Journey of the Universe
32 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 3 years ago - ★★★★★ - 27 ratingsToday we know what no previous generation knew: the history of the universe and of the unfolding of life on Earth. Through the astonishing combined achievements of scientists worldwide, we now have a detailed account of how galaxies and stars, planets and living organisms, human beings and human consciousness came to be. And still . . . we thirst for answers to questions that have haunted humanity from the very beginning. What is our place in the 14-billion-year history of the universe? What roles do we play in Earth's history? How do we connect with the intricate web of life?This podcast series is part of a larger project called Journey of the Universe that invites us to reflect on these questions. It consists of a film, a book, a series of conversations, and online classes. The creators of the Journey project imagine that by knowing more about the universe and Earth we will also know more about ourselves. This may give us grounds for navigating our own journey in challenging times. How did we come to be part of this universe story? How do we belong and how can we participate in its future flourishing? This series is a gateway into exploring these questions.Connect deeply with these materials and more via the Journey of the Universe: A Story for Our Times Specialization, a series of Massive Online Open Courses hosted by Coursera and created by Yale. Available here: https://www.coursera.org/specializations/journey-of-the-universe
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Episodes
The Twelve Principles
February 24, 2021 17:00 - 1 hour - 54.4 MBThis episodes features Thomas Berry's The Twelve Principles lecture with a special guest appearance from Brian Thomas Swimme. Throughout this lecture you will hear Thomas identify and integrate the underlying principles of the universe that lead to the emergence of structure within chaos. Click here to watch the lecture on YouTube. We hope you enjoy the Journey. -- Welcome to the Journey of the Universe podcast, where we explore humans’ place in the 14-billion-year history of the unive...
The New Story
January 26, 2021 17:00 - 40 minutes - 27.8 MBThis episodes features Thomas Berry's The New Story, a landmark essay that identified the need for a new and functional cosmological story to heal and guide our planetary community. The following recording features Thomas Berry exploring the central ideas in his essay at Chestnut Hill College in 1984. Click here to read the full essay. We hope you enjoy the Journey. -- Welcome to the Journey of the Universe podcast, where we explore humans’ place in the 14-billion-year history of the ...
Radiance
November 19, 2020 21:00 - 35 minutes - 24.4 MBToday’s episode features the power of Radiance – the primary way that the universe communicates through the dynamics of emission, perception, resonance, and reverberation. In this podcast, Brian examines how radiance permeates the cosmos and shows up in human experience. As with the other powers of the universe, Brian encourages the listener to discover their own way of embodying the power of radiance. As explained by Brian , when we embody this power, we are able to both authentically ...
Interrelatedness
October 17, 2020 18:00 - 29 minutes - 20.6 MBToday’s episode features the power of Interrelatedness – the universal presence of relationship and care found between all beings throughout the many epochs of the cosmos. In this podcast, Brian explores how care is at work in the universe, including, but not limited to, human relationships. Brian touches on the thrilling nature of relationships and how through care, we gain the capacity to identify worth and to be sensitive to what others need. Brian examines how the universe has show...
Transformation
September 09, 2020 18:00 - 44 minutes - 30.4 MBToday’s episode features the power of Transformation -- the process through which change is worked into the whole context by the individual. In this podcast, Brian discusses how the universe engages in space-time binding to create increasingly complex structures that transform that universe as a whole. Each new and more complex structure is understood to be a transformative event where space and time fold back on itself and more of the universe is present in one place. Brian traces the ...
Transmutation
August 06, 2020 20:00 - 29 minutes - 20.1 MBToday’s episode features the power of Transmutation -- the process through which the universe is compelled to move from one mode of being into another. In this podcast, Brian discusses how the universe utilizes the dynamics of constraint, discernment, opposition, and even rejection to move into ever deepening expressions of intimacy and beauty. To bring this power to life, Brian explores transmutations like the cooling of Earth's crust to make mountains, the dynamics of the predator / pr...
