The Seed: Conversations for Radical Hope

Pendle Hill
  • 5.0 (45)
  • RELIGION & SPIRITUALITY
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

Quakers and other seekers explore visions of the world growing up through the cracks of our broken systems. The Seed is a podcast from Pendle Hill, a Quaker center, open to all, for Spirit-led learning, retreat, and community in Wallingford, PA. This project was made possible by the generous support of the Thomas H. & Mary Williams Shoemaker Fund.

  1. John Calvi and "The Ones Who Aren't Here" Song

    FEB 20 · BONUS

    John Calvi and "The Ones Who Aren't Here" Song

    In this mini-episode, host Dwight Dunston returns to his conversation with Quaker healer John Calvi. They explore the history of John’s seminal song, "The Ones Who Aren't Here," and the weight of carrying love across time and loss. John shares the song's origins, written in his 20s during a time of "personal exile". Reflecting on the "fierce closet" of the early 80s, John notes, "As Pete Seeger said, you build a good building, can be used for a lot of different things over time". For John, the song became a "good building" for those seeking community during the AIDS crisis. The episode features a 1982 recording from WWUH radio. John reflects: "Perhaps ministry is that rare, too rare, song that teaches the pain as it lifts us up towards knowing what is possible". In this episode, we discuss: The social origins of "The Ones Who Aren't Here".Healing touch as Quaker ministry during the AIDS crisis.John’s work with the late nonviolence educator William J. Kreidler.Resources: "The Ones Who Aren't Here" (Song): https://youtu.be/3EANcOHwLbc (1982 Recording)John Calvi: https://johncalvi.com/Suede (Singer - Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suede_(singer)Meg Christian: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meg_ChristianLGBTQ Religious Archives Network (Calvi Profile): https://lgbtqreligiousarchives.org/profiles/john-calviWilliam J. Kreidler (Memorial Archive): https://williamjkreidler.com/"Nonviolence in the Classroom" (Reference to William Kreidler's work): https://biblioteca.cejamericas.org/handle/2015/4078Guest Bio: John Calvi is a Quaker healer and songwriter who offered massage and healing touch during the AIDS crisis. A member of Putney (VT) Friends Meeting, he has had his music recorded by artists such as Meg Christian and Suede. NEW Video Version available at Pendle Hill's YouTube page. The transcript for this episode is available on https://pendlehillseed.buzzsprout.com/ ---- The Seed is a project of Pendle Hill, a Quaker center open to all for Spirit-led learning, retreat, and community. We’re located in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, on the traditional territory of the Lenni-Lenape people. Help us to grow The Seed! Share your thoughts with us through our listener survey. Follow us @PendleHillUSA on Facebook and Instagram and subscribe to The Seed wherever you get your podcasts to get episodes in your library as they're released. To learn more, visit pendlehill.org/podcast. Online Quaker Worship with Dwight: Dwight will attend the Pendle Hill online Quaker worship on the last Friday of the month from 8:30 to 9:10 AM (Eastern Time). Visit Pendle Hill Online Worship for details. This project is made possible by the generous support of the Thomas H. & Mary Williams Shoemaker Fund.

