Wonder Cabinet

Wonder Cabinet Productions
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Wonder Cabinet is an independent podcast from Anne Strainchamps and Steve Paulson, Peabody Award-winning creators of public radio's To The Best Of Our Knowledge. For 35 years, that show brought long-form conversations to 200+ stations nationwide; its interviews are now archived in the Library of Congress. Episodes feature intimate, long-form conversations with scientists, philosophers, writers, and artists who are re-imagining our relationship with the planet. Some study black holes or quantum entanglement; others map mycelial networks or count ancient tree rings. And some explore dream worlds, myths, and fairy tales to revive ways of knowing that challenge what we think we understand about the nature of reality. The name references Enlightenment-era cabinets of curiosities—private collections of shells, fossils, astronomical instruments, and saints' relics that existed at a moment when the scientific revolution was still in conversation with older ways of knowing the world. Today, another shift is taking place, as mechanistic models give way to more holistic, relational understandings of life on a sentient planet. Wonder Cabinet lives at that threshold. About the hosts Anne Strainchamps and Steve Paulson co-founded To The Best Of Our Knowledge. Steve hosts Luminous, a podcast about the science and philosophy of psychedelics, and is the author of Atoms and Eden. Learn more at wondercabinetproductions.com.

  1. 3 hr ago

    The Ecowomanist Theology of Rev. Dr. Melanie L. Harris

    Rev. Dr. Melanie Harris is a professor of Black Feminist and Womanist Theologies at Wake Forest University, an ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and one of the founders of ecowomanism — a theology and environmental philosophy centering the voices, wisdom, and spiritual practices of Black women and women of color. In this conversation, Harris traces her own eco-memories back to Dearfield, Colorado, one of the historic Black-owned farming settlements founded by families who migrated west during the Great Migration — including her own grandparents. She reflects on growing up with a rare and precious connection to land and growing things, even as her family navigated the very real dangers racism posed to simply being outdoors in rural America. Harris speaks candidly about how, in many African American communities, painful histories tied to slavery and cotton have led families to intentionally distance children from the land — a protective severing that ecowomanism seeks to gently repair. Drawing on her mother's practice of singing and humming to plants, she describes music, spirituality and land stewardship as deeply entwined threads of Black religious life. She also talks about the hidden ecological history of Black women and why it matters to see  women like Harriet Tubman and Fannie Lou Hamer not just as liberators and Civil Rights leaders, but as environmentalists who understood the connection between racial justice and earth justice.  The episode closes with a meditation on the high desert of New Mexico, where the conversation was recorded – a portrait of land, memory, grief and grace held together. This episode was produced in partnership with the Center for Humans and Nature and with support from the Kalliopeia Foundation.  — 00:00:00 Introduction00:03:00 Roots, Roses and Ecowomanism00:10:55 Harriet Tubman, Environmentalist00:17:30 The Lynching Tree and What Needs Repair00:27:10 The Divine Feminine and the Desert — Melanie Harris academic bio  Book: “Ecowomanism: African American Women and Earth-Honoring Faiths” Book: “Preaching Black Earth” Wonder Cabinet is hosted by Anne Strainchamps and Steve Paulson. Find out more about the show at https://wondercabinetproductions.com, where you can subscribe to the podcast and our newsletter.

