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Rev. Becca Stevens on Magdalene House

Soul Talk – “A Spiritual Feast to Leaven the World Soul”

Fresh Off the Grill, From the Balcones Woods studio in Austin, Tejas.

Streaming on the web everyday, live on Thursdays, 2-3 pm. CST on Progressive Blend Radio.

Read and comment on Chuck’s Soul Food Commentaries

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Soul Stirrer with embodied faith in action -

Rev. Becca Stevens is an Episcopal priest, social entrepreneur, speaker and author of six books. She presently serves as chaplain of St. Augustine’s Chapel at Vanderbilt University, Founding Director of Magdalene, a residential community for women who have survived lives of violence, prostitution and addiction and Executive Director of Magdalene’s social enterprise, Thistle Farms–a bath and body care company. To date, Becca has raised over $12 million and gained nationwide press coverage for the organizations she supports.

In addition to having received awards from the Frist Foundation and the Academy of Women in Achievement, Becca was named “Nashvillian of the Year” and “Tennessean of the Year” by the Nashville Scene and The Tennessean respectively. In 2010, Becca became the youngest and first female recipient of the University of the South’s “Distinguished Alumnus” award.

Becca lives in Nashville with her husband, Grammy-winning songwriter Marcus Hummon, and their three sons.

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Rev. Dr. Russell Elleven on Ethical Eating

Soul Talk – “A Spiritual Feast to Leaven the World Soul”

Fresh Off the Grill, From the Balcones Woods studio in Austin, Tejas.

Streaming on the web everyday, live on Thursdays, 2-3 pm. CST on Progressive Blend Radio.

Read and comment on Chuck’s Soul Food Commentaries

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Soul Stirrer with embodied faith in action -

Rev. Dr. Russell Elleven was born and raised in and around Ft. Worth, Texas; a city nicknamed “Cowtown” and where the Stockyards are still, for some reason, a tourist attraction.

Educated at the University of North Texas, Texas Christian University, and Vanderbilt University, he served as a faculty member and administrator for 17 years before joining the Unitarian Universalist ministry. He is now the minister of Westside Unitarian Universalist Church in Fort Worth. He and his spouse, Gayle, are owned by a 14 year old Beagle named Prince Cornelius de Vanderbilt, better known as CornDawg.

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Jude Filler on the Death Penalty & Execution of David Powell

Soul Talk – “A Spiritual Feast to Leaven the World Soul”

Fresh Off the Grill, From the Balcones Woods studio in Austin, Tejas.

Streaming on the web everyday, live on Thursdays, 2-3 pm. CST on Progressive Blend Radio.

Read and comment on Chuck’s Soul Food Commentaries

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Soul Stirrer with embodied faith in action - Jude is Filler is the retired Executive Director of Texas Alliance for Human Needs(1988-2002) and former state campaign chair for Amnesty International’s Texas Campaign Against the Death Penalty (1988-1998).

In her role with Amnesty International USA, she knew many men and several women on Texas’ death row.  For 22 years, her closest friend and partner in death penalty abolition efforts was the recently executed David Powell.  They often spoke daily, sometimes for hours and met together weekly.  She saw David during the 3 days before they killed him and she was in the room when the State of Texas ended his life.

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Rev. Dr. Marie deYoung on Spirituality & Food

Soul Talk – “A Spiritual Feast to Leaven the World Soul”

Fresh Off the Grill, From the Balcones Woods studio in Austin, Tejas.

Streaming on the web everyday, live on Thursdays, 2-3 pm. CST on Progressive Blend Radio.

Read Chuck’s Soul Food Commentaries at the Free Souls Connection.

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Soul Stirrer with embodied faith in action - Rev. Dr. Marie deYoung has served as religious leader and Minister in Catholic,Unitarian Universalist churches and as U.S. Army Chaplain.

She has run for the State Senate in Pennsylvania, has authored several books, and is a frequent guest in major media outlets.

Today we talk about the relationship of Spirituality and food.


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Rev. Dr. Marie deYoung on the BP Oil Catastrophe

Soul Talk – “A Spiritual Feast to Leaven the World Soul”

Fresh Off the Grill, From the Balcones Woods studio in Austin, Tejas.

Streaming on the web everyday, live on Thursdays, 2-3 pm. CST on Progressive Blend Radio.

Read Chuck’s Soul Food Commentaries at the Free Souls Connection.

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Soul Stirrer with embodied faith in action - Rev. Dr. Marie deYoung has served as religious leader and Minister in Catholic,Unitarian Universalist churches and as U.S. Army Chaplain.

She has run for the State Senate in Pennsylvania, has authored several books, and is a frequent guest in major media outlets.

Marie served Gulf coast churches in Louisiana & Mississippi and worked as a teacher for several years after Katrina.

Today we talk about the BP Oil catastrophe from many different angles and perspectives.

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Soul Talk Interview with Broadcaster & Activist Sista Girl

Soul Talk – “A Spiritual Feast to Leaven the World Soul”

Fresh Off the Grill, From the Balcones Woods studio in Austin, Tejas.

