Podcasts about Quakers

Our Bible Half-Hour presenter at NEYM 2026 Annual Sessions is Adria DiCapua. She is a lawyer, mediator, teacher, and mother. Adria carries a concern for how Friends' traditional faith and practice translates into an increasingly unstable, atomized, and uncertain world. She is passionate about inviting all into deeper relationship with the Spirit of Christ, which spoke so strongly to early Friends and continues to speak today.Want to share your thoughts on our podcast content? Email podcast@neym.org.To learn more about the life and ministry of Quakers in New England visit neym.org.Subscribe to our monthly newsletter here: neym.org/newsletter-signupDonate to sustain our ministry here: neym.org/donate

Our Bible Half-Hour presenter at NEYM 2026 Annual Sessions is Adria DiCapua. She is a lawyer, mediator, teacher, and mother. Adria carries a concern for how Friends' traditional faith and practice translates into an increasingly unstable, atomized, and uncertain world. She is passionate about inviting all into deeper relationship with the Spirit of Christ, which spoke so strongly to early Friends and continues to speak today.Want to share your thoughts on our podcast content? Email podcast@neym.org.To learn more about the life and ministry of Quakers in New England visit neym.org.Subscribe to our monthly newsletter here: neym.org/newsletter-signupDonate to sustain our ministry here: neym.org/donate

Cet été, j'ai décidé de vous faire (re)découvrir certains épisodes marquants d'Enfant de la Shoah. Parce que certains récits nous marquent à jamais, et qu'il est essentiel de continuer à les faire résonner.je vous propose aujourd'hui et pendant 5 semaines, de vous replonger dans l'histoire d'Herbert. Aujourd'hui centenaire, ce monsieur extraordinaire au parcours incroyable a notamment été le témoin direct de la Nuit de cristal.Que vous découvriez son histoire pour la première fois ou que vous souhaitiez la réécouter, laissez-vous porter par ce témoignage exceptionnel à travers une série de 5 épisodes.Bonne écoute, et bel été à tous ☀️☀️☀️Herbert est né à Vienne en 1924.Après avoir échappé à la Nuit de Cristal, il fuit en Belgique puis en France, où il est interné aux camps de Gurs et de Rivesaltes.Lors des funérailles de sa mère, Herbert parvient à s'enfuir vers Marseille, trouvant refuge chez les Quakers.Malgré leur aide, il est capturé à nouveau et emprisonné au camp des Milles.Après plusieurs mois, il est transféré une fois de plus à Rivesaltes. Il réussira à s'échapper du train qui le mènera à Drancy EN SAUTANT PAR LA FENETREHerbert, comme tant d'autres enfants cachés, partage ses souvenirs de guerre et la vie en clandestinité dans la France occupée.Témoignage de guerre et d'une enfance pendant la guerre, cette histoire vraie de la Shoah nous rappelle l'importance de la résistance juive et le courage des enfants rescapés.Voici la quatrième partie du témoignage d'Herbert, 18 ans, enfant de la Shoah.NE PERDONS PAS L'HISTOIRE, PARTAGEONS-LA…

What if the most radical spiritual act you could commit is a burst of shared laughter? Join Mark Winner and Liz Brainard as they share how Open Table Friends Church threw out the polished facade of their religious tradition to build a digital sanctuary rooted in chaotic joy and messy authenticity.  Full Video of the "Fun" Meeting for Worship - https://www.youtube.com/live/y9VqDeUXchk Become a monthly supporter! Sign up for the Daily Quaker Message.

Episode 4190 │ July 26, 2026 Helene warped the floor. Margins below slim. Prices unchanged since before COVID. Don Cox is still roasting. That's holding the line. WHAT THIS EPISODE COVERS Scott Kesterson and Don Cox — founder of Bald Guy Brew Coffee in Boone, North Carolina, missionary, and hand-roaster — return for a wide-ranging conversation nearly two years after Hurricane Helene, with 65 days remaining until the second anniversary of the storm that hit at 8am Eastern on September 27, 2024. Don reports that Boone is still rebuilding — roads, bridges, contaminated rivers — while the national attention has long moved on, the community divisions that dissolved in the storm's immediate aftermath came back within a season, and Bald Guy Brew is navigating the hardest supply chain environment in 21 years of roasting: coffee stranded in shipping delays, 30-day lines of credit burning before the product arrives, and profit margins below slim on prices Don has not raised since before COVID. The conversation moves from Depression-era blackout meals as a mirror of the enduring spirit Americans have abandoned, to Don's value grid for vetting coffee brokers — shade-grown sourcing, fair farmer pay, community infrastructure investment across education, healthcare, and food security — to the kingdom dynamics underneath every transaction at the roastery, where the real currency is not the coffee but the relationship, the sacrificial giving that hurts when you give it, and the ancient mountain people of western North Carolina who walked down to King's Mountain, fought, and came back — the same line Don Cox is holding one roast at a time. The episode closes with Don's prayer and Scott's encouragement to put the roastery's value principles front and center on the new Bald Guy Brew website, because people who hear Don articulate why he sources the way he does are experiencing something that no amount of marketing copy can produce. KEY QUESTIONS ADDRESSED What does western North Carolina look like nearly two years after Helene — and why does Don Cox say the hardest part is not the warped floor, the drought, or the contaminated river, but watching the unity that dissolved every division in the storm's immediate aftermath come back within a single season? What is Don Cox's value grid for vetting coffee brokers — and why does shade-grown sourcing, fair farmer pay, and community infrastructure investment across education, healthcare, and food security produce a cup of Bald Guy Brew coffee that carries something no commodity buyer can replicate or commodify? What is the difference between easy giving and sacrificial giving — and why does Don Cox argue that the only giving worth anything is the kind that hurts when you do it, the same principle that drove mountain men to walk to King's Mountain and drove Quakers to sell themselves into Caribbean slavery to end the slave trade? ABOUT BARDSFM BardsFM is a daily independent podcast covering faith, liberty, history, and information warfare. Hosted by Scott Kesterson — combat veteran, documentary filmmaker, and rancher. Over 4,100 episodes and 50 million lifetime downloads. New episodes every weekday. bards.fm This episode was researched and produced under the Spatial Terra Intelligence Methodology (STIM v5) — the analytical framework built by Scott Kesterson — with AI-assisted research synthesis at a 70/30 human/AI authorship ratio, fully disclosed. All analysis, conclusions, and editorial judgments are those of Scott Kesterson. BardsFM's archive includes hundreds of episodes on prayer, scripture, and walking the Way of Christ — available free in the full episode catalog. AFFILIATE LINKS Bards Nation Health Store: www.bardsnationhealth.com MYPillow promo code: BARDS >> Go to https://www.mypillow.com/bards and use the promo code BARDS or... Call 1-800-975-2939.  EMPShield protect your vehicles and home. Promo code BARDS: Click here Treadlite Broadforks...best garden tool EVER. Promo code BARDS26: TreadliteBroadforks.com EnviroKlenz Air Purification, promo code BARDS to save 10%: www.enviroklenz.com Morning Intro Music Provided by Brian Kahanek: www.briankahanek.com Founders Bible 20% discount code: BARDS >>> TheFoundersBible.com Windblown Media 20% Discount with promo code BARDS: windblownmedia.com White Oak Pastures Grassfed Meats, Get $20 off any order $150 or more. Promo Code BARDS: www.whiteoakpastures.com/BARDS Mission Darkness Faraday Bags and RF Shielding. Promo code BARDS: Click here DONATIONS: If you wish to support this podcast directly you can donate here... DONATE: Click here MAILING ADDRESS: Xpedition Cafe, LLC Attn. Scott Kesterson 591 E Central Ave, #740 Sutherlin, OR  97479

With Sir William Penn's passing in 1671, and his deathbed admonition that his son stay true to himself, young William Penn was both financially independent and liberated from worrying that his own activism on behalf of the Quakers would hurt his family.  William now owned lands that generated income of around 2000 pounds a year, or roughly the wages of 100 laborers of the time. Penn was a pious son of privilege who used his social, material, and intellectual advantages to advance his family's business interests and the interests of Quakers, both as individuals and as a religious community.  He would get tossed in jail at least once more for his religion, and he would use that time writing defenses of the Quakers and their theology that irritated the established church and its supporters to no end. By the second half of the 1670s he had written more than fifty books and pamphlets on religion and political theory, most of which would vex the English elites in general and local authorities in specific cases. And, yet, by 1681 Penn would persuade King Charles II and his brother, James, Duke of York, to give him, as sole proprietor, an area of 34 million acres, the last land on the eastern seaboard of North America controlled by England. How the heck did that happen? Subscribe to my Substack! Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfTheAmericans #212 William Penn Before Pennsylvania 1 #214 William Penn Before Pennsylvania 2: Penn on Trial #210 The Quakers Invade West New Jersey Primary references for this episode (Commission earned for Amazon purchases through the episode notes on our website) Andrew R. Murphy, William Penn: A Life Jean R. Soderlund (Editor), William Penn and the Founding of Pennsylvania: A Documentary History Joseph E. Illick, Colonial Pennsylvania: A History

Send us Fan MailEp 93---Historian and author Paul Connolly joins Carlo for what turned into a proper local history lesson.It starts with a ruin across the road from his national school in Mount Talbot, and a teacher named Sonny Cronin who had his pupils naming spring flowers in Latin and Irish decades before anyone used the word biodiversity. It goes on through sixteen years of senior hurling, and the void that opens when the matches stop.Then there is the day that changed everything. Paul took a day off work, drove to Boyle, walked into King House and introduced himself to Tommy Egan. Three or four hours later he drove back to Galway with a whole book formed in his head.In this conversation: the night Rockingham burned in 1957 and the local people who saved what furniture they could. Why King House is standing today and Moat Park is not. The Quakers of Frybrook who fed the starving from their own kitchen. Castle Island, the McDermotts, and the castle Yeats never built. Why the gate lodges survived when the mansions did not.And a question worth sitting with. We are the most photographed generation who ever lived, and we may be the one that leaves the least behind.Check out the full blog post for this episode - https://www.voicesofboyle.com/paulconnollyJoin us on:( Facebook ) ( Instagram ) ( YouTube )( Website )If you'd like to be on the show or if you know someone who would like to chat with us, then drop us an email at  ( info@voicesofboyle.com ) Thanks to Brendan O' Dowd for creating and recording the musical piece for the podcast.

