A Bahá'í Perspective

Born in Glasgow Scotland, href="https://www.maggiecalder.ca/" target="_blank"Maggie Calder grew up in Toronto Canada after her family moved there when she was about 7. She was brought up in a "motorcycle biker" family as she calls it. At about 12 she realized that she had to look at life in a different way, and at about 15 she left home, becoming a street kid. After a few years, she found out about Eckhart Tolle and realized that this could be someone that could help her spiritually, so she became his assistant and chef. While traveling the world with him, Maggie married and moved to Chicago. It was in Chicago that Maggie found the Bahai Faith. While in the throws of a divorce, Maggie went to Thailand for a 10-day holiday not realizing that it would become a 10-year life experience there. While in Thailand, Maggie meets master monk Bhasakornand and eventually becomes a nun-monk in his order and given the name Maytiwee. While there, she opened a secret sewing school that gave children who were in the Thai Sex Trade an alternative trade by sewing products for sale.

Mona works as an arts management consultant in Washington DC.nbsp; Since the year 2000, Mona has researched about the life of Laura Clifford Dreyfus-Barney and has presented papers about her findings at Iranian and Middle Eastern study conferences, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Associates, and the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, as well as other public venues. She published several papers based on years of research and then she published her biography of Laura Clifford Barney entitled lsquo; href="https://www.grbooks.com/products/the-life-of-laura-barney?variant=40311508729995" target="_blank"The Life of Laura Barney#39; in 2022. Songs played in the interview: 1. Plexiglass - Katharine Key from What the Fire Is 2. Rose Of Love - SKY from A Cycle of Divine Love Songs 3. That's Me - Steve Zaat from Not That Far 4. The Promise - Klare Ku Olga 5. You Are - Colby Jeffers from Created Noble 6. Create In Me a Pure_Heart (featuring Kelsey Bulkin)- Nabilinho 7. Remeber My Days - Corinne Padilla McLoughlin 8. The Update - Artist Unknown 9. 1 of a Kind - Artist Unknown

Naviacute;d is a musician, music producer and the owner of href="https://lancastltd.com/" target="_blank"LANCAST Ltd, an independent company that creates music for film, animation, video games and mobile applications. Navid tells his story about learning the guitar as a teenager to working with href="https://www.discogs.com/artist/217416-Kenny-Phillips" target="_blank"Kenny Phillips and href="https://www.prodenstudio.com/" target="_blank"Proden Studio before striking it out on his own. He tells the incredible story of his start in the business by handing out a rudimentary business card to href="https://www.steventaylorfilm.com/" target="_blank"Steven Taylor and shortly after being asked to score his film href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-vtKhrPnxA" target="_blank"Buck, the Man Spirit. I play scores that Navid has composed at the end of the interview.

Mary Darling is cofounder of the production company href="https://www.westwindpictures.com/" target="_blank"Westwind Pictures, a leading independent media production company dedicated to creating thought-provoking content for a global audience. From award-winning scripted series to lifestyle shows, documentaries, and children's media, their diverse productions have earned international acclaim. We talk about the films they've produced in the interview. The following songs are played at the end of the program: 1. Expectation - Music of the Baha'i World Congress New York 1992 2. Let All Associate - New Creation 3. Beauty - Luke Slott 4. For Mercy - Grant Hindin Miller

Masud is an artist, writer, and an actor. He talks about his spiritual journey and his work in the interview. You can find his work at href="https://www.masud-olufani.com/" target="_blank"https://www.masud-olufani.com/. I caught Masud while heading out from his studio. As a result the voice quality is lacking and there is background noise. But please be patient. At about 12 minutes into the interview the sound quality improves significantly. Songs played: 1. Where There Is Love-Elika Mahoney - Album: Birds Of Love 2. Whither Can a Lover Go - Jody Cooper bull; "Whither Can a Lo... 3. Wilderness - Eric Dozier; 4. Prayer for the Departed - Yosi Mesbah - Album: Badasht Vol. III - Visionaries 5. Beautiful Soul - Shameem - Album: The Second City 6. Let All Associate - Creation

Llewellyn was raised in the Disciples of Christ church, its origins coming out of the Second Great Awakening in the early 19th century in the US when protestant Christianity was spread through revivals. Llewellyn tells his story of how his spiritual journey led him to the Baha'i Faith, and then how being a Baha'i caused him to look back at milestone incidents in his life that led him on that path. The following songs are played at the end: 1. Truthfulness by Nabil Moghaddam 2. Unite by Ali Youssefi 3. Walk A Little Farther - Artists Unknown 4. Where there is love by Andy Grammer

