LIVING HERO PODCAST
WELCOME to the Living Hero Podcast! This monthly audio interview magazine is geared to an audience of psychologists and other mental health professionals, artists and other healers of the psyche. But everyone is welcome to listen in. We will be interviewing heroes in a wide variety of fields to encourage crossdisciplinary discussions that will yield new insights into the pressing problems we all face and present fresh ideas for further inquiry and concerted action.
What is a LIVING HERO? That’s an explorer, pioneer, maverick, brave heart who is offering new pathways of thought, knowledge and action to help and serve others in the here and now.
Historically and conceptually, what has been considered and celebrated as heroic is, perhaps, both too partial and too superficial. Our culture is in need of some new definitions of what it means to be a hero.
In contemporary life, people who effectively take an unconventional path, who find ways to resist that which is destructive, unwholesome or lacking in integrity, are to be considered heroic and visionary. The forces and messages that condition people towards desensitization, narcissism and fragmentation are powerful and pervasive. These influences are not always constructed with one’s best psychological and spiritual interests in mind.
Cultivating the heroic imagination involves just two aspects. First, thinking of yourself as an active person rather than a passive person: thinking of yourself as somebody willing to get involved; to move off the safety spot of minding your own business; to take a decisive action when the world around you looks the other way. Second, thinking less about yourself, less about your ego, your reputation, less concerned about looking foolish, making a mistake . . . more concerned for the well-being of others . . . — Philip Zimbardo
I offer this series of conversations towards an enlarged concept of what it means to be a living hero, and to provide some fresh thoughts and visions for our present and future.
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For December 2008, we are honored to present a talk with Riane Eisler. Riane is an internationally recognized pioneering social scientist, keynote speaker and author, best known for her international bestseller The Chalice and The Blade: Our History, Our Future, first published in 1987 and now in 22 languages. Her other books include the award-winning The Power of Partnership and Tomorrow’s Children, as well as Sacred Pleasure, a daring reexamination of sexuality and spirituality, and Women, Men, and the Global Quality of Life, statistically documenting the key role of the status of women in a nation’s general quality of life. Her most recent book is The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics. Riane Eisler has served as a consultant to world leaders in business and government and holds degrees in sociology and law from the University of California. She is president of the Center for Partnership Studies in Northern California.
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In January we are privileged to feature a conversation with Carolyn Raffensperger, M.A., J.D. Carolyn is executive director of the Science and Environmental Health Network. In 1982 she left a career as an archaeologist in the desert Southwest to join the environmental movement. She first worked for the Sierra Club where she addressed an array of environmental issues, including forest management, river protection, pesticide pollutants, and disposal of radioactive waste. She began working for SEHN in December 1994. As an environmental lawyer, Carolyn specializes in the fundamental changes in law and policy necessary for the protection and restoration of public health and the environment.
Carolyn is co-editor of Precautionary Tools for Reshaping Environmental Policy published by M.I.T. Press (2006) and Protecting Public Health and the Environment: Implementing the Precautionary Principle, published by Island Press (1999). Together, these volumes are the most comprehensive exploration to date of the history, theory, and implementation of the precautionary principle. Carolyn coined the term “ecological medicine” to encompass the broad notions that both health and healing are entwined with the natural world.
Carolyn has been featured in Gourmet magazine, the Utne Reader, Yes! Magazine, The Sun, Whole Earth, and Scientific American.
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In February we have as our guest an expert in integrative health care, Lauri Grossman. She is a licensed chiropractor and homeopath. A graduate of Cornell University, the New England School of Homeopathy and the prestigious Hahnemann College of Homeopathy in Berkeley, California, Dr. Grossman is known and respected as a practitioner and educator. She has taught at Sloan Kettering-Memorial Hospital, the Hospital for Special Surgery and Columbia Presbyterian Hospital and at New York Medical College.
Dr. Grossman developed the curriculum in homeopathy and has taught in the holistic departments of the graduate schools at New York University, the College of New Rochelle and the New York Chiropractic College.
