Atlanta, GA, Dec. 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Day1, the national weekly ecumenical radio, podcast, and streaming program produced by the Alliance for Christian Media, broadcasting inspiring sermons and conversations since 1945, is delighted to announce that acclaimed travel writer, travel expert and television host, Rick Steves, will be featured in an exclusive Day1 Interview episode.
The Day1 Interview
The episode, Day1 episode #4213, is now available to listen to on all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify, as well as on the Day1 website. The episode is also available to watch on the Day1 YouTube channel and via Day1 YouTube Shorts. The sermon portion of the episode will air worldwide on the Day1 radio broadcast on Dec. 21, on these stations.
The conversation will be hosted by Day1’s Rev. Dr. Katie Givens Kime, who continues to expand the platform's mission by amplifying diverse voices of faith.
In this rich and moving special Day1 interview, Steves opens his heart about the deep spiritual grounding behind his life’s work, and how travel continues to illuminate what it means to love God and neighbor in today’s world.
Travel as Spiritual Practice
Throughout the episode, Steves reflects on how travel functions not only as education and adventure, but as a spiritual discipline. Drawing from his book, "Travel as a Political Act", he contends that its insights could be equally named Travel as a Spiritual Act. Steves encourages listeners to travel not merely as tourists, but as pilgrims, mixing delight, learning, and transformation. “Culture shock is the growing pains of a broadening perspective,” he says. “If you can mix being a tourist, a traveler, and a pilgrim, you have a transformational experience.”
A Christmas Story for Today
In this special Christmas episode, airing during the Advent Season, Steves reflects deeply on the Nativity narrative. “The darker the night, the brighter the star, and Jesus was a bright light in a dark sky.”
Travel in the Holy Land has helped Steves imagine the human realities of Mary and Joseph’s world under the Roman Empire, realities that still echo across the globe today.
Finding Light in the World’s Hardest Places
When asked where he sees light breaking through today’s darkness, Steves recounts profoundly moving encounters, from a Palestinian pastor in Bethlehem turning shattered stained glass into Christmas ornaments, to a Cuban family joyfully welcoming strangers on New Year’s Eve, to an Iranian motorist handing him flowers in a traffic jam simply to apologize for the inconvenience.
“These are beautiful children of God,” Steves says. “If you don’t get out and get to know that, your worldview is shaped by fear-mongering… The best way we can witness to the world is to love the world.”
“Having Rick Steves on Day1 was an absolute joy. His humility, his compassion, and the depth of his spirituality shine through in every story he tells,” said Kime, President and CEO, and Host of Day1.
Listeners can expect a thought provoking discussion that delves into the intersections of faith, travel, and personal growth. Steves' approach to travel as a spiritual journey offers a fresh perspective that encourages audiences to view exploration as a path to deeper understanding and connection.
This episode featuring Rick Steves is part of Day1's ongoing commitment to reimagining the role of faith in the public square. By engaging with influential voices like Steves, Day1 seeks to foster conversations that challenge and inspire listeners worldwide.
For more information on Day1 and to listen to the this episode, visit https://day1.org.
About Rick Steves
Rick Steves is a popular public television host, a best-selling guidebook author, and an outspoken activist who encourages Americans to broaden their perspectives through travel. He is the founder and owner of Rick Steves' Europe, a travel business with a small-group tour program that brings more than 30,000 people to Europe annually. Rick lives and works in his hometown of Edmonds, Washington, where his office window overlooks his old junior high school.
About The Rev. Dr. Katie Givens Kime
President and Executive Producer, Alliance for Christian Media, and Host of "Day1" Katie leads ACM and Day1 after years of collaborations at the intersection of faith, media and the public square. She holds a M.Div. from Union Theological Seminary (NYC) and a Ph.D. from Emory University and was a member of the Post-Doctoral Teaching and Research Faculty at the Universität Bern in Switzerland in 2017-18, and served as the Associate Pastor for Mission, Adult Education and Young Adults at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, Ga., for six years. Before that, Katie worked at Marble Collegiate Church and at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, both in New York City. Katie and her husband Haddon Kime live with their daughter in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Day1 logo
About Day1
Day1, produced by The Alliance for Christian Media in Atlanta, GA, has been a beacon of Christian wisdom since its founding in 1945 as "The Protestant Hour." With a reach extending to audiences through radio, podcasts, and digital platforms, Day1 continues to connect timeless Christian teachings with contemporary issues.
Media Contact
Evyenia Constantine
Director of Communications, Day1
Email: evyenia@day1.org
A video accompanying this announcement is available here: https://youtube.com/watch?v=DDvIdKR6h60
