Krista writes of this conversation from the earliest pre-history of On Being:
In the years in which I was on a whole new spiritual and intellectual adventure that changed the direction of my life — years which led to the creation of this show — I befriended a delightful, brilliant, straight-talking theologian named Roberta Bondi. She’s now retired. At that point, she was on the faculty of the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. We were placed together as roommates at a five-day consultation. We fell deep into conversation about all kinds of things — life and love and God, a subject that fascinated us both. She’d written a book called Memories of God, and she’d written a series of books about the eccentric, dazzling wisdom of spiritual rebels and innovators known as the desert fathers and mothers of the 3rd century. These were people who believed that the established church — at that time the Church of Rome — had grown cold and remote from very heart of the impulses that brought it into the world in the first place: the rootedness in wisdom and not mere knowledge, the humility over against power, the core moral and spiritual values.
Then, not that long ago in our world of institutions ceasing to make sense, someone I very much admire told me he was interested in picking up a practice of prayer. He had no idea how to begin or really even what this would be about – he just knew it was a longing he wanted to follow. The first thing that came to my mind to share with him is this somewhat eccentric, rich little half hour I had with Roberta in the earliest piloting of what eventually became On Being. Her wisdom about what it means to be a person who prays, in conversation and relationship with God, whoever God is and whatever God means, has formed me ever after. I am so delighted to share it now with you.
Find an excellent transcript of this show, edited by humans, on our show page.
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Bio Roberta Bondi is Professor Emeritus of Church History at Emory University. Her books include To Pray and to Love: Conversations on Prayer with the Early Church; Memories of God: Theological Reflections on a Life; and In Ordinary Time: Healing the Wounds of the Heart.
ARLINGTON, VA; (February 19, 2025) – As part of its Spring 2025 programming slate, PBS announces a new primetime docuseries PATI JINICH EXPLORES PANAMERICANA. Hosted and Executive Produced by the James Beard Award-winning author and Emmy-nominated host, the three-part series will premiere Tuesdays, April 29 – May 13, 2025 at 9:00 p.m. ET (check local listings) on PBS, PBS.org and the PBS app.
Known for her captivating exploration into understanding cultural identity through shared meals, Pati’s lifelong work has been focused on building bridges between her two beloved countries, her homeland of Mexico and her current home in the United States. PATI JINICH EXPLORES PANAMERICANA expands this remarkable endeavor on a journey inspired by the Pan-American Highway, a symbol of connection and collaboration between countries from Alaska to Argentina.
In Season 1, Pati travels from the top of Alaska to southern Alberta, beginning an epic adventure along the length of the Western Hemisphere and delving into our migratory evolution, history and identity as citizens of the Americas. Throughout her voyage she engages in heartfelt conversations that celebrate diversity and cherished traditions, ultimately exploring the myriad ways people form the basis of their identities.
Filled with stunning visual landscapes, rich history and fascinating stories, the series also promises adventure; from dog sledding and groundbreaking science in the Arctic, to salmon fishing in Halibut Cove, Alaskan Native modern art and Filipino food in Juneau, glass blowing in Whitehorse, and experiencing the cowboy life in the Alberta heartlands while exploring its connections to Montana and Texas.
An engaging and timely exploration of humanity, PATI JINICH EXPLORES PANAMERICANA reveals lessons learned to be shared, diversity to celebrate and the traditions we cherish, all while underscoring a profound truth: much like the roads that weave through our landscapes to connect us, we share more similarities than differences. At the core, we are all longing for home and craving to belong.
“My life’s work has focused on forging bonds between my home country of Mexico and my new home of the US by sharing delicious, culturally revealing meals with people from all walks of life,” says Pati. “In PANAMERICANA my adventures take me further, traveling an extraordinary path paved by the past, the present, and future possibilities for collaboration between people and countries. I’m honored to share the incredible stories gathered on this journey. It is through our stories that we can better understand one another to overcome the internal borders dividing our communities, change existing narratives, infuse hope into our discussions, and redefine what it means to be American.”
“PBS is thrilled to work with chef Pati Jinich to bring another appetizing adventure to our audiences,” said Zara Frankel, Senior Director, Programming & Development at PBS. “PATI JINCH EXPLORES PANAMERICANA is a program that treks through Alaska and western Canada, highlighting the unique people, flavors and cultures within the region. As a host, Pati’s warm energy, delicious curiosity and heartfelt conversations bring to life some of the region’s most interesting stories.”