Andy is an experienced and well-versed musician in many disciplines of music including guitar, singing, composing, arranging, teaching, and music producing, and has been performing for over 25 years. He has selected a number of his musical compositions for the interview that feature his guitar virtuosity and his singer-songwriter abilities. We also talk about his pursuit of becoming a musical therapist. Visit href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSXIkOWhQDqR3MBYH-w57cw" target="_blank"Andy'sTube Channel to hear more of his music.

Olya grew up in Iran under the severe persecution of the Iranian Islamic regime after the 1979 Revolution. She along with 10 other women were arrested soon after, for being Baha'is. All of her 10 women companions were eventually hanged and Olya believes she was spared so that she could share their story with the world. One of these women was a 16 year old, named Mona, who was arrested for being a teacher at Baha'i children's classes. She eventually escaped Iran and published Olya's Story: href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/olyas-story-olya-roohizadegan/1136790370?ean=9781851680733" target="_blank"A Survivor's Dramatic Account of the Persecution of Baha'is in Revolutionary Iran. Since the release of the book in 1993, exactly 10 years after the execution of her 10 women companions, she has presented herself in over 1000 public venues telling this story. She wants to write a 2nd book demonstrating how the death of these women allowed her to spread their message of love and unity throughout the world.

Winnie grew up as a poor northern girl who married into a well-to-do Southern family and started raising a family in the early 1960's. Before becoming a Baha'i, she was involved in promoting racial justice in her own small way. After becoming a Baha'i, her vision broadened, and she and her husband moved to Barbados and lived there for 12 years. Ironically it was her husband who studied agriculture in college, but it was Winnie that became the self-taught agriculturalist helping the agricultural efforts in the Caribean islands as well as in the States. She recently published a book, href="https://www.bahaibookstore.com/Food-Farmer-and-Community-P10366.aspx" target="_blank""Food, Farmer and Community: Agriculture and the Reconstruction of the World". She explains how agriculture is fundamental to a stable society. Song List: 1. Toward The Sun - Amy Stephen Haghighi 2. Tree of Peace - by Jacqueline Odess-Gillett

Nadema is a Native American artist with her own business called Red Earth Studio Consulting / Productions. Before creating her own consulting and curating business, she had done important work by helping create the Southeastern Native Arts Directory and being the Repatriation Director for Standing Rock. href="http://www.nademaagard.com/" target="_blank"Visit her website. Song List: 1. The Photograph Music and words Alan McKay and Sonbol Taefi; 2. This Is The Day by Mana; 3. This Newborn Child by Ramine Yazhari; 4. Thou Art The Rich by Nabilinho; 5. Thy Love by Kelsey Bulkin; 6. Thy Name Is My Healing by JB Eckl; 7. To Be Close To You (Anis) by Tara Ellis

June is the Centennial Professor Emerita of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Michigan#39;s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, where she also is the Mary Frances Berry Distinguished University Professor Emerita of Urban Planning. She was one of the first black teenagers to break the segregated white high school in her home town starting in the 10th grade. She describes how difficult and traumatic that experience was for her. Her website is: href="https://junemanningthomas.com/" target="_blank"https://junemanningthomas.com/ Song List: 1. The Most Hidden by Luke Slott 2. The Mountain by Jacqueline Odess-Gillett

John is a jazz horn player and composer. He invented his unique horn with the same range as the french horn, called the hornette. He's released 7 albums. We feature songs he has composed in the interview. Sit back, relax, and listen to some wonderful jazz. You can find his music at href="https://hmmusic.com/" target="_blank"https://hmmusic.com/

Lisa is a musical composer, performer, teacher, and film scorer. In 2001 she put together her earliest piano compositions and has since produced 4 other CDs. When I asked Lisa to select six musical pieces to feature on the interview, she did something I had no other musical artist do, she selected pieces that were created by others that she found as an influence to her musical career. And I have to admit, the pieces she selected are amazing. She selected two pieces that she composed, "Brocaded Tent" and "Light Revealed", which we feature at the end of the interview, and are also very beautiful. You can visit her href="http://lisahaesesmith.com/LHS/Home.html" target="_blank"website.

