Spheres

Ben Smithee In this episode, I speak with good mate, Entrepreneur and CEO of the Smithee Group, Ben Smithee. We discuss the ideas around calling, vocation, creativity, and mentoring. Ben is based in New York City and married to Nicole. Ben's firm, The Smithee Group, seeks ‘to inspire and encourage people to create generational success'. Ben's personal vision is framed around three key insights: Honor God; Serve people; and Steward capital. Shaped around three realities Ben seeks to cultivate intentional spaces that recognize that healthy things grow, and growing things change. This conversation is a true joy that brings good thinking, hope, creativity and life to the ideas and practices of vocation, leadership, stewardship, and faith. Ben is CEO of The Smithee Group (TSG), a Digital Growth Agency that offers a full suite of digital marketing and media solutions that leverages their extensive expertise in research and analytics. TSG's mission is to empower entrepreneurs and businesses to dream bigger and achieve multi-generational integrity. His experience ranges from global brands such as McDonalds, General Mills, Coca- Cola, EA Games, Cox Automotive and Signet, to startups and scale-ups looking to utilize digital and see true performance results. Along with his role as an Advisor to the Black in Jewelry Coalition, Ben currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Women's Jewelry Association, Big Brothers Big Sisters, as well as Gem Legacy, which supports the artisanal mining communities in East Africa with education, training, childcare, healthcare, and business opportunities. When not in the business and non-profit worlds, you can find Ben on the track racing cars, on the mountain snowboarding, or on the links playing golf.   I hope you enjoy this conversation.

Lalitha Stables: In this episode, we take a more personal and vulnerable approach to public theology, thinking well, and the experiences that shape who we are, where we're going, and who we're becoming.  Recently, I spoke with good friend and Tech Executive, Lalitha Stables about cultural change, leadership, the tech industry, and the church. In a more personalized approach Lalitha and I unpack the theological dissonance that exists in many faith-based communities. Dissonance that has led to to the marginalization of women in the church, especially those who embody strong convictions and influential roles outside the faith-based communities. Lalitha reflects on her personal journey and how, especially in the last 12-months, since the public murder of George Floyd, she has navigated toxic places and spaces with self-care, boundaries, and discernment. This will be the first of many conversations she and I will have around these topics.  Lalitha is Sri Lankan born Australian who has over 20 years of experience in Enterprise Software Sales. She specializes in establishing alliances and helping customers and partners drive data-driven digital transformation with the power of the cloud. Currently she is the Head of Partnerships and DEI lead for Google Europe. Lalitha is passionate about building diverse and inclusive high-performance teams and devotes her free time to DEI initiatives in the workplace and with external organizations to advance representation in senior tech leadership positions. People are at the heart of what drives her and building trusted relationships with partners, customers and staff underpins everything she does.  Outside of IT, Lalitha has a keen interest in philanthropic and entrepreneurial activities. In 2002, she established a business advisory practice, consulting to recruitment agencies and their senior candidates, specializing in presentation skills.  In 2005, following her success on the steering committee for the Inaugural Women's Build Habitat for Humanity Project in Sydney, Lalitha co-founded Oasis Africa Australia, a primary school in Kibera Slum, East Africa, which has educated over 8000 children to date. Lalitha has worked as a professional session singer for 15 years with a strong theatre background in singing and acting and performed on a professional basis within Australia and internationally. She joined the cast of 'Buddy Holly' during their 2001 Australian tour and had the time of her life performing in a singing/acting role for 6 months.  She is married with two children aged 7 and 5 and based currently in London, UK. I hope you enjoy this conversation.

Andre Henry:   Recently, I spoke with good friend and social organizer Andre Henry about whiteness, militant non-violence, faith, and Bob Marley. We discussed the current landscape here in the US around violence, the growing problem of white Christian nationalism, and the power of organizing people for social change.   Andre was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia – an epicenter of America's civil rights struggle. He is an award-winning singer-songwriter fanning the flames of revolution around the world.   The son of Jamaican immigrants, listeners say his “Future Reggae” sound, is truly unique—combining the influences of Atlanta's trap-inflected R&B, Caribbean pop, and conscious lyrics with his impassioned vocals and gripping storytelling. From personal tales of run-ins with the police to anthems about unarmed women who fought off Nazi soldiers, Andre's music aims to convince listeners of the power ordinary people have to change the world. He's also an award-winning writer, leading thinker, and sought-after speaker on the topics of racism and building nonviolent movements for social progress. His message can be summed up in a single lyric: “It doesn't have to be this way.”   WEBSITE:          http://andrerhenry.com   TWITTER:          http://twitter/andrehenry INSTAGRAM:     @theandrehenry   I hope you enjoy this conversation.

