Best Singing Dancing Scientists Podcasts (2024)

1
Wisdom, Solace, and Courage for 2024 2:58

22m ago2:58

2:58

A special two-month season of On Being starts May 9. Freshly curated conversations from across the On Being archive. Big new conversations and extra offerings. To be present to the suffering and sorrow of this world from a place of love. To accompany each other in this — and accompany the young. To honor the fragility of being human. To keep our ca…

1
Nick Cave — Loss, Yearning, Transcendence 1:03:59

5M ago1:03:59

1:03:59

Here are some experiences to which Nick Cave gives voice and song: the "universal condition" of yearning, and of loss; a "spirituality of rigor"; and the transcendent and moral dimensions of what music is about. This Australian musician, writer, and actor first made a name in the wild world of ’80s post-punk and later with Nick Cave and the Bad See…

1
A Word from Krista 2:22

5M ago2:22

2:22

A little musing on this season, the spectacular finale headed your way — and ways to stay connected in the time ahead. Subscribe to the The Pause Find our Starting Points Peruse our Libraries And on YouTube, grab a Poem to Carry in Your PocketBy On Being Studios

1
Sara Hendren — Our Bodies, Aliveness, and the Built World 1:01:26

6M ago1:01:26

1:01:26

Our built world is designed around something called "normal," and yet every single one of our bodies is mysterious, and constantly adapting for better or worse — and always, always changing. This is a fact so ordinary — and yet not something most of us routinely pause to know and to ponder and work with. But Sara Hendren has made it her passion, br…

1
Christiana Figueres — Ecological Hope, and Spiritual Evolution 1:19:41

6M ago1:19:41

1:19:41

The ecological crisis we are standing before is at once civilizational and personal — intimately close to each of us in the places we love and inhabit, and unfolding at a species level. And as much as anyone alive on the planet now, Christiana Figueres has felt the overwhelm of this and stepped into service. She gives voice so eloquently to the gri…

1
Clint Smith — What We Know in the "Marrow of Our Bones" 1:04:22

6M ago1:04:22

1:04:22

This phrase recurs throughout Clint Smith's writing: "in the marrow of our bones." It is an example of how words can hold encrypted wisdom — in this case, the reality that memory and emotion lodge in us physically. Words and phrases have carried this truth forward in time long before we had the science to understand it. Clint Smith is best known fo…

1
“Dance Party” by Clint Smith 2:25

6M ago2:25

2:25

Clint Smith reads his poem, “Dance Party.” This poem is featured in Clint’s On Being conversation with Krista, “What We Know in the ‘Marrow of Our Bones.’” Find more of his poems, along with our full collection of poetry films and readings from two decades of the show, at Experience Poetry. Clint Smith is a staff writer at The Atlantic. His narrati…

1
“Ode to Those First Fifteen Minutes After the Kids Are Finally Asleep” by Clint Smith 1:55

6M ago1:55

1:55

Clint Smith reads his poem, “Ode to Those First Fifteen Minutes After the Kids Are Finally Asleep.” This poem is featured in Clint’s On Being conversation with Krista, “What We Know in the ‘Marrow of Our Bones.’” Find more of his poems, along with our full collection of poetry films and readings from two decades of the show, at Experience Poetry. C…

1
[Extended] Clint Smith with Krista Tippett 1:48:38

6M ago1:48:38

1:48:38

This phrase recurs throughout Clint Smith's writing: "in the marrow of our bones." It is an example of how words can hold encrypted wisdom — in this case, the reality that memory and emotion lodge in us physically. Words and phrases have carried this truth forward in time long before we had the science to understand it. Clint Smith is best known fo…

1
Three Skills for Staying Calm, Sane, and Open in a Chaotic World | Krista interviewed by Dan Harris for Ten Percent Happier 1:05:34

6M ago1:05:34

1:05:34

From Krista: I loved being interviewed by Dan Harris as much as I've ever enjoyed being on the other side of the microphone (as the saying goes). He drew things out of me I didn't know I had to say. And I'm so impressed with him as a human being, and what he's created with Ten Percent Happier. I hope you might enjoy this! Listen to Ten Percent Happ…