Ben is an author of middle-grade novels, and had recently published his fourth book, The Einsteins of Vista Point. His previous work is the Winterhouse trilogy which has been translated into ten languages and even received notice from some state, national, and international awards. Visit his website at href="https://benguterson.com/" target="_blank"https://benguterson.com/. Song List: The Earth and the Eagle by David Hunt Blessed is the Spot by The Humming Birds The Light Of Thy Love by Nabil Moghaddam The Light Of Unity by Luke Slott

The tragic death of Vivian's brother when he was a teenager was the impetuous to Vivian and his mother searching for a spiritual reason for this traumatic loss that led them to the Baha'i Faith. Vivian is now retired from being a secondary school teacher. At the end of 1999, he got involved in a youth empowerment program started by the Baha'is in Swindon, England that was transformative and successful and was instituted in a number of schools there. He wrote about the experience in his book Nurturing a Healthy Human Spirit in the Young. Vivian wrote a 2nd book entitled Navigating Materialistic Minefields. He had a dear friend who was an atheist and they would have wonderful deep conversations and after his friend passed away, Vivian decided to write this book dedicated to his friend that would answer some of the questions from a different perspective than the one his friend held.

Carolyn is a professional musician, published author, and painter. She was principal viola with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, based in Edinburgh and a member of the BBC orchestra. She wrote a play called Threads which she was able to produce, which then turned into a book called " href="https://www.bahaibookstore.com/Half-of-it-Was-Never-Told-P8352.aspx" target="_blank"The Half Of It Was Never Told: Three men . . . three continents . . . one passion". She has also written two children's books called " href="https://www.bahaibookstore.com/Little-Acorn-P10407.aspx" target="_blank"Little Acorn"nbsp; and " href="https://www.bahaibookstore.com/Abdul-Bahas-Little-Brown-Cat-P10385.aspx" target="_blank"Abdu'l-Baha's Little Brown Cat". 1. Tell The Rich by Eric Dozier 2. Refresh and Gladden My Spirit by JB Eckel (The Badasht Project) 3. The Balance by Taraz Nosrat 4. The Bird Which Soareth by Elika Mahony 4. One World by The Children's Theatre Company nbsp;

KC is an American record producer, singer-songwriter, arranger and composer. He was nominated for more than six Grammy Awards and winner of 1, and winner of two Latin Grammy Awards. His father is the famous arranger href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Porter_(record_producer)" target="_blank"Bob Porter. KC has selected a number of songs to feature in the interview and explains the significance of each. One in particular is La Pared (The Wall) which became an href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTHN09ikV_Q" target="_blank"animated video. You can find his work on his href="https://www.kcporter.com/" target="_blank"website.

Dorothy is a professor at Columbia University, author and playwright. She served as advisor to the US Ambassador of the Czech Republic and was a delegate to both the United Nations Economic and Social Develop Summit in Copenhagen and the UN Commission on the Status of Women. She is the author of 15 books, and we talk about three of her books in the interview. From one of them she created a musical production that had 3200 performances in over 70 cities. You can find her work at href="http://www.drdorothy.com/" target="_blank" http://www.drdorothy.com/ Song List: 1. Sweet Singing Birds by Gustaff Besungu (album The Flight) 2. Sweeten Their Souls by Elika Mahony (album Infinite Bounty) 3. Spiritual Revolutionary performed by Tallis, Karim, Jose, Jomei (album Badasht Vol. III - Visionaries

