Hi Fractal Friends. Sorry, it’s been a while. I have some bittersweet news for you… After wrapping up the last series of episodes coming into the beginning of 2021, I found myself really wanting to find a way to put together my love for podcasting, my passion for conflict transformation and my real interest in trying to figure out how to improve our democracy. And so, I've launched the Omni-Win Project. I’ve been making videos and essays which you can find at omniwin.substack.com and on YouTube....
Jul 12, 2022•6 min
Bill Shireman is a republican environmentalist and activist dedicated to supporting solution-based politics. He is the co-author of In This Together: How Republicans, Democrats, Capitalists and Activists are Uniting to Tackle Climate Change and More and the Founder and CEO of Future 500 . We talk about how our political system is designed to be ineffective, encourages us to fight with each other and will lead to the ongoing destruction of our lives and planet. We talk about how we the people can...
Jan 06, 2021•1 hr 46 min
Major Jim Uhlmann is a former green beret commando, father, neighbor, gardener, citizen and libertarian. He is a stewardship consultant and a full stack human system(s) engineer. In this conversation we talk about facing the fact that we are humans who are living in a biological reality, with a drive to avoid pain and fear and move towards what we like, as well as survive and reproduce. We talk about strategies for creating change in the world, how stewardship is more effective than control, and...
Dec 29, 2020•2 hr
This is part of series of episodes where I interview forward-thinking people from the conservative side of the political spectrum in the spirit of cultural healing. Michael Brodeur is a minister and proud follower of Jesus. Michael was raised in the heart of 1960s counterculture in San francisco, Michael is not your typical minister and this is not your typical conversation. Michael calls himself a bridge builder. He is the author of Revival Culture: Preparing the Church for the Next Great Awake...
Nov 11, 2020•1 hr 38 min
In this episode I talk with Alixa Garcia , a musician, poet, visual artist, filmmaker, activist, and educator. She is a visionary and radical solutionary of our time. Along with Naima Penniman, Alixa co-created the amazing duo Climbing Poetree . For 17 years, Alixa and Naima have dedicated themselves to “harnessing creativity as the antidote to destruction” through music, poetry, and popular education. In this conversation, Alixa and I talk about the power of art to address intersectional social...
Nov 03, 2020•1 hr 25 min
Wendy Wood is a conflict transformation colleague of mine. She's one of the co-founders of The Karuna Center for Mindful Engagement , the co-author of the book Do No Harm: Mindful Engagement for a World in Crisis , and a founding member of the Democracy Politics and Conflict Engagement (DPACE) Initiative of Mediators Beyond Borders International. Wendy's has worked on trauma healing and reconciliation in Rwanda and the transformation of conflicts throughout the United States. Wendy and Duncan wo...
Oct 21, 2020•1 hr 36 min
Cheryl Davila is an elected member of the Berkeley City Council. Councilmember Davila is currently up for reelection and this conversation provides an intimate window into the experience of an elected representative who is working at the local level to address global and national issues while also communicating directly with the people she represents, who are also neighbors, family and friends. In this conversation we talk about her experience as a passionate yet common citizen coming into polit...
Oct 09, 2020•1 hr 27 min
Austin Willacy is a musician, producer and musical mentor. Austin is a member of the Thrive Choir of Thrive East Bay , and The House Jacks . In this conversation we talk about finding your passion and then doing the work of growing into your best self. We talk about the role of mentorship and developing resilience through vulnerability. We talk about the power of music to connect our minds and hearts, and its power to build bridges across our differences. And we talk about the importance of slow...
Oct 06, 2020•1 hr 18 min
Pablo Lumerman is a conflict transformation colleague from Argentina. In this conversation we talk about the power of living in the present moment, the importance of remembering deep history and enacting our visions for the future. We discuss a comparative history of colonialism, race and racism between Argentina and the United States. We draw parallels between colonialism and gentrification and ponder how laws and bureaucracy are forms of cultural colonization that undermine indigenous culture ...
Sep 29, 2020•1 hr 36 min
In this episode I talk with Alla Weinberg. Alla is my business partner, and we are the co-founders of Spoke & Wheel the workplace relationship experts. In this conversation we talk about our vision of a future of work, where people are excited about the work they get to do and nourished by the people they get to work with. We talk about how teams, companies and organizations are constantly a balance between the interdependent polarities of power and love , and how they become generative when...
