What if psychedelics weren’t fringe, controversial, or countercultural, but simply another tool your doctor could prescribe? That is the mission of this week’s guest, Dr. Lynn Marie Morski, MD, JD, President of the Psychedelic Medicine Association.

We talk about the the evolving world of psychedelic medicine, and what it will take to bring it into mainstream healthcare system. Dr. Morski unpacks the difference between recreational use and therapeutic application, the role of preparation and integration, and the science behind how these substances may help treat conditions like anxiety, depression, and PTSD.

The conversation also moves beyond theory into lived experience. Nathan shares his own journey with ketamine therapy and the deeper questions about healing, trauma, and the limits of self-reliance—as well as the systemic challenges of making these treatments safe, accessible, and widely accepted.

At its core, this episode is about integration—both personal and societal. What would it take to move psychedelic medicine out of the shadows and into everyday care? And how might that shift not just individual lives, but the way we think about mental health, healing, and human connection?

Dr. Lynn Marie Morski, MD, JD, is the President of the Psychedelic Medicine Association and host of the Psychedelic Medicine Podcast. She has served on the advisory boards of Psychedelics Today, Cybin, VETS, Inc. (Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions), and the Ketamine Task Force. Dr. Morski is a Mayo Clinic-trained physician in family medicine and sports medicine, as well as an attorney and former adjunct law professor.

Connect with Lynn Marie:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynnmariemorski/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/psychedelicmedicinepodcast/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/psychedelicmedicinepodcast
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@psychedelicmedicinepodcast

Psychedelic Medicine Podcast:
https://tinyurl.com/59fn243d

What if the real problem in fundraising isn’t a lack of money, but how we think about it?

In this conversation, we sit down with Shantel Suárez Ávila, founder of Más Allá, a nonprofit fundraising consultancy; to explore a deeper, more human approach to fundraising, rooted in community, trust, and systemic change.

Together, they unpack the philosophy behind community-centric fundraising and the tension between idealism and real-world constraints.

Essentially, how do you practice abundance, collaboration, and justice in systems that reward scarcity, control, and competition?

Shantel shares her own journey from early questions about inequality from her experiences growing up in Chicago, to helping organizations raise over $53 million for BIPOC-led and women-led initiatives. The conversation moves beyond tactics into belief systems about money, trust in resource flows, and the cultural shift required to move from individualism to collective responsibility.

This episode is both a practical and philosophical look at how we fund change—and what it will take to build a more equitable and connected world.

Shantel Suárez Ávila (she/ella) is a national nonprofit leader, a founding member and community organizer with San Diego Solidarity Network, member of the Community-Centric Fundraising North American Council, dog momma, yoga student, wife, and founder of Más Allá—an organization focused on reimagining how communities resource the work they believe in.

With experience across grassroots organizing, nonprofit leadership, and systems change work, Shantel helps organizations move beyond scarcity-driven fundraising models toward approaches rooted in trust, care, courage, abundance, relationships, and collective sustainability.

Through Más Allá, Shantel is co-developing the Collective Resourcing Cohort, a San Diego–based learning cohort where nonprofit leaders and community partners explore collaborative approaches to funding and sustaining community-driven work through a systems change approach.

She regularly facilitates workshops and conversations on nonprofit sustainability, resource mobilization, and community power, helping leaders navigate uncertainty while staying grounded in their mission, values, and agency.

Since 2021, Shantel has helped raise more than $53 million for women-led and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)-led and serving organizations with Más Allá. She began her career at the headquarters of Obama for America in 2012, where she deepened her commitment to grassroots power-building and people-centered strategy.

Shantel is an alumna of DePaul University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy and a Next Economy MBA focused on building an equitable, inclusive, and regenerative economy.

• Más Allá: https://www.masallaconsulting.com/
• Shantel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shantel-su%C3%A1rez-%C3%A1vila/

• Community Centric Fundraising: https://communitycentricfundraising.org/
• San Diego Solidarity Network: https://www.sdsolidarity.com

Nathan's upcoming event series: http://bigideanight.com/

What if the environment isn’t just one issue among many, but the foundation that everything else depends on?

For this episode we sit down with Anne Middleton, Associate Director at WILDCOAST, to explore the deeper reality of conservation, restoration ecology, and the systems shaping our relationship with the natural world.

Anne shares why environmental work is often misunderstood as a “luxury issue,” and makes a case for why clean air, water, and functioning ecosystems underpin everything from housing to public health to economic stability.

This episode also ventures into more philosophical territory—examining how culture has shaped the narrative that nature exists “outside” of us, and what it might look like to reimagine a more integrated, sustainable way of living. We also dive into the tension between individual responsibility and systemic change, asking: if we all “care about the environment,” why don’t our policies and behaviors reflect it?

Anne Middleton is a conservation leader and operational strategist who has spent two decades at the intersection of private-sector innovation and global environmental advocacy. She currently serves as Associate Director at WILDCOAST, where she bridges policy, operations, and on-the-ground conservation efforts to scale natural climate solutions.

