Wonder Dome

What would social media look like if it nourished our critical thinking, mental health, privacy, civil discourse, and democracy? Is that even possible?

Mark Weinstein is a world-renowned tech entrepreneur, privacy expert, contemporary thought leader, and author of Restoring Our Sanity Online. An early pioneer of social media platforms in the 1990s, Mark has become a vocal critic of the current state of social media and the business model of “surveillance capitalism” which monitors and monetizes all aspects of our lives, treating users like products. The results are obvious to many of us: the experience of social media often undermines rather than supports our wellbeing as humans.

In Restoring Our Sanity Online, Mark proposes a revolutionary framework for ethical, user-centric social media platforms that prioritize privacy, data control, and civil discourse. With an emphasis on a holistic approach that calls for systemic change at the individual, familial, and governmental levels, Mark calls for a rethinking of how we approach technology and social connectivity in the digital age.

Show Notes:

• https://www.markweinsteininventor.com/

• Restoring Our Sanity Online by Mark Weinstein

• The Rise of Surveillance Capitalism | Mark Weinstein | TEDxIVC

• Technology expert shares the one message that can get teens to rethink their screen time.

Connect with Andy:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjcahill/

• Instagram: instagram.com/wonderdomepodcast​

• Firelight - Winter Solstice 2024

  • Register Here

Does art have the power to create change? For Kristen van Ginhoven, former Artistic Director of WAM Theatre and current Executive Director of Project SAGE, the answer is an unequivocal “Yes!”

Founded in 2010, WAM Theatre’s mission is one driven by a mission of arts as activism — creating theatre for everyone that benefits women and girls by pairing each production with beneficiaries working for the advancement of gender equity around the world. Since its inception, WAM Theatre has contributed more than $90,000 to such organizations, exemplifying theatre’s potential as a vehicle for philanthropy.

Kristen continues this ethos in her new tenure at Project SAGE, which advocates for victims and survivors of relationship violence by challenging attitudes and beliefs about power, control, and gender norms. They provide support for individuals and families through support groups, legal advocacy, as well as emergency services such as a shelter and 24/7 crisis hotline.

In this episode, Kristen shares about her journey from theatre artist to activist, honoring our past while crafting our future with intention, and the power of art to inspire, build empathy, and catalyze personal and social transformation.

Show Notes:

• National Domestic Violence Hotline

• Project SAGE

• www.kristenvanginhoven.com

• WAM Theatre

Connect with Andy:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjcahill/

• Instagram: instagram.com/wonderdomepodcast​

• Firelight - Winter Solstice 2024

  • Register Here

The Wonder Dome is a listener-supported publication. To receive new posts and support the work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

In traditions around the world, the Winter Solstice is an occasion for rebirth and renewal. A chance to greet the light that always emerges from the darkness.

In that spirit, join me for Firelight, my third Winter Solstice gathering. We'll come together online to share in live music, poetry, storytelling, reflection and connection. We'll be joined by dear friend, award-winning composer and pianist, Todd Marston.

With large group exploration, small group conversation, and individual journaling, we'll make meaning of this past year and look ahead to the next.

Everyone who attends will also receive a complimentary 1:1 coaching session as an expression of my commitment to helping others thrive.

This event is pay-what-you-can, with a suggested contribution of $95. Whether you pay one dollar or one hundred, you are welcome.

If this calls to you, then I'll see you by Firelight on Dec 21.

Register

Ben Campbell has spent the last 15 years studying the Enneagram; a system that can help us classify personalities based on core motivations, desires, and fears. Though he’s passionate about its value as a wayfinding tool for better understanding ourselves and others, he realized early on in his studies that it was insufficient on its own for helping us access our full potential as human beings. It lacked a meaningful connection to the Earth, to the soul — the very things that make us human.

Based on his experiences in nature, as well as his trainings from the Animas Valley Institute and the Maine Primitive Skills School, Ben founded Wild Enneagram. When infused with an array of approaches that are grounded in nature and centric to our souls, this coaching unlocks transformative potential to help us reconnect with the wild ecosystem of our psyches, and learn to reconcile the restraints our modern world places upon them.