Streaming on the web everyday, live on Thursdays, 2-3 pm. CST on Progressive Blend Radio.

Read Chuck’s Soul Food Commentaries at the Free Souls Connection.

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Soul Stirrer with embodied faith in action - Kim Coleman is originally from Chicago and now lives in the DC area. She has done research for the Democratic Party and currently volunteers to help Democrats in the 2010 election. She has appeared on NPR, CNN.com and a New Day with Micah Sims.

Her radio show, “SistaGirl speaks up” broadcasts on Progressive Blend Radio.  Kim’s  blog is “Sista Girl Speaks- Where the truth is spoken all day all the time!”

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Soul Talk Interview with Shamanic Practitioner Wild Horse Charley

Soul Talk – “A Spiritual Feast to Leaven the World Soul”

Fresh Off the Grill, From the Balcones Woods studio in Austin, Tejas.

Streaming on the web everyday, live on Thursdays, 2-3 pm. CST on Progressive Blend Radio.

Read Chuck’s Soul Food Commentaries at the Free Souls Connection.

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Soul Stirrer with embodied faith in action - Wild Horse Charley Conatser is an artist of the spirit, and founding director of The Healing Center in Lubbock,Texas.

He had several careers on his life-long search for “the big medicine” and to his true calling as a shamanic practitioner including teaching mathematics at several universities, leading a group of application systems programmers for a large banking corporation and a supermarket chain.

In 1984, in the midst of his computer career with his workaholism becoming apparent to everyone but him, he was stopped in his tracks by lupus.  This life crisis led him to shaminism.

Since then, Charley has been a shamanic practitioner and teacher of complementary methods of healing, including extraction, power and soul retrieval, and psychopomp. Starting in 1989 he has had extensive training through The Foundation for Shamanic Studies with its founder Michael Harner as well as with a number of shamans from various countries.

Charley is a master drum maker, ceramist, and intermedia artist/sculptor.

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Soul Talk Interview with Whit Bodman on the Palestinian Nonviolence Movement

Soul Talk – “A Spiritual Feast to Leaven the World Soul”

Fresh Off the Grill, From the Balcones Woods studio in Austin, Tejas.

Streaming on the web everyday, live on Thursdays, 2-3 pm. CST on Progressive Blend Radio.

Read Chuck’s Soul Food Commentaries at the Free Souls Connection.

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Soul Stirrer with embodied faith in action - Whit Bodman has served 12 years as a full-time pastor, and is in his 8th year teaching comparative religion at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

He has a doctorate in Islamic Studies and Comparative Religion from Harvard Divinity School.

Whit has been active in Christian-Muslim and Christian-Jewish dialogues for many years and spends a great deal of time doing “Islam in 45 Minutes” and “Why They Hate Us, or Not” at churches and other venues.

He has been to Israel 12 times over 25 years, and to various other parts of the Middle East and the Muslim World, including living in Syria for six months.

Today we talk about the non-violence movement in Palestine.

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Soul Talk Interview with Sally Norvell on the film “Saving David Powell”

Soul Talk – “A Spiritual Feast to Leaven the World Soul”

Fresh Off the Grill, From the Balcones Woods studio in Austin, Tejas.

Streaming on the web everyday, live on Thursdays, 2-3 pm. CST on Progressive Blend Radio.

Read Chuck’s Soul Food Commentaries at the Free Souls Connection.

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Soul Stirrer with embodied faith in action - Sally Norvell decided to become a filmmaker on the set of “Paris, Texas.”

She has been an actress, singer, and filmmaker –  most recently directing, producing and writing the documentary “Saving David Powell”.

Sally writes,

“Saving David Powell” is a call to action to stop the execution of David Powell in real time.  He is scheduled to be executed by the State of Texas on June 15, 2010, and there is no legal recourse left to stop this from happening.  He has spent 32 hard years on America’s most brutal death row, and even after all this time, with no history of violence for decades, they still mean to take him out and kill him.

David’s case is not one of straight innocence, but it is clear that this man does not deserve to be executed.  If ever there were a case for clemency, this is it.

“Saving David Powell” asks for a miracle – and asks the viewer to participate in creating one.

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Soul Talk Interview with Rabbi Brad Hirschfield on “Paying Taxes: Toxic or Transformative?”

Soul Talk – “A Spiritual Feast to Leaven the World Soul”

Fresh Off the Grill, From the Balcones Woods studio in Austin, Tejas.

Streaming on the web everyday, live on Thursdays, 2-3 pm. CST on Progressive Blend Radio.

Read Chuck’s Soul Food Commentaries at the Free Souls Connection.

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Soul Stirrer with embodied faith in action - Rabbi Brad Hirschfield is the author of “You Don’t Have to Be Wrong for Me to Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism.”

Rabbi Hirschfield is President of The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, a leadership training institute, think-tank, and resource center.

He was listed in Newsweek 3 years in a row as one of the most influential rabbis in America, and is a blogger for the Huffington Post and The Washington Post’s “On Faith” online column.

On this April 15th we bandy about, “Paying Taxes: Toxic or Transformative?”

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