John was a guest on season six of The Seed: Conversations for Radical Hope, a podcast from Pendle Hill hosted by Dwight Dunston.
Excerpt from Episode Details on Apple Podcasts
In this mini-episode, host Dwight Dunston returns to his conversation with Quaker healer John Calvi. They explore the history of John’s seminal song, “The Ones Who Aren’t Here,” and the weight of carrying love across time and loss.
John shares the song’s origins, written in his 20s during a time of “personal exile”. Reflecting on the “fierce closet” of the early 80s, John notes, “As Pete Seeger said, you build a good building, can be used for a lot of different things over time”. For John, the song became a “good building” for those seeking community during the AIDS crisis.
The episode features a 1982 recording from WWUH radio. John reflects: “Perhaps ministry is that rare, too rare, song that teaches the pain as it lifts us up towards knowing what is possible”.