    The Ecowomanist Theology of Rev. Dr. Melanie L. Harris

  2. 15 Aug

    Poetry Against Despair with Christian Wiman

    How do you find joy in suffering? That’s one of the questions Christian Wiman explores in his poetry and his life. The former editor of Poetry magazine, Wiman is the author of seven books of poetry, including his latest, The Dance. He also teaches at Yale Divinity School. He’s been called “the most important Christian writer in America,” though his relationship with God is marked by uncertainty as much as faith. That tension runs through his poetry, where mystical experience, doubt, suffering, and joy continually collide. His understanding of mortality is also shaped by a 20-year battle with cancer. Diagnosed with a rare form of lymphoma and initially given only a few years to live, Wiman has come close to death several times. Yet he speaks about suffering not simply as something to endure, but as a strange territory in which beauty and wonder can sometimes be found. Wiman craves direct experiences of the world, but he finds that writing poetry helps him fully appreciate these fleeting moments of awe and wonder. A frosted hosta, an old candlestick, the trills of a red-winged blackbird—small encounters like these can open onto deeper questions about meaning, eternity, and what Wordsworth called “seeing into the life of things.” — 00:00:00 Intro00:02:40 Poetry, Awe and Wonder00:15:10 Twenty Years Battling Cancer00:21:55 Joy in Suffering00:30:45 Seeing Into the Life of Things00:39:40 A Last Poem and Farewell — Links: Book: The Dance Book: Glimmerings: Letters on Faith Between a Poet and a Theologian Book: Zero at the Bone: Fifty Entries Against Despair Yale Divinity School website Profile of sculptor Lee Bontecou Wonder Cabinet is hosted by Anne Strainchamps and Steve Paulson. Find out more about the show at https://wondercabinetproductions.com, where you can subscribe to the podcast and our newsletter.

    Poetry Against Despair with Christian Wiman

  3. 8 Aug

    Chasing Wilderness with Cal Flyn (and Gary Snyder)

    For thousands of years, people have dreamed of walking off the map — lighting out for the remote unknown, into landscapes untouched and untamed. The classic wilderness quest is as old as literature itself: you go into the wild, and you come out changed. It's woven into ancient spiritual texts, medieval myths, and European accounts of the so-called "New World." But wilderness is an idea as slippery as it is powerful — and wilderness preservation is a complicated and often costly ideal.  That's the territory Cal Flyn explores in her new book, The Savage Landscape: How We Made the Wilderness. An award-winning writer, Flyn has traveled — often alone — into some of the most remote and forbidding places on Earth: a desert monastery on Mount Sinai, deep into the Amazon rainforest, up a Tibetan mountain pass, and inside an erupting Icelandic volcano. She gets there by river skiff, deep-sea submersible, helicopter, and horseback, and along the way she finds moments of sheer wonder — and real danger. We talk with Flyn about the history of this ancient idea and why humans keep chasing it. With nearly 8 billion people on the planet, almost no place is truly untouched. So what IS wilderness? Why do we keep seeking it? And who pays the price?  Plus:  Steve talks with legendary poet and environmental writer Gary Snyder — now 96, once a friend of the Beats and a Zen apprentice in 1950s Japan — about his classic book The Practice of the Wild. Snyder also reads two poems. This is an excerpt from an archival conversation.   The original aired on Wisconsin Public Radio’s To The Best Of Our Knowledge. This Wonder Cabinet episode was not funded, endorsed or affiliated with Wisconsin Public Media or the University of Wisconsin-Madison. — 00:00:00 In Search of Wilderness00:03:00 Cal Flyn on The Savage Landscape00:32:40 The Sublime, Taboos and Sacred Groves00:49:55 From the TTBOOK Archive: Gary Snyder01:00:15 Credits and Farewell — Cal Flyn’s website  Cal Flyn on Insta Book: “The Savage Landscape: How We Made the Wilderness” Book: “Islands of Abandonment”  Read more about Gary Snyder at The Poetry Foundation Read “Piute Creek” by Gary Snyder Read “Ripples on the Surface” by Gary Snyder Uncut Gary Snyder interview from TTBOOK Wonder Cabinet is hosted by Anne Strainchamps and Steve Paulson. Find out more about the show at https://wondercabinetproductions.com, where you can subscribe to the podcast and our newsletter.

    Chasing Wilderness with Cal Flyn (and Gary Snyder)

