Special Guests

  • Arun Gandhi - Grandson of THE Gandhi

    Last week, Arun Gandhi represented Tribe Hindu during soulSURVIVOR. But we really didn't have much of an opportunity to actually get to know the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. So this week, Drew has invited Mr. Gandhi back on the show for a personal one on one interview.

    Born in 1934 in Durban, South Africa, Arun is the fifth grandson of India’s legendary leader, Mohandas K. “Mahatma” Gandhi. Growing up under the discriminatory apartheid laws of South Africa, he was beaten by “white” South Africans for being too black and “black” South Africans for being too white; so, Arun sought eye-for-an-eye justice. However, he learned from his parents and grandparents that justice does not mean revenge, it means transforming the opponent through love and suffering. Grandfather taught Arun to understand nonviolence through understanding violence. For years, he has participated in the Renaissance Weekend deliberations with President Clinton and other well-respected Rhodes Scholars. Other engagements have included speaking at the United Nations, Chicago Children’s Museum, the Women’s Justice Center in Ann Arbor, Young President’s Organization in Mexico, the Trade Union Leaders’ Meeting in Milan, Italy, the Peace and Justice Center in St. Louis, Missouri, The Scottish Parliament and many more. Arun has also spoken at Universities and Colleges in all 50 states of the USA. Shortly after Arun married his wife Sunanda, they were informed the South African government would not allow her to accompany him there. Sunanda and Arun decided to live in India, and Arun worked for 30 years as a journalist for The Times of India. Together, Arun and Sunanda started projects for the social and economic uplifting of the oppressed using constructive programs, the backbone of Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolence. The programs changed the lives of more than half a million people in over 300 villages and they still continue to grow. Sunanda died in February of 2007 and the family is working to establish a school in poorest rural India in her name. Arun is the author of several books. The first, A Patch of White (1949), is about life in prejudiced South Africa; then, he wrote two books on poverty and politics in India; followed by a compilation of M.K. Gandhi's Wit & Wisdom. He also edited a book of essays on World Without Violence: Can Gandhi’s Vision Become Reality? And, more recently, wrote The Forgotten Woman: The Untold Story of Kastur, the Wife of Mahatma Gandhi, jointly with his late wife Sunanda.
    www.arungandhi.org
    Listen ← 30m:26s – 17.42 MB → Download

  • Damien Echols — Former Death Row Inmate, Member of The West Memphis Three
    At the age of eighteen, Damien Echols and two other teenagers were wrongfully convicted of murdering three 8-year old boys. They would become known as The West Memphis Three. Echols received a death sentence and spent almost eighteen years on death row until he was released in 2011. The WM3 have been the subject of Paradise Lost, a three-part documentary series produced by HBO, and West of Memphis, a documentary produced by Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh. Echols is the author of the New York Times best-selling memoir Life After Death and Yours for Eternity, which he co-wrote with his wife, Lorri Davis. Echols is an artist, and has had two sold-out shows at Sacred Gallery in New York City. In March, 2016, he has an upcoming show with the art collective The Hand in Los Angeles. Damien currently resides in New York.
    www.facebook.com/damienwechols
    Listen ← 31m:55s – 18.27 MB → Download

  • Aspen Baker — Founder & Executive Director of Exhale Author of Pro-Voice: How to Keep Listening When the World Wants a Fight
    Aspen Baker is the leading voice in the nation on how to transform the abortion conflict. She gave the first TED talk on abortion at TED Women 2015. She was a finalist for the 2014 Express NGen Leadership Awards; was called a "fun, fearless female" by Cosmopolitan in 2013; was awarded the Gerbode Professional Development Fellowship in 2012; was named a "Women's History Hero" in 2009 by San Francisco's KQED during Women's History Month; and was named "Young Executive Director of the Year" in 2005 by the Bay Area's Young Nonprofit Professionals Network. Aspen served on the City of Oakland's Public Ethics Commission 2011-2014. As a spokesperson for Exhale, she has been featured by media outlets across the country, among them CNN Headline News, Fox National News, Ladies' Home Journal, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, the New York Times, National Public Radio, Newsweek, the New Republic, Alternet, and Bust. Her essay "My Abortion Brought Us Together" was included in the anthology Nothing but the Truth So Help Me God: 51 Women Reveal the Power of Positive Female Connection. She often writes for sites like the Stanford Social Innovation Review and Huffington Post.
    www.exhaleprovoice.com www.aspenbaker.com
    Listen ← 31m:41s – 14.51 MB → Download

