In this episode, renowned scholar Elaine Pagels explores the hidden histories behind the figure of Jesus, drawing from her groundbreaking new book Miracles and Wonder. Blending rigorous historical scholarship with vivid storytelling, Pagels examines how stories of Jesus’s miracles, resurrection, and divine birth emerged, evolved, and came to shape a world-changing movement. A longtime professor of religion at Princeton University and recipient of the National Humanities Medal, Pagels reflects on why these narratives proved so enduring and what they continue to reveal about the spiritual questions at the heart of Christianity today.

In this episode of Branches of Wisdom, guest host Tami Simon—founder and CEO of Sounds True—joins master shamanic healing practitioner Julie M. Kramer to explore the spiritual call to healing, which often arrives through dreams, illness, synchronicities, and life transitions. Julie, founding instructor of The Art and Practice of Shamanic Healingprofessional training, shares how to recognize this call and develop the skills needed to serve others, drawing on her decades of teaching and practice. Together they discuss core spiritual healing techniques Julie teaches—including soul retrieval, psychopomp work, compassionate depossession, and curse unraveling—and how spiritual healing can be thoughtfully integrated into a multidisciplinary approach to well-being.

Beloved poet and philosopher Mark Nepo joins Joel Fotinos to discuss The Fifth Season, an inspiring reflection on the gifts and challenges of aging. Now in his seventies, Nepo explores how growing older can be a time of integration, creativity, and deeper clarity—a “fifth season” when life’s true colours begin to shine. A New York Times #1 bestselling author of more than 20 books, including The Book of Awakening and Surviving Storms, and a cancer survivor interviewed by Oprah Winfrey and Robin Roberts, Nepo offers this new work as a companion for making meaning, finding grace, and sharing the journey of living and dying.

Stephen Jenkinson—author of the award-winning Die Wise and founder of the Orphan Wisdom School—presents his provocative new book, Matrimony: Ritual, Culture, and the Heart’s Work. In a time of hollow ceremonies and self-congratulatory rites, Jenkinson calls for a return to the true purpose of matrimony and ritual as communal acts of meaning. Through vivid storytelling, cultural reflection, and lived experience, he explores matrimony as a village rite—a shared acknowledgment of transformation and belonging to something older and truer than the self. A renowned teacher of grief, culture, and elderhood, Jenkinson brings decades of work in theology, social work, and cultural regeneration to this stirring exploration of the heart’s work.

Award-winning author and longtime As It Happens co-host Carol Off discusses her #1 national bestseller At a Loss for Words: Conversations in an Age of Rage, an urgent exploration of how words like democracy, freedom, and truth have been distorted and weaponized, eroding our shared political language. Drawing on decades of acclaimed reporting and over 25,000 interviews, Off shows how this loss of meaning silences dialogue, fuels division, and leaves us vulnerable to authoritarianism and greed. A celebrated journalist who has reported from war zones and political upheavals worldwide, Off is also the bestselling author of The Lion, the Fox, and the Eagle, Bitter Chocolate, The Ghosts of Medak Pocket, and All We Leave Behind—and the recipient of numerous honours including a Gemini Award, two New York Festival gold medals, ACTRA’s John Drainie Award, and the RTNDA Lifetime Achievement Award.

Fritjof Capra, physicist, systems theorist, and bestselling author, speaks on the the 50th anniversary of his groundbreaking work The Tao of Physics. This influential book brought the mystical implications of subatomic physics to popular consciousness for the very first time, bridging the worlds of science and spirituality. A message of timeless importance, The Tao of Physics continues to inspire and challenge, offering profound insights into the interconnectedness of all life.

Dr. Steven Farmer, best-selling author and shamanic practitioner, speaks on his new book Healing Ancestral Family Patterns: A Practical Guide to Ending the Cycle of Intergenerational Trauma. Dr. Farmer explores how ancestral patterns shape our lives and provide practical tools to break free from inherited cycles of trauma. Dr. Steven Farmer is a world-renowned author, teacher, shamanic practitioner, and Soul Healer. A best-selling author of Animal Spirit Guides, Healing Ancestral Karma, and Earth Magic, Dr. Farmer is also a licensed psychotherapist, ordained minister, and former college professor with three collegiate degrees. His extensive knowledge and experience enable him to offer an exceptional and transformative experience to his clients.

Valarie Kaur, author of See No Stranger and founder of the Revolutionary Love Project, shares profound inner wisdom for courageous action. In her book, Sage Warrior: Wake to Oneness, Practice Pleasure, Choose Courage, Become Victory, Valerie Kaur explores how to envision a new world and find the courage to fight for it, even in seemingly apocalyptic times. Drawing from the Sikh tradition of the sant sipahi, the sage warrior who embodies love and fights for humanity, Kaur tells the epic story of her Sikh ancestors, focusing on the women who mapped this path. Her narrative is intertwined with her personal journey to Punjab, India, with her young children, an adventure filled with moments of connection and insight. Each chapter offers lessons on practising pleasure, metabolizing grief, and choosing courage, guiding readers to cultivate their souls and transform the world.