How My View Grew

In this episode of How My View Grew, Palestinian Noor Awad describes an encounter with a Zionist Israeli settler that caused him to broaden his view of the conflict. This is a story of growing up within a particular narrative and learning to take seriously a very different narrative without given up one's own. What would be possible if more Palestinians—and Israelis—developed this capacity?

**Key takeaways**

• 3:30 Noor becomes aware of the conflict during the Second Intifada
• 9:30 The Palestinian identity Noor was born with
• 13:30 Noor's early-life view of Israelis and Zionism
• 18:00 Noor discovers Israel's New Historians, who questioned the conventional Israeli narrative of 1948
• 20:45 Noor meets Hanan Schlesinger, a passionate Zionist settler, and has a life-changing experience
• 31:00 "I'm right, they're wrong" is not the only way to see things
• 34:30 Noor's capacity to hold two narratives is rare
• 38:00 The devastating impact of October 7 and the war on Roots' efforts to build mutual understanding
• 42:30 Amiel's reflections

**Resources**

• Roots, the organization Noor works with
• Amiel's essay, "Seven lessons seven months after October 7"
• Amiel's page of essays on Medium

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This short episode is about giving better advice. Just as medicine containers have warning labels, I propose that all advice about being a better citizen, leader, parent, or partner come with three disclaimers:

1. Not for everyone
2. May have side effects
3. Dilute before using

After all, different folks deserve different strokes.

In this episode of How My View Grew, educator Carlos Hoyt describes his early life experience transcending racial categories and how he discovered that the entire concept of "race" was false and unhelpful. What if the racial categories that pervade our conversations, public policy, and social science data are scientifically meaningless? What can we learn from people who have deracialized themselves and others? How might these insights improve lives and undermine racism at its roots?

**Key Takeaways**

• 8:00 Growing up in Boston—"Black and proud," changing school districts, mixing it up at summer camp
• 18:00 Discovering research on other "race transcenders"
• 22:00 The five steps in racializing people
• 27:00 The pseudoscience of race
• 34:00 Why "racial equality" is an oxymoron
• 40:00 Making the U.S. Census more accurate
• 44:00 How to adjust the way you refer to people
• 50:00 Amiel's reflections, including the analogy of the Elvis Lives Fan Club

**Resources**

• Carlos's web site
• Carlos's forthcoming book, Diversity Without Divisiveness

**Subscribe to the podcast**

To hear the origin stories of more big ideas, subscribe to How My View Grew on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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In this short episode, I share a personal story about a time I was knocked off center by the verbal attacks of a human "bull."

When someone attacks you, what can you do to regain center and respond skillfully? Here are five tips.

**Subscribe to the podcast**

To hear the origin stories of more big ideas, subscribe to How My View Grew on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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Rachel Eryn Kalish is a peacemaker. Personally, she radiates harmony. Professionally, she has devoted decades to non-violence and was mediating conflict before the term conflict resolution existed.

Yet, today, she doesn't view non-violence as the one and only approach to global conflict. Sometimes, she has learned, force is necessary to save lives and reduce suffering. The massacre of Israelis by Hamas on October 7 is one example.

We all know the saying that violence begets violence. But are there situations in which non-violence begets violence?

This is the story of how Rachel Eryn began asking this question and listening deeply for answers.

**Key takeaways**

• 5:30 Facilitating conflict resolution and violence prevention in the workplace
• 9:30 Teaching dialogue skills to mixed groups of Israelis and Palestinians amidst the suicide bombings of the Second Intifada
• 14:15 Helping the deeply divided Bay Area Jewish community talk constructively about Israel
• 19:00 The civil war in Sierra Leone prompts Rachel Eryn to reconsider her view of non-violence
• 25:00 The savagery of October 7 and the need to get rid of Hamas's infrastructure
• 31:30 Amiel's reflections: what type of humans commit barbaric violence, and what types of response can constrain them?

