!? Sound & Spirit explores our relationship to the objects of daily life, their emotional and spiritual pull. Ellen Kushner looks at spiritual disciplines of East and West that seek to dissolve our attachment to Stuff, explores cultures that venerate certain physical objects and holy relics, considers the personal and community spirit that goes into creating practical works of art such as quilts, and looks at what makes musical instruments around the world appear to have a spirit all their own.
Week of July 6, 2008
Spiritual Resistance
Ellen Kushner explores our own quiet, internal resistance, a stubborn survival skill that brings us strength to keep from going under. We'll hear how music helps to resist the oppression imposed by silence, from the cantata of a baroque nun to the cabaret music of the Warsaw Ghetto. And we'll talk with a modern Tai Chi master about how this Eastern physical and spiritual discipline teaches resistance through suppleness and yielding.
- Listen
- Playlist
- Steve Jackowicz interview transcript
- Transcript
Week of June 29, 2008
What I Did for Love
What have you done for love? On this week's Sound & Spirit, host Ellen Kushner looks into the human psyche to explore how -- and why -- love changes us in astonishing ways. We'll hear real-life stories of death-defying risk, artistic expression and seemingly impossible feats -- all for love! Music tells the story, whether it's a medieval troubador battling incredible odds, or a classical composer encoding love letters into his score... Christine Lavin going to the opera to impress a new boyfriend, or an Estonian immigrant who crosses the ocean for a new life... it's all part of the transformative power of love!
Week of June 22, 2008
Marriage
Sound & Spirit's "Weddings" show has been one of our most popular - but what happens after the bells have stopped ringing? Ellen Kushner explores the many dimensions of marriage, from the joyous to the bittersweet (and even the disastrous!), in a wide-ranging program of music, myth, poetry, and wisdom.
Week of June 15, 2008
Gamelan, The (New Music Ancient Spirit)
An orchestra of gongs, chimes, drums, flutes and voices: a Gamelan! In Bali and Java, islands of Indonesia, they are played for pleasure - and for the gods. Ellen Kushner shares the wonderful sounds of traditional gamelans and talks with American composers Paul Dresher and the late Lou Harrison about how the sound and spirit of the gamelan has infused their work.
Week of June 8, 2008
Monkey
From Hanuman the Hindu monkey god and other divinely associated simians in Egyptian, Greek and Chinese Buddhist lore, to Taoist and Jewish fables and negative depictions of monkeys in Christian and Islamic tradition - Sound & Spirit explores the fascinating myth, legend and folklore about monkeys. Join Ellen Kushner for a look at the animal whose uncanny resemblance to humans has given rise to a wide range of stories, images and music, a range that reflects our ambivalence towards a creature so like and yet so unlike us.
Week of June 1, 2008
Borderlands
Sound & Spirit invites you to walk the Borderlands: a shared space between two worlds, a place where they meet and combine to make something new and vital. Explore the lively music and blend of traditions of the Tex/Mex border, the misty border between myth and reality where dreams are born, and the borders in our lives when we pass from one stage of life to the next. Join Ellen Kushner for life on the border on Sound & Spirit.
Week of May 25, 2008
To End All War
More than 80 years after the end of World War I, the stories and images of the Great War continue to inspire and move us to a greater understanding of our century and of ourselves. Ellen Kushner examines the "War to End All Wars" through some of the rich and moving poetry and music of its artists, including English poets Wilfred Owen and Rupert Brooke, German novelist Erich Maria Remarque and composer Benjamin Britten.
Week of May 18, 2008
Romani (Gypsy) Voices
This week on Sound & Spirit, host Ellen Kushner explores the 1,000 year-old culture of the Roma, a remarkable people often known as the Gypsies. We'll learn about their origins in India, be introduced to some of their cultural wisdom, and hear from contemporary Romani poets. And we'll hear lots of great music from India and Turkey, from Macedonia and Romania, from Spain and France, and more!
