Shows / Sounds of SAND
Sounds of SAND
Sounds of SAND invites listeners into a contemplative journey through the infinite cycles of existence - from its raw beauty to its deepest mysteries, from its intricate complexity to its profound wonder. Through intimate conversations, thought-provoking interviews, poetic readings, and carefully curated music, we weave together ancient wisdom with lived experience, creating a tapestry of sound that honors the great questions of being
Episodes
Sounds of SANDA Time Between Worlds: Michael Meade
AI, Mythology, and the Battle for the Soul of Humanity We live in a moment of profound uncertainty, marked by existential planetary threats and the dizzying…
Sounds of SANDThe Name Remembers: William K. Iaukea
Language, Lineage, and the Spirit of Old Hawai‘i In this deeply personal and expansive conversation, cultural bearer and healer William K. Iaukea invites us…
Sounds of SANDHuman & Machine Hallucinations: Bayo Akomolafe, Vanessa Andreotti & Alnoor Ladha
What if humans and AI share the same hallucination? In this fifth installment of SAND’s Great AI Unraveling series, Alnoor Ladha hosts a conversation between…
Sounds of SANDOur Sacred Earth: Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee
Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee grew up with a Sufi teacher living downstairs and fell in love with jazz at an early age. He is now a Sufi teacher himself, a filmmaker…
Sounds of SANDRooted Action: Starhawk & Rae Abileah
Earth, Spirit, and Collective Empowerment Recorded live at a SAND Gathering on September 13, 2026 In a time of profound ecological and social upheaval, we are…
Sounds of SANDNuance of Wonder: Joan Tollifson
Joan Tollifson returns to the podcast three years after her first conversation. We talk about her June essay Two Inseparable Truths, on the relative and the…
Sounds of SANDAI & Colonial Logic: Christian “ZacaTechO” Ortiz & Thema Monroe-White
Part of SAND’s The Great AI Unraveling Series Artificial intelligence is often framed as a leap forward, a technical revolution, or an inevitable stage in…
Sounds of SANDThe Flow of Coherence: Cynthia Li
Dr. Cynthia Li joins us to talk about her new book, The Medicine of Flow. Trained as an internist, Cynthia developed an autoimmune condition and then chronic…
Sounds of SANDThe Dance of Exile & Settlement: Bayo Akomolafe
Full interview with Dr. Bayo Akomolafe, recorded by SAND founders Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo. Edited portions appear in The Eternal Song; this is the whole…
Sounds of SANDThe Unbroken Thread: Pir Zia Inayat Khan
Pir Zia on the secret history of the world From a nondual perspective, aren't the world's great spiritual traditions expressions of a single living wisdom? In…
Sounds of SANDArborescence: Robert Moor
Robert Moor is a journalist and essayist whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, The Atlantic, Emergence, and The New York Times. His first book…
Sounds of SANDSuperfluity of AI: Lyla June, Kathy Wan Povi Sanchez & Ashley Nicole Leitka
The third conversation in "The Great AI Unraveling", recorded live with our community on July 10, 2026. Throughout time, humanity has experimented with playing…
Sounds of SANDHealing the Soul Wound: Eduardo Duran
Recorded live at our May 2026 online gathering celebrating Little Singer, the Diné film in The Eternal Song series, this conversation with psychologist Eduardo…
Sounds of SANDGrow, Become, Love, Alone: Nicole Wordlaw
Clinical psychologist and longtime Buddhist meditator Dr. Nicole Wordlaw joins us to talk about her new memoir, Waking Up Alone: Navigating the Narrow Passage…
Sounds of SANDSongs of Sila: Avianja Rakel Sanimuinaq, Ikimaliq Pikilak & Nuka Alice
Three Kalaallit Inuit women sit with Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo, who met them while filming on their traditional land in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland). Ikimaliq…
Sounds of SANDReigniting Indigenous Science: Maceo Carrillo Martinet
Restoration ecologist and author Dr. Maceo Carrillo Martinet joins us to talk about his new book Healing the Land Teaches Us Who We Are: How Indigenous…
Sounds of SANDWhat Occupation Does to the Soul: Samah Jabr, Gabor Maté, Jennifer Mullan, Facilitated by Jess Ghannam
Global Reverberations of Palestinian Historical Trauma: A SAND Community Gathering with Dr. Samah Jabr, Dr. Gabor Maté & Dr. Jennifer Mullan, facilitated by…
Sounds of SANDAnimism, Activism & Ancestry: Daniel Foor
Daniel Foor returns to Sounds of SAND for a wide-ranging conversation that moves from his own winding spiritual path to the urgent question of why so many…
Sounds of SANDTending the Whole: Nkem Ndefo & Staci K. Haines, Facilitated by Rae Abileah
