October 26, 2008 - The 2008 U.S. presidential election has illustrated how gender, race, and religion can become lightning rods, and seen as potential stumbling blocks to leadership. Vashti McKenzie is a pioneering figure on all these fronts; when she became the first woman bishop of the oldest historic black church in America, she declared: "The stained glass ceiling has been pierced and broken." We offer her story, her wisdom, and her good humor as an edifying lens on the American past, present, and future.
December 27, 2009 - Krista Tippett speaks with Canadian philosopher and Catholic social innovator Jean Vanier. He founded the L'Arche movement, over 130 communities in 34 countries centered around people with mental disabilities. To many, Jean Vanier is simply one of the wise men in our world today. He has spent his life practically exploring the most basic, paradoxical teachings of Christianity-notions about power in humility, strength in weakness, and light in the darkness of human existence.