Podcasts about Smith College

Born to a Norwegian mother and a Nigerian father, actress Toks Olagundoye is a native of Lagos, Nigeria. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre from Smith College. She is best known for her role as Olivia Finch on the newest iteration of the sitcom, Frasier, Kemi Talbot (the Kamala Harris character) on Veep as well as alien matriarch Jackie Joyner-Kersee in her first series regular job, ABC's The Neighbors.  As a breast cancer survivor and thriver, Toks talks about the importance of early detection, not to fear the treatments, and to always have a loud best advocate with you for appointments. She leads a vegan lifestyle and cares deeply for the preservation of our planet, advocates recycling and repurposing clothes and uses socializing as an excuse to host clothing swaps. Toks has joined forces with Recycle Across America to promote awareness and the standardized recycling labels. Toks uses her platform to engage in and promote substantive discussions on living in tune with yourself and the planet, environmental action and sustainable living.  Potential resources for Recycling: *Habitat for Humanity *Goodwill *Recycle America.org *Ridwell.com *Tetracycle.com You can also look up local recycling and local sanitation organizations. Website: www.heatherthomson.com Social Media: IG: https://www.instagram.com/iamheathert/                     You Tube: https://youtube.com/@iamheathert?si=ZvI9l0bhLfTR-qdo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aime Austin is the author of the Casey Cort and Nicole Long legal thriller series, weaving sharp social commentary into gripping crime fiction. Born in Brooklyn, Aime graduated from Smith College and Cornell Law School before practicing family and criminal law in Cleveland, Ohio. She now splits her time between Los Angeles and Budapest, writing thrillers, hosting the podcast A Time to Thrill, and interviewing brilliant women creators. When she's not chasing down a plot twist, you'll find her in a yoga pose, with knitting needles in hand, or lost in a good book. Aime is a 2025 recipient of the Mystery Writers of America Barbara Neely Scholarship. His Last Mistress is her most recent release. Find her at https://aimeaustin.com/➡️ BEYOND AFFIRMATIONS Workshop! Click HERE for the details!

Worship service given June 8, 2025 Prayer by Rev. Marta Morris Flanagan, Lead Minister Offertory Music: "Benediction: When the Recall Sounds," music by Jennifer Kobayashi, words adapted from Rev. Dr. Vivien Pomeroy (1883-1961) Anthem: "Bidden or Unbidden: God is Present," music by Kenneth Seitz, words by Marta Morris Flanagan and Charles R. Duffy, spoken at their wedding on August 13, 2023 https://firstparish.info/ First Parish A liberal religious community, welcoming to all First gathered 1739 Join us for this special service!  Join us for song, reflection, music, and ritual as we say goodbye to Lead Minister, Rev. Marta Flanagan, and celebrate our annual Flower Communion.  Parish Minister, Rev. Erica Richmond, will be preaching.  Community-wide BBQ after worship! Offering and Giving First The Giving First program donates 50% of the non-pledge offering each month to a charitable organization that we feel is consistent with Unitarian Universalist principles. The program began in November 2009, and First Parish has donated over $200,000 to more than 70 organizations. For June 2025, The Boston Alliance of LGBTQ+ Youth (BAGLY) will share half of the plate. For nearly 50 years, BAGLY has been a youth-led, adult-supported social support organization, committed to social justice and creating, sustaining, and advocating for programs, policies, and services for the LGBTQ+ youth community in Massachusetts. After serving over 200,000+ youth since 1980, BAGLY is recognized nationally for its pioneering role in creating, sustaining, and advocating for social support, leadership development, and health promotion programs for LGBTQ+ youth. The remaining half of your offering supports the life and work of this Parish. To donate using your smartphone, you may text “fpuu” to 73256. Then follow the directions in the texts you receive. About our Lead Minister: Rev. Marta Flanagan began her ministry as our twentieth called minister at First Parish in the fall of 2009. She is a genuine and forthright preacher. In conversation she is direct and engaging. She speaks of prayer with as much ease as she laughs at human foibles. We call her “Marta.” Marta is a religious liberal, a theist, a feminist, and a lover of the woods. As a student of American history at Smith College she was captivated by the stories of social reformers who were motivated and sustained by their faith. That led her to consider the ministry and to study at Harvard Divinity School from where she was graduated in 1986. She was the first woman minister in the city of Salem, Massachusetts, serving at the First Universalist Church there (1987-1997). She served in a co-ministry at South Church (Unitarian Universalist) in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, (1997-2005) from where she is minister emerita. Marta served as interim minister in Montpelier, Vermont (2008-2009). She is trained as a spiritual director. For three years she lived in the Vermont woods practicing voluntary simplicity and the spiritual life. Marta enjoys the vitality of First Parish and our strong sense of community. She celebrates the yearning for depth and the desire to make a difference in the world that she finds here.

The Clinton-era Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 was a significant reform of the welfare system as it had been known. In this episode, Dr. Lucie Schmidt draws on her co-authored paper, “Did Welfare Reform End the Safety Net as We Knew It? The Record since 1996,” to describe the safety net landscape before 1996, and how specific programs and overall coverage have changed since welfare reform was put in place. Lucie Schmidt is the Robert A. Woods Professor of Economics at Smith College and is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. She is also an IRP Affiliate.

We discuss "calling in" as a practice rooted in a human rights framework that can transform how we engage across our divide and potentially be the bridge that helps our democracy survive.   Loretta's civic action toolkit recommendations are:  Do an integrity audit: pause and self assess before responding Always focus on the good part of people   Loretta Ross is an activist and an associate professor at Smith College. Loretta has had a long career in the human rights movement and her new book is Calling In: How to Start Making Change with Those You'd Rather Cancel.     Let's connect! Follow Future Hindsight on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/futurehindsightpod/   Discover new ways to #BetheSpark:  https://www.futurehindsight.com/spark    Follow Mila on X:  https://x.com/milaatmos    Follow Loretta on X:  https://x.com/LorettaJRoss    Read Calling In:  https://bookshop.org/shop/futurehindsight   Sponsor:  Thank you to Shopify! Sign up for a $1/month trial at shopify.com/hopeful.   Early episodes for Patreon supporters: https://patreon.com/futurehindsight  Credits:  Host: Mila Atmos  Guests: Loretta Ross Executive Producer: Mila Atmos Producer: Zack Travis

This is our first LIVE SHOW ever!! We were invited to perform the podcast live at Smith College in Massachusetts and people actually came! Thanks for all your support these past two years. We wouldn't be here without you all. Thank you!QUESTIONSJulian: "Is it possible to maintain a tunnel from one side of the earth to the other? What would be the environmental effects?" from Weina Lu (she/her)Trace: "Is there a quantity of fireflies that could blind someone?" from Smith student Sarah (she/her)Naila: “What if plants were allergic to us?” from 5c community member Billy (they/them)Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's a silly idea you had, a shower thought about the nature of reality, or a ridiculous musing about your favorite food? If you want an answer, no matter the question, tell us!HOW TO ASK A QUESTION

Featuring COA Youth & Mentors, with Rev. Stevie Carmody, Minister of Religious Education Worship service given June 1, 2025 Prayer by Rev. Erica Federspiel Richmond, Parish Minister https://firstparish.info/ First Parish A liberal religious community, welcoming to all First gathered 1739 At First Parish, we honor the passage from childhood towards adulthood through our Coming of Age program. Our service will include Credo (“I Believe”) statements from the Coming of Age class as well as a blessing of the senior youth and a farewell to our Youth Program Coordinator Rose Sawyer-Marsh. And as another cohort passes through the “Arch of Love,” we celebrate all the people who have contributed to our multigenerational community. Offering and Giving First The Giving First program donates 50% of the non-pledge offering each month to a charitable organization that we feel is consistent with Unitarian Universalist principles. The program began in November 2009, and First Parish has donated over $200,000 to more than 70 organizations. For June 2025, The Boston Alliance of LGBTQ+ Youth (BAGLY) will share half of the plate. For nearly 50 years, BAGLY has been a youth-led, adult-supported social support organization, committed to social justice and creating, sustaining, and advocating for programs, policies, and services for the LGBTQ+ youth community in Massachusetts. After serving over 200,000+ youth since 1980, BAGLY is recognized nationally for its pioneering role in creating, sustaining, and advocating for social support, leadership development, and health promotion programs for LGBTQ+ youth. The remaining half of your offering supports the life and work of this Parish. To donate using your smartphone, you may text “fpuu” to 73256. Then follow the directions in the texts you receive. About our Lead Minister: Rev. Marta Flanagan began her ministry as our twentieth called minister at First Parish in the fall of 2009. She is a genuine and forthright preacher. In conversation she is direct and engaging. She speaks of prayer with as much ease as she laughs at human foibles. We call her “Marta.” Marta is a religious liberal, a theist, a feminist, and a lover of the woods. As a student of American history at Smith College she was captivated by the stories of social reformers who were motivated and sustained by their faith. That led her to consider the ministry and to study at Harvard Divinity School from where she was graduated in 1986. She was the first woman minister in the city of Salem, Massachusetts, serving at the First Universalist Church there (1987-1997). She served in a co-ministry at South Church (Unitarian Universalist) in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, (1997-2005) from where she is minister emerita. Marta served as interim minister in Montpelier, Vermont (2008-2009). She is trained as a spiritual director. For three years she lived in the Vermont woods practicing voluntary simplicity and the spiritual life. Marta enjoys the vitality of First Parish and our strong sense of community. She celebrates the yearning for depth and the desire to make a difference in the world that she finds here.

The beauty of trans life is that it flourishes in unexpected spaces. This fortnight's guest Perry Zurn has written a beautiful book about how trans life creates spaces for itself in the cracks, at the edges and in other liminal spaces. We speak about trans life at the university, trans poetics, and the problematisation of trans inclusion. Perry tells me about how he was able to rethink methodologies and the role of the researcher by working with story-led theory. Tune in now to attune yourself to trans thinking, histories and ourchives.  References:Perry Zurn's How We Make Each Other: Trans Life at the Edge of the University (Duke University Press, 2025)Perry Zurn and Dani S. Bassett's Curious Minds: The Power of Connection (MIT Press, 2022)Ren-yo HwangEnoch PageJack GiesekingAndrea LawlorJen ManionCavar's “In Praise of -Less”https://azejournal.com/article/2022/8/4/in-praise-of-less-transmad-shouts-from-absent-placesAmherst Collee, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and University of Massachusetts Amherst  Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:     What might trans poetics be? How does Perry define this term?     Why does Perry like thinking through problems? What are two problems we speak about on the podcast?     Perry describes what story-led theory is and how this method is, in a way, the opposite of how philosophy traditionally uses stories. Can you explain what story-led theory is and how it is different from other theory?     How does Perry use the term ‘attunement'?     Perry explains finding thematic clusters such as pebble, dust and glue. What is an object or entity you associate with trans life?

318: AI for Nonprofit Leaders – Beyond the Hype (Andrew Gossen & Stamie Despo)SUMMARYSpecial thanks to TowneBank for bringing these conversations to life. Learn more at TowneBank.com/NonprofitBanking.How can nonprofit leaders cut through the noise and start using AI to strengthen relationships, increase efficiency, and stay mission-driven? AI is reshaping how nonprofits engage donors, manage data, and build relationships. In episode #318 of Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership, nonprofit marketing and fundraising experts Andrew Gossen and Stamie Despo share why nonprofit leaders can't afford to ignore AI.ABOUT ANDREWAndrew is executive director for communications, marketing, and participation at Cornell University's Division of Alumni Affairs and Development. Since joining Cornell in 2010, he has integrated emerging digital technologies, including social media and crowdfunding, into the division's strategy. Previously, he spent eight years in various roles at the Alumni Association of Princeton University. Gossen focuses on using digital tools to build audiences and mobilize support for causes and organizations. A frequent speaker to domestic and international audiences, he has served on the CASE Commission on Alumni Relations, co-chaired the CASE Joint Commission Task Force on Social Media, and received a CASE Crystal Apple Award for Teaching Excellence in 2018. He holds a bachelor's degree from Princeton and a doctorate in social anthropology from Harvard.ABOUT STAMIEStamie brings over 20 years of experience in philanthropy to Cornell University. Previously she served as the Executive Director of Susan G. Komen for the greater Charlotte, NC, area. Stamie was a 2019 honoree for the Charlotte Athena Leadership Award for Service. Her focus in philanthropy is engaging donors in a meaningful and authentic way, creating a culture of philanthropy, building relationships and providing strategic leadership. She holds a Bachelor's degree in economics, Cum Laude, from Smith College, a Masters in Teaching degree, Summa Cum Laude, from Monmouth University, a Non-Profit Management Certificate from Duke University, and an Event Planning Certificate from UNC Charlotte.EPISODE TOPICS & RESOURCESYour Path to Nonprofit Leadership is FeedSpot's #1 podcast in Philanthropy!The Filter Bubble by Eli Pariser and AI for Good by Gaius ChinanuDon't miss our weekly Thursday Leadership LensWant to chat leadership 24/7?  Go to delphi.ai/pattonmcdowell

Rev. Fred Small, Guest Minister, preaching Worship service given May 25, 2025 Prayer by Bill Licea-Kane, Worship Associate https://firstparish.info/ First Parish A liberal religious community, welcoming to all First gathered 1739 The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence," wrote Trappist monk and peace activist Thomas Merton. "The frenzy of our activism neutralizes our work for peace. . . . It destroys the fruitfulness of our own work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful." As we work together for social and environmental justice, how do we remain grounded in a peaceful spirit? Rev. Fred Small asks, what can we learn from trees? A Unitarian Universalist pastor, singer-songwriter, and former environmental lawyer, Rev. Fred Small serves as Minister for Climate Justice at Arlington Street Church, Boston. Offering and Giving First The Giving First program donates 50% of the non-pledge offering each month to a charitable organization that we feel is consistent with Unitarian Universalist principles. The program began in November 2009, and First Parish has donated over $200,000 to more than 70 organizations. For May 2025, Massachusetts Bail Fund will share half of the plate. Massachusetts Bail Fund (MBF) pays bail to secure freedom from pre-trial incarceration so that those who cannot afford their bail can be in their community to fight their case. Pre-trial freedom allows individuals, families, and communities to stay productive, together, and stable. Massachusetts jails are filled with people awaiting trial simply because they cannot afford bail. Sitting in jail on bail leads to longer incarceration times, lost jobs, lost housing, and devastating disruption to families. The remaining half of your offering supports the life and work of this Parish. To donate using your smartphone, you may text “fpuu” to 73256. Then follow the directions in the texts you receive. About our Lead Minister: Rev. Marta Flanagan began her ministry as our twentieth called minister at First Parish in the fall of 2009. She is a genuine and forthright preacher. In conversation she is direct and engaging. She speaks of prayer with as much ease as she laughs at human foibles. We call her “Marta.” Marta is a religious liberal, a theist, a feminist, and a lover of the woods. As a student of American history at Smith College she was captivated by the stories of social reformers who were motivated and sustained by their faith. That led her to consider the ministry and to study at Harvard Divinity School from where she was graduated in 1986. She was the first woman minister in the city of Salem, Massachusetts, serving at the First Universalist Church there (1987-1997). She served in a co-ministry at South Church (Unitarian Universalist) in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, (1997-2005) from where she is minister emerita. Marta served as interim minister in Montpelier, Vermont (2008-2009). She is trained as a spiritual director. For three years she lived in the Vermont woods practicing voluntary simplicity and the spiritual life. Marta enjoys the vitality of First Parish and our strong sense of community. She celebrates the yearning for depth and the desire to make a difference in the world that she finds here.

