In the U.S. in recent years, mindfulness meditation has become a mainstream stress reducer, widely practiced in schools, corporations, and even by a Member of Congress.

The world’s more than 1.5 billion Muslims have begun observing the holy month of Ramadan, when they fast every day from dawn to sunset and offer special prayers and gifts to the poor. But what about Muslim athletes at the Olympic Games, which are set to open in London this coming week?  Should they participate in the fast?  And if they do, will it affect their chances of winning a medal?

The Syrian desert monastery Deir Mar Musa, 50 miles southwest of Homs, was once a center of pilgrimage and interfaith dialogue. Now, the Catholic priest who leads the monastery has been expelled from Syria and the future of the ministry is uncertain. Correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro visited before the violence erupted and reports on the work once done at Deir Mar Musa.

Correspondent Tim O’Brien examines charges that some federal prosecutors wrongfully withhold from defense attorneys material evidence that could affect the outcome of a trial.

Famed criminal defense attorney discusses the ill-fated prosecution of the late Alaska Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), in which prosecutors withheld critical evidence from the defense and stood silently as some of their key witnesses testified falsely. Sullivan talks about what went wrong in the case and offers some suggestions for improvements at the U.S. Department of Justice.

As the glacier melts on top of Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, a Lutheran assistant bishop is leading an effort to plant more than a million trees to try to head off environmental disaster.

In his new book "Our Divided Political Heart," Dionne argues that since the beginning of the nation, Americans have tried to balance an impulse toward individualism and an impulse toward community.  He says in today’s politics, the balance has shifted too far in favor of individualism, and the result has been division and gridlock.

Christian missionaries have been proselytizing the legendary African Masai tribal members for over 150 years, with little success. But recently many Masai have been converting to Christianity.

Watch excerpts from the July 2nd arrival of "Nuns on the Bus" on Capitol Hill and listen to Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of NETWORK, talk about the Ryan budget versus the nuns' "faithful budget."

Individual liberty versus the common good and the ongoing need for comprehensive immigration reform were among the issues religious groups continued to debate as the High Court’s current term came to a close.

Dr. Craig Dykstra is retiring this summer as head of the Lilly Endowment’s religion division. On his watch, the endowment has made grants of nearly 1.8 billion dollars, much of it to help strengthen congregations and pastors. Bob Abernethy interviews Dykstra and others about his hopes and results.

"Drought does not need to mean famine," according to Niger's president, who adds that the country is tired of needing help and not being able to feed its own people. "We need to escape from emergency aid. We need to help our population produce and provide for itself."

The Washington Post columnist talks religion and politics with correspondent Kim Lawton. Will Catholic voters be moved by the US bishops’ appeals to religious liberty? Can President Obama make any inroads with evangelical conservatives? What role will Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith play? Have the Democrats backed away from working with religious voters?

"It was the first successful labor union for farmworkers,” says author Miriam Pawel. “It was very much the civil rights movement of the West,". But fifty years after its founding by the late Cesar Chavez, the UFW is struggling to retain membership and influence.

At the opening night (June 14) of the third annual BuddhaFest film festival in Arlington, Virginia, we asked attendees to talk about their attraction to Buddhism. Watch an audio slideshow of the interviews, and listen to American University Buddhist chaplain Bhante Uparatana lead a Buddhist chant during the opening ceremony.

An estimated one in ten individuals will experience a severe and persistent mental illness at some point in his or her life. Many have had difficulty finding a welcoming house of worship. Deborah Potter visits churches that have had special programs and significant success ministering to this usually disenfranchised population.

"I am a human being, I’m a Buddhist monk, I am a Westerner," says this sophisticated photographer, and the Dalai Lama has also asked him to lead one of Tibetan Buddhism’s most important monasteries.

A nonprofit agency in Greater Cincinnati tries to guide young people in their decision-making about sexuality, dating, drugs, social media, and more.

Watch excerpts from interviews about the current debate over religious freedom and the Obama administration’s contraceptive mandate.

We asked everyday people—tourists, businessmen, students, and others—along with Buddhist monk Nicholas Vreeland what it means to be “awake” in the world.