  • Alicia Britt Chole — Author Of 40 Days of Decrease: A Different Kind of Hunger
    As the Lenten season leading into Easter approaches, many Christians will be asked, “What are you giving up for Lent?” Many will answer with the same response they give year after year: chocolate, coffee, social media. But author Alicia Britt Chole asks, “What might be the fruit of fasting stinginess? What would happen if our churches fasted spectatorship? What might occur if our families fasted accumulation?” In 40 Days of Decrease, Alicia guides readers through a Lenten journey aimed at more fully understanding Jesus’ call to abandon the world’s illusions and embrace the power of decrease. After all, as Alicia explains, “Faith, in general, is less about the sacrifice of stuff and more about the surrender of our souls. Lent, in kind, is less about well-mannered denials and more about thinning our lives in order to thicken our communion with God.” 40 Days of Decrease is designed to prepare people for Easter, but it can also be experienced year-round. Each day of this book features a devotional based upon Jesus’ life, guidance for reflection, suggested daily fasts, an inspiring quote for meditation, and an optional Scripture reading with journaling space. A former atheist, Alicia's love for God and His Word overflows to bring ancient truth to life. Alicia is an international speaker, an author of a dozen books and bible studies, a seasoned mentor, and the founding director of Leadership Investment Intensives, Inc., a non-profit devoted to providing personal soul-care to leaders in the marketplace and church. Her book, Anonymous: Jesus' Hidden Years and Yours, is highly regarded by leaders and learners around the globe. Alicia and her husband joyfully parent their three extraordinary adopted children in a country home off of a dirt road surrounded by loads of laundry, laughter, and love. Her favorite things include thunderstorms, questions, honesty, and anything with jalapeños. In a culture obsessed with things countable and tweetable, Alicia brings ancient truth to life.
    SPONSORED BY Faithbooks.ca
    aliciachole.com
    Listen ← 20m:45s – 9.50 MB → Download

soulSURVIVOR

LIVE! on TDMS - Devoted Souly to the Art of Music

  • This Week's Recording Artist: Dione Taylor
    CHECK THIS VIDEO OUT!
    The prairie sky, expansive and wide, covers a great deal of North American real estate. And of all the emotions contained therein, it's the prairie blues, a rural feeling that sings louder than all others on Dione Taylor's new EP Born Free. Music has always been an important and integral part of Dione Taylor's life. A pastor's daughter from Regina, Saskatchewan, she was born and raised in a family she describes as "really connected to the gift of song. My whole family sings and plays instruments in church," praises Ms. Taylor, who began playing the organ at age four and by ten was the music director and organist at The Shiloh Assembly Church (Apostolic) in Regina. Born Free is a powerful, soulful and spiritual album, taking an honest look at some difficult, but necessary conversations. It's an album that "is dedicated to Pastor's kids (PK's) who deal with the very high standards and expectations that are placed on their shoulders by their families and community to live perfectly within an imperfect world." explains Taylor. In trying times personal faith and beliefs are constantly being challenged. The injustice we are confronted with in the world on a daily basis ("Love Is"); temptation ("Resist"); death ("Grandma's Hands"); love ("Leave Me Alone"); freedom ("Born Free"); potential of man ("Higher Ground") and acceptance ("Beer and A Bible"). This is a narrative of trial and faith told through a passionate blend of fiery gospel vocals with sounds from the delta blues. "The word gospel means ‘truth." And this is a very personal and truthful record, one that does not attempt to preach or impose anyone's concept of truth upon listeners but rather acknowledges that everyone has their own truth to be told and song to be sung. Born Free is Dione Taylor's truth. Having first burst onto the music scene with her Juno nominated debut album "Open Your Eyes", Taylor's career trajectory has been truly remarkable. With performances at festivals and concert theatres across the United States, Canada and Asia for audiences that have included the President of the United States and the Queen Elizabeth II, Taylor has made a worthy name for herself as one of this country's most talented musicians and songstresses. Taylor was nominated for a Gemini Award for her rendition of Oscar Peterson's "Hymn to Freedom," which she performed alongside Oliver Jones at the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala. Taylor is also the recipient of the Governor General's Performing Arts Award Mentorship Program. Coming full circle, Taylor finds herself reconnecting with her childhood. "The sounds and music of my youth are all present on Born Free. From the gospel music and blues at church to even the southern country gospel at home on the record player. It's all in there!" Finally, "Spirituality isn't about being perfect," states Taylor, "It's knowing that The Creator is omnipresent in the midst of our fragmented lives."
    www.dionetaylor.com

    Become a NEW TDMS Facebook LIKER during Saturday's performance & win a CD!
    (We will randomly pick a new page liker during today's show, then contact them for shipping details. To win you must be from Canada eh!)
    Listen ← 42m:11s – 24.14 MB → Download