ON BEING PROJECT
Programs
On Being Project Engagements
THE ON BEING PROJECT HOLDS A DISTINCT SPACE IN THE MEDIA LANDSCAPE A SPACE THAT GATHERS PEOPLE TOGETHER ACROSS THE SAME BOUNDARIES THAT HAVE BEEN CALCIFYING IN THE CULTURE AT LARGE. IN FY22, AFTER CLOSE TO 20 YEARS OF BEING ANCHORED AROUND WEEKLY PRODUCTION OF "ON BEING" FOR PUBLIC RADIO AND PODCAST, WE EMBARKED ON AN AMBITIOUS NEW PHASE OF OUR WORK ORIENTED AROUND SEASONS OF PODCAST PRODUCTION, CONTENT AND RESOURCE INNOVATION, ENGAGEMENT AND CONVENINGS. THESE ARE EMERGING UNDER THREE PILLARS: ON BEING STUDIOS (CONTENT THAT NOURISHESAND REPLENISHES), LAB FOR THE ART OF LIVING (TOOLS AND EXTENSIONS THAT HELP PEOPLE RESHAPE THEIR PRESENCE), AND QUIET CONVERSATIONS & GATHERINGS (IN-PERSON AND DIGITAL GATHERINGS IN SUPPORT OF REMAKING LIFE TOGETHER). THROUGH THESE INTEGRATED OFFERINGS OF ACCOMPANIMENT, THE ON BEING PROJECT TENDS THE INTERPLAY OF INNER LIFE, OUTER LIFE, AND LIFE TOGETHER.ON BEING STUDIOS: HOME TO THE ICONIC PODCAST ON BEING WITH KRISTA TIPPETT, DOWNLOADED OVER 400 MILLION TIMES, AND TO THE GROWING PODCAST "POETRY UNBOUND", SURPASSING 10 MILLION DOWNLOADS IN ITS SIXTH SEASON. AFTER TWO DECADES OF INCREDIBLE, ORGANIC AUDIENCE GROWTH, WE INVESTED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH TO INFORM HOW WE NURTURE AND CULTIVATE NEW AUDIENCES. WE EXPERIMENTED WITH INCUBATING A NEW ON BEING SERIES, "THE FUTURE OF HOPE", AND MARKED 20 YEARS OF ON BEING PRODUCTION WITH A LIVE ONLINE LISTENING CELEBRATION. WE CREATEDNEW DYNAMIC CONTENT EXTENSIONS BY DRAWING CREATIVELY ON OUR RICH ARCHIVE, INCLUDING A CURATED AUDIO, VIDEO, AND VISUAL STARTING POINT EXPLORING OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE NATURAL WORLD, AND THE IMMERSIVE NEWSLETTER SERIES "THE SUMMER OF THE PAUSE," THAT OFFERED TEACHING AND TOOLS. A SPECIAL "FOUNDATIONS FOR THE ART OF LIVING" SERIES IN THE ON BEING PODCAST FEED LAID OUT KEY ASPECTS OF OUR VOCABULARY AND THEORY OF CHANGE THAT HAVE EMERGED ACROSS 20 YEARS. WE LAUNCHED THE NEW NEWSLETTER "POETRY UNBOUND: OPEN YOUR WORLD", WHICH GREW QUICKLY TO 10,000 SUBSCRIBERS, ALONGSIDE THE FALL 2022 PUBLICATION OF THE BOOK "POETRY UNBOUND: 50 POEMS TO OPEN YOUR WORLD", BY PDRAIG TUAMA, AND THE SIXTH PODCAST SEASON. LAB FOR THE ART OF LIVING: THE LAB IS A NEW SPACE TO DESIGN TOOLS AND EXPERIENCES AND COMMUNITY CONTAINERS THAT EXTEND AND DEEPEN OUR ACCOMPANIMENT AND HELP PEOPLE CARRY WISDOM BACK INTO THEIR LIVES. IN FY22, WE LEARNED FROM THE LAB'S FIRST EXPERIMENT, THE ON BEING WISDOM APP, THAT PEOPLE ARE HUNGRY FOR MORE COMING FROM ON BEING. THE APP UNLOCKS A FRUITFUL SHORTER VERSION OF ON BEING THAT CAPTURES THE ESSENCE OF THE SHOW WHILE PROVIDING 10-15 MINUTE "WISDOM PRACTICES" GUIDED BY KRISTA TIPPETT IN CURATION WITH 20 YEARS OF CONVERSATION PARTNERS. EACH PRACTICE CONTAINS PROMPTS DESIGNED TO INTEGRATE THE MATERIAL IN THE CONTEXT OF LISTENERS' LIVES. OUR LEARNING HAS SHAPED NEW COURSES, INCLUDING "FOUNDATIONS FOR THE ART OF LIVING", AND HAS INFORMED OUR EVOLUTION OF THE APP EXPERIENCE FROM COURSES TO RETREATS AN INVITATION INTO A WIDER COMMUNITY OF CONVERSATION AND LIVING AND TOWARDS A MORE DYNAMIC FORM OF MEMBERSHIP. WE ALSO BEGAN CONCEIVING FUTURE LAB CONCEPTS, INCLUDING PUBLISHING PARTNERSHIPS, TO KEEP BUILDING ON THE UNIQUE TRACK RECORD OF THE PODCAST AND MEET THE REQUEST FOR MORE TOOLS AND EXPERIENCES THAT HELP PEOPLE ROOT WISDOM