EPISODE DESCRIPTIONS: Episode 1: “Alaska – Wild Harvest” Premieres April 29, 9:00 p.m. ET Pati Jinich travels from the northernmost city in the United States to the remote island community of Halibut Cove in southern Alaska – discovering that subsistence living transcends all differences. At the top of the Americas, in Utqiagvik, Pati meets Geoff and Marie Carroll who have fought for the Inupiat people to maintain their traditional ways of hunting, goes for a ride with sled dogs, visits scientists monitoring climate change, and discovers the town’s obsession with a familiar sport – basketball. Then in Anchorage, she forages for berries with an Indigenous community leader Anna Sattler, gets the lay of the city’s food scene with food writer Julia O’Malley, crashes the recording session of local band Sazón, and gets a taste of Americana at the Alaska State Fair. As she continues south, she stops in the Russian village of Nikolaevsk, before landing in one of the most stunning and unique places in the U.S., Halibut Cove, with Martha Cotten and her family. She learns that living in this frontier region instills Alaskans of all backgrounds with a deep connection to the ebbs and flows of their natural environment.
Episode 2: “Juneau & Whitehorse – Sister Cities” Premieres May 6, 9:00 p.m. ET Pati Jinich explores the sister cities of Alaska’s capital, Juneau, and the capital of Canada’s Yukon Territory, Whitehorse. Pati greets Juneau over the airwaves where she’s invited to take over a radio show and interview members of the city’s thriving Filipino community who are documenting their history. Afterwards, they take her to try traditional foods at a Filipino community center. Then Pati visits artist Crystal Worl, who is bringing Indigenous art to the modern world, and meets her brother, athlete Kyle Worl, who found his Identity through Arctic Sports and dreams of getting them in the Olympics. She shares a meal and an emotional conversation about Native adoptions with activist Jennifer Quinto. Before heading west to Yukon, Pati visits the historic Taku Lodge, once owned by outdoorswoman Mary Joyce, who completed a legendary dogsledding feat nearly 100 years ago. In Whitehorse, Pati gets her bearings at the local market with food writer Miche Genest before foraging in the Mt. Logan foothills. Then she connects with artist and fellow Mexico City native, Anick Fernandez, who finds inspiration in family roots and connection to nature. Pati meets a former police officer who found an alternative way to promote safety in indigenous communities, and she ends in the hottest place in Whitehorse – the studio of glassblower Luann Baker-Johnson, who uses her art to give back. In these remote cities, she finds a pioneering culture of artistry and entrepreneurship and small, tight-knit communities produce big characters forging unique lives adjacent to the unforgiving wilderness.
Episode 3: “Alberta – Canada’s Changing Heartland” Premieres May 13, 9:00 p.m. ET Pati Jinich finishes the first leg of her Pan-American journey in Alberta, traveling through Canada’s heartland to Edmonton and Calgary and south to the Montana border. As the peaks of the Canadian Rockies give way to wide-open prairies, cowboy and immigrant communities work together in the constant creation of a new Canadian identity. Pati dives into cowboy culture at John Scott’s ranch, the backdrop for many westerns, and learns about Canada’s connection to Hollywood. Then she visits the town of Wildwood, founded by Canada’s first black settlers who migrated north from the US. In Edmonton, she eats butter chicken with food writer Ramneek Singh and, in Calgary, meets Nigerian chef Kunbi Olalere who is introducing locals to her culture’s cuisine through a Nigerian-Canadian fusion menu at her restaurant Ahinke’s Kitchen. Many Albertans have Ukrainian heritage and are welcoming refugees from the war in Ukraine. Pati shares a meal with a family who recently immigrated from Ukraine and the people who helped them resettle and visits Don’ya, a kitchen that provides jobs and community to newly arrived Ukrainian women. Continuing southward towards Montana, Pati learns why Alberta is known as the “Texas of Canada” at the Bonjean family flower winery, then visits a family who recently started a new life outside the city on a farm. Pati wraps her journey on a medicine walk with ancestors of the first people to ever call this land home, the indigenous mother-daughter duo Matricia and Mackenzie Brown, known as the “Warrior Women.”
PATI JINICH EXPLORES PANAMERICANA begins streaming on Tuesday, April 29, 2025 and will be available on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS app, available on iOS, Android, Roku streaming devices, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO. PBS station members can view many series, documentaries, and specials via PBS Passport. For more information about PBS Passport, visit the PBS Passport FAQ website or contact your local station.
PATI JINICH EXPLORES PANAMERICANA is produced by Mexican Table and Early Light Media in association with PBS. Pati Jinich serves as executive producer with Darren Durlach as director. The executive in charge for PBS is Zara Frankel.
