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: 1271
Central Character: Nichiren
Faith: Buddhism
About this episode: Nichiren wrote hundreds of personal letters from exile --- and Harmonia uses them to explore what we lose when we lose the art of the letter.
Central Character: Nichiren
Faith: Buddhism
About this episode: Nichiren wrote hundreds of personal letters from exile --- and Harmonia uses them to explore what we lose when we lose the art of the letter.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1272
Central Character: Abutsu-bo
Faith: Buddhism
About this episode: This episode explores how Bhai Mardana’s music and companionship helped shape a spiritual movement, revealing how friendship, humility, and shared purpose can still carry transformative truth into the modern world.
Central Character: Abutsu-bo
Faith: Buddhism
About this episode: This episode explores how Bhai Mardana’s music and companionship helped shape a spiritual movement, revealing how friendship, humility, and shared purpose can still carry transformative truth into the modern world.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1280
Central Character: Abraham Abulafia
Faith: Judaism
About this episode: Abraham Abulafia believed every soul could touch the divine directly --- and paid dearly for saying so in 13th-century Spain.
Central Character: Abraham Abulafia
Faith: Judaism
About this episode: Abraham Abulafia believed every soul could touch the divine directly --- and paid dearly for saying so in 13th-century Spain.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1290
Central Character: Ibn Ata Allah al-Iskandari
Faith: Islam
About this episode: Ibn Ata Allah al-Iskandari transformed Islamic spirituality with his Book of Wisdom, rescuing the inner life from legalism with 261 timeless aphorisms.
Central Character: Ibn Ata Allah al-Iskandari
Faith: Islam
About this episode: Ibn Ata Allah al-Iskandari transformed Islamic spirituality with his Book of Wisdom, rescuing the inner life from legalism with 261 timeless aphorisms.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1300
Central Character: Sitt al-Wuzara' al-Tanukhiyyah
Faith: Islam
About this episode: A 14th-century Damascus scholar who taught Sahih al-Bukhari until her last breath --- and what her world's science of transmission means for ours.
Central Character: Sitt al-Wuzara' al-Tanukhiyyah
Faith: Islam
About this episode: A 14th-century Damascus scholar who taught Sahih al-Bukhari until her last breath --- and what her world's science of transmission means for ours.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1300
Central Character: Ghazan Khan
Faith: Islam
About this episode: Ghazan Khan rebuilt a broken empire through faith-driven reform, offering a model for facing today's fractures with hope instead of despair.
Central Character: Ghazan Khan
Faith: Islam
About this episode: Ghazan Khan rebuilt a broken empire through faith-driven reform, offering a model for facing today's fractures with hope instead of despair.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1300
Central Character: Meister Eckhart
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Harmonia remembers Meister Eckhart, the 13th-14th century Dominican friar whose sermons invited ordinary people to discover God in the stillness of their own souls.
Central Character: Meister Eckhart
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Harmonia remembers Meister Eckhart, the 13th-14th century Dominican friar whose sermons invited ordinary people to discover God in the stillness of their own souls.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1310
Central Character: Marguerite Porete
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: A reflection on Marguerite Porete and the courage to remain truthful when safety requires denial.
Central Character: Marguerite Porete
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: A reflection on Marguerite Porete and the courage to remain truthful when safety requires denial.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1313
Central Character: Makhdum Shah Daulah
Faith: Islam
About this episode: A Sufi martyr in 13th-century Bengal, a raja's repentance, and the sacred commons that grew from an act of conscience.
Central Character: Makhdum Shah Daulah
Faith: Islam
About this episode: A Sufi martyr in 13th-century Bengal, a raja's repentance, and the sacred commons that grew from an act of conscience.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1323
Central Character: Elizabeth of Portugal
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Elizabeth of Portugal twice rode between armies to stop wars --- and died of the effort. Harmonia asks what made that possible, and what we've lost.
Central Character: Elizabeth of Portugal
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Elizabeth of Portugal twice rode between armies to stop wars --- and died of the effort. Harmonia asks what made that possible, and what we've lost.
Podcast: History's ArrowCirca: 1330
Central Character: Nicephorus Gregoras
About this episode: A Byzantine astronomer predicts an eclipse and fixes a calendar - but only one of those earns him applause in his own lifetime.
Central Character: Nicephorus Gregoras
About this episode: A Byzantine astronomer predicts an eclipse and fixes a calendar - but only one of those earns him applause in his own lifetime.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1340
Central Character: Rheno-Flemish Mysticism
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Medieval Rhineland mystics discovered an interior freedom no plague or institution could touch --- and their insight speaks directly to the attention economy today.
Central Character: Rheno-Flemish Mysticism
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Medieval Rhineland mystics discovered an interior freedom no plague or institution could touch --- and their insight speaks directly to the attention economy today.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1341
Central Character: Gregory Palamas
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Gregory Palamas defended the reality of direct encounter with the divine against those who insisted God could only be approached through intellect and doctrine.