Cet été, j'ai décidé de vous faire (re)découvrir certains épisodes marquants d'Enfant de la Shoah. Parce que certains récits nous marquent à jamais, et qu'il est essentiel de continuer à les faire résonner.je vous propose aujourd'hui et pendant 5 semaines, de vous replonger dans l'histoire d'Herbert. Aujourd'hui centenaire, ce monsieur extraordinaire au parcours incroyable a notamment été le témoin direct de la Nuit de cristal.Que vous découvriez son histoire pour la première fois ou que vous souhaitiez la réécouter, laissez-vous porter par ce témoignage exceptionnel à travers une série de 5 épisodes.Bonne écoute, et bel été à tous ☀️☀️☀️Herbert est né à Vienne en 1924.En novembre 1938, tout juste  âgé de 14 ans, en compagnie de ses parents et de sa grande soeur, il échappe de justesse à la nuit de cristal, terrible pogrom orchestré par les nazis quelques semaines après l'annexion de l'Autriche par l'Allemagne.Cette effroyable persécution antisémite sera le premier événement qui marquera au fer rouge le statut d'enfant juif d'Herbert.Quelques temps plus tard, son papa sera dénoncé, fait prisonnier dans le camps de  Dachau puis celui de  Saint Cyprien sur mer.  Herbert et sa maman quant à eux, seront internés au camps de Gurs, puis celui de Rivesaltes.Les mauvais traitements infligés aux prisonniers finiront par briser la santé de sa maman, qui ne survivra pas aux conditions inhumaines du camps.Herbert se rendra à ses obsèques et en profitera pour s'évader du camps et prendre la fuite jusqu'à Marseille, ou il trouvera refuge chez les Quakers, groupe religieux connu pour leur engagement envers la paix et la justice sociale, qui joueront un role crucial sans sa quête de liberté.Herbert, comme tant d'autres enfants cachés, partage ses souvenirs de guerre et la vie en clandestinité dans la France occupée.Témoignage de guerre et d'une enfance pendant la guerre, cette histoire vraie de la Shoah nous rappelle l'importance de la résistance juive et le courage des enfants rescapés.Voici la troisième partie du témoignage d'Herbert, 16 ans, enfant de la Shoah.

An active-duty soldier experiences a sudden moral awakening that leaves him trapped inside the military machine he can no longer answer to. We go inside the barracks to discover the Quakers who are helping him get out. Through the GI Rights Hotline, counseling services, and peace advocacy, Quaker House has been quietly providing a vital life line to people in uniform for almost 60 years. Discover how this place of peace has operated so effectively in a city of war, and how we can all become more effective peacemakers. ----- Quaker House is a manifestation of the Friends' Peace Testimony. Based in Fayetteville, NC, home of Fort Liberty, Quaker House provides counseling and support to service members who are questioning their role in the military; educates them, their families, and the public about military issues; and advocates for a more peaceful world. To learn more, to get involved, or to support our mission, visit us at www.quakerhouse.org/ ----- As we wrap up Season 3, we want to hear from you. What resonated with you this season? What would you like to hear more of, and how can we improve? We'd be so grateful if you took just five minutes to fill out our short listener survey. Thank you so much! Become a monthly supporter! Sign up for the Daily Quaker Message.

Jonathan Healey, The Blazing World: A New History of Revolutionary England, 1603–1689. Stability was sought through the Restoration of Charles II in 1660. While some reforms remained, the new regime took grotesque revenge on the regicides, even digging up and hanging Cromwell's corpse. Charles II's reign was characterized by a vibrant court culture, the expansion of trade via the East India Company, and the growth of the British Empire. The segment also highlights the polymath Margaret Cavendish, who wrote the pioneering science-fiction work The Blazing World, reflecting the era's fascination with science and power. Despite the "jollity," the Anglican Church forcefully suppressed religious dissenters like the Quakers. (7)1650

Alan Mikhail examines Peter Stuyvesant's hardline enforcement of the Dutch Reformed Church, including the violent persecution of Quakers and anti-Semitic attempts to banish Jewish settlers. The segment highlights the 1657 Flushing Remonstrance as an early, essential document in the American history of religious toleration. (10)1889

SCHEDULE FOR THE JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW, 7-17-2026Jeff Bliss discusses California's controversial "billionaire tax," an initiative designed to bridge the state budget gap that has prompted a significant wealth exodus to states like Texas. He also addresses Governor Newsom's shifting stance on wealth taxes and the re-emergence of past personal and political scandals. (1)Jeff Bliss celebrates the anniversary of Disneyland's 1955 opening, sharing memories of working as a "Yodeler" on the Skyway ride. The conversation shifts to vintage Las Vegas and impending Southern California weather, including a tropical storm system expected to bring 30-foot waves to the Wedge. (2)Richard Epstein analyzes President Trump's recent address questioning the 2020 election results and its potential impact on the 2026 midterms. Epstein explores the constitutional difficulties of removing a president for lack of judgment, arguing that political consequences remain the most viable remedy for irrational leadership. (3)Richard Epstein discusses his book on birthright citizenship, challenging the Supreme Court's interpretation of the 14th Amendment. He addresses the phenomenon of "birth tourism," the status of foreign-raised US citizens, and the relative silence from liberal scholars regarding his arguments on federal plenary power over naturalization. (4)Jim McTague reports on how Canadian wildfire smoke has stifled Lancaster County's tourist economy and created hazardous air quality. He also highlights rising gas prices and a local backlash against AI, where a borough rejected substantial revenue from a tech center due to automation fears. (5)Lorenzo Fiori describes Italy's extreme heatwave, with temperatures reaching 122 degrees, followed by the threat of violent thunderstorms. For relief, he recommends Radicofani in Tuscany, showcasing its medieval fortress, world-class olive oil, and traditional recipes like gratinated tomatoes paired with local Brunello wine. (6)Bob Zimmerman details SpaceX's launch abort for the Starship Super Heavy and the ongoing struggles of ULA. He highlights the $70 billion surge in private space investment, Amazon's expansion into South Africa, and Blue Origin'srevised employee stock options designed to retain talent in a competitive market. (7)Bob Zimmerman reports on the discovery of organic sugar molecules in interstellar space and the identification of a new exoplanet shepherd at Beta Pictoris. He also discusses Katalyst's mission to rescue the Swift telescope and Perseverance's findings on Mars regarding the planet's history of massive impacts. (8)Alan Mikhail recounts the arrival of Anthony and Grietje in 1629 New Amsterdam, noting their resilience during Kieft's War. Despite being banished to Long Island and facing prejudice as "the Turk," they built a prosperous estate, with Grietje emerging as a particularly assertive and foundational figure. (9)Alan Mikhail examines Peter Stuyvesant's hardline enforcement of the Dutch Reformed Church, including the violent persecution of Quakers and anti-Semitic attempts to banish Jewish settlers. The segment highlights the 1657 Flushing Remonstrance as an early, essential document in the American history of religious toleration. (10)Alan Mikhail describes how, as the English seized New Amsterdam in 1664, Anthony and Grietje transitioned into respectable property owners who aged into the colony's social fabric. Mikhail argues that these individuals, alongside long-resident enslaved figures like Mary Angola, should be recognized as the true founders of New York City. (11)Alan Mikhail relates how, following Grietje's death, Anthony remarried a burgher woman, reflecting his elevated social status despite earlier prejudices. Mikhail frames Anthony's life as a vital starting point for discussing Islam in North America, noting the parallels between historical biases and the challenges modern Muslim leaders face today. (12)Henry Sokolski discusses the security implications of a power outage at a US missile base, warning that electrical grids are now primary targets in "gray warfare." He notes that nations like Russia and Iran increasingly view civilian infrastructure as legitimate military targets to spread mayhem and leverage power. (13)Henry Sokolski analyzes the "Golden Dome" project, suggesting its true value lies in achieving space superiority rather than just missile defense. He emphasizes the need for passive defenses, like redundant transformers and public preparedness, to counter the rising threat of autonomous drone swarms and precision attacks. (14)Lilla Nóra Kiss warns about Nuctech, a Chinese-subsidized company dominating the European scanner market through predatory pricing. She highlights the security risks of allowing CCP-linked technology to handle sensitive border and cargo data, noting the company's origins at Tsinghua University and its opaque state support. (15)Lilla Nóra Kiss details how Tsinghua University serves as a conduit for laundering Chinese state technology and operations. She criticizes European regulators for viewing Chinese incursions through narrow "silos" like climate policy rather than recognizing the comprehensive national security threats posed by massive, integrated surveillance machines. (16)

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.comCould enslaved Africans become Christians, and if they did, should baptism lead to freedom? Katharine Gerbner, Associate Professor of History and Director of Religious Studies at the University of Minnesota, joins Will Wright and Pastor Josh Burtram to explain how religion shaped slavery and race in the Protestant Atlantic world. Gerbner's book, Christian Slavery, examines a tension many Americans rarely consider: early Protestant slaveholders often treated Christianity as a marker of freedom, while missionaries wanted to convert enslaved people without disrupting slavery. That conflict helped produce what Gerbner calls “Protestant supremacy,” a religious framework that came before the legal solidification of whiteness and helped justify slavery through religious difference. The conversation moves through Quakers in Barbados, baptism, Catholic and Protestant slave systems, enslaved Christians, and theologies used to defend bondage. It is a hard but necessary look at how Christian language could be used both to seek freedom and to preserve power.Guest BioKatharine Gerbner is Associate Professor of History and Director of the Religious Studies Program at the University of Minnesota. Her work examines how religion shapes, and is shaped by, race, freedom, politics, and technology. She is the author of Christian Slavery: Conversion and Race in the Protestant Atlantic World, which argues that religion was central to the development of both slavery and race in the Protestant Atlantic world, and Archival Irruptions: Constructing Religion and Criminalizing Obeah in Eighteenth-Century Jamaica. Her scholarship connects directly to this episode's focus on Christian slavery, Protestant supremacy, baptism, enslaved Christians, and the religious arguments used to justify or challenge slavery.Book MentionedChristian Slavery: Conversion and Race in the Protestant Atlantic World by Katharine GerbnerBookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9780812224368Relevant Links & ResourcesKatharine Gerbner Faculty ProfileURL: https://cla.umn.edu/about/directory/profile/kgerbner Support Sarah Stankorb's work and preorder Damned If She Does: Why Women Quit Church and What It Means for the Future of Religion, Releases September 15, 2026.  Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9798889837091Website: https://www.sarahstankorb.com/Support the showKeep the conversation going.Want to learn more about Faithful Politics, suggest a future guest, or connect with us directly?Visit our website:faithfulpoliticspodcast.comBrowse our bookstore, featuring books from many of our guests:faithfulpoliticspodcast.com/bookstoreSupport the show and help us keep these conversations going:patreon.com/cw/FaithfulPoliticsSubscribe for behind-the-scenes content, reflections, and updates:faithfulpolitics.substack.comContact the hosts:Josh Burtram, Faithful Host: Josh@faithfulpolitics.comWill Wright, Political Host: Will@faithfulpolitics.comFollow Faithful Politics:Instagram: faithful_politicsFacebook: FaithfulPoliticsPodcast