There is a “false wall” often placed between contemplative life and political action—a story implying that inner peace and outer justice are separate…
Sounds of SANDSacred Remembering in Times of War: Dr. Jaiya John (Mshkiki Odeh Inini, Medicine Heart Man)
Recorded live at a SAND Community Gathering (April 2026) Hard times are here, we hunger for voices that can see beyond the fear, beyond the noise, beyond the…
Sounds of SANDAwakening in Times of Collapse: Stephan Bodian
Stephan offers webinars, retreats, videos, books, and spiritual counseling that make profound spiritual teachings and practices accessible to a global…
Sounds of SANDMysticism of Sound & Music: Michael Harrison (Encore)
We are resharing this episode in memory of Michael Harrison, who passed away on April 17, 2026. He was 67. In this episode, we discuss the life and work of…
Sounds of SANDThe Great AI Unraveling, Part 2: Tiokasin Ghosthorse & Pooja Prema
This is the second gathering in SAND's ongoing series on AI and the human spirit — and it takes a deliberately different rhythm. Rather than asking "is AI…
Sounds of SANDThe Indigenous Paradigm: Pat McCabe & Lynn Murphy
Originally recorded at Science and Nonduality, 2021 Pat McCabe, also known as Woman Stands Shining, is a Diné elder, ceremonial prayer leader, and…
Sounds of SANDWhat Empire Cannot Erase: Fatemeh Keshavarz-Karamustafa, Omid Safi & Mays Imad
Persian Poetry, Radical Love, and the Soul of Iran “The path to God goes through that most difficult of beings, the human being.” – Omid Safi Recorded live at…
Sounds of SANDThe Great AI Unraveling: Tristan Harris
Recorded live at SAND Community Gathering (April 2026). Watch the full conversion on the SAND Website. SAND has launched a special series on Artificial…
Sounds of SANDMongolian Dharma Poetry: Simon Wickhamsmith
Simon Wickhamsmith is a Buddhist monk turned scholar, computer musician, and one of the only translators of Mongolian literature into English. He teaches in…
Sounds of SANDAncient Minoan Wisdom: Chiara Baldini
Researcher, author, and PhD candidate Chiara Baldini has spent two decades tracing the roots of ecstatic culture in Europe — from the rituals of Dionysus all…
Sounds of SANDThe Architecture of Silence in Spiritual Culture: Gabor Maté, Bayo Akomolafe, Pat McCabe, Tara Brach, V & Matthew Remski
Recorded live at a SAND Community Gathering (March 2026). Something is cracking open in the spiritual and wellness world; and it has been for a while. Have…
Sounds of SANDTransforming Colonization, Extractivism & Socio-Ecological Injustice: Casey Camp-Horinek, Osprey Orielle Lake, Abby Reyes & Rae Abileah
Recorded live at SAND's Wisdom of the Ancestors event for the launch of the film series The Eternal Song, four powerful voices converge to address…
Sounds of SANDReading As Resistance: Patty Krawec
Patty Krawec is Ojibwe Anishinaabe, a retired social worker, and author of Becoming Kin and her new book Bad Indians Book Club. In this conversation she…
Sounds of SANDBlock by Block, Heart by Heart: Dr. Lyla June, Kaira Jewel Lingo, Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg & Rae Abileah
Recorded from a live SAND Gathering (February 2026). From Los Angeles to Minneapolis, communities are turning toward one another in a time of uncertainty…
Sounds of SANDMedicine in Our Wounds: Liza Rankow
Dr. Liza J. Rankow, author of Soul Medicine for a Fractured World, explores healing justice in a time of social and ecological upheaval. She names oppositional…
Sounds of SAND"If I Must Die": Samah Jabr & Mays Imad
Recorded live at a SAND Community Gathering (Feb 2026) Dr. Samah Jabr, a Palestinian psychiatrist and author of Radiance in Pain and Resilience, joins Dr. Mays…
Sounds of SANDConsciousness: Tiokasin Ghosthorse
What if language was not a tool for naming things, but a vibration of relationship? What if intelligence wasn’t a human asset, but an ecological rhythm? What…
Sounds of SANDListening in Reverie: Ellen Emmet
In this conversation, Ellen Emmet reflects on her path into Jungian analysis and how the teachings of Carl Jung continue to shape her inner life, clinical…
Sounds of SANDSoul Work for Times of Uncertainty: Francis Weller
From a SAND Community Gathering (December 2025), Francis Weller joins SAND co-founders Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo for a wide-ranging conversation on grief…
Sounds of SANDIndigenous Ways of Knowing: Dr. Leroy Little Bear
Blackfoot scholar Dr. Leroy Little Bear shares foundational Indigenous ways of knowing—revealing a worldview built on energy, motion, and relationship rather…
Sounds of SANDHealing with Songlines: Joe Williams & Dr. (Uncle) Paul Gordon
This episode was recorded live at The Eternal Song Film Gathering in 2025. Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo welcome Dr. (Uncle) Paul Gordon and Joe Williams, featured…
