Award-winning broadcaster and best-selling author Krista Tippett explores the essence of what it means to be human in a Lawrence University convocation.
Tippett presents “The Mystery and Art of Living,” Tuesday, Feb. 16 at 11:10 a.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. She will conduct a question-and-answer session immediately following her remarks. The event is free and open to the public.
As host and executive producer of the nationally syndicated radio program “On Being,” Tippett explores religious and spiritual issues, especially as they relate to how people want to live their lives.
Raised as a Southern Baptist in Oklahoma, Tippett was politically active in her youth, working as a freelance journalist in divided Berlin in the 1980s and later serving as a special assistant to the U.S. ambassador to West Germany.
After returning to the states, she earned a master’s of divinity degree from Yale University and launched her radio program in 2003, a project she considered a reconciliation between her intellectual and spiritual selves.
Originally called “Speaking of Faith” and airing on just two stations, “On Being” has become phenomenally successful. It is now heard on more than 400 stations nationally while Tippett’s podcasts are downloaded more than 1.5 million times a month.
The New York Times once described Tippett’s interview style as “a fusion of all her parts – the child of small-town church comfortable in the pews; the product of Yale Divinity School able to parse text in Greek and theology in German; and, perhaps most of all, the diplomat seeking to resolve social divisions.”
Tippett’s broadcasting work was honored in 2008 with a George Foster Peabody Award for “The Ecstatic Faith of Rumi,” an interview she conducted with Fatemeh Keshavarz, a professor at Washington University, on the life of the 13th-century Muslim mystic and poet.
In 2014, President Obama presented Tippett with the National Humanities Medal for “thoughtfully delving into the mysteries of human existence. On the air and in print, Ms. Tippett avoids easy answers, embracing complexity and inviting people of all faiths, no faith and every background to join the conversation.”
She also is the author of two books. “Einstein’s God: Conversations About Science and the Human Spirit” is a collection of 13 interviews with distinguished scientists and writers on science that made the New York Times bestseller list in 2010. “Speaking of Faith: Why Religion Matters—and How to Talk About It,” published in 2008, is a conversational journey that explores the role of faith in the world.
About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College” and Fiske’s Guide to Colleges 2016. Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.
