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The HERE.together Podcast

The HERE.together Podcast

By Charles Matheus

Can 21st Century humans live together sustainably? If so, how? What can we learn from the past and what solutions are emerging in the future? How will we meet the increasing disruptions of climate change and systemic inequality that will touch all our lives? Come along with us on our journey to find the best possible answers from old wisdom, emerging technology, the social sciences, and design, as we attempt to build a hopeful and actionable model of living for ourselves.
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How to Cook a Moose - Lessons in Place and Belonging

The HERE.together PodcastJan 05, 2021

00:00
01:37:14
How to Live Your Values (and Not Become a Cyborg!)

How to Live Your Values (and Not Become a Cyborg!)

We’re so excited to share talk with Daniel Sih about some of the big problems facing community living and some of the solutions he’s come up with.

Daniel Sih is the co-founder of Spacemakers, a productivity consulting group for busy leaders. After experiencing physical symptoms that were the result of working in the “always on” culture of internet connectivity, Daniel became passionate about helping people make space in their world for the things that really matter - like family, reflection, rest, and recharge.

We’ll talk a bit with Daniel about his book, Space Maker: How To Unplug, Unwind, And Think Clearly In The Digital Age. It contains a whole new way to think about how we spend our time AND some concrete suggestions about how to reclaim some space in our lives through both ambitious and simple changes.

In addition to carving out more personal space for peace of mind, Daniel recognized that he needed to push back at the atomization and isolation in our culture and actively create a sustaining community for himself and his family. Over a decade ago, he bought land and built two adjoining houses with another professional couple in Tasmania, Australia.

We’re really interested in learning about how these two families (and their neighbors) learned to share life and land as an intentional  mini-community. It sounds like the community got a little spontaneous, too, as neighbors joined in. Over the years, Daniel and his extended family learned about the limits of good intentions and the importance of structure to keep a community healthy through all seasons. Their solutions are ones that you might find yourself thinking about, even if your intentional community is just one family sharing a house.

For full Show Notes, go to:
https://www.here-together.us/pod/how-to-live-your-values

May 16, 202201:02:23
How to Make an Art of Sustainability

How to Make an Art of Sustainability

This episode might seem like a bit of a diversion…our guests this time aren’t necessarily living in co-housing but they are both deeply immersed in creating a rich, sustainable community in Santa Barbara, CA.

Jill Cloutier is the Public Relations Director of an environmental education and arts nonprofit called Explore Ecology (EE for short). EE works with over 30,000 children a year with a focus on Watershed Education, School Gardens, Waste Reduction, and Creative Exploration. Their work inspires children to engage with the natural world, think critically, and experience the value of environmental stewardship.

Jill is a podcast producer, video-maker and writer. Her projects focus on plants and permaculture. Permaculture is a really important concept that contributes to biological, agricultural, and household sustainability and we’re really excited for Jill to help us understand that term and how we can practice it at small and medium scales to improve our lives and impacts.

Rachel Palmer is the Art Coordinator for EE and is in charge of the Art from Scrap Creative Re-use Store and Gallery and the associated arts programs.

Rachel is a fiber and print artist, educator, and self-proclaimed podcast fanatic. She is the Story Editor for Copper & Heat, the James Beard Award-winning podcast exploring the unspoken rules and traditions of the kitchen.

I’m all about the upcycle and Charles is all about the permaculture, so I can’t wait to see where this conversation goes and find out what we can learn today.

Welcome, Rachel and Jill! Thank you so much for being here with us today!

For key takeaways, sustainability resources, and a full transcript, go to: https://www.here-together.us/pod/how-to-make-an-art-of-sustainability

Apr 11, 202201:06:53
How to Live in an Eco-Village - Getting Your Human Needs Met with Dr. Kathryn Caldwell

How to Live in an Eco-Village - Getting Your Human Needs Met with Dr. Kathryn Caldwell

We know so many people who simultaneously feel blessed and privileged with a good, secure, abundant life, but they know they are missing something.  The single-family lifestyle has caused us to trade away too much community, mutual support, and joy for the illusion of autonomy, abundance, and safety.

There is an ache in our bones for a life that is more connected and meaningful, a life that sees us giving more of our gifts, and that leaves more and less of an impact on our world. If you feel that same ache, you’re in the right place.

We’re beyond excited to talk with Dr. Kat Caldwell today about some of the human issues of living in community.

How do we mobilize in the face of climate change, when we are mired in grief and/or denial?  How do we make individual changes that have a positive impact?

Dr. Caldwell has a Ph.D. in Human Development and is a researcher and teacher in the field of Conservation Psychology, which strives to understand the “reciprocal relationships between humans and the rest of nature, with the goal of encouraging conservation of the natural world.”  Kat researches how people make conservation-based choices in their households and how messaging can promote healthier and more sustainable food systems and behaviors. Kat encourages her students to become self-aware, critical thinkers and engaged citizens with an understanding of what motivates conservation behavior.

She is also the Director of Thrive Ithaca, the Ithaca EcoVillage Education Center, so she is the perfect person for us to talk to about how to make this dream of ours work.

With enough money, we could design and build all sorts of awesome housing and community features, but unless we understand what makes people live well together and behave in sustainable ways, we’re not going to succeed, so we are especially grateful to talk with Kat.

Mar 14, 202258:41
How to Do Well by Doing Good - Ethical Property Investing with Dr. Dionne Payn
Feb 14, 202257:44
How to Design the Future - Applying Design Thinking to Sustainability with David Johnson
Jan 10, 202256:59
How to Make Sustainable Living Sustainable - Let Your Values Do The Driving

How to Make Sustainable Living Sustainable - Let Your Values Do The Driving

We’re really excited to release this episode featuring Kate Gaertner, a leading sustainability expert and consultant with 25 years of corporate and entrepreneurial experience. Kate is also a personal carbon footprint evangelist on a mission to help individuals align their priorities with their values to create positive change.

The level of her involvement in the forefront of women’s business, sustainable fashion and reforming manufacturing toward zero waste make her a real thought leader and we’re lucky to have her here. Kate has held digital marketing management positions at XM Satellite Radio, Ziff Davis Media, and Time Inc.; worked as a strategic consultant to Fortune 500 companies developing go-to-market business cases; founded a sustainable women’s active wear lifestyle brand, OMALA; and was an Adjunct Professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.). She serves as the Board Chair of XXcelerate, a business-accelerator and fund for women led businesses; and is a technical advisor to the Loopt Foundation, a global-reach non-profit progressing pre- and post-consumer material zero waste goals within manufacturing.

​Kate is the author of the book, Planting a Seed: 3 Simple Steps to Sustainable Living. It is packed with actionable sustainability tips AND a template for prioritizing those tips and actions in a way that matches who you are and what you value.

​The website (
www.kategaertner.com) is this incredibly useful and generous portal into personal sustainability. I found Kate because someone in my twitter feed forwarded Kate’s sustainability quiz which helped me see where my efforts were strong and where they could be stronger. Kategaetner.com also contains links to worksheets that you can use to make clear and closely customized action plans to reduce your carbon footprint and make your life better.

Dec 06, 202159:48
How to Make Sustainable Choices - A conversation with Sustainability Coach, Sara Zellner

How to Make Sustainable Choices - A conversation with Sustainability Coach, Sara Zellner

Hello, H.tties. In Season 3 of the HERE.together podcast we’re obsessed with the the big question - [fanfare] Can we live together sustainably? And if so, HOW?

Over the next year we’re gonna curate conversations with the people who are living in ecovillages, designing new cities, inventing new (or unearthing old) household tech, and who are at the forefront of sustainability science to get answers for ourselves and for you.

That’s why we’re really excited to interview Sara Zellner early in the season. Sara has been helping organizations AND families answer the big question.