Synergy
July 09, 2020 02:00 - 41 minutes - 28.3 MBToday’s episode features Synergy -- a power of the universe that enables endurance and creativity through the strength and innovation of relationship. In this episode, Brian explores synergy as it shows up in the smallest scales of the universe and then expands his scope to navigate the evolution of life on Earth with synergy in mind. Brian then addresses one of the central challenges of our time: for synergy to operate in conscious self awareness, for the human to enter into its planet...
Cataclysm
June 19, 2020 17:00 - 23 minutes - 16.4 MBToday’s episode features Cataclysm -- a power of the universe that gives rise to catastrophe, destruction, and death. In this episode, Brian discusses our increased awareness of cataclysm both in the cycles of life on Earth and the Universe. Then, he explores how a star spends ten million years creating its structure only to be eliminated in two seconds and how this cataclysms enable further creativity to emerge throughout the cosmos. -- Welcome to the Journey of the Universe podcast...
Homeostasis
May 12, 2020 18:00 - 31 minutes - 21.5 MBToday’s episode features Homeostasis -- a power of the universe centered around the discovery and maintenance of balance, integrity, and resonance with the community. Brian discusses how the balance of protons in our blood, the dynamics of underwater kelp forest, the idea that Earth as a whole maintains itself, and Milky Way’s rate of supernovae explosions are connected through the power of homeostasis. Then, Brian turns his attention to how homeostasis shows up in the form of a human, ...
Emergence
April 10, 2020 23:00 - 26 minutes - 18.3 MBThis episode features Emergence -- a creative, epochal, and self-assembling power of the universe. In this episode, Brian discusses the radical dimension of our universe, described as emergence, that creates new forms of being as it evolves through time. Our moment is presented as a time where humanity has developed so much power that it has evolved into a new form, a self conscious planetary presence. To guide and inspire our development, Brian highlights two examples of emergence i...
Allurement
March 06, 2020 02:00 - 32 minutes - 22.7 MBToday’s episode features Allurement -- a power of the universe that gives rise to attraction, intimacy, healing and growth. In this episode Brian discusses how responding to allurement transformed hydrogen atoms into stars and deepened the intimacy between the Earth and the Sun through the development of chlorophyll. Also explored is the invention of vertebrate sexuality and how excitement for existence is encoded into our genetic makeup. Finally, Brian shares two ways we might enab...
Centration
February 07, 2020 01:00 - 27 minutes - 18.7 MBToday’s episode features Centration -- a power of the universe that leads to differentiation and complexification throughout the universe. In this episode Brian discusses how Centration helped give birth to galaxies, stars, cells, and consciousness. Also explored are the ways in which we can participate in the power of Centration through the development and maintenance of our “psychic membranes” and by connecting to the catalytic energy found in the direct experience of nature. --- We...
Seamlessness
January 10, 2020 21:00 - 11 minutes - 7.97 MBToday’s episode features the fundamental power of the universe -- seamlessness. In this episode Brian discusses a shocking discovery on the nature of the quantum vacuum, ways to understand ourselves as pure generativity, and a viewpoint that sees that all seemingly separate objects as part of a widely dispersed unitary event. --- Welcome to the Journey of the Universe podcast, where we explore humans’ place in the 14-billion-year history of the universe, the role we play here on Earth, a...
Teaching Journey of the Universe
December 07, 2019 04:00 - 35 minutes - 24.2 MBThis episode features a conversation on Teaching Journey of the Universe with Tom Collins and Bindhu Mohanty. Tom has taught secondary students in independent schools for over 20 years. He developed a yearlong interdisciplinary Universe Story course that was taught to seniors at the Palmer Trinity School in Miami, Florida. Tom currently teaches in the Religion and Philosophy department at the Lawrenceville School. Bindu Mohanty is a writer and teacher and has lived in Auroville, an inte...
Myths, Metaphors, and Identities
November 03, 2019 00:00 - 23 minutes - 16.1 MBThis episode features a conversation on Myths, Metaphors, and Identities with Nancy Abrams and Sachiko Kawaura. Nancy has a B.A. from the University of Chicago in the history and philosophy of science and a law degree from the University of Michigan. She is the co-author, with Joel Primack, of View from the Center of the Universe: Discovering our Extraordinary Place in the Cosmos and The New Universe and the Human Future: How a Shared Cosmology Could Transform the World. Sachiko has a P...
