Culture Changers with Allison Hare

By Allison HareSociety & Culture Business Science Social Sciences Philosophy Management

Culture Changers with Allison Hare episodes

June 18DEI Is Gone. Now What? With HR Insider Kevin Calhoun
Kevin Calhoun spent years doing HR and DEI work from inside some of the biggest corporations in the world. He watched those programs get built. Then he watched them get dismantled — and found himself displaced in the process. In this conversation, recorded in honor of Juneteenth, Kevin introduces the concept of James Crow: Jim Crow's more dangerous, more invisible cousin. The one with a hiring algorithm instead of a shotgun.
Notable Timestamps (verify against final audio before publishing)
03:03 — Kevin reads from his article "James Crow and Visa, Everywhere You Want to Be" — the line that stopped Allison cold

04:37 — How corporate culture shifted from servant leadership to "we're going in a different direction"

07:40 — The grief nobody talks about: losing your corporate identity in a 30-minute meeting

09:05 — The stats: DEI fell 98% in Fortune 100 communications; Black unemployment now twice white unemployment

11:47 — Performative DEI vs. real DEI — how to tell the difference

13:49 — Costco held the line against 19 attorney generals. Why some companies stay and others fold.

15:15 — What Kevin learned about not seeking validation from your organization

17:15 — The pendulum: why organizations that hold their values win long-term

20:38 — Jim Crow vs. James Crow — Kevin defines the difference

28:15 — Code switching, agency, and choosing when to show up fully as yourself

33:24 — How to find your way forward when the system has failed you

36:56 — "No company loves you." What Kevin knows that he wishes more people understood

38:58 — If you know the rules of the game before you start playing, you can't be mad if you don't win
Rather watch on YouTube? https://youtu.be/ixqV4X5EqJ8
Resources & Links Mentioned
Kevin's article: "James Crow and Visa, Everywhere You Want to Be" - available on Substack and Medium

Kevin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-calhoun-0808882/

Kevin's email: [email protected]

Book a free podcast clarity call with Allison: allisonhare.com/freecall
Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.
Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
Sign up for the free weekly email
AllisonHare.com
Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
Reb3l Dance Fitness - Try it at home! Free month with this link.
Feedback and Contact:: [email protected]
43 min
June 11The Matriarchy
My mother died on June 11th, five years ago. This is the episode I recorded right after she passed. It's episode 300, and it's dedicated to her.
What I didn't expect was what her last six months would teach me. About the matriarchy. About worthiness. About the hypermasculine drive that so many of us — myself very much included — run on until we can't anymore. And about what happens when you finally let yourself receive love instead of earn it.
If you still have your mother here, you will want to call her after this one.
In this episode:
The real history of the matriarchy — and why it matters that it existed before the patriarchy

How watching a parent die dismantles the story you've been living

What hypermasculine burnout actually looks like from the inside

What her last six months looked like — and why she was happier than she'd been in decades

What "being enough" feels like when someone you love shows you it's true
Timestamps:
00:00 — Dedication and why this episode exists

02:44 — The matriarchy: history, power, and what we lost

05:05 — Who my mother was

09:53 — What her life became my cautionary tale

12:16 — The hypermasculine drive and the burnout

14:37 — Her last six months and the miracle in them

17:05 — The room where she died

20:36 — What the matriarchy is asking of us now
Links and Resources:
Episode 3 with Kelly Knight on the Age of Aquarius: [link to episode 3]

Free podcast strategy call: https://allisonhare.com/freecall
Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.
Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
Sign up for the free weekly email
AllisonHare.com
Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
Reb3l Dance Fitness - Try it at home! Free month with this link.
Feedback and Contact:: [email protected]
24 min
June 04Inside a hit comedy podcast with The Commercial Break
Bryan Green and Krissy Hoadley of The Commercial Break built a #1 comedy podcast with over 50 million downloads and absolutely no plan. Over a thousand episodes in, they're finally spilling the behind-the-scenes. What makes a show last? What's the actual creative process? And who on earth is Frankie B? Fun fact, Bryan was in my very first podcast launch cohort in 2019 which is how this show began.
What listeners will take away:
The mindset shift that separates podcasters who last from the ones who quit at episode twelve