  4. 1 Aug

    The Conscious Universe: Panpsychism with Philip Goff

    What if consciousness isn't something that emerges from the brain—but is embedded in the fabric of reality itself? That's the provocative idea behind panpsychism— that consciousness goes all the way down to the fundamental building blocks of the cosmos. Philosopher Philip Goff, one of panpsychism’s leading advocates, argues that it offers the best solution to one of science's deepest mysteries: how consciousness arises at all. We also hear  from novelist Philip Pullman, whose  fantasy series His Dark Materials was partly inspired by panpsychism.  Goff reflects on another surprising development in his own thinking: his recent turn toward the Eastern Orthodox Church and what he calls "heretical Christianity.” He also describes how a profound  psychedelic experience shook him to the core—and may have revealed a deeper reality.  The first interview with Goff was recorded at the Island of Knowledge think tank in Tuscany, a project supported by Dartmouth College and the John Templeton Foundation. The interview with Philip Pullman originally aired on Wisconsin Public Radio’s To The Best Of Our Knowledge. This Wonder Cabinet episode was not funded, endorsed or affiliated with Wisconsin Public Media or the University of Wisconsin-Madison. — 00:00:00 Introduction00:04:00 What Is Panpsychism?00:17:30 Heretical Christianity00:29:40 A Psychedelic Awakening00:38:25 The Conscious Universe, Confirmed — Philip Goff’s website.  Books Podcast: "Phillip Goff Philosophy" TTBOOK: "His Dark Materials' Author Philip Pullman On The Consciousness Of All Things" Wonder Cabinet is hosted by Anne Strainchamps and Steve Paulson. Find out more about the show at https://wondercabinetproductions.com, where you can subscribe to the podcast and our newsletter.

    The Conscious Universe: Panpsychism with Philip Goff

  5. 20 Jun

    The Spiritual Ecology of Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee

    Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee grew up in London with a Russian Sufi mystic living downstairs, seekers showing up at all hours and meditation happening constantly.  Then his family moved to a  coastal redwood forest in Northern California, where he learned to surf and fell in love with wilderness.   Today, Emmanuel is the founder, executive editor and podcast host of Emergence Magazine – for nearly a decade, one of the most important venues for spiritually-infused ecological writing.  His new book, Remembering Earth, is both a meditation on the sacred nature of the living world and a practical guide to re-entering it.   In this conversation,  we explore Sufism's radical vision of the divine as intimate and immanent, rather than distant and transcendent. We also talk about jazz — Emmanuel dropped out of school at age 16 to play acoustic bass — and the liminal space of creative improvisation.  Other stops along the way:  the epigenetic memory of birdsong, how breath and walking can become a form of prayer; what dreams are and where they come from; and the boundlessness of Earth’s love.  Note:  Wonder Cabinet is taking a summer break.  We’ll be back in August with new episodes. — Emergence Magazine Emmanuel’s new book, “Remembering Earth” "The Nightingale’s Song," a film by Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee and Adam Loften Anne’s conversation with Sam Lee — 00:00:00 The Magic We've Forgotten00:02:15 Growing Up With a Guru00:06:55 One River, Many Names00:15:55 Spiritual Ecology and Practice00:29:05 Nightingales, Jazz, and Dreams Wonder Cabinet is hosted by Anne Strainchamps and Steve Paulson. Find out more about the show at https://wondercabinetproductions.com, where you can subscribe to the podcast and our newsletter.

    The Spiritual Ecology of Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee

  6. 13 Jun

    An Evening of Wonder with Alan Lightman

    What happens when a physicist experiences a moment of transcendence that science cannot explain? Alan Lightman has spent much of his life exploring the mysteries of the universe—from black holes and the nature of time to the fundamental laws that govern reality. A physicist, novelist and longtime professor at MIT, he's fascinated by the transformative power of awe and wonder. In this live conversation recorded at New York's Morgan Library, Lightman reflects on extraordinary encounters in nature—from a startling moment with two ospreys to a solitary night beneath the stars—that shook him to the core and left him feeling as though he had somehow "fallen into infinity." Calling himself a "spiritual materialist," he seeks to bridge the divide between science and religion, between mathematics and art. Can a scientific worldview make room for awe, transcendence, and mystical experience? Lightman says these fleeting moments reveal something essential about being human: our longing to connect with something larger than ourselves. This event at the Morgan Library was co-sponsored by the Nour Foundation as part of our series “Spirituality in the Age of Science: Conversations on God, Transcendence and Mortality.” — Video of Steve’s complete conversation with Alan Lightman at Morgan Library:  MIT website Books PBS series: "Searching: Our Quest For Meaning in the Age of Science"  — 0:00 Introduction2:40 The Osprey Encounter9:40 Science And Religion13:30 Scientist And Novelist28:50 The Religious Impulse36:50 Evolution And Consciousness Wonder Cabinet is hosted by Anne Strainchamps and Steve Paulson. Find out more about the show at https://wondercabinetproductions.com, where you can subscribe to the podcast and our newsletter.

