brilliant in its entirety, but the part I find of especial importance and urgency is his meditation on social validation and the false merit metric of “prestige”: What you should not do, I think, is worry about the opinion of anyone beyond your friends. You shouldn’t worry about prestige. Prestige is the opinion of the rest of the world. […] Prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. It causes you to work not on what you like, but what you’d like to like. […] Prestige is just fossilized inspiration. If you do anything well enough, you’ll make it prestigious. Plenty o... posted on Apr 22 2012 (56,768 reads)

Rather than merely tolerate change, he says, we are all called now to rise to it. We are invited and stretched in whatever we do to be artists — to create in ways that matter to other people. And Seth Godin even sees marketing in this light: Mr. Godin: Marketing isn't advertising; marketing is the product we make, the service we offer, the life we live. And so the question as you go forward is, will you choose this ethical marketing that doesn't involve yelling at people, networking your way to the top, spamming people and lying. Right. But instead it involves weaving a story and weaving a tribe, and weaving a network that means something. Ms. Tippett: I'm Krista T... posted on Sep 27 2013 (29,556 reads)

of the Unwatched Life: A Conversation with Squeak Carnwath Squeak Carnwath is one of the Bay Area's best known artists. Her work has been widely exhibited and she has received numerous awards and grants. At the time of this interview, first published in 1993, Carnwath was a member of the art faculty at the University of California at Davis. In 1998, she moved to the art faculty at UC Berkeley. She is now retired from teaching. Her work can be seen at the Berggruen Gallery in San Francisco or the Dorothy Goldeen Gallery in Los Angeles.—Richard Whittaker, 2007 works: There are so many people who graduate with MFA’s, but after five years not many are... posted on Jul 17 2014 (15,589 reads)

when I met him, he was very prestigious, the most learned and prominent historian in the country. In his private library he had gathered all the primary and secondary documents, as much as that was possible, for studying the history of Venezuela. His house was large and he had a separate structure on the grounds which housed his library. I could talk a lot about this man, but it comes down to one conversation. We were alone in his library. He was expressing his personal feelings about his work and his life and so forth. He had been in Venezuela for thirty or forty years by this time, and he said to me, "You see my library, and you know what I’ve done. You see my life’s... posted on Feb 3 2015 (17,389 reads)

Kasls, of Minnesota, simplified family life by going tiny. Photo by Nichole Freiberger. Andrew and Gabriella Morrison live in Oregon and have two teenage kids, 18-year-old Paiute and 14-year-old Terra. They made the decision to downsize their home four years ago. They now live in a 207-square-foot house with an additional 110 square feet of sleeping lofts. Although their son, Paiute, no longer lives at home, Terra lives in the tiny house full time with her parents. The Morrisons both work in straw bale construction, and run the website Strawbale.com. Tiny house living probably isn’t outrageous to single twenty-somethings. But is it possible for a family? Across... posted on Feb 12 2015 (25,998 reads)

Some go as far as to claim that economic laws are as free from “metaphysics” or “values” as the law of gravitation. We need not, however, get involved in arguments of methodology. Instead, let us take some fundamentals and see what they look like when viewed by a modern economist and a Buddhist economist. There is universal agreement that a fundamental source of wealth is human labour. Now, the modern economist has been brought up to consider “labour” or work as little more than a necessary evil. From the point of view of the employer, it is in any case simply an item of cost, to be reduced to a minimum if it cannot be eliminated altogether, say, by a... posted on Mar 3 2018 (18,045 reads)

Havea on Bryan Stevenson The US has the highest incarceration rate in the world. One out of three black men aged 18 to 30 is in prison, on probation or parole. The US is the only country in the world that has life imprisonment without parole for minors. For every nine people who have been executed, one is later found to be innocent. Bryan Stevenson refers to these statistics when he speaks. It’s a reality that has driven him to devote almost 30 years to working with people on death row. At the time of our conversation, I am halfway through his book Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. The pages contain story after story of injustice and I am filled ... posted on Mar 27 2018 (7,869 reads)

had over 11,000 screenings around the globe, all linked together in an online discussion about what it will take to move to a more gender-balanced world. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tiffany and I spoke about her unusual approach of using short films as a centerpiece to a social change strategy and movement. We talked about her short film, The Science of Character, and also the social science and neuroscience behind character, how you can embody different virtues by working on developing specific character strengths. We also talked about her discovery of the importance of a technology Shabbat, a 24-hour period that she takes once a week free from any screen ti... posted on Aug 11 2018 (6,277 reads)

a man who specializes in grief and sorrow, psychotherapist Francis Weller certainly seems joyful. When I arrived at his cabin in Forestville, California, he emerged with a smile and embraced me. His wife, Judith, headed off to garden while Francis led me into their home among the redwoods to talk. I had wanted to interview Weller ever since the publisher I work for, North Atlantic Books, had agreed to publish his new book, The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief. Over the previous few years my father, grandfather, grandmother, father-in-law, and sister-in-law had all died, and I’d also moved across the country and was missing the friends and... posted on Feb 26 2019 (62,341 reads)

actually something in us that longs to have some contact with, what you call apex predators. Even to the point—we have such a psychological need for this that we can even make up seeing, that we're seeing animals, big cats, because we long for this connection. So can you unpack that? Explain that to our listeners. MM: Sure, yes. That's something that George Monbiot writes about actually in his book, Feral, where he really gets into that side of rewilding, and his work is really exceptional. And what he was talking about was in Great Britain there have been hundreds of sightings of large cats, like mountain lions generally, basically. And so, he talks about how... posted on Jan 14 2020 (8,444 reads)