ABOUT HOST AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCER PATI JINICH Pati Jinich is the James Beard Award-winning Mexican chef, New York Times bestselling author, and Emmy-nominated television host who has dedicated her career to building a shared understanding between her two neighboring home countries: Mexico, where she was born, and the United States, where she lives currently and is raising her family. She’s the executive producer and host of the Emmy-nominated PBS series Pati’s Mexican Table, which has brought Mexican flavors, colors and textures into American homes and kitchens for more than 10 years, as Pati takes viewers through the diverse geographic regions of the country. Pati is also the executive producer and host of La Frontera, her PBS Primetime docuseries, which uses food as a vehicle to showcase the vibrant people and culture along the largely misunderstood and misrepresented US-Mexico border. Pati’s works has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Univision, Los Angeles Times, Good Morning America, and many others. She was recently selected for The Washington Post’s “Post Next 50” profiling people expected to have a notable impact in 2025. Pati was also named one of the National Immigration Forum’s “Keepers of the American Dream,” which honors individuals who embody the spirit of immigrant achievement and contribute to the well-being of immigrants in the US. Visit PatiJinich.com.
ABOUT PBS PBS, with more than 330 member stations, offers all Americans the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and digital content. Each month, PBS reaches over 120 million people through television and 26 million people online, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature and public affairs; to hear diverse viewpoints; and to take front row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS’s broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industry’s most coveted award competitions. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade turn to PBS for digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. Decades of research confirms that PBS’s premier children’s media service, PBS KIDS, helps children build critical literacy, math and social-emotional skills, enabling them to find success in school and life. Delivered through member stations, PBS KIDS offers high-quality educational content on TV — including a 24/7 channel — online at pbskids.org, via an array of mobile apps and in communities across America. More information about PBS is available at pbs.org, one of the leading dot-org websites on the internet, or by following PBS on Twitter, Facebook or through our apps for mobile and connected devices. Specific program information and updates for press are available at pbs.org/pressroom or by following PBS Communications on Twitter.
“Today was fun. The fight’s always the good part. It’s the only way you really see people.”
–Deputy Superintendent Samantha Miller (played by Nicole Ari Parker) in conversation with Hank Voight (played by Jason Beghe) on Chicago P.D., Season 8
What if the polarizing mess of social media, clickbait headlines and addictive algorithms isn’t a breakdown of media but a transition to something better? Substack cofounder Hamish McKenzie explores how independent creators are growing a new media “garden,” where trust beats engagement metrics and audiences matter more than ads. Learn why clicking “subscribe” doesn’t just signal support; it gives you power.
SAN FRANCISCO—Open-air preacher “Brother Sam” Hilson rescued more than 300 of God’s children from appreciating a cloudless spring day at Golden Gate Park Tuesday by informing them of their sins and the swift approach of Judgment Day.
A former building superintendent, Hilson said he was directly called by God to bring Christianity to San Francisco’s unholy cyclists, tai chi practitioners, and dog walkers.
“All of you will burn in hellfire, so sayeth the Lord,” Hilson said to a stroller-bound toddler and her picnicking parents.
For nearly five years, his highly personalized, one-on-one style of lay sermonizing has been among the most effective in the city, as virtually all park-goers within Hilson’s range of vision are delivered from their conversations or badminton games within minutes.
After telling a novel-reading Berkeley student that there was “no book but the Good Book,” Hilson bore witness to a woman strolling by in a sundress.
“Harlot, dare ye bare your shoulders when the Rapture is nigh?” Hilson said.
Many of those who have been singled out by Hilson confirm the attention had a direct impact on their lives.
“It was my first weekday off in a while, so I thought I’d enjoy the nice weather, maybe head down to the waterfront too,” said Russ Tiderington, 25, who, according to Hilson, “sashay[ed] [his] hips like a painted Jezebel.” “But I decided to go home and catch up on some chores instead.”
Hilson’s bullhorn, which he often employs to bring recreation-seekers into the light of God’s grace and drown out their iPod music, forced one-third to one-half of the souls to spurn the path they had chosen for that afternoon.
At one point, Hilson ministered to a family of Indian-Americans, whom he mistakenly identified as “Muslim demon-worshippers.”
His photo-collage display of aborted fetuses, Hitler, Oui magazine centerfolds from the 1980s, and the rock band KISS spared at least 10 others the temptation of the fresh April breeze.
“Someday our jealous and vengeful God will make you regret watching your aerobics sex tapes!” Hilson told a group of kite flyers, who rapidly walked away from him as he strayed momentarily in their direction. “Your kites may reach the sky, but they cannot get you into Heaven! Only Jesus can! Jesus is the One True Kite!”
