Contemplify
The Contemplify podcast kindles the examined life for contemplatives in the world. Through artful musings & conversations with scholars, creatives, and master teachers each episode delivers a subtly intoxicating* exchange on the contemplative lifestyle with practical takeaways to emulate in daily life.
Host, Paul Swanson, is a husband, father and contemplative educator at the Center for Action and Contemplation and co-host of Another Name for Every Thing with Richard Rohr**.
*Contemplify is best served with a pint in hand. Please listen responsibly.
** All shenanigans, tom foolery and bally-hoo posted on Contemplify are my own. Contemplify is not representative of the Center for Action and Contemplation or Richard Rohr on any matter.
- Update frequency
- every 16 days
- Average duration
- 46 minutes
- Episodes
- 175
- Years Active
- 2016 - 2025
The Buddhist Monk Who Adopted 85 Children: Filmmaker Andrew Hinton on His Documentary ‘Tashi and the Monk’
Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of Contemplify, the basecamp for budding contemplative whose pursuit is to kindle the examined life through conversations with creatives, scholars and practit…
Titans of Inaction: The Graduation Address
Who is there that can make muddy water clear? But if allowed to remain still, it will gradually become clear of itself. Who is there that can secure a state of absolute repose? But let time go on, an…
Lodro Rinzler: When Work Becomes Meditation Practice
‘This is a magnificent book [The Buddha Walks Into the Office] that just happens to be truly fun to read. Accessible, urgent, and life-changing.’
Lodro Rinzler is a practitioner and tea…
Contemplating the Universe (Bonus! Practice Episode)
This bonus practice episode invites you to ground your being in contemplating the universe. This practice is from Nancy Ellen Abram's book, A God That Could Be Real (pp. 89 - 90)
Becoming Esteemed Ancestors with a Cosmic Vision - Nancy Ellen Abrams (author of A God That Could Be Real)
‘You will find that your beliefs are enriched by reading Abrams’s [A God That Could Be Real]. I am thrilled that we have the creativity and originality that is exhibited in this book, and I recommend…
David Michie: Meditate to Know Thyself (Author of The Dalai Lama’s Cat and Hurry Up and Meditate)
‘You get the sense that this guy practices what he preaches. There’s a confidence and peace that inspires.’
David Michie is a presenter, mindful safari guide and author, best…
Scott Hartley: The Future Needs Philosophers (Author of The Fuzzy and the Techie: Why The Liberal Arts will Rule the Digital World)
Scott Hartley is venture capitalist and author. In 2016 he was a finalist for the Financial Times and McKinsey & Company's Bracken Bower Prize for the best business book proposal by an author under 3…
Washing Dishes with Thich Nhat Hahn and Hitchhiking to Thomas Merton: Jim Forest on a Life Worthy of Such Friendships
"Henry David Thoreau, by no means the most conventional man of his time, lamented on his death bed, “What demon possessed me that I behaved so well.” He would have taken comfort in Holy Fools. They r…
Art is Resonance: The Ambient Internal Landscape of Musician and Ecopsychologist Russell James Pyle
Russell James Pyle (russelljamespyle.com) is a national touring Musician and Ecopsychologist based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Russell is one of a kind--an ambient folk troubadour, Buddhist, ecopsyc…
In Rhythm with Life: Alana Levandoski on Being a Contemplative Artisan and Collaborating with James Finley
“The thing about Alana [Levandoski] is that she’s gifted. She's not just gifted as a musician, which she is, but she’s gifted as a lyricist...she teased these words, kind of like mantras, highly evoc…
The Priest of the Woods and the Fullness of the Earth with Stephen Blackmer
Stephen Blackmer is founding executive director of Kairos Earth and chaplain of Church of the Woods. Steve comes to this with 30 years of conservation experience, having founded and built conservatio…
The Contemplative Hint: Seeking to Say the Unsayable within Christianity with Rev. Dr. Peter Traben Haas
�Rev. Dr. Peter Traben Haas is the author of several books, including Centering Prayers: A One Year Daily Companion for Going Deeper into the Love of God. Peter is steeped in the Christian contempla…
The Generous Cadence of the Singer of Solitude: Kevin Dann on Henry David Thoreau (Author of Expect Great Things: The Life and Search of Henry David Thoreau)
“Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders.”
- Henry David …
A Clear Life - Charlie Parr on Harlan Hubbard’s Payne Hollow: Life on the Fringe of Society
“[Charlie] Parr may have been born during the Nixon era, but you can taste the grit of the Dust Bowl in his music.”- Dusted Magazine
In this episode, Charlie shares a reflection on Harlan and Anna Hu…
Minimalist Parenting and Cultivating a Family Dynamic with Christine Koh
Christine Koh is a music and brain scientist turned multimedia creative via channels as a speaker, writer, designer and consultant. She spent a decade in academia, during which time she was awarded p…
A Syllabus for Newfound Seriousness with Christy Wampole
Christy Wampole is an assistant professor in the department of French and Italian at Princeton, and the author of “Rootedness: The Ramifications of a Metaphor” and “The Other Serious: Essays for the …
Voicemail - Seeing the World Through a Lens of Awe: Brie Stoner on Pablo Neruda
“I have a crazy, crazy love of things.” - Pablo Neruda
Brie Stoner is a student, musician, and writer at becomingultrahuman.com. Besides contributing to the Center for Spiritual Resources and Contemp…
The Past Has Arms: Risking Relationship with Ourselves So We Can Grow Up with James Hollis, PhD
“We would rather be ruined than changed We would rather die in our dread Than climb the cross of the moment And let our illusions die.” - W.H. Auden
Interview with James Hollis, Ph.D. on the key elem…
Voicemails - Alison Kirkpatrick on The Conscious Parent / Mark Longhurst on The Brothers Karamazov
Alison (Ali) Kirkpatrick is a writer, speaker and educator and you might say professional inspirer of goodness. You can find her blog #SignsOfLove at alisonkirkpatrick.com.
Mark Longhurst is a pastor…
The Other is Us: Connecting to Knowledge, Wisdom and One Another with Barbara A. Holmes
Barbara Holmes served as president of United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, as well as professor of ethics and African American religious studies. She was ordained in the Latter Rain Aposto…