Podcast Synopsis: Dr. Howard C. Stevenson: The Racial Dance.   Recently, I spoke with Dr Howard Stevenson about racial literacy, prayer and protest, and the psychology of proximity. We discussed the integration of his work as a psychologist within the frame racial threat, the need for racial socialization, and how people deal with situations of racial threat.   Dr. Howard Stevenson is the Constance Clayton Professor of Urban Education, Professor of Africana Studies, in the Human Development & Quantitative Methods Division of the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the Executive Director of the Racial Empowerment Collaborative at Penn, designed to promote racial literacy in education, health, community and justice institutions.   He is a nationally recognized clinical psychologist, writer, and researcher on negotiating racial conflicts using racial literacy for independent and public K-12 schooling, community mental health centers, teachers, police and parents. Two National Institutes of Health funded research projects he leads examine the benefits of racial literacy and culturally responsive interventions. The PLAAY (Preventing Long-term Anger and Aggression in Youth) Project uses basketball and group therapy to help youth and parents cope with stress and trauma from violence and social rejection and Dr. Stevenson co-leads the SHAPE-UP: Barbers Building Better Brothers Project with Drs. Lorretta and John Jemmott, which trains Black barbers as health educators to teach Black 18-24 year old males to reduce their risk of -- HIV/STDS and retaliation violence -- while they are cutting hair.   Backed by a $12 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and based at REC, Howard also co-directs Forward Promise, a national philanthropic office that promotes a culture of health for boys and young men of color, to help them heal from the trauma of historical and present-day dehumanization, discrimination and colonization.   Dr. Stevenson is the recipient of the 2020 Gittler Prize, by Brandeis University, for outstanding and lasting scholarly contributions to racial, ethnic, and religious relations. Also, recently, he was listed in the RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings of the top university-based scholars in the U.S. who did the most last year to shape educational practice and policy.   His recent best-selling book, Promoting Racial Literacy in Schools: Differences that Make  a Difference, is designed to reduce racial threat reactions in face-to-face encounters. His brother, Bryan Stevenson, wrote Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. He is the father if two sons, Bryan and Julian.

Creativity and the Creative Process.   Recently, I spoke with Anna McGahan about creativity, the creative process, and imagination. We explore creativity in community, her creative process as an element of flow, and the role narratives play in our lives as humans. We recognize that all people are ‘creatives’ and discuss the creative mandate that exists in each and every one of us and how we find peace in our creative process.   Anna is an actor, author, poet and screenwriter, whose work prioritizes a defiant female gaze to explore experiences of embodiment, relationships, motherhood and spirituality. Her debut book 'Metanoia: A Memoir of a Body Born Again' was a finalist in the ECPA Christian Book Awards (USA), and shortlisted for Australian Christian Book of the Year. Her second book, 'Skin'- a book of blessings for pregnant and birthing women - was released in 2021. Her feature film ‘The Ghost Light’ is currently in development. She lives on Jagera and Turrbal Country, with her husband and two young daughters. For more information visit annamcgahan.com.    I hope you find this conversation helpful!

How to Think in Public.   Recently, I spoke with Professor Stackhouse about Epistemology, Critical Theory, and Christian Ethics. We explored the nature of thinking and how, through history, people have shifted their acquisition of knowledge away from communities towards a high individualized frame of the self. In this conversation, Professor Stackhouse critiques public discourse as we explore not only what we think, but also how we think.   John is the author of ten books, the editor of four more, and the author of over 700 articles, book chapters, and reviews in academic publications, major newspapers, and magazines. His writings range over history, sociology, philosophy, theology, ethics, and comparative religion. He has spoken throughout North America, in the United Kingdom, and in China, India, Israel, Korea, Malaysia, Australia, and New Zealand. His commentary on religion and contemporary culture has been featured by major broadcast and print media as diverse as The New York Times, The Atlantic, ABC News, CBC Radio, Time, and Reader’s Digest.

All Suffering is Sacred. How do you engage with the process of suffering, trauma, and despair in a healthy way? I spoke with Dr. Kathleen O’Connor, Professor of Old Testament, Emerita, at Columbia Theological Seminary and explored with her how people in the Bible respond to disaster and suffering and engage in the necessary work of processing and recovering from personal crisis or collective catastrophe via the process of lament.   Dr O’Connor has written a number of books: Jeremiah: Pain and Promise (Fortress, 2011), using a lens drawing from trauma and disaster studies. Another of her books, Lamentations and the Tears of the World (Orbis Press, 2002), received first prize in scripture from the Catholic Press Association, 2003. More recently, she completed a two volume commentary on the Book of Genesis (Smith & Helwys, 2016, 2018), using insights from trauma and disaster studies. A former president of the Catholic Biblical Association of America, she has also served on Council of the Society of Biblical Literature. In 2015, Columbia Theological Seminary inaugurated the Kathleen O’Connor Lectures in her honor.