1
Latanya Sweeney — On Shaping Technology to Human Purpose 1:01:21

6M ago1:01:21

1:01:21

You may not know Latanya Sweeney's name, but as much as any other single person — and with good humor and grace as well as brilliance — she has led on the frontier of our gradual understanding of how far from anonymous you and I are in almost any database we inhabit, and how far from neutral all the algorithms by which we increasingly navigate our …

1
[Unedited] Latanya Sweeney with Krista Tippett 1:24:48

6M ago1:24:48

1:24:48

You may not know Latanya Sweeney's name, but as much as any other single person — and with good humor and grace as well as brilliance — she has led on the frontier of our gradual understanding of how far from anonymous you and I are in almost any database we inhabit, and how far from neutral all the algorithms by which we increasingly navigate our …

1
Matthew Sanford – The Body's Grace 57:19

7M ago57:19

57:19

A wondrous, buried treasure from the 20-year On Being archive, with renowned yoga teacher Matthew Sanford. Be prepared, as you listen to what follows, to take in subtleties and gracefulness you've never before pondered — or tried to feel in yourself — in the interplay between your mind and your body. Matthew has an immensely energetic physical pres…

1
Baratunde Thurston — How to Be a Social Creative 1:09:36

7M ago1:09:36

1:09:36

Baratunde Thurston is a comedian, writer, and media entrepreneur. He has eyes open to the contradictions, strangeness, and beauty of being human. He looks for learning happening even amidst our hardest cultural tangles. And he intertwines all of this, innovatively and searchingly, with his lifelong joy in the natural world. The kaleidoscopic view o…

1
Reid Hoffman — AI, and What It Means to Be (More) Human 1:23:20

7M ago1:23:20

1:23:20

In this season of On Being and those to come, we are going to train the core human questions on the emerging “generative AI.” Beyond the hype and the doom, what is this new technology calling us to as human beings? What is our agency to shape it to human purpose, and how might it bring us — literally — to our senses? This inaugural conversation wit…

1
Kerry Washington — Acting as a Devotional Practice 1:05:17

7M ago1:05:17

1:05:17

“Becoming other people” for a living, as Kerry Washington likes to describe her craft, turns out to be a revelatory lens on the high drama that is the human condition. As a “learning actor,” a kind of actor/anthropologist, she has brought elegance and moral rigor to all kinds of roles: as the uber-glamorous, tough-as-nails Olivia Pope on Scandal; a…

1
Kate Bowler — On Being in a Body 1:00:22

8M ago1:00:22

1:00:22

We love the theologian Kate Bowler's allergy to every platitude and her wisdom and wit about the strange and messy fullness of what it means to be in a human body. She's best known for her 2018 book Everything Happens for a Reason (And Other Lies I've Loved) — a poetic and powerful reflection on learning at age 35 that she had Stage IV colon cancer…

1
Kate Bowler — A Blessing for the Life You Didn't Choose 1:55

8M ago1:55

1:55

This blessing is featured in Kate’s conversation with Krista, “On Being in a Body.” It's published in her book The Lives We Actually Have: 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days. Kate Bowler's beloved books include Everything Happens for a Reason (And Other Lies I’ve Loved) and most recently, The Lives We Actually Have: 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days. …

1
A New Season of On Being Is Coming 1:39

8M ago1:39

1:39

A big conversation to live by starting NEXT WEEK — every Thursday — from September 21. Loss — and love. AI — and the intelligence that lives in our bodies. Kerry Washington, Kate Bowler, Reid Hoffman, Latanya Sweeney, Nick Cave, Baratunde Thurston … and more. Subscribe, tell your friends, and buckle your (metaphorical) seatbelts.…

1
"Love is still the only revenge. It grows each time the earth is set on fire." 2:19

