History Podcasts and Golden Thread Podcasts are both listed here - the religion and Faith selectors will only pull content from The Golden Thread.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 500
Central Character: Bodhidharma
Faith: Buddhism
About this episode: Bodhidharma, the 5th-century monk who brought Chan Buddhism to China, teaches that what we seek is already present beneath the noise of striving.
Central Character: Bodhidharma
Faith: Buddhism
About this episode: Bodhidharma, the 5th-century monk who brought Chan Buddhism to China, teaches that what we seek is already present beneath the noise of striving.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 500
Central Character: Stephen bar Sudaili
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: A fifth-century Syrian mystic whose vision of universal divine homecoming was condemned --- and survived anyway in a single precious manuscript.
Central Character: Stephen bar Sudaili
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: A fifth-century Syrian mystic whose vision of universal divine homecoming was condemned --- and survived anyway in a single precious manuscript.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 530
Central Character: Benedict of Nursia
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Benedict of Nursia's monasteries saved classical knowledge and built Western civilization's infrastructure through the Dark Ages with principles that remain vital today.
Central Character: Benedict of Nursia
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Benedict of Nursia's monasteries saved classical knowledge and built Western civilization's infrastructure through the Dark Ages with principles that remain vital today.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 540
Central Character: Cassiodorus
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Cassiodorus reveals how learning survives when institutions weaken and care becomes a personal responsibility rather than a function of power.
Central Character: Cassiodorus
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Cassiodorus reveals how learning survives when institutions weaken and care becomes a personal responsibility rather than a function of power.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 550
Central Character: Justinian I
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: St. Catherine's - a quiet sanctuary where monks copied sacred texts through centuries of silence
Central Character: Justinian I
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: St. Catherine's - a quiet sanctuary where monks copied sacred texts through centuries of silence
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 600
Central Character: Aethelberht of Kent
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Æthelberht of Kent wrote mercy into English law in 600 AD --- and the threshold sanctuary created has never fully disappeared.
Central Character: Aethelberht of Kent
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Æthelberht of Kent wrote mercy into English law in 600 AD --- and the threshold sanctuary created has never fully disappeared.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 612
Central Character: Gall
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: St Gall's hermitage became a 1,300-year library. What are we preserving that will last as long?
Central Character: Gall
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: St Gall's hermitage became a 1,300-year library. What are we preserving that will last as long?
Podcast: History's ArrowCirca: 620
Central Character: Saint Gall
About this episode: A hermit, a bear, and a forest cell that became one of Europe's oldest surviving libraries.
Central Character: Saint Gall
About this episode: A hermit, a bear, and a forest cell that became one of Europe's oldest surviving libraries.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 620
Central Character: Isidore of Seville
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: A lighthearted exploration of Isidore of Seville, whose love of collecting knowledge made him an unlikely patron of computer programmers and a quiet hero of shared memory.
Central Character: Isidore of Seville
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: A lighthearted exploration of Isidore of Seville, whose love of collecting knowledge made him an unlikely patron of computer programmers and a quiet hero of shared memory.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 645
Central Character: Xuanzang
Faith: Buddhism
About this episode: a Chinese Buddhist monk named Xuanzang risked everything to seek the origin of his faith.
Central Character: Xuanzang
Faith: Buddhism
About this episode: a Chinese Buddhist monk named Xuanzang risked everything to seek the origin of his faith.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 688
Central Character: Layla and Majnun
Faith: Mysticism
About this episode: The story of Layla and Majnun as a Sufi allegory for the soul's longing for the Divine and the sacred threshold of the Lote Tree.
Central Character: Layla and Majnun
Faith: Mysticism
About this episode: The story of Layla and Majnun as a Sufi allegory for the soul's longing for the Divine and the sacred threshold of the Lote Tree.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 690
Central Character: Umm al-Darda as-Sughra
Faith: Islam
About this episode: A 7th-century orphan becomes a Damascus scholar whose most devoted student was the caliph who ruled from Spain to India.
Central Character: Umm al-Darda as-Sughra
Faith: Islam
About this episode: A 7th-century orphan becomes a Damascus scholar whose most devoted student was the caliph who ruled from Spain to India.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 700
Central Character: Hasan al-Basri
Faith: Islam
About this episode: An exploration of Hasan al-Basri, a voice of conscience who challenged the misuse of religious language in the pursuit of power.
Central Character: Hasan al-Basri
Faith: Islam
About this episode: An exploration of Hasan al-Basri, a voice of conscience who challenged the misuse of religious language in the pursuit of power.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 717
Central Character: Amrah bint Abdul Rahman
Faith: Islam
About this episode: How one woman's faithful memory became a load-bearing wall in over a thousand years of Islamic law.