The healing power of love, creativity, and faith Peter Breggin MD & Ginger Breggin Mon Jul 6 The Breggin Hour Cultural Wars, Faith, Family Life, Health   It was one of those recording sessions that lingers in the heart long after the microphones are turned off. On a recent afternoon, Peter and I had the profound privilege of speaking with Dr. Francis Christian—a gifted surgeon, poet, professor, and thinker whose life embodies the integration of science, art, and deep faith. His latest book of poems, To a Nurse Friend Weeping, published by a small Canadian house, and his Substack (francischristian.substack.com) reflect a man who sees the full spectrum of human experience: suffering, joy, and the creative spark that connects us all to something greater. Dr. Christian joined us as we explored themes close to our own lives—especially in this season of recovery and reflection following Peter's stroke. The conversation flowed naturally from the personal to the cultural, touching on what it means to be fully human in a world that often fragments us. Reconnecting Medicine to the Human Story As a professor of surgery at the University of Saskatchewan, with expertise in trauma and oncology, and a former director of patient safety and quality improvement for the province, Dr. Christian could easily have focused solely on technical excellence. Instead, he founded the Surgical Humanities program and served as founding editor of the Journal of Surgical Humanities. He explained it beautifully: “Unless you're acquainted intimately and engaged with the human story, how can you actually treat the human being?” The humanities—literature, poetry, music, and visual arts—remind physicians, residents, and students of the narratives behind the patients they serve. He shared how he witnessed talented young people set aside their creativity under the pressures of training, only to become cynical. The program sought to reconnect them: through an annual musical evening with an orchestra of physicians, nurses, and students, and a journal that welcomed high-literary-quality pieces from medical voices or non-medical perspectives on medical themes. Creativity isn't a luxury; it is essential to wholeness. As Dr. Christian noted, we are created in the image of God, the Master Creator. To be fully alive is to create—to engage with joy, sorrow, suffering, and relief in ways that science alone cannot teach. For those of us who have faced illness or cared for the sick or wounded, a physician who is truly present—who hears you, respects your humanity—becomes part of the healing itself. Sexuality, Sublimation, and the Gifts of Commitment A recent essay on Dr. Christian's Substack moved me profoundly. In it, he explores the sublimation of sexual energy into creativity and the devastating cultural costs of the sexual revolution. He spoke with poetic respect about human desire—not as mere biology or casual encounter, but as a profound drive that, when channeled with reverence, fuels art, poetry, family, and civilization itself. He drew on John Keats' “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” where the lover's unfulfilled yearning becomes eternal beauty: “Bold lover, never, never canst thou kiss… yet do not grieve… for ever wilt thou love, and she be fair.” For centuries, Christian civilization elevated this longing toward the prize of marriage—a sacred house of fulfillment, commitment, and creative partnership in raising the next generation. The sexual revolution of the 1960s, he observed, lowered the “price” of sex, especially for men, through the pill, abortion, and cultural shifts influenced by feminist and Marxist ideas. What was promised as liberation has delivered falling birth rates, crashing below replacement levels, declining testosterone, less satisfying relationships, sky-high divorce rates, and energies diverted from family into ideologies. Birds, he noted wryly, often show more fidelity than this new mammalian norm. We spoke of the sadness for young people today—burdened by debt, indoctrinated to view children as encumbrances, and offered casual encounters via apps instead of the depth of lifelong trust. Yet there is hope. Some younger generations seem to be turning toward virtue, early commitment, and building families with community support. Peter and I shared from our own journey: the joy of treasuring one another, the self-sacrificial love that grows stronger through trials, and how God's grace sustains it. Peter reflected movingly on how, since his stroke, he has seen God's love through my care for him—and how it has drawn us both closer to the Divine. “Treasure other human beings,” he urged, especially the young. “Dare to love. You'll get hurt, but the more you love, the more you help others become loving.” Dr. Christian echoed this in referencing agape love—the selfless, giving love modeled on the cross. He reminded us of St. Paul and Jesus' mission: to heal the brokenhearted, set the bruised at liberty, and proclaim good news. His hope, like ours, is that people find new life at the foot of the cross and in the resurrection's promise of eternal meaning. A Call to Treasure What Matters This conversation left us refreshed and reminded of what civilization truly rests upon: deep respect, creative fullness, committed love, and faith. In a time when so many forces seek to cheapen human connection, we are called to nurture love like a garden, to greet “that of God” in one another (as the Quakers say), and to resist the fragmentation of modernity. Dr. Francis Christian's life and work stand as a witness: a surgeon who operates with skill and soul, a poet who finds beauty in the weeping and the joy. I encourage you to visit his Substack and explore his poetry. In a world hungry for authenticity, voices like his point us back to what is true, good, and life-giving. Peter and I continue to learn, day by day, about the miracles of recovery, partnership, and grace. We pray this hour of reflection blesses you as it blessed us—to love more boldly, create more freely, and trust in the God who made us for relationship. Thank you, Dr. Christian, for sharing your wisdom and your faith. Our audience—our wonderful community—is richer for it. ______   Learn more about Dr. Peter Breggin's work: https://breggin.com/   See more from Dr. Breggin's long history of being a reformer in psychiatry: https://breggin.com/Psychiatry-as-an-Instrument-of-Social-and-Political-Control   Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal, the how-to manual @ https://breggin.com/a-guide-for-prescribers-therapists-patients-and-their-families/   Get a copy of Dr. Breggin's latest book: WHO ARE THE “THEY” - THESE GLOBAL PREDATORS? WHAT ARE THEIR MOTIVES AND THEIR PLANS FOR US? HOW CAN WE DEFEND AGAINST THEM? Covid-19 and the Global Predators: We are the Prey Get a copy: https://www.wearetheprey.com/   “No other book so comprehensively covers the details of COVID-19 criminal conduct as well as its origins in a network of global predators seeking wealth and power at the expense of human freedom and prosperity, under cover of false public health policies.”   ~ Robert F Kennedy, Jr President Trump's Director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the largest health agency in the world. 

George Lakey is a well known Quaker pacifist, but he didn't grow up that way. In fact, it wasn't until George became involved with Quakers that he came to believe in the power of nonviolence. Now in his 80s, George has spent most of his life as an advocate for social change through nonviolent direct action. In fact, he wrote the book on it. In this episode, he shares his deep conviction that pacifism is the way forward, even in an age of troubling conflict and polarization. We asked George about his lifetime of nonviolent activism, and why Quakers are pacifists. This episode originally was released on May 8, 2024. Become a monthly supporter! Sign up for the Daily Quaker Message.

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.comHow did Christianity become so deeply woven into the American story? Matthew Avery Sutton, professor of history at Washington State University and author of Chosen Land: How Christianity Made America and Americans Remade Christianity, joins Will Wright and Pastor Josh Burtram to explain why American Christianity and American history cannot be told as separate stories. Sutton traces Christianity's influence from Columbus, Spanish Catholic missions, Jamestown, Puritans, Quakers, Catholics, enslaved Muslims, Indigenous nations, and the First Amendment to revivalism, slavery, abolition, apocalyptic evangelicalism, and Christian nationalism. He argues that disestablishment did not remove religion from public life. Instead, it created a competitive religious marketplace where churches had to persuade, organize, innovate, and grow. The conversation also challenges both oversimplified “Christian nation” claims and overly clean secular founding myths. This episode helps listeners see America's 250th as a moment for humility, honesty, and a fuller reckoning with the faiths that shaped the country.Guest BioMatthew Avery Sutton is a historian of American religion and politics at Washington State University. His work examines how Christianity, evangelicalism, revivalism, missions, apocalyptic belief, and political power have shaped American public life. He is the author of Chosen Land: How Christianity Made America and Americans Remade Christianity, American Apocalypse: A History of Modern Evangelicalism, Double Crossed: The Missionaries Who Spied for the United States During the Second World War, and Aimee Semple McPherson and the Resurrection of Christian America. In this conversation, Sutton helps frame the Church and State 250 series by showing how Christianity has been both a force for power and reform throughout American history.Book MentionedChosen Land: How Christianity Made America and Americans Remade Christianity by Matthew Avery SuttonBookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9781541646339American Apocalypse: A History of Modern Evangelicalism by Matthew Avery SuttonBookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9780674975439Relevant Links & ResourcesMatthew Avery Sutton Faculty ProfileURL: https://history.wsu.edu/faculty/wsu-profile/sutton/ Support Sarah Stankorb's work and preorder Damned If She Does: Why Women Quit Church and What It Means for the Future of Religion, Releases September 15, 2026.  Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9798889837091Website: https://www.sarahstankorb.com/Support the showKeep the conversation going.Want to learn more about Faithful Politics, suggest a future guest, or connect with us directly?Visit our website:faithfulpoliticspodcast.comBrowse our bookstore, featuring books from many of our guests:faithfulpoliticspodcast.com/bookstoreSupport the show and help us keep these conversations going:patreon.com/cw/FaithfulPoliticsSubscribe for behind-the-scenes content, reflections, and updates:faithfulpolitics.substack.comContact the hosts:Josh Burtram, Faithful Host: Josh@faithfulpolitics.comWill Wright, Political Host: Will@faithfulpolitics.comFollow Faithful Politics:Instagram: faithful_politicsFacebook: FaithfulPoliticsPodcast

**Exploring the Significance of the Declaration of Independence** In this episode of the Carl Jackson Show, historian William J. Federer joins the host for a fascinating discussion on the enduring strength of the Declaration of Independence and its impact on American society. As the speaker delves into the history of the document, he reveals the surprising ways in which it has inspired social movements and civil rights movements around the world. The conversation touches on the unique aspects of the Declaration, including its emphasis on the idea that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. The speaker explains how this concept is rooted in the Bible and how it has influenced the country's founding documents, including the Constitution. He also discusses the significance of the phrase "self-evident" and how it was initially intended to be a more nuanced concept than what is commonly understood today. The episode also explores the history of the abolitionist movement in America, highlighting the contributions of Quakers and other groups who challenged the institution of slavery and advocated for its end. The speaker shares stories of individuals such as Paul Cuffe, a Quaker who fought in the Revolution and later became a successful businessman and abolitionist, and James Forten, a Quaker who helped to establish the first racially integrated school in Westport, Massachusetts. As the conversation comes to a close, the speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding the true history of America and the role that the Declaration of Independence has played in shaping the country's values and principles. He encourages listeners to learn more about this pivotal document and its impact on American society. Follow Carl Jackson:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carljacksonradioX/Twitter: https://twitter.com/carljacksonshowInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecarljacksonshowWebsite: http://www.TheCarlJacksonShow.comStore: https://CarlJacksonStore.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