Arts and Justice
November 03, 2019 00:00 - 31 minutes - 21.5 MBThis episode features a conversation on Arts and Justice with Marya Grathwohl and Drew Dellinger. Drew is a poet, teacher, writer and speaker who has inspired minds and hearts around the world, performing poetry and keynoting on justice, ecology, cosmology and compassion. He is also a consultant, publisher, and founder of Planetize the Movement Press. Dellinger’s book of poems, love letters to the milky way, has thousands of devoted readers on five continents. Marya is a Sister of S...
Healing and Revisioning
October 08, 2019 03:00 - 19 minutes - 13.7 MBThis episode features a conversation on Healing and Revisioning with Belvie Rooks. Belvie’s work weaves the worlds of spirituality, feminism, cosmology and social justice with a passion for dialogue. As an educator, she is the creator of the ground-breaking, project-based educational curriculum based on Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry’s, The Universe Story, entitled, Hey Listen Up: A Sense of Self, A Sense of Place. Our host is Mary Evelyn Tucker, co-author of Journey of the Universe and ...
Sustainable Energy
October 01, 2019 12:00 - 25 minutes - 17.8 MBThis episode features a conversation on Sustainable Energy with Paula Gonzalez. Paula entered the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati in 1954. She earned her Ph.D in biology at the Catholic University in Washington, DC. Sister Paula worked for more than three decades to promote sustainable living. She founded EarthConnection, an environmental learning center where tours, internships, and environmental educational programs around renewable-energy technologies have been conducted. Our host ...
Indigenous Ways of Knowing
September 06, 2019 19:00 - 35 minutes - 24.5 MBThis episode features a conversation on Indigenous Ways of Knowing with David Begay and Nancy Maryboy. David is a member of the Navajo Nation. He received his Ph.D from the California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, with a concentration in Indigenous Education and Application of Traditional Knowledge. David is Adjunct faculty at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Nancy is the President and Founder of the Indigenous Education ...
Permaculture
September 01, 2019 18:00 - 26 minutes - 18.3 MBThis episode features a conversation on Permaculture with Penny Livingston. Penny is an internationally recognized permaculture teacher, designer, and speaker. Penny holds a MS in Eco-Social Regeneration and 3 Diplomas in Permaculture Design. She has studied and taught with Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, the co-founders of Permaculture and the developers of the Permaculture Design Certification Course curriculum. Our host is Mary Evelyn Tucker, co-author of Journey of the Universe and...
Ecological Economics
August 05, 2019 22:00 - 27 minutes - 19.1 MBThis episode features a conversation on Ecological Economics with Richard Norgaard. Richard is a Professor Emeritus of Ecological Economics in the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California, Berkeley, the first chair and a continuing member of the Independent Science Board of CALFED, and a foundation member and former president of the International Society for Ecological Economics. He is considered one of the founders of and a continuing leader in the field of ecological eco...
Eco-Cities
July 28, 2019 22:00 - 29 minutes - 20 MBThis episode features a conversation on Eco-Cities with Richard Register. Richard is a theorist and author working in ecological city design and planning who has initiated physical projects and municipal policies in the San Francisco area. He was the founding president of the non-profit educational and research corporations Urban Ecology and Ecocity Builders. Our host is Mary Evelyn Tucker, co-author of Journey of the Universe and professor at Yale University. In this conversation, Richa...
Breakthrough Communities
July 15, 2019 22:00 - 29 minutes - 20.4 MBThis episode features a conversation on Breakthrough Communities with Carl Anthony. Carl is the founder of Breakthrough Communities, a Bay Area non-profit organization committed to building multi-racial, multicultural leadership for sustainable metropolitan communities in California, the US, and the world. He is the former executive director of the Urban Habitat Program, one of the oldest environmental justice organizations in the country. Our host is Mary Evelyn Tucker, co-author of Jou...
