"There's a gap between the realistic possible and the actual...and what can we do about it?" That's a premise we explore with our renowned guest, Dr. Rick Hanson, across numerous domains from the very personal to the political. Along with special co-host Savannah Nathan, we discuss the scientific observations of the benefits of meditation; Buddhism as a psychology and not necessarily a religion; and the nature of the mind and how it works. We also get into plenty of politics from unique traits humans developed over millions of years to many of the problems that ail us today to a simple yet ambitious vision Rick has articulated in the 2100 Project.
Rick Hanson, Ph.D., is a psychologist, Senior Fellow of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, and is a New York Times best-selling author of such impactful books including NeuroDharma, Resilient, Hardwiring Happiness, Buddha’s Brain, Just One Thing, and Mother Nurture. He’s lectured at NASA, Google, Oxford, and Harvard, and taught in meditation centers worldwide. An expert on positive neuroplasticity, his work has been featured on the BBC, CBS, NPR, on his podcast that he co-hosts with his son Forrest Hanson Being Well and other major media. He began meditating in 1974 and is the founder of the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom.
Here are some helpful links:
www.rickhanson.net
www.rickhanson.net/being-well-podcast/
www.rickhanson.net/books/neurodharma/#order
www.wisebrain.org/wellspring-institute
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17439760.2021.2006759
https://www.positiveneuroplasticity.com/
 

Kaitlyn Schiess is a writer and author who’s studying for her doctorate in political theology, ethics and biblical interpretation at Duke Divinity School and has earned her ThM in systematic theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. In 2020, Kaitlyn’s book The Liturgy of Politics: Spiritual Formation for the Sake of Our Neighbor created quite a stir. She has also written about theology, politics, and culture in outlets such as Christianity Today, The New York Times, Sojourners, several other national publications and is rather prolific on Twitter!
We cover a lot of ground in this conversation. Part of Kaitlyn's journey that is unique is that not a lot of people start out at Liberty Univ. for undergrad and then end up at Duke Divinity for their doctoral work. It was interesting to hear Kaitlyn's thoughts about where many of her Liberty classmates stand in terms of politics and theology today. We also talked about "What story am I buying into?" and how our paradigms affect how we interpret what's happening in the world. We went on to assess some of the problems that ail our culture in the church and more broadly, and we explore prescriptions of how we might be able to move forward.
https://kaitlynschiess.com/
https://twitter.com/KaitlynSchiess
https://www.instagram.com/kaitlynschiess/
https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780830848300

Here's Part 2 of our conversation with Chuck Rocha and Mike Madrid, picking up where we left off. In Part 1, we had a chance to talk with Chuck, who's best known for running Bernie Sanders 2020 campaign and then getting out the vote in the critical state of Nevada in the general election for Biden. In this part of the conversation Mike Madrid, co-founder of the Lincoln Project, jumps in to offer his thoughts about what both parties are getting wrong in terms of understanding and reaching Latino voters. And yes, the terms "Latinx" does come up! We also talk about why 1 Republican and 1 Democrat, both national strategists, often adversaries on campaigns, would come together to collaborate on their excellent new podcast THE LATINO VOTE.
Mike Madrid is a national political strategist, an expert in demographics and Latino voters. Mike’s academic work on Latino politics became the foundation for groundbreaking communications and outreach strategies in California, Texas, Florida and nationwide. Later, Mike was a co-founder of the Lincoln Project which played a significant part in defeating Donald Trump. Mike also lectures on race, class and partisanship at USC. 
Chuck Rocha became National Political Director of the United Steel Workers of America at 29 and was also the first person of color hired to that position. In 2010, Chuck founded Solidarity Strategies, a nonprofit and political consulting firm built on diversity, inclusion and mentorship opportunities for the next generation of minority professionals. He went on to advise on both Bernie Sanders campaigns and is the first Latino to run a presidential campaign. 
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-latino-vote/id1613279254
https://twitter.com/madrid_mike
https://twitter.com/ChuckRocha
https://www.solidaritystrategies.com/