**Exploring the Significance of the Declaration of Independence** In this episode of the Carl Jackson Show, historian William J. Federer joins the host for a fascinating discussion on the enduring strength of the Declaration of Independence and its impact on American society. As the speaker delves into the history of the document, he reveals the surprising ways in which it has inspired social movements and civil rights movements around the world. The conversation touches on the unique aspects of the Declaration, including its emphasis on the idea that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. The speaker explains how this concept is rooted in the Bible and how it has influenced the country's founding documents, including the Constitution. He also discusses the significance of the phrase "self-evident" and how it was initially intended to be a more nuanced concept than what is commonly understood today. The episode also explores the history of the abolitionist movement in America, highlighting the contributions of Quakers and other groups who challenged the institution of slavery and advocated for its end. The speaker shares stories of individuals such as Paul Cuffe, a Quaker who fought in the Revolution and later became a successful businessman and abolitionist, and James Forten, a Quaker who helped to establish the first racially integrated school in Westport, Massachusetts. As the conversation comes to a close, the speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding the true history of America and the role that the Declaration of Independence has played in shaping the country's values and principles. He encourages listeners to learn more about this pivotal document and its impact on American society. Follow Carl Jackson:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carljacksonradioX/Twitter: https://twitter.com/carljacksonshowInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecarljacksonshowWebsite: http://www.TheCarlJacksonShow.comStore: https://CarlJacksonStore.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, the true architects of its rebellious spirit might not be the founding fathers you expect. Quaker historian Max Carter joins the show to unpack the radical, plain-speaking movement that quietly hardwired the nation's legal system, culture, and architecture. Discover how a "holy experiment" accidentally fueled a revolution and shaped the foundational values that Americans still live by today.  ------- World Quaker Day is on Sunday, October 4th, 2026, and this year's theme is “Let Peace Be Among Us.” To mark the day, the Friends World Committee for Consultation is doing something pretty incredible: a massive, global online Meeting for Worship. It's a chance to bridge time zones and traditions—to be in a shared, digital worship that stretches around the entire world. Find out more and other ways to take part in World Quaker Day at www.worldquakerday.org. Become a monthly supporter! Sign up for the Daily Quaker Message.

Preparation and the Lure of the Third Voyage. Guest Author: Hampton Sides. In 1776, a retired Captain James Cookwas living a comfortable life at Greenwich Hospital after two legendary voyages. However, a dinner with Lord Sandwich and the prospect of finding the Northwest Passage—and its £20,000 reward—convinced him to return to sea. Sides describes Cook's rise from poverty in Yorkshire, apprenticing under Quakers on "Whitby Cats," which were sturdy coal ships. This background instilled in him a sense of frugality and steadiness. Cook was a self-taught genius of hydrography, creating maps so accurate they rival modern satellite imagery. Despite his desire for retirement, his restlessness and the Admiralty's need for his unique mapmaking and leadership skills drove him to accept this final mission. 11781 DEATH OF COOK

Episode 4162 │ June 28, 2026 Paine arrived broke and nearly dead. He wrote the pamphlet that made independence inevitable. Six people attended his funeral. History owes him more. WHAT THIS EPISODE COVERS  Scott Kesterson and Rochelle Porto deliver the full Thomas Paine episode — tracing the arc from a destitute English stay-maker's son beaten up by wealthy children in Thetford, through bankruptcy, a dead wife and child, a chance meeting with Benjamin Franklin, a near-fatal nine-week sea crossing, and a recovery in a Philadelphia doctor's quarters, to the January 1776 publication of Common Sense — a 47-page pamphlet that reached 40% of the colonial population, shifted the psychological default from reconciliation to independence before Congress had the courage to declare it, prompted North Carolina to become the first colony to authorize its delegates to vote for independence, and was ordered read aloud to Continental Army troops before the crossing of the Delaware. Rochelle traces Paine's documented record — the first anti-slavery essay in American history, the Pennsylvania Abolition Act of 1780 drafted in part by Paine, his $500 personal contribution to a collapsing Continental Army, the diplomatic mission to France that secured 2.5 million livres in silver — against the arc of a man whose bones are now lost, whose burial was refused by the Quakers, whose funeral drew six people, and who was denied the right to vote in the country he helped create. The episode closes with a reading of 1 Samuel 8 — the passage at the theological root of Common Sense's argument against kings — as both historical anchor and present-day mirror. KEY QUESTIONS ADDRESSED  What made Common Sense the proportionally most widely read political document in American history — and how did a 47-page pamphlet written by a man with no official standing shift the entire colonial psychological default from reconciliation to independence in less than four months? Why did Theodore Roosevelt call Paine "the little atheist" — and what does Paine's actual engagement with Psalm 19, the book of Job, and 1 Samuel 8 reveal about where he actually stood on God, monarchy, and the republic? What is the 1 Samuel 8 passage at the theological root of Common Sense — and why does the warning God gave Israel about kings read today like a precise description of the permission structure being built around us? ABOUT BARDSFM BardsFM is a daily independent podcast covering faith, liberty, history, and information warfare. Hosted by Scott Kesterson — combat veteran, documentary filmmaker, and rancher. Over 4,100 episodes and 50 million lifetime downloads. New episodes every weekday. bards.fm This episode was researched and produced under the Sentinel Framework v3 — the analytical methodology built by Scott Kesterson — with AI-assisted research synthesis at a 70/30 human/AI authorship ratio, fully disclosed. All analysis, conclusions, and editorial judgments are those of Scott Kesterson. AFFILIATE LINKS Bards Nation Health Store: www.bardsnationhealth.com MYPillow promo code: BARDS >> Go to https://www.mypillow.com/bards and use the promo code BARDS or... Call 1-800-975-2939.  EMPShield protect your vehicles and home. Promo code BARDS: Click here Treadlite Broadforks...best garden tool EVER. Promo code BARDS26: TreadliteBroadforks.com EnviroKlenz Air Purification, promo code BARDS to save 10%: www.enviroklenz.com Morning Intro Music Provided by Brian Kahanek: www.briankahanek.com Founders Bible 20% discount code: BARDS >>> TheFoundersBible.com Windblown Media 20% Discount with promo code BARDS: windblownmedia.com White Oak Pastures Grassfed Meats, Get $20 off any order $150 or more. Promo Code BARDS: www.whiteoakpastures.com/BARDS Mission Darkness Faraday Bags and RF Shielding. Promo code BARDS: Click here DONATIONS: If you wish to support this podcast directly you can donate here... DONATE: Click here MAILING ADDRESS: Xpedition Cafe, LLC Attn. Scott Kesterson 591 E Central Ave, #740 Sutherlin, OR  97479

When authoritarianism wraps itself in faith, how should a spiritual community respond? We trace the chilling historical parallels between 1930s Germany and the modern political moment as Quaker lawyer Scott Holmes crafts a modern declaration of resistance. Drawing on the 1934 Barmen Declaration, we explore the collision of religion and nationalism. How do we maintain integrity when political forces co-opt sacred traditions? Join us to navigate the challenge of preserving truth and radical love in a fractured world.   Read Scott Holmes' full statement here: https://curtisscottholmes.blogspot.com/2025/12/statement-of-faith-toward-shared.html?m=1 Become a monthly supporter! Sign up for the Daily Quaker Message.

Rediffusion Dans cette saison de La Traque, revivez l'une des cavales les plus emblématiques suivez l'une des chasses à l'homme les plus retentissantes de l'histoire : celle de John Dillinger. Aux États-Unis des années 1930, au cœur de la Grande Dépression, Dillinger n'est pas un hors-la-loi comme les autres. Charismatique, audacieux, il devient rapidement le criminel le plus recherché du pays, défiant les banques et l'autorité avec une précision presque artistique. Derrière son sourire, un esprit rebelle et un homme en guerre contre un système qu'il refuse de respecter. Un passage en prison formateur  Chicago, 1934. Les rues grouillent de curieux venus voir le corps sans vie de l'ennemi public n°1 : John Dillinger. Gangster de légende, traqué sans relâche, il a été abattu à seulement 31 ans. Mais comment ce fils de fermier, élevé dans l'austérité des Quakers, est-il devenu le symbole du crime organisé ? De l'enfance d'un gamin turbulent à la naissance d'un hors-la-loi redouté, plongez dans l'histoire fascinante d'un homme que tout destinait à l'ordinaire… jusqu'à ce qu'il transforme sa vie en un jeu dangereux, entre audace, charisme et tragédie. Crédits : Production : Bababam  Textes : Vincent Rebouah Voix : Anne Cosmao, Aurélien Gouas Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The sheer scale of the climate crisis can easily lead to burnout if we don't have a strong anchor to hold us steady. Today, we are digging beneath the protests and policies to explore the deep, spiritual roots that actually sustain this vital work. Join us to discover how a profound shift in our theology can transform environmentalism from a crushing global obligation into a deeply personal, daily practice of love. -------------------------   World Quaker Day is on Sunday, October 4th, 2026, and this year's theme is “Let Peace Be Among Us.” To mark the day, the Friends World Committee for Consultation is doing something pretty incredible: a massive, global online Meeting for Worship. It's a chance to bridge time zones and traditions—to be in a shared, digital worship that stretches around the entire world. Find out more and other ways to take part in World Quaker Day at www.worldquakerday.org. Become a monthly supporter! Sign up for the Daily Quaker Message.