Becoming a Planetary Presence
July 05, 2019 23:00 - 27 minutes - 19 MBThis episode features a conversation on Becoming a Planetary Presence with Cynthia Brown, Dominican University of California Professor Emerita. Cynthia was an American educator-historian. She authored the titles Refusing Racism: White Allies in the Struggle for Civil Rights and Big History: From the Big Bang to the Present. Our host is Mary Evelyn Tucker, co-author of Journey of the Universe and professor at Yale University. In this conversation, Cynthia describes the “big history” appro...
The Origin of the Human
June 15, 2019 23:00 - 35 minutes - 24.2 MBThis episode features two conversations on The Origin of the Human with John Grim and Mellisa Nelson. John is the Senior Lecturer and Research Scholar at Yale University with appointments at the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale Divinity School, and the Department of Religious Studies. He is the co-founder and director of the Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale University and was an executive producer on the Journey of the Universe film. Mellisa is a cultural ecologis...
The Passion of Animals
May 29, 2019 18:00 - 24 minutes - 11 MBThis episode features a conversation on The Passion of Animals with paleontologist and science communicator, Scott Sampson. Dr. Sampson is currently the President and CEO of Science World in Vancouver. Sampson is notable for his work on carnivorous theropod dinosaurs and his extensive research into the Late Cretaceous Period, particularly in Madagascar. Our host is Mary Evelyn Tucker, co-author of Journey of the Universe and professor at Yale University. In this conversation, Scott tell...
Learning, Living, and Dying
April 29, 2019 18:00 - 42 minutes - 19.3 MBThis episode features a conversation on Learning, Living, and Dying with Terrence Deacon, neuroanthropologist, Professor of Anthropology, and member of the Cognitive Science Faculty at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of the groundbreaking books, The Symbolic Species and Incomplete Nature. Our host is Mary Evelyn Tucker, co-author of Journey of the Universe and professor at Yale University. In this conversation, we explore the evolution of the brain and the story ...
Life's Emergence
April 15, 2019 18:00 - 34 minutes - 15.9 MBThis episode features a two-part conversation on Life’s Emergence. First, we sit down with Ursula Goodenough, Professor of Biology emerita at Washington University in St. Louis where she engaged in research on eukaryotic algae. She authored the best-selling book The Sacred Depths of Nature. Next, we learn from Terrance Deacon, an Neuroanthropologist, Professor of Anthropology and member of the Cognitive Science Faculty at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of the gr...
Birth of the Solar System
March 25, 2019 04:00 - 28 minutes - 13.2 MBThis episode features a conversation on the Birth of the Solar System with Craig Kochel, Professor of Geology at Bucknell University, where he helped found the Environmental Center. His areas of research include fluvial geomorphology, hydrology, geologic hazards, and planetary geology. This conversation is hosted by Mary Evelyn Tucker, co-author of Journey of the Universe and professor at Yale University. In this interview, we explore the evolution of our solar system and its planets. In...
Emanating Brilliance of Stars
February 22, 2019 05:00 - 26 minutes - 12.3 MBToday we are discovering the history of the universe and of the unfolding of life on Earth. Through the astonishing combined achievements of scientists and humanists worldwide, we now have a detailed account of how galaxies and stars, planets and living organisms, human beings and human consciousness came to be. And still . . . we thirst for answers to questions that have haunted humanity from the very beginning. All peoples have had stories to explain where humans fit into the panoply of...
Galaxies Forming
January 28, 2019 05:00 - 25 minutes - 11.5 MBToday we are discovering the history of the universe and of the unfolding of life on Earth. Through the astonishing combined achievements of scientists and humanists worldwide, we now have a detailed account of how galaxies and stars, planets and living organisms, human beings and human consciousness came to be. And still . . . we thirst for answers to questions that have haunted humanity from the very beginning. All peoples have had stories to explain where humans fit into the panoply o...
Beginning of the Universe
January 07, 2019 05:00 - 26 minutes - 12.2 MBThis episode features a conversation between Mary Evelyn Tucker and Joel Primack about the beginning of the universe. Mary Evelyn is a professor at Yale University and Joel is a distinguished professor of physics at the University of California in Santa Cruz. His work focuses on cosmology and galaxy formation. In this conversation, Mary Evelyn and Joel explore the emergence of the universe, the universe’s expansion, and the formation of the first elements, stars, and galaxies. This conve...