Pod of Gold – On the Road from Wasteland to Wonderland

The Wholeness of Life | Pier Luigi Luisi

What is life? Ask a biologist, a philosopher, and a priest and you'll get three different answers. That's why Dr. Luigi Luisi founded the Cortona Week, an interdisciplinary summer program where students and young leaders from all over the world and from all disciplines can come into contact and exchange ideas. In Luigi’s view, the expansion of the mind and heart offered at Cortona is vital to create leaders that can tackle the multifaceted problems we face today.

Rivers with Rights | Joseph Bonasia and Gary Robbins

Podcast

Joseph Bonasia and Gary Robbins have a unique approach to protecting our environment: they are working to secure legal rights for rivers and other bodies of water in Florida. Securing the “rights of nature” would give citizens and municipalities the authority to sue polluters on behalf of natural resources and the people who share them. Joe and Gary emphasize that as humans, we are not separate from nature, but an interdependent part of global ecosystems. They want our legal system to reflect that interdependence.

Absurdly Unequal | Chuck Collins

Podcast

Chuck Collins, a program director at the Institute for Policy Studies and co-editor of inequality.org, shares the story of waking up to his own privilege and the racist systems that granted his family generational wealth while stripping it from others. Since that discovery, Chuck has dedicated his life to spreading awareness about wealth inequality and working toward a more equitable economic system. If we're going to mend the damage done by the 'extraction economy', we must first tell the true story of how we got to where we are.

Billionaire Buddha | Rivera Sun and Dariel Garner

Podcast

Does more money lead to greater happiness? In Rivera Sun's novel, Billionaire Buddha, inspired by the life of Dariel Garner, true happiness doesn't come until immense wealth is given away. In our 20th episode, Mel and Steff chat with Rivera and Dariel about income inequality, the immense damage being done to people and planet in the name of wealth accumulation, and the importance of reexamining our values to build a more collaborative and equitable future.

Weaving for Well-Being | Ross Hall

Podcast

This is like no weaving you've seen before. In place of threads and looms, Ross Hall and the Weaving Lab employ collaboration and experiential learning to empower communities and promote universal wellbeing.

Empower Hour | Faye Cox

Podcast

What if you could pick up a book and learn how to transform your entire community in a single hour? That's what Faye Cox is working on with her startup called Hourbooks. She's on a mission to empower people to live more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable lifestyles. Hourbooks is the gateway.

The Spirit of Money | Gwendolyn Hallsmith

Podcast

Gwendolyn Hallsmith, founder of the Headwaters Garden and Learning Center ecovillage, talks about how our money system has gotten out of balance and what it will take to get our world back on track. Bonus: she sings!

When Life Gives You Lémans | Jean Rossiaud

Podcast

Meet Jean Rossiaud, one of the masterminds behind Monnaie Léman, a new complimentary currency for the regions of Switzerland and France surrounding Lake Geneva. Listen as he talks through the benefits complimentary currencies can have for local economies and the planet.

There’s Something in the Air | Kristian Lande

Podcast

What will it take to make air pollution a thing of the past? According to Kristian Lande, it's all about decentralizing data. His start up, AirVeraCity, aims to give people direct access to the information they need to take local action on air quality.

The International Zoom Room | Abigail Tisch, Ellie Gravitte, and Martha Epstein

Podcast

Through the isolation of a pandemic, they found a way to bring the world together. The coronavirus pandemic put the whole world on pause. Abigail Tisch, Ellie Gravitte, and Martha Epstein are taking that pause and turning it into an opportunity for global connection. Listen in to hear about the project they call the International Zoom Room and the learnings they've gathered so far from hosting conversations with strangers around the world.

We Are Not Prepared | Rosalba Rodriguez and Cynthia Tibbs

Podcast

For folks in New York City's public housing, the cost of living through a pandemic can be incredibly high. We got curious about how COVID-19 is impacting New York's vulnerable residents and what communities are doing to come together and support one another in the face of the pandemic.

Growing with the Flow | Anna Cowen and John Ziniades

Podcast

What does it look like to put community participation at the center of sustainable development? Anna Cowen and John Ziniades talk through FLOW, a project that empowered underemployed youth in South Africa to map their community's needs and assets, connect them through complimentary currencies, and unleash their creative power.

Feeling Anxious and Helpless

about

Inequity,

Climate Change,

and

Global Unrest?

Find Comfort and Inspiration

from

Everyday People

Tackling Root Causes

and

Healing our World!

Episodes

The Wholeness of Life | Pier Luigi Luisi

Rivers with Rights | Joseph Bonasia and Gary Robbins

Absurdly Unequal | Chuck Collins

Billionaire Buddha | Rivera Sun and Dariel Garner

Weaving for Well-Being | Ross Hall

Empower Hour | Faye Cox

The Spirit of Money | Gwendolyn Hallsmith

When Life Gives You Lémans | Jean Rossiaud

There’s Something in the Air | Kristian Lande

The International Zoom Room | Abigail Tisch, Ellie Gravitte, and Martha Epstein

We Are Not Prepared | Rosalba Rodriguez and Cynthia Tibbs

Growing with the Flow | Anna Cowen and John Ziniades

Prosperous and Green: Life in an Ecovillage | Declan Kennedy

The Future is in My Classroom | Leslie Owen and Kelsie Owen

We’re All Economists Now | Kate Raworth

Health is Wealth under the Coronavirus | Clarissa da Costa and Xinjing Jiang

Yes, You Can Pay In Chocolate (and all about Transition Towns) | Ben Brangwyn and Inez Aponte

Free Money? | Enno Schmidt and Marjukka Turunen

Poverty is an Industry | Polly Spain

Our Global Family | Evelin Lindner

It’s Time for a Redesign | Stefanie Overbeck

It Was Money All Along | Mel Wymore

Welcome to Pod of Gold