Mary was born and raised in the west of Wales and has worked for eight years in Africa - in Lesotho, in Uganda where she became a Bahaacute;'iacute;, and in Cameroon where she met and married Richard Gray, an American astronomer. She is an author, poet, and storyteller. Mary has focused on writing books, in simple English, on the history and teachings of the Bahaacute;'iacute; Faith. Her first title, href="https://www.amazon.com/Bah%C3%A1%C3%AD-faith-Mary-Perkins/dp/0706239393/ref=sr_1_1?crid=27XBDG3WFUMNMamp;keywords=The+Baha%27i+Faith+Mary+Perkinsamp;qid=1651523300amp;sprefix=the+baha%27i+faith+mary+perkins%2Caps%2C671amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank"The Bahaacute;'iacute; Faith, was co-authored with Philip Hainsworth, published by Ward Lock Educational in their series on Living Religion in 1980, and subsequently translated into Danish, German, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Russian and Braille. In 2016 she created a volume of her poetry titled href="https://www.amazon.com/Turning-Toward-Home-Mary-Perkins/dp/0957185618/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2VDV9LCOFY7D2amp;keywords=Turning+Toward+Home+Mary+Perkinsamp;qid=1651523577amp;sprefix=turning+toward+home+mary+perkins%2Caps%2C79amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank"Turning Toward Home. We have a friend of Mary's read two of her poems near the end of the interview. Mary is currently working on a book on storytelling. Song list: 1. Sorrow Not - ninepointedstarmusic(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrJVF...) 2. Strive (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3Hj9...) 3. Suffer Me by Nabil amp; Karim 4. Sweet Neighbors Come in All Colors - adapted from Dick Grover's song Good Neighbors... by Sweet N all Singers (httpswww.youtube.comwatchv=f1M_XaqJD8U)

href="http://www.shameemmusic.com/" target="_blank"Shameem is an Australian singer-songwriter, whose diversity in heritage (her father is Chinese-Malaysian and her mother is Iranian) influences her eclectic approach to music. She has produced a number of albums and she has selected songs from three of them for the interview. The three albums we feature selections from include the self-titled album, Shameem, her next album after that, The Second City, and her most recent album, Time Does Not Reverse.

Gary holds Bachelor#39;s and Master#39;s degrees in Cultural Anthropology as well as a degree in Law. He has been involved in international development projects in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Australia. Gary now has a private consulting and training company specializing in federal assistance law and other areas related to assistance agreements. Song list... Make My Prayer by Shoghi Agbortoko and Max Weigert The Covenant by Smith amp; Dragoman Something More by Martin Kerr Radiant Within by Janet Kayzer href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3Hj9" target="_blank"Strive Soon Love Soon by Vienna Teng

Zarrin is a journalist and one who as worked in international affairs, As part of her attraction to the world#39;s wisdom and spiritual traditions, she created The Soul Salons podcast and href="https://thesoulsalons.com/" target="_blank"website showcasing teachers and works that she wanted to learn more about and passages that inspired her. We talk about her podcast and play one of her episodes in the interview. Sands Of Time by Tadia (Poems of Tahirih) Say by Eric Harper Say Say Say by Kiskadee Service by David Hunt Moth to a Flame by Shadi Toloui-Wallace nbsp;

href="https://www.colbyjeffers.com/" target="_blank"Colby is a musical artist from the Phoenix area, who has been making Baha'i-inspired hip hop since around 2012. He has produced five albums and his most recently released album is entitled " href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/created-noble/1592585024" target="_blank"Created Noble". The album explores the themes of nobility, fatherhood, and contributing to the betterment of the world. We feature tracks from this album in the interview. Colby also produces a podcast called href="https://www.colbyjeffers.com/elevated-conversations/" target="_blank"Elevated Conversations, which we also refer to in the interview.

Bruce was a student of Austrian economics at Auburn University shortly after the href="https://mises.org/" target="_blank"Ludwig von Mises Institute was established. In 2004 he had a dream of an economic model that he called the href="https://www.divineeconomytheory.com/" target="_blank"Divine Economy Model. From this model, he formulated the theory for the Divine Economy based on the teachings of the Baha'i Faith. He has written a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bruce-Koerber/e/B00OE2AE7O" target="_blank"number of books expounding on the various aspects of the model. We talk about the Divine Economy Model and theory in the interview. Song Credits: href="https://bahaimusicstore.com/jacqueline-odess-gillett-open-the-door-to-your-heart?zenid=a6sh5j8b4u7e5aupe02bkferd4" target="_blank"The River by Jacqueline Odess-Gillett