Dr. Grossman will be Chair of the Department of Medicine and Humanistic Studies at the American Medical College of Homeopathy slated to open in Arizona in 2009.
Her film, Natures, produced with the assistance of the National Geographic Film Archives, highlights the philosophy of homeopathy and its connection with the order found in nature.
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PAST SHOWS ARE IN THE ARCHIVES–You can get to them from here!
For November, we were privileged to be featuring a talk with Richard Davidson, Ph.D. As the Director of two laboratories at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. Davidson studies the brain and emotion. He is William James and Vilas Research Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry and Director, W.M. Keck Laboratory for Functional Brain Imaging and Behavior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He received his doctorate from Harvard University in psychology and has been at Wisconsin since 1984. Davidson is internationally renowned for his research on the neural substrates of emotion and emotional disorders. He is the recipient of numerous awards for his research including a National Institute of Mental Health Research Scientist Award, a MERIT Award from NIMH, an Established Investigator Award from the National Alliance for Research in Schizophrenia and Affective Disorders (NARSAD), the William James Fellow Award from the American Psychological Society, and the Hilldale Award from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was the 1997 Distinguished Scientific Lecturer for the American Psychological Association. He served as a Core Member of the MacArthur Foundation Research Network in Mind-Body Interaction, is currently a Core Member of the MacArthur Foundation Mind-Brain-Body and Health Initiative and a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors, NIMH. In 2001-02 he served on the National Academy of Science Panel to evaluate the validity of the polygraph. He was the year 2000 recipient of the most prestigious award given by the American Psychological Association for lifetime achievement-the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award. He has published more than 150 articles, many chapters and reviews and edited 12 books.
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In October, 2008 we were pleased to present a conversation with Scott Baum, Ph.D. Scott is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and a Diplomate in Clinical Psychology. He is also a certified Bioenergetic Therapist, and a member of the Faculty of The International Institute for Bioenergetic Analysis. He has been affiliated with the DiMele Center for Psychotherapy since 1994.
Scott views psychotherapy as an experiential, problem solving process. He believes that the deepest, fullest, and most complex understanding of a person’s problem yields the best, most creative and enduring results.
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Our guest for September was Marcy Axness, Ph.D. Dr. Axness is an early development specialist who writes and speaks internationally on parenting, society, and the needs of children. She is an authority in such wide-ranging fields as neurobiology (brain development), prenatal and developmental psychology, attachment theory, and consciousness research. Marcy’s particular specialization is in very early development–beginning even before conception–and she is one of the world’s few experts in prenatal / neonatal issues in adoption. She is a professor at Santa Barbara Graduate Institute and has a private practice in Los Angeles, counseling parents and prospective parents.
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Our guest for August 2008 was Scott Parsons. Scott spent the summer of 2008 riding his bicycle on a 5000 mile route across America to raise awareness and funds for Mikyla-Cure, a non-profit organization dedicated to research to cure Rett Syndrome. Mikyla-Cure prides itself on working with some of the best researchers and scientists in the Rett Syndrome field. Mikyla-Cure projects will be strategically aligned with current research and performance-based. The Mikyla-Cure founders are working to see that Rett Syndrome becomes the first curable/treatable childhood neurological disorder. Mikyla-Cure.org
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In June/July 2008 we presented a conversation with cultural historian, professor, and author Morris Berman, Ph.D.
Dr. Berman is the author of a trilogy on the evolution of human consciousness–The Reenchantment of the World (1981), Coming to Our Senses (1989), and Wandering God: A Study in Nomadic Spirituality (2000). In 2000, his Twilight of American Culture was named a “Notable Book” by the New York Times Book Review. During 2003-6 he was Visiting Professor in Sociology at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Dr. Berman relocated to Mexico in 2006, and in 2008 was appointed Visiting Professor at the Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico City. His most recent book is Dark Ages America: The Final Phase of Empire.
