Episodes

This time on the podcast, the story of an invisible war. Shots are fired. Injuries sustained. But how do you fight an enemy you can't see — one that may not even exist?

An armchair safari to a place where humans and elephants are engaged in a deadly conflict over resources — and the one man who can speak to both sides.

Confederate soldiers never reached the US Capitol during the Civil War, but the "Confederate flag" (which was actually the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia) finally arrived in the building on January 6. Join us for a deep dive into the question: why does that symbol still speak to people so long after the Civil War? The answers lie in a disinformation campaign that took root in this country 155 years ago, and still impacts us today. This time on the podcast: the Lost Cause — and the real cost of alternative facts.

The divisions that have taken hold of the country are playing out not only in our public lives, but also in some of our closest relationships. What drives the tensions are our very different answers to that perennial question: What do you do when you believe your country is heading in the wrong direction? In this episode, we look to history — and the story of a man who has been called “one of the most troubling figures in American History”— for insight.

Is Santa real? You bet. These days he goes by the name Mike Gray, a retired jack of all trades who lives not at the North Pole, but in a recycled house in the Arizona desert—when he’s not with the Lakota on Pine Ridge or the Seri people in Mexico. He's given up the red suit for a work shirt, jeans and a straw hat. And he's stopped making toys in favor of making gardens, building houses and furnishing clinics for people who need them. The sleigh filled with gifts? He traded it in for a van full of tools he also uses to carry people and art—and he is the gift.

In the first of our “be the change” stories — stories about people who are being the change they want to see in their own communities — we talk with Matt Marasch, former infantry paratrooper and green beret turned potter and healer. A couple of years ago, having lost a number of veteran friends to suicide and struggling to reinvent himself, Matt started looking for a way to bring veterans together to learn new skills and build the kind of close relationships they missed from their days in the m...

This has been a time of trauma — for some of us it started four years ago, for others just last week. It's tempting to think the answers to our pain lie in retreating further into tribalism. But if there’s one thing this election made painfully clear, it’s that we can’t vote the other side away. Transcending our differences won't be easy. Our guest, Alaine Duncan, Author of the Tao of Trauma explores this time through the lens of our national body as a trauma survivor. How do we heal the divisions and the mistrust? How can we — individually and collectively — act from the connection and regulation of our frontal cortex instead of the primitive, reactive fear of our brain stem? And how can we play a role in helping all parties find that all important moment to distinguish between “I am uncomfortable” and “I am unsafe"? Keep listening (from 42:30) as we talk with co-host Obaidul Fattah Tanvir in Bangladesh about some of the surprising (and hilarious) responses people there have ha…

Today, as voters head to the polls in record numbers and with concerns around the election at a fever pitch, we’re talking about a topic that has us alternately feeling like Chicken Little and Pollyanna. But we’re not alone. Everywhere you look people (and organizations) are prepping for this election—and most would say with good reason. So when we heard about a training designed to prepare people to take action in the event of an undemocratic power grab, we decided it was definitely worth our virtual attendance. The premise of the training, called Choose Democracy, can be distilled into a few simple sentences: We will vote and we will refuse to accept election results until all of the votes are counted. And if this, the most basic principle of democracy, is denied, then we the people will defend our democracy through nonviolent mass protests. (Now, it’s important to say here that no one candidate is supported for the win. The objective is simply that democratic processes are …

There's nobody better to kick off our new season — and "Plan Be" — than the man who helped inspire it: Citizen Baratunde, Executive Producer and Host of the hit podcast How to Citizen with Baratunde. Writer, activist and comedian Baratunde Thurston has been "citizening" since way back in high school (which we discuss). In addition to his podcast, check out his Ted Talk, and his New York Times bestselling book, How to Be Black. You can find all of that and more on his website: www.baratunde.com

As the pandemic drags on and the American project feels like it’s spiralling out of control, hope can feel hard to come by. What’s an ordinary person to do? Especially if you're more comfortable ghosting family members with different political beliefs than engaging them, and clicktivism is your idea of getting involved. Join hosts Kelley Lynch and Cindy Sealls in Washington, DC and Obaidul Fattah Tanvir in Bangladesh as they step outside their comfort zones and embark on "Plan Be"— a project to live more in line with at least a few of their loftier ideals by cultivating connection, community and conversation in their own backyards one episode at a time.