Judith Blackstone is the founder of the Realization Process, a contemporary method of spiritual awakening that includes embodied, psychological and relational healing. Over the past 40 years, she has developed and taught this process to thousands of people across the world. Among her thousands of clients and students are people from wide- ranging cultures, faiths and backgrounds. Her trainings are sought out by many who work in healing professions themselves, and she's worked extensively with survivors of trauma. Judith's explorations of Eastern traditions include studies in Tibetan Buddhism, a year in a Zen monastery and a 23-year connection to the ashram of a Hindu teacher... posted on Oct 19 2021 (3,191 reads)

well over 4 million copies worldwide. With Sounds True, Jim has created an audio program called The Servant Leadership Training Course: Achieving Success Through Character, Bravery, and Influence, where he gives listeners the keys to leading with integrity, authority, and compassion. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Jim and I spoke about how hard it is to actually change and put into action the principles of servant leadership, and what he’s discovered through his 30+ years of work as a trainer in organizations about what supports the change process. We also talked about the importance of authenticity in creating genuine community, and about love in organizational life. Her... posted on Aug 7 2014 (30,651 reads)

TIPPETT: We have been looking forward to being here all year. And what we're going to do is delve into the human aspect of rebellion, the inner life of rebels, and that is a complicated and sometimes messy space. If this generation does rebellion differently, generatively, resiliently, I think it will be, in part, because of a new redemptive commitment that I'm aware of in the world that is very much on display here at PopTech: To connect inner life and outer life, inner work and social change; To be reflective and activist at once; to be in service as much as in charge; and to be wise in learning from elders and from history while bringing very new realities into bei... posted on May 8 2015 (16,950 reads)

I'm going to talk about work. And the question I want to ask and answer is this: "Why do we work?" Why do we drag ourselves out of bed every morning instead of living our lives just filled with bouncing from one TED-like adventure to another? You may be asking yourselves that very question. Now, I know of course, we have to make a living, but nobody in this room thinks that that's the answer to the question, "Why do we work?" For folks in this room, the work we do is challenging, it's engaging, it's stimulating, it's meaningful. And if we're lucky, it might even be important. So, we wouldn't work if we didn't get paid, but tha... posted on Nov 26 2015 (19,488 reads)

talk… Richard Whittaker:  Would you tell me a little bit about your interests? Mary Rothschild:  My main focus is the development of children birth to age six, and media— the implications of media use around children in that age. I teach, among other subjects, Children and Media in the Communications and Media Studies Department at Fordham Unversity and, last semester, at Adelphi University on Long Island. I head a nonprofit called Healthy Media Choices that works with parents and teachers of very young children—children up to age six—about how to be intentional about media use by and with those children. RW:  That seems like a very im... posted on Jul 11 2016 (21,465 reads)

cultures in some of the world's most remote, inaccessible areas. Phil uses his gifts so that the rest of the world might understand the challenges individuals living in remote area face, and the resilience, spirit and wisdom they possess. What follows is the official trailer of Phil's most recent film, and an edited version of an Awakin Calls interview with him. You can access the recording and full transcript here.   Pavi Mehta (moderator): Phil Borges’ breathtaking work has been featured in National Geographic and the Discovery channel, as well as museums and galleries worldwide. His award-winning books on human rights issues include "Tibetan Portrait, Endu... posted on Apr 25 2017 (17,136 reads)

and intentions. In 1996, while driving on a motorway in the middle of the night, Linda suddenly went blind. "I thought I might die, and I made a vow to myself; if I survived, I would change my life," she recalls. A couple hours later, her sight returned. Yet the unexpected episode chiseled a question mark across her life's intentions. The single mother of two later learned that temporary blindness can be caused by stress. A trained nurse working in pharmaceutical sales, her life had become a vigorous treadmill. So she stuck to her vow, and reorganized her priorities in new and unexpected ways. What follows is the edited v... posted on Aug 3 2018 (4,685 reads)

is much more than a medical event. It is a time for important psychological, emotional and spiritual work – a time for transition. To a large extent, the way we meet death is shaped by our habitual response to suffering, and our relationship to ourselves, to those we love, and to whatever image of ultimate kindness we hold.” - Frank Ostaseski Frank Ostaseski is a Buddhist teacher, international lecturer and a leading voice in contemplative end-of-life care.  He is the Guiding Teacher and visionary Founding Director of Zen Hospice Project, the first Buddhist hospice in America, in San Francisco, and also author of  The Five In... posted on Jan 26 2018 (32,116 reads)

follows is a transcript syndicated from On Being, of an interview between Krista Tippett and Bryan Stevenson Transcript Krista Tippett: How to embrace what is right and corrective, redemptive and restorative — and an insistence that each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve done — these are gifts Bryan Stevenson offers with his life. He’s brought the language of mercy and redemption into American culture in recent years, growing out of his work as a lawyer with the Equal Justice Initiative, based in Montgomery, Alabama. Now the groundbreaking museum they created in Montgomery has dramatically expanded — a new way of engaging the full and ongoi... posted on Nov 20 2021 (2,885 reads)

to providing these transformational tools to communities in need, including at-risk youth, prisoners, veterans, and those in developing countries. If you’d like to learn more or feel inspired to become a supporter, please visit SoundsTrueFoundation.org. You’re listening to Insights at the Edge. Today, my guest is Deb Dana. Deb is a clinician and consultant specializing in using the lens of Polyvagal Theory to understand and resolve the impact of trauma and create ways of working that honor the role of the autonomic nervous system. She’s a founding member of the Polyvagal Institute and, with Sounds True, has created an audio learning series on Befriending Yo... posted on Nov 12 2023 (5,559 reads)