Anne’s career spans high-impact international work, including her time in Yaoundé, Cameroon, where she managed sustainable ebony sourcing and supply chain transparency for Taylor Guitars. She has also worked with the Environmental Investigation Agency in Washington, D.C., contributing to landmark wildlife crime investigations tied to the U.S. Lacey Act.

She holds a B.A. in Biology from Oberlin College and a Master of Environmental Science and Management from UC Santa Barbara’s Bren School.

Outside of her conservation work, Anne is a musician, performing in San Diego-based bands, and serves on nonprofit boards including the Escondido Creek Conservancy.

Connect with Anne:

• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• Facebook

Follow & support WILDCOAST:

• Website: https://wildcoast.org
• Instagram: @wildcoastcostasalvaje
• Newsletter: Available via WILDCOAST website

Watch Anne’s TEDx Talk

Other:

• Anne’s band: @thegoodgoodmusic (Instagram)

What does it really take to sustain the people who are trying to do good and enact justice in the world?

In this episode, we speak with Loretta Turner, Founder and Organizational Wellbeing Strategist at Do Good Leadership Collective. Loretta’s work focuses on helping “the helpers”—leaders who are deeply committed to social impact but often operate within systems that normalize burnout, self-sacrifice, and chronic under-resourcing.

The conversation explores the realities of social impact work, including the cultural expectations placed on nonprofit leaders, the emotional toll of working in a “VUCA world” (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity), and why traditional ideas about self-care often fail to address deeper systemic challenges. Loretta shares insights from her own experience transitioning from nonprofit fundraising to entrepreneurship, and how redefining profit, sustainability, and wellbeing can create healthier organizations and stronger communities.

We also dive into the evolving relationship between nonprofits and philanthropy, the importance of trust-based funding models, and how leaders can build authentic relationships rather than operating from scarcity or urgency. It all leads to a larger cultural question: if we truly want social impact work to last for generations, how do we create systems where the people doing that work can actually thrive?

Loretta Turner is an exceptional social entrepreneur, leadership coach, and advocate for talent justice and workplace wellbeing. As the Founder of Do Good Leadership Collective, Loretta’s work focuses on caring for the social impact sector through workforce wellbeing strategy.

She believes that prioritizing the healing, endurance, and wellbeing of nonprofit and philanthropic leaders is key to organizational effectiveness and resilience. Loretta brings nearly 15 years of experience to her work as strategist, coach, wellness practitioner—and importantly—as a former nonprofit leader who experienced burnout firsthand.

Connect with Loretta:

LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorettaleads/

Instagram
https://instagram.com/loretta.leads

Threads
https://www.threads.com/@loretta.leads

TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@loretta.leads

YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvvzT7SfRbj4dl69z-5_RRQ

Loretta’s Blog
https://www.lorettaturner.com/blogs

Newsletter (Do Good Leadership Collective)
https://www.lorettaturner.com/dglcnewsletter

This week we’re joined by sociologist, sex and intimacy expert, and TEDx speaker Dr. Jenn Gunsaullus for a conversation that starts with sex and goes straight into the heart of self-worth, storytelling, and how to build a life and business that honors your wise and vulnerable self.

We talk about the evolution of her work from sexual health to emotional intimacy, what it means to truly feel safe in your body and your relationships, and how trauma, mindfulness, and modern disconnection all shape the stories we carry.

This conversation moves between personal reflection, social insight, and shared struggle — from religious shame and delayed sexual initiation, to healing complex trauma and navigating avoidant attachment.

We also unpack how digital life is interrupting connection, why vulnerability is the hardest and most beautiful thing we can offer, and how to know when your inner critic is holding you back.

If you’ve ever struggled to feel fully seen, or wondered why intimacy sometimes feels unsafe or unavailable, this one is for you.

• What intimacy really means (and how it goes beyond the bedroom)
• Why emotional literacy is essential for connection
• The loudness of the inner critic—and how to meet it with compassion
• Aging, dating, and desire in your 40s and beyond
• How to stop hiding and start being seen—even if it feels messy

Dr. Jenn Gunsaullus, PhD, is a sociologist, international intimacy speaker, and relationship & communication coach. She’s the author of From Madness to Mindfulness: Reinventing Sex for Women and the creator of the long-running YouTube series In the Den with Dr. Jenn, with over 1.8 million views. She’s given two TEDx Talks (1) (2), worked with organizations like Planned Parenthood and the YPO Global Network, and has been featured in Forbes, Cosmo, Oprah Daily, and more.

She’s also a black belt in karate, a ukulele strummer, a women’s philanthropist, and a beach volleyball player based in San Diego.

🔗 Learn more: www.DrJennsDen.com
📲 Follow her on social media: @DrJennsDen

Dr Jenn’s Socials:

Linkedin | Instagram | Threads | Facebook | TikTok | YouTube

What would it mean to heal the soul of a nation?

In this episode, we sit down with facilitator, author, and purpose expert Brandon Peele to explore a bold experiment in civic imagination: a National Pilgrimage across the United States culminating in a Mother’s Constitutional Convention.