Central Character: Amrah bint Abdul Rahman
Faith: Islam
About this episode: How one woman's faithful memory became a load-bearing wall in over a thousand years of Islamic law.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 720
Central Character: Wasil ibn Ata
Faith: Islam
About this episode: Wasil ibn Ata founded Islamic rational theology in 8th century Basra, insisting that reason is humanity's sacred gift and faith's finest instrument.
Central Character: Wasil ibn Ata
Faith: Islam
About this episode: Wasil ibn Ata founded Islamic rational theology in 8th century Basra, insisting that reason is humanity's sacred gift and faith's finest instrument.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 720
Central Character: Adi Shankara
Faith: Hinduism
About this episode: Adi Shankara taught that all spiritual traditions are facets of one diamond --- and the world is only now beginning to understand what he meant.
Central Character: Adi Shankara
Faith: Hinduism
About this episode: Adi Shankara taught that all spiritual traditions are facets of one diamond --- and the world is only now beginning to understand what he meant.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 750
Central Character: Ibrahim ibn Adham
Faith: Islam
About this episode: The story of Ibrahim ibn Adham, the 8th-century king of Balkh who abandoned his throne to become a wandering Sufi mystic.
Central Character: Ibrahim ibn Adham
Faith: Islam
About this episode: The story of Ibrahim ibn Adham, the 8th-century king of Balkh who abandoned his throne to become a wandering Sufi mystic.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 752
Central Character: Rabi'a al-Adawiyya
Faith: Islam
About this episode: we journey to 8th-century Basra to meet Rbia al-Adawiyya, the mystic who carried a torch and a bucket through the night, vowing to set fire to heaven and extinguish hell.
Central Character: Rabi'a al-Adawiyya
Faith: Islam
About this episode: we journey to 8th-century Basra to meet Rbia al-Adawiyya, the mystic who carried a torch and a bucket through the night, vowing to set fire to heaven and extinguish hell.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 795
Central Character: Alcuin of York
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Alcuin of York preserved Western learning during the Dark Ages and established education as essential civilizational infrastructure.
Central Character: Alcuin of York
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Alcuin of York preserved Western learning during the Dark Ages and established education as essential civilizational infrastructure.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 800
Central Character: Mandāravā
Faith: Buddhism
About this episode: The story of Mandāravā, 8th-century Tibetan Buddhist saint, and what it means when destruction becomes consecration.
Central Character: Mandāravā
Faith: Buddhism
About this episode: The story of Mandāravā, 8th-century Tibetan Buddhist saint, and what it means when destruction becomes consecration.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 805
Central Character: Saichō
Faith: Buddhism
About this episode: Harmonia returns to 8th-century Japan to witness the arrival of the Lotus Sutra-not as a conquest, but as a quiet revolution.
Central Character: Saichō
Faith: Buddhism
About this episode: Harmonia returns to 8th-century Japan to witness the arrival of the Lotus Sutra-not as a conquest, but as a quiet revolution.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 810
Central Character: Sayyida Nafisa
Faith: Islam
About this episode: Sayyida Nafisa, 9th century scholar and descendant of the Prophet, whose learning and piety made her the spiritual center of Cairo.
Central Character: Sayyida Nafisa
Faith: Islam
About this episode: Sayyida Nafisa, 9th century scholar and descendant of the Prophet, whose learning and piety made her the spiritual center of Cairo.
Podcast: History's ArrowCirca: 830
Central Character: House of Wisdom
About this episode: A caliph's dream of Aristotle, a book demanded as the price of peace, and the quiet policy choice that built - and later unraveled - Baghdad's golden age of learning.
Central Character: House of Wisdom
About this episode: A caliph's dream of Aristotle, a book demanded as the price of peace, and the quiet policy choice that built - and later unraveled - Baghdad's golden age of learning.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 858
Central Character: Photios
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Through turmoil, exile, and the fierce storms of authority, Photios guarded the fragile flame of faith and learning.
Central Character: Photios
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Through turmoil, exile, and the fierce storms of authority, Photios guarded the fragile flame of faith and learning.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 859
Central Character: Fatima al-Fihri
Faith: Islam
About this episode: Harmonia guides you to medieval Fez, where Fatima al-Fihri-legendary founder of the Qarawiyyin Mosque and University-transformed her inheritance into a living gift for generations.
Central Character: Fatima al-Fihri
Faith: Islam
About this episode: Harmonia guides you to medieval Fez, where Fatima al-Fihri-legendary founder of the Qarawiyyin Mosque and University-transformed her inheritance into a living gift for generations.