Fractal Friends Episodes

Bill Shireman is a republican environmentalist and co-author of In This Together: How Republicans, Democrats, Capitalists and Activists are Uniting to Tackle Climate Change and More.

We talk about our political system and how it encourages division between left and right and will lead to the ongoing destruction of our planet.

A majority is ready to find work together to find solutions to our problems and stop giving all of our power to the government and businesses.

Major Jim Uhlmann is a former green beret commando. We talk about being humans in a biological reality; effective & ineffective strategies for creating change; leadership, stewardship and control; mission focus; sensemaking and information warfare. We get into questioning the COVID-19 official narrative and Bill Gates, and hold the conversation in a spirit of mutual human dignity.

This is part of series of episodes where I interview forward-thinking people from the conservative side of the political spectrum in the spirit of cultural healing.

Michael Brodeur is a Christian minister. Michael was raised in the heart of 1960s counterculture in San francisco, Michael is not your typical minister and this is not your typical conversation. Michael calls himself a bridge builder. He is an author, coach and CEO of two companies that help people and their congregations live into their greatest selves.

In this conversation we talk about Michael’s journey from a life of sex, drugs and rock & roll and the Summer of Love of San Francisco to becoming a follower of Jesus. We talk about what it means to be imperfect humans in an imperfect world and the power of forgiveness to heal ourselves and others We talk about the implications of living in a secular pluralistic nation that’s struggling with ethical and other value-based decisions. And we talk about the importance of finding your purpose, calling or destiny in this life.

In this episode I talk with Alixa Garcia, a musician, poet, visual artist, filmmaker, activist, and educator. She is a visionary and radical solutionary of our time. Along with Naima Penniman, Alixa co-created the amazing duo Climbing PoeTree. For 17 years, Alixa and Naima have dedicated themselves to “harnessing creativity as the antidote to destruction” through music, poetry, and popular education.

Alixa and I talk about the power of art to address intersectional social and environmental themes, and how art can give audiences a lived understanding of their interrelatedness. Alixa expands the traditional idea that “hurt people hurt people” and emphasizes the fact that "healed people heal people.” This episode reminds us of the power of forgiveness and the necessity of healing our own inner wounds in order to become more effective at healing the world.

This episode features the exclusive global debut of “The American” written by Ryan Amador featuring Alixa Garcia. It's coming out soon on BioSoul Records.

Wendy Wood is a conflict transformation professional, a founder of The Karuna Center, co-author of Do No Harm: Mindful Engagement for a World in Crisis, and founding member of the Democracy Politics and Conflict Engagement (DPACE) Initiative.

We talk about how compassion and harm impact both ourselves and others, our innate capacity for healing trauma and the importance of mutual responsibility.

Austin Willacy is a musician, producer and musical mentor. Austin is a member of the Thrive Choir of Thrive East Bay, and The House Jacks. In this conversation we talk about finding your passion and then doing the work of growing into your best self. We talk about the role of mentorship and developing resilience through vulnerability. We talk about the power of music to connect our minds and hearts, and its power to build bridges across our differences. And we talk about the importance of slowing down, allowing space for long slow thoughts, creating space for our creativity to shine through and removing the barriers of shame and fear that hold back our highest expression.

Pablo Lumerman is a conflict transformation colleague from Argentina.

In this conversation we talk about the power of living in the present moment, the importance of remembering deep history and enacting our visions for the future. We discuss a comparative history of colonialism, race and racism between Argentina and the United States.

We draw parallels between colonialism and gentrification and ponder how laws and bureaucracy are forms of cultural colonization that undermine indigenous culture and dialogue.

As conflict transformation practitioners we talk about the greatly needed capacity of dialogue to help us reach across our differences and facilitate healing. And, given where we started, we talk about how the transformation of conflict requires us to think beyond neutrality to avoid repeating patterns of oppression.

In this episode I talk with Alla Weinberg. Alla is my business partner, and we are the co-founders of Spoke & Wheel the workplace relationship experts.

In this conversation we talk about our vision of a future of work, where people are excited about the work they get to do and nourished by the people they get to work with. We talk about how teams, companies and organizations are constantly a balance between the interdependent polarities of power and love, and how they become generative when they can strike a balance between being productive and effective, on one hand, and inspire a sense of connection and belonging, on the other.

We talk about Alla's new book A Culture of Safety and consider the essential ingredients for creating a safe and trusting team. And practical strategies for leaders to create and transform culture. And we talk about complex systems theory, spirituality and crochet.

More Info at: fractalfriends.us/fractalfriends/alla-weinberg-2

Music: "You Are Always Held" by Joyous Dawn