Today on "Don't@ME", Sayonara Stan Verrett! 'Around The Horn' fallout, PT.2, The irony of LeBron James and Chaos at Smith College. Plus, Auburn Basketball Head Coach, Bruce Pearl with reaction to seeing American hostage, Edan Alexander, finally being set free from the grips of Hamas and the one thing the NCAA or conferences could do to make the regular season CBB matter more again? And 3x All-Pro LB, Shawne Merriman with thoughts on Travis Hunter as an instant impact player on BOTH SIDES of the ball in his rookie season with the Jaguars and the Tush Push remaining for at least one more season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rev. Marta Morris Flanagan, Lead Minister, preaching Worship service given May 18, 2025 Prayer by Rev. Erica Federspiel Richmond, Parish Minister, preaching Reading: "Mrs. George Reece" by Edgar Lee Masters from Spoon River Anthology https://firstparish.info/ First Parish A liberal religious community, welcoming to all First gathered 1739 This Sunday Marta Flanagan offers her last sermon as Lead Minister at First Parish. Marta has served First Parish since 2009.  On June 8 she is retiring from full-time parish ministry after 39 years of serving Unitarian Universalist congregations.  On Saturday, May 31 First Parish is honoring her in a celebration.  All are invited.   Offering and Giving First The Giving First program donates 50% of the non-pledge offering each month to a charitable organization that we feel is consistent with Unitarian Universalist principles. The program began in November 2009, and First Parish has donated over $200,000 to more than 70 organizations. For May 2025, Massachusetts Bail Fund will share half of the plate. Massachusetts Bail Fund (MBF) pays bail to secure freedom from pre-trial incarceration so that those who cannot afford their bail can be in their community to fight their case. Pre-trial freedom allows individuals, families, and communities to stay productive, together, and stable. Massachusetts jails are filled with people awaiting trial simply because they cannot afford bail. Sitting in jail on bail leads to longer incarceration times, lost jobs, lost housing, and devastating disruption to families. The remaining half of your offering supports the life and work of this Parish. To donate using your smartphone, you may text “fpuu” to 73256. Then follow the directions in the texts you receive. About our Lead Minister: Rev. Marta Flanagan began her ministry as our twentieth called minister at First Parish in the fall of 2009. She is a genuine and forthright preacher. In conversation she is direct and engaging. She speaks of prayer with as much ease as she laughs at human foibles. We call her “Marta.” Marta is a religious liberal, a theist, a feminist, and a lover of the woods. As a student of American history at Smith College she was captivated by the stories of social reformers who were motivated and sustained by their faith. That led her to consider the ministry and to study at Harvard Divinity School from where she was graduated in 1986. She was the first woman minister in the city of Salem, Massachusetts, serving at the First Universalist Church there (1987-1997). She served in a co-ministry at South Church (Unitarian Universalist) in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, (1997-2005) from where she is minister emerita. Marta served as interim minister in Montpelier, Vermont (2008-2009). She is trained as a spiritual director. For three years she lived in the Vermont woods practicing voluntary simplicity and the spiritual life. Marta enjoys the vitality of First Parish and our strong sense of community. She celebrates the yearning for depth and the desire to make a difference in the world that she finds here.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠It's YOUR time to #EdUpIn this episode, President Series #369, (Powered By ⁠⁠⁠Ellucian⁠⁠⁠), & brought to YOU by the University of RochesterYOUR guest is Dr. Sarah Willie-LeBreton, President, Smith CollegeYOUR host is ⁠⁠⁠⁠ Dr. Joe SallustioWhat makes Smith College unique in higher education? How does an open curriculum foster student exploration? Why is writing emphasized as a foundational skill? How are students being prepared for careers in a changing job market? What challenges face higher education in today's political climate? Topics include:Leading the largest women's liberal arts college in the country Celebrating 150 years of educational excellence Supporting students from 68 different countries Balancing liberal arts education & career preparation Meeting 100% of demonstrated financial need with no-loan policies Embracing both technological change & traditional learning Maintaining academic freedom & viewpoint diversity Listen in to #EdUpDo YOU want to accelerate YOUR professional development?Do YOU want to get exclusive early access to ad-free episodes, extended episodes, bonus episodes, original content, invites to special events, & more?Then ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BECOME A SUBSCRIBER TODAY⁠⁠ - $19.99/month or $199.99/year (Save 17%)!Want to get YOUR organization to pay for YOUR subscription? Email ⁠⁠⁠EdUp@edupexperience.comThank YOU so much for tuning in. Join us on the next episode for YOUR time to EdUp!Connect with YOUR EdUp Team - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Elvin Freytes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Dr. Joe Sallustio⁠⁠⁠⁠● Join YOUR EdUp community at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠The EdUp Experience ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!We make education YOUR business!

Smith College giving an Honorary Degree to transgender politician. Jonathan Savage on Amnesty International Orange County most recent audit show's response time standards have not been met. Today's National Days. Tonya J Powers on Biden's cancer Biden's mental capability during his presidency is even more called into question.

Conversations among Catholics about trans people and the church often center on questions of inclusion and belonging in relation to church life and teachings. Can trans people be baptized into the church or partake in other sacraments? Should trans Catholics be allowed to join religious orders? The conversations often proceed as though trans Catholics are fundamentally a problem to be solved.  Even when the intention is to be welcoming, making this the primary discussion among Catholics fails to recognize that trans Catholics are already part of our families, communities, workplaces, and parishes. Trans Catholics are already a part of the church.  Some theologians and pastoral leaders suggest that shifting the focus of these discussions could lead to a broader understanding of church life. As well as considering what we owe to trans people, we should also consider how trans people enrich the church—how their active participation in church communities might help us deepen our theology and pastoral witness.  On this episode of Glad You Asked, the hosts talk to guest Kori Pacyniak about what the church can learn from trans Catholics. Pacyniak is a queer, nonbinary, and trans Catholic who is a doctoral candidate at the University of California Riverside. They studied religion and Portuguese at Smith College and have a master of divinity from Harvard and a master's degree in theology and trauma from Boston University. Ordained as a priest through Roman Catholic Womenpriests, Pacyniak focuses on creating sacred space and liturgy by and for queer and trans Catholics. Learn more about this topic and read some of Pacyniak's writing in these links. “Gender diversity has always been part of the church,” by Emma Cieslik Gender diversity has always been part of the church - U.S. Catholic “As a transgender Catholic, I don't see gender diversity as a threat to our faith,” by Maxwell Kuzma As a transgender Catholic, I don't see gender diversity as a threat to our faith - Outreach “Trans and Catholic: A parent's perspective,” by Deacon Ray Dever Trans and Catholic: A parent's perspective - U.S. Catholic “We cannot abandon trans Catholics,” by Father Bryan Massingale We cannot abandon trans Catholics - U.S. Catholic “Pope Francis Calls for the Inclusion of Trans People in Catholic Church Practices,” by Dallas Knox Pope Francis Calls for the Inclusion of Trans People in Catholic Church Practices | GLAAD “God Doesn't Want You to Be Miserable,” by Kori Pacyniak "God Doesn't Want You to Be Miserable.” - New Ways Ministry “The Women Who Want to Be Priests,” by Margaret Talbot The Women Who Want to Be Priests | The New Yorker Glad You Asked is sponsored by the Claretian Missionaries.

Rev. Jory Agate, Guest Minister, preaching Worship service given May 11, 2025 Prayer by Rev. Marta Morris Flanagan, Lead Minister Included in the recording: Hymn 131 from "Singing the Living Tradition" - "Love Will Guide Us" https://firstparish.info/ First Parish A liberal religious community, welcoming to all First gathered 1739 As ministers, we are called to love our congregants with the fierce, unconditional love of a mother for her child. This is a sacred and holy gift. On this Mother's Day, as Lead Minister Rev. Marta Flanagan's sixteen years of ministry among us draws to a close, Rev. Jory Agate invites us to imagine: what if each of us answered the call to love? Could we learn to love not just one another, but also the world beyond these walls — even those with whom we disagree? What might happen if we chose to face the world with the power of revolutionary love? Jory Agate has been a Unitarian Universalist minister for over 35 years having served both in congregations and in denominational leadership. She served as the Minister of Religious Education at the First Parish in Cambridge, MA for 10 years and 10 years at the Unitarian Universalist Association, first as the Youth Programs Director and later has the Ministerial Development Director. Rev. Agate helped develop the Our Whole Lives (OWL) program and served on the Ministerial Fellowship Committee for 9 years, which is where she met Marta. Rev. Agate also holds an MA in Counseling Psychology and currently lives and works in Cambridge as a psychotherapist in private practice and a trainer for the Internal Family Systems Institute. Rev. Agate and her wife were members of this congregation when her now grown children were young. Offering and Giving First The Giving First program donates 50% of the non-pledge offering each month to a charitable organization that we feel is consistent with Unitarian Universalist principles. The program began in November 2009, and First Parish has donated over $200,000 to more than 70 organizations. For May 2025, Massachusetts Bail Fund will share half of the plate. Massachusetts Bail Fund (MBF) pays bail to secure freedom from pre-trial incarceration so that those who cannot afford their bail can be in their community to fight their case. Pre-trial freedom allows individuals, families, and communities to stay productive, together, and stable. Massachusetts jails are filled with people awaiting trial simply because they cannot afford bail. Sitting in jail on bail leads to longer incarceration times, lost jobs, lost housing, and devastating disruption to families. The remaining half of your offering supports the life and work of this Parish. To donate using your smartphone, you may text “fpuu” to 73256. Then follow the directions in the texts you receive. About our Lead Minister: Rev. Marta Flanagan began her ministry as our twentieth called minister at First Parish in the fall of 2009. She is a genuine and forthright preacher. In conversation she is direct and engaging. She speaks of prayer with as much ease as she laughs at human foibles. We call her “Marta.” Marta is a religious liberal, a theist, a feminist, and a lover of the woods. As a student of American history at Smith College she was captivated by the stories of social reformers who were motivated and sustained by their faith. That led her to consider the ministry and to study at Harvard Divinity School from where she was graduated in 1986. She was the first woman minister in the city of Salem, Massachusetts, serving at the First Universalist Church there (1987-1997). She served in a co-ministry at South Church (Unitarian Universalist) in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, (1997-2005) from where she is minister emerita. Marta served as interim minister in Montpelier, Vermont (2008-2009). She is trained as a spiritual director. For three years she lived in the Vermont woods practicing voluntary simplicity and the spiritual life. Marta enjoys the vitality of First Parish and our strong sense of community. She celebrates the yearning for depth and the desire to make a difference in the world that she finds here.

Beth Green has lived many lives: activist, Marxist, spiritual channeler, intuitive counselor, and founder of the Healing Arts Network. In this moving and provocative conversation, she shares stories from her remarkable life—beginning with her expulsion from Smith College for protesting nuclear weapons at age 16—and the wisdom she's gained through decades of navigating political and spiritual contradictions.We explore how ego shows up in both activism and spirituality, and how Beth integrates the two by grounding them in a simple yet radical truth: our job is to care for people and the Earth. She challenges the commodification of human creativity, the spiritual bypassing of systemic injustice, and the failure of both capitalism and traditional leftist movements to recognize the deeper roots of human suffering.This episode also features a powerful (and private) counseling session where Beth guides me through deep personal insight—so powerful that most of it didn't make it into the final cut. What remains, though, is the transformation that session catalyzed, and a conversation that just might do the same for you.Links and Resources:Beth's counseling and spiritual work: bethgreen.orgFree books, music, and teachings: healingartsnetwork.orgBeth's nonprofit and activist platform: thestream.infoThe New Declaration of Independence: thestream.info/next-steps Topics We Cover:The cost of courage in a conformist worldThe problem with both capitalism and spiritual escapismHow ego hijacks politics and spirituality alikeWhat it means to live “at the intersection of the human and divine”A radically compassionate vision for collective thriving

Rev. Tricia Brennan, Adjunct Minister, preaching Worship service given May 4, 2025 Prayer by Rev. Marta Morris Flanagan, Lead Minister https://firstparish.info/ First Parish A liberal religious community, welcoming to all First gathered 1739 Like a cool water for the thirsty, hope fills us, sustains us and grounds us. Like water, hope is difficult to live without, and yet it can't be ordered up or assured. Sometimes we have to wait for its return, sometimes we have to carry hope for each other. Offering and Giving First The Giving First program donates 50% of the non-pledge offering each month to a charitable organization that we feel is consistent with Unitarian Universalist principles. The program began in November 2009, and First Parish has donated over $200,000 to more than 70 organizations. For May 2025, Massachusetts Bail Fund will share half of the plate. Massachusetts Bail Fund (MBF) pays bail to secure freedom from pre-trial incarceration so that those who cannot afford their bail can be in their community to fight their case. Pre-trial freedom allows individuals, families, and communities to stay productive, together, and stable. Massachusetts jails are filled with people awaiting trial simply because they cannot afford bail. Sitting in jail on bail leads to longer incarceration times, lost jobs, lost housing, and devastating disruption to families. The remaining half of your offering supports the life and work of this Parish. To donate using your smartphone, you may text “fpuu” to 73256. Then follow the directions in the texts you receive. About our Lead Minister: Rev. Marta Flanagan began her ministry as our twentieth called minister at First Parish in the fall of 2009. She is a genuine and forthright preacher. In conversation she is direct and engaging. She speaks of prayer with as much ease as she laughs at human foibles. We call her “Marta.” Marta is a religious liberal, a theist, a feminist, and a lover of the woods. As a student of American history at Smith College she was captivated by the stories of social reformers who were motivated and sustained by their faith. That led her to consider the ministry and to study at Harvard Divinity School from where she was graduated in 1986. She was the first woman minister in the city of Salem, Massachusetts, serving at the First Universalist Church there (1987-1997). She served in a co-ministry at South Church (Unitarian Universalist) in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, (1997-2005) from where she is minister emerita. Marta served as interim minister in Montpelier, Vermont (2008-2009). She is trained as a spiritual director. For three years she lived in the Vermont woods practicing voluntary simplicity and the spiritual life. Marta enjoys the vitality of First Parish and our strong sense of community. She celebrates the yearning for depth and the desire to make a difference in the world that she finds here.

Alchemizing Pain and Finding Your Inner Power with Kerri Hummingbird - Ep.321 What if the life challenges that have left you feeling overwhelmed and broken aren't obstacles to be overcome, but potent medicine designed to unlock your deepest wisdom and power?  In this episode of Wickedly Smart Women, host Anjel B. Hartwell interviews Kerri Hummingbird, a medicine woman, mother, mentor, founder of Inner Medicine training, and bestselling author. The conversation reveals how embracing the uncomfortable truths, feeling the pain rather than bypassing it, and doing the necessary 'shadow work' can transmute suffering into strength, illuminating your true purpose and allowing you to step into the world as a powerful, embodied medicine carrier.  Get ready to go on a journey through the layers of what it means to live a truly integrated, 'wickedly smart' life, ultimately leading to the creation of vibrant communities where liberated power flourishes and the seeds of light are finally planted. What You Will Learn: Gain an understanding of medicine work from Kerri's perspective. Kerri's life before her calling, characterized by being a "striver and an achiever and a perfectionist" from Smith College who worked in Silicon Valley, struggling internally despite external appearances of a perfect life with family. The recent commercialization of shamanism and plant medicine. The concept of medicine to the larger world and collective shadow, suggesting that current challenging events offer medicine by showing us what's happening. The importance of witnessing reactions to collective events and taking these feelings into personal medicine/shadow work. Connect with Kerri Hummingbird: Website Connect with Anjel B. Hartwell Wickedly Smart Women Wickedly Smart Women on X Wickedly Smart Women on Instagram Wickedly Smart Women Facebook Community Wickedly Smart Women Store on TeePublic Wickedly Smart Women: Trusting Intuition, Taking Action, Transforming Worlds by Anjel B. Hartwell Listener Line (540) 402-0043 Ext. 4343  Email listeners@wickedlysmartwomen.com

Hey EYV Fam! In today's episode of Embracing Your Voice, I'm sitting down with Gwen Young - CEO of the Women Business Collaborative (WBC) and visiting scholar at George Washington University. Gwen's career journey is incredible, from humanitarian work to global development to leading the charge for women's leadership across industries.We get into some real talk about why women's voices (especially women of color) are still underrepresented in leadership spaces, and what it's going to take to change that. If you're passionate about building a better, more equitable future, you're going to love this one.What We Cover:How Gwen's early experiences - like attending a women's college -shaped her passion for leadershipWhat working in humanitarian crises taught her about women's voices and global leadershipWhy women need a seat at every table (not just one)What's actually happening in the C-suite today and why diversity numbers still lag behindThe real barriers women face when climbing the leadership ladderHow mentorship, sponsorship, and building strong networks can change the game for womenAction steps organizations (and all of us) can take to create more pathways to leadershipTimestamps:00:00 – Kicking things off02:00 – Meet Gwen Young06:30 – Gwen's early leadership influences10:15 – Lessons from humanitarian work15:20 – Why women's representation matters across every sector21:00 – The state of women in leadership today27:45 – Why women of color still face the steepest hurdles34:10 – How networks, mentorship, and sponsorship make a difference41:20 – Real ways organizations can step up48:00 – Final thoughts + my takeawaysIn this episode, I'm chatting with Gwen Young, someone who has spent her career pushing for real change when it comes to women's leadership.We kick things off by talking about Gwen's time at Smith College and how being in a women-centered environment shaped her belief that women belong at the decision-making table. From there, we dive into her humanitarian work and the experiences that made her realize how differently women experience crises, leadership, and opportunity.We also talk about what's going on in corporate America today: yes, we've made progress, but there's still a big gap - especially for women of color. Gwen breaks down the systemic barriers that are still holding women back, like microaggressions, a lack of networks, and missed opportunities for professional development.One of my favorite parts of our conversation? When Gwen talks about building the “women's old girls' network” a powerful, supportive network that can rival the “old boys' clubs” that have existed forever.There's so much good stuff in here about mentorship, sponsorship, leadership programs, and how organizations can actually move the needle - not just talk about it.If you care about women's advancement, leadership, and making sure ALL women have the chance to lead, you're going to walk away from this episode fired up and ready to take action.Guest Info:Gwen K. Young is the CEO of the Women Business Collaborative. She is also a Visiting Scholar at the Elliot School of International Affairs, George Washington University and former Director of the Global Women's Leadership Initiative at the Wilson Center. She is an Advisor to Concordia. Ms. Young has worked across the globe developing strategy, programming and advocacy in the areas of humanitarian policy, international affairs and international development. This includes developing public private partnerships focused on public health, agriculture, gender equality, and access to finance.. As an attorney, Ms. Young has worked as a...