She is an entrepreneur on a mission to help individuals and businesses align their priorities with their values to create positive change. (YOu know we are suckers for values alignment!) She is the founder and owner of Saz Healthy Living, which provides sustainable living, health, and wellness coaching, and is the principal CEO of Lynz Consulting LLC, which specializes in corporate responsibility; environmental, social, and governance (ESG); and sustainability consulting. PhD-trained, Sara uses her research and coaching skills to delve into her clients’ vexing issues and assist them in reaching their goals.

In this episode, Sara lays out the three most important steps individuals and families can take to reduce their carbon footprint (and, incidentally, become more physically healthy). She also runs us through the most common blocks to personal sustainable change and some support about how to get past them. 

For more information about Sara's services and list of critical sustainability tips, click over to the full show notes at:
https://www.here-together.us/pod/how-to-make-sustainable-choices

Nov 16, 202152:13
How to Live Together Sustainably OR How to [not] Watch the World Burn

How to Live Together Sustainably OR How to [not] Watch the World Burn

Welcome to Season 3 of the HERE.together podcast. This season we are upgrading the podcast so it serves you AND US better. 

Yeah, we did a sustainability study and realized the pod wasn’t thriving for us. Over the past two years, it’s been beautiful and uplifting to talk with all those amazing, smart people, and learn about personal growth, art, relationships, and even sex.

But we were quite frankly getting burned out creating weekly content. We love the topic and could talk about personal growth forever… but it just wasn’t enough to keep us going on an unrelenting weekly release schedule.

AND...
Over the course of the last few months, we realized that there was one Big Question that we talked about over and over 

We covered our walls with post-it notes about it...And spent insomniac nights strategizing about it …And (one of us) obsessed over it with google searches and Facebook group queries...

It’s a great topic for a podcast. It’s a big, relevant, important question that we bet almost everyone is thinking about, even if only semi-consciously

So here’s the big question: [Trumpet fanfare] Can we live together sustainably?  If so, how?  

How do we stand a chance against rising temps, rising seas, and burning forests? How do we adapt the way we live to the weird weather, the economic changes, and the social upheaval that’s getting closer every day? 

The best way we know how to try and answer this huge important question [fanfare] is to podcast about it. To talk to all the smartest, most engaged people we can find on this topic. 

So, in season 3, we invite you to come with us as we explore the way forward through climate chaos, pandemic, and economic upheaval on both a personal and a global level.  

In Season 3, We’re gonna curate conversations with the people who are living in ecovillages, designing new cities, inventing new (or unearthing old) household tech, and at the forefront of sustainability science and ancient wisdom to get answers for ourselves and for you.  

AND, because we know there is deep expertise, passion, and curiosity in our audience, we’ll be providing even more opportunities for you to share your ideas, questions, and concerns. Stay tuned to the end of this episode to hear about some of these opportunities. 

Along the way, we’ll share our story and our search for a better way to live.  We think it might be your story, too.

For pictures of the Ithaca EcoVillage, footnotes to this episode and a link to our Clubhouse room, see the SHOW NOTES here:
https://www.here-together.us/pod/how-to-live-together-sustainably

Nov 08, 202140:41
October 31, 2021

October 31, 2021

Oct 31, 202100:60
How to Live an Epic Life - Leaning into Fear and Service with Claire Louge

How to Live an Epic Life - Leaning into Fear and Service with Claire Louge

Hello H.tties! Our pod-a-versery is coming up next week. We’re finishing our second full year of podcasting!

In recognition of that achievement AND all the support you gorgeous h.tties have given us, we’re re-releasing this early (kind of major) episode with Claire Louge, that we recorded back in February 2020 before the world changed.

This episode is our most downloaded ever… and for good reason. Claire is brilliant, inspiring, and tells important stories about her personal growth and what drives her to be such an advocate for youth and community.

Like the other special re-releases we’ve done recently … this interview with Claire is another part of the meta story of how the HERE.together podcast came to be what it is today.

You see, at the time of this original interview, Claire had just been promoted to Executive Director of a state-wide non-profit and I thought we’d be talking about kinda standard podcast interview fare about how she’d been so successful at such a young age. She’d pitch her programs, encourage people to get involved and we’d have a decent episode.

Instead, the conversation veered quickly into much more important, more fraught territory that included stories about self-image, eating disorders, fear, courage, and choosing to live large. Yes, we also talked about preventing child abuse and live action role-playing.

This kind of radical honesty, fierce connection, and general badassery became the touchstone for us in producing this podcast. We knew we couldn’t make a regular, rah-rah business or thin-veneered community podcast… we knew we were in this for the vulnerability, the deep humanity, the learning, and, frankly, the big love that we’ve experienced over and over with the parade of incredible guests we’ve been so fortunate to share conversations with.

And that’s the knowing we’ve followed ever since. Thank you for following along.

For more about Claire and a curated list of books and resources mentioned in the episode, see the show notes at: https://www.here-together.us/pod/how-to-live-an-epic-life

Oct 18, 202101:10:45
How to Open Your Heart - A Deeply Connected Conversation with Gestalt Therapist, Tony Himes

How to Open Your Heart - A Deeply Connected Conversation with Gestalt Therapist, Tony Himes

Hello H.tties! We are re-releasing an episode with Tony Himes that we recorded way back in November 2019.

Tony is a Gestalt therapist and founder of the Arizona Gestalt Institute. Tony works with youth, adults and couples to help them find more ease and meaning in their lives. This episode is a worthwhile re-issue for several reasons. One, we believe that Tony’s message of contact and interpersonal connection is a really important one in the era of Covid separation and alienation. And, two, this early episode became a bit of a model or template for what the podcast would become. We opened ourselves up to Tony as he led us - on air as it were - through a gestalt exercise that caused us to tear up and have some deep feels. That shared vulnerability and learning became the special sauce for this whole project.

Tony completed his Master of Science degree in Educational Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy in 1992 from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Tony is currently an adjunct faculty member at Prescott College and he was an Associate Faculty member at the Gestalt Institute of Phoenix. Tony has been in private practice as a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in Prescott, AZ for the past 20 years. For 7 years Tony and his wife provided therapeutic foster care to teenage boys as a support to avoid incarceration.

Stay tuned for a heartfelt and enlivening conversation that offers some real skills for engaging and connecting to live a richer life.

For more about Tony Himes and Gestalt therapy, check out the full show notes at:
https://www.here-together.us/pod/how-to-open-your-heart

Oct 04, 202101:01:49
How to Teach Healthy Masculinity - Mark Winkler Explains How He Calls Men IN
Sep 27, 202101:01:40
How to Have a Meltdown - a Real, Raw, Revelatory Session with Integration Coach Tanya Keats

How to Have a Meltdown - a Real, Raw, Revelatory Session with Integration Coach Tanya Keats

Are you the kind of person who holds onto stress?  Who shoves it down day after day until it explodes in a glorious rain of expletives and recrimination.  Or maybe it just comes out a bit sideways and makes things uncomfortable with people you love. Either way, this episode might be just the thing to encourage you to let it all out, but in a healthier way.  Your intrepid HERE.together team learns how from our own experience and from the expertise of our guest, Tanya Keats, a coach who helps her clients cut through their personal obstacles, with the magic of action and adventure.  She also helps us navigate an on-air seismic burp. True to our typical form, we share what’s real and how we work through it.

Hello H.tties! Welcome to a volcanic episode that - spoiler alert - turns out ok in the end.  

What's Special About Our Guest:
Coach Keats works with all sorts of people on all sorts of issues, but the thread that runs through everything is helping others break out of whatever box they’ve found themselves in.  Tanya has her own experience with being boxed in and she didn’t like it one bit.  She’s spent her adult years creating a box-free life full of authenticity and adventure for herself and her clients. Today she is a Speaker, Integration Guide and Leadership coach who  guides her clients towards a free life, lived with ease.