    14 min
  2. Power That Heals: John Calvi on Trauma, Justice, and Radical Love

    JAN 16

    Power That Heals: John Calvi on Trauma, Justice, and Radical Love

    What does love look like when it moves beyond sentiment and becomes a force for healing, justice, and transformation? In this Season Six finale of The Seed, we welcome John Calvi, a Quaker healer, certified massage therapist, and longtime advocate for survivors of trauma. John began offering healing touch during the AIDS crisis in 1983 and has since worked with survivors of war, torture, sexual abuse, and incarceration—always centering presence, compassion, and deep listening. He is also the founding convener of the Quaker Initiative to End Torture. The conversation is grounded in All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks, including her insistence that “there can be no love without justice.” From there, Dwight and John explore how love is experienced somatically—in the body—and how it becomes power when it refuses domination and instead fosters dignity, accountability, and repair. Reflecting on decades of healing work, John describes moments when the boundary between stranger and kin dissolves, when tenderness reveals both suffering and possibility at once. He speaks candidly about power—how “power over” wounds and constricts, while power rooted in love expands our capacity to remain present even in the face of immense pain. As John puts it: “Pain becomes suffering when it becomes all that we are. The work is to loosen the contraction of the body, of the heart, of the mind—so that pain does not take over our entire existence.” John and Dwight discuss the wisdom of the body, Quaker worship as a deeply somatic practice, and the slow, cyclical nature of healing. John distinguishes between pain and suffering, noting how laughter, stillness, touch, and truth-telling can interrupt despair and make space for hope. In his closing reflection, Dwight weaves together John’s stories with his own experiences of intergenerational care—of children and elders, beginnings and endings—inviting listeners to consider how love becomes real when it is practiced in tangible, embodied ways. This episode closes Season Six with a grounded offering of wisdom: that love, when paired with justice, is not abstract. It is practiced with hands, breath, presence, and courage. NEW Video Version available at Pendle Hill's YouTube page. The transcript for this episode is available on https://pendlehillseed.buzzsprout.com/ ---- The Seed is a project of Pendle Hill, a Quaker center open to all for Spirit-led learning, retreat, and community. We’re located in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, on the traditional territory of the Lenni-Lenape people. Help us to grow The Seed! Share your thoughts with us through our listener survey. Follow us @PendleHillUSA on Facebook and Instagram and subscribe to The Seed wherever you get your podcasts to get episodes in your library as they're released. To learn more, visit pendlehill.org/podcast. Online Quaker Worship with Dwight: Dwight will attend the Pendle Hill online Quaker worship on the last Friday of the month from 8:30 to 9:10 AM (Eastern Time). Visit Pendle Hill Online Worship for details. This project is made possible by the generous support of the Thomas H. & Mary Williams Shoemaker Fund.

    33 min
  3. Mini-Episode: Can We Even Love Our Fear? A Conversation with Inaara Neal-Shiraz and ,O

    JAN 2 · BONUS

    Mini-Episode: Can We Even Love Our Fear? A Conversation with Inaara Neal-Shiraz and ,O

    In this mini-episode of The Seed: Conversations for Radical Hope, we return to a Season Six conversation with Inaara Neal-Shiraz and ,O—two people whose lives and work embody love as a healing force for justice. Inaara Neal-Shiraz served as the Inclusion and Belonging Coordinator for Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, supporting Friends across four states and nurturing communities of care, discernment, and connection—especially among young adult Friends. ,O is a longtime healer, educator, and community organizer who has spent more than twenty-five years working at the intersection of social and environmental justice, supporting individuals and communities in healing legacies of harm. In this excerpt, Inaara and ,O reflect on fear not as something to conquer or eliminate, but as something to listen to. They explore breath, nervous systems, worship, and what it means to practice alchemy with our emotions. Fear, they suggest, may carry distorted messages—but also wisdom—inviting us to slow down, breathe, and remain present long enough to hear what is asking for our attention. As Dwight reflects, this conversation points toward a form of love that is not sentimental or passive, but embodied, intentional, and deeply attentive—a love practiced in grocery stores, on train platforms, and in moments when nothing appears to be “wrong,” yet everything is asking for care. To hear the full conversation this excerpt comes from, visit pendlehill.org/podcast or listen on Spotify.  What did you notice in your body as you listened? What did fear reveal to you? You can share reflections by emailing podcast@pendlehill.org or connecting with @PendleHill on social media. NEW Video Version available at Pendle Hill's YouTube page. The transcript for this episode is available on https://pendlehillseed.buzzsprout.com/ ---- The Seed is a project of Pendle Hill, a Quaker center open to all for Spirit-led learning, retreat, and community. We’re located in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, on the traditional territory of the Lenni-Lenape people. Help us to grow The Seed! Share your thoughts with us through our listener survey. Follow us @PendleHillUSA on Facebook and Instagram and subscribe to The Seed wherever you get your podcasts to get episodes in your library as they're released. To learn more, visit pendlehill.org/podcast. Online Quaker Worship with Dwight: Dwight will attend the Pendle Hill online Quaker worship on the last Friday of the month from 8:30 to 9:10 AM (Eastern Time). Visit Pendle Hill Online Worship for details. This project is made possible by the generous support of the Thomas H. & Mary Williams Shoemaker Fund.

    12 min
  4. Love as a Transgressive Power: A Conversation with Zae Illo and Lisa Graustein