In this third episode of our season-long exploration of Quakers and Money, Peterson Toscano and Diana Yañez turn toward one of the largest and most difficult questions of the series: How do Friends live with integrity inside capitalism? Last month, we explored relational finance and asked whether taking responsibility for our money and institutional assets can lead to deeper integrity and more equitable power-sharing. This month, Peterson names the friction many Friends feel: the sense of being trapped in a massive economic system built on extraction, inequity, colonialism, and environmental harm. Through conversations with Lisa Graustein, Nathan Kleban, David Watt, and Traci Hjelt Sullivan, this episode examines the spiritual dissonance between Quaker values and capitalist structures. We hear about stolen land, inherited wealth, paternalism in charitable giving, the legacy of slavery in Quaker history, and the denial made possible by class and racial privilege. Rather than offering easy answers, Peterson and Diana ask what it means to stay on a journey with truth. If capitalism harms people and the planet, how might Friends move beyond individual purity or denial and toward mutual aid, community wealth-building, repair, and solidarity? In This Episode The Dissonance: Peterson reflects on the gap between Quaker faith and a global economy built on extraction and inequity. Capitalism and White Supremacy: Lisa Graustein names capitalism and white supremacy as forces that keep the here and now from becoming the realm of God. Stolen Land and Reparative Responsibility: Lisa shares the story of New England Yearly Meeting selling property after repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery and raises questions about what should happen to profits from land acquired through colonization. From Charity to Right Relationship: Nathan Kleban of Right Sharing of World Resources challenges paternalistic models of giving and asks who the economy is actually for. Quaker Wealth and Enslavement: David Watt, professor of Quaker studies at Haverford College, reminds us that some early Quaker wealth in Philadelphia was tied to Barbados, sugar plantations, and the labor of enslaved people. The Wealth of Not Having Debt: Traci Hjelt Sullivan expands the definition of ancestral wealth, naming the opportunities that come from beginning adult life without student debt. The Inner Capitalist: Diana reminds us that the Quaker belief in “that of God in everyone” also extends to capitalists, and to the parts of ourselves that continue to benefit from extractive systems. Our Guests Lisa Graustein Lisa Graustein is a Quaker educator, activist, and writer whose work often explores money, power, race, and reparative justice. In this episode, she reflects on inherited wealth, stewardship, and the responsibility to repair harm caused through the accumulation of resources. Nathan Kleban Nathan Kleban works with Right Sharing of World Resources, a Quaker organization that supports women-led economic projects in the Global South. Nathan brings a relational and community-centered lens to economics, asking how people get their needs met and how communities express their gifts outside extractive systems. David Watt David Watt is the Douglas and Dorothy Steere Professor of Quaker Studies at Haverford College. In this episode, he offers historical context about Quaker wealth, including the connections between early Philadelphia Friends, Barbados, sugar plantations, and slavery. Traci Hjelt Sullivan Traci Hjelt Sullivan is the executive director of Right Sharing of World Resources. She brings decades of nonprofit leadership and international experience to her work. In this episode, she reflects on truth, denial, race, class, debt, and the spiritual work of recognizing our own responsibility. Resources and Recommendations QuakerSpeak: “What If Wall Street Were Honest?” https://quakerspeak.com/video/what-if-wall-street-were-honest/ North Carolina Quaker Mark Hulbert has tracked investment advisors since the early 1980s. In this QuakerSpeak video, he talks about how his Quaker background and commitment to integrity led him to ask whether Wall Street advisors were telling the truth. Spent https://playspent.org/ Diana recommends Spent, a free browser-based survival game that places players inside the poverty trap. You begin with $1,000 and try to survive for 30 days while making impossible choices: pay rent, fix the car, buy medicine, or keep the lights on. It offers one way to better understand how expensive it can be to be poor in the current economic system. Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Federici https://pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1575 Diana references Federici's work while discussing the relationship between capitalism, labor control, gendered violence, and colonialism. The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374157357/thedawnofeverything/ Diana also points to this book while reflecting on European colonialism, the construction of human hierarchy, and the ideas that shaped the modern world. Organizations Mentioned Right Sharing of World Resources: https://rswr.org/ A Quaker organization that supports women's self-help groups in the Global South through seed grants and relationship-based partnerships. Earth Quaker Action Team: https://eqat.org/ A grassroots Quaker organization that uses nonviolent direct action to challenge systems of economic and environmental injustice. New England Yearly Meeting: https://neym.org/ A regional body of the Religious Society of Friends is mentioned in Lisa Graustein's story about land, reparative responsibility, and the Doctrine of Discovery. Haverford College / David Harrington Watt: https://www.haverford.edu/users/dhwatt David Watt teaches Quaker studies at Haverford College and appears in this episode to discuss Quaker history, wealth, slavery, and capitalism. Listener Voicemails Thank you to John Choe for sharing his reflections and concerns about Quakers, financial discernment, and the role of institutions like Friends Fiduciary. Thank you also to Richard Tindall for his faithful reminder to drink a glass of water first thing in the morning. As summer begins in the Northern Hemisphere, it is a timely invitation to stay hydrated and care for our bodies. Question for Listeners How do you navigate the tension between Quaker values and capitalism? Where do you feel dissonance between your financial life and your spiritual commitments? Share your thoughts: · Voicemail: Call 317-QUAKERS, 317-782-5377 · Email: podcast@friendsjournal.org · Social Media: Respond to us on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok Sponsors Friends Fiduciary https://friendsfiduciary.org/ Friends Fiduciary unites Quaker values with expert investing. They serve Friends meetings, churches, schools, and organizations through ethical portfolios, shareholder advocacy, and a commitment to justice and sustainability. American Friends Service Committee https://afsc.org/ The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization working with communities worldwide to challenge injustice, meet urgent community needs, and build conditions for lasting peace. AFSC and the Vanguard S.O.S. / Never Vanguard campaign AFSC announcement: https://afsc.org/newsroom/afsc-joins-vanguard-sos-campaign-fossil-fuel-divestment Never Vanguard pledge: https://eqat.org/never-vanguard/ AFSC has joined with Earth Quaker Action Team in the Vanguard S.O.S. campaign, asking Friends to boycott and divest from Vanguard until it stops funding fossil fuel projects and takes climate justice into account. Disclaimers Quakers Today is a project of Friends Publishing Corporation. This season is sponsored by Friends Fiduciary and the American Friends Service Committee. This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment, legal, or tax advice. Listening does not create an advisory relationship. Friends Fiduciary is a sponsor of this podcast. Sponsorship does not constitute an endorsement, and Quakers Today does not receive compensation based on listener investment decisions. Diana Gisel Yañez is an Investment Advisor Representative of Natural Investments PBLLC. Natural Investments is an independent Registered Investment Advisor. Quakers Today and Friends Journal are not a registered entity and are not an affiliate or subsidiary of Natural Investments. See the Natural Investments Disclosures and Disclaimers and Form CRS: https://naturalinvestments.com/disclosures-disclaimers/

17th century England was a world turned upside down.A civil war resulted in King Charles I being executed, and from this moment a religious movement called the Quakers grew rapidly.Far from the pacifists we think of them as today, Quaker leaders shocked the country with their radical approach, including attempts to resurrect the dead.Taking us back to the 17th century today is Dr Erica Canela, historian and author of Zealous: A Darker Side of the Early Quakers.Edited by Hannah Feodorov. Produced by Stuart Beckwith. Senior Producer is Freddy Chick.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  You can take part in our listener survey here.All music from Epidemic Sounds. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ever since conquistadores claimed Taino land in the name of their Catholic God and New England Puritans formed their strictly Protestant “city on a hill,” religion has been central to American life. Even as some found religious freedom—Rhode Island welcomed the Quakers, Jews, and Baptists that Massachusetts expelled as dissenters—indigenous people and Africans forced into slavery struggled to protect their religious practices. With the constitutional separation of church and state, it fell to the American people to decide: would they sharpen religion's formidable powers of division, or reimagine its creative possibilities? In A God-Shaped Nation: Five Hundred Years of Religion in America (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2026) Brook Wilensky-Lanford follows this essential American tension from first contact through the 2024 election. This is an expansive history of extraordinary religious questions, told through the ordinary people who grappled with them. It is a story of defiance: Anne Hutchinson, preaching against Puritan clergy; Reform rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise serving soft-shell crab to his kosher guests at an 1883 banquet; and Wovoka, a Paiute man who envisioned the Ghost Dance movement, which persisted in the face of violent government repression at Wounded Knee. It is also a story of community: Millerites waiting together in vain for Jesus's return on a rainy October night in 1844; Chinese immigrants bringing Daoist and Buddhist gods to their California temples; Mormons pushing westward to build their “new Zion” in Utah. And in the last fifty years, it has been a story of muscular political power, as the religious right has sought to shape the present and paint the past in its own image. At a moment when religion penetrates even the most secular aspects of American life, understanding its history is more essential than ever before. “It is in history that the very human work of religion happens,” Wilensky-Lanford shows us, “and in ordinary time that even the most carved-in-stone tenets can and do change.” Brook Wilensky-Lanford is a religion writer, editor, and teacher. The author of Paradise Lust: Searching for the Garden of Eden, a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice, and former managing editor of Killing the Buddha, her work has been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, The New Republic, and elsewhere. Currently the Associate Director of Sacred Writes Public Scholarship, she holds an MFA in Nonfiction Writing from Columbia University and a PhD in Religion in the Americas from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she lives. This episode's host, Jacob Barrett, is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Religion and Culture track. For more information, visit his website thereluctantamericanist.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Ever since conquistadores claimed Taino land in the name of their Catholic God and New England Puritans formed their strictly Protestant “city on a hill,” religion has been central to American life. Even as some found religious freedom—Rhode Island welcomed the Quakers, Jews, and Baptists that Massachusetts expelled as dissenters—indigenous people and Africans forced into slavery struggled to protect their religious practices. With the constitutional separation of church and state, it fell to the American people to decide: would they sharpen religion's formidable powers of division, or reimagine its creative possibilities? In A God-Shaped Nation: Five Hundred Years of Religion in America (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2026) Brook Wilensky-Lanford follows this essential American tension from first contact through the 2024 election. This is an expansive history of extraordinary religious questions, told through the ordinary people who grappled with them. It is a story of defiance: Anne Hutchinson, preaching against Puritan clergy; Reform rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise serving soft-shell crab to his kosher guests at an 1883 banquet; and Wovoka, a Paiute man who envisioned the Ghost Dance movement, which persisted in the face of violent government repression at Wounded Knee. It is also a story of community: Millerites waiting together in vain for Jesus's return on a rainy October night in 1844; Chinese immigrants bringing Daoist and Buddhist gods to their California temples; Mormons pushing westward to build their “new Zion” in Utah. And in the last fifty years, it has been a story of muscular political power, as the religious right has sought to shape the present and paint the past in its own image. At a moment when religion penetrates even the most secular aspects of American life, understanding its history is more essential than ever before. “It is in history that the very human work of religion happens,” Wilensky-Lanford shows us, “and in ordinary time that even the most carved-in-stone tenets can and do change.” Brook Wilensky-Lanford is a religion writer, editor, and teacher. The author of Paradise Lust: Searching for the Garden of Eden, a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice, and former managing editor of Killing the Buddha, her work has been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, The New Republic, and elsewhere. Currently the Associate Director of Sacred Writes Public Scholarship, she holds an MFA in Nonfiction Writing from Columbia University and a PhD in Religion in the Americas from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she lives. This episode's host, Jacob Barrett, is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Religion and Culture track. For more information, visit his website thereluctantamericanist.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Ever since conquistadores claimed Taino land in the name of their Catholic God and New England Puritans formed their strictly Protestant “city on a hill,” religion has been central to American life. Even as some found religious freedom—Rhode Island welcomed the Quakers, Jews, and Baptists that Massachusetts expelled as dissenters—indigenous people and Africans forced into slavery struggled to protect their religious practices. With the constitutional separation of church and state, it fell to the American people to decide: would they sharpen religion's formidable powers of division, or reimagine its creative possibilities? In A God-Shaped Nation: Five Hundred Years of Religion in America (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2026) Brook Wilensky-Lanford follows this essential American tension from first contact through the 2024 election. This is an expansive history of extraordinary religious questions, told through the ordinary people who grappled with them. It is a story of defiance: Anne Hutchinson, preaching against Puritan clergy; Reform rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise serving soft-shell crab to his kosher guests at an 1883 banquet; and Wovoka, a Paiute man who envisioned the Ghost Dance movement, which persisted in the face of violent government repression at Wounded Knee. It is also a story of community: Millerites waiting together in vain for Jesus's return on a rainy October night in 1844; Chinese immigrants bringing Daoist and Buddhist gods to their California temples; Mormons pushing westward to build their “new Zion” in Utah. And in the last fifty years, it has been a story of muscular political power, as the religious right has sought to shape the present and paint the past in its own image. At a moment when religion penetrates even the most secular aspects of American life, understanding its history is more essential than ever before. “It is in history that the very human work of religion happens,” Wilensky-Lanford shows us, “and in ordinary time that even the most carved-in-stone tenets can and do change.” Brook Wilensky-Lanford is a religion writer, editor, and teacher. The author of Paradise Lust: Searching for the Garden of Eden, a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice, and former managing editor of Killing the Buddha, her work has been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, The New Republic, and elsewhere. Currently the Associate Director of Sacred Writes Public Scholarship, she holds an MFA in Nonfiction Writing from Columbia University and a PhD in Religion in the Americas from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she lives. This episode's host, Jacob Barrett, is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Religion and Culture track. For more information, visit his website thereluctantamericanist.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/jewish-studies

