Illumine America

Apr 08 2022 9 ep. 22 mins 1
Illumine America Podcast artwork

All across the United States, members of the Baha’i Faith are working, shoulder-to-shoulder with their fellow Americans, to make their communities more unified, just, and prosperous. The Office of Public Affairs for the Baha’is of the United States is the national representative for the American Baha’i community, carrying out this same work with like-minded organizations, thinkers, and the broader public, along with government entities and the media. We host the podcast Illumine America, which explores constructive approaches to issues such as economic inequality, racial injustice and race unity, and sustainable development, among others.

  Society & Culture
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Illumine America, Episode 8: Amanda Ripley

Apr 08 2022 30 mins  
In this episode, after a bit of a hiatus, James Samimi Farr talks with Amanda Ripley, a writer for The Atlantic and the author of many great books, including her latest, High Conflict, which details how people get themselves into damaging and polarizing conflict, and how they can get themselves out. We got to a lot of places in this conversation, but, here a few themes that poppe

Illumine America, Episode 7: Durham, North Carolina, Part 2

Sep 14 2020 23 mins  
In this episode, we’re back in Durham, North Carolina with our Race Discourse Officers, PJ Andrews and May Lample. If you missed the first part of this two-part interview, we recommend going back and checking it out first. We’ll be hearing more from a team working in Durham to implement a Baha’i-inspired community-building program. They’re going to explore some questions

Illumine America, Episode 7: Durham, North Carolina, Part 1

Sep 08 2020 24 mins  
This week’s episode, which is the first of two parts, features PJ Andrews and May Lample, our Race Discourse Officers, interviewing a team from Durham, North Carolina that have been working in their neighborhood to sustain a Baha’i-inspired program of community building that works with younger youth to develop their spiritual capacities to serve humanity. This program, which oc

Illumine America, Episode 6: Danita Hardin, Community Builder, Part 2

Jul 23 2020 28 mins  
In our sixth episode, our Race Discourse Officers, PJ Andrews and May Lample, have a conversation with Danita Hardin. Born and raised in Washington, DC, Danita Hardin is a community builder, an educator, a teacher and a member of the Bahá’í Faith living in Northern Virginia. PJ and May talk to Danita about her work in the community-building processes of the Baha’i Faith, and

Illumine America, Episode 5: Danita Hardin, Community Builder, Part 1

Jul 15 2020 22 mins  
In our fifth episode, our Race Discourse Officers, PJ Andrews and May Lample, have a conversation with Danita Hardin. Born and raised in Washington, DC, Danita Hardin is a community builder, an educator, a teacher and a member of the Bahá’í Faith living in Northern Virginia. PJ and May talk to Danita about her work in the community-building processes of the Baha’i Faith, a

Illumine America, Episode 4: Kate Schmidgall from Bittersweet Monthly, Part 2

Jun 22 2020 17 mins  
In our fourth episode, we continue our conversation with Kate Schmidgall, the founder of Bittersweet Monthly, a magazine that tries to present a "counter-narrative" to traditional ways of telling stories about social issues and social change. Bittersweet recently released a manifesto in which it commits itself to three values: refusing cynicism, defying apathy, and celebrating th

Illumine America, Episode 3: Kate Schmidgall from Bittersweet Monthly, Part 1

Apr 30 2020 15 mins  
In our third episode, we talk to Kate Schmidgall, the founder of Bittersweet Monthly, a magazine that tries to present a "counter-narrative" to traditional ways of telling stories about social issues and social change. Bittersweet recently released a manifesto in which it commits itself to three values: refusing cynicism, defying apathy, and celebrating the good. We had such a g

Illumine America, Episode 1: Russell Krumnow and Sharona Shuster from Convergence

Dec 05 2019 23 mins  
In our first episode of Illumine America, we speak with Russell Krumnow and Sharona Shuster from Convergence. Convergence is a non-profit organization that convenes individuals and organizations with divergent views to build trust, identify solutions, and form alliances for action on critical national issues. It just celebrated its 10th anniversary and has worked on projects relate

Illumine America, Episode 2: Jenna Nicholas from Impact Experience

Dec 05 2019 17 mins  
In our second episode of Illumine America, we speak with Jenna Nicholas from Impact Experience. Impact Experience partners with communities to build bridges and deep relationships between impact investors, foundations, entrepreneurs, artists and local leaders to co-create solutions to exclusion and inequality. Working across the country, the Impact Experience team seeks to advance