Part one: Susan Milligan is a contributing editor for The New Republic. She is a former White House and congressional correspondent for the Boston Globe, U.S. News and World Report, and the New York Daily News.s America Pissed Off Enough at Trump and Musk for a General Strike?The United States hasnt seen such a massive labor action in 78 years. But the oligarchic wreckage of this administration is fueling multiple movements toward that goal.https://newrepublic.com/article/193370/general-strike-trump-musk-sara-nelson-labor-unionsWe note that Canada's election was yesterday, and results are that Canadians voted AGAINST what Trump represents. He made himself an issue in their election. "In the US, healthcare is an industry, in Canada, it is a right." Trump's poor approval ratings are evidence of dislike for him and his policies here in the US, and we discuss whether a general strike is likely in the US to show this. What do we have left to lose?Part two:Carrie N. Baker, JD, PhD, is the Bauman Professor of American Studies and chair of the Program for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality at Smith College. She is the author of Abortion Pills: U.S. History and Politics, available through open access from Amherst College Press.How Reproductive Freedom Advocates Outsmarted the Anti-Abortion Movement Since the reversal of Roe v. Wade, the number of abortions is up because of telehealth and the free sharing of mifepristone and misoprostol.https://washingtonmonthly.com/2025/04/25/how-reproductive-freedom-advocates-outsmarted-the-anti-abortion-movement/- Music: David RovicsWNHNFM.ORG  production

Amy Smith, 2025 Shinn Speaker, preaching Worship service given April 20, 2025 Prayer by Rev. Marta Morris Flanagan, Lead Minister https://firstparish.info/ First Parish A liberal religious community, welcoming to all First gathered 1739 In this sermon,  Dr. Amy Smith reflects on her experiences in international development and how those experiences have been influenced by the UU principles she grew up with. The Shinn Service honors Barbara Shinn (1912-1976) and her commitment to justice. Barbara served as chair of what was then known as the Social Responsibility Committee. An educator and leader, she had a passion for teaching children with disabilities. She displayed personal courage in the face of a debilitating illness, arthritis of the spine. This years' Shinn Service preacher is Amy Smith. Amy Smith is the Founding Director of MIT D-Lab, an innovative university-based program in international development and a senior lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She is also the founder of the International Development Design Summit, co-founder of the MIT IDEAS Global Challenge, co-founder of Rethink Relief conference, and originator of the Creative Capacity Building Methodology. Amy's most recent work has been in Africa with displaced people, often in refugee camps. She works collaboratively with them as they identify problems and collectively create solutions. She grew up as a Unitarian Universalist in the Follen Church in Lexington, MA. Offering and Giving First The Giving First program donates 50% of the non-pledge offering each month to a charitable organization that we feel is consistent with Unitarian Universalist principles. The program began in November 2009, and First Parish has donated over $200,000 to more than 70 organizations. For April 2025, the Giving First recipient is Community InRoads. Community InRoads‘ mission is to partner with and support non-profits serving the Lawrence and Haverhill, Massachusetts area by providing them with pro bono, professional expertise. Their goal is to empower and contribute to the capacity and gifts of the women, men, and youth living, working, and studying in those communities by fostering a sustainable network of effective non-profits dedicated to social justice and economic equality. Community InRoads is dedicated to fostering an effective network of nonprofits so that the men, women and youth in the Lawrence and Haverhill area have access to the resources they need to reach their fullest potential. They provide consulting, training, and board development opportunities at no cost to nonprofit leaders and boards of directors, so that they in turn can better serve community residents. The remaining half of your offering supports the life and work of this Parish. To donate using your smartphone, you may text “fpuu” to 73256. Then follow the directions in the texts you receive. About our Lead Minister: Rev. Marta Flanagan began her ministry as our twentieth called minister at First Parish in the fall of 2009. She is a genuine and forthright preacher. In conversation she is direct and engaging. She speaks of prayer with as much ease as she laughs at human foibles. We call her “Marta.” Marta is a religious liberal, a theist, a feminist, and a lover of the woods. As a student of American history at Smith College she was captivated by the stories of social reformers who were motivated and sustained by their faith. That led her to consider the ministry and to study at Harvard Divinity School from where she was graduated in 1986. She was the first woman minister in the city of Salem, Massachusetts, serving at the First Universalist Church there (1987-1997). She served in a co-ministry at South Church (Unitarian Universalist) in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, (1997-2005) from where she is minister emerita. Marta served as interim minister in Montpelier, Vermont (2008-2009). She is trained as a spiritual director. For three years she lived in the Vermont woods practicing voluntary simplicity and the spiritual life. Marta enjoys the vitality of First Parish and our strong sense of community. She celebrates the yearning for depth and the desire to make a difference in the world that she finds here.

This Earth Sunday, we celebrate not God's gift of the earth to us, but God's gift to us of our interconnected relationship with the earth, God's wider, deeper, higher, and altogether “very good” creation of which we are a part. Our guest preacher will be The Rev. Dr. Chris Davies, one of the executive ministers of our Southern New England Conference of our United Church of Christ denominational family… and an avid beekeeper! She will share with us spiritual lessons for our current moment she's gleaned from caring for bees and the way bees care for each other.About our guest preacher:  The Rev. Dr. Chris Davies is a Celtic spiritualist, Christ-follower, organizer, queer femme, visionary, beekeeper, and liturgist.  An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, she loves faith deeply, and is committed to finding ways to continue to bring the gospel into the world, past this generation and into those to follow.  Chris attended Smith College for her undergrad work and Andover Newton for both a Masters of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry, focusing on queering proclamation.  She is passionate about justice and Jesus, works as the Executive Minister of Programs and Initiatives in the Southern New England Conference of the UCC.  Chris serves on the foundation board of Preterm, an independent abortion Clinic in Cleveland, OH.Join us for worship Sundays @ 10am EDT, on-site & online via Zoom. Connect at www.NeedhamUCC.org—-The Congregational Church of Needham strives to be a justice-seeking, peace-making, LGBTQ+ affirming, radically inclusive congregation of the United Church of Christ in Needham, MA. www.NeedhamUCC.orgChurch is the practice.Love is the point.

Welcome to Mysteries to Die For and this Toe Tag.I am TG Wolff and am here with Jack, my piano player and producer. This is normally a podcast where we combine storytelling with original music to put you at the heart of mystery. Today is a bonus episode we call a Toe Tag. It is the first chapter from a fresh release in the mystery, crime, and thriller genre.Today's featured release is The Brownstone on E. 83rd by Jenny DandyThe Brownstone on E. 83rd is a caper crime story. Ronnie Charles is a street kid, a self-taught thief, and butler, cook, and errand boy to Isabelle Anderson. FBI Special Agent Frank Jankowski is after a drug dealer and his only way into the closed network is thru the lady at the top of society itself, Isabelle Anderson. When it comes to the game of cat and mouse, one thing is certain…Isabelle is all feline.Bottom line: The Brownstone on E. 83rd is for you if you like capers where the players are bold, beautiful, and brutal.About Jenny DandyJenny Dandy is a graduate of Smith College and of Lighthouse Writers Workshop Book Project. Though she has lived and worked from Beijing to Baltimore, from Northampton to Atlanta, it was New York that held onto a piece of her heart. She now lives and writes in the Rocky Mountains where she would never lift a wallet or scam her dinner guests.www.JennyDandy.comWondering what to read after you finish The Brownstone on E. 83rd? Partners in Crime Tours is your ultimate destination for all things mystery, crime, thriller, and cozy! Since 2011, they've been working to fill bookshelves with gripping and heart-pounding reads. Discover new mystery series and connection with other fans with Partners in Crime. Look up Partners in Crime Tours on the web or your favorite social media. https://partnersincrimetours.com/And Authors, whether you're looking to promote your latest thriller, discover a new mystery series, or connect with fellow fans of the genre, PICT has you covered. Check out their promotion options that come with the personal attention of a dedicated coordinator.Join us next week for Mysteries to Die For Season 8 Anything But Murder. Our story is Ace of Hearts by Margaret S. Hamilton where witness intimidation is our murderless crime.

Rev. Marta Morris Flanagan, Lead Minister, preaching Worship service given April 20, 2025 Reading from "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front" by Wendell Berry, read by Rev. Marta Morris Flanagan and Rev. Tricia Brennan, Adjunct Minister Prayer by Rev. Tricia Brennan https://firstparish.info/ First Parish A liberal religious community, welcoming to all First gathered 1739 Come and celebrate in this complex time! On Easter Sunday Lead Minister Rev. Marta Flanagan will preach, the First Parish Choir will offer seasonal music, along with the Boston University Brass Quintet. During worship children pre-K to grade 6 will enjoy easter egg hunts and then return to the sanctuary for a sharing of matzah and grape juice with the entire congregation. As in the past, communion will be offered during our Easter service. First Parish has no creedal tests for involvement. Our communion is an open table. All are welcome. We each bring our own interpretations of the sharing of bread and wine. Our blessings will be translations of the Hebrew spoken every Friday Shabbat in Jewish homes. In keeping with Passover, the elements of our communion will be matzah and grape juice. Offering and Giving First The Giving First program donates 50% of the non-pledge offering each month to a charitable organization that we feel is consistent with Unitarian Universalist principles. The program began in November 2009, and First Parish has donated over $200,000 to more than 70 organizations. For April 2025, the Giving First recipient is Community InRoads. Community InRoads‘ mission is to partner with and support non-profits serving the Lawrence and Haverhill, Massachusetts area by providing them with pro bono, professional expertise. Their goal is to empower and contribute to the capacity and gifts of the women, men, and youth living, working, and studying in those communities by fostering a sustainable network of effective non-profits dedicated to social justice and economic equality. Community InRoads is dedicated to fostering an effective network of nonprofits so that the men, women and youth in the Lawrence and Haverhill area have access to the resources they need to reach their fullest potential. They provide consulting, training, and board development opportunities at no cost to nonprofit leaders and boards of directors, so that they in turn can better serve community residents. The remaining half of your offering supports the life and work of this Parish. To donate using your smartphone, you may text “fpuu” to 73256. Then follow the directions in the texts you receive. About our Lead Minister: Rev. Marta Flanagan began her ministry as our twentieth called minister at First Parish in the fall of 2009. She is a genuine and forthright preacher. In conversation she is direct and engaging. She speaks of prayer with as much ease as she laughs at human foibles. We call her “Marta.” Marta is a religious liberal, a theist, a feminist, and a lover of the woods. As a student of American history at Smith College she was captivated by the stories of social reformers who were motivated and sustained by their faith. That led her to consider the ministry and to study at Harvard Divinity School from where she was graduated in 1986. She was the first woman minister in the city of Salem, Massachusetts, serving at the First Universalist Church there (1987-1997). She served in a co-ministry at South Church (Unitarian Universalist) in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, (1997-2005) from where she is minister emerita. Marta served as interim minister in Montpelier, Vermont (2008-2009). She is trained as a spiritual director. For three years she lived in the Vermont woods practicing voluntary simplicity and the spiritual life. Marta enjoys the vitality of First Parish and our strong sense of community. She celebrates the yearning for depth and the desire to make a difference in the world that she finds here.

In Care at the End of the World: Dreaming of Infrastructure in Crip-Of-Color Writing (Duke UP, 2025), Jina B. Kim develops what she calls crip-of-color critique, bringing a disability lens to bear on feminist- and queer-of-color literature in the aftermath of 1996 US welfare reform and the subsequent evisceration of social safety nets. She examines literature by contemporary feminist, queer, and disabled writers of color such as Jesmyn Ward, Octavia Butler, Karen Tei Yamashita, Samuel Delany, and Aurora Levins Morales, who each bring disability and dependency to the forefront of their literary freedom dreaming. Kim shows that in their writing, liberation does not take the shape of the unfettered individual or hinge on achieving independence. Instead, liberation emerges by recuperating dependency, cultivating radical interdependency, and recognizing the numerous support systems upon which survival depends. At the same time, Kim demonstrates how theories and narratives of disability can intervene into state-authored myths of resource parasitism, such as the welfare queen. In so doing, she highlights the alternate structures of care these writers envision and their dreams of life organized around reciprocity and mutual support. Duke University Press Scholars of Color First Book Award Jina B. Kim is Assistant Professor of English and the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Smith College. Kim is a scholar, writer, and educator of feminist disability studies, queer-of-color critique, and contemporary multi-ethnic U.S. literature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory

In this episode of the Power of the Ask podcast, hosts Lisa Zeiderman and Precious Williams reconnect with investor, writer, and facilitator Nirupa Umapathy. Nirupa explores the significance of embracing life's transitions and advocating for your financial value. Discover how learning to say “no” and understanding your financial landscape can empower you to ask for and receive what you truly need.Key Takeaways:Community is Crucial: In times of chaos and division, the strength of your network and the people around you is paramount for support and growth.Seven-Year Cycles of Change: Recognize and embrace the natural rhythms of significant shifts and evolutions in your life and career.Advocate for Your Worth: Never undervalue yourself or index your expectations to the lowest baseline; aim for compensation and recognition that reflect your true value.Financial Literacy is Foundational: Understand your cost of living, liabilities, and the levers you can control in your financial life.Timing and Context in Asking: Be mindful of when and how you make an ask, always considering the context and the other person's perspective.Become a Champion Receiver: Recognize and actively work against societal conditioning that may prioritize giving over receiving, particularly for women.------About Nirupa:Nirupa Umapathy is an independent SG-focused investor, writer, facilitator, and classical Pilates teacher. A former Managing Director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Whitebox Advisors, she was known for executing complex deals in structured credit markets. After leaving finance in 2017, she redesigned her life around joy and creativity. Nirupa founded Salons for Life, a community fostering connection through unstructured play, and writes on empowered transitions. She also curates a unique alternatives portfolio, drawing on her financial expertise. Nirupa holds a B.A. in Anthropology and Economics from Smith College.Important Links:Savvy LadiesPrecious Williams' LinkedInLisa Zeiderman's LinkedInNirupa Umapathy LinkedIn 

