People call Daniel Raphael a "wizard," for reasons that may become apparent in this interview. He weaves an inspiring life story with his work with the body, subtle energies, and spiritual teachings. We touch on topics of perception and reality, self-forgiveness, and the limitations of the modern view of the real.

More about Daniel, please visit:  www.danielraphael.org

A New and Ancient Story

Daniel Raphael: The Wizard's Path (E58)

"Beauty isn’t all about just niceness, loveliness. Beauty is about more rounded substantial becoming." Beloved Irish poet John O'Donohue on beauty's true grit, and finding it in the transformational edges of our daily lives.

Find more at www.onbeing.org/becoming-wise

Beauty Is an Edge of Becoming | John O'Donohue [Becoming Wise]

"Critical thinking without hope is cynicism. But hope without critical thinking is naïveté. I try to live in this space between the two." The creator and editor of Brain Pickings on the pratfalls and promise of knowledge-sharing in the digital age.

Find more at onbeing.org/becoming-wise

Mapping Meaning in a Digital Age | Maria Popova [Becoming Wise]

David Whyte is an Associate Fellow at Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford. His books include "The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America," "River Flow: New & Selected Poems," and "Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment, and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words." This interview is edited and produced with music and other features in the On Being episode "David Whyte — The Conversational Nature of Reality." 

Find more at www.onbeing.org/program/david-whyte-the-conversational-nature-of-reality/8560

[Unedited] David Whyte with Krista Tippett

“Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet / confinement of your aloneness / to learn / anything or anyone / that does not bring you alive / is too small for you.”

David Whyte is a poet and philosopher who believes in the power of a “beautiful question” amidst the drama of work as well as the drama of life — amidst the ways the two overlap, whether we want them to or not. He shared a deep friendship with the late Irish philosopher John O’Donohue. They were, David Whyte says, like “two bookends.” More recently, he’s written about the consolation, nourishment, and underlying meaning of everyday words.

Find more www.onbeing.org/program/david-whyte-the-conversational-nature-of-reality/8560

David Whyte — The Conversational Nature of Reality

"His capability to ask the 'What if?' question opened the door to the deepest marker of humanity, and that's empathy." Physicist S. James Gates celebrates the scientific and social power of Albert Einstein's imagination. Find more at onbeing.org/becoming-wise.

Einstein Speaks to Us About Race | S. James Gates [Becoming Wise]

This podcast is a recording of a second conversation between me and Rupert Sheldrake, one of my favorite renegade scientists and the number one target of the defenders of scientific orthodoxy. He hardly needs any introduction, but I'll say he is prolific author and researcher with a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Cambridge University.  I see him as an elder or a pioneer in the liberating of science from its metaphysical dogmas of reductionism and mechanistic materialism, and a true practitioner of the Scientific Method in its original humble spirit. I hope you'll enjoy the intellect and refinement of this man as much as I did.

In Conversation with Rupert Sheldrake (E16)- A New and Ancient Story

Speaking of Faith from American Public Media

Quarks and Creation (May 29, 2008)

Xavier Le Pichon, one of the world's leading geophysicists, helped create the field of plate tectonics. A devout Catholic and spiritual thinker, he raised his family in intentional communities centered around people with mental disabilities. He shares his rare perspective on the meaning of humanity -- a perspective equally informed by his scientific and personal encounters with fragility as a fundament of vital, evolving systems. Le Pichon has come to think of caring attention to weakness as an essential quality that allowed humanity to evolve.

See more at www.onbeing.org/program/fragility-and-evolution-our-humanity/101

Xavier Le Pichon — Fragility and the Evolution of Our Humanity (Aug 16, 2012)

One of my absolute favorite conversations is with Mark Judd, a brilliant scholar on self-imposed exile from academia after experiencing first hand the pro-Islamist bias academia holds. 

Our two hour conversation comes on the heels of my interview with him and is a look into one of the many pro-reformist American Muslims that you don't see. To be frank, his interview with me was far more interesting than mine -- and it speaks to the many voices out there who are either not interested in doing the grunt work of building a platform, not interested in a public persona, or for whatever reason cannot build a platform. Whatever the reason, the fact stands that "reform" or whatever we want to call it is much bigger than the handful of stars you see. There are people out there who are better and stronger than someone like myself and it is my pleasure and honor to connect with them in these dialogues, to learn from them, and to bring them to you. 