A simple way to choose a co-host that actually works — it has nothing to do with who makes you laugh

The full, ridiculous, endearing origin story of Frankie B and why Bryan thinks he might be the secret engine of the whole show

Why chasing trends, polish, and strategy is exactly backwards

The 20/80 rule for showing up on days when you have nothing
Notable Timestamps:
07:07 — Bryan on the "big fuck this" moments every podcaster hits and why you keep going anyway

09:59 — "Perfection is the enemy of consistency" — the line that will stick with you

13:06 — Why Bryan doesn't care if you think his podcast has too many ums

15:42 — The 20/80 rule: what to do when you walk in with nothing

17:29 — The Apple review that finally told Bryan what his show actually was

25:52 — The full Frankie B origin story (12 views, Ruby Tuesday's, and a text from Jason)

35:52 — The line Bryan won't cross, even when something is funny

37:26 — His read on the Manosphere and why most of those guys are running a grift

43:46 — The whole strategy, summed up in one sentence
Links and Resources:
The Commercial Break: thecommercialbreak.com

Bryan Green on Instagram: https://instagram.com/bryanwgreen

Frankie B on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@frankbennardo6063

Book a free clarity call with Allison: allisonhare.com/freecall
Prefer to watch on YouTube? Voila! https://youtu.be/kFmVtTnBsjw
Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.
Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
Sign up for the free weekly email
AllisonHare.com
Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
Reb3l Dance Fitness - Try it at home! Free month with this link.
Feedback and Contact:: [email protected]
50 min
May 28The Guru Era is Dead. What comes next? with Dr. Liz Bucar
How did we go from prophet to profit with Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, Deepak Chopra... one by one, the curtain got lifted? And we're left asking: who do we actually trust? Religious ethicist Dr. Liz Bucar has spent 25 years studying exactly that question. Her answers will surprise you.
What you'll learn in this episode:
Why the guru era is collapsing and what a good teacher actually looks like versus a predatory one

The hidden Orientalism behind Deepak Chopra and Jay Shetty's appeal — and the latent racism nobody's talking about

How a 19th century minister literally named after the Graham cracker gave us our food guilt

Why a single question from a tarot card reader reversed years of orthorexia when therapy and church couldn't touch it

What happened when a straight-edge religious studies professor did ayahuasca three times a day for three days in an Oregon yurt — and what it broke open about death, grief, and living well

What sangha means and why real community requires you to be inconvenienced
Prefer to watch on YouTube? https://youtu.be/5kXU5Cf2heE
Resources & Links:
ORDER Beyond Wellness book: https://amzn.to/4wQJypx

Liz's website: https://www.lizbucar.com/books

Liz's Substack (Religion, Reimagined): https://lizbucar.substack.com/

Liz on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lizbucar/

Liz on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lizbucar

Work with Allison: https://allisonhare.com/freecall
NOTABLE TIMESTAMPS
00:00 — Intro: Prophet to profit. The guru era is over.

02:25 — Welcome Dr. Liz Bucar

03:25 — Is the guru era over? Jay Shetty, Deepak Chopra, and what cracked

07:35 — The halo effect: how platform-built gurus get their power

09:23 — Red flags of a bad spiritual teacher

10:57 — What a good teacher actually looks like

11:47 — The Orientalism and latent racism behind the wellness guru industry

13:43 — What is wellness — and why it's too low of a bar

15:05 — Women, optimization, and the anemic version of human life we've been sold

16:22 — What if dying well is part of living well?

17:56 — What a "none" borrows from religion without belonging to it

21:21 — Religion's PR problem and who's controlling the narrative

24:01 — Safety, belonging, and the search for somewhere to land

25:24 — Disordered eating, orthorexia, and the tarot reading that reversed it

30:01 — How bad theology gave us food moralizing (the Graham cracker guy)

34:26 — Ayahuasca: the plan Liz did NOT have

36:58 — Santo Daime, the sacrament of Daime, and a legal ayahuasca church in the US

39:12 — Why the religious container was everything

41:53 — Confronting her father's death in an Oregon yurt

43:18 — Death doulas, dying well, and the epiphany that changed everything

44:01 — Sangha: what community actually means

45:23 — Hope vs. optimism — and why the difference matters right now

48:20 — Rage has good intel. Embrace the ugly parts.