Ever since conquistadores claimed Taino land in the name of their Catholic God and New England Puritans formed their strictly Protestant “city on a hill,” religion has been central to American life. Even as some found religious freedom—Rhode Island welcomed the Quakers, Jews, and Baptists that Massachusetts expelled as dissenters—indigenous people and Africans forced into slavery struggled to protect their religious practices. With the constitutional separation of church and state, it fell to the American people to decide: would they sharpen religion's formidable powers of division, or reimagine its creative possibilities? In A God-Shaped Nation: Five Hundred Years of Religion in America (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2026) Brook Wilensky-Lanford follows this essential American tension from first contact through the 2024 election. This is an expansive history of extraordinary religious questions, told through the ordinary people who grappled with them. It is a story of defiance: Anne Hutchinson, preaching against Puritan clergy; Reform rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise serving soft-shell crab to his kosher guests at an 1883 banquet; and Wovoka, a Paiute man who envisioned the Ghost Dance movement, which persisted in the face of violent government repression at Wounded Knee. It is also a story of community: Millerites waiting together in vain for Jesus's return on a rainy October night in 1844; Chinese immigrants bringing Daoist and Buddhist gods to their California temples; Mormons pushing westward to build their “new Zion” in Utah. And in the last fifty years, it has been a story of muscular political power, as the religious right has sought to shape the present and paint the past in its own image. At a moment when religion penetrates even the most secular aspects of American life, understanding its history is more essential than ever before. “It is in history that the very human work of religion happens,” Wilensky-Lanford shows us, “and in ordinary time that even the most carved-in-stone tenets can and do change.” Brook Wilensky-Lanford is a religion writer, editor, and teacher. The author of Paradise Lust: Searching for the Garden of Eden, a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice, and former managing editor of Killing the Buddha, her work has been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, The New Republic, and elsewhere. Currently the Associate Director of Sacred Writes Public Scholarship, she holds an MFA in Nonfiction Writing from Columbia University and a PhD in Religion in the Americas from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she lives. This episode's host, Jacob Barrett, is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Religion and Culture track. For more information, visit his website thereluctantamericanist.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Ever since conquistadores claimed Taino land in the name of their Catholic God and New England Puritans formed their strictly Protestant “city on a hill,” religion has been central to American life. Even as some found religious freedom—Rhode Island welcomed the Quakers, Jews, and Baptists that Massachusetts expelled as dissenters—indigenous people and Africans forced into slavery struggled to protect their religious practices. With the constitutional separation of church and state, it fell to the American people to decide: would they sharpen religion's formidable powers of division, or reimagine its creative possibilities? In A God-Shaped Nation: Five Hundred Years of Religion in America (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2026) Brook Wilensky-Lanford follows this essential American tension from first contact through the 2024 election. This is an expansive history of extraordinary religious questions, told through the ordinary people who grappled with them. It is a story of defiance: Anne Hutchinson, preaching against Puritan clergy; Reform rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise serving soft-shell crab to his kosher guests at an 1883 banquet; and Wovoka, a Paiute man who envisioned the Ghost Dance movement, which persisted in the face of violent government repression at Wounded Knee. It is also a story of community: Millerites waiting together in vain for Jesus's return on a rainy October night in 1844; Chinese immigrants bringing Daoist and Buddhist gods to their California temples; Mormons pushing westward to build their “new Zion” in Utah. And in the last fifty years, it has been a story of muscular political power, as the religious right has sought to shape the present and paint the past in its own image. At a moment when religion penetrates even the most secular aspects of American life, understanding its history is more essential than ever before. “It is in history that the very human work of religion happens,” Wilensky-Lanford shows us, “and in ordinary time that even the most carved-in-stone tenets can and do change.” Brook Wilensky-Lanford is a religion writer, editor, and teacher. The author of Paradise Lust: Searching for the Garden of Eden, a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice, and former managing editor of Killing the Buddha, her work has been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, The New Republic, and elsewhere. Currently the Associate Director of Sacred Writes Public Scholarship, she holds an MFA in Nonfiction Writing from Columbia University and a PhD in Religion in the Americas from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she lives. This episode's host, Jacob Barrett, is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Religion and Culture track. For more information, visit his website thereluctantamericanist.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/religion

Ever since conquistadores claimed Taino land in the name of their Catholic God and New England Puritans formed their strictly Protestant “city on a hill,” religion has been central to American life. Even as some found religious freedom—Rhode Island welcomed the Quakers, Jews, and Baptists that Massachusetts expelled as dissenters—indigenous people and Africans forced into slavery struggled to protect their religious practices. With the constitutional separation of church and state, it fell to the American people to decide: would they sharpen religion's formidable powers of division, or reimagine its creative possibilities? In A God-Shaped Nation: Five Hundred Years of Religion in America (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2026) Brook Wilensky-Lanford follows this essential American tension from first contact through the 2024 election. This is an expansive history of extraordinary religious questions, told through the ordinary people who grappled with them. It is a story of defiance: Anne Hutchinson, preaching against Puritan clergy; Reform rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise serving soft-shell crab to his kosher guests at an 1883 banquet; and Wovoka, a Paiute man who envisioned the Ghost Dance movement, which persisted in the face of violent government repression at Wounded Knee. It is also a story of community: Millerites waiting together in vain for Jesus's return on a rainy October night in 1844; Chinese immigrants bringing Daoist and Buddhist gods to their California temples; Mormons pushing westward to build their “new Zion” in Utah. And in the last fifty years, it has been a story of muscular political power, as the religious right has sought to shape the present and paint the past in its own image. At a moment when religion penetrates even the most secular aspects of American life, understanding its history is more essential than ever before. “It is in history that the very human work of religion happens,” Wilensky-Lanford shows us, “and in ordinary time that even the most carved-in-stone tenets can and do change.” Brook Wilensky-Lanford is a religion writer, editor, and teacher. The author of Paradise Lust: Searching for the Garden of Eden, a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice, and former managing editor of Killing the Buddha, her work has been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, The New Republic, and elsewhere. Currently the Associate Director of Sacred Writes Public Scholarship, she holds an MFA in Nonfiction Writing from Columbia University and a PhD in Religion in the Americas from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she lives. This episode's host, Jacob Barrett, is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Religion and Culture track. For more information, visit his website thereluctantamericanist.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies

How do Quakers prepare for Meeting for Worship? How do we get ready for an hour of silence in which we may feel called upon to stand and give a message? In this week's episode, we share three essays written by members of Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting about their experience of Quaker Meeting for Worship. This episode originally aired on June 21, 2023. Become a monthly supporter! Sign up for the Daily Quaker Message.

Today I read and elaborate on an article by the late Dr. Gary North titled, "The Little Things in Life." He wrote this in 1979 but it is as relevant today as when he wrote it. In it he talks about the often overlooked foundation for the cultural growth of the Medieval era (500 A.D. to 1500 A.D.): God's law. Although not perfect at all, it was a time of flourishing after the fall of the Roman Empire. Even though there was much illiteracy and doctrinal dispute, Dr. North points out that there was much cohesion when it came to the basic ethical standards of Scripture, and how families teaching those to their children gave rise to what we know as Christendom. I conclude with a few thoughts of how Christians can lay the foundation for Christian culture again today.  The Little Things of Life - Dr. Gary North Rented Virtue (article on the Quakers mentioned by Aaron Renn)

How do you build peace in a war zone? During the Troubles in Northern Ireland, it didn't always start with politicians or treaties. Sometimes it started with an ordinary cup of tea. Explore the hidden history of how Irish Quakers stepped into the margins of a deeply divided society, using radical acts of hospitality to do the quiet, dangerous work of turning enemies into friends. Become a monthly supporter! Sign up for the Daily Quaker Message.

This is the story of the division of the colony of New Jersey into East New Jersey and West New Jersey, and the bizarre legal and financial machinations that resulted ultimately in the settlement of the region by Quakers in the second half of the 1670s. Fundamentally, those machinations were between two somewhat disreputable Quakers, John Fenwick and Edward Byllynge. Their longstanding quarrel would threaten to spill out into non-Quaker circles, so William Penn intervened to arbitrate between them and save the Friends from embarrassment. It was this intervention that would first involve Penn in North American colonization, and just a few years down the road would result in the founding of Pennsylvania. Subscribe to my Substack! X – @TheHistoryOfTh2 – https://x.com/TheHistoryOfTh2 Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfTheAmericans Useful prerequisite episodes: #167 Ohhhh! Whaddabout New Jersey? #171 New Jersey Is Revolting! Primary references for this episode John E. Pomfret, The Province Of West New Jersey 1609-1702 (Out of print – best found in libraries) The concessions and agreements of the proprietors, freeholders and inhabitants of the province of West New-Jersey, in America Introduction to and summary of the West Jersey Concessions Quintipartite Deed

Even religious people act like devils. “And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.” - Revelation 13:15 (KJV)

The Quakers are a small enough community in Ireland, but there is one Quaker-ethos school in Waterford that has been around since 1798. So, what makes it different?Joining Seán to discuss is Keith Lemon, Principal of Newtown School in Waterford City.Image: Newtown School

Irish Quakers have always punched far above their weight, leaning on deep spirituality and radical hospitality to bring relief during the Great Famine and build quiet trust throughout the Northern Ireland peace process. Last month, podcast producer Zack Jackson traveled to Ireland Yearly Meeting to learn, firsthand, how this diverse community has managed to have such an outsized impact on the island. Tune in to hear what this small but mighty community can teach the rest of us. Become a monthly supporter! Sign up for the Daily Quaker Message.