Listen on as Coach Keats holds the space for Charles to have a mini meltdown - right in the middle of recording -  and then helps us process through it together.  We hope this impromptu coaching session will inspire you to make the time to express your full range of feelings before you’re stuck doing it at an inopportune time.

For information about Tanya Keats, her contact links, and a curated list of resources, please visit the show notes at: https://www.here-together.us/pod/how-to-have-a-meltdown

Sep 20, 202101:23:55
How to Find Your Soul - Cultivating a Relationship with Nature and Our Selves
Sep 13, 202101:20:18
How to Find Your Strengths - Getting Coached Using the Gallup Strengths Assessment
Sep 06, 202101:30:21
How to Win at Mental Health - A Conversation About How to Conquer Depression with a Full-on Effort

How to Win at Mental Health - A Conversation About How to Conquer Depression with a Full-on Effort

Dealing with depression and anxiety?  Who is winning, you or them?  What if you had a playbook full of healing, coping, and life-giving strategies at the ready?  Would you feel more supported, more hopeful?  

Guest Bio:
Zack S. Rutledge is an ACE Certified Personal Trainer, an ACE Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist, and a Certified Brain Health Trainer through the Functional Aging Institute. He has a black belt in karate, has practiced yoga for almost a decade, and has played in punk bands for years. He holds an MA from American University in Washington, D.C. and is currently pursuing a Clinical Psychology degree.

Zack is the author of
The Official Depression Relief Playbook: Real-Life Strategies From a Guy Who Has Lived It.
He shares with us how depression and anxiety, triggered by grief, sent him spiraling downward as a young adult and how he created a playbook full of winning strategies to take on his mental health challenges from every angle. 

Stay tuned to find out how you can defeat your demons with Zack’s D-Day approach. Enjoy this uplifting, laughter-filled conversation and pick up a new perspective that might just change everything for the better.  

We do talk a little about the tough stuff of depression, - nothing graphic, but take care of yourself.  If you feel things come up for you, reach out and get help, whether that’s a friend, a professional counsellor, or a help line, like National Suicide Prevention Lifeline  800-273-8255.

For more about Zack, his book, and MORE,  view the show notes at: https://www.here-together.us/pod/how-to-win-at-mental-health

Jul 26, 202101:15:44
How to be Powerfully Peaceful - Developing Conscious Skills, Mindfulness, and Success with Neil Seligman

How to be Powerfully Peaceful - Developing Conscious Skills, Mindfulness, and Success with Neil Seligman

Wouldn’t it be ideal if we could take our full, relaxed, connected and authentic selves everywhere, including to work? Wouldn’t it be better if leaders of all kinds could lead from a place of mindfulness, self-awareness, and peaceful power? If Consciousness and Corporateness coexisted wouldn’t they create something new and revolutionary? 

Guest Bio:
Our guest today is Neil Seligman.  He was a trial lawyer - or Barrister -  in England for 8 years, but his interest in Consciousness and meditation pre-dated his law career. It wasn’t until he ditched the day job and spent several years exploring his inner and outer worlds that he saw how to connect mindfulness practice with corporate life and productivity.

Now Neil trains and coaches professionals in a wide variety of “conscious skills,” and speaks at prestigious corporate events and seminars around the world, from Europe to America, Asia, and Australia. Having immersed himself in  mindfulness since his teens, Neil combines his authentic passion for the practice with unrivalled professional expertise in his pioneering business, Conscious Corporate Consultancies. His insight and compelling enthusiasm leave his audiences inspired, energized and armed with practical ways to reach their highest potential.

We are so pleased to bring you our conversation with the calm, grounded, and utterly delightful Neil Seligman.  If you don’t relate to the corporate angle, don’t worry - there is a ton in our talk that relates to personal growth and using mindfulness to make pretty much everything more joyful and functional. 

For more about Neil, his programs, classes, artwork, videos and MORE,  view the show notes at: https://www.here-together.us/pod/how-to-be-powerfully-peaceful

Jul 19, 202101:06:04
How to Start a Fire: Getting Our Sex Life Off the Back Burner

How to Start a Fire: Getting Our Sex Life Off the Back Burner

"Let's talk about sex, baby
Let's talk about you and me"


If you’re our generation, you probably danced to Salt ‘n’ Pepa at a teen club or when you sneaked into a bar with a fake ID.  It was all super-hot back then, but how about now?  Have you lost your mojo?  Is sex, intimacy, and connection on the back burner or worse, a distant memory?  Well, it doesn’t have to be. In fact, today’s guest makes shared pleasure, a richer relationship, and a fuller life seem not just possible, but totally worth the effort. 

We’re your hosts Charles Matheus and Kelly Roberge.  We are insatiably interested in the intersection of personal growth, healthy relationships, and vibrant communities.

Welcome to the HERE.together Podcast where we go deeper than the typical podcast on topics that really matter. We ask questions no one else asks, we share true stories about ourselves that few other hosts tell, and we walk into the material we cover with vulnerability and honesty. 

Guest Bio:
Our guest this episode is Susan Bratton, intimacy expert to millions. She teaches people how to achieve ageless passion and unlock the secrets to life-long vitality.   She is the best-selling author and publisher of 34 books and programs including “Sexual Soulmates'' and “Relationship Magic.”

She is co-founder and CEO of two corporations: Personal Life Media, Inc., a publisher of heart-connected lovemaking techniques and bedroom communication skills and The20, LLC., a manufacturer of organic and botanical supplements that enhance sexual vitality. 

A best-selling author and publisher of 34 books and programs including Sexual Soulmates, Relationship Magic, Revive Her Drive, Ravish Him, Steamy Sex Ed™, The Passion Patch, Hormone Balancing, and Hot To Trot. 

Susan has been featured in the New York Times and on CNBC and the TODAY show as well as frequent appearances on ABC, CBS, The CW, Fox and NBC.


Susan’s core expertise lies in the intersection between passionate lovemaking techniques and bedroom communication skills. She has studied extensively what makes intimacy truly passionate, surrendered, and connected, and she boils those skills down to simple practices anyone can use to achieve profoundly pleasurable results.

What's Different About This Episode: 
We normally get to know our guests on a pretty deep level, but this week, Susan Bratton really got to know us.  We open up about our own sexual histories and our current sex-life (or lack thereof).  We show up as fully transparent and vulnerable, as always, as Susan helps us work through our fears, hesitations, and desires so that we can re-invest our relationship with closeness, caring, and communion.  
So keep listening for an honest, revealing, healing conversation about how to make sex great at any age.

For more about Susan, her programs and classes,  and curated episode suggestions view the show notes at: https://www.here-together.us/pod/how-to-start-a-fire

Jul 12, 202101:31:44
How to be a Victor, not a Victim
Jul 05, 202101:14:59
How to Be an Awesome Dad - A Conversation about Engaged Fatherhood and Social Change

How to Be an Awesome Dad - A Conversation about Engaged Fatherhood and Social Change

Jun 28, 202101:02:09
How to Shatter Glass - An Energizing Conversation with Women's Executive Coach Kate Hutson

How to Shatter Glass - An Energizing Conversation with Women's Executive Coach Kate Hutson

What if you had the confidence and boldness to ask for what you want, go for the promotion, choose to change lanes, or live your way into your biggest goals?

Our guest today coaches women in conquering their fear, creating productive habits, and building the roadmaps that take them in the direction they want to go.  She reminds us that we will never feel ready and that taking action will lead to confidence, rather than the other way around.

Guest Bio:
Kate Hutson is an Executive Life Coach, Public Speaker, and the owner of Shattered Glass Coaching. After years of passionate work as a business leader, teacher, coach, and mentor, Kate turned her passion for mentoring others into practical knowledge for the real world-- skills that women can use in their everyday lives to help them gain confidence, develop leadership skills, and achieve their wildest dreams. After becoming a Certified Life Coach in 2020, Kate now coaches executive women to become courageous leaders in their workplaces and their personal lives.

