Minnesota's Twin Cities are teeming with musical talents, among them Curtis and Loretta. They've been making & performing fine mostly-folkish music for more than 3 decades. Loretta Simonet writes the lion's share of their songs, and her primary instrument is either the guitar or the folk harp, accompanied by Curtis' deep voice & rich instrumental skills. You'll find yourself uplifted by Loretta's upbeat lyrics & voice, as you might expect from a life-long singer & theater major.

Past/present religious/spiritual influences: Catholic, Self-realization Fellowship, Meditation, Eastern

In his book, The Prophetic Lens: The Camera and Black Moral Agency from MLK to Darnella Frazier, Phil Allen Jr. examines the history & the future of Black wholeness in the USA, especially the ways in which people of color have been made invisible, & how their power is being reclaimed through open eyes & lenses. Phil's first book was Open Wounds, also rendered as a documentary film.

The Thread Collectors. is a co-authored book, all the more compelling because of the family connections of the authors to the events of this story, set during the Civil War, much of it in Louisiana, and centering around two couples, one couple enslaved, and the other couple White & Jewish. Shaunna J. Edwards is African American and grew up in Louisiana, worked as a lawyer, with this being her first published book.

Iris Graville was writer-in-residence on the Interisland Ferry of Washington's San Juan Islands just before COVID hit. The resulting book, Writer in a Life Vest: Essays from the Salish Sea, includes a wide variety of essays, with special emphasis on climate change & the Southern Resident killer whales. Iris also uses an assortment of creative formats for her essays, like her imagined interview with Rachel Carson, using actually words from Rachel's writings. Iris verbally paints a rich picture of vital life in one corner of our planet.

A visit to a rich variety of musicians featured on Song of the Soul in the early days of the pandemic, highlighting themes of The Road, The Reason, The Destination, with songs by Spook Handy, Andi Renfree, Laura Marie, Ksenia Mack, Mark Mandeville, Rita Hosking, & Deidre McCalla.

Featured Music:

Guest-hosts today are from the Climate Changed podcast, Nicole Diroff & Ben Yosua-Davis, of the BTS Center, accompanied by Peterson Toscano. Their guests today are Maya Williams, the poet laureate of Portland, Maine, and Corina Newsome, who co-organized the very first #BlackBirdersWeek and who, in taking on racial injustice directly through activism, has challenged the straight-forward faith of her childhood.

The team at of FNVW and their Everyday Nonviolence Podcast guest-hosts today for Spirit In Action. Diane Sandberg interviews activist, sociologist, & writer Paula Palmer about Indigenous Boarding Schools & the Quaker role - and guilt - in them. Paula's organization, Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples is part of Friends Peace Teams.

Joanna Clare started her violin quite young on rather standard Suzuki method fare, but along the way Irish music captured her, both as a dancer & as a fiddler. And along the way, new Irish tunes began flowing out of Joanna's fiddle. Though she is a Philadelphia-based material science/engineer by day, music is inextricably linked to her mind & soul. Joanna's debut album was To Keep the Candle Burning, and the music shared here has not yet been released elsewhere. Update Nov 2023 - it is on Spotify.

Past/present religious/spiritual influences: Quaker

Thom Hartmann talks about the latest book in his series, The Hidden History of Neoliberalism: How Reaganism Gutted America and How to Restore its Greatness. Drawing on his immense library & knowledge of political, economic, & cultural history, Thom zeros in on the crucial events & trends of our society, lighting the way to a better future. Thom is an amazing worker for the well-being of our country and world, and he is the top progressive talk show host in the US, sharing with listeners 3 hours each weekday, in addition to his books, columns and other media outlets.