For over 10 years Tara has worked in all aspects of digital media, from videos, social media to podcasting. Working as a podcast producer, she has connected experts and entrepreneurs with podcasters to promote and educate listeners across the globe. In her work she has told the stories of people escaping persecution and violence, inventors and entrepreneurs in the east and the west, and the influence of youth working on community building all over the world. One of the podcasts she worked on is called href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLg26v5XZmMoCpQtWZWFLkJ-jPj9WQotN8" target="_blank"Baha'i On Air which is an extension to the original New Zealand YouTube series href="https://www.youtube.com/user/bahaionair" target="_blank"Baha'i On Air. Tara has also started an individual podcast initiative entitled href="https://shows.acast.com/who-was-she-podcast" target="_blank"Who Is She?, featuring the stories of Baha'i women historical figures. Musical Credits: href="https://music.aliyoussefi.com/track/rise" target="_blank"Afshin Toufighian amp; Ali Youssefi - Rise;nbsp; href="https://bahaimusicstore.com/tadia-solace-of-the-eyes" target="_blank"Tadia - Poetry of Tahirih - Rise Up and Sing;nbsp; href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0gaS_S80W8" target="_blank"Mooji (Embrace 2) - River of Love

Wolfgang was born in Vienna, Austria shortly before World War II. He became a Catholic priest, studying at the best Catholic universities in Rome and Austria. Eventually, however, after moving to California, he left the priesthood and became a psychologist treating mental disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder. His work included a women#39;s prison run by the State of California. He is owner of href="https://cityoftheheart.net/" target="_blank"City of the Heart Psychological Services. He recently published a book called href="https://www.bahaibookstore.com/Human-Heart-P10185.aspx" target="_blank"The Human Heart: One and Undivided which we talk about in the interview. Song credits: Remover of Difficulties by Taraz Nosrat href="https://college.berklee.edu/news/4101/video-rhythm-of-the-universe" target="_blank"Rhythm Of The Universe - Berklee College of Music.

href="https://www.robert-weinberg.com/" target="_blank"Rob has worked as a broadcast journalist and produced radio programs for both the BBC and independent radio in the United Kingdom. He is also the author of several major biographies including Ethel Jenner Rosenberg in 1995, Lady Blomfield in 2012 and most recently a testimony to the personnage of Abdu'l-Baha called Ambassador to Humanity which we discuss in the interview. From 1994-2008, he was Senior Producer and On-Air Editormdash;for the popular national classical music station Classic FM, during which time he made programs with Sir Edward Heath, Paul McCartney, the Three Tenors and countless other leading figures from the art world. He is a regular writer on art, and reviewer of exhibitions, for the Telegraph newspaper, Apollo magazine, The Art Story website and The British Art Journal. Since 2020, he has been producing and presenting podcasts and documentary films for historian Dan Snow#39;s History Hit network.

Taraz is a recent graduate of Texas Aamp;M University, where he studied biomedical engineering. However his first passion was always music. During a year off university studies, Taraz produced his first musical album of spiritual songs called href="https://bahaimusicstore.com/taraz-nosrat-the-divine-spark" target="_blank"The Divine Spark: A Baha'i Inspired Soulful Devotional. He says the title of the album comes from the inspiration that an artist taps into when he or she creates music. The music on the album is a blend of traditional Persian music, woodsy folk tunes, native american flute music, reggae, and classical orchestra. We feature selections from The Divine Spark in the interview.

href="http://www.felipeduhart.com/" target="_blank"Felipe is a guitarist, composer and musical producer living in Santiago, Chile. Primarily an improvisational musician, his style is influenced by jazz, Latin American music and rock. He has recorded as a guitarist on 10 CDs and 2 DVDs of live performances, and has worked as a producer on 7 CDs to date. We play six musical compositions that Felipe selected for the interview.

I had interviewed Fereshteh href="http://bahaipodcast.com/assets/mp3/abp-232.mp3" target="_blank"before on this program and we reconnected. She proposed that we talk about the gun culture here in the US. We had been planning this interview for many months, so it is a coincidence that this interview comes out just weeks after, on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, when a 15 year old comes to his school with his new Christmas present, a semiautomatic handgun, and kills four classmates, and wounds seven others including a teacher. Fereshteh has a PhD in psychology and was a licensed clinical psychologist. She has made presentations on psyco-social and religious topics around the world.

Hooshmand has lived amongst both the poorest nations and the wealthiest nations of the world for more than four decades, where he witnessed inequality in standards of living and the widening gap between the rich and the poor. It was this condition that fueled his passion for studying, researching, and exploring alternative solutions to tackle some of the challenging economic questions of our time. Hooshmand got involved in social and economic development projects in Bangladesh as well as later in the West Indies. He created the work href="https://hooshmandbadee.com/shop/principles-of-spiritual-economics/" target="_blank"Principles of Spiritual Economics which is a compilation of Baha'i writing on economics. He wrote the book href="https://hooshmandbadee.com/shop/economics-and-the-bahai-faith/" target="_blank"Economics and the Bahaacute;#39;iacute; Faith, that explains the Bahaacute;#39;iacute; teachings on economics and their implications for the Bahaacute;#39;iacute; community and the wider society.