Sep 22, 2020•1 hr 27 min
David Brubaker is a Professor of Sociology, and Author of a new book called When the Center Does Not Hold: Leading in an Age of Polarization In this conversation we talk about polarization and what happens when conflict reaches its highest levels: people stop caring about the issues and the conflict turns personal. When this happens people start to believe that who wins or loses the conflict will have profound cosmic consequences, a battle between good and evil. They believe that the only soluti...
Sep 15, 2020•1 hr 25 min
Sunshine Michelle is a spiritual leader, a visionary, an academic and a poet who is deep into her doctoral dissertation about Authentic Self-Expression of Black and Brown Women.Her academic inquiry is based on a sacred sister circle that she has been conducting over the last year in Berkeley, California. In this conversation we talk about finding and expressing your authentic self and the powerful rippling out of healing that is created when someone shares their self with the world. We talk abou...
Sep 08, 2020•1 hr 32 min
In this episode I talk with AddieRose Mayer and Ei Ei Samai . AddieRose is the Executive Director at SEEDS Community Resolution Center . Ei Ei is a Culture Designer at Samai Group. This conversation is grounded in reality-based optimism that’s rooted in our lived-experiences that show that not only is it possible to communicate across our differences, it is sure to create growth and healing for everyone involved. In this conversation we talk about how conflict transformation skills are a powerfu...
Sep 01, 2020•1 hr 25 min
Steve McIntosh is a political philosopher and an author. His most recent book is called Developmental Politics: How America Can Grow into a Better Version of Itself . Steve is the founder of the think tank Institute for Cultural Evolution . Steve was on Fractal Friends in 2016. That conversation was called "Transcending Political Polarization." In this conversation we talk about the cultural challenges of current U.S. Politics and the potential for finding a cultural solution. We talk about the ...
Aug 25, 2020•1 hr 41 min
The guest in this episode is Ashok Panikkar. Ashok is committed to helping develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions that are vital to strengthening the culture of democracy in the face if the eroding of confidence in liberal democracies and the rise of illiberal and authoritarian regimes. This episode promises to get us to question everything we thought we know about democracy, rights and freedom. In this conversation we talk about how democracy depends on people understanding our interrel...
Aug 18, 2020•1 hr 45 min
Jeremy Lent is an author and an integrator. He is the author of The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity's Search for Meaning. His work is to weave together knowledge from across disciplines, cultures and time. The conversation offers a vision for the future of humanity while also looking at the difficult reality of the times that we're living in. In this conversation We explore the dance between science, and spirituality. We dig into the cultural and ethical implications of takin...
Aug 11, 2020•1 hr 18 min
Welcome to Season three of Fractal Friends. Kazu Haga is a teacher of Kingian Nonviolence, and in this episode he offers up the wisdom of the great leader of nonviolence, Dr. Martin Luther King. The wisdom here is as important today as it was back in MLK's time, and this episode gives us a real taste of what it would like. This conversation doesn't just say that we need to work together, it shows us how to do it. Kazu is part of the East Point Peace Academy , and they offer many online amazing o...
Jul 28, 2020•1 hr 27 min
I'm excited to be bringing you a new season of Fractal Friends. Website: Fractalfriends.us The line up of upcoming guests for Fractal friends is amazing. They will offer us perspectives for understanding our interdependence, discovering paths to transformation, while preserving what's best of the past and actively cultivating new & ancient approaches that can bring us into a sustainable and collaborative future. We're going to talk about the future of work, transcending political divisions, ...
Jul 23, 2020•8 min
Decriminalizing Nature Oakland (DNO) is a grassroots organization in Oakland, California with the mission to improve human health and well-being by decriminalizing and expanding access to entheogenic plants and fungi through political and community organizing, education and advocacy. In 2019 they successfully led a campaign to get psychoactive plants and fungi decriminalized in Oakland. They have since become a model for cities around the united states and the world. This episode opens up a conv...
Mar 25, 2020•48 min
Nikki Silvestri is a lifelong advocate for food and climate justice. She is a true thought leader pushing forward our understandings of self and the systems we are a part of. Her passion for a better world and better leadership is clear and inspiring. I also play the ukulele in this episode.
