Today’s news reporting is relentlessly bombarding us with pictures and stories of shocking events such as school shootings, the repeal of protective regulations that safeguard our common good, incidents of racism, and other reports of discrimination. Our serenity takes a hit as it is tossed hither and yon on the…

Taking a break from the relentless torrent of political news, I recently tuned in to an interview that Christiane Amanpour conducted on PBS with historians David Olusoga and Simon Schama, the principal contributors to an extraordinary and far ranging TV series Civilizations, a PBS/BBC collaboration that examines the formative role…

Recently, a listener reached out to us and asked if Earth Circle was continuing to happen. It has been quite a while since we’ve reminded our listeners about this virtual coming together to focus on unity, positive change, peace, and the well-being of all life and for all peoples on…

My late partner, Michael Toms, and I met with Dorothy and Jim Fadiman for over 40 years. For the most part these were intimate gatherings for deep conversations that just happened to be in the presence of microphones so that thousands of others could “listen in.”  A brief rundown of…

In January we aired an interview with Sam Daley-Harris, founder of Results, an international grassroots citizen’s lobby committed to healing the break between people and government and creating a political win. Our dialogue included such subjects as how we might move beyond feelings of helplessness and resignation regarding the deep…

I closely followed the recent Alabama senatorial race and outcome. Alabama is my ancestral home and I’m a proud graduate of Auburn University (War Eagle!). As many of you know, while living in Alabama in my 20s I was teaching in an all-black school in Sylacauga, Alabama when Dr. Martin…

This essay is a reprint that first published in a World Cafe blog http://www.theworldcafe.com. It is more relevant today than when first published. – Justine Willis Toms (essay reprinted with permission)   “We must tend communicative space, design our Cafés, search for the deepest questions that open gateways to the future,…

A week before a fire stormed through my hometown of Santa Rosa, CA and the surrounding area destroying 7000 homes and businesses, I attended a prescient event offered by social services. It was a disaster preparedness meeting that supplied advice on how to be prepared for an emergency. Lists of…

Our attention is most often captivated by what comes straight at us in our life: those big changes that come rumbling down the highway like a Mac truck pulling a full load. I’m more attracted to those smaller events that, when strung together like holiday lights, light up my life.…

In a recent interview with Ron Pevny, which will be airing in September, we talked about the recognition of moments of grace. I pointed out that these precious moments are unpredictable and it is difficult to notice them when our lives are in a frenzy of busy-ness. When focusing straight…