    12/19/2025

    Love as a Transgressive Power: A Conversation with Zae Illo and Lisa Graustein

    How do we move beyond the "gatekeeping" of our institutions to practice a love that is truly transformative? In this soul-stirring conversation, host Dwight Dunston is joined by Zae Illo and Lisa Graustein to explore the intersection of spiritual practice and radical justice. Together, they challenge us to look beyond "market logic" and historical comfort to find a faith that meets people exactly where they are—on the streets, in the struggle, and in the heart. The episode grounds itself in the words of early Quakers Isaac Pennington, John Woolman, and Catherine Payton, using their 17th and 18th-century visions as a springboard to ask: What does it mean to "restore love to its right place" in a world of broken systems? Zae Illo is a public theologian and street minister in San Francisco. His ministry focuses on the material and spiritual needs of the unhoused, bridging the gap between faith and the harsh realities of urban life. He is the author of Wild Deep Waters and a prophetic voice on the necessity of "transgressive" love—a love that flows outside the bounds of what society deems "normative." Lisa Graustein is a lifelong Quaker, artist, and justice educator. Her work centers on healing, transformation, and dismantling white supremacy within spiritual and secular institutions. She brings a wealth of experience in mutual aid, peacebuilding, and "Afrofuturism," inviting us to imagine a future where resources are shared in common and every gate is opened. They explore: Love as Transgression: Why following the spirit often requires us to break cultural norms and "market logic."The Myth of Private Property: A critical look at the "Diggers" vs. early Quakers and the radical call to hold all things in common.Institutional Gatekeeping: How our organizations (and meeting houses) inadvertently limit access to the "light" and how to dismantle those barriers.Tools for Connection: Lisa’s "Great-Great-Grandchild" framework for finding common ground in a polarized world.The Ministry of the Streets: Why material assistance is a vehicle for hearing the testimonies of those the state deems "disposable."Politics does not determine someone’s character or someone’s essence... What if we were curious as to why?" -Zae Illo Hear "radical curiosity" and a call to live into the Kingdom of God as a present, breaking reality. NEW Video Version available at Pendle Hill's YouTube page. The transcript for this episode is available on https://pendlehillseed.buzzsprout.com/ ---- The Seed is a project of Pendle Hill, a Quaker center open to all for Spirit-led learning, retreat, and community. We’re located in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, on the traditional territory of the Lenni-Lenape people. Help us to grow The Seed! Share your thoughts with us through our listener survey. Follow us @PendleHillUSA on Facebook and Instagram and subscribe to The Seed wherever you get your podcasts to get episodes in your library as they're released. To learn more, visit pendlehill.org/podcast. Online Quaker Worship with Dwight: Dwight will attend the Pendle Hill online Quaker worship on the last Friday of the month from 8:30 to 9:10 AM (Eastern Time). Visit Pendle Hill Online Worship for details. This project is made possible by the generous support of the Thomas H. & Mary Williams Shoemaker Fund.

    37 min
  5. Being Lost, Being Found, and Belonging with Autumn Brown

    12/05/2025 · BONUS

    Being Lost, Being Found, and Belonging with Autumn Brown

    In this mini-episode of The Seed: Conversations for Radical Hope, we return to Season Three for a powerful moment from Dwight’s conversation with artist, facilitator, theologian, and mother Autumn Brown. Autumn reflects on fugitivity, freedom, and what it means to step into lostness so that belonging can find us. She explores how community, agency, vulnerability, and mutual care shape the conditions where people can come home to themselves and to one another. This excerpt comes from  Creating the Conditions for Belonging with Autumn Brown  Season 3, Episode 2  https://pendlehillseed.buzzsprout.com/2032871/13365431-creating-the-conditions-for-belonging-with-autumn-brown Learn more about Autumn Brown Website: https://www.iambrown.org/  Autumn Brown is an artist, facilitator, theologian, mother, and freedom worker. She is the front woman of the soul-pop band AUTUMN and the co-host of How to Survive the End of the World, the long-running podcast she creates with her sister, adrienne maree brown. Autumn brings twenty years of experience in movement strategy, consensus process, and racial justice facilitation, and has worked with community-based organizations across the U.S. and internationally. She is a former facilitator with AORTA (Anti-Oppression Resource & Training Alliance) and previously served as Executive Director of RECLAIM!, supporting queer and trans youth in reclaiming their lives from oppression. Autumn will also be the guest host of the Climate Changed podcast, a project of The BTS Center. Learn more at https://ClimateChangedPodcast.org NEW Video Version available at Pendle Hill's YouTube page. The transcript for this episode is available on https://pendlehillseed.buzzsprout.com/ ---- The Seed is a project of Pendle Hill, a Quaker center open to all for Spirit-led learning, retreat, and community. We’re located in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, on the traditional territory of the Lenni-Lenape people. Help us to grow The Seed! Share your thoughts with us through our listener survey. Follow us @PendleHillUSA on Facebook and Instagram and subscribe to The Seed wherever you get your podcasts to get episodes in your library as they're released. To learn more, visit pendlehill.org/podcast. Online Quaker Worship with Dwight: Dwight will attend the Pendle Hill online Quaker worship on the last Friday of the month from 8:30 to 9:10 AM (Eastern Time). Visit Pendle Hill Online Worship for details. This project is made possible by the generous support of the Thomas H. & Mary Williams Shoemaker Fund.