Dr. Tracy Baynes—Founder and CEO of the Student Expedition Program (STEP)—shares how a wilderness leadership initiative evolved into a powerful, multi-year college access program transforming lives.STEP focuses on first-generation, low-income students in large public high schools, many of whom might otherwise never be encouraged to pursue higher education. Through a personalized approach—monthly workshops, advising, and family engagement—STEP prepares students academically, emotionally, and practically to not just attend college, but to thrive in it.Dr. Baynes explains how her early career working aboard ships and in outdoor education sparked an uncomfortable realization: “I was only working with wealthy students. And I thought, where is everybody else?” This question became the genesis of STEP.Over time, the program matured from summer expeditions to a fully integrated college prep curriculum starting in students' sophomore year. The turning point? A high-achieving student inspired by Dr. Baynes to apply to Smith College—without ever having heard of it before. But her transcript lacked the rigor. “She had straight A's throughout high school and not a single educator had said, ‘You should take another course,'” Dr. Baynes recalls. That gap in guidance pushed STEP to grow.The conversation unpacks the hidden roadblocks facing low-income students: lack of college counseling, financial aid complexity, and cultural barriers. Dr. Baynes' solution? Equip both students and families with knowledge, tools, and confidence. “Our goal is to become obsolete in your life,” she says. “We want you to have the tools to meet the challenges ahead.”Today, 96% of STEP graduates are enrolled in or have completed college. The secret sauce? Relational trust, rigorous expectations, and strategic partnerships with schools that meet 100% of students' financial need.If you believe in generational change through education, this episode will challenge, inspire, and empower you to see possibility where others see limitation.#FirstGenSuccess #CollegeAccessForAll #BreakTheCycleFind us Live daily on YouTube!Find us Live daily on LinkedIn!Find us Live daily on X: @Nonprofit_ShowOur national co-hosts and amazing guests discuss management, money and missions of nonprofits! 12:30pm ET 11:30am CT 10:30am MT 9:30am PTSend us your ideas for Show Guests or Topics: HelpDesk@AmericanNonprofitAcademy.comVisit us on the web:The Nonprofit Show

Rev. Tricia Brennan, Adjunct Minister, preaching Worship service given April 13, 2025 Prayer by Rev. Marta Morris Flanagan, Lead Minister https://firstparish.info/ First Parish A liberal religious community, welcoming to all First gathered 1739 We will sing that familiar hymn this Sunday, as over twenty new members are welcomed into First Parish. Rev. Tricia Brennan will reflect on what it means to join a faith community: how one joins a particular congregation with a history and a future, how one joins a particular faith tradition, Unitarian Universalism at this moment in time. What it means to be open to being changed, all of us. Offering and Giving First The Giving First program donates 50% of the non-pledge offering each month to a charitable organization that we feel is consistent with Unitarian Universalist principles. The program began in November 2009, and First Parish has donated over $200,000 to more than 70 organizations. For April 2025, the Giving First recipient is Community InRoads. Community InRoads‘ mission is to partner with and support non-profits serving the Lawrence and Haverhill, Massachusetts area by providing them with pro bono, professional expertise. Their goal is to empower and contribute to the capacity and gifts of the women, men, and youth living, working, and studying in those communities by fostering a sustainable network of effective non-profits dedicated to social justice and economic equality. Community InRoads is dedicated to fostering an effective network of nonprofits so that the men, women and youth in the Lawrence and Haverhill area have access to the resources they need to reach their fullest potential. They provide consulting, training, and board development opportunities at no cost to nonprofit leaders and boards of directors, so that they in turn can better serve community residents. The remaining half of your offering supports the life and work of this Parish. To donate using your smartphone, you may text “fpuu” to 73256. Then follow the directions in the texts you receive. About our Lead Minister: Rev. Marta Flanagan began her ministry as our twentieth called minister at First Parish in the fall of 2009. She is a genuine and forthright preacher. In conversation she is direct and engaging. She speaks of prayer with as much ease as she laughs at human foibles. We call her “Marta.” Marta is a religious liberal, a theist, a feminist, and a lover of the woods. As a student of American history at Smith College she was captivated by the stories of social reformers who were motivated and sustained by their faith. That led her to consider the ministry and to study at Harvard Divinity School from where she was graduated in 1986. She was the first woman minister in the city of Salem, Massachusetts, serving at the First Universalist Church there (1987-1997). She served in a co-ministry at South Church (Unitarian Universalist) in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, (1997-2005) from where she is minister emerita. Marta served as interim minister in Montpelier, Vermont (2008-2009). She is trained as a spiritual director. For three years she lived in the Vermont woods practicing voluntary simplicity and the spiritual life. Marta enjoys the vitality of First Parish and our strong sense of community. She celebrates the yearning for depth and the desire to make a difference in the world that she finds here.

In Care at the End of the World: Dreaming of Infrastructure in Crip-Of-Color Writing (Duke UP, 2025), Jina B. Kim develops what she calls crip-of-color critique, bringing a disability lens to bear on feminist- and queer-of-color literature in the aftermath of 1996 US welfare reform and the subsequent evisceration of social safety nets. She examines literature by contemporary feminist, queer, and disabled writers of color such as Jesmyn Ward, Octavia Butler, Karen Tei Yamashita, Samuel Delany, and Aurora Levins Morales, who each bring disability and dependency to the forefront of their literary freedom dreaming. Kim shows that in their writing, liberation does not take the shape of the unfettered individual or hinge on achieving independence. Instead, liberation emerges by recuperating dependency, cultivating radical interdependency, and recognizing the numerous support systems upon which survival depends. At the same time, Kim demonstrates how theories and narratives of disability can intervene into state-authored myths of resource parasitism, such as the welfare queen. In so doing, she highlights the alternate structures of care these writers envision and their dreams of life organized around reciprocity and mutual support. Duke University Press Scholars of Color First Book Award Jina B. Kim is Assistant Professor of English and the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Smith College. Kim is a scholar, writer, and educator of feminist disability studies, queer-of-color critique, and contemporary multi-ethnic U.S. literature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In Care at the End of the World: Dreaming of Infrastructure in Crip-Of-Color Writing (Duke UP, 2025), Jina B. Kim develops what she calls crip-of-color critique, bringing a disability lens to bear on feminist- and queer-of-color literature in the aftermath of 1996 US welfare reform and the subsequent evisceration of social safety nets. She examines literature by contemporary feminist, queer, and disabled writers of color such as Jesmyn Ward, Octavia Butler, Karen Tei Yamashita, Samuel Delany, and Aurora Levins Morales, who each bring disability and dependency to the forefront of their literary freedom dreaming. Kim shows that in their writing, liberation does not take the shape of the unfettered individual or hinge on achieving independence. Instead, liberation emerges by recuperating dependency, cultivating radical interdependency, and recognizing the numerous support systems upon which survival depends. At the same time, Kim demonstrates how theories and narratives of disability can intervene into state-authored myths of resource parasitism, such as the welfare queen. In so doing, she highlights the alternate structures of care these writers envision and their dreams of life organized around reciprocity and mutual support. Duke University Press Scholars of Color First Book Award Jina B. Kim is Assistant Professor of English and the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Smith College. Kim is a scholar, writer, and educator of feminist disability studies, queer-of-color critique, and contemporary multi-ethnic U.S. literature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies

In Care at the End of the World: Dreaming of Infrastructure in Crip-Of-Color Writing (Duke UP, 2025), Jina B. Kim develops what she calls crip-of-color critique, bringing a disability lens to bear on feminist- and queer-of-color literature in the aftermath of 1996 US welfare reform and the subsequent evisceration of social safety nets. She examines literature by contemporary feminist, queer, and disabled writers of color such as Jesmyn Ward, Octavia Butler, Karen Tei Yamashita, Samuel Delany, and Aurora Levins Morales, who each bring disability and dependency to the forefront of their literary freedom dreaming. Kim shows that in their writing, liberation does not take the shape of the unfettered individual or hinge on achieving independence. Instead, liberation emerges by recuperating dependency, cultivating radical interdependency, and recognizing the numerous support systems upon which survival depends. At the same time, Kim demonstrates how theories and narratives of disability can intervene into state-authored myths of resource parasitism, such as the welfare queen. In so doing, she highlights the alternate structures of care these writers envision and their dreams of life organized around reciprocity and mutual support. Duke University Press Scholars of Color First Book Award Jina B. Kim is Assistant Professor of English and the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Smith College. Kim is a scholar, writer, and educator of feminist disability studies, queer-of-color critique, and contemporary multi-ethnic U.S. literature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/lgbtq-studies

In Care at the End of the World: Dreaming of Infrastructure in Crip-Of-Color Writing (Duke UP, 2025), Jina B. Kim develops what she calls crip-of-color critique, bringing a disability lens to bear on feminist- and queer-of-color literature in the aftermath of 1996 US welfare reform and the subsequent evisceration of social safety nets. She examines literature by contemporary feminist, queer, and disabled writers of color such as Jesmyn Ward, Octavia Butler, Karen Tei Yamashita, Samuel Delany, and Aurora Levins Morales, who each bring disability and dependency to the forefront of their literary freedom dreaming. Kim shows that in their writing, liberation does not take the shape of the unfettered individual or hinge on achieving independence. Instead, liberation emerges by recuperating dependency, cultivating radical interdependency, and recognizing the numerous support systems upon which survival depends. At the same time, Kim demonstrates how theories and narratives of disability can intervene into state-authored myths of resource parasitism, such as the welfare queen. In so doing, she highlights the alternate structures of care these writers envision and their dreams of life organized around reciprocity and mutual support. Duke University Press Scholars of Color First Book Award Jina B. Kim is Assistant Professor of English and the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Smith College. Kim is a scholar, writer, and educator of feminist disability studies, queer-of-color critique, and contemporary multi-ethnic U.S. literature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Presented by the First Parish Youth Group Worship service given April 6, 2025 Prayer by Conard Anderson, Youth Worship Coordinator Senior Reflections by Alice Hunter, Anton Rie, Lucas Fernandez & Samantha Rauh Litany by Conard Anderson, Lettie Carswell, Onyx Hopwood, Alice Hunter, & Sean Maher https://firstparish.info/ First Parish A liberal religious community, welcoming to all First gathered 1739 Each year, the First Parish Youth Group leads a special worship service. Come join the youth in their exploration of balance. Witness our youth reflect on their time at First Parish and consider the next stages of their journeys. Thank you to our Youth Group Advisors: Paul Franzosa, Andy Kobayashi, Bill Licea-Kane, Emily Randall, and Cathy Slesnick. You are all an integral part of the space. Offering and Giving First The Giving First program donates 50% of the non-pledge offering each month to a charitable organization that we feel is consistent with Unitarian Universalist principles. The program began in November 2009, and First Parish has donated over $200,000 to more than 70 organizations. For April 2025, the Giving First recipient is Community InRoads. Community InRoads‘ mission is to partner with and support non-profits serving the Lawrence and Haverhill, Massachusetts area by providing them with pro bono, professional expertise. Their goal is to empower and contribute to the capacity and gifts of the women, men, and youth living, working, and studying in those communities by fostering a sustainable network of effective non-profits dedicated to social justice and economic equality. Community InRoads is dedicated to fostering an effective network of nonprofits so that the men, women and youth in the Lawrence and Haverhill area have access to the resources they need to reach their fullest potential. They provide consulting, training, and board development opportunities at no cost to nonprofit leaders and boards of directors, so that they in turn can better serve community residents. The remaining half of your offering supports the life and work of this Parish. To donate using your smartphone, you may text “fpuu” to 73256. Then follow the directions in the texts you receive. About our Lead Minister: Rev. Marta Flanagan began her ministry as our twentieth called minister at First Parish in the fall of 2009. She is a genuine and forthright preacher. In conversation she is direct and engaging. She speaks of prayer with as much ease as she laughs at human foibles. We call her “Marta.” Marta is a religious liberal, a theist, a feminist, and a lover of the woods. As a student of American history at Smith College she was captivated by the stories of social reformers who were motivated and sustained by their faith. That led her to consider the ministry and to study at Harvard Divinity School from where she was graduated in 1986. She was the first woman minister in the city of Salem, Massachusetts, serving at the First Universalist Church there (1987-1997). She served in a co-ministry at South Church (Unitarian Universalist) in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, (1997-2005) from where she is minister emerita. Marta served as interim minister in Montpelier, Vermont (2008-2009). She is trained as a spiritual director. For three years she lived in the Vermont woods practicing voluntary simplicity and the spiritual life. Marta enjoys the vitality of First Parish and our strong sense of community. She celebrates the yearning for depth and the desire to make a difference in the world that she finds here.

Let's talk about how to help kids build a healthy relationship with food and their bodies. Whether they're your own kids or perhaps your siblings/ nieces/ nephews/ students, then I'm sure you want to create a body positive environment for them. Psychotherapist Zoë Bisbing, MSW, LCSW is here to teach you HOW.You will learn... - what to say if a child asks, “Am I fat?” - how to approach conversations about healthy eating and weight loss in developmentally-appropriated ways - what if your kid has a real health condition? how should parents approach their child's food and weight then? - what to say to stop family members from commenting on your child's weight Remember: building a body positive home starts with your own mindset first. As a parent, it's important to heal your own beliefs about food, fat, weight, and health. Zoë Bisbing, MSW, LCSW is a licensed eating disorders therapist as well as a wonderful content creator. Zoë holds a Master of Social Work from New York University, a Bachelor of Arts from Smith College, and a certification in Family-Based Treatment from the Institute for Child and Adolescent Eating Disorders. She is the director of Body-Positive Therapy NYC and Body-Positive Home (formerly The Full Bloom Project), an educational resource offering workshops and body image workouts for the whole family. She loves teaching parents and professionals how to creatively build spaces where children of all ages, sizes, and gender expressions can naturally boost immunity to our appearance-obsessed culture and decrease risk for disordered eating and body image injury. Follow Zoë on Instagram: @mybodypositivehome Subscribe to her Substack for more body positive parenting advice. If you enjoyed this episode, screenshot it and share it on social media! Make sure to tag @maryspodcast and @mybodypositivehome

Dr. Georgia Ede is an internationally recognized expert in nutritional and metabolic psychiatry. Her twenty-five years of clinical experience include twelve years at Smith College and Harvard University, where she was the first psychiatrist to offer students nutrition-based approaches to mental health conditions. Dr. Ede co-authored the first inpatient study of the ketogenic diet for serious mental illness, developed the first medically accredited course in ketogenic diets for mental health, and is a recipient of the Baszucki Metabolic Mind Award. Her bestselling new book Change Your Diet, Change Your Mind was recommended by the New York Times Book Review as among the three best mental health books of 2024.

Ambassador Wendy Sherman, the 21st U.S. Deputy Secretary of State and the first woman in that position, has been a diplomat, businesswoman, professor, political strategist, author, and social worker. She served under three presidents and five secretaries of state, becoming known as a diplomat for hard conversations in hard places. As Deputy Secretary, she was the point person on China. While serving as Undersecretary for Political Affairs, Sherman led the U.S. negotiating team that reached an agreement on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action between the P5+1, the European Union and Iran.  And, as Counselor at the State Department, she led on North Korea and was engaged on Middle East negotiations. For her diplomatic accomplishments she was awarded the National Security Medal by President Barack Obama. At Harvard Kennedy School, she was a professor of the practice of public leadership, director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School (where she is now a Hauser Leadership Fellow), and a current and former Senior Fellow at the School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. In 2002, along with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Sherman built a global consulting business, The Albright Group. Sherman previously served on the President's Intelligence Advisory Board, chaired Oxfam America's Board of Directors, served on the U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Policy Board, and was Director of Child Welfare for the State of Maryland. She is the author of the book: “Not for the Faint of Heart: Lessons in Courage, Power and Persistence.” Sherman attended Smith College and received a B.A. cum laude from Boston University and a Master's degree in Social Work from the University of Maryland. Ralph Ranalli of the HKS Office of Communications and Public Affairs is the host, producer, and editor of HKS PolicyCast. A former journalist, public television producer, and entrepreneur, he holds an BA in political science from UCLA and a master's in journalism from Columbia University.Scheduling and logistical support for PolicyCast is provided by Lilian Wainaina. Design and graphics support is provided by Laura King and the OCPA Design Team. Web design and social media promotion support is provided by Catherine Santrock and Natalie Montaner of the OCPA Digital Team. Editorial support is provided by Nora Delaney and Robert O'Neill of the OCPA Editorial Team. 