Kate’s market niche may be female executives, this episode has some wisdom and energy for everyone! I dare any of you H.tties to listen and NOT get inspired and empowered. I dare you. !

Listen in for a real conversation about what women face in the workplace and how they can walk confidently toward their goals.  Get your high fives and fist pumps ready - you’re going to need them.

Jun 21, 202101:07:37
 How to Talk Feminism with Men - A Conversation in Which Charles Outs Himself

How to Talk Feminism with Men - A Conversation in Which Charles Outs Himself

How many Feminist men do you know? You know what they say in cosmology - there’s either zero, one, or infinity of something!  And given that there's one feminist man on our podcast team, what does that mean?

Our guest today had a hard time finding a Feminist man in her dating life, so long story short, she created a website where men identifying as Feminists can share, connect, and get inspired to take action. So far she’s identified at least 33 Feminist men, which guarantees there are more to discover.

Guest Bio:
Maria Orihuela is a multi-national, multi-lingual dynamo who started out in communications and advertising, but shifted gears when she realized she wanted more meaning and purpose in her work life.  She lives in London and now works as a Corporate Trainer, Coach and Facilitator.
Maria’s passion for diversity and inclusion and her desire to destigmatize the word “feminist” led her to create a project called Men Talk Feminism. She realized that change might happen more effectively if men talk with other men about the perils of patriarchy and the value of dismantling a system that hurts everyone. Men can go to the website,
www.mentalkfeminism.com and answer three questions about their experience of and understanding of the importance of being a feminist. 

Maria also talks about how #Metoo happened at the perfect moment in her own healing journey and about how she’s motivated to tackle patriarchy for her own personal benefit and that of the generations that follow.  Stay tuned for a joyful, lively conversation about the value of creating space for everyone to flourish together.

For more about Maria Orihuela, Mentalkfeminism, and a curated list of feminist resources, view the show notes at: https://www.here-together.us/pod/how-to-talk-feminism-with-men

Jun 14, 202101:14:44
How to Take it to the Next Level - Music & Community Enrichment with Candace Devine & Drew Hall

How to Take it to the Next Level - Music & Community Enrichment with Candace Devine & Drew Hall

If you could time-travel, what band would you go back and befriend right before they made it BIG??  

Well, we have yet to crack time-travel, but the good news is we all get to be up-close friendly-fans of our guests today and after the rest of the world hears their new single, we’ll be able to say we knew them when.  

Guest Bios:
If you’ve been a HERE.together listener for a while, you already know Candace Devine and Drew Hall, local music powerhouses and all-around good eggs.  They have ridiculous musical credentials individually, and together they, along with Johan Glidden, have formed a Supergroup called Ponderosa Grove, that is not only blending amazing local talent into a band that is destined for greatness, but they are building an equally powerful arts culture here in Prescott that embraces excellence, collaboration, and community.

For those of you who don’t already know, Candace has been a professional singer and songwriter since her early 20s, performing with or opening for acts like  Christina Aguilera, Ringo Starr, Styx, the Four Tops and many others. She is a prolific songwriter and collaborator and received a Grammy nomination for her work with jazz saxophonist,  Mindi Abair. Candace also hosts the Creative Convergence Podcast that features conversations with world-class artists, musicians, and other creatives.

Drew Hall is a former banker who defied the 9-5 life at his earliest opportunity, going on to be in every kind of band, teach guitar to young and old musicians alike, and to curate exceptional music shows here in Prescott.  In pre-Covid times, Drew could be spotted playing with the Cheektones, Summa Totius, THiS Trio with Slim Gamble of Lady Antebellum fame, et cetera!

Stay tuned for a laughter-filled AND deeply insightful conversation about the creative process, the art of leadership, and the positive role of music in bridging differences. You’ll be treated to not one, but 2 songs from their forthcoming album and Charles treats us to a terrible  metaphor about how collaboration is like spiders and centipedes.

For more about Ponderosa Grove, the musicians, and links to the June 18th live stream, and curated book suggestions view the show notes at: https://www.here-together.us/pod/how-to-take-it-to-the-next-level

Jun 07, 202101:24:57
Boysen Hodgson on the Personal Impact of Men's Work

Boysen Hodgson on the Personal Impact of Men's Work

For generations, our culture has taught us a narrow and limiting set of rules for how to be a man. The end result? Epidemic levels of isolation for boys and men and embedded repression and violence for the vast majority of women and children. As a boy and young man, I learned that same set of rules and I adopted that stoic, suppressed, and sometimes emotionally violent version of manhood. It took me years to find a way back to the real authentic version of myself that is open, loving, curious, vulnerable, bold, and creative.

What if there were ways… paths… programs… groups… a movement, that helped men break out of the Man Box, find their authentic selves, and become happier, less destructive, and more constructive? This episode is about just those paths, those groups and that movementt.

This week on the HERE.together Podcast we are releasing, in full, another of the early episodes of the Remaking Manhood Podcast which I co-host and co-produce with Mark Greene. In this episode, we interview Boysen Hodgson,  the Communications Director for the ManKind Project USA. For the last 35 years, ManKind Project has been providing intensive weekend retreats and long-term peer support groups for men all over the world.

In this conversation, Boysen quickly sets the bar for vulnerability, insight, and truth. Mark and I also end up sharing our deep backstories about how we created our old, mistaken assumptions about ourselves and the world.  Mark explains how those old bad stories cause many men to either self-sabotage or lash out.

All three of us men share our experience with the work it took us to become a man of connection, accountability and purpose. For all of us, men's work is an ongoing process and one that constantly reveals new ways of seeing and being. Boysen's own knowledge of men's work, both as a leader and as a man is a powerful resource for all the men in our community. I end up surprised by a couple of new ideas that come from the conversation and by some insight that comes bubbling up out of me at Boyson’s invitation.

I’m really pleased, and a little nervous to share this episode with you, but here we go.


For more about Boysen, the Mankind Project, other mens work resources, and curated book suggestions view the show notes at: https://www.here-together.us/pod/the-personal-impact-of-mens-work

May 31, 202101:03:08
How to Be the Solution - Asking Questions and Taking Responsibility with Angel Ribo

How to Be the Solution - Asking Questions and Taking Responsibility with Angel Ribo

Who cares about big business when you’re just trying to get your small business off the ground?  What do CEOs have to do with running a successful family? If you just re-watched Wall Street or read the news and need to feel hopeful about business and the world, this is the episode for you.   Welcome to Part IV of our Spiritual Warrior series.

Guest Bio:
Angel Ribo is a contender for the most energized, positive guest award.  We are so excited to introduce you to this glowing, powerful man who has been coach and confidante to hundreds of corporate officers around the world, [we’re talking 15 hundred CEOs in 33 countries] who brings heart and spirit into the business world, who  focuses on the quality of relationships at all levels, in order to help his clients improve not just their bottom line, but their impact.  


And HIS impact doesn’t stop there.  Angel is bringing his business acumen to the service of underprivileged kids in Latin America, teaching and mentoring them to become entrepreneurs using the resources they have on hand.  So far he’s worked with over a thousand young people and you’ll hear that compelling, fascinating story in part II of this episode. Stay all the way until the end, as well, though, to get this weeks simple but really deeply challenging personal science assignment.


For more about Angel Ribo, links to his social media and website, and curated book suggestions view the show notes at: https://www.here-together.us/pod/how-to-be-the-solution

May 24, 202101:14:55
How to Build Soulful Power - Breathing, laughing and learning with Christian de la Huerta

How to Build Soulful Power - Breathing, laughing and learning with Christian de la Huerta

Is your ego running your show?  Are you making choices guided by fear?  What would it be like to put your purpose and soul in charge?  How would your life be different if you did?