For more on Mark: His master's thesis was on "What Kind of Modern Islam: Muhammad Iqbal, Ahmad Wahib, and Religious Nationhood," a comparative intellectual history of Muhammad Iqbal of British India and Ahmad Wahib of Indonesia.

Click here to support future podcasts: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme2/ShireenQudosi

Episode 14: [UNCUT] Muslim Scholar Leaves Academia Over Pro-Islamist Bias

Set to the backdrop of a warm Georgia summer night, we bring you an intimate conversation with forensic psychologist Rachel Bell. We cover: 

- Rachael's experience working in Rotterdam, offering therapy to Muslims extremists classified as "honor killers." What did she do to "test" them? 
- Genetic predispositions to psychosis, exploring the evergreen question of nature vs. nurture. 
- How do we use science to dissuade people from joining extremist organizations? A look at tangible solutions that lead with psychology. 
- What are the red flags for parents, teachers and counselors should watch out for?
- How can you treat people with extremist behavior? Does that change if it's a cult or gang? 
- Acculturation vs. Assimilation: programs that can create pathways for belonging.
- Why the West needs to educate itself on what's coming in from vulnerable migrant communities just as much as they might expect those communities to understand Western law and culture. 
- Why did a popular liberal media outlet look the other way on female militants and child militants? 
- How do we build programs to empower youth and deal with some of these issues from the bottom up? 

The evening was generously hosted by Georgene Brazer. 

Rachael Bell has worked as a forensic psychologist for over 25 years. She owns a private counseling practice and a podcast series called True Crimes Podcast. She's taught in the U.S. and in two universities in the Netherlands, covering a range of subjects from forensic psychology, personality theories, research, and criminal psychology. Rachael has a double Masters in health psychology and clinical psychology, with a focus in forensics.

About Shireen Qudosi: 
Shireen Qudosi is a writer and speaker on faith, identity, and belonging. She’s one of the leading North American Muslim Reformers. Her work has been published in The Federalist, Women in the World, Clarion Project, The Middle East Forum, and more. Her keynote writings also include an in-depth assessment on the War on Terror through the lens of WWII and a two-hour exclusive interview with radical Imam Abu Taubah, who was linked to Orlando Shooter Omar Mateen. In 2016, Shireen testified before the House Homeland Security Committee Hearing on radical Islam, offering a powerful testimony that tied the current crisis to Islam’s origin story. “Original Islam” is a theme that runs through the veins of her work, and is central to the book project she is pursuing. In 2017, Shireen launched a petition against Davis hate imam Ammar Shahin, which broadened into a small movement in 2018. She carried her message on hate imams in Never Again is Now, a documentary by filmmaker Evelyn Markus, on the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe and the United States. In 2019, she bridged her experience in reform to ally with former extremists and develop a training series on preventing violent extremism. In 2020, she launched two simultaneous podcasts, Belonging and Endeavor Against Extremism, available on SoundCloud. 
Shireen’s experience has given her insight in forecasting where the conversation among the world’s leading secular and religious Islamic leaders is heading. She is also deeply interested in personal narratives as instruments for change. As a former refugee raised across three continents, she has a unique perspective of the issues facing the U.S. and global Muslim community. In 2011, Shireen was named one of the top ten North American Muslim Reformers by journalist Christine Williams.
Stay connected: http://eepurl.com/tXi9
Read Shireen’s autobiographical essay here: https://medium.com/@shireenqudosi/how-i-became-a-muslim-reformer-7d0041712979

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider giving your support: https://www.paypal.me/shireenqudosi

Episode 19: Forensic Psychologist Rachael Bell on Honor Killers and Other Extremists

Shireen Qudosi is the author of The Song of the Human Heart: Dawn of the Dark Feminine in Islam. She covers faith, identity and belonging in a changing world. "We’re going to move beyond faith in an ideology... and toward faith in the promise of humanity. That’s the future. A future beyond splintered little identities dwarfing the vastness of human belonging." - Shireen Qudosi

Episode 19: Forensic Psychologist Rachael Bell on Honor Killers and Other Extremists

Shireen Qudosi

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