49:05 — Why individualism has done us dirty

50:33 — Biohacking, hustle culture, and inviting friction back in

51:06 — Real community requires showing up, not just extracting

52:46 — Where to find Liz and preorder Beyond Wellness
Allison's Offer:
Schedule a free podcast clarity call: https://allisonhare.com/freecall
Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.
Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
Sign up for the free weekly email
AllisonHare.com
Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
Reb3l Dance Fitness - Try it at home! Free month with this link.
Feedback and Contact:: [email protected]
57 min
May 21Ex-Mormon, Ex-MAGA, Ex-Tradwife: How Lesbians Broke the Spell with Jennie Gage
She burned her Bible in the backyard. But that came years after leaving a marriage she was pressured into at 19, going homeless, losing her faith, and waking up from a coma. Jennie Gage has lived several lifetimes inside one — and she's using all of it to fight back.
What you'll get from this conversation:
How Mormon indoctrination works and why it's different from "just going to church on Sundays"

What "a man is not a plan" really means and how Jennie learned it the hard way

The tradwife pipeline that cracked 44 years of belief wide open

Why the lesbians were always the canary in the coal mine

What "shield maidens" are in white supremacist movements and where Erica Kirk fits in

Why Turning Point USA is essentially running a Mormon missionary program on college campuses

How cults use fear and inspiration to change behavior — and why it always wears off

What identity collapse actually feels like when you leave a high-demand religion

Where Jennie finds spirituality, hope, and her own voice as an atheist

Why she calls herself an activist, not a content creator
Jennie's Resources and Links:
Jennie Gage on YouTube: Life Take Two: https://www.youtube.com/@lifetaketwo7662

Jennie on TikTok: https://tiktok.com/lifetaketwo

Jennie's Substack: Mormon Wife's Secret Life: https://lifetaketwo.substack.com/p/a-mormon-wifes-secret-life

Jennie on IG: https://www.instagram.com/lifetaketwojennie/
Allison's Resource:
Book a free clarity call with Allison: allisonhare.com/freecall
Trigger warnings: This episode covers suicide, sexual assault, domestic abuse, child marriage, and religious coercion.
Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.
Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
Sign up for the free weekly email
AllisonHare.com
Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
Reb3l Dance Fitness - Try it at home! Free month with this link.
Feedback and Contact:: [email protected]
1 hr 9 min
May 14Culture Changers Turns 7 TODAY! Big announcement
Culture Changers Podcast is 7 TODAY!
Award-winning.
Globally ranked (top 1.5%)
Almost 300 episodes and a million downloads.
And to celebrate, I'm doing a ridiculous marathon livestream starting today at 1pm EST.
And I might even go for SEVEN HOURS!
Join me LIVE (please comment and say hi - surprise guests, surprise announcements, spice level 1000.
YouTube

Facebook

LinkedIn

Instagram
Definitely NOT Twitter/X 👎🏼).
I can't thank you enough for being part of this global conversation.
xo,
Allison Hare
Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.
Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
Sign up for the free weekly email
AllisonHare.com
Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
Reb3l Dance Fitness - Try it at home! Free month with this link.
Feedback and Contact:: [email protected]
2 min
May 07Healing from Religious Trauma, Silence Culture, and Modern Politics with Tia Levings
Learn what healing looks like after 40 years of identity collapse in Christian patriarchy. Tia Levings is a New York Times bestselling author, featured in Amazon's "Shiny Happy People," who escaped Christian fundamentalism, recovered from religious trauma, and now decodes why patriarchal family structures mirror the theocratic policies taking shape in American government right now.
In this episode, Tia walks us through:
The mechanics of silence culture and why it protects abusers

How to identify when you're in a high-control group (it's rarely obvious)

Why women brought into patriarchal power structures become scapegoats

What healing actually looks like (not spiritual bypassing, not "I'm grateful it happened")