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In May/June 2008 we featured a talk with inventor, John Green. John is Chairman of the Board for Ecofueler, an innovative alternative vehicle that runs at high speeds, with extremely low emissions, on compressed natural gas. John has extensive experience in the research and development of gas compression technologies and was issued a method patent for hydrolic compression by the U.S. Patent office. John is also a creative entrepreneur, whose visionary business models and innovative designs have brought success to a series of start-up companies. John holds forth that he will be a major player in the automotive industry with the Ecofueler. Here about it first on Living Hero.
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Our guest for April/May 2008 was Maria Nemeth, author of The Energy of Money and of Mastering Life’s Energies.
Maria Nemeth, Ph.D., MCC is a clinical psychologist with more than twenty-eight years’ experience, a former clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California-Davis School of Medicine, and a former columnist for the Sacramento Business Journal.
Maria is the founder of the Academy for Coaching Excellence and Mastering Life’s Energies, a personal and professional development seminar that teaches people how to shift their relationship with money from scarcity to abundance. Her widely acclaimed work has been brought to the attention of a broader audience by her recent appearance on the Oprah Show.
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In March/April 2008 we talked with artist advocate and author Caroll Michels.
Caroll has served as a career coach to artists since 1978. Her classic handbook How to Survive & Prosper as an Artist: Selling Yourself without Selling Your Soul (Henry Holt & Company, New York), which is now in its 5th edition, has helped thousands of beginning, mid-career and established fine artists launch and sustain their careers — with art marketing, art business, and career advice.
Michels is the chairperson of the Fine Arts Advisory Board of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. She was on the faculty of the New School for Social Research, and she conducts career management workshops throughout the U.S.A. and in Canada.
Her artwork has been exhibited in museums in the United States and abroad, including the Georges Pompidou Museum, Paris; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and the Institute for Contemporary Art, The Clocktower, New York City. Michels has received numerous grants, including those awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts; the NY State Council for the Arts; the NY Council for the Humanities; and the International Fund for the Promotion of Culture/UNESCO. She was a fellow at the Alden B. Dow Creativity Center in Midland, Michigan.
She lived in Manhattan for more than 25 years. She is now based in Sarasota.
Caroll’s book is a must-have resource for all those who wish to better understand the realities of being a contemporary artist.
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In February/March 2008 our guest was Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future and of Free Agent Nation.
Daniel Pink is a best-selling author and an expert on innovation, competition, and the changing world of work.
His latest book, A Whole New Mind, charts the rise of right-brain thinking in modern economies and explains the six abilities individuals and organizations must master in an out-sourced and automated world. Reviewers have described the book as “an audacious and powerful work,” “a profound read,” “right on the money,” and “a miracle.” A Whole New Mind is a New York Times and BusinessWeek best seller—and has been translated into 15 languages.
Dan’s first book, Free Agent Nation, about the rise of people working for themselves, was a Washington Post best seller and a business best seller in the United States, Canada, and Japan. Publishers Weekly said that the book “has become a cornerstone of employee-management relations.”
His articles on work, business, and technology appear in many newspapers and magazines—including The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Wired, where he is a contributing editor. Dan has provided analysis of business trends on CNN, CNBC, ABC, NPR, and other networks in the United States and abroad. And as an independent business consultant, he’s advised start-up ventures and Fortune 100 companies on recruiting, innovation, and work practices.
A free agent himself, Dan held his last real job in the White House, where he served from 1995 to 1997 as chief speechwriter to Vice President Al Gore. He’s also worked as an aide to United States Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich, an economic policy staffer in the United States Senate, a legal researcher in India, and a latrine builder in Botswana.
He received a J.D. from Yale Law School and B.A. with honors in linguistics from Northwestern University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Dan lives in Washington, DC with his wife and their three children. He is now at work on his next two books, which will be published in 2008 and 2009.
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In January/February 2008, we talked about Sleep, Dreams, Creativity and Memory with Dr. Robert Stickgold.
Dr. Robert Stickgold is an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and works in the Center for Sleep and Cognition in Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston. Born in Chicago, Dr. Stickgold attended college at Harvard University and received his PhD in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. His research interests include sleep and cognition, dreaming, and conscious states. He has also written two science fiction novels, Gloryhits and The California Coven Project, both published by Del Rey.
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