Sounds of SANDDispatches Through the Rubble: Haidar Eid & Ashira Darwish
From a recent SAND Community Gathering (December 2025). This urgent conversation, facilitated by Ashira Darwish and rooted in Haidar Eid’s new book Banging on…
Sounds of SANDThreshold Voices: Sounds of SAND 2025
This final episode of 2025 reflects on a year of transitions and healing, focusing on themes of intergenerational trauma, collective grief, and social justice…
Sounds of SANDEngaged Contemplation: Father Adam Bucko
In this episode of The Sounds of SAND podcast, host Michael Reiley speaks with Father Adam Bucko about his journey and the integration of Christian…
Sounds of SANDTherapy Is Not Neutral: Dr. Jennifer Mullan & Iya Affo
A Decolonial Invitation to Remember, Relearn, and Resist From a live SAND Community Gathering (November 2025) a live conversation with Dr. Jennifer Mullan &…
Sounds of SANDTrauma Healing: Gabor Maté, Judy Atkinson, Patricia June Vickers, Diana Kopua, Del Laverdure
This episode, recorded live at The Eternal Song live gathering (June 2025), brings together a distinguished panel featuring Patricia June Vickers, Judy…
Sounds of SANDRadical Symbiosis: Cara Judea Alhadeff
Dr. Cara Judea Alhadeff discusses her work and the profound ideas in her book Zazu Dreams: Between the Scarab and the Dung Beetle, A Cautionary Fable for the…
Sounds of SANDTrauma in a Time of Collapse: Kazu Haga
What does it mean to stay tender in times of unraveling? In this live SAND Community Gathering (November 2025), SAND co-founders, Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo…
Sounds of SANDTending the Threshold: Bayo Akomolafe
Recorded live at The Eternal Song Seven Day Film Premiere Gathering. In this episode, hosts Maurizio and Zaya engage in deep conversation with Yoruba…
Sounds of SANDThe Medicine Story: Jungwon Kim & Linda Thai
Hosted by SAND’s Lisa Breschi Almond, this poignant discussion entitled 'War's Long Shadow Part Two: The Medicine of Story' was recorded live as a recent SAND…
Sounds of SANDDecolonial Healing & Liberation: Dr. Thema Bryant
In this episode, SAND co-founders and hosts Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo welcome Dr. Thema Bryant, a tenured professor of psychology and former President of the…
Sounds of SANDRongoā Māori: Donna Kerridge
Recorded live at The Eternal Song Seven Day Film Premiere summit with Indigenous voices. Donna Kerridge, a Rongoā Māori practitioner from Waikato, Aotearoa New…
Sounds of SANDReindigenizing Our Ways of Being: Tina Ngata, Diana and Mark Kopua
In this panel from the The Eternal Song 7-Day Global Gathering Schedule, Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo speak with Dr. Diana Kopua, a Māori psychiatrist, Mark…
Sounds of SANDALTÆR: Iya Affo
Ancestral Bone Mapping & Healing: Reweaving the Soul Through Bone, Beauty, and Ancestral Nourishment with Iya Affo Through rhythms of beauty, grief, and…
Sounds of SANDWe Will Not Look Away: Vigil for Gaza
Please join us along with Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, Ashira Darwish, Rae Abileah, Shahd Abusalama, Omid Safi, Reverend Michael Yoshii, and Iyas Sartawari for a…
Sounds of SANDThe Sacred Work of Grief: Francis Weller & Orland Bishop
In this live recording from The Eternal Song Seven Day Premier broadcast, hosts Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo engage in a deep discussion with guests Francis…
Sounds of SAND#60 Spiritual Warriors: Lama Rod Owens
Lama Rod Owens is a Black Buddhist Southern Queen. An international influencer with a Master of Divinity degree in Buddhist Studies from Harvard Divinity…
Sounds of SAND#94 One Human Family: Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Rev. Deborah Lee & Pir Zia Inayat Khan
In this episode we present excerpts from the recent conversation (June 2024) as part of SAND’s “Conversations on Palestine” around the premiere of the film…
Sounds of SAND#58 On Extinction & Enchantment: Alixa García
Alixa García is a Colombian born, globally-raised, multi-disciplinary artist, activist, and cultural activator whose work is imbued in ritual, spirit, and deep…
Sounds of SAND#130 Spiritual Shadows: Scott Kiloby & Toshi Matsunaga
Today on the show, we welcome Scott Kiloby and Toshi Matsunaga, authors of Awake But Sick, to explore the hidden emotional pain that can persist even after…
Sounds of SAND#54 Nordic Animism: Rune Hjarnø Rasmussen (Encore)
Rune Hjarnø Rasmussen is a Historian of Religion, Ph.d from Uppsala University in Sweden. His research into Afro-diasporic strategies for maintaining animist…
Sounds of SAND#129 Embodying Anti-Zionism: Wendy Elisheva Somerson
Wendy Elisheva Somerson (wes) is a non-binary Jewish somatic healer, writer, visual artist, and activist who helped found the Seattle chapter of Jewish Voice…