« Back to subject directorySpiritual and Social Activism

Ethan Zuckerman, a social activist and internet entrepreneur on a mission to bring information technology to developing countries, speaks with WIE’s Ross Robertson about the complex challenges—and untapped potential—of creating a truly sustainable, equitable, and interconnected world.

Historian Peter Heehs chronicles the fascinating life of Sri Aurobindo, the famous Indian philosopher, poet, spiritual leader, and political revolutionary who is now recognized as one of the forefathers of evolutionary spirituality.

Explore the different alternatives to meeting violence with violence as Michael Nagler discusses the historic, social, and spiritual significance of pacifism and nonviolence.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu transforms this interview into a heart-rending sermon on the meaning of human suffering and the relationship between God and humankind.

Mary Evelyn Tucker, Earth Charter advocate and world religions professor, discusses the powerful potential relationship between religion and ecology.

Mother Antonia, subject of the book The Prison Angel: Mother Antonia's Journey From Beverly Hills to a Life of Service in a Mexican Jail, speaks with WIE’s Maura O’Connor about her life of faith, service, and compassion.

Audrey Kitagawa, spiritual teacher and Advisor to the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General at the United Nations, addresses the urgent need to raise our individual level of consciousness in order to change the world.

WIE founder Andrew Cohen and bestselling author and mind-body-spirit pioneer Deepak Chopra share the stage in NYC for a moderated discussion about what it takes to create the future.

Edward Artis is a founding member of the international aid organization Knightsbridge International. His high risk, high impact aid work is featured the acclaimed documentary, Beyond the Call. Artis spoke with WIE's Carol Raphael about the timeless virtues of chivalry, what it's like to be both warrior and saint, and why he pursues the most extreme—yet undeniably direct—form of aid work imaginable.

David Gershon, author of Low Carbon Diet: A 30 Day Program to Lose 5000 Pounds, speaks with WIE's Carol Raphael about his innovative empowerment tools for personal and collective transformation—and how to use them to address the threat of global warming.

An interview with Tex Gunning, president of Unilever Bestfoods Asia and point man in the war on blind corporate culture, whose passionate care for the well-being of Asian children is transforming the way international aid dollars are being spent.

This former professor of environmental studies takes high-powered business consultants on vision quests, leading them far into the wilderness in order to connect with the unity we share with each other and with the planet that sustains us. He has been a guide to Brian Arthur, Joseph Jaworski, Otto Scharmer, Peter Senge, and others.

Santana, joined by his wife Deborah, speaks of the deeply felt spirituality that inspires both his music and their philanthropy.

While this diminutive woman draped in a white sari might appear to belong to an era long past, she is the inspiration and spiritual guide to many of the world's leading business visionaries, such as Brian Bacon, Tex Gunning, Charles Handy, Peter Senge, David Cooperrider, Rita Cleary, and others.

UN activist and spiritual leader Audrey Kitagawa makes an impassioned plea for moral responsibility.

Susan Bridle considers eco-theologian Thomas Berry's resounding call to our ecological conscience.

An American Zen teacher and world-renowned social activist speaks about the compassionate action that arises out of emptiness.

“The spiritual power of the universe is not a morally neutral force,” declares revolutionary spiritual activist Michael Lerner in this provocative dialogue with Andrew Cohen on Judaism, enlightenment, and saving the world.

“I have such passion about what could be done!” A fiery Brooklyn-born guru and AIDS activist speaks out on suffering, detachment, and what it means to truly care.

The renowned Christian lay monk and interfaith activist believed that if we are to survive as a species there must be a spiritual awakening of the human heart, one that transforms the core of limitation into the seeds of transformation.

“Spirituality is the seed, and social action is the fruit born of it,” writes Indian spiritual master and social activist Vimala Thakar in a compelling essay exploring the true meaning of wholeness.