Week of May 11, 2008
Motherhood
Mothers give life and they give music - from the lullabies they sing to the compositions they inspire. Join Ellen Kushner for a worldwide musical celebration of motherhood, with insights on parenting from guest Rosalie Sorrels - including her famous "Hostile Baby-rocking Song".
Week of May 4, 2008
When Musics Meet
Whenever people meet, their separate worlds join for a while - and each can learn something from the other. Ellen Kushner explores the music that happens when cultures meet: Join her for some glorious sounds as an Afghani caravan collides with a Pakistani trader's music; Tahitians discover Christian hymns; and American jazz man Warren Senders teams up with classical musicians from India.
Week of April 27, 2008
A Ring of Bells
Ringing, pealing or tolling, bells strike both ears and souls. Explore the music, myth and poetry of bells with Ellen Kushner, from change-ringing in English country churches, to the singing bowls of Tibet...from the majesty of a Russian Easter, to healing services deep in the Indonesian forests.
Week of April 20, 2008
Gardens
This week on Sound & Spirit, host Ellen Kushner heads into the garden to see what's growing there. We'll go from the earthy satisfaction of getting our hands grubby and enjoying home-grown tomatoes, to a look at the spiritual dimensions of imagining our very lives and souls to be themselves a garden. The music in this award-winningprogram will range from a Navajo chant to an Armenian hymn. We'll also hear songs about love in a garden from Bulgaria, Texas and medieval France... and we'll learn the importance of gardens in the Baha'i faith.
Week of April 13, 2008
Santería
Look closely at the rich tapestry of Cuban music and everywhere you'll find the Afro-Cuban religion known as Santería. A vibrant tradition with deep connections to music, Santería rhythms and rituals have popped up all over the musical map. Ellen Kushner looks at Santería and the powerful music tied to its history and practices, from ancient Africa to modern Cuba and beyond.
Week of April 6, 2008
From Canterbury to Graceland
Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" told of a band of medieval pilgrims making their way to the shrine of St. Thomas a Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. Over the centuries not just poetry but reams of wonderful music were written to honor the saint. The Canterbury pilgrimages are all but ended, but people still travel long distances to the graves of persons invested with mythic power. Some say that ELVIS is the new King of American Pilgrimage! Join Ellen Kushner as she examines the evidence and plays music from the Middle Ages to Memphis!
Week of March 30, 2008
Storytelling
Around the world and through the ages, people have turned to music to tell their stories. Whether it's an old Irish ballad of love and death that goes on for dozens of verses, or three pithy lines from a Tex-Mex corrido about politics on the border; an African story of family pride, or a contemporary American tale of self-examination; there's something about the way words and music intertwine that makes a whole greater than the sum of its parts.
Week of March 23, 2008
Easter
The divine mysteries of Easter have been the keystone of Christian worship for centuries -- but the Easter story doesn't belong only to church. In this special Sound & Spirit Easter presentation, host Ellen Kushner examines how the story of the Easter resurrection and renewal is played out in music and stories around the world and through the ages, from the plains of Hungary to the mountains of Peru . . . medieval mystics to Spanish flamenco . . . American blues to Bulgarian chant . . . Join Ellen Kushner as Sound & Spirit celebrates "The People's Passion."
Week of March 16, 2008
Esther: The Feast of Masks
This Sound & Spirit program is a unique performance piece made up of story and music written and narrated by Ellen Kushner, and features music recorded live in the studio! Experience the Biblical story of Esther, juxtaposed with the stories of four modern characters: Rita, a New York wife, defies her husband... Ida, a quiet schoolteacher, struggles with questions of "passing" in America... Natalie, an American diplomat in Rwanda, views a mounting tragedy and must make a difficult choice... Nate, a high school student, must stand up to his homophobic friend. With original arrangements of music ranging from African anthems to blues, folk and 50's pop songs, performed by Ellen and three of Boston's finest musicians.