Show Notes:

• https://wildenneagram.com/

• https://animas.org

• https://primitiveskills.com

• The Enneagram & Nature 

• Who Are You? Exploring Personality & Essence with Russ Hudson

• The Lonely Edges of Rewilding the Enneagram

Connect with Andy:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjcahill/

• Instagram: instagram.com/wonderdomepodcast​

• Firelight - Winter Solstice 2024

  • Register Here

What if everything you’ve learned about self-development is actually making things harder for you? What if there was a way to shift from the self-improvement paradigm, which leaves many of us feeling caught in a constant flux of trying to “fix” ourselves, towards one that nourishes our sense of innate wholeness and resourcefulness?

For Steve March, a coach of nearly 25 years and founder of Aletheia, this question lies at the heart of his practice. He calls for a shift of attunement from a mindset of self-criticism and a drive to always become a “better” version of ourselves, (which often leaves us feeling as though we’ll never be enough) to a more poetic one of beauty and deep acceptance — a process he calls “unfoldment.”

In this thoughtful conversation, Steve describes how through this lens of unfoldment, we can release our hyper-focus on our own deficiencies and embrace a more integrated approach to human development; one that allows us to become participants in the natural unfolding of our being.

A note from Andy:

Although this episode with the brilliant Steve March comes hot on the heels of the 2024 U.S. Presidential election, it was recorded months ago.

Steve has been a wonderful teacher to me. In the last 20 minutes or so of the conversation, he offers his perspective on the collective movements and ruptures we're experiencing. He also shares where we might be headed if we manage to integrate the competing forces and needs that shape our culture and politics.

The election is a big moment. You may be experiencing any number of feelings. I sure am. At the Wonder Dome, our team aspires to take the long view, trading hot takes on current events for more expansive conversations. Conversations that navigate the deeper cultural, political, spiritual, economic, and social terrain, providing ways of making sense of these dynamics in our everyday lives.

However this message finds you today, know that the Wonder Dome will always stand for a world where individuals, communities, societies, and the global web of life can thrive.

Take care of yourself out there and thank you for listening.

Show Notes:

• https://integralunfoldment.com/

• #143 Lyric Culture (with Bonnitta Roy)

• Firelight - Winter Solstice 2024

  • Register Here

Connect with Andy:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjcahill/

• Instagram: instagram.com/wonderdomepodcast​

  The Wonder Dome is a listener-supported publication. To receive new posts and support the work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

The Winter Solstice is one of the world's oldest celebrations, marking the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. While it has the least amount of daylight, it also means the coming days once again begin to lengthen.

In traditions around the world, it is an occasion for rebirth and renewal. A chance to greet the light that always emerges from the darkness.

In that spirit, join me for Firelight, my third Winter Solstice gathering. We'll come together online to share in live music, poetry, storytelling, reflection, and connection. We'll be joined by my dear friend, award-winning composer and pianist, Todd Marston.

There will be space for large group exploration, small group conversation, and individual journaling. This will give you time to make meaning of this past year and look ahead to the next. Portions of the session will also be recorded for you to revisit later.

Register for Firelight

This event is pay-what-you-can, with a suggested contribution of $95.

That said, I invite you to contribute any amount that reflects the value of your time, mine, and the rest of the group, without putting you in undue financial stress. Whether you pay one dollar or one hundred, you are welcome.

Everyone who attends will also receive a complimentary 1:1 coaching session as an expression of my commitment to helping others thrive, with the option to add on additional coaching sessions (my coaching clients typically invest $395 per 1:1 session).

If any amount of money is impossible for you right now, please contact me directly. My team will provide you with access to the session.

If this calls to you, then I'll see you by Firelight on Dec 21.

Until then, go well & go bravely,

-Andy

Register for Firelight

A bit of mythical history on the Winter Solstice

Celtic myth dictates that the solstice is a symbolic annual battle between the Oak King and the Holly King, representing light and darkness respectively. At the Winter Solstice, the Oak King would prove victorious and daylight would slowly return until it was time for the two of them to battle again at Summer Solstice. This neverending dance between the two warrior-kings speaks to the inherent cyclical balance of all life.

It was believed the sun came to a standstill during this time, rising and setting in the same place as the battle was waged. The word "solstice" comes from the Latin word "sōlstitium," translating to "sun stop" or "sun still."

There will be no mythical battles waged at our session... hopefully that's not too much of a disappointment :^)

Register for Firelight

Four years ago, in the wake of nationwide lockdowns necessitated by the pandemic, the Wonder Dome was born from a need to foster a space for connection, healing, and hope for humanity. 150 episodes later it continues to endeavor to provide guests and listeners alike with a space of rest and repose for the soul.

