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: 1240
Central Character: Aisha al-Manoubiya
Faith: Islam
About this episode: Harmonia remembers her friend Aisha al-Manoubiya, a 13th century Tunisian Sufi saint who chose the street over the cell.
Central Character: Aisha al-Manoubiya
Faith: Islam
About this episode: Harmonia remembers her friend Aisha al-Manoubiya, a 13th century Tunisian Sufi saint who chose the street over the cell.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1243
Central Character: Haji Bektash Veli
Faith: Islam
About this episode: Haji Bektash Veli taught that the perfected human soul has no gender or tribe --- a radical claim lived quietly in 13th-century Anatolia.
Central Character: Haji Bektash Veli
Faith: Islam
About this episode: Haji Bektash Veli taught that the perfected human soul has no gender or tribe --- a radical claim lived quietly in 13th-century Anatolia.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1244
Central Character: Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili
About this episode: Harmonia tells the story of Sufi mystic Al-Shadhili and his teaching that ordinary work can be a form of devotion.
Central Character: Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili
About this episode: Harmonia tells the story of Sufi mystic Al-Shadhili and his teaching that ordinary work can be a form of devotion.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1244
Central Character: Shams of Tabriz
Faith: Islam
About this episode: Shams of Tabriz-the wandering dervish whose fierce honesty transformed Rumi
Central Character: Shams of Tabriz
Faith: Islam
About this episode: Shams of Tabriz-the wandering dervish whose fierce honesty transformed Rumi
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1250
Central Character: Matthew Paris
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: A monk, an elephant, and the medieval chronicle tradition that built the historical record we still rely on today.
Central Character: Matthew Paris
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: A monk, an elephant, and the medieval chronicle tradition that built the historical record we still rely on today.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1250
Central Character: Beguines
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: An exploration of the Beguines, medieval women who lived faith through work, service, and community—without separating devotion from everyday life.
Central Character: Beguines
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: An exploration of the Beguines, medieval women who lived faith through work, service, and community—without separating devotion from everyday life.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1260
Central Character: Mechthild of Magdeburg
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Mechthild of Magdeburg saw divine love as an endless stream flowing to every soul---a vision that helped shape our modern understanding of inherent human dignity.
Central Character: Mechthild of Magdeburg
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Mechthild of Magdeburg saw divine love as an endless stream flowing to every soul---a vision that helped shape our modern understanding of inherent human dignity.
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: 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: 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: 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: History's ArrowCirca: 1321
Central Character: Theodore Metochites
About this episode: A Byzantine statesman obsessed with the instability of fortune builds a church that outlasts his own foretold downfall by seven centuries.
Central Character: Theodore Metochites
About this episode: A Byzantine statesman obsessed with the instability of fortune builds a church that outlasts his own foretold downfall by seven centuries.
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.