Smithsonian Associates - Educating and Entertaining Audiences for More Than 50 Years

Two and a half millennia ago, the Buddha taught that inner peace and freedom could be developed and cultivated through training in the mindfulness, compassion, and insight found in the practice of meditation. Join Deepak Chopra to explore how meditation can serve as a potentially powerful tool to meet the challenges of the moment.

Bakari Sellers, a CNN analyst and one of the youngest state representatives in South Carolina history, examines the plight of the South's dwindling rural population of black working-class men and women. Drawing on his new book My Vanishing Country, he surveys the struggles that shape their lives: gaining access to healthcare, making ends meet as factories shut down, holding on to traditions as towns erode, and forging a path forward without succumbing to despair.

In a special evening that celebrates the late civil rights icon and longtime U.S. congressman, Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III joins Jon Meacham, author of a new biography of John Lewis, to discuss the life, career, and legacy of a visionary who offers inspiration and illumination for Americans today who are working for social and political change.

Christian churches and other world religions are increasingly incorporating environmentalism into their teachings. Ethicist and author William Barbieri explores how and why these religious traditions are responding to ecological challenges, and what we can learn from this process regarding the role of religions in the modern world.

Drawing on his new biography Eleanor, David Michaelis delves into the inner life of Eleanor Roosevelt—one of the 20th century's greatest figures—covering her troubled childhood, complicated marriage and partnership with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, trailblazing 12 years as first lady, and accomplishments as a diplomat, activist, and humanitarian.