The healing modalities that work for complex PTSD after religious trauma

How modern politics is the scaled-up version of the family systems she lived in
This is a warm, grounded conversation about one of the most urgent cultural issues we're not talking about clearly enough.
Books mentioned:
A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy (https://amzn.to/4tTCvug)

I Belong to Me: A Survivor's Guide to Recovery and Hope After Religious Trauma — released May 5, 2026 (https://amzn.to/4epEiCy)
Find Tia:
Website: https://tialevings.com/

Substack: https://tialevings.substack.com/

Social: @TiaLevingsWriter
Viral first appearance on Culture Changers Podcast "What Christian Patriarchy Doesn't Want You To Know" - https://youtu.be/aU6CcgskrUE
Rather watch on YouTube? https://youtu.be/tCeYbmwcnXA
Ready for your own megaphone for change - the podcast that grows? Schedule a free clarity call with me here: https://allisonhare.com/freecall
Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.
Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
Sign up for the free weekly email
AllisonHare.com
Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
Reb3l Dance Fitness - Try it at home! Free month with this link.
Feedback and Contact:: [email protected]
1 hr 4 min
April 30Has biohacking made us lonely? with Chris Schembra
Have we biohacked our way to loneliness? We've over-optimized every aspect of our lives—Oura rings, trackers, endless connections on social media. We're fitter, more quantified, more tracked than ever. Yet we're the loneliest society that has ever existed. Suicide rates have never been higher. Somewhere along the way, we lost touch with each other and maybe even ourselves.
Chris Schembra makes the case that true fulfillment doesn't lie in adding more optimization. It lies in adding friction back. In this conversation, we break down why convenience is the enemy of connection, what earned intimacy actually requires, and how the serenity prayer—tattooed on Chris's arm from early sobriety—reveals the wisdom we're desperately seeking.
What You'll Learn:
Why "biohacking" and optimization have backfired on human connection

The difference between weak ties (what social platforms designed for) and deep relationships (what we actually need)

What "earned intimacy" means and why it requires inconvenience and repeatability

The League of Gentlemen: how a village of 100 friends grew from three people having breakfast together

Why we're outsourcing our emotions to chatbots instead of sitting in our own thoughts

The serenity prayer as a practical life design tool—not spiritual advice

The discernment crisis: why judgment and taste are the most valuable skills of tomorrow

How to reclaim your life from algorithms and convenience
Rather watch on YouTube? https://youtu.be/8xxiRxRR24E
Resources & Links:
Chris Schembra on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/chrisschembra

Reach out: [email protected]

7:47 Gratitude Experience: https://747club.org

EP79of CC: A new twist on gratitude: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0V49SVlsXGMmcH8Af2aGnO?si=3f708350572a4b01

EP101: BDSM and the Boardroom: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4cBTAzKRV27qa3wSOwpsQV?si=be9222f7e2104674

EP157: Ketamine psychedelic therapy: Chris Schembra's story: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0V49SVlsXGMmcH8Af2aGnO?si=3f708350572a4b01
Key Timestamps:
00:00 — Intro: Have we biohacked our way to loneliness?

00:41 — Mother Teresa on the poverty of the soul

02:23 — Allison pushes back on the framing

03:40 — The distinction between "too easy" and "too optimized"

04:09 — Why tech companies call us "users"

05:56 — The convenience trap: clicking vs. calling

06:51 — Outsourcing emotions to chatbots and streaming services

54:26 — Building true intimacy vs. collecting weak ties

55:27 — The Strength of Weak Ties study and social media's backfire

56:25 — The breakfast story: how a village of 100 friends was born

58:26 — Walking through seasons of life together

59:13 — The League of Gentlemen and being held when you show up messy

01:01:14 — The serenity prayer tattoo and the three pillars

01:03:40 — Wisdom to know the difference: the discernment crisis

01:04:40 — The beauty of inconvenient choices and earned connection
Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.
Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
Sign up for the free weekly email
AllisonHare.com
Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
Reb3l Dance Fitness - Try it at home! Free month with this link.
Feedback and Contact:: [email protected]
1 hr 12 min
April 23White Women Villains: Brené, Mel & the Wellness Grifter Blame Game
We celebrate female empowerment while simultaneously destroying women who actually achieve it. This episode unpacks why we pile on female leaders—from Brené Brown to Mel Robbins to Gwyneth Paltrow—in ways we never do for men. Not to defend these women although some deserve critique. It's about understanding the line between legitimate critique and character assassination, and asking what happens when we redirect that energy toward systemic change instead of moral policing. Where is the line where you go from beloved to canceled?
Timestamps:

0:00 Intro: The White Women Villain Pattern

2:18 We're at an Inflection Point

4:42 The Brené Brown Takedown (Threads, Reddit, Appropriation Claims)

7:04 Appropriating Black Feminist Theory

9:23 The Mendoza Line: Where Does Deserving Cancellation Begin?

12:45 Why Thought Leaders Stay Silent (Fear of Judgment)

15:20 The Grifter Accusation (Mel Robbins, Gwyneth, Reese)

18:00 Cult Leaders, Wellness Culture & False Profits

21:30 The Poet Cassie & Mel Robbins' Poem

25:15 Accountability vs. Character Assassination

28:40 The Over-Optimization Backlash

31:00 We're All Learning (Both/And Complexity)

34:20 Toxicity & Beloved-by-Millions Syndrome

37:15 It's Envy and Gender, Not Ethics

40:30 I Want to See People Win

43:00 Don't Die with Your Song Unsung

45:15 Systemic Change Happens in Community

48:30 These Women Are Mirrors, Not Heroes or Villains

51:32 We Can't Dismantle Patriarchy by Policing Women

53:55 Little Drops of Water Matter

56:14 Your Message Needs to Be Heard
Be sure to share this one. Subscribe/follow/leave a review. Do all the things. It means the world to me.
Prefer to watch on YouTube? Voila! https://youtu.be/9qKRgKekea4
Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.
Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
Sign up for the free weekly email
AllisonHare.com
Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
Reb3l Dance Fitness - Try it at home! Free month with this link.
Feedback and Contact:: [email protected]
58 min
April 16Psychology Behind Political Polarization w/ Dr. Jay Van Bavel
You can watch two people look at the same video of the Minneapolis shooting and come to completely opposite conclusions about what happened. Why? Because their brains — literally — were looking at different parts of the screen. That's selective perception. And once Dr. Jay Van Bavel explained it to me, I couldn't stop seeing it everywhere. In my feed. In my family. In myself.
Jay is one of the top 1% of researchers in the world — not my words, that's Clarivate — and a professor of psychology and neuroscience at NYU. His research has been cited by the US Supreme Court, the Senate, and the World Health Organization. And in this conversation, he did not let me off the hook. Neither will you.
We went deep on why our brains are not built for social media, how AI is becoming a full-time confirmation bias machine, what's actually happening to democracy right now, and — I promise there's a reason to keep listening — one genuinely hopeful hack backed by hard data that can lower your polarization by 25%.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why two people can watch the exact same video and reach opposite conclusions — and it's not about intelligence or bad faith

How AI chatbots are 50% more sycophantic than actual humans — and what that's doing to your relationships and your politics

What the research actually says about Trump's approval drop and the role of "apolitical" influencers in shifting minds

The one social media move backed by a clinical study that can reduce your polarization by 25% in a single month — and keep it lower for a full year
Rather watch on YouTube? https://youtu.be/-upTCa6s7oc
Resources & Links Mentioned:
Dr. Jay Van Bavel's Substack: The Power of Us

NYU Center for Conflict and Cooperation: nyu.edu

The Power of Us (book) by Jay Van Bavel & Dominic Packer

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allison__hare

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonhare/

Website: https://allisonhare.com

Book a free podcast clarity call: https://allisonhare.com/freecall
Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.
Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
Sign up for the free weekly email
AllisonHare.com
Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
Reb3l Dance Fitness - Try it at home! Free month with this link.
Feedback and Contact:: [email protected]
55 min

About Culture Changers with Allison Hare

From the publisher's feed

Culture Changers is where we pour gasoline on fiery topics like power, politics, religion, and relationships (thoughtfully) and find a better way through. I've interviewed people like Seth Godin,…