Tapestry

The anthropologist Tanya Luhrmann is fascinated by religious believers who experience god talking to them, either through visions, or a voice they can hear. She is the author of When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God.

This week on Tapestry, Mary Hynes talks to Don Lattin about his new memoir, Distilled Spirits: Getting High, Then Sober, with a Famous Writer, a Forgotten Philosopher, and a Hopeless Drunk. Later in the show, Mary meets a Montreal professor who's taking the subject of philosophy out of the classroom and into the streets.

For Hindus, Buddhists and other eastern faiths it's the single-syllabled Om. For Jews it's the six words of the Shema. The Jesus Prayer is beloved by many Christians. This week we look at prayers of few words - the small-but-mighty sayings that inspire and sustain millions.

Sorry, subscribers! This week's show with the legendary Mavis Staples is loaded with songs, and copyright rules do not allow us to podcast the music. To hear the show, go to cbc.ca/tapestry.

This week Tapestry reconsiders the carol in three different ways. There's the mysterious back-story of a beloved tune; a professional singer on what many consider the show-stopper of midnight mass; and a meditation on one tune fit for the midwinter blues of life.