Brandon describes the inspiration behind a cross-country pilgrimage visiting historic sites connected to American freedom struggles—from civil rights landmarks in the South to Indigenous sites in the West. The journey will culminate in a gathering designed to imagine a renewed constitutional framework rooted in maternal wisdom and care for future generations.

• Why Brandon believes the United States has a beautiful purpose it has not yet fulfilled
• How culture often precedes political change
• How inherited life scripts shape our decisions about careers, marriage, and success
• The role of spiritual and moral development in sustaining democracy
• Brandon’s metaphor of the bison as a symbol of regenerative leadership

Brandon Peele is a facilitator, ceremony leader, best-selling author, and expert in purpose, leadership, and culture change. He is trusted as a keynote speaker, facilitator, and program leader by organizations such as LinkedIn, Harvard Business School, Johnson & Johnson, Stanford University, and the U.S. Marine Corps.

He is the author of Planet on Purpose (2018), Purpose Work Nation (2022), and Bison Medicine (2025). Brandon’s work has been featured by outlets including USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, the US Business Journal, and Forbes.

Learn more about the National Pilgrimage

Brandon Peele’s book Bison Medicine

Find Brandon on Social Media:

LinkedIn

Instagram

Facebook

Substack

Future updates about supporting the National Pilgrimage and Mother’s Constitutional Convention will be available through the project website and upcoming crowdfunding campaign.

If this conversation resonates, consider subscribing, leaving a review, and sharing the episode with someone navigating their own brave new world.

Follow the podcast on social media

Instagram | YouTube | TikTok

🎙 Connect with host Nathan Young

Instagram |Linkedin | TikTok

In this episode of Braver New Worlds, we sit down with Dr. Arezou Ghane, to explore what it means to stay human in an increasingly artificial world.

Arezou shares her vision for a more intentional, relational, and value-aligned future — one rooted in connection, civility, tenderness, and generativity. Together, we unpack the tension between personal well-being and professional necessity, especially in a culture shaped by hustle, hyperconnectivity, and algorithmic performance. What does it take to reclaim attention, preserve human-to-human connection, and navigate the blurred lines between authenticity and being seen?

Arezou reminds us that while we may not control the circumstances we inherit, we hold power in how we make meaning and choose to show up. Meaningful change is relational and does not occur in a vacuum.

• When we feel most — and least — human
• The psychological cost of hustle culture
• Authenticity vs. performance in public life
• Purpose, capitalism, and the modern workforce
• AI, creativity, and the standardization of thought

Dr. Arezou Ghane is a Doctor of Health Psychology, an National Science Foundation fellow, a certified wellness coach, a college lecturer, and a yoga and meditation instructor. Her research has appeared in respected journals including Health Psychology Review, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, and Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.

Through her coaching and consulting work, she helps leaders and individuals bridge the gap between the science of well-being and the lived experience of it. Her work centers on creating more intentional lives and workplaces — spaces that cultivate connection, mutual care, authenticity, and alignment with deeply held values.

Website: www.auteurhealthandwellness.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arezou-ghane-ph-d-333970111/
Instagram: @auteurhealthandwellness
Substack: @rehumanizing

If this conversation resonates, consider subscribing, leaving a review, and sharing the episode with someone navigating their own brave new world.

Follow the podcast on social media

Instagram | YouTube | TikTok

🎙 Connect with host Nathan Young

Instagram | Linkedin | TikTok | Threads | Email | Website

In this episode, we sit down with attorney, advocate, and entrepreneur, Sam Mazzeo for a wide-ranging conversation about privilege, power, and the systems we’re living in.

Sam reflects on his own evolution from law school and “hunt for money and power” conditioning to a more values-driven approach to business, politics, and community leadership.

He shares how shame, growth, and unlearning shaped his perspective—and why he now sees privilege not as guilt, but as something to be leveraged in service of others.

The conversation moves from personal responsibility to generational change, and the idea that we may be living through a crisis chapter in American history (ya think??).

Rather than spiraling into cynicism, Sam argues that crisis is often the precursor to renewal and that what comes next depends on who shows up to build it.

Most people like to think of Sam as an approachable renaissance man. Here are some things he can help you better understand: B Corp certification, trademark, business formation & securities, contracts, Halloween party planning, how to do a standing backflip, and the proper pronunciation of the word “GIF.”

When Sam isn’t providing legal advice and empowering his clients, he’s either outdoors adventuring or working on local policy and social justice initiatives, often through his volunteer positions with Business For Good San Diego, B Local San Diego, and the San Diego Made Factory. He leads with both heart and smarts.

Sam is the founder of Better APC, a law firm focused on impact-driven businesses, and also runs Fervor & Zeal, a giveback clothing company that matches artists with nonprofits and shares profits between them.

Connect with Sam:

• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• YouTube (Better APC)

Businesses:

• Better APC
• Fervor & Zeal
  

Communities:

• Business For Good San Diego
• B Local San Diego
• The (Doing) Business For Good Summit

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