10M ago2:19

2:19

From Krista: I have been texting this exquisite poem from our archives to my beloveds. Perhaps it will touch you — hold you — as it is touching and holding me. ON ANOTHER PANEL ABOUT CLIMATE, THEY ASK ME TO SELL THE FUTURE AND ALL I'VE GOT IS A LOVE POEM To call the young Pakistani-American poet, Ayisha Siddiqa, a "climate activist" feels too simpl…

1
From Poetry Unbound: Benjamin Gucciardi — The Rungs 16:07

11M ago16:07

16:07

Hello friends, it is a joy to introduce the new season of Poetry Unbound, which is underway. As Krista shares at the top, this episode has everything in it that makes Poetry Unbound such a gift in a noisy podcast world. If you enjoy this episode, subscribe to Poetry Unbound for new episodes every Monday and Friday through July — and stay tuned for …

1
Patronage and Love: On Being's Becoming 1:40

1y ago1:40

1:40

Pádraig makes an announcement, and we listen to a few lovely moments from the On Being season we've just brought into the world. We're inviting the beautiful humans who gather around On Being to partner in the vitality of the unfolding On Being Project in a new way. Our friend Maria Popova says it daringly, beautifully, and she's given us permissio…

1
Vivek Murthy — To Be a Healer 57:04

1y ago57:04

57:04

We need a modicum of vitality to simply be alive in this time. And we're in an enduringly tender place. The mental health crisis that is invoked all around, especially as we look to the young, is one manifestation of the gravity of the post-2020 world. How to name and honor this more openly? How to hold that together with the ways we've been given …

1
Vivek Murthy — A Meditation for Moments of Despair, and To Feel Less Alone 3:04

1y ago3:04

3:04

An excerpt from the On Being episode, "To Be a Healer." The extraordinary physician and public servant stilled a raucous room full of storytellers and podcasters with this offering at the 2023 On Air Fest. Vivek Murthy is the 21st Surgeon General of the United States. He also served in this role from 2014 to 2017. He hosts the podcast House Calls w…

1
[Unedited] Vivek Murthy with Krista Tippett 1:17:26

1y ago1:17:26

1:17:26

We need a modicum of vitality to simply be alive in this time. And we're in an enduringly tender place. The mental health crisis that is invoked all around, especially as we look to the young, is one manifestation of the gravity of the post-2020 world. How to name and honor this more openly? How to hold that together with the ways we've been given …

1
Barbara Brown Taylor — “This Hunger for Holiness” 1:05:07

1y ago1:05:07

1:05:07

"I like it much better than ‘religious’ or ‘spiritual’ — to be a seeker after the sacred or the holy, which ends up for me being the really real." – Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor From Krista, about this week's show: It's fascinating to trace the arc of spiritual searching and religious belonging in my lifetime. The Episcopal priest and public theologia…

1
[Unedited] Barbara Brown Taylor with Krista Tippett 1:24:30

1y ago1:24:30

1:24:30

"I like it much better than ‘religious’ or ‘spiritual’ — to be a seeker after the sacred or the holy, which ends up for me being the really real." – Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor From Krista, about this week's show: It's fascinating to trace the arc of spiritual searching and religious belonging in my lifetime. The Episcopal priest and public theologia…

1
Ruth Wilson Gilmore — “Where life is precious, life is precious.” 1:06:05

1y ago1:06:05

1:06:05

To say that Ruth Wilson Gilmore is a geographer, which she is, is not to convey the vast and varied ways in which she is influencing the makings of the future. She's a mentor and teacher to a new generation of social activism and creativity. She's a visionary of “abolition,” and that has become a fraught and polarizing word in our fraught and polar…

1
Janine Benyus — Biomimicry, an Operating Manual for Earthlings 1:08:43

1y ago1:08:43

1:08:43

There is a quiet, redemptive story of our time in this conversation — a radical way of approaching the gravest of our problems by attending to how original vitality functions. Biomimicry takes the natural world as mentor and teacher — for, as Janine Benyus puts it, "we are surrounded by geniuses." Nature solves problems and performs what appear to …