    16 min
  6. Alchemy of Love: Truth, Tenderness, and Transformation with Inaara Neal-Shiraz and ,O

    11/21/2025

    Alchemy of Love: Truth, Tenderness, and Transformation with Inaara Neal-Shiraz and ,O

    How do we speak truth in love—and stay grounded in care, courage, and connection while doing so? In this powerful, heart-centered conversation, host Dwight Dunston is joined by two guests whose lives embody the practice of love as a healing force for justice: Inaara Neal-Shiraz and ,O. Together they explore what it means to balance bold truth-telling with tenderness, to hold anger and compassion in the same breath, and to become “alchemists” of our own emotions. The episode begins with a passage from the Pendle Hill pamphlet Nonviolence on Trial by Robert W. Hillgas, which asks how we might name evil without losing sight of our shared humanity. From there, Dwight, Inaara, and ,O invite listeners into a living meditation on love—as practice, discipline, and transformation. About Our Guests ,O is a longtime healer, educator, and community organizer working at the intersection of social and environmental justice. For more than 25 years, they have led workshops and healing circles that support individuals and groups in addressing the legacies of racism, sexism, homophobia, and class privilege. ,O serves as Healing Justice Coordinator at Philly Thrive, is a founding member of Alternatives to Gun Violence, and leads the Quaker ministry Love and Respect Transform, which explores the transformative power of love. Inaara Neal-Shiraz (she/her) served as the Inclusion and Belonging Coordinator for Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, supporting 10,000 Friends across four states and nurturing communities of belonging among young adult Friends. She brings her background in education, the arts, and nonprofit work to her ministry of connection—helping Quaker spaces become more inclusive and life-giving for people of all identities and experiences.  Elder Wisdom Throughout the episode, Inaara and ,O speak from different generations yet a shared spiritual lineage. They remind us that love is not sentimental—it is an ancient rhythm, an elder wisdom that lives in the heart. Love can be fierce, restorative, and revolutionary. Dwight reflects: “What if we weren’t afraid of love—to be seen, to be powerful, to let go of the king’s language and speak from the heart instead?” NEW Video Version available at Pendle Hill's YouTube page. The transcript for this episode is available on https://pendlehillseed.buzzsprout.com/ ---- The Seed is a project of Pendle Hill, a Quaker center open to all for Spirit-led learning, retreat, and community. We’re located in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, on the traditional territory of the Lenni-Lenape people. Help us to grow The Seed! Share your thoughts with us through our listener survey. Follow us @PendleHillUSA on Facebook and Instagram and subscribe to The Seed wherever you get your podcasts to get episodes in your library as they're released. To learn more, visit pendlehill.org/podcast. Online Quaker Worship with Dwight: Dwight will attend the Pendle Hill online Quaker worship on the last Friday of the month from 8:30 to 9:10 AM (Eastern Time). Visit Pendle Hill Online Worship for details. This project is made possible by the generous support of the Thomas H. & Mary Williams Shoemaker Fund.