    An Evening of Wonder with Alan Lightman

  7. 23 May

    Rewilding Attention with D. Graham Burnett

    We all know our attention is being competed for — but historian of science D. Graham Burnett calls it something more alarming: a "civilizational biohack." In this episode, we talk with Burnett, a Princeton historian of science and co-founder of "The Friends of Attention," about the movement to liberate our minds from the 17-trillion-dollar attention economy. He draws on surprising sources — the German Romantics, St. Augustine, Simone Weil, Henry James — to argue that we've lost touch with older, richer forms of attention. And he makes the case that reclaiming it will require more than screentime apps or digital detox – it’ll take collective resistance. Plus: why your Pilates class, your evening needlework, or your walk with the dog might already be forms of radical attention — and how reframing everyday activities can make ordinary life feel richer, more mysterious and more full of wonder. – “Attensity: A Manifesto of the Attention Liberation Movement” The Friends of Attention The Strother School of Radical Attention D. Graham Burnett website   – 0:00 Introduction3:00 Human Fracking27:30 Attention as Generosity30:55 Wonder and Disenchantment Wonder Cabinet is hosted by Anne Strainchamps and Steve Paulson. Find out more about the show at https://wondercabinetproductions.com, where you can subscribe to the podcast and our newsletter.

    Rewilding Attention with D. Graham Burnett

  8. 16 May

    Christof Koch on the Cosmic Toad

    What happens when one of the world’s leading neuroscientists has a mystical experience that upends his understanding of reality? In the 1990s, Christof Koch helped launch the modern science of consciousness, searching for the neural basis of subjective experience. A committed materialist, Koch believed brain science would explain how conscious experience is generated.   Then several profound psychedelic experiences changed his metaphysical beliefs. “It was like an earthquake,” he says. In this conversation, Koch reflects on how those mind-bending experiences transformed his deepest assumptions about mind and matter, and whether the cosmos itself might have purpose. He talks about the power and the limits of science, and why he’s come to see consciousness not as a byproduct of matter, but as something far more fundamental, perhaps the fabric of reality itself. — Personal website  Allen Institute TTBOOK: "Your Brain on Shrooms"  —  0:00 Introduction4:05 Pursuing Ultimate Truth9:40 Into the Psychedelic Void16:00 The Loss of Self20:55 What Science Cannot Explain Wonder Cabinet is hosted by Anne Strainchamps and Steve Paulson. Find out more about the show at https://wondercabinetproductions.com, where you can subscribe to the podcast and our newsletter.

    Christof Koch on the Cosmic Toad
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Trailer

About

Wonder Cabinet is an independent podcast from Anne Strainchamps and Steve Paulson, Peabody Award-winning creators of public radio's To The Best Of Our Knowledge. For 35 years, that show brought long-form conversations to 200+ stations nationwide; its interviews are now archived in the Library of Congress. Episodes feature intimate, long-form conversations with scientists, philosophers, writers, and artists who are re-imagining our relationship with the planet. Some study black holes or quantum entanglement; others map mycelial networks or count ancient tree rings. And some explore dream worlds, myths, and fairy tales to revive ways of knowing that challenge what we think we understand about the nature of reality. The name references Enlightenment-era cabinets of curiosities—private collections of shells, fossils, astronomical instruments, and saints' relics that existed at a moment when the scientific revolution was still in conversation with older ways of knowing the world. Today, another shift is taking place, as mechanistic models give way to more holistic, relational understandings of life on a sentient planet. Wonder Cabinet lives at that threshold. About the hosts Anne Strainchamps and Steve Paulson co-founded To The Best Of Our Knowledge. Steve hosts Luminous, a podcast about the science and philosophy of psychedelics, and is the author of Atoms and Eden. Learn more at wondercabinetproductions.com.

Information

  • Creator
    Wonder Cabinet Productions
  • Years Active
    2011 - 2026
  • Episodes
    22
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 by Wonder Cabinet Productions
  • Show Website
    Wonder Cabinet

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