Q&A: TIM RYAN Congressman – Author, A MINDFUL NATION

Written on August 8th, 2012

 

Aired 08/05/12

I am joined by Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan, who offers a radical solution to the stresses and problems that face Americans today — radical in its original meaning of having to do with roots of things. He has written a book, A MINDFUL NATION: How a Simple Practice Can Help Us Reduce Stress, Improve Performance, and Recapture the American Spirit. Ryan has a daily practice of meditation and now he’s advocating that the spread of similar practices could help heal us, not just as individuals but as a nation. His book is filled with examples of how mindfulness is already being successfully applied in education, healthcare, even the military.

Q&A: Bioneers-Ken Ausubel, David Orr

Written on November 4th, 2011

 

 

Aired 10/02/11

This radio show aims for “pieces of the puzzle of a world that just might work.” Many of those pieces arise out of a vision that reality is not dead, mechanical, or separate, but rather alive, evolving, and composed of interdependent systems. I believe this worldview has been shared by indigenous peoples for millennia, revealed by science since early in the 20th century, and obvious every time we walk outside or look into the eyes of another living creature.

It is this world view that inspires the annual Bioneers conferences that take place each fall in the San Francisco Bay area and now stream via satellite to sites across the country. The conference is a gathering of scientific and social innovators who draw from four billion years of evolutionary intelligence and apply nature’s operating instructions to develop and implement visionary and practical models for restoring the Earth, and its communities and people.

In addition to founding and co-directing Bioneers (Collective Heritage Institute), KENNY AUSUBEL, is an award-winning writer, filmmaker, and social entrepreneur specializing in health and the environment. He co-founded Seeds of Change, a biodiversity organic seed company. He authored the books, Seeds of Change; Restoring the Earth: Visionary Solutions from the Bioneers. Recently he edited the first two titles in the Bioneers book series with J.P Harpignies, Ecologocal Medicine, and Nature’s Operating Instructions. He founded Inner Tan Productions to produce visionary feature films.

DAVID ORR is the Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics and Special Assistant to the President of Oberlin College and a James Marsh Professor at the University of Vermont. He is perhaps best known for his pioneering work on environmental literacy in higher education and his recent work in ecological design. He raised funds for and spearheaded the effort to design and build a $7.2 million Environmental Studies Center at Oberlin College, a building described by the New York Times as “the most remarkable” of a new generation of college buildings and selected as one of 30 “milestone buildings” in the 20th century by the U.S. Department of Energy. Orr is the author of six books including THE LAST REFUGE: The Corruption of Patriotism in the Age of Terror; THE NATURE OF DESIGN; EARTH IN MIND; ECOLOGICAL LITERACY; and co-editor of The Global Predicament and The Campus and Environmental Responsibility.

http://www.bioneers.org/
http://davidorr.com/

Q&A: DIANE RAVITCH, Author

Written on September 18th, 2010

 

Aired 09/12/10

DIANE RAVITCH
author,
DEATH AND LIFE OF THE GREAT AMERICAN SCHOOL SYSTEM
How Testing and Choice Are
Undermining Education

VICKI ABELES
producer-director,
RACE TO NOWHERE

ENRIQUE GONZALEZ
Principal, BIG PICTURE Schools

http://www.dianeravitch.com/
http://www.racetonowhere.com/
http://www.bigpicture.org/
http://www.fkhs.org/

Q&A: JACK CANFIELD, coauthor of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series

Written on August 24th, 2010
 

 

Aired 08/22/10 (Part 1 of 2) EVOLUTIONARY LEADERS CALL TO ACTION

JACK CANFIELD is one of America's leading experts in the development of human potential. Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen are the #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling coauthors of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, with over 125 different titles in print, and worldwide sales of over 100 million copies. Jack is a Harvard graduate with a Master's Degree in psychological education and one of the earliest champions of peak-performance and self-esteem. The Success Principles (coauthored with Janet Switzer), offers the principles that he's studied, taught, and lived for the past 30 years in a practical and inspiring guide.

http://www.jackcanfield.com/

http://www.evolutionaryleaders.net/laevent/

Q&A: Rick Steves, Travel Author

Written on August 13th, 2009

 

Aired 08/11/09

I like it when someone does something better than they have to, or takes stands or risks they don't have to take. RICK STEVES has a comfortable business and a comfortable place in our culture and media. He helps people learn how to make travel less stressful and more enjoyable. But in TRAVEL AS A POLITICAL ACT, he sticks his neck out. He has traveled to and written about Iran, El Salvador, Turkey, for instance, in ways that challenge what passes for conventional wisdom. Of course, conventional wisdom is often a contradiction in terms, conventional meaning parochial, provincial, small minded, with little possibility of wisdom. Not only that, STEVES serves on the board of NORML and has given keynote speeches calling for legalization of marijuana.

Though RICK STEVES received degrees at the University of Washington, his real education came in Europe - since 1973 he's spent four months a year there. Spending one third of his adult life living out of a suitcase has shaped his thinking. Today he produces Europe Through the Back Door guidebooks, a travel series in America on public television, a weekly hour-long national public radio show, and a syndicated weekly column.

info: http://www.ricksteves.com/