    35 min
  7. Lisa Graustein & Dwight Dunston on Love, Power, and Art

    11/07/2025 · BONUS

    Lisa Graustein & Dwight Dunston on Love, Power, and Art

    In this special mini-episode of The Seed: Conversations for Radical Hope, host Dwight Dunston reconnects with guest Lisa Graustein to explore how art, love, and power intertwine in daily life. Together, they reflect on the creative process as an act of resistance, connection, and renewal. Dwight shares his newest creative project—an emerging genre he calls “Anthropocene Hip-Hop,” a musical form that bridges the natural world, social justice, and lyrical artistry. “I’ve been a hip-hop artist for years,” Dwight says, “but this moment calls for music that recognizes our interconnectedness—with each other, the stars, and the earth itself.” You will hear one of his original songs.  Lisa, a potter and educator, describes her recent community projects, including an art show inspired by Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower and a new installation called Night Lights, which uses ceramics to create vessels that radiate light through perforated clay forms. “To me,” Lisa reflects, “there’s something metaphorically powerful about a bowl with holes in it. That’s what love feels like—a container that holds, but with space for things to move through.” Through their conversation, Dwight and Lisa consider how love and power, like light and clay, must move freely to remain alive. Lisa says, “If we actually saw every human being as our sibling, every social problem we have would disappear.” Dwight responds, “That’s our human family—to see each other as resource, as places to cultivate belonging and hope.” Together, they remind us that recommitting to love—through creativity, justice, and everyday care—is itself a radical act. Guest Bio A lifelong Quaker, Lisa Graustein is a former middle and high school teacher who now works as a facilitator and trainer in diversity, equity, and inclusion. She has led Young Friends programs, worshiped with the full spectrum of Quakers, co-facilitated Quaker Coalition for Uprooting Racism cohorts, and helped start Three Rivers Meeting. An artist and solo mom, she lives on Neponset Band of the Massachusett land, colonially known as Boston. Lisa’s pottery and art can be found on Instagram at @LisaGraustein. NEW Video Version available at Pendle Hill's YouTube page. The transcript for this episode is available on https://pendlehillseed.buzzsprout.com/ ---- The Seed is a project of Pendle Hill, a Quaker center open to all for Spirit-led learning, retreat, and community. We’re located in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, on the traditional territory of the Lenni-Lenape people. Help us to grow The Seed! Share your thoughts with us through our listener survey. Follow us @PendleHillUSA on Facebook and Instagram and subscribe to The Seed wherever you get your podcasts to get episodes in your library as they're released. To learn more, visit pendlehill.org/podcast. Online Quaker Worship with Dwight: Dwight will attend the Pendle Hill online Quaker worship on the last Friday of the month from 8:30 to 9:10 AM (Eastern Time). Visit Pendle Hill Online Worship for details. This project is made possible by the generous support of the Thomas H. & Mary Williams Shoemaker Fund.

    12 min
  8. Sarah Ruden on Truth, Power, and Responsibility

    10/24/2025

    Sarah Ruden on Truth, Power, and Responsibility

    What happens when sacred stories are used to justify oppression—and when telling the truth feels like rebellion? In this episode of The Seed: Conversations for Radical Hope, host Dwight Dunston speaks with Sarah Ruden, an award-winning translator, essayist, and Quaker writer whose work exposes how language, power, and faith intersect. Known for her acclaimed translations of The Aeneid, The Gospels, The Confessions of Augustine, and Perpetua: The Woman, the Martyr, Ruden brings deep historical insight and moral clarity to this conversation about love, responsibility, and truth. Drawing on the biblical story of Hagar and Ishmael, Sarah unpacks how ancient hierarchies still shape the present. She traces the lineage of propaganda around women’s bodies from Ovid’s Rome to today’s reproductive politics—and challenges the spiritual evasions that allow injustice to endure. She also draws on her forthcoming book, Reproductive Wrongs: A Short History of Bad Ideas About Women. Key Quotes “The silence of women in the Hebrew Bible is very interesting—very provocative to think about.” “People, especially men, don’t want to take responsibility for what actually happens.”  “We have to start by telling the truth.” Together, Dwight and Sarah explore what it means to live with integrity in a time of crisis, how Quaker faith can both guide and confuse, and why empirical truth—science, evidence, and witness—matters for spiritual survival. 🔗 Resources Mentioned Reproductive Wrongs: A Short History of Bad Ideas About Women – forthcoming from KnopfPerpetua: The Woman, the Martyr – Yale University PressThe Face of Water: A Translator on Beauty and Meaning in the Bible – VintageThe story of Hagar and Ishmael (Genesis 16–21)Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “When Peace Becomes Obnoxious” (1957) https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/when-peace-becomes-obnoxiousGrace Lee Boggs and “The Clock of the World” – The Harvard CrimsonLearn more about Sarah’s work at https://sarahruden.com/ NEW Video Version available at Pendle Hill's YouTube page. The transcript for this episode is available on https://pendlehillseed.buzzsprout.com/ ---- The Seed is a project of Pendle Hill, a Quaker center open to all for Spirit-led learning, retreat, and community. We’re located in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, on the traditional territory of the Lenni-Lenape people. Help us to grow The Seed! Share your thoughts with us through our listener survey. Follow us @PendleHillUSA on Facebook and Instagram and subscribe to The Seed wherever you get your podcasts to get episodes in your library as they're released. To learn more, visit pendlehill.org/podcast. Online Quaker Worship with Dwight: Dwight will attend the Pendle Hill online Quaker worship on the last Friday of the month from 8:30 to 9:10 AM (Eastern Time). Visit Pendle Hill Online Worship for details. This project is made possible by the generous support of the Thomas H. & Mary Williams Shoemaker Fund.

    37 min
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Quakers and other seekers explore visions of the world growing up through the cracks of our broken systems. The Seed is a podcast from Pendle Hill, a Quaker center, open to all, for Spirit-led learning, retreat, and community in Wallingford, PA. This project was made possible by the generous support of the Thomas H. & Mary Williams Shoemaker Fund.

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