Feb 27, 2020•51 min
Jane and Monica Kinyua are Program Manager and Deputy Director for Children’s Peace Initiative in Nariobi, Kenya. I met Jane at the Mediators Beyond Borders International Peace Congress , and was able to connect with the Kinyua sisters about overcoming the history of conflict that shadow Kenya. Through their life work at CPI, they are able to guide the next generation to bridge communities that have been in conflict for many years. The Children's Peace Initiative , also known as CPI, works with ...
Feb 20, 2020
The conversation takes us on a deep exploration of both art and spiritual practice and the intersection points between the two. One of the recurring themes here is about finding the courage to slow down and let life show up and the various things that we discover when we do that. When we listen and open our eyes to the world, the world comes alive around us. As it comes alive we find that the world is reflecting ourselves back at us, and as we engage we also find ourselves mirroring the world ar...
Feb 11, 2020•1 hr
Joan Goldsmith is an educator, facilitator, coach, mediator and organizational consultant who as worked in the private and public sectors. She specializes in leadership development, organizational change, team building, strategic planning, collaborative negotiation and conflict resolution. Joan is an author who has written and co-written numerous books about organizational management and how to resolve conflicts in the workplace. She is also a fierce feminist and advocate for social change, and ...
Jan 10, 2020•54 min
Sky Isaacs-Nelson is a musician, author and physics educator who is building a foundation for a scientific understanding of synchronicity in our modern world. He recently wrote a book called Living in Flow: The Science of Synchronicity and How Your Choices Shape Your World . In this book he skillfully navigates the landscape between new age philosophy and hard science. He is a great science educator who is able to translate complex concepts into accessible and easy to understand language. And th...
Nov 07, 2019•1 hr 32 min
Gregory Kennedy is the Director of Operations at W(e)IRD World (Wild Idea Research & Development at weirdworld.xyz ). They support global charitable initiatives focused on some of society’s most urgent challenges such as food insecurity, sustainable development, and climate change. Gregory and WIRD work with people who want to do good for themselves, for their communities and around the world. For the past 15 years he has been developing and producing media, technology and education projects...
Oct 25, 2019•1 hr 41 min
Ashanti Branch is the Founder and Executive Director of The Ever Forward Club - Siempre Adelante . The Ever Forward Club serves young men and women and is a globally recognized non-profit organization. The Ever Forward Club has helped 100% of its members graduate high school and 93% of them have gone on to attend college. In this conversation, we talk about the importance of working with young men to help them navigate the complex and confusing messages from adults in their life telling them to ...
Sep 25, 2019•1 hr 29 min
The goal of the Co-Intelligence Institute is the conscious evolution of culture in harmony with nature and with the highest human potentials. Tom’s newly released Wise Democracy Pattern Deck is for anyone seeking to better address the complexity of our time, this tool provides insightful principles and practical methodologies. Wise Democracy Pattern Language: Tom and I reference these patterns in this episode. Each link has a whole world of resources and information: Feeling heard Using Diversit...
Sep 13, 2019•1 hr 23 min
Ash Adamson is a Senior Product Designer, serial entrepreneur, and transformational life coach. She is a brilliant and thoughtful being, who applies her wisdom and life experience to help us all reflect on how we each get to design our own lives. You can find out more information about Ash on her website ashadamson.com although she is beginning her online presence. She recommends you following her on Instagram @ashtronaut09, where she is more present. Ash and I met last summer serendipitously at...
Aug 29, 2019•1 hr 49 min
Alla Weinberg is an Executive Leadership Coach at a large tech company here in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her life passion is to fundamentally change how we work by shifting the organizational focus from "getting things done at any cost" to cultures that nurture collaborative relationships between people who are showing up with their passions, fears and delightful complexity. In this episode we talk about the problems of status quo business culture and leadership strategies, creating safe conta...
Aug 01, 2019•1 hr 29 min
Meet Katharina Dress. She is a mediator, facilitator, coach and trainer. Her business is Aging in Harmony. Katharina specializes in supporting families that are struggling with issues related to aging parents. In this episode we talk about the power of compassionate communication and the wisdom she’s gained while working with families and aging family members. She shares her experiences growing up in Cold War Germany, her work in California during the Peace Movement and her journey to discoverin...
May 24, 2019•1 hr 24 min
