KALW’s The Spiritual Edge announces the launch of a new podcast, with stories of our collective reality, injected with a dash of hope.
The first season of The Spiritual Edge podcast brings us intimate profiles of activists and humanitarians challenging the status quo. Season 1, called “Sacred Steps,” was made in collaboration with the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture (CRCC).
From a COVID ward in the US to the conflict between Israel and Palestine, each podcast episode connects us to the struggles and hopes of individuals who are giving everything for the wellbeing of others.
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The profiles are part of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality, which seeks to define the category of “spiritual exemplars.”
“Our team of journalists and researchers have collected stories of humanitarians from across the globe to explore the idea that religion can both motivate and sustain their work,” says Donald Miller, lead researcher the project. “Now we are excited to share these inspiring stories of real people serving on the front lines addressing some of the most challenging problems in the world.”
For the Sacred Steps series, The Spiritual Edge worked with a team of award-winning reporters to craft high-quality, sound-rich radio documentaries. These stories take listeners from the Arctic to the US/Mexico border—as well as into the inner world of their subjects.
“We are living through difficult times. These compelling stories document how people are seeking answers—sometimes without resolution,” says Judy Silber, executive producer of The Spiritual Edge. “In my experience, faith and spiritual beliefs can offer an otherwise hidden window into people’s lives and how they think.”
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For more information on the podcast, episodes and transcripts, visit The Spiritual Edge website.
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Future seasons of The Spiritual Edge will include a series called “Becoming Muslim,” with intimate profiles of 7 people who have converted to Islam. Later, a series called “A Prayer for Salmon” documents the resilience and struggles of the Winnemem Wintu, a Native people in the Mt. Shasta area of Northern California. The Spiritual Edge is a project of KALW Public Radio (91.7-fm) in San Francisco.
KALW is a public radio station licensed to the San Francisco Unified School District. The award-winning KALW News Department has also helped to create and incubate multiple podcast projects, including The Stoop, The Intersection, The Spiritual Edge and the San Quentin Prison Report, the project that evolved into Ear Hustle on Radiotopia.
The USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture studies, documents and helps communities understand the changes that shape religious cultures in Southern California and across the globe. Its global project on engaged spirituality is supported by the John Templeton Foundation and Templeton Religion Trust. The stories produced by the project do not reflect the opinions of the supporting organizations.
