On Being

Michael McCullough describes science that helps us comprehend how revenge came to have a purpose in human life. At the same time, he stresses, science is also revealing that human beings are more instinctively equipped for forgiveness than we've perhaps given ourselves credit for. Knowing this suggests ways to calm the revenge instinct in ourselves and others and embolden the forgiveness intuition.

Krista's unedited conversation with Michael McCullough, author of "Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct." Krista spoke with him on August 29, 2008 from the studios of American Public Media in St. Paul, Minnesota, and he was in the studios of WLRN in Miami, Florida. This interview is included in our program "Getting Revenge and Forgiveness." Download the mp3 of the produced show at onbeing.org.

Sarah Kay is a 23-year-old spoken word poet who has become a role model and teacher to teenagers around the world. Millions have viewed her TED talk, where she shared the main stage with figures like Bill Gates and Jamie Oliver. She puts words around what she knows about poetry, stories, and being human and connected in this age.

Krista Tippett interviewed spoken word poet Sarah Kay on April 12, 2012. This interview is included in the show "Sarah Kay's Way with Words." Download the mp3 of the produced show at onbeing.org.

Gordon Hempton says that silence is an endangered species. He defines real quiet as presence -- not an absence of sound, but an absence of noise. The Earth, as he knows it, is a 'solar-powered jukebox' and quiet is a 'think tank of the soul.' We take in the world through his ears.