1
Rick Rubin — Magic, Everyday Mystery, and Getting Creative 1:04:39

1y ago1:04:39

1:04:39

The flow and the ingredients by which an idea becomes an offering — and life practices which call that alchemy forth. The mystery of it all that can only be named and wondered at — and the ordinary mystery that creativity is a human birthright, a way of being rather than doing, that beckons to us all, in everything we do, from crafting something to…

1
Isabel Wilkerson — "We all know in our bones that things are harder than they have to be." 1:18:42

1y ago1:18:42

1:18:42

In this rich, expansive, and warm conversation between friends, Krista draws out the heart for humanity behind Isabel Wilkerson's eye on histories we are only now communally learning to tell — her devotion to understanding not merely who we have been, but who we can be. Her most recent offering of fresh insight to our life together brings "caste" i…

1
James Bridle — The Intelligence Singing All Around Us 1:04:29

1y ago1:04:29

1:04:29

You might want to take a walk with this one. It is big and full of brain food and an enlivening opening of imagination to possibilities that are emergent now: the notion of the “broad commonwealth of life” that we are “inextricably entangled with and suffused by”; the paradox that the more accurately you try to measure some things, the more unmeasu…

1
[Unedited] James Bridle with Krista Tippett 1:32:57

1y ago1:32:57

1:32:57

You might want to take a walk with this one. It is big and full of brain food and an enlivening opening of imagination to possibilities that are emergent now: the notion of the “broad commonwealth of life” that we are “inextricably entangled with and suffused by”; the paradox that the more accurately you try to measure some things, the more unmeasu…

1
Nick Offerman — Working with Wood, and the Meaning of Life 1:00:18

1y ago1:00:18

1:00:18

Nick Offerman has played many great characters, most famously Ron Swanson in Parks and Recreation, and he starred more recently in an astonishing episode of The Last of Us. But he is driven by passionate callings older and deeper than his public vocation as an actor and comedian. He works with wood, and he works with other people who work with thei…

1
Ada Limón — “To Be Made Whole” 1:11:40

1y ago1:11:40

1:11:40

An electric conversation with Ada Limón's wisdom and her poetry — a refreshing, full-body experience of how this way with words and sound and silence teaches us about being human at all times, but especially now. With an unexpected and exuberant mix of gravity and laughter — laughter of delight, and of blessed relief — this conversation holds not o…

1
“Dead Stars” by Ada Limón 2:28

1y ago2:28

2:28

Ada Limón reads her poem, “Dead Stars.” This poem is featured in Ada’s On Being conversation with Krista, “To Be Made Whole.” Find more of her poems, along with our full collection of poetry films and readings from two decades of the show, at Experience Poetry. Ada Limón is the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States. She’s written six books of poe…

1
“A New National Anthem” by Ada Limón 2:27

1y ago2:27

2:27

Ada Limón reads her poem, “A New National Anthem.” This poem is featured in Ada’s On Being conversation with Krista, “To Be Made Whole.” Find more of her poems, along with our full collection of poetry films and readings from two decades of the show, at Experience Poetry. Ada Limón is the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States. She’s written six b…

1
“The Quiet Machine” by Ada Limón 1:25

1y ago1:25

1:25

Ada Limón reads her poem, “The Quiet Machine.” This poem is featured in Ada’s On Being conversation with Krista, “To Be Made Whole.” Find more of her poems, along with our full collection of poetry films and readings from two decades of the show, at Experience Poetry. Ada Limón is the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States. She’s written six books…

1
Amanda Ripley — Stepping out of "the zombie dance" we're in, and into "good conflict" that is, in fact, life-giving 1:03:38

1y ago1:03:38

1:03:38

Amanda Ripley began her life as a journalist covering crime, disaster, and terrorism. Then in 2018, she published a brilliant essay called “Complicating the Narratives,” which she opened by confessing a professional existential crisis. We journalists, she wrote, “can summon outrage in five words or less. We value the ancient power of storytelling, …

1
Dacher Keltner — The Thrilling New Science of Awe 58:13

1y ago58:13

58:13

One of the most fascinating developments of our time is that human qualities we have understood in terms of virtue — experiences we've called spiritual — are now being taken seriously by science as intelligence — as elements of human wholeness. Dacher Keltner and his Greater Good Science Center at Berkeley have been pivotal in this emergence. From …

