Curiosity Invited

Rod Morrison is a 4th generation Wyoming Farmer with deep roots  in the organic food movement. Rod speaks powerfully and convincingly about moving farming from its current corporate and industrial approach toward a more local and sustainable approach.  

His experience with the political and financial forces that have pushed the planet's food policies toward an unsustainable future, has turned Rod into a powerful advocate for an approach to an economic system  that centers value around the value of food calories, perhaps the most important value for all life on the planet. Rod's thinking evokes comparisons to Wendell Berry and Wes Jackson voice luminaries in the effort to think deeply and coherently about sustainable life on earth.

Susan Harper is a heart-soul-counselor, creative instigator, and inspired teacher of perceptual and movement inquiry. Susan joined Emilie Conrad, founder, in 1975 to study, and eventually became a partner in developing the organization and work of Continuum.
Susan has the ability through personal demonstration of sounds, breaths and movement to transmit a primal and spiritual fluidity that inspires participation resulting in embodied innovative discoveries. Her students call her a moving storyteller, a dream weaver, one who opens portals into the vast space of creativity, which is available in all human beings. 

Emilie and Susan developed teacher training programs, and co-founded Continuum Teacher Organization in 2000. She continues to mentor many of the authorized Continuum teachers. In the early 90's Susan brought Continuum for the first time to Japan, Finland, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. In 1992, as a part of the 18th Street Arts Complex, Susan designed and built Continuum Studio, providing a creative gathering place for community.

Susan teaches a wide range of skills, and inquiry in the fields of movement, emotions, dreams, perception, meditation and relationship. In addition to Emilie Conrad, Susan Harper has taught Hubert Godard, Pilar Martin, Kevin Frank, Caryn McHose; Perceptual/Movement, Chris Price; Gestalt Awareness Practice, Wendy Palmer; Intuitive Body, Gary David; Epistemics, Reggie Ray; Meditating With the Body, Peter Levine; Somatic Experiencing, Steven Harper; Wilderness Awareness, and currently teaches with Lama Drimed - Dzogchen, and Michael Molin Skelton.

https://continuummontage.com/about-su...
https://www.continuumteachers.com/tea...
https://www.watermarkarts.org/susan-h...

Marcie Gilbert, the Executive Director of Calibrate, sits down with David for an engaging conversation about this unique program largely facilitated by young people who were exposed to this unique Social Emotional Learning program as youth .

Calibrate is a not for profit (501 c3) organization centered in Los Angeles, CA that delivers it's program, CONNECTIONS, to groups throughout Los Angeles.  It's mission is to transform and elevate the lives of tomorrow’s leaders from under-resourced communities, particularly the descendants of American slavery, by providing spaces where they experience their best selves, feel valued for the potential they bring to the world, and prepare to reinvest their time and talents back into their communities.  

Having grown out of educational groups and institutions, Much of its initial work has been with young people in schools and community groups. Calibrate hopes to expand its program to groups of all sorts and throughout the country.

CONNECTIONS,  Calibrate's primary program, is a data-driven, social-emotional learning (SEL) program. It is a structured process designed to create a protective space, so that participants can listen and speak from their hearts. For Indigenous, Black, and People of Color (IBPOC), who are in survival mode day-to-day, Connections provides a safe place to cultivate intra-personal growth and interpersonal bonds. Connections normalizes the sharing of personal stories and conveys to participants that all voices are important and that each individual is appreciated for their authentic self. Connections is not psychotherapy, but it has a therapeutic effect. Participants are guided by prompts that elicit imagination, reflection, and critical thinking. During Connections sessions, participants are exposed to healthy coping mechanisms and practice aspects of productive/constructive listening and communication. All of these qualities are essential for healing, advocacy, sharing values, and establishing narrative.

Shepard Fairey was drawn to making art since he was young. A curious mind, a strong work ethic, an inspired creative spirit, a growing compassion for the situations of others, and a deepening understanding of the intricacies of how our world works (and yes, more than a touch of a 'rebel spirit' nurtured by skateboard culture and punk rock) has shaped the work of that young artist into some of the most powerful, most well known, and most consequential art of our time.  Art that matters! 

Do you know his work? Yes, absolutely you do, although you may not know it, because for Fairey - pronounced as you would the "tooth-_____" (no relation) - the goal has never been acclaim or notoriety. His effort always leans - and more often, strides - toward problem solving, commentary, action, and urging, more often pushing us to think and care about others, to care about democracy, and justice, to care about the growing privilege of some often at the expense of others. 

Is there more to say?  Yes, of course! Here's what Wikipedia begins with 
"Frank Shepard Fairey (born February 15, 1970) is an American contemporary artist, activist and founder of OBEY Clothing who emerged from the skateboarding scene. In 1989 he designed the "Andre the Giant Has a Posse" (...OBEY...) sticker campaign while attending the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)."