Rebecca is a singer-songwriter who has produced five musical CDs and an audiobook. We play selections from her CDs href="https://9starmedia.com/rebecca-johnston-garvin-alientame?zenid=ev9ct88lqbs1l2puj92qfg48v7" target="_blank"Alientame, href="https://9starmedia.com/rebecca-johnston-garvin-conscious-peace?zenid=ev9ct88lqbs1l2puj92qfg48v7" target="_blank"Conscious Peace, href="https://9starmedia.com/rebecca-johnston-garvin-befriend-me?zenid=ev9ct88lqbs1l2puj92qfg48v7" target="_blank"Befriend Me, and href="https://9starmedia.com/rebecca-johnston-garvin-pioneer-winds?zenid=ev9ct88lqbs1l2puj92qfg48v7" target="_blank"Pioneer Winds. Her most recent CD is called href="https://9starmedia.com/Rebecca-johnston-garvin-to-the-peoples-of-the-world?zenid=ev9ct88lqbs1l2puj92qfg48v7" target="_blank"To The Peoples of the World and we play the title track in the interview.

Shango is a music producer and performer (playing drums, singing, and playing different kinds of flutes and other instruments). He produced and recorded an album called href="https://bahaimusicstore.com/leonor-dely-millero-congo-talisman" target="_blank"Talisman that features musical compositions by his mother, Leonor Dely. We feature music from that album in the interview. He has started a musical project with junior youth in the Canary Islands. He shares one piece that is a work in progress to give us an idea of the project.

href="https://sheydadoa.com/" target="_blank"Sheyda is a pianist, singer-songwriter, guitarist, and mathematician. She draws on her multicultural heritage and her upbringing in Albania to blend traditions and sounds into music for the soul, one that inspires across cultures and generations. Her first CD is called href="https://www.amazon.com/Awe-Sheyda-Peyman/dp/B00RY97IIM" target="_blank"In Awe released in 2015. She is currently working on a new release. The songs we listen to in the interview are new compositions with guitar. After the interview we play a concert that features her songs with piano.

href="https://genevievelabbe.com/" target="_blank"Genevieve is a singer-songwriter whose music is inspired by many years of travels and is infused with jazz and world beat music.. In 2009 she produced her first children's CD called href="https://bahaimusicstore.com/genevieve-labbe-sunshine-in-you?zenid=592g2nu3hl4oqpm4954vgf3a44" target="_blank"Sunshine in You. She has most recently produced a music video called Kune. We feature Genevieve's music in the interview including Kune and selections from Sunshine in You.

Carolyn and her husband Don started a camp in Vermont in the 60's in which kids from diverse backgrounds, and from both privileged and underserved communities, came together and learned outdoor living skills. The camp was called High Rise. They later created the Institute of Human Understanding to facilitate their work overseas. Carolyn talks about their work in Nicaragua to help a remote indigenous community be represented in Baha'i administration. She also describes the remarkable work that was done in Honduras for the education and upliftment of young girls.

Mark is a professor of film, television amp; media arts at Southwestern College in Chula Vista, CA. He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), School of Theater, Film, amp; Television (TFT). After working in the film industry in Los Angeles for ten years, he went to Papua New Guinea for 11 years where he worked as director of Educational Television in the Department of Education. He produced a number of educational and documentary films in support of projects sponsored by the UN.

href="https://www.sharmitchell.com/" target="_blank"Shar, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Indigenous Studies and has travelled to more than 40 countries, including being a guest of the Berber nomads in the Spanish Sahara, the Aborigines in far northern Queensland, Australia, and the Bribri in Costa Rica#39;s rainforest. Shar has worked in various media for 20 years including documentary film production for Canadian Broadcasting Company Radio and TV, and feature newspaper and magazine writing. She is author of the memoir " href="https://www.sharmitchell.com/book-2" target="_blank"The Bridegroom from Baghdad", which we feature in this interview.