Ebonié Smith-Cooper, Meadville Lombard Seminarian, preaching Worship service given March 30, 2025 Prayer by Loren Gomez, Worship Associate https://firstparish.info/ First Parish A liberal religious community, welcoming to all First gathered 1739 According to Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, Love is the call [in] our lives. Ebonié Smith-Cooper, Meadville Lombard Seminarian and First Parish member, asks how can we pursue love for one another in times of distress? Ebonié Smith-Cooper (she/they) is an aspiring minister who is currently attending Meadville Lombard Theological School. In Ebonie's free time she enjoys coaching in-town sports, listening to podcasts, and playing card games with their family. For March 2025, the Giving First recipient is the Resilient Sisterhood Project. Cambridge-based Resilient Sisterhood Project's mission is to educate and empower women of African descent regarding common, yet rarely discussed, diseases of the reproductive system that disproportionately affect them. They approach these diseases and associated issues through a cultural and social justice lens since they understand that poor knowledge of reproductive health is primarily related to health, racial, and socioeconomic disparities. RSP brings an expansive definition to and understanding of the word “women” to include transgender women, cisgender women, gender queer, and gender non-conforming people who have a female reproductive system. The remaining half of your offering supports the life and work of this Parish. To donate using your smartphone, you may text “fpuu” to 73256. Then follow the directions in the texts you receive. About our Lead Minister: Rev. Marta Flanagan began her ministry as our twentieth called minister at First Parish in the fall of 2009. She is a genuine and forthright preacher. In conversation she is direct and engaging. She speaks of prayer with as much ease as she laughs at human foibles. We call her “Marta.” Marta is a religious liberal, a theist, a feminist, and a lover of the woods. As a student of American history at Smith College she was captivated by the stories of social reformers who were motivated and sustained by their faith. That led her to consider the ministry and to study at Harvard Divinity School from where she was graduated in 1986. She was the first woman minister in the city of Salem, Massachusetts, serving at the First Universalist Church there (1987-1997). She served in a co-ministry at South Church (Unitarian Universalist) in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, (1997-2005) from where she is minister emerita. Marta served as interim minister in Montpelier, Vermont (2008-2009). She is trained as a spiritual director. For three years she lived in the Vermont woods practicing voluntary simplicity and the spiritual life. Marta enjoys the vitality of First Parish and our strong sense of community. She celebrates the yearning for depth and the desire to make a difference in the world that she finds here.

Jenny Dandy is a graduate of Smith College and of Lighthouse Writers Workshop Book Project. Though she has lived and worked from Beijing to Baltimore, from Northampton to Atlanta, it was New York that held onto a piece of her heart. She now lives and writes in the Rocky Mountains where she would never lift a wallet or scam her dinner guests. On the podcats, Jenny talks about her debut novel, The Brownstone on E. 83rd. More: www.jennydandy.com Intro Music by Moby Gratis: https://mobygratis.com/ Outro Music by Dan-o-Songs: https://danosongs.com/ Host Mark Stevens www.writermarkstevens.com Watch these interviews on YouTube (and subscribe)! https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBP81nfbKnDRjs-Nar9LNe20138AiPyP8&si=yl_seG5S4soyk216  

For today's episode, Lawfare Foreign Policy Editor Daniel Byman interviewed Steven Heydemann, the Director of the Middle East Studies Program at Smith College, to assess the fast-changing developments in Syria today. Heydemann discusses the surge in communal violence in Syria, the deal between the new Hayat Tahrir al-Sham-led government and Syria's Kurds, Israel's counterproductive interventions, and U.S. policy toward the new regime in Damascus. To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is porn good sex education? Why does body autonomy matter for kids? Does talking about sex kill the mood? Emily Nagoski has the answers! Emily is a sex educator and activist whose mission is to teach us how to live with confidence and joy inside our bodies. She does this as the New York Times bestselling author of 'Come As You Are,' 'Burnout,' and 'Come Together,' as well as through her 3 popular TED Talks including—with over 3 million views—"How couples can sustain a strong sexual connection for a lifetime." Emily began working as a sex educator 30 years ago at the University of Delaware. She has a Master's in Counseling Psychology and she worked at the famous Kinsey Institute. She has taught graduate and undergraduate classes in human sexuality, relationships, communication, stress management, and sex education. She was Director of Wellness Education at Smith College for eight years before starting to write full time. In this deep-dive chapter we talk about neurodiversity versus neurodivergence, maintaining longterm sexual connection, OKCupid, ADHD and Autism, teaching kids about sex, and, of course, Emily's 3 most formative books... For those who want to strengthen and improve their sexual health with themselves and others ... Let's flip the page to Chapter 146 now...

If your child has extreme food aversions, anxiety around eating, or struggles with a very limited diet, you won't want to miss this conversation. Today we're diving into ARFID — Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder — or as my guest calls it, “picky eating on steroids.” To talk about ARFID, I circled back to Zoë Bisbing, a licensed psychotherapist and the director of Body-Positive Therapy NYC who specializes in treating eating disorders and body image concerns with an affirming, neurodiversity-friendly approach. Zoë holds a Master of Social Work from New York University, a Bachelor of Arts from Smith College, and a certification in Family-Based Treatment from the Institute for Child and Adolescent Eating Disorders. Today, she's sharing her expertise on the unique ways ARFID presents in neurodivergent children. In this fascinating conversation, Zoë broke down what ARFID is, how it differs from other eating disorders, and why she sees it as a form of neurodivergence in its own right. We talked about how sensory sensitivities, anxiety, and even trauma can contribute to restrictive eating, and how the pandemic exacerbated these challenges for many kids. Zoe also explains why traditional eating disorder treatments often don't work for ARFID and why a child-centered, individualized approach is key to building a positive relationship with food. And a small ask before I play the episode — if you enjoy this episode, please hit the share episode button on your app and send it to a friend or post a link to it in a community of parents with neurodivergent children. I know that when families are struggling with complex challenges like ARFID, it can be difficult to find neurodiversity-affirming resources.   About Zoë Bisbing Zoë Bisbing, MSW, LCSW is a licensed psychotherapist, speaker, and content creator. She is the director of Body-Positive Therapy NYC, a group therapy practice, and Body-Positive Home, a learning and healing hub for parents and professionals who want to nurture a more embodied and inclusive next generation… and heal their own food and body stuff while they are at it. You can follow her on instagram @mybodypositivehome for bite-sized body-positive basics and body image healing and her forthcoming Substack, Body-Positive Home. Zoë holds a Master of Social Work from New York University, a Bachelor of Arts from Smith College, and a certification in Family-Based Treatment from the Institute for Child and Adolescent Eating Disorders. A native New Yorker, Zoë lives in a fiercely neurodivergent-affirming, body-positive home in Manhattan with her husband, three children, and two dogs.   Things you'll learn from this episode Why Zoe believes ARFID can be seen as a form of neurodivergence, distinct from other eating disorders How the pandemic has worsened mental health issues, including the prevalence and severity of eating disorders like ARFID The different ways that ARFID can present in children, including sensory aversions, anxiety-driven restrictions, and extreme selective eating How to differentiate between ARFID from anorexia or bulimia is crucial, including not driven by body image concerns but by sensory and other factors Why effective ARFID treatment must be individualized and prioritize the child's comfort, autonomy, and unique needs   Resources mentioned Body Positive website Body Positive Therapy (serving residents of NY, CT, and NJ) Body Positive on Substack Zoë Bisbing's website Body Positive on Instagram Body Positive Parenting with Zoe Bisbing and Leslie Bloch (Tilt Parenting podcast) Noreen Hunani Dr. Megan Anna Neff and Dr. Debra Brause on the Complex Relationship Between Traditional Therapeutic Modalities and Neurodivergence (Tilt Parenting podcast) Feelings and Body Investigators (FBI) ARFID   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a public intellectual, activist and professor at Smith College, Loretta Ross is no stranger to confrontation and debate. But years of working to change the minds of others have led her to rethink her own ideas about approaching difficult conversations. Loretta and Adam discuss why shaming rarely changes behavior and her powerful alternative to cancel culture. They also reflect on personal moments of confrontation and explore strategies for talking others out of hate. Available transcripts for ReThinking can be found at go.ted.com/RWAGscripts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this enlightening episode of We Heart Therapy, host Dr. Anabelle Bugatti, PhD, LMFT, Certified EFT Supervisor & Therapist, and author of *Using Relentless Empathy in the Therapeutic Relationship*, engages in a compelling discussion with Sex Educator and best-selling author Emily Nagoski, Ph.D., on "The Importance of Playfulness." Together, they delve into how incorporating playfulness can enhance emotional connections and is essential to overall health and well-being. Emily Nagoski is an award-winning author and renowned sex educator with a Ph.D. in Health Behavior and a minor in Human Sexuality from Indiana University. She began her career as a peer health educator at the University of Delaware and has served as the Director of Wellness Education at Smith College. Emily is dedicated to teaching women to live with confidence and joy inside their bodies, combining sex education and stress education in her work. Her notable publications include the New York Times bestseller Come As You Are and *Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle*, co-authored with her sister, Amelia Nagoski. Her latest book, *Come Together: The Science (and Art!) of Creating Lasting Sexual Connections*, was published in January 2024. Learn more about Emily Nagoski and her work: Official Website: [https://www.emilynagoski.com](https://www.emilynagoski.com) Explore Emily's acclaimed books: Come As You Are: The Surprising New Science That Will Transform Your Sex Life Purchase: [https://www.amazon.com/Come-As-You-Ar...](https://www.amazon.com/Come-As-You-Ar...) Audiobook: [https://www.audible.com/pd/Come-As-Yo...](https://www.audible.com/pd/Come-As-Yo...) Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle Purchase: [https://www.amazon.com/Burnout-Secret...](https://www.amazon.com/Burnout-Secret...) Come Together: The Science (and Art!) of Creating Lasting Sexual Connections Purchase: [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo...](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo...) *Discover Dr. Anabelle Bugatti's work:* Using Relentless Empathy in the Therapeutic Relationship: Connecting with Challenging and Resistant Clients Purchase: [https://www.amazon.com/Using-Relentle...](https://www.amazon.com/Using-Relentle...) *Visit Dr. Belle's (Anabelle Bugatti) websites:* We Heart Therapy: [https://www.wehearttherapy.com](https://www.wehearttherapy.com) Dr. Belle's Professional Site: [https://www.drbelle.com](https://www.drbelle.com) -Work with Dr. Belle: https://www.LasVegasMarriageCounselin... For EFT Training and Information please visit: https://www.iceeft.com https://www.drsuejohnson.com https://www.snveft.com Don't miss this opportunity to gain valuable insights into the role of playfulness in fostering deeper relationships and personal growth.