Spoiler alert: you’d have more freedom, more real power, and you’d be able to join with others to create the sustainable world we need...

It’s all hands on DECK time.

Guest Bio:

Our guest this week is Christian de la Huerta, a spiritual teacher, personal transformation coach, and leading voice in the soulful breathwork community. Not only is Christian one of the warmest, loveliest humans we’ve had the privilege to speak with so far, he is a kindred spirit who challenged us to think bigger.  Sooo much bigger.

When there isn’t a pandemic on, Christian travels the world, leading inspiring and transformational retreats and treks that combine psychological and spiritual teachings with lasting and life-changing effects.  He’s recently published the book, Awakening the Soul of Power, [described by multiple Grammy Award–winner Gloria Estefan as “a balm for the soul of anyone searching for truth and answers to life’s difficult questions.”]

Christian talks with us about the Hero’s Journey, giving our egos the right job, why connecting with our personal power is a good thing, and presents us with multiple paths to that authentic power.

Stick around for an enriching conversation that takes us - and you - from the metaphorical stadium out into the cosmos.  It’s full of practical ideas for real life and big, inspiring visions that definitely left us feeling well-fed, body and soul.

Fair warning… we start the interview with about a four-minute breathing exercise/guided meditation. We hope everyone listening will breathe along with us. If you’re driving or operating equipment right now, or doing something else that requires your attention, perhaps return to this episode when you can do so safely and comfortably.

For more about Christian de la Huerta, links to his social media and website, and curated book suggestions view the show notes at: https://www.here-together.us/pod/how-to-build-soulful-power

May 17, 202101:22:56
How to Live for Justice - A Vision for Engaged, Spiritual Activism

How to Live for Justice - A Vision for Engaged, Spiritual Activism

A photographer, a Civil Rights Lawyer, and an Episcopal Priest walk into a bar…
This week’s show is no joke, though.  Our guest, the Reverend Dr. Marcia Ledford, Esquire IS a Civil Rights lawyer, a photographer, and an Episcopal Priest.  Stay tuned for a great conversation that encompases journeys both personal and cultural, the third rails of politics and religion, and where all those things come together in Dr. Marcia’s ongoing work for social justice.

Neither one of your podcasts hosts grew up in a regular religious tradition. And we are wary of the dark power that organized religion can wield to oppress and repress. Even the Buddhists in Myanmar are killing people in the name of. But we can’t deny that the US Civil Rights movement was championed by religious leaders. Nor that “church ladies” in Georgia helped swing the US Senate. Nor that a Jesuit priest, Father Boyle, created Homeboy Industries in LA to help young community members de-escalate violence and develop alternatives to gang life. So… we are really excited to have the Rev. Dr. Marcia Ledford present the case for a progressive and engaged Christianity. We hope you listeners are, too. 

Guest Bio:
The Rev. Dr. Marcia Ledford founded Political Theology Matters, LLC, to help the people develop a personal mission grounded in theology for greater social justice. Marcia teaches, speaks, and preaches about political theology in varied forums and maintains a very intriguing blog.

For Dr. Ledford's complete bio, links to her social media and website, and curated book suggestions view the show notes at:
https://www.here-together.us/pod/how-to-live-for-justice

May 10, 202101:21:29
How to be 88% Happy with Dr. Marissa Pei

How to be 88% Happy with Dr. Marissa Pei

If you want to try out some ideas and actions to push your average happiness up to 88%, we have the conversation for you. 
Our guest this week is Dr. Marissa Pei.  She’s been through the shit and she’s here to tell you that you CAN be happy - at least 88% of the time.  
Dr. Marissa, as we call her, or the Asian Oprah as Dr. Bernard Beckwith of Secret fame called her - to Oprah’s face - has a Ph.D in organizational psychology.  Dr. Marissa literally wrote the book on Organization Development & Consulting with Dr. Fred Massarik and her consulting work has helped hundreds of Fortune 500 companies become more inclusive and successful. Now her focus is on “splattering more hope and happiness through speaking, writing, and promoting a variety of Life Balance Topics including How to be Happy 88 percent of the Time. Dr. Marissa’s popular syndicated talk radio show “Take My Advice, I’m Not Using It” is broadcast nationwide on I Heart Radio AND has reached well over ½ a million downloads on ITunes and YouTube. 
Dr. Marissa wrote the bestselling book, 8 Ways to Happiness from Wherever You Are, as well as “Mommy, What Are Feelings?” an interactive children’s book illustrated by her daughters, which has been recognized for helping autistic children express their feelings. 
Dr. Marissa is clearly a woman of “plugged in” intelligence. She zeroed in on Charles’s issues right from the start and put him through an unscheduled mini session that was both helpful and surprising.
Because we can’t not, we also venture beyond the personal growth arena to talk about and push back against the wave of anti-Asian violence we’ve been seeing in the US. Dr. Marissa’s early life was marked by intolerance and she has some choice words for and key ideas about the racism bubbling up in our communities. 

So listen on to get energized, inspired, empowered and 88% happy with the fabulous Dr. Marissa Pei.

For the complete show notes, including links to other relevant episodes, Dr. Marissa's resources happiness, AND a curated reading list, go to: https://www.here-together.us/pod/how-to-be-88-happy

May 03, 202101:25:25
How to Break Out of the Man Box

How to Break Out of the Man Box

For generations, our culture has taught us a narrow and limiting set of rules for how to be a man. The end result? Epidemic levels of isolation for boys and men and embedded repression and violence for the vast majority of women and children. I learned that same set of rules and I adopted that stoic, suppressed, and sometime emotionally violent version of manhood. it took me years to find a way back to the real authentic version of myself that is open, loving, curious, vulnerable, bold, and creative.

What if it were easier for boys to grow up whole and for men to break the shackles of dominance based masculinity?

I (Charles) spent most of my life, struggling to balance my desire for equality, authenticity, joy, nonviolence and connection with my desire to fit in with my gender. It took years to find them, but it turns out there are men who are choosing a kind of masculinity that encompass real human values. Thousands of men have broken out of the man box and its rigid repressed dog eat dog version of masculinity. They - we - are choosing a masculinity of connection, compassion, and collaboration. In return we have healthier relationships, and more meaningful, lasting lives. And now there’s a new podcast dedicated to interviewing some of those men and encouraging others to join them: Remaking Manhood, The Healthy Masculinity Podcast.

This week on the HERE.together Podcast we are releasing, in full, the first episode of the Remaking Manhood Podcast which I co-host and co-produce with Mark Greene. In this episode, both Mark and I share old stories of shame and (somewhat delayed) redemption. Mark explains with powerful clarity the system that keeps most men in the Manbox and then I lay out the three different ways men can start their own path toward authentic, healthy manhood. I really hope you find it inspiring and I hope you share it with the men and young men in your life.

For the show notes, including links to other relevant episodes, resources for men, AND a curated reading list, go to: https://www.here-together.us/pod/how-to-break-out-of-the-man-box

Apr 26, 202157:55
How to Make Your Marriage Happy - One Thousand Years of Relationship Wisdom

How to Make Your Marriage Happy - One Thousand Years of Relationship Wisdom

When was the last time you asked a family member for the secrets to their successful relationship?  Do you talk about what makes a happy marriage with your friends over dinner?  If you don’t have these conversations and access to the wisdom of people who have “figured it out,” then we have the resource for you.  It’s Relationship Month here at HERE.together and our guest has 1000 years of relationship wisdom cued up for YOU.

Guest Bio:

Our guest this week is Claire Vande Polder, a journalist and producer - Claire Vande Polder has spent a career in the nonfiction world as a television producer and writer. She began at National Geographic Television in Washington, DC.

After traveling the world, she joined the Discovery Health Channel as an executive producer. Since then she has worked independently with a variety of networks and production companies including TLC, Investigation Discovery, Smithsonian Channel, HGTV, Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Studios, and others. She has a B.A. in English from Calvin College and an M.A. in 19 th Century English and American Literature from King’s College London.

