Wisdom and Practice – Details, episodes & analysis

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Wisdom and Practice

Aspen Institute

Society & Culture

Frequency: 1 episode/16d. Total Eps: 29

No one has all of the answers—but isn’t our quest for meaning what makes us human? Wisdom & Practice opens the door to insights from traditions across the philosophical and spiritual spectrum. Every two weeks, author, educator, and host Simran Jeet Singh sits down with thought-leaders, creatives, and philosophers to uncover what we can learn through exploring life's greatest questions. Starting with: How can we all cultivate more meaning, purpose and growth in our own everyday lives?

Through curious and open-minded conversations, each episode illuminates different means of practice guests have taken to discover new awareness of themselves. And in doing so, Wisdom & Practice invites you to reflect and find deeper understanding for yourself, too.

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🇨🇦 Canada - philosophy
25/07/2026
#62
🇨🇦 Canada - philosophy
19/07/2026
#79
🇨🇦 Canada - philosophy
05/06/2026
#74
🇫🇷 France - philosophy
31/12/2025
#98

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Score global : 64%

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How Rabbi Rick Jacobs Navigates Faith in a Modern World

Thursday, September 12, 2024 • Duration 24:11

Did you have a profound spiritual experience in your youth?

Rabbi Rick Jacobs' spiritual connection came during his summer camps in Northern California. Forging a bond with the natural world shaped his approach to blending traditional religious practices with universal spirituality, and they also inspired an appreciation for spiritual experiences outside conventional settings of worship.

Now serving as the President of the Union for Reform Judaism, he emphasizes the importance of curiosity, asking questions, and caring for people of all backgrounds in the universal quest for holiness.

In today’s episode, Rabbi Rick and host Simran Jeet Singh explore how open-heartedness can fuel a journey of lifelong learning and how engaging with ambiguity can actually lead us to a path toward growth.

Resources:

Union for Reform Judaism
You can find him on X
If only Netanyahu would say this to congress - Times of Israel
Why we’ll fight Israel’s new extremist political agenda - Jewish Chronicle

Check out Simran’s work on his website at simranjeetsingh.org.

Wisdom & Practice is produced in partnership with PRX and the Aspen Institute, with support from the John Templeton Foundation.

Music by Raj Kanwal Singh.

This episode was produced by associate producer, Serena Chow, producer, Rithu Jagannath and senior producer, Morgan Flannery. Our project manager is Edwin Ochoa, our show is mixed by Tommy Bazarian and the executive producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzales.

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Finding Magic in the Everyday with Katherine May

Thursday, August 29, 2024 • Duration 27:22

Does life ever feel too predictable? Boring? Anodyne? Do you ever crave for a sense of adventure, to turn mundane tasks into opportunities for excitement and new experiences?

That’s how author of “Enchantment” and host of “How We Live Now”, Katherine May, actively engages in embracing the beauty and wonder of the mundane. She perceives the world with adventure, the richness of diverse experiences and the importance of embracing rather than taming the natural world.

In this episode, host Simran Jeet Singh speaks with her about the loss of sense of play, the power of attention, the concept of hierophany, and how we can reconnect with a sense of wonder.

Resources:

Learn more about Katherine May from her website here.
How We Live Now with Katherine May
Follow Katherine May on Instagram here.

Check out Simran’s work on his website at simranjeetsingh.org.

Wisdom & Practice is produced in partnership with PRX and the Aspen Institute, with support from the John Templeton Foundation.

Music by Raj Kanwal Singh.

How Miroslav Volf’s Doubt Led to His Devotion

Thursday, August 15, 2024 • Duration 29:15

In this first episode, host Simran Jeet Singh reflects on a life-changing conversation with his father that sparked a mid-life reflection on his journey of faith, doubt, and the quest for meaning. He explores the concept of doubt and faith with Miroslav Volf, the Founding Director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture.

Through the lens of Christianity and his personal journey, Miroslav discusses the importance of intentionality and vision, how faith and doubt can coexist and enrich one another, and the role that practices play in helping us live according to our beliefs and ideas.

Resources:

Miroslav Volf’s Book: Flourishing: Why We Need Religion in a Globalized World
Yale Center for Faith and Culture

Check out Simran’s work on his website at simranjeetsingh.org.

Wisdom & Practice is produced in partnership with PRX and the Aspen Institute, with support from the John Templeton Foundation.

Music by Raj Kanwal Singh.

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Welcome to Wisdom & Practice

Thursday, August 8, 2024 • Duration 03:12

Everyone has some version of a daily practice. These can range from simple routines like setting an alarm, making coffee, taking the kids to school, or clocking in at work, to more spiritual disciplines like praying, meditating, or fasting. Our daily disciplines can be easy, fun, challenging, or uncomfortable. But what can we learn from each other's practices to live more intentionally? And how can we all cultivate more meaning, purpose, and growth in our everyday lives?

Join Simran Jeet Singh, author, educator, and seeker, as he explores ancient and modern traditions to learn about the habits and rites that can bring us a deeper understanding of our lives. In each episode of Wisdom & Practice, Simran dives into life’s greatest questions with thought-leaders, artists, philosophers, and more to learn from their unique rituals and perspectives.