- Ellen's Esther Page
- Listen
- Watch on the WGBH Forum Network
- About this Program
- Playlist & artist bios
- Resources
- The Making of Esther
- Feedback
- Transcript
Week of March 9, 2008
Singing
Singing sustains, comforts and liberates the human spirit everywhere. A song may blossom as a communal expression or as the soul-searing journey of a solitary singer. Join Ellen Kushner -- and a vast array of voices from different times and places -- as they explore the power of singing for healing, high art and happiness.
Week of March 2, 2008
Women Mystics
Abbess Hildegard of Bingen, Shaker leader Anne Lee, Indian poet Mirabai, Sufi mystic Rabia... These women from different traditions shared an uncanny language of sacred ecstasy. Over the centuries, they wrote and sang as if they sensed that their rapturous visions would be for all time. Join Ellen Kushner for the poetry, music and remarkably good sense of women mystics - Christian, Muslim and Hindu - whose words and music still have great meaning for us today.
Week of February 24, 2008
Home Cooking
Everyone has some food that reminds them of home - of childhood, family, and special moments in the kitchen... Ellen Kushner invites you into the Sound & Spirit kitchen for a tribute to the songs and stories of home cooking! From Romania to Lebanon, the Caribbean to Italy, explore challah and tapioca, soup and soul food - and maybe some of your favorite home-cooked foods.
Week of February 17, 2008
Out of Africa: The Spirit of Mbira
A land of many sounds and cultures, Africa is the cradle of some of the world's most spirited and spiritual music. Beginning with the complex sound and meaning of the mbira ("thumb piano"), Ellen Kushner engages in a fascinating dialogue with Zimbabwean mbira player and religious leader Stella Chiweshe about her life, music and beliefs... We'll also hear from contemporary non-Africans whose music has been influenced by mbira, including the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Steve Tibbetts, and the Kronos Quartet.
- Listen
- Playlist
- Stella Chiweshe interview transcript
- Stella Chiweshe's complete conversation with Ellen
- Links
- Transcript
Week of February 10, 2008
My Better Half
From Edvard and Nina Grieg to Gala and Salvador Dalí, Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears to Lotte Lenya and Kurt Weill, Sound & Spirit explores the intimate, extraordinary, sometimes unusual relationships crafted by two people in love. Hear words and music by and about significant others, and sample the sweet fruits of conjugal affection and creative partnership.
Week of February 3, 2008
Carnival
Carnival. . . Mardi Gras . . . Fat Tuesday. . . the gateway to the Lenten season, when worldly pleasures are forsworn. For centuries it's been a time of celebration when the world turns upside down and the rules run riot in an excess of food and music, costume and revelry. In this program, Sound & Spirit host Ellen Kushner follows the festival around the world and through the ages, from its medieval origins to the 19th-century German carnival music of Robert Schumann; to the samba schools of Brazil and Haiti's frenetic celebrations; to the African American Mardi Gras "Indians" of New Orleans.
Week of January 27, 2008
Kalevala
See also "Out of Finland."
The great national epic of Finland known as the Kalevala is a huge tapestry of stories of love and heroism, family struggles and magical adventures. The music it has inspired ranges from the chants of ancient Finnish folksingers to the lush classical compositions of Sibelius. Hear all this, plus a stirring new feminist interpretation by contemporary singer Ruth MacKenzie, as Ellen Kushner explores the music and magic of Finland's Kalevala.
Week of January 20, 2008
Heroes
Heroes - old and new - in myth, in history, and in our lives. Join Ellen Kushner for songs and stories about heroes from around the world and through the ages, and a talk with scholar/writer Carol Pearson about the journey that we undertake as modern-day heroes.
- Listen
- Playlist
- Bibliography
- Carol Pearson interview transcript
- Transcript
Week of January 13, 2008
Out of Finland
See also "Kalevala."
Finland - a small country with a huge tradition of music and myth. Join Ellen Kushner to discover the roots of today's exciting Finnish music, from pagan magical chants to 19th century classical sounds...including the Arctic people known as the Sami, whose compelling music, called joikking, has preserved their extraordinary spirit from the deepest past into the modern age.