IN THEIR LIVES.ON BEING GATHERINGS & QUIET CONVERSATIONS: FOR YEARS, ON BEING HAS BEEN INVITED TO SHAPE AND HOST CONVERSATIONS AND CONVENINGS WITH LEADERS AND VISIONARY PRACTITIONERS IN VARIOUS AREAS OF PUBLIC LIFE. THEY HAVE CALLED US TO THE IN-THE-STUDIO/IN-THE-FIELD HYBRID ORGANIZATION WE ARE TODAY. OUR FORAYS INTO LARGER GATHERINGS ALSO COMPEL US TO INVEST IN THIS SPHERE. ACROSS THE PANDEMIC YEARS, INCLUDING FY22, WE HAVE HOSTED ONLINE GATHERINGS THAT DREW OVER 5,000VIEWERS LIVE. WE ARE WORKING ANEW TO DEVELOP A HOSPITABLE ON BEING FORMAT OF PHYSICAL GATHERINGS SUSTAINED WITH DIGITAL TOOLS THAT WILL FEED THE CRITICAL YEAST AT THE CORE OF SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION. THIS YEAR WE LAUNCHED OUR FIRST SOCIAL HEALING FELLOWS PROGRAM WITH TEN LEADERS DEVOTED TO THE WORK OF ADDRESSING DEEP FRACTURES IN OUR PUBLIC LIFE, INCLUDING AREAS OF FOCUS SUCH AS RACISM AND THE RURAL-URBAN DIVIDE. GUIDED BY OUR STAFF, THE FELLOWS GATHERED BOTH DIGITALLY AND IN-PERSON TO SUPPORT AND LEARN FROM ONE ANOTHER AS LEADERS. THEY EXPERIENCED A YEAR OF RESTORATIVE CONNECTION AND RELATIONSHIP AMID THEIR OFTEN UNDER-RESOURCED AND ISOLATED WORK OF SOCIAL CHANGE. OUR "QUIET CONVERSATIONS" WORK IS CENTERED AROUND THE UNIQUE CULTURAL CAPITAL AND TRUST ON BEING HAS BUILT ACROSS TWO DECADES AND, THUS, THE CRITICAL ROLE WE CAN PLAY IN CONVERSATIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS THAT ARE UNDER-EVOLVED OR CAN'T HAPPEN IN PUBLIC IN THE PRESENT CULTURE BUT ARE ESSENTIAL FOR LONG-TERM SUSTAINABLE SOCIAL CHANGE. ENGAGEMENTS UNDERWAY AND IN DEVELOPMENT ENCOMPASS RACE AND ETHICS AND RECIPROCITY, "RESTORATIVE JOURNALISM", MORAL IMAGINATION IN PHILANTHROPY, AND MENTAL HEALTH/FLOURISHING IN YOUTH. COLLECTIVELY, THESE PILLARS AND EXPANDING IMPRINT REFLECT OUR DEEP DISCERNMENT THROUGHOUT FY22 OF WHAT DISTINCTIVELY IS OUR WORK TO DO IN A RUPTURED AND TRANSFORMING WORLD, AND HOW THE ON BEING PROJECT CAN BE EVER MORE DEEPLY OF SERVICE. FROM THE EARLY DAYS OF "SPEAKING OF FAITH" TO OUR NEWEST AUDIENCE RESEARCH, LISTENING TO OUR GUESTS AND OUR LISTENERS, TO OUR PARTNERS AND OUR BROADER COMMUNITY, HAS BEEN THE PATHWAY OF OUR EVOLUTION. HEARING HOW THEY'VE TAKEN ON BEING INTO THEIR LIVES AND OWNING THE IMPACT THAT HAS HAD IS A FOUNDATION FOR OUR EXPANSIVE EFFORTS NOW TO MOVE FROM LISTENING TO ON BEING TO IMMERSION WITH A FULLER, MORE DYNAMIC ON BEING PROJECT.GeographiesNot indicatedDatesJul 1, 2021 – Jun 30, 2022Source990No causes providedNo populations provided–$4MProgram 1 [2025]
IN FISCAL YEAR 2025, THE ON BEING PROJECT'S WORK CONTINUED TO FOCUS ON DEVELOPING AN ECOSYSTEM OF OFFERINGS AND SERVING OUR FAR-FLUNG GLOBAL WEB OF LISTENERS/PRACTITIONERS. THE PEOPLE WHO GATHER AROUND ON BEING ARE PART OF THE GENERATIVE NARRATIVE OF OUR TIME. IN ALL KINDS OF LIVES, IN ALL KINDS OF PLACES, THEY ARE HEALERS AND SOCIAL CREATIVES. AT HUMAN PACE, THEY ARE ENLIVENING THE WORLD THAT THEY CAN SEE AND TOUCH. IN GENERATIONAL TIME, THEY ARE STITCHING RELATIONSHIP ACROSS RUPTURE. ON BEING'S CONVERSATIONS ON-AIR AND OFF CREATE OPENING. IN A POLITICAL AND CULTURAL SPACE THAT REWARDS FEAR, FERMENTS ARGUMENT, AND HASTENS CLOSURE, ON BEING NOURISHES LEARNING AND GROWTH, NEWNESS, AND EVOLUTION.GeographiesNot indicatedDatesJul 1, 2024 – Jun 30, 2025Source990No causes providedNo populations provided–$1.8M
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