As our guest, Abby Havermann will tell you, not only teachers, but all of us should be life-long learners. Abby grew up in Boston and then made an attempt to leave the cold for Southern California and USC. However, after a year she decided that the USC and LA lifestyle wasn't for her and she moved back to the Boston area. She graduated college with a degree in Social Psychology. She also holds a Master's degree which she will talk about with us. Abby held jobs in the therapy and social work arena. She was married along the way, but ended up getting a divorce. She later remarried and worked for 12 years with her husband in the financial world. In 2018 she decided that talking with people about money wasn't for her. She left Finance and began her own business and now she teaches business and other leaders how to “unlearn what no longer serves them”. My conversation with Abby discusses fear, self perception and how to develop the skills to overcome fear and our own inner lack of confidence. Abby uses a variety of techniques including some “ancient methods” to work with her clients. You will hear about Abby's Ted Talk entitled “Women's Liberation is an inside job”. I will leave it to Abby to explain. I very much believe you will find this episode enthralling and relevant to our lives today. About the Guest: On the outside, Abby Havermann was leading what could easily be described as an enviable life - a respected couples therapist, adjunct faculty at the graduate level, married with an adorable child, and a white picket fence to boot. But many of her life choices had unconsciously been made through the lens of unworthiness - choices that weren't aligned for her. The Universe often does for us what we're unable to do for ourselves, and Abby's wake-up call was mortifying. She spent a long, dark night of the soul in an overcrowded jail cell when her relapsing addiction counselor husband had her bogusly arrested for domestic violence the day before she was scheduled to move out. That's when Abby identified the myriad of ways she'd betrayed herself and shifted her focus from what she was doing in the world to who she was being. Through this process, she took back her power and, through the ensuing decades, has delved deeper into the human potential movement, trained with world-renowned thought leaders, and the rest is history. A lifelong learner, Abby's singularity resides in combining her psychology, neuroscience, spiritual, and coaching experience with her ability to transform difficult life experiences into a gratitude-worthy self-evolutionary tool — awareness done right can breed transformation. Now, she teaches mission-driven, insight-oriented people to unlearn what no longer serves them through 1:1 and group coaching, speaking, training, and a soon-to-be-launched online course. Abby's direct signature style challenges clients to up-level while witnessing and holding compassion for the complexity of their multifaceted inner and outer worlds. Ways to connect with Abby: Website: https://www.abbyhavermann.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abby-havermann-93a915165 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abby.havermann Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abbyisworthy About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well, hi everyone. I am your host, Mike Hingson, and welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset. And today we get to talk with Abby Havermann. Abby is I find a very interesting person. She teaches mission driven, purpose oriented inside executives to unlearn, and we won't go into the unlearning, because Abby's going to talk to us about that. And so I don't want to give anything away. I've read her bio, so I know, but at the same time, what I want to do is to let her do that. So Abby, I want to welcome you to unstoppable mindset. We're really glad you're here.   Abby Havermann ** 02:01 Thanks so much. I love your podcast, so I'm happy to be here as well. Well,   Michael Hingson ** 02:05 we love it too, and we appreciate the fact that you do well, why don't we start, as I love to do, by you telling us maybe something about the early Abby, growing up and all that, and I know that we were comparing notes, and you grew up in Boston. Love to hear about that, and Steve's ice cream parlor and all the other wonderful things about Boston. But anyway, and, and I guess one of my favorite places in Boston, Durkin Park, closed during the pandemic.   Abby Havermann ** 02:29 Ah, yeah, I'm not even, I know it's terrible. I'm not familiar with Durkin park   Michael Hingson ** 02:33 because I was in Quincy Market. And   Abby Havermann ** 02:35 Quincy Market, okay, yeah, for sure, the chip yard in Quincy Market is my favorite. Oh, I didn't go   Michael Hingson ** 02:43 there, but I went to Durgan Park several times, and I heard that they they closed. But, oh, sad, sad. But, well, tell us about the early Abbey.   Abby Havermann ** 02:56 Yeah. So, I mean, I grew up in, like you said, outside of Boston, and and I think just from a young age, I kind of came out pretty scrappy, and I had a big personality. I I always seemed to have something to say, and it wasn't always in favor of what people wanted to hear. I felt like I I noticed things. I kind of always wanted to talk about the elephant in the room, and that didn't really go over that well, but I had, you know, a close, you know, extended family, and spent lots of times with my grandparents and my cousins and my parents and siblings. And, you know, I mean, I don't think it was that unusual of a childhood, so to speak, but Boston is bone chilling cold. If you've lived there, you know that. And so I wanted to get out as quickly as I could. And so after high school, I hightailed it out and moved, actually, across the country to spend a year at University of Southern California. Yeah, yeah. But that was such a culture shock, you know, being on the west coast from the East Coast, that I just went right back. I went back to the East Coast. Until later, I moved to Colorado, and yeah, that's where I spent about 30 years. Well, Colorado   Michael Hingson ** 04:19 has its share of cold, I would point out, not   Abby Havermann ** 04:23 bone chilling cold, not bone chilling cold, you're right with a dry air. It's a totally different cold.   Michael Hingson ** 04:30 But the culture shock of being at fight on USC was greater of an issue than the bone chilling cold of being on the East Coast, huh? It was.   Abby Havermann ** 04:39 I mean, I just, you know, on the east coast, people like they're harder to get to know, but they say it like it is. They're very direct, you know. And when I went to California, I felt like it was so hard to get to know people, you just couldn't get very deep, you know. Or at least that's how I felt. Plus, I had been, I didn't realize how sheltered I had been. Um. Um, and it was a very big school, and in the middle of watts, and it was, it was a culture shock for for sure. And I wasn't a PAC 10 athlete, and I wasn't, you know, in sororities, and all the things that you know are, you know, very popular in that particular area. So it just it. And I, I, I, I was so insecure at that time in my life that I think I I could not have broken into either of those, even if I had wanted to. I just in my own way constantly. So I pretty much just came running back and, you know, flew out a white flag of defeat in terms of individuating. And   Michael Hingson ** 05:42 did you go back to Boston? I   Abby Havermann ** 05:44 actually went to Wheaton College, up outside of Boston. All right. Now,   Michael Hingson ** 05:48 what did you major in at USC? And did you follow through on that when you went back to Wheaton?   Abby Havermann ** 05:54 Well, back to my confidence issue when I went to USC, I actually declared a drama major. That's what I really wanted to declare. And I never took a single drama class because I did not have the confidence. And so when I went to Wheaton, I majored in social psychology, which was something that just came very easily to me, and I enjoyed and that's what I did. Ah,   Michael Hingson ** 06:15 so social psychology and you got a bachelor's. Did you go beyond that?   Abby Havermann ** 06:21 Yeah, I ended up getting a master's in social work at Smith College school for social work. And that's when I after that, I worked in several hospitals as an inpatient psychiatric social worker in Denver, and then shortly after that, I opened my own private practice, and I had that for little over a decade, and that's then I closed my practice and ended up going into business with my second husband as a financial advisor, because he had a financial firm, and I worked in his office with him for 12 years. And that's when I realized I want to talk to people, but not about money. And I had to go back to my roots, and so not as a psychotherapist, but that's when I went back to as a teacher of unlearning and coaching and having learned some about, you know, neuroscience and ancient wisdom practices and things like that that greatly informed the psychology teaching.   Michael Hingson ** 07:15 Now, when you say ancient wisdom practices, tell me a little about that, if you would. Yeah.   Abby Havermann ** 07:21 I mean, you know, there's so much out there. And you know, whether it's, you know, the thema and the teachings of Buddha, or whether it's, I do a lot of work with a guerrilla teacher, he's a mystic from the early 1900s and it weaves together. You know, the more I learn about all these different things, the more everything is seems to be coming back to the same thing. And science now is sort of uncovering things that they've known for so long, for 1000s of years, whatever the practice is, yoga, science, Buddhas, Buddhism, all of those kinds of things everywhere I turn it's, it all comes back to this. I mean, it comes back to so much. But this, this innate power that's in us to change, you know, this innate wisdom that we have. And this, the more I you know, think about it and learn about it and study with people about it. It's we have gotten so smart over time, but we've really not gotten any wiser. Yeah, and that's why I like going back and looking at some of those practices.   Michael Hingson ** 08:33 I was watching a news broadcast this morning, and one of the things that they mentioned was that there has been a study that says that at least one in four people wake up every day and have a bad day, and they know they're going to have a bad day because they wake up with a headache or whatever, and they know they can't Change having a bad day, which is bizarre to me. Yeah, I reject that concept. I think, as you are pointing out, that we do have control over that, but we have so many people, as I would put it, that don't listen to their inner voice. And you can say, listen to God or or whatever. But the bottom line is, we don't listen. And, course, we have a bad day because we don't listen to the answers that are right there in front of us.   Abby Havermann ** 09:26 Yeah. And we've been taught not to, right. We've literally been conditioned, you know, from, you know, the industrial age, you know, and all the learnings that we had, you know, with Newtonian physics and all that stuff, to just never, to always look at our outside circumstances. And it's what you're saying is so true, like the innate wisdom is in us, and it's the last place that we ever look, yeah, and, and, and, to your point, it's, it's unbelievable. We we are taught to think it's like, oh. Something happens, we have an emotional reaction to it, and it's like, oh, now I'm just stuck with these emotions. Nothing I can do now. I'm just here with this. And that's the bit, right? Like, that's the dream that people like you and I have to, like, help people understand that. No, no, no, you you have the power to change your brain and body. You don't have to live by that.   Michael Hingson ** 10:18 How do we get people to understand that. I mean, obviously that's part of what you do. So how do you, how do you get people to unlearn that kind of, I won't even say it's a concept, because it's not, it's just a bad message. But how do people unlearn that?   Abby Havermann ** 10:37 Well, yeah, I mean, first we have to understand like that. We came upon it honestly, right, like that, that we're really in fight or flight so much of the time, that the way we've evolved was for survival. And if you're going to evolve for survival, you're going to be looking into your environment to find out, you know, what you need to do to keep yourself safe. So we're our brains are wired to look outside ourselves and say, Oh, this is the problem. I need to fix that. And if I fix that, I can be safe. And so we're very rarely looking inside ourselves. And in fact, when you're under stress, you physiologically can't look inside yourself, because you're in a state of where you're like, run by your hide. Where do I need to go? You know? How do I need to keep myself safe? You're not looking in yourself and be like, Oh, let me ponder. You know how to evolve myself today, right? So part of it is teaching people, literally, how to physiologically shift, to open up the centers of the brain that are more aligned with curiosity and community and and the empathy circuitry and all of the things where that wisdom we can really plug into the wisdom, the wisdom that's in your heart, right helping people understand that we store emotions in our bodies, and those thoughts and emotions that we're firing are creating our actions unconsciously. And it's not hard to get someone to understand it. As soon as you start talking to them, right, because you can give so many examples, they're like, oh, my god, yeah, you're right. When this happened, then I automatically and unconsciously, you know, had this thought and feeling, and then I acted this way, and before I knew it, you know, the whatever, there was an argument with my co worker, or the team meeting blew up, or, you know, whatever happened. And as soon, as soon as they begin to get curious about how their own behavior, their own thoughts and emotions, can impact the people around them, that's empowering, right? That's when you realize you really do have power. It's not I'm going to empower you to be able to have a voice. No, it's, it's being empowered inside of yourself to recognize the power that's already inherently there.   Michael Hingson ** 12:50 I love something you said, though, which is that this is what we're taught, and I think that that's exactly right. I don't think we're born that way, necessarily, but that is what we're taught. Yeah,   Abby Havermann ** 13:03 no, we are, and not only that, we're encouraged to, right? I mean, like, I read somewhere, I don't know if it was maybe in the book letting go. I can't remember, but how Freud's was really misunderstood when he talked about expression versus repression, that the idea was not, wasn't intended to be that if you just say your emotions out loud, you will release them. And this is what we've kind of been taught from ancient, you know, like back in the psychology, and even in psychology in school for you know, that degree, it's sort of like all we need to do is just express what's going on. So now we're complaining to each other where, you know, and everybody's going, Oh, you're right. You have a right to feel this way. Yes, this is terrible. This is terrible. And yes, we do have a right to feel this way. I mean, you know, right better than anybody. I have a one of the reasons I was so attracted to your podcast is that I have a child who has a disability. And, you know, there's lots and lots of reasons to feel bummed out or upset or limited, right? That's not the question. The question is, do you really want to   Michael Hingson ** 14:11 That's right? The reality is, you may have the right to do it, because you have the right to make choices, but on the other hand, is that really the best choice? And the answer is not really Yeah,   Abby Havermann ** 14:25 and not because you're a better person if you don't, not because you get kudos, you know, but because your life is better, because you determine how you know whether you're happy or sad or resentful, you know, or holding a grudge, you know?   Michael Hingson ** 14:41 Yeah, I agree. And I see it so often. I remember so many times I'm asked what you were in the World Trade Center and you escaped. Did you go through a lot of therapy? Because you seem like you're pretty normal now, whatever that means. And I point out, no. No, I didn't go through counseling directly, but what I did, and it was a little bit unconscious, at least, I didn't think about this as a reason for doing it, but my wife and I agreed that talking about the World Trade Center attacks and allowing people to hire me to come and do speeches and talk about the lessons we should learn, made me pretty visible, and a lot of reporters wanted to do interviews. And the reality is that my therapy ended up being the media coming into our home literally hundreds of interviews, asking every question from the most inane to the most insightful you can imagine, but that made me talk about it, and that's I think the biggest key is being able to talk about it, and recognizing, as you do that you're thinking about it, and that causes your brain to help you be able to put it all in perspective, whatever that may be and whatever it is,   Abby Havermann ** 16:07 yeah, and I think you know what you're talking about is so important, because I think we get mixed up so easily between what is the difference between acknowledging what happened to you and dwelling in what happened to you. And it is so important to be able to talk about it and acknowledge like the feelings that you have, and not deny those. If we just think, well, I should be, I should, in quotes, be able to, you know, be in a great, great mood, even though I feel like crap or whatever, and you just keep trying that it's not going to work you. You have to acknowledge what is. You have to be truthful about what is but understanding that you have the power to overcome and all of that resides inside of you, and it may take, depending on whatever happened, maybe you're over it in 30 seconds. 911 going to take a lot longer, right? Like you have the patience to to to walk through that with yourself, but understanding that it's not what happens to us in our lives that's important. It's it's how we react to it, right, what we think of it. And look at what you've made of that, right? Like, what a phenomenal story, what a horrific, you know, accident and not an accident, horrific event. And look at how many people you've touched as a result, and how many people you've taught and how many lives you've changed well.   Michael Hingson ** 17:26 And one of the things I realized at the beginning of the pandemic, and we've talked about it some here on the podcast, is that while I wasn't I won't say I wasn't afraid. On September 11, I had learned to control fear because I prepared for the eventuality that there could be an emergency. And there had been a bombing in the World Trade Center in 1993 in the parking lot. It didn't do a lot of damage, but nevertheless, it caused a lot of people who bought at the World Trade Center. So I came along at a time when I was hired to open an office, and in opening the office, we got a great rent, got a great price for it, and we moved in, and I immediately started spending a good amount of time learning all I could about the complex including what all the emergency and evacuation procedures were, emergency preparedness, what to do, Where the emergency exits were, and how to get anywhere, I needed to go, not just one way, but every possible way to get around. And that was something that, as I mentioned before, about physics and paying attention to details, that's the whole point of it. But what all that did was actually, although I never thought about it for many years afterward. But what that really did was created in me a mindset that you know what to do. Well, an emergency happened, and I was able to let that mindset take over, and as I describe it to people, allowed my fear to be a guide and a device that helped me stay motivated and focused, rather than the fear overwhelming, or, as I put it, blinding me to what was going on, so I couldn't make a decision. And I believe that we do have that capability. We don't need to allow fear to overwhelm us and to make life impossible on it. Yeah, I understand there's a natural reaction, and people have physical reactions when they're afraid and so on. But the reality is, from a mind standpoint, you do have the ability to control that, and so you do have the ability to take that fear and make it a positive thing and not a negative thing that overwhelms you, because you suddenly totally just feel helpless.   Abby Havermann ** 19:46 Yeah, I mean, there's so much to unpack in what you just said. I mean, you know, I guess one of, one of the things is that, you know, when I think about it's like, obviously, that's such a feel for situation. But I often think about the degree to which people are in. Fear just on a daily basis. You know, when you talk to business owners and you know the fear that realistic or not, you know that financial ruins going to happen, the fear of, you know, what am I going to look like when I get up on stage and give this presentation, the fear that you know you're not going to be able to, you know, make the quota, the fear that your boss is going to be upset. You know, all of these things are, you know, the fear of what's going to happen with your children. You know, all of this futuristic thinking, like, literally, if you think about it, I feel like we are in fear so much of the time, and it's just an unconscious process at this point. And to your point about it's not just your mind, right? Like, because the mind can't really get us out of fear. The mind just sort of chatters to itself, and the fear is stored in your body. And so really, having an understanding of how the mind and the body work together is so important to be able to overcome those emotions, because emotions are stored in your body. We can talk to I mean, how many times have you talked to people that are talking themselves, trying to talk themselves out of feeling a certain way? You cannot talk yourself out of feeling something? It won't work, and then you'll just end up feeling, you know, deflated because you couldn't do it. It's really a combination of understanding with your mind what you what needs to happen with your body as well. Well,   Michael Hingson ** 21:32 what you have to do is to learn how to step back and say, what is that is really a problem for me right now, what do I what am I really afraid of? And should I be afraid of it? One of the things that I have talked about a fair amount regarding September 11 is that I realized that there are a lot of things over which we don't have control, and if we, as we usually tend to do, what if the world to death and worry about everything in the world that goes on, rather than focusing on the things over which we really do have control, we're going to have more and more fear. We're going to just drive ourselves crazy, and we're going to continue to do what we've always done. But the reality is, and I think a lot does have to do with the mind, but it is also communicating with the body. It's a mind body process. But the ultimate issue is that we have to decide and learn how to take that control and focus just on the things that we really have influence over and not worry about the rest of it. So one of the things that I did when the pandemic started was to begin writing a book called, as it turns out, live like a guide dog, true stories from a blind man and his dogs about being brave, overcoming adversity and moving forward in faith. And the idea behind the book is to teach people how to control fear. And I use examples of lessons that I have learned from working with eight guide dogs and my wife service dog, the lessons that I learned from them that when we apply them, will help us really deal with fear in the right way. So it's all about learning to control that fear. And you know, as an example, what if, as I said, we What if everything to death, and most of the time we don't have any control over it, and it isn't going to happen anyway, but we spend so much time worrying about it that we don't focus on the what ifs or the the issues that are directly really relevant to us.   Abby Havermann ** 23:40 Yeah, yeah. And that that, what if question that analytic brain is really what separates us from from dogs and animals, right? We have the ability to get stuck in this analysis paralysis, and we've been sort of taught like hanging out in that left brain is really it's the more important place to be. And if we just keep going around and around and chewing on something, we'll get an answer to your point all the way back to the beginning of what you said without looking inside ourselves at all, which doesn't require really any thought. It's more sensory oriented. You know what needs to be done here? And it's really I find, you know what I've learned throughout the years, and what I teach is that, and practice is that it's when you settled your nervous system down, you know, when you stop, you know, feeding into a dysregulated nervous system that those options are available to you, and you're able to kind of stop the fear and just observe, rather than analyze, what's going on   Michael Hingson ** 24:46 well, and we really can do that. One of the things that I talk about live like a guide dog, which was published in August of 2024 is that if we would take time. Time at the end of every day to step back as we're falling asleep, even when it's quiet, and look at what happened today, what worked, what didn't work, and and I reject the the concept that anything is a failure. It's a learning experience. And good things that happen to us are learning experiences. How could I have done that better than I did. What else could I have done, but in the case of things that are a problem that we tend to dwell on, why is it a problem? What was I afraid of? How do I deal with that, and really taking the time to start to deal with answering those kinds of questions and doing it regularly, and practicing it is what is going to start to allow us to be able to use our minds to communicate with the rest of us and move forward a much more positive way, and maybe tomorrow, not wake up with a bad day,   Abby Havermann ** 25:54 right? And and, like you say, being able to do that from an objective standpoint, I so much of what I see is that people just beat the hell out of themselves. Yup, so that simple exercise of, you know, what do I love, about what, what I did and what, what would I do differently, becomes, you know, a session of self flagellation, of like, I'm so terrible and I did this and that that wrong, and blah, blah, blah, blah, or the opposite, where it's like, I didn't do anything wrong, and we completely, you know, dissociate from the parts of ourselves that are showing up that aren't useful in a situation. And when you can teach people to sort of have more of that objective focus, because they have, you know, they've built a part inside themselves that can be loving and empathic toward themselves and others that they can stop and say, All right, well, let's see what, what do I love about what I did, and what do I need to do differently next time to make it go differently, it's not, it's not a it's not about your horrible person or your great person. It's nothing to do with that right.   Michael Hingson ** 26:57 And the issue is, when you talk about, what did I do wrong? You didn't think it was wrong until it didn't go the way you wanted. And so it doesn't mean that that you intentionally made a mistake or anything like that. So you got to be able to step back and say, so what really happened here? What do I learn from it? I've learned that one of the most important things I can say is not that I'm my own worst critic, but rather I'm my own best teacher, which is much more positive anyway. But you know, the fact of the matter is that we worry about so many things so much, the Mark Twain and other people who have made comments about fear point out that most everything we're afraid of or fear will never come to pass, and we just spend way too much time worrying about it, and it drives us crazy. Well,   Abby Havermann ** 27:52 yeah, and you know what you were just saying? You know, I mean, one of the things that I bring to teams and organizations, one of the modalities that I use is Positive Intelligence, which was created by Sherzad, you know, he talks about the the sage perspective, which is, everything can be turned into a gift and opportunity, right? And when you're looking at it from that standpoint, if everything can be turned into a gift and opportunity, there is no failure. There is nothing to beat yourself up about. It's just a curiosity of like, okay, what's the gift here? And it's very hard, I think, when people are under intense stress in business and, you know, dysregulated and dealing with all kinds of things, to be able to stop and think there might be a gift in losing this client, or there might be a gift in having to do these layoffs, but there always is. There always is,   Michael Hingson ** 28:53 well, and the the other part about it is, when you talk about stress, how much of the stress, if you will, that we feel is induced by us, yeah, because we don't learn to step back and and look at it in a little bit more of an objective way.   Abby Havermann ** 29:12 Well, it's reinforced by us, right? Like we we are firing the same thoughts and we're firing the same emotions, and we're doing that over and over and over and over again, and we're dumping more and more cortisol in our bodies, right?   Michael Hingson ** 29:24 And we're not learning a thing, or we're not learning a thing, it's there to learn, but we're not learning it. Yeah,   Abby Havermann ** 29:32 exactly, yeah. And people are becoming more and more divided, you know? But the great news is that, you know, it doesn't have to be that way, right? It doesn't have to be that way. And that's, you know, why I think you know the message that that you put out there is, is so very, very important.   Michael Hingson ** 29:54 Well, I think it is, and I think that we can learn. And that we can progress in a in a much more positive way, and we may discover along the way that we end up doing some of the same things that we did, but for different reasons, and maybe they really weren't such bad things anyway.   Abby Havermann ** 30:18 Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I have, you know, I have clients who have had to, you know, lay off people, you know, and when you're a business owner, you're leaning off people. It feels like the worst thing in the world. You feel like, I know I've done it, yeah, right. I mean, people go into they feel like they failed, they feel guilty, they feel worried about the rest of their employees. And when you start to really unpack it, you know the truth of the matter becomes something else. First of all, if you you know are having to go through a layoff or something, you're typically anything that you do, that you're doing right now, next year, you're going to be doing at a bigger you're going to be playing on a bigger stage. So if you're laying off in your businesses this size next year, you're going to avoid whatever the problem was that caused you to have to do that when you're playing with a bigger stage, when there's more money on the line, right? Yeah, you know that there's when you can approach the world and understanding that your failures are your lessons, and sometimes God does for us what we can't do for ourselves. You know, it makes life a lot easier to get through. You know, we don't end up holding on to the same things, and we learn, like you're saying, faster, instead of continuing to do the same thing over and over again and making the same mistakes over and over again,   Michael Hingson ** 31:39 life gives us the opportunity to really live an adventure and grow if we choose to do it. Unfortunately, all too often, people just won't do it.   Abby Havermann ** 31:51 Yeah, well, I mean, I always say, like not everybody, not every soul is here to evolve. Not every soul is here to do the same thing. And we need, we need everybody here, right? But there's a there's a collective conscious, right? And some people are here to evolve to a certain place. Some people are here to go beyond. Some people are here to just do it all over again,   Michael Hingson ** 32:15 well, but those people who do it all over again hopefully eventually get to the point where they can evolve. And that's part of the issue, of course, is, when are you going to decide to do that? Well,   Abby Havermann ** 32:26 it's never, it's never ending, right? It's like, there is no evolved. It's we're evolving, right? Like, I hope. I like to think that I'm overcoming things in this lifetime that I won't have to come back and do it another but I'm sure they're saying that I'm not, you know, like, so it's a, it's a never ending process, but I think we are. We're taught, you know, that we're not well. We're not taught that. We're not taught that, you know, life is a playground. You know,   Michael Hingson ** 32:56 no, we're not. We're constantly taught that life is hard and so many other things. Rather than Life is an adventure, we can have fun. We ought to have fun. And yeah, there are times to be serious, but still, you can do that in a positive way.   Abby Havermann ** 33:13 Yeah, exactly.   Michael Hingson ** 33:16 I don't know. Maybe Mark Twain was right. I wonder if God had read a man because he was disappointed in the monkeys, but we won't go there. Well,   Abby Havermann ** 33:22 I feel like that now, like, you know, somebody's looking down on us and going, Oh, you guys haven't learned anything yet. Let me throw, let me throw some more things for you to get really upset and divided about and see if you see if you can learn now, and keep kind of proving over and over again that we're not going to learn. We need to keep, we need to keep experiencing all of these things   Michael Hingson ** 33:44 well. But he's probably pleased when somebody does learn. And so that's good too, right? Right?   Abby Havermann ** 33:50 Because it's a collective right? So the more people that begin to start to look inward instead of outward, and begin to see that, you know, they have that power inside themselves. I always say, like, I always wonder, what would it be like, you know, if, if, instead of, you know, focusing on these external things, we were all always focused internally. So something upsets me, and instead of saying, You upset me, or this thing upset me, I immediately go inward and say, Isn't this curious that this, this upset me so much. I wonder what that's about. And if I'm taking care of all of that inside of me, and you're taking care of all of it that's going on inside of you, there's really nothing to argue about. Yeah, and you have more control over your life because you don't have control over what other people do. You can ask them to do things differently. You can say you're upset about it. You can try and manipulate your life so you don't have to deal with things. But at the end of the day, you ultimately don't have control over it. It might work 50% of the time, maybe, if you're lucky, the only thing you have complete control over is how you react to something, right? And   Michael Hingson ** 34:59 that's going to tell. Next steps, and that's what we need to learn to do, is to do a better job of truly reacting, whatever that may mean in any given situation, rather than doing knee jerk reactions to something, and not necessarily doing a very positive or helpful thing. But the reality is, we can learn to listen to that voice inside of us that is there to tell us how to react if we choose to use it and listen to it.   Abby Havermann ** 35:27 And I would say, not even react, but respond. Right? The word responsibility, it's the ability to respond. You know, reacting is what I'm doing when I'm my nervous system is already dysregulated. Right? Responding, you know, is something we can train ourselves to be able to do, to stop, and it doesn't, you know, it doesn't happen overnight. And there's different things that that happen that are going to trigger you more than other things,   Michael Hingson ** 35:55 right? So, when did you start teaching and doing what you're doing now.   Abby Havermann ** 36:03 Well, I after I left my the financial advising, and during that time, I begin to really learn a lot about neuroscience and study under some mentors. And that's when I really realized, like, Oh, this is, this was sort of the missing link for me as a psychotherapist, this is, like it reaffirmed some things that I kind of intuitively knew. And so I began to start doing it in one on one, coaching and teaching in that sense. And then eventually, you know, doing groups and working with teams and things like that since then, so and just kind of bringing all of the modalities that I use together to help people get unstuck, help teams get unstuck, so that, you know, it's possible to to work in ease and flow. And we've all had those times, I hope, where you have a day where you know, you're just running around with your hairs on fire, and you're going from one thing to the next, the next, versus also, you have a day where it's like, gosh, everything just went smoothly. And I didn't worry about time, and I got ended up getting more done than I ever thought I could. You know, like we have control over what kind of day we're going to have. And so it becomes so important, because when we can go into our work or office or our meetings with our clients, instead of being hijacked by all these thoughts of like, Oh, am I prepared? What are they going to think? Oh, my God, that all of these things, instead of going in from, you know, in a place where you're grounded, and what I call inside out instead of outside in, like, worrying about, what do they need? Instead of what am I here to be of service with? It makes everything flow. And I think we need more people in flow and less people in stress and anxiety. So that's kind of when I, when I really started, started to do it. Because I can tell you, in the financial services industry, there's a lot of people in stress   Michael Hingson ** 38:10 and anxiety. Yeah, well, having sold on Wall Street for for many years, and watching traders and, oh yeah, all the things that go on. Yeah, I hear exactly what you're saying. What did your husband think when you decided to leave the financial industry and go back into more of what you're doing now?   Abby Havermann ** 38:28 Well, I don't think he was thrilled, because it left him with, you know, a lot of extra work. But you know, we had actually transitioned at one point. I mean, we were, I was thinking, God, what do I need to do? Like, something's missing. I thought maybe I needed a hobby. So I started to, you know, I joined a choir, and I started writing, and I started doing all these things, and that's what I kind of realized. It's, it's not that I need a hobby, it's that I'm not doing what I'm supposed to be doing. And we had, even, you know, started working with women, and I had been running women's seminars, which were really fun, and he had sort of done more of, like, more of the back end stuff, and I was able to talk to women and all of those things. But even that wasn't enough. And so on the one hand, he wasn't thrilled, and on another, he totally understood that I'm here to do something different, you know, and I you, I really believe that you have to do what makes your heart sing in this in this lifetime, you know? So it was a transition. But he, he's my husband's a rock. I'm very lucky. He's, he's, he's always right there, backing me up. So I was lucky,   Michael Hingson ** 39:37 and he's coping with it well these days, I assume   Abby Havermann ** 39:40 he is, oh yeah, now, yeah. And what we built together, you know, he's able to have the business and the life that that he loves as well. I mean, he's, he was doing it long before me, and, you know, we'll do it long after. So how   Michael Hingson ** 39:56 long ago was it that you left the financial. Environment and started what you're doing   Abby Havermann ** 40:02 now, that was in 2018 Okay, so I started in psychotherapy in 97 and then I started in the financial industry in 2007 ish, and then left in 2018   Michael Hingson ** 40:17 well, but I bet, if you really think about it. And probably you have, you could point out things that you learned during your time in the financial world that that help you today.   Abby Havermann ** 40:27 Oh, of course. I mean, yeah, I mean, right, the whole there was no mistake, right? And I that was, there was lots of gifts that came out of that for me, right? Not, you know, not to mention that I really understand the pressures, the unique pressures of that industry and what people are dealing with, and that informs the work that I do now. But also, even just the self discovery of like, wow, you know it? I didn't need a hobby. I wasn't listening to myself. I was out of alignment? Yeah, no, and that's okay too, because you know what? Doing something for the family, doing something for the people that that I worked with, and being of service in that way was also a gift, you know? So, no regrets for sure,   Michael Hingson ** 41:18 no. And I think that's really the issue you're you're comfortable with what you're doing, and so you shouldn't have to have regrets. And again, you learned a lot, and you recognize that, and that's the most important thing.   Abby Havermann ** 41:33 Yeah, I think having a perspective in life, that everything is truly happening as it should is is important, and if nothing else, really helps you get through a lot easier, right? Because lots of people find themselves in situations, you know, whether it's a divorce, you know, which I had that too, or, you know, things happen that people will beat themselves up about and just feel terrible. How can I do that? And why did this happen? And all of these things, and it's it, it you don't have to have an answer to that. It just did happen. Yeah, right, so, and, and what, what is the opportunity for you in moving through that? Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 42:14 well, I've never experienced divorce directly. My brother went through one, and I'm not under the circumstances, we weren't too surprised. But, you know, he was where he was and all that. But my wife and I were married for 40 years, and as I mentioned, she passed away. And so now, as I tell people, I have to be a good kid, because I know that somewhere she's monitoring, and if I misbehave, I'm going to hear about it. It's as simple   Abby Havermann ** 42:42 as that. And do you? Do you? Do you hear from her? Um,   Michael Hingson ** 42:46 oh, I hear from her, but I haven't heard anything negative, so I guess I'm behaving.   42:51 Oh, that's good. That's good. Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 42:54 yeah. I mean, she's she's here, she's monitoring, and, yeah, that's perfectly fine.   Abby Havermann ** 43:00 I always love to hear stories of that, you know, particularly for people who've been married a long time, like, what ways the their person shows up, you know, how you know they're here? Because so many people, you know, when I grew up, my grandmother used to say Dead is dead, and it was absolutely terrifying to believe like that was the end, you know. And so I love hearing people talk about, you know, where, where they, where they feel they, where they, where they feel their loved ones, you know, how they know that they're there? About   Michael Hingson ** 43:33 six months after she passed, I remember waking up in the middle of the night because someone or something had taken a hold of my hand as an example. And it wasn't the cat, and as soon as I woke up, then it was gone. But I know it was there, so, yeah, she's she's monitoring. It's okay. Yeah, I'm good with that. Now, along the way, you delivered a TED talk. How long ago was that?   Abby Havermann ** 43:58 Oh, that was in 2022,   Michael Hingson ** 44:01 okay, so, so the pandemic had started to lift and all that. What if you would tell me about the the TED talk, and what that was all about, and and so on.   Abby Havermann ** 44:10 Yeah, well, the TED talk really came about. It's something I think I've wanted to do for a long time, but it came about actually as a result of my divorce and what I went through during that time, and that was really when I had this kind of come to Jesus, that I realized that the things that had happened in my life that I was not in favor of were directly related to a self betrayal. In other words, it wasn't anyone else's fault that these things happened to me or that I went through them. It was that I consistently, as we said in the beginning, did not go inside, did not listen to my inner voice, betrayed myself in any number of ways by, you know, deferring to what other people thought or making. Decisions, because I didn't think I was worthy of something else, or whatever it was. And it was like, wow, it hit me in the face. It was sort of like there was nowhere else for me to go but jail. Like, literally, I was already in prison because I was not listening to myself at all. And so I had that experience, and then years later, I actually was at a an assembly for my son, who was like, 10 years later, was then in middle school, and they were doing an assembly on sexting for middle school kids, because there was this pandemic and epidemic of kids sexting. And at the time in Colorado, that was a class three felony, and there was really nothing they could do to get it off somebody's record. So they were doing an Internet safety and I was listening to the cop up there talking about what was happening, and he said something that, you know, just really shook me, which was that, you know the he would ask the boys, why do you why do you make them send Why do you pressure these girls into sending pictures? And the boys would say, well, because I wanted to see a picture of her naked. And then they would ask the girls, why? Why are you sending it? And the girls would always say, and I knew exactly what he was going to say. They they said, because I wanted him to love me. And it really brought me back to all the self betrayals I had had as a young a young woman. And, and I thought, my God, nothing has changed. I mean, that was in 2003 right? I was born in 1970 so I just thought, wow, we are still doing the same thing over and over again. And, and it really spurred me to want to tell that story and spread this word, that we have the ability to get out of our own ways, that we can. We don't need, we don't need new legislation, and not that, I'm not that it's not great, and not that we shouldn't have it, but we don't need other people to empower us. We need to empower ourselves. And so that was kind of what my what my TED talk was about.   Michael Hingson ** 47:09 Um, so the title of your talk was, women's liberation is an inside job. Interesting title,   Abby Havermann ** 47:14 yeah, well, and that's literally the truth, right? Like, let you know if you think of like, the biggest extremes of this, of course, are people like Viktor Frankl, you know, who you know talks about how he was in the concentration camps. And you know Man's Search for Meaning, you know how he was liberated, even in the most you know, horrific circumstances. And I really believe that liberation is an inside job for all of us. That is not just for women, but for everyone. It's to me doing a TED talk was great. It was a bucket list thing. I'm so happy I did it. But what makes me feel the most proud of myself is when I overcome some part of myself. That is what makes me feel liberated when something goes wrong in my inner in my external world and my inner world doesn't go crazy, I'm like, oh my god, that is freedom. When something happens in my external world and I lose it or I go into a funk, that's prison. To me. Liberation is being able to be in ease and flow, no matter what is happening in our outer world, and no matter who is irritating us, or what life circumstances plopped in my lap. Yeah, that's kind of how I mean that, yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 48:36 well, and I gather that the that the talk went well and was well received, I assume,   Abby Havermann ** 48:44 yeah, I mean, I think that it, they forced some edits on it, which I understand in hindsight. I wish I had known, but I would could have told the story differently. But no, it was. It was very well received. And I often hear from people who tell me that they that they shared it widely, and it was impactful. So, but you know, if you, if you unpack just one, one other person, you know, like, it's worth it. Yeah, worth it. So it didn't go viral. You know, it didn't, it wasn't as big as, you know, many TED talks are, but that's okay, you know, people came up to me after and said, You know, I'm the person you needed to talk to. And I was like, All right, now my job's done. Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 49:27 you You did. You did well, or, as I like to say, you done good. And, yeah, and that's what's important. You talk about the dark night of the soul. What is that? Well, the   Abby Havermann ** 49:39 dark night of the soul is, you know, that come to Jesus moment. And I always say, you know, when I write in my newsletters, I often write about, you know, come to Jesus moments and dark nights of soul. And I always say, you know, if you haven't had one of these, and then you're probably not for me, because, you know, or I'm probably not for you. Is really how that is, because it's the dark night of the soul. Is. Is when you really come face to face with yourself, and you can no longer, you know, blame other people. You can no longer not change. You realize that something's happening and it's requiring you to be a different person, and you see something in yourself that maybe you don't like, you know, or you see something that you realize you can't have. It's not going to work. It's not going to be the way you keep trying to make it be. And you have to come up against yourself and make some really hard decisions and some hard choices and see things in yourself that maybe you don't want to see, you don't want to know about. You'd rather think about yourself in a different way. Yeah, the dark night. Have you had one? I'm   Michael Hingson ** 50:44 not thinking of one right off, but I am sure I have,   Abby Havermann ** 50:47 yeah, yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 50:51 I think that we all have, yeah. Actually, I can. Can think of some where I was behaving in particular ways. And sometimes it's I learn about it because somebody comes along and said, You're a dirt bag, or you misbehaved, or the way you're treating people, and I've had to think about that. But I think for me, although I didn't notice it until somebody mentioned it, when it occurs and somebody says something, my immediate reaction is to think about that and to internalize it, and to go back and look at, well, what, what is the issue? And sometimes I have realized that it wasn't me and somebody's being manipulative, but sometimes it is me, and it is important to be able to get introspective and think about what is occurring and and look at what's going on and what part of it is you, and what part of it is not you,   Abby Havermann ** 51:49 yeah. And I think it's, you know? I mean, it's so impossible to really, truly know ourselves and have a really accurate picture of ourselves. We all have a picture of ourselves, but it's, it's never really accurate, because of the way our brains are wired and so continuing to be open and curious like that, I think is is so important. And we, you know, you come to your own truth, right? But I think truth is so important to be truthful to yourself, whether it's whether you're throwing yourself under the bus that's not truthful. You know, whether you're saying, Oh, I suck at this, or whatever I made, you know what? That's not truthful, or whether you're tooting your own horn, and that's not entirely truthful. No, you know. It's a you know, to me, like self introspection, like that's that is where it's at. That, to me, is the most fascinating and the quickest road to success and growth you can possibly have. It's not, it's not what's happening externally. It's, it's, how are you actualizing yourself within? Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 52:58 and that's why it gets back to really learning how to step back and look at situations and looking at all aspects of it to make a final decision about, what do I need to do, if anything, to address the issue, whatever it may be,   Abby Havermann ** 53:15 yeah, and I think, you know, there's value in that. Of course there is, but a lot of times that's a that's an analysis, and a lot of times we need to step away from the analysis, and we need to just with it and observe it and just be curious about it. Oh, exactly, and be okay with what is. And that's sometimes when the biggest answers come to us. I think that's why, you know they say that the right brain processes 800 times faster than the left brain, because the left brain is worried. What do I need to do differently? How do I need to analysis, analysis, analysis. Whereas when you can settle your brain and body down, whether it's through a meditation or a heart math practice or a Positive Intelligence practice or what, whatever it is, sometimes the answer is right there it like drops in, you know, just the way you had, you felt your wife hold your hand, right, you know. And it just happened so much faster than all of the thinking and the planning and the spreadsheets and the that you that we put ourselves through trying to come up with the quote right answer,   Michael Hingson ** 54:21 yeah. And I don't want to make it really clear, I'm not necessarily advocating just analysis, and I'm not analysis, though, what I think analysis can do is lead to you opening up and dealing with the rest of the issues. So analysis may be a starting point, but it's not the end all solution,   Abby Havermann ** 54:43 yeah, and it, and we need to be careful about getting stuck in it, yeah? Oh, absolutely stuck in that place of over, you know, going over and over that,   Michael Hingson ** 54:53 because that takes us right back to where we were before. Well, right? Because   Abby Havermann ** 54:56 Einstein said, you know, you can't solve a problem from the same level. Level of mind that created it, right?   Michael Hingson ** 55:03 Yeah. And so you can go back and look at, well, what what happened? What is it the people are saying and all that, but you've got to go further than that. And so it, it is emotional as well as anything else, which is probably why we haven't met Vulcans like Mr. Spock yet.   Abby Havermann ** 55:23 Well, yeah, I mean, and that's the thing, right? It's like people are emotional beings, right? So we think that we need to work things out logically and everything, but emotions are not logical, and so much of life and business is about relationships, right?   Michael Hingson ** 55:38 But the but the one thing that we can do, though, is that it gets back to introspection in all forms. We do need to learn how to step back and allow ourselves to listen to that inner voice to come up with the best solution, because that's where the best solution will always be.   Abby Havermann ** 55:59 Yeah, yeah. So true. And so many people doubt it. So many people doubt that it's inside them. You know, they'll come and be like, What do you think? What do you think? And I always say it's, I could tell you what I think, but you'll end up working with me far longer than you need to, because it's not what you think. So let's, let's do some let's dive in and find out what your inner wisdom is telling you, because that's the only way you're going to rest, that's the only way you're going to know for certain, right, the right thing to do, because you feel it in your bones.   Michael Hingson ** 56:30 How do people who think less of themselves or don't have a lot of self worth? How can you help them move forward to becoming more confident, and I mean that in a positive way, as opposed to just developing an ego, and I'm great, and that's all there is to it. But how do you get people, or how do you help move people from a lack of self worth to self confidence? Yeah,   Abby Havermann ** 56:52 I mean, I think that self worth is, like one of the biggest, if not the biggest, problem that we have. And I do think there are a handful of people, I think you might be one of them that just has an inner constitution that, you know, is just a really lucky one. My son is one of them too. You know, he has this disability, and I swear to God, I've never seen a kid, you know, just kind of bounce back, you know, like he's here to be humbled. You know, it's not, it's not, you know, his constitution is just built that way. But I think for the vast majority of people, we're dealing with imposter syndrome. We're dealing with self worth issues. And oftentimes people say, Well, I don't have a worthiness issue because they're they have a great life, they have a great family, they have a great business. They and they can't they like themselves. They can't really relate to feeling a worthiness issue. But when you dial down and really talk to them about, you know, what are their fears, or what's getting in their way, or what's happening, it all comes back to this question of, you know, am I enough and trying to prove themselves and whatnot. And so one of my taglines is, I say, you know, stop, it's time to stop proving your worth and start owning your worth. Because your worth is there. It's always there. Your your validity is always there. The only thing that happened is you turned your gaze away from it. You started looking for it outside of yourself and instead of inside of yourself, and so it's, it's a harder question to answer, because it's, it's an evolution. It's not, you know, well, I just need to say, you know, 10 affirmations every day, and then I'm going to wake up more confident the next day, right? It has to do with acknowledging and being able to catch those if I was going to use Positive Intelligence language, those saboteurs that you know, for example, the hyper achiever Salvatore that wants to tell you that you're worth you're only as worthy as your last achievement. You know it's being able to catch that and being able to say, Wait a minute. Let me once again, sit you down and go back into who I am at the core of me, what is my essence and and aligning with the truth of who we are, which is we are not our body, we are not our mind, we we're much, much more than that. So there's a lot of different practices that we go, that I go through with people, but I do think that part of it is acknowledging that we're all somewhere along the same journey. And so much of the time it's just almost all the time, it's like one ego is talking to another ego. I'm I'm telling you, whatever I'm telling you. From my ego, you're telling me what you're telling me from your ego, very rarely are people actually, truly talking from their hearts. Part of developing confidence, I think, is an ability to align with your authentic self, where you're not putting yourself. Below anybody else. You're not putting yourself above anybody else. You're just aligning with what is real for you and putting yourself out there in that way and getting comfortable with that. And we can make decisions from that place. We feel more confident about our decisions. We never regret a decision that happened truly intuitively, right,   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:21 right? Well, you've, you've worked with a lot of clients, and I've had some successes. I'd love to hear maybe a success story where you really made a difference, or you helped someone make their own difference.   Abby Havermann ** 1:00:39 Yeah. I mean, I think that, let's see, you know, I mean, there's, there's a lot of different ways I could, I could go with that. You know, sometimes what happens when people can have a shift is everything changes. So I had a client who was going she almost didn't come to our call because she was just covered in shame about something that was happening in her business. And we were able to work on it, not only in that introductory call, but throughout the ensuing year where everything changed for her business. So when I used to ask her, you know, listen, what, what do you what do you want? What is it? Well, I want to be the best. Well, what does that mean? I want to be the best, right? I want to be the best. You know. Again, that goes back to this dysregulated nervous system, that's right, if I'm best, then I'll feel better. Then I'll feel better, right? And after a course of working together and working with her team and really getting her to get in touch with the incredible work that her company does from a real perspective, not where she's just telling herself it or patting herself on the back, but really beginning to see what they're doing, and a close attention to her, watching her inner world. She came up with the most beautiful business statement that I think I had ever heard, and couldn't even really remember the time, where she said, Yeah, I wanted to be the best. It wasn't about that, you know? It's about, I want to make a difference. This is what our team is doing. This is what I'm about in the world. This is what's important to me. And as a result, you know, made some incredible changes, money, you know, pouring in and working a lot on that automatic fear that you know financial ruin is on the other side of the wall, which is just a completely internal fear, and being able to release that so that you release the energetic field around you that's holding those circumstances in place, and having a

