The Leader’s Way

We practice meditation because the present moment is the only place where we can truly find ourselves, love others, and be loved by the divine. This is why we gather, why we sit, why we breathe together. We practice surrendering to what lies beyond our control and responding rather than reacting to life's challenges. We cultivate curiosity about what's arising within and around us, learning to do difficult things like changing and growing. Because we trust there's a limitless reservoir of strength, compassion, and resilience flowing through us at every moment. 

Host: Brandon Nappi 

Instagram: @theleadersway.podcast berkeleydivinity.yale.edu/podcast 

You can support our work at https://tinyurl.com/support-transforming-leaders 

What do we do with our pain? It’s an important spiritual question, and one that Brandon Nappi explores with James Kimmel, Jr., JD, on this episode of Within, a contemplative segment of The Leader's Way Podcast, that explores the convergence of mental health, art, and spirituality through authentic conversations across traditions about personal and collective transformation. James Kimmel is a violence researcher, psychiatry professor, and author who explores the science of revenge, addiction, forgiveness, and violence. A breakthrough scholar, James first identified compulsive revenge-seeking as an addiction. He made the study of revenge and forgiveness his life's work after nearly committing a mass shooting as a teenager. 

Host: Brandon Nappi 

Guest: James Kimmel 

Instagram: @theleadersway.podcast berkeleydivinity.yale.edu/podcast 

You can support our work at https://tinyurl.com/support-transforming-leaders 

Lauren Jackson is a religion columnist for the New York Times where she is the associate editor and writer for The Morning, the Times's flagship daily newsletter. Over the past year, she has been deeply involved in reporting on belief. Lauren developed 'Believing,' a project that explores how we experience religion and spirituality in contemporary times. Lauren's thought-provoking columns delve into the complexities of faith, spirituality, and society. In this episode of The Leader’s Way, Lauren discusses the powerful transformation that is possible when we turn our attention to the people around us, attending to hyper-local needs, longings, and joys within our own community.

Hosts: Brandon Nappi, Misty Krasawski

Guest: Lauren Jackson

Instagram: @theleadersway.podcast berkeleydivinity.yale.edu/podcast

You can support our work at https://tinyurl.com/support-transforming-leaders

Loretta Ross is a public intellectual, professor, activist, and author of Calling In, a collection of stories from five remarkable decades working in social justice movements, including reproductive justice, white supremacy, and women of color organizing. Loretta and Leader’s Way host Brandon Nappi go deep into conversation about why calling people in—inviting them into conversation instead of conflict by focusing on your shared values over a desire for punishment—is a powerful and strategic choice toward making real change.

Host: Brandon Nappi

Guest: Loretta Ross

Instagram: @theleadersway.podcast berkeleydivinity.yale.edu/podcast

You can support our work at https://tinyurl.com/support-transforming-leaders

Host Brandon Nappi keeps the flame of curiosity alive in this edition of Within, a contemplative segment of The Leader's Way Podcast, that explores the convergence of mental health, art, and spirituality through authentic conversations across traditions about personal and collective transformation.

In this episode, Brandon welcomes Elise Loehnen, best-selling author of “On Our Best Behavior” and co-author with Phil Stutz of 'True and False Magic.’ Elise is also the host of the Pulling the Thread Podcast, where she engages in deep conversations that explore the human experience and the myriad paths to personal growth. Brandon talks with Elise about her keen interest in exploring nuanced and often overlooked aspects of the human condition and her commitment to pairing rigorous research with accessible language. Want to get better at processing and wrestling with questions? Start writing a Substack, says Elise.

Host: Brandon Nappi

Guest: Elise Loehnen

Production: Goodchild Media

Instagram: @theleadersway.podcast berkeleydivinity.yale.edu/podcast

You can support our work at https://tinyurl.com/support-transforming-leaders

Dwight Zscheile is a professor of congregational mission and leadership at Luther Seminary, and his wife, Blair Pogue, is a priest and canon for vitality and innovation in the Episcopal Church in Minnesota. They join Leader’s Way host Brandon Nappi for a conversation about their joint passion for engaging the innovative ways the Church is renewing its commitment to community and communion by meeting people where they are.  Brandon talks with Dwight and Blair about their new book, Embracing the Mixed Ecology: Inherited and New Forms of Christian Community Flourishing Together, which unpacks the theological language of “mixed ecology,” and how this language can help us imagine what is possible in our church communities.

Host: Brandon Nappi

Guests: Dwight Zscheile and Blair Pogue

Production: Goodchild Media

Instagram: @theleadersway.podcast berkeleydivinity.yale.edu/podcast

You can support our work at https://tinyurl.com/support-transforming-leaders

Poet and priest Spencer Reece joins Leader’s Way host Brandon Nappi for a moving conversation about the power of poetry as an act of remembrance, as a response to violence, and as a culture maker and culture keeper. Listen to Father Reece offer spontaneous recitation and remind us of the ways poetry can bring us closer to the Divine.   

Host: Brandon Nappi

Guest: Spencer Reece

Production: Goodchild Media

Instagram: @theleadersway.podcast berkeleydivinity.yale.edu/podcast

You can support our work at https://tinyurl.com/support-transforming-leaders

We are growing in our understanding of the long-term effects trauma and moral injury can have on bodies and spirits, including those within our own congregations. In this important and tender episode, Brandon and Whitney talk with former Army Chaplain and Episcopal priest David Peters about the ways faith communities can lean on Jesus’s life story to respond with love and care to these wounds. David’s latest book, Post-Traumatic Jesus: Reading the Gospel with the Wounded, offers a portrait of Jesus as living and speaking into a world that was familiar with trauma, from war to oppression to political violence, and reading the Gospels through that lens can create space for healing.

Host: Brandon Nappi with Whitney Coe

Guest: David Peters

Production: Goodchild Media

Instagram: @theleadersway.podcast berkeleydivinity.yale.edu/podcast

You can support our work at https://tinyurl.com/support-transforming-leaders

Welcome to WITHIN, a contemplative segment of The Leader's Way Podcast that explores the convergence of mental health, art, and spirituality through authentic conversations across traditions about personal and collective transformation. In this inaugural episode, Brandon talks with Joanna Penn, an award-winning New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, whose latest book, “Pilgrimage: Lessons Learned from Solo Walking Three Ancient Ways,” explores the rich themes of spirituality, mental health, and personal transformation. Tune in for a conversation about the power of walking, writing, and leaning into the call on our hearts.

Host: Brandon Nappi

Guest: Joanna Penn

Production: Goodchild Media

Instagram: @theleadersway.podcast berkeleydivinity.yale.edu/podcast

You can support our work at https://tinyurl.com/support-transforming-leaders

In this episode, Michelle Snyder, author, therapist, leadership coach, and the executive director of Soul Shop, speaks directly to faith leaders about the importance of talking about and tending to suicide in our communities, and training for the work of suicide prevention. Michelle talks with Brandon, Whitney, and Misty about the moment we are in, in which isolation is growing and suicide is on the rise, but faith communities have something to offer.

*If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts or a crisis, please reach out immediately to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.

Host: Brandon Nappi with Whitney Coe and Misty Krasawksi

Guest: Michelle Snyder

Production: Goodchild Media

Instagram: @theleadersway.podcast berkeleydivinity.yale.edu/podcast

You can support our work at https://tinyurl.com/support-transforming-leaders