**Resources**

• Workplace Connections, Rachel Eryn's consulting firm
• Amiel's essays on Medium about Israel/Gaza (and other big messes)

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To hear the origin stories of more big ideas, subscribe to How My View Grew on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

In this episode, I describe a conversation that is pivotal to approaching big global messes. Also useful for parenting, partnering, being a friend, and being a citizen.

The possibility conversation is about the future. It's aspirational. It doesn't include assessments of the past. It's not about coordinating action. The critic stays on the bench. Our mood is constructive.

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Two years ago, Ukraine stunned the world with its response to Russia's full-scale invasion. Where did its resilience come from?

Leading Ukrainian civic activist Valerii Pekar has an answer. It's a story of a nation—and a man—undergoing two major transformations after the fall of the Soviet Union. First, a shift into freedom, then an awakening of dignity and civic activism.

Why this matters to you and me: If Russia were to defeat Ukraine, its next likely targets are NATO countries the United States is bound by treaty to defend.

Here's the back story—cultural, political, economic, and personal—behind Ukraine's extraordinary response to Russian aggression.

**Key takeaways**

• 7:00 The many facets of freedom after the fall of the Soviet Union
• 10:35 Ukrainians vote for independence
• 12:30 Valerii shifts from traditional to modern worldview
• 15:00 Moscow tries to steal an election. Ukrainians take to the streets
• 19:00 Valerii's speech on the Maidan about Ukraine's three revolutions
• 20:00 The progressive postmodern worldview emerges
• 23:00 Ukrainians explore a big question: what mistakes did we make ten years ago
• 25:30 Valerii is elected to the National Reform Council
• 29:30 A meeting with the President, who issues an invitation
• 31:00 Russia invades, and Ukraine's new horizontal networks activate
• 34:30 My reflections

**Resources**

• Valerii's essays in the journal New Eastern Europe

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To hear the origin stories of more big ideas, subscribe to How My View Grew on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

A short episode in which I explore: why would any of us want to shift our perspective on a big complex issue like climate change, democracy, the Middle East, or political polarization? Doing this isn't easy and can affect our status and relationships, so why bother?

The answer is a quick primer on how as adults we grow our span of care.

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To hear the origin stories of more big ideas, subscribe to How My View Grew on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

In this episode of How My View Grew, essayist Bill Deresiewicz describes the moment he stopped trusting his go-to news sources and started listening to "heterodox" perspectives. This is a story about American journalism and culture. It's also a story about the humility and courage it takes to let go of deeply held ideas and create space for something new.

**About the guest**

Bill Deresiewicz is an award-winning essayist and critic and frequent speaker at colleges and high schools. He is the author of five books, including the New York Times's best-seller Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life. His latest book is The End of Solitude: Selected Essays on Culture and Society.

**Key takeaways**

• 5:20 "Hate listening" to NPR and discovering the heterodox world
• 9:00 When an ideology from academia entered the mainstream
• 15:00 Realizing his attitude about art and money is BS
• 22:00 Growing up in a world of liberal Democrats and Orthodox Judaism—and making breaks from this world
• 27:00 Discovering the misery and despair of many students at elite colleges
• 31:00 Learning from Pride and Prejudice that feelings can be wrong
• 35:00 Bill's message to Antifa and other young people revolting against the system
• 39:00 Learning that he knew much less than he thought he did
• 41:00 Amiel's reflections on the conversation

**Resources**

• Bill's web site
• "Escaping American Tribalism" in UnHerd
• "Why I Left Academia (Since You're Wondering)" in Quillette
• A Jane Austin Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship and the Things That Really Matter.
• The Death of the Artist

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To hear the origin stories of more big ideas, subscribe to How My View Grew on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

In this short episode, I revoke my permission to get stuck in a mood of despair and show you how to do the same.

How moods differ from emotions.

If you can't beat despair, don't join it. Dissolve it with humor.

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**Subscribe to the podcast**

To hear the origin stories of more big ideas, subscribe to How My View Grew on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.