In this episode of the ChinaPower Podcast, Dr. Kyle Jaros and Dr. Sara Newland join us to explore the evolution of U.S.-China subnational diplomacy. They begin by examining the history and current landscape of US-China relations at the subnational level. They point out specifically that throughout the last five years, U.S.-China relations at the subnational level have become increasingly politicized. Dr. Newland explains that we are seeing a trickledown effect of local politicians weighing in on Taiwan and China issues, setting up local caucuses that mimic those in congress and notes that these actions are contributing to increased Sinophobia within U.S. local communities. Dr. Jaros further explains that in recent years, longstanding subnational ties with China have started winding down, with state and local leaders more hesitant to visit China, meet with Chinese officials, or welcome Chinese investments. They note this hesitation originates both from federal policy and from an increasingly hawkish stance at the sub-national level. However, both guests underscore that there are still areas of cooperation between U.S. and China on the local level, with one example being student exchange programs through universities. Dr. Jaros notes that it is important to continue human to human contacts with China and to be careful not to dehumanize the other side. Finally, Dr. Newland stresses the importance of the U.S. federal government creation of resources to educate local leaders on how to engage effectively with Chinese leaders. Kyle A. Jaros is an associate professor at the University of Notre Dame's Keough School of Global Affairs, where he studies the politics of urban and regional development and governance and subnational foreign affairs, with a particular focus on China. He is the author of China's Urban Champions: The Politics of Spatial Development and has contributed extensively to leading China studies and social science journals. Dr. Jaros holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in political science from Harvard University and an A.B. in public and international affairs, along with a certificate in Chinese language and culture, from Princeton University. He also earned a graduate certificate in Chinese studies from the Hopkins-Nanjing Center. Sara Newland is associate professor of government at Smith College. She is a scholar of local politics in China and Taiwan, with a research focus on how local officials operate both as domestic policymakers and as participants in international relations. Her work on local governance and public service provision has been featured in The China Quarterly and Governance, and her recent research explores subnational diplomacy, particularly the role of state and local officials in shaping U.S.-China-Taiwan relations. Dr. Newland holds a Ph.D. and M.A. from UC Berkeley and a B.A. from Wellesley College. Together, Dr. Jaros and Dr. Newland spent the past year as visiting fellows at the Truman Center for National Policy on a project examining city-level US-China relations. The white paper they have authored based on this research will be released in late February. They are also co-authoring a book on U.S.-China subnational diplomacy in an era of growing great power competition.