Though he is not formally recognized by any church, it is estimated that Hilson has reached nearly 75,000 wayward souls on college campuses, at state fairs, and in bus terminals around the Bay Area.
NEW YORK—In a groundbreaking new study published Friday in The Journal Of East Asian Studies, a team of leading historians has proved that meditation originally spread from ancient China because a single, highly annoying monk went around telling everyone how much it had changed his life.
Analyzing documents uncovered across the Eurasian continent, researchers determined that the monk, who lived in the seventh century A.D. and learned rudimentary breathing and visualization exercises from a group of Mahayana Buddhists, traveled widely and talked constantly about how practicing meditation for only a week had fundamentally altered his personal outlook. From the Korean peninsula to the Central Asian steppes, he is believed to have aggravated people everywhere he went, inevitably shifting every conversation to the importance of mindfulness and being centered, even when it was clear no one was interested.
“Our research shows that from Mongolia all the way down to Java, everyone hated this smug prick.”
“There are mentions of an unbearably irritating monk in many texts from the period, and once we realized they were all referring to the same person, we were able to conclude that much of the Eastern world learned about meditation from this one sanctimonious asshole,” said study co-author Sheila Ryan of New York University, explaining that contemporary accounts indicated the monk would travel the Silk Road via merchant caravan, nagging his drivers about the value of observing one’s negative thoughts without resistance or judgment. “For example, scrolls from Asuka-period Japan indicate the island nation’s first exposure to the practice was this monk droning on and on about all the insight he’d gained from a weekend spent meditating in Tibet.
“Our research shows that from Mongolia all the way down to Java, everyone hated this smug prick,” Ryan added.
In the fragments that remain of their written correspondence, traders who traveled the same routes as the monk remarked upon how every time a person said something negative, the exasperating little shit would invariably chime in with unsolicited advice about how they just needed to accept their worries for what they were and learn to appreciate the present moment. Three separate diaries found far apart from one another in present-day Cambodia, Bhutan, and Afghanistan independently verify that whenever the monk bragged about his morning meditation routine, people secretly wanted to punch him in the face.
According to the historians, the evidence they amassed has allowed them to confirm that a figure who appears in several gombi-style paintings from the period is in fact this same monk. In one typical depiction, which places the monk in the ancient city-state of Srivijaya around 680 A.D., he is seen sitting on a mat and meditating in the middle of a busy market square as visibly annoyed passersby shuffle past, many of them appearing to shake their heads, roll their eyes, or stare at him in quiet derision.
To this day, scholars have observed, oral histories passed down for centuries in remote parts of rural China tell of a monk who pestered the fuck out of everyone he could find until they reluctantly agreed to attend his shitty introduction to mindfulness course.
“In his extensive travelogues, the Tang dynasty writer Yi Jing describes an episode in which a man we now believe to have been this monk continually disrupts a hard-at-work blacksmith with lectures about how the mind is a muscle that must be exercised just like any other,” Ryan said. “Apparently, the only thing this pain-in-the-ass ever talked about was how spending 10 minutes a day focusing on his breathing had made him more relaxed and productive. He kept badgering everyone to let him lead them through a guided meditation so they could see how great it was. Some people even tried it just to get him to shut the fuck up.”
“Our findings suggest he spread meditation to as much as 40 percent of Asia,” she continued. “He might have kept going, too, but after the monk told the Khmer emperor Jayavarman II that his empire would be much larger if he just tried a few simple stress-reduction techniques, he was beheaded on the spot.”
The Lord of Completion has two separate, and yet closely interlinked, effects. The inner, and more complex, matter that this card rules is that of the establishment of right order. When things are balanced in life, they flow more easily. When apparently contradictory forces come into equilibrium, the powers inherent in each is available to be utilised to their fullest degree.As a result, when this state of balance is achieved, we become very effective in any area to which we apply ourselves. There is no time-wasting inner conflict, nor indecision. We can simply direct our energies in a single minded and competent fashion.From this inner effect, arises the more common definition of the Four of Wands – that of completing cycles, finishing projects, achieving new stages of development and insight. This is because we have been able to isolate and prioritise those things which we see as most important.So on a day ruled by the Lord of Completion, aim to finish up any outstanding matters, freeing yourself to move into new challenges. You should find yourself very efficient and single-minded. Use this clarity to your best possible advantage. The sense of satisfaction you derive will be immensely valuable to you.Also attempt to define where you want to go next – whether in a personal or a professional sense, so that you can, in days to come, set new targets and goals.
Translation is a 5-step process of “straight thinking in the abstract” comparing and contrasting what seems to be truth with what you can syllogistically, axiomatically and mathematically (using word equations) prove is the truth. It is not an effort to change, alter or heal anything.
