This On Being Extra includes an excerpt from Krista Tippett's forthcoming conversation with Jennifer Michael Hecht on suicide. 

We’ll air the whole conversation with Jennifer Michael Hecht at the end of March. In the meantime please add your thoughts and experiences at www.onbeing.org. 

On Being Extra — Jennifer Michael Hecht on Suicide

"Your staying alive means so much more than you really know or that anyone is aware of at this moment."

Philosopher, historian, and poet Jennifer Michael Hecht has traced how western civilization has at times demonized those who commit suicide, at times celebrated it as a moral freedom. She proposes a reframed cultural conversation, based not on morality or rights but on our essential need for each other.

See more at www.onbeing.org/program/jennifer-michael-hecht-hope-for-our-future-selves/6187

Jennifer Michael Hecht — We Believe Each Other into Being

Jennifer Michael Hecht — The History of Community and our Need for it Today

"Your staying alive means so much more than you really know or that anyone is aware of at this moment."

Philosopher, historian, and poet Jennifer Michael Hecht has traced how western civilization has at times demonized those who commit suicide, at times celebrated it as a moral freedom. She proposes a reframed cultural conversation, based not on morality or rights but on our essential need for each other.

See more at www.onbeing.org/program/jennifer-michael-hecht-hope-for-our-future-selves/6187

Poem: Jennifer Michael Hecht — No Hemlock Rock

Poem: Jennifer Michael Hecht — Men Wept

[Unedited] Jennifer Michael Hecht with Krista Tippett

The piece is a setting of a poem by the same name by Jennifer Michael Hecht.  The text can be understood a number of ways associated with the larger issue of loss.  The baroque orchestra Eudaimonia commissioned the piece for their premiere concert, which focused on homelessness.  The group partners with social action groups in the Boston area, with Shelter Music Boston as its first partner.  Carrie Cheron and Pamela Murphy are the singers, supported by an orchestra of period instruments, including chalumeau, recorder, and baroque flutes.

September

Recorded on June 29, 2016, for Poem-a-Day, a series produced by the Academy of American Poets. www.poets.org

Jennifer Michael Hecht: "Grief's Weird Sister, Gratitude"

MyNDTALK - Stay! Jennifer Michael Hecht

Jennifer Michael Hecht talks about a transition many of us fear, experience and don't understand. "Many thousands of people kill themselves every year, and many more are left behind to grieve. This book recounts individual suicide cases from the Bible and ancient Greeks to the present day and analyzes how ideas about suicide have changed over time.


MyNDTALK - Stay! Jennifer Michael Hecht

Poet and historian Jennifer Michael Hecht says that as a scholar she always noticed the "shadow history" of doubt out of the corner of her eye. She shows how non-belief, skepticism, and doubt have paralleled and at times shaped the world's great religious and secular belief systems. She suggests that only in modern time has doubt been narrowly equated with a complete rejection of faith, or a broader sense of mystery.

See more at www.onbeing.org/program/history-doubt/51

Jennifer Michael Hecht — A History of Doubt (January 8, 2009)

Groundbreaking Peabody Award-winning conversation about the big questions of meaning, hosted by Krista Tippett. Every Thursday a new discovery about the immensity of our lives — and frequent special features like poetry, music and Q + A with Krista.

30 minute relationship health and mental health podcast/broadcast.

The Academy of American Poets is the largest membership-based nonprofit organization fostering an appreciation for contemporary poetry and supporting American poets. For over three generations, the Academy has connected millions of people to great poetry through programs such as National Poetry Month, the largest literary celebration in the world; Poets.org, the Academy’s popular website; American Poet, a biannual literary journal; and an annual series of poetry readings and special events. Since its founding, the Academy has awarded more money to poets than any other organization.

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