Audrey introduces us to her first biography entitled " href="https://www.grbooks.com/products/when-reason-sleeps-the-story-of-a-bahai-arrested-imprisoned-and-executed-and-his-wifes-escape?variant=39384217190539" target="_blank"When Reason Sleeps: The Story of a Baha'i arrested, imprisoned, and executed and his wife's escape". The protagonist is a woman from Iran named Mehrangiz or Mehri by those who know her. Audrey tells the story of Mehri's husband, who was arbitrarily arrested, imprisoned and executed in Iran simply for being a Baha'i, and recounts Mehri's own imprisonment in a squalid prison a year after her husband's execution, and her dramatic escape from Iran from religious persecution. Audrey describes the process she went through to capture Mehri's story.

Jeanne is Director of the Multi-Racial Unity Living Experience, which her students adoringly refer to as href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcoC5Vb4_6Iamp;t=1s" target="_blank"MRULE. MRULE is an undergraduate race relations program dedicated to social justice at Michigan State University. She is an affiliate faculty member of the Center for Integrative Studies in Social Science, the African Studies Center, and the Center for Gender in Global Context. She specializes in race, class, gender, and intersectional analysis bridging theory and practice. She created an offshoot to MRULE in Johannesburg, South Africa called href="https://www.facebook.com/vvocf" target="_blank"VVOCF, which stands for a Tsonga (saangmiddot;guh) word that means Our Children's Future. It is a youth center that became a hub for community building activities. She was also instrumental in creating a small non-profit in the US to complement the work of VVOCF called href="http://www.gyec.org/" target="_blank"Global Youth for Education and Change (GYEC).

Serge is an accomplished jazz pianist, arranger, composer and educator. Serge has an early education bi-lingual school based on the arts called Affinity Arts International School {https://www.affinityarts.com.br/}, which we talk about in the interview. In the interview we play a number of Serge's original compositions. You can find links to Serge's music at his Instagram page href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B5LQVisFCNc/" target="_blank"@SergeJazz. From there you can find his YouTube href="https://www.youtube.com/c/SergeVF" target="_blank"channel.

Clyde describes her spiritual search starting with her southern baptist background. Her spiritual exploration leads her to Islam and then ultimately to the Baha'i Faith. Once she became a Baha'i her horizons widened that included a trip to Zimbabwe that had her come back with a new appreciation of her identity, which she describes in the interview. Recently she had started a support group where she lives called Made It Home, that supports African-American mothers who have lost their sons.

Deborah has a PhD in Intercultural Communication from Howard University. She is an artist and freelance writer. Her many varied occupations include teaching piano, copyediting, translating, designing gardens, working on radio documentaries and a kids#39; educational TV series, and teaching communication classes to outpatient adults (i.e., formerly hospitalized) with emotional and mental illnesses. She was a professor of communication, media and culture for 20 years and a Department Chair for seven years. She has written her first novel, href="https://deborahclarkvance.com/sylvie-denied/" target="_blank"Sylvie Denied. We talk about her debut novel and she reads a couple of excerpts in the interview. Her website is href="https://deborahclarkvance.com" target="_blank"DeborahClarkVance.com.

Hushidar is professor emeritus at Central Michigan University. He taught courses in psychology of human development, educational psychology, mental health, and creativity. He is the author of more than 50 volumes. His works cover the subjects of the Bible, the Qur#39;aacute;n, and the fulfillment of prophecies in both. He has written a 3-volume set of prophecies on the coming of Jesus called " href="https://www.globalperspective.org/catalog/biblical-christian/i-shall-come-again" target="_blank"I Shall Come Again", " href="https://www.globalperspective.org/catalog/biblical-christian/lord-lords" target="_blank"Lord of Lords", and " href="https://www.globalperspective.org/catalog/biblical-christian/king-kings" target="_blank"King of Kings". He also wrote a book just as comprehensively for Moslems titled "Baha'u'llah in the Quran", that was written in Farsi and is now being translated into English. You can find his books at his website href="https://www.globalperspective.org/" target="_blank"globalperspective.org, and he is offering them online for free at his website href="http://theknowledgeofgod.com/" target="_blank"TheKnowledgOfGod.com.