The claims in a Translation may seem outrageous, but they are always (or should always be) based on self-evident syllogistic reasoning. Here is one Translation from this week.
1) Truth is that which is so. That which is not truth is not so. Therefore Truth is all that. is. Truth being all is therefore total, therefore whole, therefore complete, therefore ready to go, therefore ready, willing, able, available. I think therefore I am. Since I am and since Truth is all that is, therefore I, being, am Truth. Since I, being, am Truth, therefore I, being, have all the attributes of Truth. Therefore I, being, am total, whole, complete, ready to go, ready, willing, able, available. Since I am mind (self-evident) and since I (being) am Truth, therefore Truth is Mind. (Two things being equal to a third thing are equal to each other.) Since Truth is Mind, therefore Mind has all the attributes of Truth. Therefore Mind is total, whole, complete, ready to go, ready, willing, able, available.
2) Pain is my internalized self-defense mechanism.
Word-tracking: pain: punishment, penalty internal: external, outside self: as distinct from others defend: fend, fencing, strike, offend, protect protect: cover mechanical: do something without thinking
3) Truth being all is therefore one. Since I, being, am one and there is none other than I, being, there is not need for protection, covering up. Therefore Truth is not defensive. Since Truth is Mind and since Truth is all, therefore Mind is all. Therefore Mind is all-knowing. Mind being all-knowing cannot be hidden from Itself, therefore Mind is always open, always uncovered, always obvious. Truth being Mind and Mind being all, there is nothing done without thinking (without Mind), therefore there is nothing mechanical in Mind. Sometimes doing what is right can be a threat to others.so a possible punishable offense. Since Truth is all that is, therefore Right is all that is. Therefore being right, doing right is always right and since there are no others in Truth who might be threatened by doing right, therefore Truth is always a non-threatening rightness.
4) Truth is not defensive Mind is all. Mind is all-knowing. Mind is always open, always uncovered, always obvious. There is nothing mechanical in Mind. Right is all that is. Truth is always a non-threatening rightness.
5) Truth is always an obvious, non-mechanical, non-threatening rightness.
Weekly Invitational Translation Group invites your participation. If you would like to submit a Translation on any subject, feel free to send your weekly Translation to zonta1111@aol.com and we will anonymously post it on the Bathtub Bulletin on Friday.
New Thinking May 22, 2025 Karl Friston is widely regarded as one of the most influential neuroscientists of our time. Some peers consider him the foremost neuroscientist in history. As a professor at University College London, Friston has made groundbreaking contributions to neuroimaging and theoretical neuroscience. His most significant contribution is the Free Energy Principle, a foundational framework in neuroscience stating that biological systems minimize surprise (or uncertainty) by continuously updating their internal models to predict and adapt to their environment. From predictive coding and attachment theory to affective neuroscience, meditation, and nonduality, Friston explores how the brain builds models of the world—and how those models shape our experience of suffering and liberation. He discusses early developmental imprinting, the SEEKING system in affective neuroscience, and the possibility of parapsychological phenomena, all through the lens of self-organization and synchrony. This conversation bridges science and spirit, offering insights into healing, transformation, and a return to the ground of Being. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:06:19 Exploring existence and beingness 00:11:13 Dual aspect monism and the embodied brain 00:19:08 Safety, uncertainty, and development 00:27:36 Resilience and coping with change 00:31:17 Yoga, meditation, and uncertainty 00:38:28 Consilience across disciplines 00:49:13 Optimizing human systems through education 01:04:26 Parapsychology and synchronization of chaos 01:08:20 Final thoughts Definitions: Free Energy: Free energy is the difference between what we expect and what we actually experience—it measures surprise or uncertainty in a system. Markov Blanket: A Markov blanket is like an invisible boundary that separates a system (like a living being) from its environment, allowing it to sense and act while maintaining its own integrity. Bayes Optimal: Being Bayes optimal means making the best possible decisions based on all available information and past experience, continuously updating beliefs as new information comes in. Active Inference: Active inference is the process of taking actions that reduce uncertainty—constantly adjusting what we perceive and how we behave to better match the world around us. Epistemic Motivation: Epistemic motivation is the deep drive to seek information and reduce uncertainty, like a built-in curiosity that helps systems learn, adapt, and survive. New Thinking Allowed Guest Host Leanne Whitney, PhD, is a depth psychologist and transformational coach based in Los Angeles, CA. Her website is https://leannewhitney.com/ Producer: Elena McNally Editor: John Hartmann (Recorded on March 12, 2025)
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