The Commonweal Podcast Commonweal Magazine

Can trees ‘hear’? Can flowers ‘see’? Are shrubs ‘intelligent’?

A decade ago, these questions might have seemed absurd. But an emerging scientific consensus posits that plants are much more like animals than previously thought. 

On this episode, managing editor Isa Simon speaks with Zoë Schlanger, a staff writer and science reporter at The Atlantic and author of The Light Eaters.

Schlanger shows how the study of plants—and the wonder their behaviors inspire—can offer a welcome alternative to the despair induced by climate change.  

For further reading: 

Vincent Miller on plant ‘communities’ in old growth forests


David Pinault on environmental activism in Cambodia

Isa Simon on Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass

One of the misconceptions about Judaism is that the religion is concerned primarily with justice and the law, not love and grace. 

That’s precisely backward, argues Rabbi Shai Held, president and dean of the Hadar Institute in New York and author of the new book Judaism Is About Love. Jewish theology, spirituality, and ethics emerge as free responses to a generous, loving God.

On this episode, Held speaks with associate editor Griffin Oleynick about how recovering this more accurate view of Judaism can help believers and non-believers alike lead richer, fuller, more joyful lives.
 
For further reading:

Why Christians should read Leviticus and Deuteronomy


Tzvi Novick on Jewish memory after October 7

An update on Jewish-Christian dialogue

For decades, discussions of poverty and inequality in America have tended to focus on cities. That’s understandable—cities are often the places where income disparities are most visible. 

But as poverty researchers Kathryn Edin, H. Luke Schaefer, and Timothy Nelson argue in their recent book The Injustice of Place, traditional income-based indicators of poverty can mask the “deep disadvantage” faced by rural communities across the country. 

On this episode, they join associate editor Regina Munch to discuss how centuries of resource extraction, racism, and “internal colonization” have blocked the advancement of regions like Appalachia, southern Texas, and the “cotton belt” from sharing in American prosperity. 

For further reading:

Luke Mayville on how progressives can win in rural America 

An interview with poverty expert Matthew Desmond


The editors on pandemic-era relief bills

Vinson Cunningham is one of the most dynamic critics working today. Best known as the New Yorker’s theater critic and co-host of the weekly podcast Critics at Large, he’s also the author of the novel Great Expectations, based on his experience working for the Obama campaign in 2008.

On this episode, Cunningham joins Commonweal contributing writer Anthony Domestico for a discussion about criticism—engaging deeply with a work of art on a personal level, and then responding in writing and speech—as a way of life. Along the way, they also touch on the theological dimensions of Great Expectations.

Anybody, Cunningham argues, can be a critic. All it takes is curiosity, and the willingness to share your observations with others. 

For further reading: 

Vinson Cunningham on Pope Francis’s Fratelli tutti


William Giraldi on criticism as an act of love


Paul Baumann reviews Barack Obama’s memoir

We’re all familiar with the tired stereotype of the “God of the Old Testament,” a capricious creator Who subjects His chosen people to endless cycles of punishment and retribution. 

But in her reading of the Book of Genesis, novelist and essayist Marilynne Robinson describes a God of gentleness, one wildly in love with creation and humanity.

In this special episode of the Commonweal Podcast, moderated by senior editor Matt Boudway, poet and memoirist Christian Wiman joins Robinson for a conversation about the Book of Genesis. 

Robinson and Wiman also discuss scripture and theology more generally—especially as the two practice it through fiction and poetry. 

For further reading: 

Marilynne Robinson on forgiveness in Genesis


Christian Wiman on the Bible as poetry


Jack Miles on the Bible and translation

The past year or so hasn’t been the best one for higher education. Debates over affirmative action, free speech, and affordability, combined with recent cuts to the humanities, have led many to wonder what the future holds. 

Here to speak about all of this is Nicholas Dirks, former chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, and author of City of Intellect: The Uses and Abuses of the University. 

Dirks argues that we certainly need structural change. Even more important is that colleges and universities return to their core functions: the pursuit of free inquiry, reasoning about fundamental human values, and training future generations of engaged citizens. 

For further reading: 

Zena Hitz on why we need the humanities


Nancy Dallavalle on whether Catholic colleges have a future

Our recent editorial on affirmative action and affordability