Mónica Guzmán is a journalist and entrepreneur and is Senior Fellow for Public Practice at Braver Angels, a grassroots, cross partisan, organization working to depolarize America. She is cofounder of the newsletter The Evergrey out of Seattle Washington and is the proud liberal daughter of conservative parents and is a dual US/Mexican citizen. She is the author of I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times (BenBella Books 2022)

Interview Date: 5/15/2025 Tags: Mónica Guzmán, listening, storytelling, curiosity, Braver Angels, depolarizing America, asking permission to talk about sensitive topics, asking open-ended questions, authentic conversations, Glenn Beck, open conversations lead to better understanding, gentle questions, silos of curiosity, uncertainty, misperceptions, Personal Transformation, Social Change/Politics

Mark Nepo is a poet and philosopher and a most eloquent spiritual teacher. In 2015 he was given a Life-Achievement Award by AgeNation and in 2016 was named by Watkins: Mind Body Spirit as one of the Most Spiritually Influential Living People. He was part of Oprah Winfrey’s The Life You Want Tour in 2014 and has appeared several times with Oprah on her Super Soul Sunday program on OWN TV. As a cancer survivor, Mark devotes his writing and teaching to the journey of inner transformation and the life of relationship. His the author of many audio learning projects and over 20 books including:· The One Life We’re Given: Finding the Wisdom That Waits in Your Heart (Atria Books 2016) and The Fifth Season: Creativity in the Second Half of Life (St. Martins' Essentials 2025)

Interview Date: 5/9/2025 Tags: Mark Nepo, aging, new normal, pathologizing aging, pain, cancer, ground of being, metaphor of the iceberg, spider web over a rushing stream, being truthful, honest and open, authenticity, deep listening to one another, compassion, monorhaphis sponge, gratitude, metaphor of waves on ocean, Personal Transformation, Philosophy

Carissa Carter is the academic director at Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (the d.school) and a former geologist. Her work focuses on systems thinking, climate innovation, and design futures. Scott Doorley is the creative director at Stanford’s d.school. He has worked at the intersection of storytelling, physical space, and creative education, and has a background in film and media. They are co-authors of Assembling Tomorrow: A Guide to Designing a Thriving Future.

Interview Date: 4/4/2025. Tags: Carissa Carter, Scott Doorley, design, fiction, storytelling, awkwardness, appreciation, creativity, humility, insight, metaphors, future, Buckminster Fuller (Bucky Fuller), David Byrne Creativity, Design Thinking, Personal Transformation, Emotional Intelligence, play, creativity