Interviews

Robert P. Jones
Robert P. Jones is the founder of the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) in Washington, DC, and won the 2019 Grawemeyer Award in Religion for his book The End of White Christian America. In this interview, he speaks about the “three-stranded rope” of party, religion and race in a volatile U.S. landscape.

John Dominic Crossan
John Dominic Crossan is widely regarded as one of the foremost historical Jesus scholars of our time. He was an influential member of the Jesus Seminar, a group founded in 1985 to examine the historicity of the deeds and sayings of Jesus and to report the results of its research to the general public. Crossan’s latest book is Resurrecting Easter: How the West Lost and the East Kept the Original Easter Vision.

Walter Brueggemann
"I think the prophetic vision is that the whole populated Earth is a neighborhood.” Rev. Walter Brueggemann, an American theologian and an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, is among the world’s leading interpreters of the Old Testament and a prolific author. In this interview he talks about political engagement, prophetic morality, biblical justice and his vision for a neighborly economy.

Sister Helen Prejean, Author of Dead Man Walking
Prejean, a Roman Catholic nun, is one of the world’s best-known anti-death penalty activists. She began her prison ministry more than 30 years ago when she served as a spiritual advisor to convicted killer Elmo Patrick Sonnier. She is the author of the best-selling book Dead Man Walking: The Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty That Sparked a National Debate, which was the basis for an Academy Award-winning film. In this interview, she talks about racism, human dignity and America’s broken criminal justice system.

Sister Joan Chittister, OSB
Never mind that she has a dozen honorary doctorates and a dizzying number of international awards, nor that she lectures alongside some of our generation’s spiritual supernovas, like the Dalai Lama. Joan Chittister, the globetrotting Benedictine nun and prolific author from Erie, Pennsylvania, is worth watching for the same reason any serious Christian is worth watching: She’s a transformed person, and transformed people have a habit of transforming other people.

Grandmaster Maurice Ashley on chess and mentoring: ‘It matters that I’m black’
Ashley uses his success to help others, like teaching chess in Ferguson, Missouri, as part of a plan to revitalize an area that has not had much good news of late. A Jamaican-born immigrant raised in Brooklyn, he is a three-time national championship coach, two-time author, ESPN commentator, puzzle inventor, and motivational speaker. (Not to mention, he helped actor Will Smith learn how to play chess!)

Bishop Emeritus Remi De Roo, Vatican II Father
Vatican II closed over 50 years ago, on December 8, 1965. Bishop De Roo is among the last surviving Council Fathers. Still in good health at age 90, he continues to travel and preach on the vision of Vatican II, bringing audiences to their feet. In this interview, he shares enthralling stories from the Council, talks about his surprising encounter with Pope Francis in Rome, and offers insightful “takeaways” about the message and meaning of the Council for today’s believers.

Parker Palmer, "If Only We Would Listen"
The Quaker activist and author on politics, education, and faith. Parker also talks about his latest book, Healing the Heart of Democracy, his experience of clinical depression, and the "mentality of scarcity" that is crippling our educational and religious institutions today.

Sister Wendy Beckett
Sister Wendy Beckett is an unlikely television star. She’s a bespectacled 82-year-old hermit with a slight speech impediment, painful arthritis, and a weak heart. Were it not for her voluminous habit, no one would notice her in a crowd. But this woman is more, much more, than first meets the eye. Like the religious icons she adores, she will lead you on astonishing journeys if only you will let her.

Henri Nouwen (1932-1996), Interview at L'Arche Toronto, Canada, 1992
Nouwen reflects on his search for a place to call "home," comments on the future of the Church in North America, and offers advice on prayer. "Walk into the world with the gospel in your heart. The gospel word of the day can become like a painting on the walls of your inner room, the inner room that is your heart...it has to be in you. It can't be just an idea, it has to sink from the mind into the heart. That's prayer —to let God's Word speak deep within you..."

Kathleen Norris
The American essayist, poet and bestselling author of "Dakota: A Spiritual Geography" and "The Cloister Walk" talks about writing, monastic spirituality and mystical experiences. "I think the point is not the experiences, because they’re fairly commonplace, but what you do about them. How do you reflect them, and what do they mean to you?"