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friend Jess Fetterman, a historian with a bachelor's degree in agriculture, a brief history of how agriculture became sciencey, her family's connections to farming, an influential high school research experience, living history, some basics on the Quakers and the college she went to, her unique college experiences, marrying traditional and modern agricultural practices, subsidiarity, her grad school stints and mental health, the importance of cultivation to our humanity, the effects of her parents' mixed marriage on her religious upbringing, the liturgy and how her husband helped her be comfortable with different liturgies, how she met her husband, being a biritual marriage, and so much more!-link: Byz Ben's episode, Silent Spring, I&A, Caroline George's episodeDuring the course of their conversation, they make many references which you can explore. Some of these references include episodes 63 and 97, Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, and the Inkwells and Anvils community.Feel free to like, subscribe, and share the episode! Follow us on Instagram! @sbltfpodcastDon't forget to go out there, and be a light to this world!

Quaker author, speaker, and teacher Parker Palmer joins us to explore the tension between the world's demands for success, and our soul's need for integrity. By sharing his personal journey through darkness and renewal, he offers a deeply moving invitation to let go of forced outcomes and instead live with simple faithfulness to our unique gifts. ---------- Want an experience that lives at the intersection of transformational spirituality and activism? Quaker Voluntary Service (QVS) is an 11-month experiment in intentional living. Through the program, young adults work full-time at community-based organizations while living in a cooperative house and receiving mentorship from local Quakers. Fellows are provided with housing, food, a personal stipend, wellness supports, and a deeply engaged community dedicated to supporting young adults in discerning and living into their gifts and callings. You can support this prophetic work by applying for the fellowship, volunteering locally, or donating directly to support the Fellows. Learn more and get involved today:  https://quakervoluntaryservice.org/ Become a monthly supporter! Sign up for the Daily Quaker Message.

Your region was already shaping what you wore, what felt normal, and what got you sideways looks at dinner, long before you had any framework for personal style at all.   Colin Woodard's American Nations framework proposes that North America is actually 11 distinct cultures, each with founding values that have persisted for centuries.   The eleven nations: Yankeedom (New England to the upper Midwest): Founded by radical Calvinists. Deep investment in education, community improvement, and civic duty. New Netherland (New York City metro): Founded by the Dutch as a commercial trading hub. Pluralistic, cosmopolitan, entrepreneurial from the start. The Midlands (Pennsylvania to the central Midwest): Founded by Quakers who welcomed all. Moderate, consensus-driven, deeply suspicious of extremes. Tidewater (coastal Virginia and the Carolinas): Founded by English gentry who recreated a feudal aristocracy. Hierarchical, formal, oriented toward tradition and lineage. Greater Appalachia (the Appalachian backcountry to the Ozarks): Founded by Scots-Irish borderlanders. Fiercely independent, deeply suspicious of outside authority. Deep South (South Carolina to east Texas): Founded by Barbadian planters who built a slave society. Ceremonial, hierarchical, intensely communal within its own ranks. El Norte (the southwest borderlands): The oldest European culture on the continent. Hardworking, independent, shaped by two nations simultaneously. The Left Coast (coastal Alaska to northern California): Founded by New England missionaries and Appalachian prospectors. Idealistic, innovative, convinced it can build something better. The Far West (the interior West to the Great Plains): Shaped by the extraction economy and harsh climate. Pragmatic, self-reliant, resistant to outside control. New France (Quebec and Louisiana): Founded by French colonists who prioritized relationships over hierarchy. Communal, convivial, with a strong sense of place and pleasure. First Nation (northern Canada and Alaska): The nations that predate all the others. Cultures built on deep relationship with land, community, and living tradition. In this episode I'm applying that lens to style, introducing the 11 nations and their regional style archetypes, and asking a question most style advice never thinks to ask: which parts of your style are actually yours? Let's connect! To suggest a podcast topic, send email to hello@signaturestylesystems.com. Want to learn more about how to discover your Style DNA? Start with The Congruence Code! Check out the FREE video masterclass: The Myers-Briggs Key to Signature Style.  

In the premiere episode of season five of Our Seven Neighbors: Religion and Resistance in America, host Reza Aslan joins historian and Smithsonian curator Peter Manseau for a sweeping conversation about the real history of religious freedom in the United States. Together, they dismantle the comforting myth that America was founded as a uniformly Christian nation devoted to liberty for all, revealing instead a far more contested and complicated story. From Puritan theocracy and the execution of Quakers to the struggles of Jews, Muslims, Native peoples, and enslaved Africans for recognition and belonging, the episode explores how pluralism in America was not gifted from above, but forged through centuries of conflict, resistance, and negotiation. Drawing on Manseau's landmark work One Nation, Under Gods, the discussion reframes American religious history as a living, unfinished struggle over who counts, whose beliefs matter, and what freedom truly means in a diverse democracy. Aslan and Manseau examine the enduring power of myths like the “city on a hill,” the dangers of Christian nationalism, and the ongoing fight to widen the circle of belonging in American life. At a moment when religious diversity and democratic pluralism are once again under pressure, this episode offers a powerful reminder that the American experiment has always depended on people willing to challenge exclusion and insist that the story is bigger than any one faith, nation, or identity. Subscribe to O7N: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/our-7-neighbors-religion-and-resistance-in-america/id1511771313 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When corporations destroy the environment and ignore human rights, the loudest protests usually come from the streets. But while activists are calling for change from the outside, another movement is quietly working to steer these massive organizations from within. Discover how Friends Fiduciary is taking a seat at the shareholders' table, using Quaker values to persuade global brands to put humanity over quick profits. ----- Friends Fiduciary Is the Preferred Investment Manager for Quaker Meetings Guided by Quaker principles, values and testimonies, Friends Fiduciary Corporation provides prudent, cost-effective management of financial assets for Friends organizations. Overseeing assets exceeding $800 million and serving as trustees for more than 100 trusts, Friends Fiduciary is a preferred investment manager for Yearly, Quarterly, and Monthly Meetings of Friends. Friends Fiduciary employs a company screening process and is committed to active ownership, ensuring corporate accountability, and environmental sustainability. Discover more at www.FriendsFiduciary.org. Become a monthly supporter! Sign up for the Daily Quaker Message.

In this second episode of our season-long exploration into "The Wallet," Peterson Toscano and Diana Yañez dive into Relational Finance. This concept challenges the traditional divide between "financial experts" and "spiritual seekers." Taking the Quaker theology of the "priesthood of all believers" and applying it to economics, we explore how taking personal responsibility for our money—and our institutional assets—leads to deeper integrity and more equitable power-sharing. From the boardrooms of major corporations to micro-grant partnerships in Kenya and Sierra Leone, we look at what happens when we stop letting others stand between us and the truth of our financial impact. In This Episode The Unmediated Truth: Jeff Perkins reflects on the Quaker commitment to taking responsibility for one's beliefs, even when it comes to the "taboo" topic of money. Decolonizing Power: Traci Hjelt Sullivan discusses how Right Sharing of World Resources is shifting power from Western offices to local coordinators, moving from "saviorism" to genuine partnership. Ownership as a Tool: We explore how holding onto shares in a company (rather than just divesting) can be a powerful way to "hold the door open" for justice in corporate boardrooms. Our Guests Jeff Perkins Jeff is the former executive director of Friends Fiduciary. He is a member of Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting in Philadelphia and lives in Philadelphia with his husband. His journey to Quakerism began at a nuclear test site protest in the 1980s, where the integrity of Quaker activists inspired his lifelong commitment to faith-led action. Traci Hjelt Sullivan Traci is the executive director of Right Sharing of World Resources (RSWR). With decades of non-profit management experience, including roles at Pendle Hill and Friends General Conference, Traci brings a global perspective to her work, having lived or worked in Ethiopia, Zambia, Botswana, Kenya, and beyond. She is a member of Green Street Meeting in Philadelphia. Nathan Kleban Nathan is the program and advancement associate at RSWR. His background includes serving as an environmental volunteer with the Peace Corps in Mali and working with the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP). He currently lives in Iowa City, Iowa. Amy Carr Amy is the senior shareholder advocate at Friends Fiduciary. She utilizes her background in information science and data research to engage companies on ESG (environmental, social, and governance) issues, bringing Quaker values to the forefront of corporate dialogue. Organizations Mentioned Friends Fiduciary Corporation: A Quaker nonprofit providing professional investment and planned giving services to Friends meetings, schools, and organizations. Right Sharing of World Resources: An organization providing seed grants to women's self-help groups in the Global South, rooted in the Quaker testimony of simplicity. American Friends Service Committee (AFSC): A Quaker organization working for social justice, peace, and humanitarian service around the world. Disclaimers Quakers Today is a project of Friends Publishing Corporation. This season is sponsored by Friends Fiduciary and the American Friends Service Committee. Investment Disclaimer: Friends Fiduciary unites Quaker values with expert investing. However, the information provided in this episode is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment, financial, or tax advice. Please consult with a professional financial advisor regarding your specific situation. Question for Listeners How do you balance "expert advice" with your own spiritual leadings when it comes to your money? Have you ever felt a "dissonance" between your investments and your values? Share your thoughts! Leave a voicemail: Call 215-645-0132 Email us: podcast@friendsjournal.org Social Media: Respond to us on Facebook or Instagram. Diana Gisel Yañez is an Investment Advisor Representative of Natural Investments PBLLC. Natural Investments is an independent Registered Investment Advisor. Quakers Today and Friends Journal are not a registered entity and are not an affiliate or subsidiary of Natural Investments. See our Disclosures and Disclaimers and read our Form CRS.

