Primo Levi in 1940 … he was arrested in 1943 and sent to Auschwitz in 1944. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo
‘When the broken window was repaired and the stove began to spread its heat, something seemed to relax in everyone, and at that moment Towarowski (a Franco-Pole of twenty-three, with typhus) proposed to the others that each of them offer a slice of bread to us three who had been working. And so it was agreed. ’Only a day before’, says Levi, ‘this would have been inconceivable. The law of the camp said: “Eat your own bread, and if you can, that of your neighbour.” To do otherwise would have been suicidal. The offer of sharing bread “was the first human gesture that occurred among us. I believe that that moment can be dated as the beginning of the change by which we who had not died slowly changed from Haftlinge [prisoners] to men again.’
–Primo Levi from his book If This is a Man
Primo Michele Levi was a Jewish Italian chemist, partisan, Holocaust survivor and writer. He was the author of several books, collections of short stories, essays, poems and one novel. Wikipedia
“To forgive is wisdom, to forget is genius. And easier. Because it’s true. It’s a new world every heart beat.”
~ Joyce Cary
Arthur Joyce Lunel Cary, known as Joyce Cary, was an Anglo-Irish novelist and colonial official. His most notable novels include Mister Johnson and The Horse’s Mouth. Wikipedia
Michael Pollan’s latest book, A World Appears, is an exploration — with scientists and journalists and technologists and spiritual teachers — of what consciousness is, and is not, or might be: from the plants which have always fascinated him, to the new technologies which we are marveling at and fearing in equal measure. Do sentience, feeling, thought, or a sense of self amount to consciousness? Does it emerge from inside us? Or is it a force beyond us, in which we partake?
Before a rapt gathering in New York City, we explored where Michael has come on these questions and others. The word “mystery” kept landing the longer we spoke, and I brought some intriguing (and somewhat mysterious) conversations I’ve been having with Anthropic’s Claude briefly near the end.
I’m delighted to bring you into that room, with this episode.
–Krista Tippet
Michael Pollan in conversation with Krista Tippet on consciousness. Photo: Sarah Bidgood
“True forgiveness is when you can say, “Thank you for that experience.”
~ Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Gail Winfrey is an American media mogul, philanthropist, actress, producer, and talk show host. Born in Kosciusko, Mississippi, she faced a difficult childhood that included abuse and instability. Winfrey’s career began in Baltimore in 1976 when she hosted People Are Talking. She later became the host of her own popular Chicago morning show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, which ran nationally from 1986 to 2011. Wikipedia.org
Taiwan on Saturday maintained it is a “sovereign and independent” nation and that US arms sales were part of Washington’s security commitment to the island. The foreign ministry statement came a day after President Donald Trump warned Taiwan against declaring formal independence following his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a state visit to China.
Taiwan on Saturday said it is thankful for US President Donald Trump‘s long-standing support for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and asserted it was a “sovereign and independent” nation.
The statement was issued a day after Trump, following his visit to China, warned the democratic island against declaring formal independence.
Taiwan “is a sovereign and independent democratic nation, and is not subordinate to the People’s Republic of China”, Taiwan’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
The ministry also insisted that US arms sales were part of Washington’s security commitment to Taiwan, after Trump flagged that he was considering the issue.
“Regarding Taiwan-US arms sales, this is not only a US security commitment to Taiwan clearly stipulated in the Taiwan Relations Act, but also a form of joint deterrence against regional threats,” the ministry said.
Speaking to reporters in Taipei on Saturday, Taiwan Deputy Foreign Minister Chen Ming-chi also asserted that US arms sales are confirmed under the Taiwan Relations Act.
“Taiwan-US arms sales have always been a cornerstone of regional peace and stability,” he said.
In December, the Trump administration approved a record $11 billion arms sale package for Taiwan. Reuters has reported a second one, worth around $14 billion, still awaits Trump’s approval.
Chen declined to comment on the second package because it has yet to be made public, saying Taiwan will continue to communicate with and understand the situation from the US side.
Taiwan’s statements came a day after Trump wrapped up a visit to Beijing where Chinese President Xi Jinping had pressed him not to support the self-ruling island, which China claims is part of its territory.