Claire probably produced or wrote projects you’ve seen!!  So cool.

Last year, Claire went down the rabbit hole on the question of what makes for a happy marriage.  She interviewed couples from all over the world, all ages and stages and stations in life - adding up to a THOUSAND years of marriage - to get some pearls of wisdom we can all learn from. Her book Making Marriage Happy: Hard-Won Wisdom from Real Couples is an accessible delight that breaks these successful strategies and behaviors down by subject area and into bite-sized nuggets that are easy to try on.

For the show notes, including links to other relevant episodes, AND a curated reading list, go to: https://www.here-together.us/pod/how-to-make-your-relationship-happy

Apr 19, 202101:23:13
How to Make Your Relationship Exceptional - Changing the World, One Relationship at a Time

How to Make Your Relationship Exceptional - Changing the World, One Relationship at a Time

What would your relationship look like if you could call it Exceptional?  Are you ok with pretty good?  What would you change, if you could?  How would the world be different if your relationship were exceptional?

Guest Bio:

It’s relationship month at HERE.together. This episode, we are talking with a young couple who have done a ton of homework on their relationship - literally trying a bunch of different ways to be in a love relationship - and over time and with a lot of experimenting, they have found gold.  Now they are prepared to share that gold with us and with you.

Natasha Koo and Yachym Jerie have been together for a decade and married for 6 of those years.  They knew there was something special between them early on and when they found themselves living thousands of miles apart, instead of breaking up or being miserable without each other, they tried an open relationship.  Later on they tried a few other “non-traditional” formats.  But what really made things work for them was radical honesty and vulnerability.  It worked so well that they now have a business helping other couples go from good to great, or should we say, exceptional.

They join us all the way from Malaysia and we have what is one of the most moving and profound conversations of this podcast.  Their framework matches our perfectly - get our own personal shit together so we can create strong, resilient partnerships that let us make a positive impact in our communities and the world.

It is our pleasure to introduce you to Natasha Koo and Jachym Jerie.

For the show notes, including links to other relevant episodes, AND a curated reading list, go to: 
https://www.here-together.us/pod/how-to-make-your-relationship-exceptional

Apr 12, 202101:46:15
How to Be Enough - Making Personal Growth Fun and Meaningful
Mar 29, 202101:08:10
How to Walk into Adulthood - Parenting, Adventure & Authenticity

How to Walk into Adulthood - Parenting, Adventure & Authenticity

Our intrepid guest this episode is 13-year-old Georgia Clews who is halfway through her long trail hike adventure with her mom, Charlotte Clews. If Georgia (known by her trail name, Marmot), gets all the way to the Utah border under her own steam, she will likely be the youngest person to hike the Arizona Trail. At the same time, Marmot is taking distance schooling to extremes as she logs into her lessons every time she can get cell service. Wow!

Some of you may be asking, what kind of parent would drag their tween from Maine to Arizona and make her endure cactus spines, big hairy spiders, and snow storms? Well Charlotte (known on the trial as Dread Pirate) is the perfect person to be accompanying her daughter on a thru-hike of epic proportion. 

Dread Pirate has completed thru-hikes on all the major continent-spanning trails in the US:

  • The Appalachian Trail
  • The Pacific Crest Trail
  • And the Continental Divide trail where she and her husband (Marmot’s dad) got engaged.

Charlotte has had more than her fair share of adventures and epics and can handle almost any trail emergency. Charlotte is also a trained and educated naturalist, a wilderness first responder, and a licensed Maine guide. 

The real reason she’s perfect for this adventure, though, is that she believes in the power, autonomy, creativity and character of kids. She doesn’t see her role as a parent as one who hovers over a child, preventing or cleaning up mistakes… She knows they deserve every chance to fail, excel, learn, and experience life.

For the show notes, including links to other relevant episodes, AND a curated reading list, go to: https://www.here-together.us/pod/how-to-walk-into-adulthood

Mar 23, 202101:10:06
How to Live Your Purpose - Combining Drive, Acceptance, and Compassion

How to Live Your Purpose - Combining Drive, Acceptance, and Compassion

Imagine you won the lottery - either literally, or by somehow managing to hit a grand slam in your professional life.  You bought the cars, the homes, took the vacations, paid off the debts of some people you love, lived the fantasies.  Where do you find real satisfaction and meaning?  Being too rich isn’t a problem most of us are likely to have, but it’s an important lesson to understand that money doesn’t solve the problem of being a human navigating Life.  Today’s guest has done quite well for himself, but his true legacy is not just helping people create successful careers, which he has certainly done, it's his work helping people create joyful lives at any level by getting clear on their purpose.

Guest Bio:
Our guest this episode, Rick Heyland, spent a career as a top executive with RLG, a global consulting & coaching organization. Now in his “retirement” he’s speaking, writing, podcasting, and still coaching through his business
Continuous Improvement 4 Life. Rick works with small businesses and individuals to improve their skills around goal setting, accountability, engagement, and detailed planning so they can enhance their performance. Rick’s secret sauce, though, is his passionate focus on crafting a coherent and inspiring purpose and on following simple, continuous steps to live and work as close to that purpose as possible. 

Stay tuned to learn what the power of purpose can do to help you live a more effective and fulfilling life, with our guest Rick Heyland! You’ll want to listen all the way until the end to learn about this week’s prize giveaway.

For the show notes, including links to Rick's book, links to other relevant episodes, AND a curated reading list, go to: https://www.here-together.us/pod/how-to-live-your-purpose

Mar 15, 202101:29:07
How to Do the Right Thing, Part II - The Un-episode

How to Do the Right Thing, Part II - The Un-episode

Welcome to the Un-episode… the Un-podcast… the Un-interview… in which your dedicated hosts get the table flipped on them by their crafty guest, end up answering his (deeply personal) questions, and totally love it.

It all started so innocently… we were just sharing our favorite podcasts during the break!

Well… however it started… it went somewhere else…we thought about trying to regain control of the interview and to get back to asking our questions, but Jeff’s questions were much more interesting and inspiring than the ones we had mapped out on our whiteboard. And really, where Jeff was taking the conversation was straight to one of our favorite places; his questions are about the skills and attitudes that build healthy relationships.

And we believe, you, our audience are here for exactly this kind of conversation… not just how entrepreneurs can be better at business and making money, but how we can all be better partners, parents… people.

Guest Bio:

A quick re-introduction to Jeff if you didn’t listen ( YET!) to episode 68.

Jeff Morrill started Planet Subaru in Boston years ago and brought with him a culture of service, inclusion, mentorship, kindness, and sustainability that extends to employees and customers alike. 

Jeff is now in a new season of life, out of the direct scrum of running the business. Now he seeks to mentor others in leadership and promote the ethical business practices that he says made his bottom line all the better. He wrote a book about his experience and recommendations called Profit Wise - How to Make More Money by Doing the Right Thing, which we highly recommend.

Part of this new season for Jeff seems to include some deep self reflection and a powerful curiosity about what makes relationships work.

Listen as we drop into a very candid conversation about the big questions in life… what are you doing? What brings you meaning? How do we relate to others? How can we uncover the flaws in our relationships and address them?

We hope you enjoy this un-episode.

For the show notes, including links to Jeff's book, links to other relevant episodes, AND a curated reading list, go to:
https://www.here-together.us/pod/how-to-do-the-right-thing-ii-the-un-episode

Mar 08, 202153:25
How to Do the Right Thing - Take the High Road to Raise the Bottom Line

How to Do the Right Thing - Take the High Road to Raise the Bottom Line

How do you think of successful businessmen?  Selfish and greedy or generous and thoughtful?  I’m guessing there have always been both kinds, but overall, I’ve tended to think about people with a LOT of money in less than charitable terms. Pun intended.  