Two hundred and fifty years ago, before a single battle of the Revolutionary War had been won, a group of men from vastly different denominations sat down together and did something that would set the tone for everything that followed — they prayed. Congregationalists, Anglicans, Quakers, Baptists, Lutherans, and more, setting aside every theological difference to seek God together for the future of a nation not yet born. They opened that first Continental Congress with the reading of Psalm 35, crying out to God as their shield, their armor, and their salvation. It was an act of unity that history has rarely matched. On this National Day of Prayer, we are invited into that same spirit — not as a political act, but as a profoundly spiritual one. The divisions in our nation run deep, and the temptation to pray only within the walls of our own traditions is real. But the founders understood something we must recover: that corporate prayer, offered in humility and unity, moves the hand of God in ways that individual effort never can. The same God who heard the prayers of those early colonists and brought a nation through impossible odds is still listening today. He is still moved by repentance. He is still responsive to humility. And He is still able to do far more than we can ask or imagine — if His people will simply set aside what divides them and call out to Him together. Interested in creating something new with us!? Take Our Newsletter Survey! Bible Verse "Contend, Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me. Take up shield and armor; arise and come to my aid. Brandish spear and javelin against those who pursue me. Say to me, 'I am your salvation.'" — Psalm 35:1-3 Ponder Today America's founders understood that physical battles are ultimately won or lost in the spiritual realm — their commitment to corporate prayer was not ceremonial, it was foundational. Unity in prayer does not require uniformity in doctrine — the founders set aside significant denominational differences to pray together for a shared purpose, and God honored it. National repentance is not just a historical concept — the story of Nineveh reminds us that God is always ready to relent when His people genuinely humble themselves and turn back to Him. The Great Awakenings in American history did not begin with political movements — they began with prayer, and there is no reason to believe that pattern has changed. Corporate prayer is one of the most powerful forces available to the Church — when believers across denominational lines join in one accord, the watching world sees the love of God at work in a way nothing else can replicate. Today's Prayer Dear Father, as our nation marks this significant anniversary, lead us by Your Holy Spirit to set aside our differences and join together in prayer for our country. Give us wisdom and insight into the needs of our nation and our leaders. Soften the hearts of our citizens to respond to a call for repentance, and draw us to humble ourselves before You, to seek Your face, and to turn from our wicked ways. Strengthen our faith to believe in the power of prayer and to cry out for another Great Awakening in America. We ask for miracles in our nation and in the lives of those who lead us. In Jesus' name, Amen. Enjoy Today's Prayer? If this episode encouraged you, we'd love to stay connected! Subscribe to the LifeAudio newsletter at LifeAudio.com for daily prayers, devotionals, and faith-filled content delivered straight to your inbox. Don't miss an episode — subscribe and share with someone who needs encouragement today. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Corporate prayer and national repentance have shaped history, and Scripture like Jonah 3:10 reveals how God responds when people turn to Him together. Praying as a nation isn’t symbolic—it’s a powerful, biblical practice that invites God’s mercy, guidance, and restoration. This devotional highlights how God has consistently responded to unified, humble prayer—from the city of Nineveh to moments in American history. When people come together, set aside differences, and seek God collectively, it reflects dependence on Him rather than self-sufficiency. National prayer isn’t about politics or performance—it’s about hearts aligning with God, turning from sin, and trusting Him to lead, heal, and sustain a nation. Just as individuals are called to pray, communities and countries are invited to do the same. Highlights God responds to corporate prayer and genuine repentance Biblical examples show entire cities and nations turning to God together Unity in prayer reflects humility and dependence on God National prayer invites God’s mercy, healing, and direction Spiritual battles require spiritual responses—not just physical solutions Setting aside differences for prayer strengthens collective faith Do you want to listen ad-free? When you join Crosswalk Plus, you gain access to exclusive, in-depth Bible study guides, devotionals, sound biblical advice, and daily encouragement from trusted pastors and authors—resources designed to strengthen your faith and equip you to live it out boldly. PLUS ad free podcasts! Sign Up Today! Full Transcript Below: Why Praying As a Nation Matters to God By Lynette Kittle Bible Reading: “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, He relented and did not bring on them the destruction He had threatened.” - Jonah 3:10 As America celebrates 250 years as a nation, some ask, does it matter if our nation prays together on the National Day of Prayer? Does God even pay attention to or hear us when we pray corporately as a nation? The answer is “yes”: it matters to God, and we can be assured of this because the Bible provides plenty of evidence that He often calls us to corporate prayer for a city or a nation. Most of us are familiar with the well-known biblical passage 2 Chronicles 7:14, which says, “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” As in the story of Jonah and the wicked city of Nineveh, God called for the entire city to pray and repent, and even the animals were included in the city’s prayer, fasting, and repentance. As Jonah 3:4-8 describes, God led an entire city to repentance through corporate prayer: “Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, ‘Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.’ The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh: ‘By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from His fierce anger so that we will not perish.” In Jonah 3:10, we read of God’s gracious response to their corporate prayer: He relented rather than sending destruction. Likewise, looking back at America’s Founders, we see that they recognized the importance of corporate prayer and that establishing a nation’s future doesn’t just involve fighting a physical battle for victory, but also a spiritual one. They demonstrated this when they officially met and came together for the first time on September 7, 1774, as the Continental Congress of the United States, opening with prayer and the reading of Psalm 35 by Rev. Jacob Duché, which begins with, “Contend, Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me.” This was no easy feat, either, as the outspoken members had to set aside their denominational differences to pray together, uniting members who were Congregationalists, Anglicans, Quakers, Dutch Reformed, Baptists, Lutherans, Puritans, and Presbyterians, coming together to overlook their differences, joining in one accord, praying for a common goal. American Conservative radio talk-show host and writer, Dennis Prager, explains, “Ultimately, they wanted people to be free to practice their religion and relate to God in their own way. They all knew God is the source of liberty.” Providence Forum Executive Director Dr. Jerry Newcombe points out how historians find in George Washington’s writings and actions during the Revolutionary War that he relied heavily on prayer, believing that with the tremendous odds set against them, victory could only come with God’s help. As well, “The Great Awakening absolutely helped the cause of independence,” writes Newcombe. “Even before the Great Awakening, the ministers, especially the ones from New England, helped shape the thinking of the Colonists as to their God-given rights.” Christian historians believe the spread of “The Great Awakening” across the colonies greatly influenced and strengthened Patriot leaders leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, during which prayer and fasting played a critical role in helping America establish its freedom. In Miracles in American History, author, historian, and speaker William J. Federer writes about the many national calls to prayer leading up to and throughout the formation of the United States of America. Intersecting Faith & Life:Are you planning to join our nation in praying for God’s divine guidance and protection over our country? If not, consider praying with millions of believers across our land who will be praying together during this year’s 250th Anniversary, National Day of Prayer. Further Reading:A Prayer to Take Part in Our Nation’s National Day of Prayer Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

In this week's main episode, Keith and Matthew chat with a group of Quakers to find out what their movement is all about, what they stand for, and what makes them different (and similar) to "traditional" church. If you want to call in to the Bonus Show, leave a voicemail at (530) 332-8020. We'll get to your calls on next Friday's Bonus Show. Or, you can email Matthew at matthew@quoir.com. Join The Quollective today! Use code "matthew50" to save 50% off a yearly subscription. Pick up the new book, Quantum Theology today, as well as The UnChristian Truth About White Christian Nationalism. Please consider signing up to financially support the Network: QuoirCast on Patreon If you want to be a guest on the show, email keith@quoir.com. LINKS QuoirCast on PatreonQuoirCast on Patheos Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Al, Zach, John Luke, and Christian take a deeper look at key figures in America's founding years, like Ben Franklin, William Penn, and Thomas Jefferson. The guys highlight how early America was shaped not just by shared beliefs, but by a surprising diversity of cultures, languages, and perspectives. They reflect on whether a society can maintain those values without a foundation in God, and what America's early struggles reveal about the challenges we're still facing today. Today's conversation is about Lesson 2 of Colonial America: From Wilderness to Civilization from Hillsdale College. Take the course with us at no cost to you! Sign up at http://unashamedforhillsdale.com/. More about Colonial America: Professors of history and politics guide us through the perilous journey of the Mayflower and the grueling winters of Cape Cod. They explore the ideas of religious liberty and natural rights, as well as the brutal conflicts, such as the wars on the frontier and the French and Indian War. Through this six-lesson appreciation of the colonial experience, you will learn how the unique American spirit was shaped. Journey to the New World and discover the origins of the American spirit. Sign up at ⁠http://unashamedforhillsdale.com/ Check out At Home with Phil Robertson, nearly 800 episodes of Phil's unfiltered wisdom, humor, and biblical truth, available for free for the first time! Get it on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, and anywhere you listen to podcasts! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/at-home-with-phil-robertson/id1835224621 Listen to Not Yet Now with Zach Dasher on Apple, Spotify, iHeart, or anywhere you get podcasts. Chapters 00:00 America at 250 Years Old 09:08 Why America's Founding Story Still Matters 14:22 Pilgrims vs. Puritans: Two Different Missions 19:10 What Diversity Really Meant in Early America 24:05 William Penn & the Quakers' Radical Ideas 29:12 Freedom vs. Order: The Nation's Core Tension 34:18 Benjamin Franklin Shapes American Culture 40:02 Can Morality Exist Without God? 44:35 The Struggle Between Authority & Freedom — Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Shakers. An offshoot sect of The Quakers, born in England in 1747. In worship they were known to break into states of ecstatic trembling. Trembling Quakers. Shaking Quakers. The Shakers. They came to America in 1774 with a utopian vision, egalitarian ideals, a belief in the equality of the sexes, a philosophy of communal, celibate, simple living. Known for their purposeful communities, their pacifism and legendary craftsmanship.At their peak in the mid-nineteenth century there were some 6,000 Shakers worldwide. As of 2024 there were but two Shakers left in America, so it made headlines in 2025 when Sister April Baxter entered the fold. Four-time Academy Award winner Frances McDormand and artist Suzanne Bocanegra were inspired by the communal Shaker philosophy and aesthetic and were invited by The Shaker Museum in Chatham, New York to create a pop-up exhibit curated from the museum's archive of Shaker furniture, textiles and goods. They called their installation “Cradled.” Maira Kalman's pop-up exhibition, Shaker Outpost: Design, Commerce and Culture, a curated selection of her favorite pieces from the vast Shaker Museum collection opens on Saturday, May 2 at 4 Depot Square in downtown Chatham, New York, running through Sunday, July 5. Along with the exhibit Maira and the Museum will open a General Store drawing on the historic tradition of Shakers' public-facing stores where Shaker communities shared their goods for purchase with “the world.” Handmade crafts, food in the Shaker style, potholders, honey, ginger snaps, Swedish fish, sardines, marmalade made by TART, notebooks, textiles and items made by local artisans will all be on sale.Come Life, Shaker Life was produced by The Kitchen Sisters (Davia Nelson & Nikki Silva) in collaboration with Brandi Howell, Nathan Dalton and Hannah Kaye. Mixed by Jim McKee.