“I’m not looking to have somebody go independent. And, you know, we’re supposed to travel 9,500 miles to fight a war. I’m not looking for that,” he told Fox News host Brett Baier.
“I want them to cool down. I want China to cool down,” Trump said.
“We’re not looking to have wars, and if you kept it the way it is, I think China’s going to be OK with that.”
The US recognises only Beijing and does not support formal independence by Taiwan, but historically has also stopped short of explicitly saying it opposes independence.
Under US law, the US is required to provide weapons to Taiwan for its defence, but it has been ambiguous on whether US forces would come to the island’s aid.
Xi had begun the summit with a warning on Taiwan, whose President Lai Ching-te considers the island already independent, making a declaration unnecessary.
Xi had told Trump that missteps on the sensitive issue could push their two countries into “conflict”.
San Francisco Symphony Premiered Apr 8, 2020 The Making of a Performance, is an engrossing documentary that demystifies how a performance of a great piece of classical music is created. It is a viewer’s “behind-the-scenes” pass to witness firsthand how a performance unfolds and the preparation it takes to play this music. Along the way, MTT explores the symphony’s four movements, providing commentary on the powerful emotions embodied in the music and how it speaks to audiences today. MTT also introduces many of the personable members of the orchestra. Bonus Features: Full-length concert performance of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 by the San Francisco Symphony originally filmed in high-definition 16:9 widescreen and 5.1 surround sound. More information about DVD and Blu-Ray discs available here: https://www.warnerclassics.com/releas…
New Thinking Allowed with Jeffrey Mishlove Started streaming 99 minutes ago James Tunney LLM, is an Irish barrister and author of The Mystery of the Trapped Light: Mystical Thoughts in the Dark Age of Scientism plus The Mystical Accord: Sutras to Suit Our Times, Lines for Spiritual Evolution; also TechBondAge: Slavery of the Human Spirit, Human Entrance to Transhumanism: Machine Merger and the End of Humanity, and AI-Govnerveance: Care and Possession in Dustopia. His most recent book is Trotsky vs Jesus: Battle of the AI-Millennium. His website is https://www.jamestunney.com/
Spiritual Quest Jul 25, 2025 3 products Spiritual Quest tagged products below. RECOMMENDED LITERATURE FOR YOU TO LEARN EVEN MORE ABOUT THIS! Use my affiliate links to suport the channel. Spinoza: Complete Works https://amzn.to/4pTiYIZ Spinoza Collection: Ethics, Theologico-Political Treatise, On the Improvement of the Understanding. https://amzn.to/4h1iyfq The Philosophy of Spinoza – Special Edition: On God, On Man, and On Man’s Well Being https://amzn.to/3J0MZ8V THE HERETIC WHO FOUND GOD IN EVERYTHING Explore the radical philosophy of Baruch Spinoza in “Is the Universe Conscious? Spinoza’s Mind-Blowing Vision.” Discover how this 17th-century heretic redefined God not as a distant creator but as the universe itself—one infinite substance expressing mind and matter as two sides of the same coin. Journey through Spinoza’s revolutionary ideas on monism, panpsychism, and the unity of existence that anticipated modern physics and resonate with Eastern nonduality. Like and share if Spinoza’s vision awakened something in you!
New Thinking Allowed with Jeffrey Mishlove May 15, 2026 This video is a special release from the original Thinking Allowed series that ran on public television from 1986 until 2002. It was recorded in about 1990. It will remain public for only one week. The late Kathlyn Rhea, who passed on in 2011, was the author of The Psychic is You and MindSense. She was known for the accuracy of her psychic readings and for her work with law enforcement agencies. Here she describes her program for cultivating psychic abilities. Now you can watch all of the programs from the original Thinking Allowed Video Collection, hosted by Jeffrey Mishlove. Subscribe to the new Streaming Channel (https://thinkingallowed.vhx.tv/) and watch more than 350 programs now, with more, previously unreleased titles added weekly. Free month of the classic Thinking Allowed streaming channel for New Thinking Allowed subscribers only. Use code THINKFREELY.
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