If you were to play ‘where are they now’ about pop stars from the 1980s - you’d couldn’t do much better than Richard Coles. Back then, he was a member of the British pop duo The Communards, with a #1 hit single. Today he’s a parish priest in England.

“I never expected a guy fresh out of prison to be rubbing a kitten’s belly.” One day, a scraggly cat showed up outside the door at the Native Men's residence, a shelter in Toronto. Some of the men at Na-Me-Res decided to look after the kitten. They called her Smudgey. This is their story.

Robert Thurman was the first Westerner to be ordained by the Dalai Lama. He no longer wears the robes but he has been a guide to Tibetan Buddhism for many people and has some fascinating views on how to live a spiritual life in this very hectic world.

Salman Ahmad is a Pakistani-American musician best known for his Sufi rock. He describes his sound as "Led Zeppelin meets Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan."

According to Patricia Pearson, about fifty percent of the bereaved sense the presence of the dead. Her book is called, Opening Heaven's Door: What The Dying May Be Trying to Tell Us About Where They're Going.

Dr. Francis Collins is the geneticist who directed the Human Genome Project mapping DNA, which he calls the "first glimpse of our own instruction book, previously known only to God." He was an atheist until a simple question from a patient changed everything he believed.

According to Patricia Pearson, about fifty percent of the bereaved sense the presence of the dead. Her book is called, Opening Heaven's Door: What The Dying May Be Trying to Tell Us About Where They're Going.

Ijeoma Oluo, author of So You Want To Talk About Race, wants to change the conversation about racial oppression. She says that racism is about much more than overt acts of hate.

When Bryan Stevenson was asked to come up with a seven-word bio for a public appearance recently, he offered this: "Broken by poverty, injustice, condemnation. But hopeful." He is the author of Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption.

It began as a piece of investigative journalism into so-called miracles — visions of the Virgin Mary in Oregon and Medugorje. But it turned into a harrowing chapter of Randall Sullivan’s life… and the skeptic became a believer.

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.

Marjorie Harris is one of Canada’s best known garden writers. But for Harris, gardening is more than a job — it’s a spiritual practice and one of her most powerful teachers.

Tapestry host Mary Hynes spoke to Joanna Macy in 2006 about the power of collaboration, our deep connection to all life and the universe, and the importance of allowing ourselves to feel whatever emotions arise. Fourteen years later, as we move through this pandemic, her thoughts are more relevant than ever.

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.

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.

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.

Nadia Bolz-Weber had struggled with addiction, and considered herself a foul-mouthed, selfish type … until she felt a call to become an ordained Lutheran pastor. Spoiler alert: she was, in part, appalled. But she answered the call, and has become a central figure in spirituality in the 21st century

This is an interview that Tapestry producers have never forgotten. In February 2011, listeners heard the distorted voice of a man on a payphone who went by the codename “Adam.” His real identity was a secret because he was an Evangelical minister who had stopped believing in God. Also, an update from "Adam".

Marie Collins couldn't function for decades after she was abused by a priest at age 13. She later became an advocate for victims and Pope Francis invited her to join a commission to stop pedophilia in the Catholic Church. Collins then resigned in frustration. This is her story.

Tapestry's 2016 Gabriel Award-winning interview "Educating Omar". When Omar Khadr was imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay, he received a postcard from an English professor in Edmonton. Through letters and book reports, Arlette Zinck became Khadr's teacher and friend. It was a profound spiritual experience that changed her life.

We chased Staples for two years before the singer agreed to an interview. This 2011 conversation is rich with her reflections on the power of music to lift the human spirit, stories about her family’s close connection with Martin Luther King, Jr.