Week of January 6, 2008
The Road to Santiago
Is life a pilgrimage from birth to death, and perhaps beyond? In this award-winning program, host Ellen Kushner explores this metaphor for the human experience through the music of the 500-mile long, one thousand year-old pilgrimage to the shrine of Santiago de Compostela. Hear about the pilgrim's journey, from Dante Alighieri, medieval author of The Divine Comedy, to Jack Hitt, modern author of Off the Road: A Modern-Day Walk Down the Pilgrim's Route into Spain.
Week of December 30, 2007
Cycles
As the calendar turns, many of us pause to reflect on the patterns that shape our year and our lives. Ellen Kushner examines the various passages in human life that mark significant changes, and how they are observed and celebrated in poetry, legend and music.
Week of December 23, 2007
Harps
How can a few strings on a triangular frame touch the soul of so many people? From Africa to France, Scotland to Peru, harps are found the world over - and beyond (dare we mention Heaven?)! Ellen Kushner explores the magic of the harp - friend to Irish bards, muse to the orchestra and biblical companion to the voice of God - and reads an excerpt from her novel Thomas the Rhymer.
Week of December 16, 2007
Food of the Gods
Join Ellen Kushner and explore the myths, legends and customs associated with the preparation, serving and consumption of sacred meals where community is formed with both divine and human members. Enjoy a taste of the music, poetry, and stories associated with food and drink that is fit for divinities!
Week of December 9, 2007
The New Klezmorim
From its Eastern European roots, Klezmer music followed Ashkenazic Jewish culture around the world, transmuting as it encountered other traditions. Ellen Kushner follows Klezmer from its earliest days of cross-fertilization with Balkan Gypsy dance music, to America and its meeting with African-American Jazz, and on into the 21st century as new Klez bands hit fusion with a techno bang. We'll also use Klezmer's journey to explore what it means to be a Jew in a changing world.
Week of December 2, 2007
The Golden Dreydl: A Klezmer Nutcracker for Chanukah
"The Golden Dreydl" is an award-winning family entertainment featuring the music of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, as interpreted by Shirim Klezmer Orchestra, with original story and narration by Ellen Kushner. Together, they have created a brand-new retelling of an old tale: Sara is a little girl with a problem: she hates the annual family Chanukah party! But when a mysterious party guest gives her the gift of a golden dreydl, Sara is catapulted into a magical world of demons and fools, sorcerers and sages.
Week of November 25, 2007
Prayer
Why do we pray? What do we pray for? And how do we know when our prayers are answered? Join Ellen Kushner for the words and music of prayer: From the swelling chant of Russian cathedrals to quiet hymns of a Swedish church, the soulful testimony of African American gospel to the powerful call of the muezzin. We'll also investigate the musical power of prayer in Kenya, the Bahamas, Tibet, and welcome special guest Rabbi Harold Kushner (author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People - and no relation to our host!)
Week of November 18, 2007
Harvest Home
Food, sustenance, abundance and life - celebrate the harvest with music! Join host Ellen Kushner for harvest songs from the fields of Africa and the Georgian Caucasus to the mountains of Ladakh and Provence; for ebullient celebrations of Sukkot in ancient Israel and of Harvest Home in the British Isles; and for a look at what harvests, good and bad, mean to the faith of the American farmer.
Week of November 11, 2007
Walking the Path
A journey on foot - in a meditative circle, through a complex maze, or to a sacred destination - can be a profound religious experience. From medieval pilgrimages and the labyrinth of Chartres Cathedral, to Buddhist walking meditation and Dreamtime walkabouts in the Australian outback, trace some of these spiritual paths with host Ellen Kushner and hear some of the music and insights they offer.
Week of November 4, 2007
The Spirit Confined
In this award-winningprogram, Sound & Spirit explores words, music and ideas from people in prison: From political prisoners to convicted criminals, host Ellen Kushner examines how the human spirit can thrive while the body is confined.