What if I told you about someone who has generated $100Million in annual business revenues, and not only gives generously, but wants others to be able to do what he’s done?  We were privileged to talk with a man who made his fortune and realized that money and achievement alone didn’t bring him satisfaction.  Come with us to find out what does. 

Guest Bio:
Jeff Morrill started Planet Subaru in Boston years ago with his brother and brought with him into his business life, the ideas of win-win, superior service, and a culture of inclusion, mentorship, kindness, and sustainability that extends to employees and customers alike. At Planet Subaru, Jeff knows that those values must come with concrete steps… they must be implemented to be real and to mean anything. So Jeff’s team decided to power the whole facility with solar panels. They hired sales people from diverse backgrounds, who other dealerships wouldn’t hire. And they created an apprenticeship program to train women for higher-paying service jobs. 

Now in a new season of life, Jeff seeks to mentor others in leadership and promote the ethical business practices that he says made his bottom line all the better.  Jeff wrote the book Profit Wise - How to Make More Money by Doing the Right Thing to share what he learned. The book teaches 10 principles for running a successful business that is also ethical and sustainable. See the list of principles in the Show Notes on the episode webpage.

Instead of the shady, ruthless, or corrupt approaches to business that we’ve seen unfold all too often, stay tuned to hear how businesses… maybe even the one you run… really can, as Jeff says, “take the high road to raise your bottom line.”


Explanation: Just so you know, this episode is actually part one of a two-episode arc with Jeff. This week we are releasing the parts of the conversation that focus on business, community, and how Jeff’s values of inclusion and abundance infuse his projects. Although this episode focuses on Jeff’s business, we believe that everyone will find inspiration in his life story, his powerful ethics, and his genuine human warmth. 


Toward the end of the original recording, Jeff turned the tables and started asking US questions about interpersonal communication and about our relationship. It became an “un-podcast.” It’s such a special and unique conversation, that we’re releasing it as its own episode next week.

For full show notes including more about Jeff's unique businesses, links to other relevant episode AND a curated reading list, go to:
https://www.here-together.us/pod/how-to-do-the-right-thing

Mar 01, 202101:17:43
How to Belong to the Whole World - with Deb Matlock, Wild Connection Guide

How to Belong to the Whole World - with Deb Matlock, Wild Connection Guide

Have you ever felt out of place?  Have you been surrounded by people you don’t get and who don’t get you?  Do you like spending time in nature or with animals, more than with other humans?  Or, do you love humans and the natural world, but feel concerned about how that relationship is going?

We understand and we are so pleased to bring you this conversation with a person who has dedicated her life to helping bridge the gaps between humans, animals, and the larger natural world.  She helps remind us that while sometimes we feel separate, we are always a meaningful part of this remarkable life on planet Earth.

Our guest this episode is Deb Matlock. Deb is an environmental educator and naturalist, a shamanic practitioner, and an animal communicator.  She helps people and animals through spiritual coaching and shamanic-style journey work.  Deb is also dedicated to exploring her own spiritual connection to life and the more-than-human world.

Deb’s has a Master’s degree in environmental education and is working on her Ph.D.  She is a certified Life Coach and a Wilderness First Responder.

Deb’s personal mission is to help others explore the wildness within themselves as well as their love and connection to the amazing world around us.  She is dedicated to working in service to the wild spirit that lives within all.

This is just the short version of Deb’s Bio.  Find the link to her website in the show notes for all the details on Deb’s varied and impressive career.

Listen to the whole episode to find out how we can feel more at home in our own skins and in this more-than-human world.

For full show notes including Deb's full bio, links to other relevant episode AND a curated reading list, go to: https://www.here-together.us/pod/how-to-belong-to-the-whole-world

Feb 22, 202101:11:11
How to Turn a Conversation into Community - Featuring Tara Jackson from Arizona Town Hall
Feb 15, 202101:20:15
How to Get a Heart in Business - Building a Brand with Passion and Commitment to Community
Feb 08, 202101:15:38
How To Be Purposeful and Fulfilled - Life by the Bucketful

How To Be Purposeful and Fulfilled - Life by the Bucketful

Why should you make a bucket list?  Our guest, The Bucket List Guy, Travis Bell, would suggest that making and realizing your own true list of desires - no matter how small or how odd, will bring energy and purpose flooding into your life.

Do we have to say what a bucket list is?  I assume most people know, but just in case you don’t, it’s a list of things you need to do before you die so you can kick the bucket without regret.

Travis Bell had early success in business, growing his fitness coaching company into an enterprise with 10s of thousands of clients across Australia. Then his business and life hit some bumps, but Travis was determined to rise above the disappointment and depression. He “became his own experiment” and started signing up for workshops, retreats and empowering experiences. After a few years of this self-healing work, he realized he had discovered something he could offer others.

Trav and his Bucket List team now work with thousands of people a year, using the Bucket List concept as a tool to get at the truth of what people really want and what we all can achieve when we get out of our own way. He just published a book called The Bucket List Blueprint that is a manifesto and instructional guide for living a more fulfilling life.

If you need to get your groove back, come with us on this journey with Travis Bell to spark the connections of our own creativity and power using the Bucket List tool.  We get pretty excited to realize and remember some of the badass things we’ve already done and we feel the energy rise up to help fuel the ride to our next stop.

For full show notes including Travis's TEDx talk and your hosts' bucket list examples go to www.here-together.us/pod/how-to-be-purposeful-and-fulfilled

Jan 25, 202101:12:55
How to Step Aside - MLK Day Special Non-episode

How to Step Aside - MLK Day Special Non-episode

Happy and consequential Martin Luther King/Civil Rights Day to you. After the 2020 we had, I can’t think of an MLK day more poised between worlds than this one. So much of the racism and white supremacy that had long been conveniently ignorable to us white folks finally became completely un-ignorable. Thank god!

Today feels like a day to mourn all the losses and pain and separation that became inescapable to almost all of us. AND it feels like a day to hope for much, much better times ahead. For all Americans.

In honor of the day we were going to re-release the HERE.together episode we recorded right after the murder of George Floyd. In that episode from May, Kelly and I struggled with coming to terms with our own ingrained racism, our new understanding of anti-racist thought and action, and called on our whole community to do the hard work of acknowledging, grieving and moving forward - individually and together. Seemed like an appropriate convo to re-visit.

But our friend, pod guest and super H.ttie Laura Fitton reminded us this morning that today is a day for white folks to pass the mic and make way for the voices of people of color. Today cannot just be a day about white folks grappling with racism or anything that looks like virtue signaling.

So, instead… we’re releasing this micro episode to help you find other listening, reading and viewing experiences... Awesome content that was not made by a couple of white folks. Enjoy our curated recommendations. 

Check this link for show notes that include all our recommendations and more. 

Jan 18, 202118:49
How to Get Attention - Use the Media for Good, not Evil
Jan 11, 202101:08:06
How to Cook a BIGGER Moose - the Full, Lightly Edited Episode

How to Cook a BIGGER Moose - the Full, Lightly Edited Episode

We can’t even imagine cooking a moose - why would we want to do that?  If that’s what you’re thinking, don’t worry, today’s episode is all about writing and being human and the ongoing struggle to live in community.  A moose does get cooked in our guest Kate Christensen’s second memoir of the same name, but we will save that for you to discover on your own. 

Guest Bio:
Kate Christensen is an award-winning author of 7 novels and 2 memoirs that have a lot to do with the glory of food, coping with being human, finding community, and the tenuous beauty of life.  Her characters, including the character of herself in the memoirs, are broken and beautiful, they are finding their way home to themselves and uncovering their places in this world.  They are messy and real and we love them.  
We talk with Kate about the writer’s life, about growing up in our shared home town of Jerome, Arizona, about the difference between NYC and rural Maine/NH.  

