Berkley Center

Colleagues and friends Talia Aygun and Matau Setshase discuss building spiritual connections with others, whether via negotiation with one's ancestors that generates an attitude of surrender, or via the ecstatic experience of truly understanding another person.

This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.

Colleagues and friends Jerilyn DeCoteau (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians) and Rick Williams (Oglala Sioux Tribe and part Cheyenne) discuss the terms "indigenous" vis-a-vis "American Indian" and the implications regarding identity and tribal sovereignty when people self-identify as Native but are not formal members of a tribal community.

This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.

New friends Nandi Pointer and Saleema Robinson reflect on their spiritual journeys through Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam as they seek liberation and truth through faith in a higher power.

This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.

Married couple Kelly FitzSilva and Pedro Silva interweave the beautiful and difficult aspects of the ways they've dealt with change across the decades, pointing to their relationship as an expression of faith that embodies their distinct approaches to spirituality.

This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.

Jyotsna Raj speaks with her daughter Indra Raj about Hindu faith, which Jyotsna values for its freedom of thought and flexibility in individual practice, while Indra is skeptical about the existence of the divine, particularly as portrayed in Western Christianity, and aims to live a moral life outside organized religion.

This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.

Titus Adenote and Isiaka Ambali are Nigerian immigrants to the United States, where they have found a sense of personal belonging and spiritual fulfilment in the Celestial Church. In this conversation, the friends reflect on how divine intervention has shaped their journeys in pursuit of the American dream. 

This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.

Olakunle Babalola and Oluwadamilare Alade both emigrated from Nigeria to the United States and have found a spiritual home in the Celestial Church of Christ, a global evangelical denomination. In this conversation, the friends reflect on their journey to the Celestial Church and consider the power of praying to God in the Yoruba language.

This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.

Teresa Irwin and Meg Spesia are both members of the Catholic Worker Movement, a network of faith-inspired communities dedicated to social justice that was founded by Dorothy Day in the 1930s. In this conversation, the friends reflect on how personal experiences including religious pilgrimage and missionary work have shaped their faith in the unseen. 

This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.

Demetrius Brooks and Tanequa Tunstall are queer people of color who have drawn on their Buddhist faith to grapple with personal challenges as they each make a life in the American South. In this conversation, the friends reflect on the transformative power of Buddhist thought and practice in their daily lives.

This story was produced by Alero Oyinlola.

Ossama Abdelgawwad and his student Duaa Hijaz talk about Duaa's experience being president of the Muslim Student Association and how she worked with her peers to organize a campus memorial honoring those who were killed in the 2019 New Zealand mosque shootings.

This story was produced by David Dault with Kristen Balzer at Sandburg Media, LLC.