Week of October 28, 2007
Ghosts
Ellen Kushner presents a world of ghostly lovers and vengeful spirits, protective ancestors and dancing zombies. It's a mix of thrills, chills and insights into how human beings view death and the immortality of the spirit - including observations from Margaret Atwood, Octavio Paz, a true ghost story from the journals of Louisa May Alcott, along with music from many traditions...and Ellen's own collection of spooky stories.
Week of October 21, 2007
Tricksters
Discover why the trickster lives to play tricks, and plays tricks to live! From male culture heroes to prodigal daughters, Bugs Bunny to Dennis Rodman and the Native American Coyote to the West African Spider, Ellen Kushner explores global traditions of the trickster. We'll hear music from Spike Jones and Richard Strauss, and talk with storyteller Bill Harley about how trickster sneaks into our own lives everyday!
Week of October 14, 2007
Music as Magic
Ellen Kushner explores ways in which music can convey, or be, magic - spells that make the rain fall and the crops grow, wards of courage and protection, blessings or curses, chants of sleep and healing, and spells of love - with music from Igor Stravinsky to Screamin' Jay Hawkins.
Week of October 7, 2007
Facing Death
Sound & Spirit walks the edges of the shadow realm, seeing how people have faced the thought and the fact of death with courage, insight, poetry and music. Ellen Kushner speaks with Frank Ostaseski of the San Francisco Zen Center Hospice about a Buddhist way to acceptance and peace, and she considers the spiritual growth that people may encounter when faced with the end of life.
- Listen
- Playlist
- Frank Ostaseski interview transcript
- Transcript
Week of September 30, 2007
The World Turned Upside Down
Around the world and through the ages there have been people and traditions that take our everyday, hum-drum reality... and turn it on its head! From the British surrender at Yorktown to Brazilian Carnival celebrations, from Victorian nonsense poetry to the Hindu Festival of Colors, people have been turning the World Upside Down for millennia, and learning something about ourselves and how we see reality. Ellen Kushner explores how we flip reality through music and story.
Week of September 23, 2007
In Tune With Nature
Sounds of the natural world inspired Charles Ives, Henry Cowell and Olivier Messiaen - who, through innovative orchestration, sought to capture the spirit animating the colors and rhythms of nature. Now, a new generation of composers and recording artists is going to the source, incorporating the actual sounds of earthquakes and volcanoes, songbirds and gorillas, to create what's being called "ambient music." Join Ellen Kushner and explore the music of earth, air, fire and water!
Week of September 16, 2007
Jonah
Every year on Yom Kippur, Jews read aloud the famous story of a man running from God who is swallowed by a whale. Join Ellen Kushner for a deeper look at the Book of Jonah, with the help of artists as diverse as comedian Lord Buckley and composer Alan Hovhaness, as she explores the music and meaning of the Biblical tale, and consider the implications of ignoring responsibility and one's inner voice.
Week of September 9, 2007
Surviving Survival
Every day we hear about survivors - survivors of horror, of domestic violence, of poverty and worse. How do we survive our own survival? This award-winning edition of Sound & Spirit focuses on survivors' search for meaning, and the art, music, and faith that can uphold them. From survivors of Cambodian and Nazi genocide to survivors of family tragedy, to all of America's survivors of September 11th, "Surviving Survival" celebrates the enduring human spirit in the face of suffering and loss.
Week of September 2, 2007
The Spirituality of Work
From Mahatma Gandhi's idea of "bread-labor" to Matthew Fox's Christian perspective of the Reinvention of Work, spiritual traditions of the world see work as a way of connecting with the Divine. Join Ellen Kushner for an exploration of these traditions, along with the Jewish, Muslim, Taoist and Buddhist perspectives on work - and hear how music celebrates and aids us in our work and meditation.
- Listen
- Playlist
- Imam Talal Eid interview transcript
- Transcript
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