On Part 1 of our conversation with Chuck Rocha and Mike Madrid, we get right into it. First with Chuck, who's best known for running Bernie Sanders 2020 campaign and then getting out the vote in the critical state of Nevada in the general election for Biden. We look behind the curtain at what national parties are getting wrong when it comes to reaching and engaging the Latino vote. We also talk about what's even more important than particular Democratic or Republican issues that he and Mike Madrid, often his adversary on campaigns, would come together to collaborate on their excellent new podcast THE LATINO VOTE.
Chuck Rocha became National Political Director of the United Steel Workers of America at 29 and was also the first person of color hired to that position. In 2010, Chuck founded Solidarity Strategies, a nonprofit and political consulting firm built on diversity, inclusion and mentorship opportunities for the next generation of minority professionals. He went on to advise on both Bernie Sanders campaigns and is the first Latino to run a presidential campaign. 
Mike Madrid is a national political strategist, an expert in demographics and Latino politics. Mike’s academic work on Latino politics became the foundation for groundbreaking communications and outreach strategies in California, Texas, Florida and nationwide. Later, Mike was a co-founder of the Lincoln Project which played a significant part in defeating Donald Trump. Mike also lectures on race, class and partisanship at USC. 
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-latino-vote/id1613279254
https://twitter.com/madrid_mike
https://twitter.com/ChuckRocha
https://www.solidaritystrategies.com/
TIO BERNIE: THE INSIDE STORY OF HOW BERNIE SANDERS BROUGHT LATINOS INTO THE POLITICAL REVOLUTION - https://www.amazon.com/T%C3%ADo-Bernie-Sanders-Political-Revolution/dp/1947492527

Michael David Cobb Bowen is co-founder and co-editor of Free Black Thought - a group of scholars, technologists, parents, and citizens determined to amplify vital black voices that are rarely heard on mainstream platforms. Michael is a Business Intelligence professional and Data Engineer, he is a past contributor to NPR, Young Republicans and TV One, and is an essayist at Stoic Observations. Michael might describe himself as an entrepreneur, foodie, anti-fragile, true neutral, audiophile, gearhead, hacker, shooter and ooda buddha. We discuss all that and even talk a little jazz!
https://www.freeblackthought.com/
https://mdcbowen.substack.com/
http://www.mdcbowen.info/
 

John Popper is a singer, songwriter and one of the world's greatest harmonica players. He's the longtime frontman of Blues Traveler (which happens to be one of, if not my favorite band ever!) and has jammed with any number of virtuosos across multiple genres of music. Of course, we talk about the music, his influences and inspirations, but we also get into plenty of politics and religion!
As our special co-host we were joined by Matt Lewis of THE DAILY BEAST. This interview can also be heard on Matt's awesome podcast MATT LEWIS AND THE NEWS. 
https://twitter.com/blues_traveler
https://twitter.com/mattklewis
 

In this conversation with Melanie Ross of Yale Divinity School, we explore the music in American Evangelical churches; what the worship music says about the people of particular churches; how politics, and specifically Trump, was discussed during services and other church gatherings; and how to make space to have healthier dialogue and to listen to each other well. Melanie also shares about her cancer diagnosis in 2014, her 2 year recovery process and how different the political landscape was when she returned to her research for this project in 2016.
Dr. Melanie Ross is Associate Professor of liturgical studies at the Yale Divinity School.  She studies North American contemporary evangelical worship, and argues that the common ground shared by evangelical and liturgical churches is much more important than the differences that divide them. She most recently authored the book, EVANGELICAL WORSHIP: AN AMERICAN MOSAIC. Plus, she and co-host Jessica Stone went to high school together! So we get to hear some tidbits about what Jess was like as a teenager.

Dr. Napp Nazworth joined us to discuss how one of the country's leading Christian online media outlets transformed over the last 5-6 years into one that is explicitly on team Trump, eschewing much of its founding journalistic and theological principles. We also delve into other topics such as how the oft-quoted 81% support for Trump among Evangelicals is a myth. Among other issues we explored, Napp shared a thought-provoking assessment of how Trump/Trumpism has actually inflicted long term damage to the pro-life movement.
Napp Nazworth has a PhD in Political Science with the focus of his dissertation on the Christian Right. After working for a number of years in academia, Napp went on to be the Politics Editor and Political Analyst for the Christian Post for 8 ½ years before he had to part ways with the organization after they “sold their soul to Trump” as Napp described it. Dr. Nazworth is now the Executive Director of the American Values Coalition which is “a growing community of Americans empowered to lead with truth, reject extremism and misinformation, and defend democracy.”