On the 143rd episode of What is a Good Life?, I’m delighted to welcome Kimbra. Kimbra is a New Zealand-born songwriter, musician, producer, and adventurous performer. Her 2011 debut, Vows, was certified platinum in Australia and New Zealand. The following year, “Somebody That I Used to Know,” her duet with Gotye, topped Billboard’s Hot 100, became the best-selling song of the year in the U.S., and earned her two Grammy Awards. Since then, she has toured with artists including Beck, David Byrne, and Jacob Collier, and has released four more albums: The Golden Echo, Primal Heart, A Reckoning, and Idols & Vices (Vol. 1). She hosts the podcast Playing With Fire and shares essays, poetry and watercolours on her Substack newsletter.

In this conversation, Kimbra reflects on her ongoing journey to find balance and rest within her life and career as a musician. She speaks about the importance of silence in shaping her artistic expression, the power of surrendering to spirit, and the grounding influence of nature.

This episode is an invitation to embrace the fullness of life — its joy, its suffering, and the many paradoxes in between.

For more of Kimbra's work:
Substack: https://kimbra.substack.com/
Website: https://www.kimbramusic.com/

Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to explore your own lines of self-inquiry through 1-on-1 coaching, my 5-week group courses, or to discuss team coaching to stimulate greater trust, communication, and connection, amongst your leadership teams.

- For the What is a Good Life? podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos
- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/
- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/

00:00 How to find balance?

03:00 The experience of burnout

06:30 A silent concert

09:50 HoneyBones and nothing to lose

12:30 The generosity and connection of silence

16:00 Life, art, and work are not separate

19:30 Receiving a message from spirit

23:30 Being empowered by spirit

29:00 A mystical experience and calling

33:42 We all have a cross

38:50 Making a difference in the world

42:30 The power and role of nature

45:00 Rest, letting go, and liberation

51:15 Summary and what is a good life for Kimbra?

On the 142nd episode of What is a Good Life?, I’m delighted to welcome Jim Palmer, Founder of the Center for Non-Religious Spirituality. A critically acclaimed author, former megachurch pastor, adjunct professor, and chaplain with the American Humanist Association, Jim is also a trained counsellor in religious trauma and spiritual abuse.

In this conversation, he reflects on his journey through a crisis of faith, his experiences as a megachurch pastor, and his challenges of navigating religious culture. We explore theological deconstruction, rewilding spirituality, and the importance of embracing diverse perspectives. This episode invites you to consider a faith in life itself as a way to deepen our connection with existence.

For more of Jim's work:
Substack: https://substack.com/@jimpalmerauthor
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimpalmerauthor/

Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to explore your own lines of self-inquiry through 1-on-1 coaching, my 5-week group courses, or to discuss team coaching to stimulate greater trust, communication, and connection, amongst your leadership teams.

- For the What is a Good Life? podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos
- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/
- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/

00:00 Introduction and Setup

01:51 Exploring the Good Life

02:50 The More Than Human World

06:22 Personal Evolution and Crisis of Faith

12:22 Experiences as a Mega Church Pastor

17:35 The Challenges of Mega Church Culture

21:22 Theological Deconstruction and Reconstruction

26:38 Confronting Suffering and Injustice

33:03 Cognitive Dissonance in Religion

39:13 Processing Religious Trauma

42:55 Rewilding Spirituality

50:04 God as a Verb

54:20 The Good Life as a Process of Inquiry

58:06 Faith in Life and Interconnectivity

On the 141st episode of What is a Good Life?, I’m delighted to welcome Professor Megan Reitz. Megan is an Associate Fellow at Saïd Business School, Oxford University, and Professor of Leadership and Dialogue at Hult International Business School. She is a leading thinker on leadership and dialogue, featured in the Thinkers50 ranking of global business thinkers, and the author of Dialogue in Organizations, Mind Time, and, most recently, Speak Out, Listen Up. Her work explores how we create the conditions for transformative dialogue at work, and her latest research examines how we can foster spaciousness — the capacity to innovate, reflect, and build relationships in workplaces addicted to busyness.

In this conversation, we explore the impact of space, silence, attention, and an outward focus on our relationships and our experience of life.

This episode serves as an invitation to pause, question the busyness we’ve become entangled in, and reconsider the status quo of how we relate.

For more of Megan's work:
Website: https://www.meganreitz.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meganreitz/

Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to explore your own lines of self-inquiry through 1-on-1 coaching, my 5-week group courses, or to discuss team coaching to stimulate greater trust, communication, and connection, amongst your leadership teams.

- For the What is a Good Life? podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos
- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/
- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/

00:00 How do I encounter the world?

04:00 Flow amongst people

07:00 How our gestures affect others

11:45 The labels, assumptions, and roles that create distance

17:13 The energy drain of societal expectations

23:00 Allowing, inquiry, and meta awareness

26:20 Creating the space we require

33:45 How do we see the world?

37:00 Navigating pauses and big questions

44:00 How strange it has become to pause

47:30 Our focus moving from ourselves

53:30 Experiencing periods without an agenda

57:00 Summary and what is a good life for Megan?