In this special episode, Andy takes a solo turn behind the mic to reflect with gratitude on the journey of this long-term creative project; what it means to alleviate the suffering of others and ourselves; to see beauty in the mundane; and to cultivate connection through deep listening and empathy.

Wherever you are in the world, whether you’ve listened to 1 episode or 149, we thank you for being a vital part of the Wonder Dome’s past, present, and future.

Show Notes:

• “Guanyin” at the San Diego Museum of Art

Connect with Andy:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjcahill/

• Instagram: instagram.com/wonderdomepodcast​

  The Wonder Dome is a listener-supported publication. To receive new posts and support the work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This Throwback Thursday, we’re revisiting one of our favorite episodes featuring long-time collaborators Parker Palmer and Carrie Newcomer. Parker is a celebrated author, educator, and activist. He and Carrie, the award-winning singer and songwriter, have produced a number of stage productions centered around collective healing and reimagining of our democracy. They have co-written songs, turned poetry into music, and hose The Growing Edge podcast - which is a beautiful venue for discovery and growth.

This conversation explores the many voices and cultures we’ll need to weave together if we're going to repair and restore the sacred lands we cohabitate, lands that have been desecrated by centuries of violence, theft, extraction, and forced displacement. Through music, poetry, and discussion, we tap into the spirit of possibility that can come if we're willing to show up in our lives and risk ourselves in our status, standing, and safety.

Show Notes:

• https://www.carrienewcomer.com

• https://www.newcomerpalmer.com/home

Connect with Andy:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjcahill/

• Instagram: instagram.com/wonderdomepodcast​

The Wonder Dome is a listener-supported publication. To receive new posts and support the work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Aaron Cantor is a movement coach, bodyworker, personal trainer, yogi, and movement generalist. He’s the founder of Primal Practice, an intuitive and playful method of fostering wellness through the development of mindfulness and movement skills. He’s also a coach with Evolve Move Play, a collective that empowers people to cultivate movement practices through their outdoor training program. Aaron’s work shows us that by reconnecting to the body and its capacities through a nourishing blend of strengthening, meditation, and restorative play, one can transform their perception of themselves and the world around them.

Aaron joins us under the Dome to guide listeners through a simple, embodied movement practice; to impart the importance of paying attention to the physical, embodied aspects of the human experience we’re often conditioned to ignore; and to share a vision for a more playful, interconnected, and creative society through the embodiment of more expressive and relational ways of being.

Show Notes:

• Evolve Move Play

• https://www.instagram.com/aaroncantor/

• “What Moves You?” with Aaron Cantor

• “Finding Balance” with Aaron Cantor

Connect with Andy:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjcahill/

• Instagram: instagram.com/wonderdomepodcast​

The Wonder Dome is a listener-supported publication. To receive new posts and support the work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Jonathan Smales is the founder and CEO of Human + Nature, a campaigning development company working to create “a far, far better future” through sustainable building and design. As a former MD of Greenpeace (UK), a sustainability advisor to the government, and developer of some of the UK’s first major sustainability projects, such as the Landmark Millennium project, Jonathan’s expertise is now focused on The Phoenix: a sustainable neighborhood in Lewes, East Sussex. Human + Nature, along with a team of some of the UK’s leading architects, designers, and engineers, seeks to transform a neglected former industrial site into a regenerative, restorative, and community-centered living space.

Principled and passionate, Jonathan shares with us his vision for a better world: one that recognizes the need for creating living spaces and communities with families and social connection in mind, rather than just adults with cars; the potential of sustainable developments like The Phoenix to create more vibrant, livable spaces in the face of climate change; and where we can collectively strive, despite the obstacles, to stay true to a better, more sustainable way of living for all.

Show Notes:

• https://www.humannature-places.com/

• https://www.phoenixlewes.com/

• https://www.instagram.com/humannatureplaces/

• “The Phoenix, Lewes: a new riverside neighborhood that sounds almost too good to be true” by Rowan Moore, The Guardian

• Sign up for The Phoenix Project Newsletter

Connect with Andy:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjcahill/

• Instagram: instagram.com/wonderdomepodcast​

The Wonder Dome is a listener-supported publication. To receive new posts and support the work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.