Tadia co-produced and performed the musical drama A WOMAN AND HER WORDS, a theater production based on the true story of href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%A1hirih" target="_blank"Tahirih, a woman whose compelling but obscure life has been hidden from the western world until now, who was a 19th century notable Persian poetess and Eastern woman writer. Tahirih was one of the first 18 disciples of the href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A1b" target="_blank"Bab, the forerunner to href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%CA%BCu%27ll%C3%A1h" target="_blank"Baha'u'llah, the prophet founder of the Baha'i Faith. After retiring the production Tadia co-produced the soundtrack CD entitled: href="https://bahaimusicstore.com/tadia-a-woman-and-her-words-the-story-of-tahirih?zenid=ilauesmmkrsl8or154pcht0e26" target="_blank"A Woman and her Words: The Story of Tahirih, with href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellis_Hall_(musician)" target="_blank"Ellis Hall Jr. Subsequently they produced a 2nd CD of Tahirih's poems put to music entitled: href="https://bahaimusicstore.com/tadia-solace-of-the-eyes?zenid=ilauesmmkrsl8or154pcht0e26" target="_blank"Solace of the Eyes: The Songs of Tahirih. It is from this 2nd CD that we feature selections in the interview. Tadia is also a href="https://tadiarice.wordpress.com/consulting/" target="_blank"global business consultant and host of the radio program href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNUP-sKankqIMz93qT87wFA" target="_blank"Womanosity for Women with Curiosity on Woman Radio that broadcasts globally.

When Eric was 7 years old he was in the kitchen doing the dishes when a song came on the radio. He doesn't remember which song it was, but he does remember the feeling that song gave him. He immediately stopped doing the dishes, quickly ran into the living room and stared at the stereo system. His sister called him back to finish the dishes, but he couldn#39;t move. He was transfixed, mesmerized. He literally couldn#39;t take his eyes off the stereo. He was so moved by emotion that all he remembered thinking was ldquo;I want to make people feel like that!rdquo; Since then Eric has studied classical guitar in Portugal, was in a band in LA with his brother playing fusion of rock with flamenco, and scored the music for the movie Waiting Alone. He has produced four solo albums and a number of current released singles. We feature his music in the interview You can find his href="https://ericharpermusic.com/" target="_blank"music here.

Elaheh noticed a sense of anxiety in her young daughter and decided to create a children's book to help her daughter. That one children's illustrated book grew to a website called href="https://www.plantlovegrow.com/" target="_blank"plant-love-grow and she has been writing, illustrating, and publishing children#39;s books for the last 15 years. Her stories focus on inner growth through practical and sustainable methods and tools. With a background in Applied Human Sciences and Human Relations, and now as a Child Behavior Consultant, she brings creativity, passion, understanding, and a practical perspective as she helps families learn and grow. We talk about her work in the interview.

I recorded an interview with Alhan Irwin, her brother Abir Majid, and her sister Ruwa Pokorny. Their mother, Anisa Abdul-Razzaq Abbas, wrote a memoir entitled href="https://www.bahaibookstore.com/Without-Hesitation-P10100.aspx" target="_blank"Without Hesitation, about her imprisonment for being a Baha'i in Iraq. Alhan translated the book into English, and we discuss not only her mother's imprisonment but her father's and Abir's experience in prison; all for the same reason.

Janet has had a varied career that had live and work in such diverse places as Scotland, Fiji in the South Pacific, the Republic of Maldives in the Indian Ocean, and Haifa in Israel where she served in the Baha'iacute; World Centre Library. Janet wrote a biography on Louise Mathew Gregory, a British woman whose destiny led her to marrying an African-American in the US in 1912. The biography is entitled href="https://www.bahaibookstore.com/A-Seed-in-Your-Heart-P9901.aspx" target="_blank" A Seed In Your Heart. We talk about the story of Louise Mathew Gregory in the interview.

Born in the light of the inauguration of the href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_Bah%C3%A1%27%C3%AD_Temple" target="_blank"Baha#39;i House of Worship in Chile, a wonderful new musical initiative was created by a group of three Baha#39;is in Santiago, Chile who call themselves ldquo; href="https://bahaimusicstore.com/arrayanes?zenid=rln2eub2s60a08juhvsce70n81" target="_blank"Arrayanesrdquo;. Arrayanes is a trio of close three friends ndash; Carlos Medina, Felipe Duhart and Eduardo Rioseco ndash; bound together by friendship, laughter, and love of God. The result is the creation of an album full of uplifting Latin American melodies and rhythms in pop-folk style. We feature a number of songs from the album in the interview. In this interview, I'm speaking with Eduardo Rioseco, one of the members of Arrayanes.