Episodes 99
Avg. Duration 1h 9m
Activity Highly Active
Apple Rating 4.9 (1,071)
Since May 2019
Latest Episode Jun 2026

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Schedule
Monthly
Format
Episodic
Consistency
40%
Hosting
rss.buzzsprout.com

About This Podcast

The Emerald explores the human experience through a vibrant lens of myth, story, and imagination. Brought to life through the wise, wild, and humorous vision of Joshua Michael Schrei — a teacher and lifelong student of the cosmologies and mythologies of the world — the podcast draws from a deep well of poetry, lore, and mythos to challenge conventional narratives on politics and public discourse, meditation and mindfulness, art, science, literature, and more. At the heart of the podcast is the premise that the imaginative, poetic, animate heart of human experience — elucidated by so many cultures over so many thousands of years — is missing in modern discourse and is urgently needed at a time when humanity is facing unprecedented problems. The Emerald advocates for an imaginative vision of human life and human discourse as it questions deep underlying assumptions about societal progress.

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Recent Episodes

S1E100 Space Hex! (The Curse of Restlessness, Revisited)

Jun 13, 2026 1h

“We don’t go to other planets because our planet is dying. Our planet dies, specifically because we perpetually want to go somewhere else.” Fresh off of the Initial Public Offering of Space X, the…

S1E99 Seven

Jun 08, 2026 43m

Seven years ago last Tuesday, The Emerald podcast was born. This episode reflects on the journey of the podcast so far and gives hints of what's to come, all through the prism of the number 7, which…

S1E98 Enter the Dragon, Part 2: On Order and Chaos

May 01, 2026 2h 12m

The dragon, or serpent, in myth and story, is the coiling, spiraling power of nature itself. And so, how cultures have treated the dragon depends a lot on how they view nature and how they view the…

S1E97 Enter The Dragon, Terrifying and Beautiful (Part 1)

Feb 17, 2026 1h 59m

Dragon lore is everywhere in global mythology — no matter what continent you live on, the land you inhabit holds dragon story, and quite possibly was shaped by dragons, or has sleeping dragons in it.…

S1E96 Carry That Weight: On Mythic Burdens and Cosmic Supports

Nov 12, 2025 2h 16m

There is a weight to modern existence — perhaps you've felt it. In a world in which social and environmental crises only seem to be deepening and our familial, communal and spiritual support systems…

S1E95 I Think I Hear the Coming of a Planetary Roar (with Louder Music)

Sep 07, 2025 2h 6m

In times of rising frustration over the state of nations, times of personal, ecological, societal, and planetary impasse, when cycles of senseless suffering seemingly repeat themselves over and over,…

S1E94 I Think I Hear the Coming of a Planetary Roar

Aug 30, 2025 2h 6m

In times of rising frustration over the state of nations, times of personal, ecological, societal, and planetary impasse, when cycles of senseless suffering seemingly repeat themselves over and over,…

S1E93 On Powers, Great and Small

Jun 16, 2025 2h 6m

POWER is on the mind these days, as the world grapples with shifting global power dynamics, old powers crumbling, new ones rising, and archaic power paradigms resurfacing… Yes, issues of power run…

S1E92 Trickster Jumps Sides (Re-Issued for Tricky Times)

Apr 02, 2025 1h 14m

Tricksters and culture disruptors populate global mythology. From Loki to Coyote to Èṣù and Hermes, they bend rules, cross boundaries, commit deliberate and unintentional offenses and generally mess…

S1E91 On Singing to the Beloved in Times of Crisis

Feb 27, 2025 2h 7m

We live in times of individual, sociocultural and planetary crisis, exacerbated by rising divisions between people. How have humans historically navigated such times of crisis? Yes, we've organized,…

S1E90 For the Divine Mother of the Universe (Remixed and Reissued)

Jan 01, 2025 1h 38m

There’s a lot of cultural clutter these days around 'The Goddess.' She appears everywhere, her many names are invoked free of context in a hundred thousand ways. She’s what? An empowerment tool. An…

S1E89 This Episode is FIRE

Nov 03, 2024 1h 50m

In the deepest, oldest caverns of human memory, a fire burns... and that fire has been with human beings since the very beginning. Scientists now say that the human relationship with fire goes back…

S1E88 (Why Mindfulness Isn't Enough)

Oct 01, 2024 1h 35m

In recent years, the practice of 'mindfulness' has become ubiquitous. Mindfulness has outgrown its traditional Buddhist roots and now permeates modern wellness and optimization culture, finding its…

S1E87 Guardians and Protectors!

Sep 02, 2024 2h 31m

Practices of guardianship — invoking guardian deities, enlisting spirit help, clearing spaces of questionable energies, and establishing boundaries around ritual, communal, and personal space — are…

S1E86 Let Us Sing of the Syncretic Gods of Outcasts and Wanderers

May 24, 2024 2h 11m

The story of human ritual and cultural tradition is one of depth and deep connection to land, to place, and to processes and protocols that remain steady across generations. But it's also a story of…

S1E85 On Clouds and Cosmic Law

Apr 09, 2024 1h 58m

In the modern world, words like 'law' and 'order' carry with them a good deal of sociocultural baggage, and are often associated with restriction, burden, and arbitrarily imposed rules. Yet…

S1E84 Oh Justice

Mar 03, 2024 3h 18m

In times of global upheaval, ecological destruction, and societal inequity, justice can seem very far away. Justice in the modern world is often viewed as a contract, an agreement forged between…

S1E83 For the Intuitives (Part 2)

Dec 31, 2023 1h 58m

Across the globe, the arrival of 'civilization' brought with it the persecution of the seer, the shaman, and the visionary. Why?  Perhaps it is because civilization, with its narratives of individual…

S1E82 For the Intuitives (Part 1)

Nov 21, 2023 1h 37m

Across cultures and traditions, there have always been those that speak with the dead, hear voices, enter states of oracular trance, and receive visions of what is to come. Such sensitivity,…

S1E81 All of My Lessons Come in the Form of a Sound ( w/ Trevor Hall)

Oct 21, 2023 1h 43m

There is... a sound. Many, through the ages, have heard it. It echoes in the world all around us, it reverberates in songs of joy and lament, it vibrates in the names of the gods and goddesses…

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does The Emerald have?

The Emerald has published 99 episodes since May 2019, covering topics in Arts, Religion & Spirituality.

Is The Emerald still active?

The Emerald is currently highly active with new episodes monthly. Average episode length is 1h 9m.

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