1
Emergence: On Being Is Back! 1:38

1+ y ago1:38

1:38

We are immensely grateful for your patience in our season of podcasting pause. But enough already. Starting Thursday, February 2, we'll come to you with three months of soaring new On Being conversations with Krista, with an eye towards emergence. The science of awe. The wonder of biomimicry. "Lean Spirituality." What we're talking about — and not …

1
Foundations 4: Calling and Wholeness 9:26

1+ y ago9:26

9:26

In the modern western world, vocation was equated with work. But each of us has callings, not merely to be professionals, but to be friends, neighbors, colleagues, family, citizens, lovers of the world. Each of us imprints the people in the world around us, breath to breath and hour to hour, as much in who we are and how we are present as in whatev…

1
Foundations 3: Taking a Long View of Time, and Becoming “Critical Yeast” 13:01

1+ y ago13:01

13:01

We inhabit a liminal time between what we thought we knew and what we can’t quite yet see. But time is more spacious than we imagine it to be, and it is more of a friend than we always know. Cracking time open, seeing its true manifold nature, expands a sense of the possible in the here and the now. It sends us back to work with the raw materials o…

1
Foundations 2: Living the Questions 7:57

1+ y ago7:57

7:57

We live in a world in love with the form of words that is an opinion, and the way with words that is an argument. Yet it is a deep truth in life — as in science — that each of us is shaped as much by the quality of the questions we are asking as by the answers we have it in us to give. Precisely at a moment like this, of vast aching open questions …

1
Foundations 1: Seeing the Generative Story of Our Time 7:15

1+ y ago7:15

7:15

The first of four short offerings, more wisdom practice than podcast: life-giving, hope-generating words, ideas and practices that can literally shape your experience of reality — and shape what can become possible. At this juncture in the life of the world, we are all stretching. We are finding the ground shifting beneath our feet, whoever we are.…

1
A Listening Ritual for this Fall: Poetry Unbound 14:25

1+ y ago14:25

14:25

Three years ago, Krista texted Pádraig Ó Tuama with a simple question: what if he were to start a poetry podcast that listened as much as it shared? Not long after, Poetry Unbound was born, and it keeps going from strength to strength. Pádraig likes to say that poems are interested in the people who listen to them. And so, as the next season of On …

1
A Season of Emergence with Krista 6:22

1+ y ago6:22

6:22

Krista returns from her summer in Berlin, where her present-day self reunited with the 25-year-old of the 1980s, at large in the divided city. Hear the reflections that emerged from her season of creative rest, and her beloved practices of contemplative reading and journaling. Pull on the thread of emergence with Krista and our Pause newsletter com…

1
BONUS: An On Being Listening Party — Celebrating 20 Years 1:12:14

2y ago1:12:14

1:12:14

A special offering from Krista Tippett and all of us at On Being: an incredible, celebratory event — listening back and remembering forwards across 20 years of this show in the good company of our beloved friend and former guest, Rev. Jen Bailey, and so many of you. We offer it here as an audio experience, and we think you will enjoy being in the r…

1
Ocean Vuong – A Life Worthy of Our Breath 49:18

2y ago49:18

49:18

Krista interviewed the wise and wonderful writer Ocean Vuong on March 8, 2020 in a joyful, crowded room full of podcasters in Brooklyn. A state of emergency had just been declared in New York around a new virus. But no one guessed that within a handful of days such an event would become unimaginable. Most stunning is how presciently, exquisitely Oc…

1
[Unedited] Ocean Vuong with Krista Tippett 1:32:15

2y ago1:32:15

1:32:15

We are in the final weeks as On Being evolves to its next chapter — in a world that is evolving, each of us changed in myriad ways we’ve only begun to process and fathom. So it felt right to listen again to one of our most beloved shows of this post-2020 world. In fact, Krista interviewed the wise and wonderful Ocean Vuong right on the cusp of that…

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