"Fairey designed the Barack Obama "Hope" poster for the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign. The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, has described him as one of the best known and most influential street artists. His work is included in the collections at The Smithsonian; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Museum of Modern Art in New York City; the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego; the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.; the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond; and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London."

But that barely scratches the surface.

I had a wonderful conversation with Shepard. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

https://obeygiant.com/
https://obeyclothing.com/

Dr. Zack Bein is a psychologist in the Dan Brown/David Elliott lineage of clinicians who believe strongly in the “3 pillar” approach to healing relational difficulty in adults. I also have clinical experience with substance abuse/dependence, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, impulse-control disorders, psychotic disorders, and several personality disorders. His research is in mindfulness treatments for addiction and posttraumatic symptoms.  At the University of California, Berkeley, Zack worked in the schizophrenia lab, examining the relationship between memory, emotions, and negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia.

His approach to therapy is integrative, considering elements from a variety of theories and modalities, as well as evidence-based practices. Some of these include Attachment Theory, mindfulness-based interventions, Humanistic/Existential Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Seeking Safety, Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), Three Pillars Therapy and the Ideal Parent Figure (IPF) Protocol.

He is trained in administering and scoring the Adult Attachment Interview by Howard and Miriam Steele at the New School in Manhattan.  The AAI is the gold standard assessment of attachment styles in adults.

Dr. Bein also works closely with David Elliott, Ph,D, the co-creator of the model, to teach the 3 Pillar Model to clinicians, therapists, coaches, who wish to incorporate healing of attachment disturbances in their work.  Zack is authored of an upcoming chapter in “Clinical Applications of the AAI, Part 2,” in which he details how the Three Pillars therapist uses the AAI in an ethically minded way to inform the work.

Michael Ashford - Podcaster, Author, Journalist, Speaker - has spent years researching communication, conflict, trust, and the reasons why people change. Through his work Michael wants to equip people to become better thinkers, communicators, and conversationalists.

His podcast ,"The Follow Up Question, his upcoming book, and his two TED talks" offer tools to help people understand the motivations and conditions that bring about transformation.

In Michael's own words, " I don’t believe we are as divided as we appear to be on many issues. But we are fighting against forces that benefit when we are at odds with each other on top of the fact that our education system failed most of us when it comes to understanding how to communicate well."

#michaelashford  #communication  #followupquestion

https://www.michaelashford.com
linkedin.com/in/michaeldashford
thereceptionist.com 
michaelashford.com 

Twitter  MichaelDAshford

Matt Van Horn is an American entrepreneur and the CEO and co-founder of June, maker of the June Intelligent Oven. Previously he co-founded Zimride, now called the ride-sharing service Lyft, was Vice President of Business at Path, and ran partnerships at Digg. He also worked at Apple while attending college.  Matt speak with David about his childhood inclination to create interesting things.  A long term "resident" of the Silicon Valley startup world Matt insights offer an insiders view into the industry that has changed the world  for so many.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattvanhorn/
https://juneoven.com/

In 1990 after graduating from college, Steven Griffith - already an accomplished athlete in high school, D1 football, nd Golden Gloves boxing  - stepped into a new role as a coach, driven by a profound realization of his ability to impact lives positively. This calling led him to establish his high-performance coaching company in 2000, which he later rebranded as A-Game Coaching in 2020. 

His approach involves identifying the root causes of poor performance, understanding your purpose, aligning personal values, and restructuring time to achieve success. This method has been honed over 25,000 hours of coaching executives, entrepreneurs, organizations and athletes from high school to the professional ranks of the NBA, MLB, NHL, and over 40 current NFL players, Olympic medalists, and Hall of Fame athletes.

His acclaimed book, "The Time Cleanse," along with his highly effective coaching techniques helps athletes, executives, and anyone who will bring their attention to his approach perform at their highest levels.  

www.stevengriffith.com 
www.agamecoach.com
@stevengriffithauthor

Tune in to listen to some of the highlights of the past year conversations between David and his guests. Karen Bass, Marianne Williamson, Michael Abels, Daryl Davis and Jeff Schoep, Professor Larry Birnbaum, Aura Sunada Newlin, Chrysta Bilton, Leila Steinberg

 Andy Norman, PhD, is the award-winning author of Mental Immunity: Infectious Ideas, Mind-Parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to Think. His work has appeared in Scientific American, Psychology Today, Skeptic, Free Inquiry, and The Humanist. He has appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience, public radio, The BBC’s Naked Scientist, and The Young Turks. His research illuminates the evolutionary origins of human reasoning, the norms that make dialogue fruitful, and the workings of the mind’s immune system. He champions the emerging science of mental immunity as the antidote to disinformation, propaganda, hate, and division. He likes to help people develop immunity to bad ideas.

Andy directs the Humanism Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University and is the founder of CIRCE, the Cognitive Immunology Research Collaborative.

About the Mental Immunity Project mentalimmunityproject.org

About the Science of Cognitive Immunology cognitiveimmunology.net

#cognitiveimmunology, #mentalimmunity, #AndyNorman