Wisdom & Practice launches on August 15. Follow us wherever you get your podcasts.

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Coming Soon!

Tuesday, May 14, 2024 • Duration 00:06

Follow now and get the trailer on June 27th.

Turning to Faith with Rainn Wilson

Thursday, October 10, 2024 • Duration 25:05

Despite having grown within The Baháʼí Faith, Rainn Wilson didn’t feel particularly connected to God or really any sense of spirituality.

But during the height of his career, while he was starring in the hit TV series “The Office”, in which he played Dwight Shrute– the strong willed, over-confident and ever-nerdy assistant regional manager to Michael Scott at the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company– Rainn Wilson found himself unhappy and dissatisfied.

This wasn’t the first time Rainn was looking for answers. He’d seen disconnects before, including in his upbringing within the Baha’i faith.

Rainn Wilson:

“The difficulty I encountered was my family was so fractured and dysfunctional. My dad ended up being married four times. My birth mother ended up being married five times. My parents were in a loveless marriage. So there was this very strange disconnect between, a faith that preaches and practices love and unity at all costs. And a home life that didn't have any love or unity in it.”

In this conversation, Rainn walks Simran through the long path that led him to re-discover his alignment with The Baháʼí Faith that he had been raised in and poses the interesting thought: what if we are not human beings having a spiritual experience, but spiritual beings having a human experience?

Resources:

Check out Rainn Wilson's Podcast "Soul Boom" here

From Hollywood to Harvard: Hussein Rashid on Islam, Pop Culture, and Justice

Thursday, September 26, 2024 • Duration 28:54

Growing up as a Muslim in America comes with its own challenges.

For Assistant Dean for Religion and Public Life at Harvard Divinity School, Hussein Rashid, that struggle lies at the center of his work on modern day pop culture and its representations of Islam.

In this raw and candid conversation, Simran and Hussein discuss different forms of Islamic practice and growing up code-switching, with multicultural identities in a religiously diverse society.

And most importantly, we’ll hear how recognizing the beauty in our spiritual traditions and embodying their wisdom can create a more just and compassionate world.

Resources:

Check out Simran’s work on his website at simranjeetsingh.org.

Wisdom & Practice is produced in partnership with PRX and the Aspen Institute, with support from the John Templeton Foundation.

Music by Raj Kanwal Singh.

The Wisdom of Habits with Charles Duhigg

Thursday, December 5, 2024 • Duration 30:21

Have you ever thought that discipline was a burden? Well, you’re not the only one. So many people have felt the same way. And yet, for Pulitzer Prize-winning author Charles Duhigg, discipline may be a path to freedom for many.

Simran and Charles unpack the science of habit formation—why cues, routines, and rewards are the secret to sustainable change— like laying out gym clothes or finding moments of presence—can transform our lives. And in turn explore how spiritual practices, whether in daily prayer or simply savoring a moment with loved ones, can ground us in a chaotic world.

Together, they explore the role of discipline in creating freedom, the unexpected spirituality of parenting, and why kindness to ourselves is essential for real growth.

Resources:

Check out Simran’s work on his website at simranjeetsingh.org.

Wisdom & Practice is produced in partnership with PRX and the Aspen Institute, with support from the John Templeton Foundation.

Music by Raj Kanwal Singh.

Ministering in Uprisings, Defending Our Children

Thursday, November 21, 2024 • Duration 23:58

College, for many of us, is a time of intense growth, self discovery and exploration.

That was certainly the case for Starsky Wilson, an activist, philanthropist, and public theologian. Though in Starsky’s case, that journey was one of deep introspection about one question that began to gnaw at him: what was his purpose?

From his early years growing up in Dallas attending a Baptist Church to discovering greater meaning at Xavier University to leading and ministering during the uprisings in Ferguson, Starsky shares how his experiences have shaped his commitment to bringing a faith perspective to social issues.

Simran and Starsky discuss the importance of introspection and reflective practices like prayer and journaling in cultivating personal growth, and what guided Starsky to answer a call to ministry.

Resources:

Check out Simran’s work on his website at simranjeetsingh.org.

Wisdom & Practice is produced in partnership with PRX and the Aspen Institute, with support from the John Templeton Foundation.

Music by Raj Kanwal Singh.

Black Liberation, Buddhist Liberation: Rima Vesely-Flad

Thursday, November 7, 2024 • Duration 26:05

Our experiences in faith communities can be as diverse and layered as the facets of our identities.

For Rima Vesely-Flad, a visiting fellow at Princeton University, her winding journey to the Theravada Buddhist tradition has also been a path to finding a community where she feels seen and challenged to live with radical compassion. Rima is the author of Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition: The Practice of Stillness in the Movement for Liberation.

In this conversation, Rima and Simran speak honestly about what it’s like navigating faith communities and practices as people of color and how to grapple with the tension of balancing the self and the collective.

Resources:

Buddhism and Black Voices

Check out Simran’s work on his website at simranjeetsingh.org.

Wisdom & Practice is produced in partnership with PRX and the Aspen Institute, with support from the John Templeton Foundation.

Music by Raj Kanwal Singh.