In this episode of the Fund The People Podcast, you'll get an inside view of one foundation's journey to investing in healthy nonprofit executive transitions - and helping other funders to do the same. Host Rusty Stahl sits down withLiz Sak, Executive Director ofCricket Island Foundation, andHana Sun, a consultant who manages the Foundation's Leadership Transition Fund. They discuss Cricket Island Foundation's approach to supporting nonprofit leadership transitions, particularly for small, grassroots organizations focused on youth organizing. The foundation provides three-year grants of $45,000 per year to help organizations navigate the before, during, and after phases of executive transitions.Often funders unintentionally create barriers to healthy grantee leadership transitions, with many nonprofit leaders hesitant to openly discuss their plans to leave due to fears of lost or postponed funding. Cricket Island Foundation addressed this by publicly signaling their supportive stance toward transitions, creating a firewall between the foundation and grantees through an external consultant, establishing peer-learning cohorts for transitioning leaders, and developing resources for both nonprofits and funders through the Leading Forward initiative.The discussion emphasizes that successful transitions require long-term planning, adequate resources, and a supportive funding ecosystem. We also talk about the importance of normalizing conversations about transitions and creating safe spaces for leaders to explore their future plans.Resources:Cricket IslandLeading Forward Leadership Learning CommunityBuilding Movement Project “Could Term Limits for Nonprofit Leaders Ease the Burnout Crisis?” by Chitra Aiyar,Chronicle of Philanthropy, Jan. 7, 2025“Supporting Nonprofit Leadership Transitions: A Foundation's Journey” July 2024ciftransitions@gmail.comLiz SakLiz Sak became the second Executive Director of the Cricket Island Foundation in 2008, overseeing all aspects of the Foundation's management including finance, program development, grantmaking, and field-building.Prior to joining the foundation, Liz spent more than two decades running non-profit organizations. This work included securing millions of dollars of public investment in youth development work in the South Bronx which culminated in her securing funding for the Phipps Beacon School, a multi-service initiative serving young people and families; Liz served as the inaugural director of that program. She has since led organizations at the intersection of youth-organizing, the arts, and youth-development, developing public-private partnerships in support of that work. Since her move to philanthropy in 2008, Liz has focused on the development of strategies that are grounded in principles of social justice philanthropy, organizational strengthening, and partnership. She recently co-authored an article on evaluation for The Foundation Review and her writing has appeared in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Foundation Center, and numerous blogs.Liz holds a BA in political science from Lehigh University and an MBA from the Yale School of Management.Hana SunHana has 15 years of experience in facilitation, curriculum design, community building, and organizational leadership. She has held previous roles at New Economy Coalition, Third Wave Fund, Global Action Project, Mozilla Foundation, Cricket Island Foundation, Coalition for Asian American Children and Families, Hawaii Public Schools, and more. She has a master's degree from Columbia University School of Social Work and a bachelor's degree in Literature and Dance Studies from Smith College.You can find all the episodes of this podcast plus our blog, toolkit and other resources at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. And we invite you to learn from all the amazing past guests of Fund the People - A Podcast with Rusty Stahl at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org/ftp_podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

As a public intellectual, activist and professor at Smith College, Loretta Ross is no stranger to confrontation and debate. But years of working to change the minds of others have led her to rethink her own ideas about approaching difficult conversations. Loretta and Adam discuss why shaming rarely changes behavior and her powerful alternative to cancel culture. They also reflect on personal moments of confrontation and explore strategies for talking others out of hate.Available transcripts for ReThinking can be found at go.ted.com/RWAGscripts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are you concerned with how your nutrition can affect your mental health? Dr. Georgia Ede is a Harvard-trained psychiatrist specializing in nutrition science and brain metabolism. Her twenty-five years of clinical experience include twelve years as a college psychiatrist and nutrition consultant at Smith College and Harvard University Health Services, where she was the first to offer students nutrition-based approaches as an alternative to psychiatric medications. She speaks internationally about dietary approaches to psychiatric disorders. She co-authored the first inpatient study of the ketogenic diet for treatment-resistant mental illnesses, developed the first medically accredited course in ketogenic diets for mental health practitioners, and was honored to be named a recipient of the Baszucki Brain Research Fund's first annual Metabolic Mind Award. Her new book Change Your Diet, Change Your Mind was published in January 2024. It was a pleasure speaking with her; I know you'll learn a lot from this episode.    What we discussed:    Exploring the field of metabolic psychiatry (2:04) The neurological benefits of a ketogenic diet (6:20) Insights on ketogenic diet ratios and individual variations (10:36) Neurological ailments and ketogenic diet efficacy (13:31) Mechanisms and drivers of neurological disorders (19:49) Challenges in nutritional psychiatry and medical education (26:46) Ketogenic vs. Mediterranean diets (30:30) Protein consumption and ketogenic diet optimization (37:29) Adapting to a ketogenic diet and the long-term benefits (47:27) Her book details and the importance of working with a professional when transitioning to a ketogenic diet (1:00:55)   If you loved this episode and our podcast, please take some time to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, or drop us a comment below!