Tapestrywith Mary Hynes
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Tapestry@25: Christian doctor believes he has a moral duty to provide abortions
Dr. Willie Parker is a religious man who felt called to work in a very different setting than the one he had imagined for himself as an obstetrician. He’s one of the few doctors in the American South who provides abortions. Dr. Parker says answering that call wasn’t just a medical decision - it was a spiritual one.
'It was devastating': queer Evangelical survives gay conversion therapy and helps others heal
Dev Cuny grew up in a charismatic Evangelical home. Coming out as queer meant being condemned to hell. They tried to pray the gay away. It didn't work. Now Dev Cuny helps other survivors of conversion therapy.
Life Changing Moments
A tormented Cuny agreed to undergo gay conversion therapy, survived the abusive experience, and now helps other survivors. Dr. Willie Parker on why he felt morally and spiritually compelled to do perform abortions.
'Queer people don't grow up as ourselves': Activist's viral tweet inspires others searching for identity
Alexander Leon, a London-based LGBTQ activist, spent his childhood pretending to be someone else. He posted a tweet about his experience growing up gay and his search for authenticity in adulthood — and it went viral.
Out of the closet and down the aisle
A viral tweet inspires feelings of solidarity around queer identity and the search for authenticity. And one woman grapples with the traditions around marriage, a decade after same-sex unions were legalized.
I do? One woman's dilemma between her dream wedding and her queer politics
After coming out and getting into a serious relationship, Lauren Strapageil wants to one day get married. But she wrestles with the institution of marriage and its place in the LGBTQ community.
How punk rock helped one woman find power in her blindness
Leona Godin discovered punk rock around the time she began to lose her eyesight. From its mistrust of authority to its brutal aesthetic, the punk scene spoke to the part of Leona that didn’t want to ‘make nice’ but wanted to make noise.
Tapestry@25: Rumi: Poet Laureate of the Planet Earth
Originally broadcast in September 2007, this is one of the most requested episodes we’ve ever produced. Poet Coleman Barks and the ‘modern-day mystic’ Andrew Harvey explore all the ways Rumi, a 13th-century Persian poet, speaks to 21st-century hearts and minds.
From Calgary to Calvary: What happens when an agnostic is cast in Canada's largest Passion play?
When he was cast as Herod in the Canadian Badlands Passion Play, Richard Kelly Kemick, an agnostic, found himself immersed in conversations about faith and surrounded by believers. Despite their differences, Kemick was startled by how much they had in common.
Punk rock and Passion plays
Leona Godin reflects on the strange symmetry between discovering punk rock and losing her eyesight as a girl. And agnostic Richard Kelly Kemick recounts his summer playing Herod among a cast of believers in the Badlands of Alberta.
Beauty: rocking the foundation
Is beauty in the eye of the beholder? This episode examines the politics of appearance.
'Beauty comes with a sense of conformity': writer reflects on body positivity as a disabled person
More disabled people are being visibly depicted in our popular media. S.e. Smith says that while this may look like progress, that representation doesn't always show the full picture.
'It wasn't easy': A woman's challenge to give up makeup for Yom Kippur
People celebrating Yom Kippur can't eat, shower, wear leather shoes, or makeup. For Lisa Tognola, someone who wears makeup every day, that last one posed a real challenge.
Searching for Black Confederates: History teacher battles one of the American Civil War's most stubborn myths
For decades, a pervasive myth that black men fought for the South in the American Civil War has plagued historians and distorted collective memory of that event. Historian Kevin Levin says that false narrative fuels the racial divide today.
'I didn't feel like I even existed': One young black man's experience touring a former slave plantation
Nygel Turner was expecting a history lesson when he toured a Louisiana plantation with his dad. His experience illustrates the harm that can come when parts of the story are distorted or erased.
Tapestry at 25: Let There Be Light
This episode is a holiday favourite from the Tapestry vaults: a playful, thoughtful exploration of the ways different spiritual traditions think about light at the darkest time of the year.
Warriors wanted: why one woman is training people to defend the human spirit
Writer, consultant, and activist Margaret Wheatley believes civilization is on the brink of collapse. She is training ‘warriors for the human spirit’ all over the world to combat despair.
Uncivil History
From plantation tours to the myth of the black Confederate soldier, the history of slavery and the American Civil War has often been whitewashed. In this special episode, Tapestry investigates how distorted versions of the past can do so much harm in the present.
New Year's Revolution
Want to help build better world? Margaret Wheatley is training 'Warriors for the Human Spirit. Want to see the world in a new light? Riz Virk argues we are all living in a computer simulation.
Tapestry at 25: bass player Victor Wooten
Victor Wooten is considered one of the best bass players alive. His soulful conversation with Tapestry host Mary Hynes, punctuated by some exceptional bass-playing, is one our bass-playing host has never forgotten.
Are we living in a computer simulation? This computer scientist says world religions might have the answer
Serious academics have been speculating whether reality is a sophisticated, computer-generated simulation. Writer Rizwan Virk says religions around the world have long held the key to understanding how that might work.
Video
Mary Hynes on Tapestry's most memorable moments
Mary Hynes recalls some of Tapestry's most memorable interviews and behind the scenes stories with Coleman Barks, Irish writer John O'Donohue and musicians Al Green and Victor Wooten.
Prayer cards and panic attacks: how praying to a 7th-century princess helped me overcome my fear of flying
At first glance, the life of a seventh-century teenaged Irish princess doesn’t bear much resemblance to our 21st century reality. But when writer Anne Thériault discovered St. Dymphna, she found a connection she didn’t expect… and it changed her life.
Tapestry
What does Buffy Sainte-Marie believe?
Buffy Sainte-Marie is usually asked about her career in music, her Academy Award and her life as an activist. But what does she believe in? In this episode, Buffy Sainte-Marie enters the Tapestry zone and opens up about her worldview, her spirituality, and the life philosophy at the heart of her music.
Guest, host and stranger: practicing 'unconditional hospitality'
Priya Basil says when we welcome people into our homes and our countries, we strengthen the larger community and everyone benefits. Her new book, Be My Guest: Reflections on Food, Community and the Meaning of Generosity, is a meditation on what it means to both give and receive hospitality.