Central Character: Gregory Palamas
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Gregory Palamas defended the reality of direct encounter with the divine against those who insisted God could only be approached through intellect and doctrine.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1350
Central Character: Fourteen Holy Helpers
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: An exploration of how medieval devotion to the Fourteen Holy Saints preserved humanity and hope amid relentless suffering.
Central Character: Fourteen Holy Helpers
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: An exploration of how medieval devotion to the Fourteen Holy Saints preserved humanity and hope amid relentless suffering.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1367
Central Character: Friends of God (Gottesfreunde)
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: A 14th-century Rhine valley healing community shows how people find each other and hold each other up when institutions fail.
Central Character: Friends of God (Gottesfreunde)
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: A 14th-century Rhine valley healing community shows how people find each other and hold each other up when institutions fail.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1375
Central Character: The Cloud of Unknowing
Faith: Mysticism
About this episode: The Cloud of Unknowing teaches that love, not intellect, is the instrument that crosses the threshold between the human and the divine.
Central Character: The Cloud of Unknowing
Faith: Mysticism
About this episode: The Cloud of Unknowing teaches that love, not intellect, is the instrument that crosses the threshold between the human and the divine.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1377
Central Character: Ibn Khaldun
Faith: Islam
About this episode: Ibn Khaldun's revolutionary theory of social cohesion (asabiyyah) explains civilizational cycles and offers tools for understanding how today's crises are calling forth unprecedented human unity.
Central Character: Ibn Khaldun
Faith: Islam
About this episode: Ibn Khaldun's revolutionary theory of social cohesion (asabiyyah) explains civilizational cycles and offers tools for understanding how today's crises are calling forth unprecedented human unity.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1378
Central Character: John Wycliffe
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: John Wycliffe asked who gets to stand between a soul and what it reaches for. Mother Teresa lived the answer.
Central Character: John Wycliffe
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: John Wycliffe asked who gets to stand between a soul and what it reaches for. Mother Teresa lived the answer.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1390
Central Character: Sultan Sahak
Faith: Yarsan
About this episode: A reflection on the Yarsan tradition, its origins around Sultan Sahak, and the quiet strength of faith that survives without institutions or power.
Central Character: Sultan Sahak
Faith: Yarsan
About this episode: A reflection on the Yarsan tradition, its origins around Sultan Sahak, and the quiet strength of faith that survives without institutions or power.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1395
Central Character: Julian of Norwich
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Harmonia steps into the quiet cell of Julian of Norwich-a medieval anchoress who lived through plague, famine, war and more
Central Character: Julian of Norwich
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Harmonia steps into the quiet cell of Julian of Norwich-a medieval anchoress who lived through plague, famine, war and more
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1400
Central Character: Ramananda
Faith: Hinduism
About this episode: How a Brahmin teacher in medieval Varanasi gave a blessing in the dark --- and followed it forward into history.
Central Character: Ramananda
Faith: Hinduism
About this episode: How a Brahmin teacher in medieval Varanasi gave a blessing in the dark --- and followed it forward into history.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1400
Central Character: Lal Ded
Faith: Mysticism
About this episode: Lal Ded, 14th-century Kashmiri mystic poet, whose vakhs on the sacred dignity of every soul shaped a valley and seeded a revolution.
Central Character: Lal Ded
Faith: Mysticism
About this episode: Lal Ded, 14th-century Kashmiri mystic poet, whose vakhs on the sacred dignity of every soul shaped a valley and seeded a revolution.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1405
Central Character: Christine de Pizan
Faith: Philosopher
About this episode: Christine de Pizan built a library of words defending women's dignity when every authority said she was wrong.
Central Character: Christine de Pizan
Faith: Philosopher
About this episode: Christine de Pizan built a library of words defending women's dignity when every authority said she was wrong.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1415
Central Character: Jan Hus
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Jan Hus refused to recant what he knew to be true. Six centuries later his gift to humanity --- that conscience cannot be surrendered to corrupt power --- is still compounding.
Central Character: Jan Hus
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Jan Hus refused to recant what he knew to be true. Six centuries later his gift to humanity --- that conscience cannot be surrendered to corrupt power --- is still compounding.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1440
Central Character: Chökyi Drönma
Faith: Buddhism
About this episode: This episode explores how Chökyi Drönma claimed spiritual authority despite royal expectations and patriarchal limits, showing how authenticity, courage, and inner calling can reshape both personal destiny and religious history.
Central Character: Chökyi Drönma
Faith: Buddhism
About this episode: This episode explores how Chökyi Drönma claimed spiritual authority despite royal expectations and patriarchal limits, showing how authenticity, courage, and inner calling can reshape both personal destiny and religious history.