SongWriter turns stories into songs
An exploration of inspiration, it features artists like Questlove, Susan Orlean, David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, David Sedaris, Katie Melua, W. Kamau Bell, George Saunders, Raven Leilani, and Steve Earle
Creator Ben Arthur hosts and edits the show
SongWriter is available as a podcast from PRX, and as a live performance series, in segments on the syndicated radio program Acoustic Cafe for 1.5M listeners, and in articles in Paste magazine
CEO of Aegis Trust, Freddy Mutanguha, speaks about forgiveness.
Since 2024 SongWriter has been supported by Templeton World Charity Foundation. Episodes focus on elements of human flourishing like forgiveness, empathy, caregiving, and polarization, and include the perspective of scientists on their related research
As an example, in the summer of 2024 there was a live SongWriter performance in Kigali, Rwanda, exploring forgiveness on the 20th anniversary of the genocide. Survivor Freddy Mutanguha (Director of the Kigali Genocide Memorial) spoke about visiting the man who killed his mother in prison, Dr. Pamela Wadende described her research in Kenya, and Hope Azeda and Peace Jolis shared poetry and a new song written in response to Freddy's story
Ben sings with Peace Jolis
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