This conversation is full of laughter and discovery. It also contains references to the physical abuse Kate witnessed growing up and the ongoing sexual assault she suffered as a minor. We don’t go into the details but we wanted you to know in case it’s not healthy for you to hear those kinds of stories. We are grateful to Kate for her vulnerability and openness… we think these kinds of stories are a way forward and out of the dark for us all. 

Before we go any further… 
we want to let you know that you get to choose which version of this podcast to listen to. Our conversation with Kate lasted nearly 3 hours and every part of it was chock full of fascinating stories and important ideas. We couldn't leave much of that precious audio in the delete bin so we are releasing two versions.

  1. One version is the highly edited and leaves out 25 minutes of Kate’s recollections of her high school life, Charles’s very different version of Kate’s high school life, Kelly’s passionate thoughts about community and the story of Dingo the Dog.
  2. The other version (How to Eat a BIGGER Moose) is longer, fuller, more complete.  It's perfect for those who want to know more about the writing process, want to hear more about what happens "behind the scenes" and/or who want to remember what life was like in Jerome, AZ in the 80s.
Jan 05, 202102:13:41
How to Cook a Moose - Lessons in Place and Belonging

How to Cook a Moose - Lessons in Place and Belonging

I can’t even imagine cooking a moose - why would I want to do that?  If that’s what you’re thinking, don’t worry, today’s episode is all about writing and being human and the ongoing struggle to live in community.  A moose does get cooked in our guest Kate Christensen’s second memoir of the same name, but we will save that for you to discover on your own.

Guest Bio:

Kate Christensen is an award-winning author of 7 novels and 2 memoirs that have a lot to do with the glory of food, coping with being human, finding community, and the tenuous beauty of life.  Her characters, including the character of herself in the memoirs, are broken and beautiful, they are finding their way home to themselves and uncovering their places in this world.  They are messy and real and we love them.

We talk with Kate about the writer’s life, about growing up in our shared home town of Jerome, Arizona, about the difference between NYC and rural Maine/NH.

This conversation is full of laughter and discovery. It also contains references to the physical abuse Kate witnessed growing up and the ongoing sexual assault she suffered as a minor. We don’t go into the details but we wanted you to know in case it’s not healthy for you to hear those kinds of stories. We are grateful to Kate for her vulnerability and openness… we think these kinds of stories are a way forward and out of the dark for us all.

Before we go any further…

We want to let you know that you get to choose which version of this podcast to listen to. This version is the highly edited version that leaves out 25 minutes of Kate’s recollections of her high school life and Charles’s very different version of Kate’s high school life. Also in the extended version are Kelly’s passionate thoughts about community and the story of Dingo the Dog. For those of you who want the longer, fuller, more complete version, you can find it right now as the episode How to Cook a BIG Moose.

Link to full description and relevant Show Notes

Jan 05, 202101:37:14
How to Get Coached - Witness Change in Real Time!

How to Get Coached - Witness Change in Real Time!

Dec 28, 202001:15:46
How to Be Resilient - Building Community Sustainability

How to Be Resilient - Building Community Sustainability

This week, we bring you Laird Christensen, someone who has thought deeply about how we can move ourselves and our communities forward through overlapping crises. This episode covers a LOT of ground: Anarchy, literature, activism, guitar playing, fatherhood, hope, despair, and potlucks as activism. Most importantly, Laird reminded us to ask “What if?”

Laird Christensen, is the Director, MS in Resilient and Sustainable Communities at Prescott College. Laird grew up in timber country in Oregon, amidst the clear cuts and lumber mills and developed a deep-seated need to connect to wild spaces.  Part of Laird’s intriguing story, though, includes his conscious decision to separate himself from the wilderness and the forests - and to leave the protest lines - to work upstream. To go from protecting one forest to transforming the culture that endangers the forests in the first place.

We talked about how our culture and economy is based on the idea of scarcity and how the opposite of scarcity is not abundance but sufficiency… can we take what we need and leave enough for others and future generations.

We have such huge challenges in front of us. Getting through covid, repairing our economy, rebuilding our communities. Laird points out, though, that these kinds of crises are the new normal and that we have to work together to build in resilience. Fortunately, he and others have been thinking about how to do just that. Even better, building resilience is something we can do as individuals, neighborhoods, and towns. Listen to the whole episode and see if you don’t get some inspiration and ideas that will help keep you hopeful and engage.

Click this link to see the full shownotes with reading recommendations, resources for taking action, and helpful references. 

Dec 14, 202001:18:12
How to Have Crazy Ideas (And Make Them Work)

How to Have Crazy Ideas (And Make Them Work)

What’s it like combating an entrenched problem like homelessness during a pandemic?  What skills and mindset make the difference in good times and bad? How does one get selected Prescott Woman of the Year?

Find out from Coalition for Compassion and Justice Executive Director, Jessi Hans.  In 2018, Jessi and her team set the bold (Crazy?) intention to end homelessness in Prescott.  Since Covid, they have redoubled their efforts to house every member of the Prescott community and connect their clients to the services that will help get them back on their feet and back to their lives.  We talk with Jessi about the Housing First philosophy, leading her team with authenticity and transparency, the value of partnerships, and how to stay human when things get tough.

This week we are sharing an episode from another podcast we produce - The Prescott Woman Podcast. In this interview, we talk to Jessi Hans, a nonprofit director who lives a bold and dedicated life. We talked with Jessi a few hundred years ago when we were just starting out and this interview is just as full of community, leadership, and her bold, crazy mission to end homelessness.  It was great catching up with Jessi and if you missed her the first time, go back and check out episode 8.

Guest Bio:

After 16 years in the human services field, Jessi Hans has an understanding of how addiction, trauma, mental illness, and systemic barriers can put people out on the street.

Jessi takes a collaborative approach to problem-solving, bringing together people and organizations with the gifts and skillsets to make meaningful progress on difficult problems.  She also works consciously to shift the narrative around people experiencing homelessness to help everyone see what she sees: human beings, citizens, neighbors, members of the community.

Born and raised in Iowa, Jessi earned her B.F.A. at Northwest Missouri State University and she’s lived in Arizona since 2005. She has a wife and three young children. Jessi enjoys quality time with her family, traveling, reading, creating art, and singing.

Jessi was recently named Women of the Year by Prescott Area Leadership.

When we asked her the uncomfortable question of why she was chosen for this honor, she told us she thought the award honored her role more than her actions. We think she might be being too humble, but we’ll let you decide why you think Jessi deserves the win.

Stay tuned to find out what it’s like to have the audacity to take on the big problems with love, humor, and vulnerability as we talk with CCJ’s Jessi Hans.

This is also a perfect episode for this difficult season. In it, we talk about what it means to serve those less fortunate, what it means to have a safe place to live, and how we can make a difference not just by writing checks, but by extending compassion. Anyone else feeling more of the holiday spirit, just hearing those words? Not yet? Keep listening. 

To access full show notes, go to:
https://www.here-together.us/pod/how-to-have-crazy-ideas

Dec 07, 202048:37
How to Pandemic - Advice from Two Community Health Professionals

How to Pandemic - Advice from Two Community Health Professionals

Whether you are an obsessed Pandemic Watcher like Charles or just want to know how to stay un-infected until the vaccines arrive, this episode is for you.  We bring you interviews with two people who have unique knowledge about the Covid pandemic. Find out what’s going on with vaccine trials, what numbers to look for, and how to make your plan to stay safe through what will undoubtedly be a long, tough winter.  Despite the grim statistics and stories of anti-mask pushback, our conversations this week left us feeling hopeful knowing science is on the case and that human creativity, resilience, and love will, indeed, triumph.

This week we talk with our favorite epidemiologist Christine Stewart, a professor at UC Davis, who helps us make sense of the vaccine trials & rollout. She also explains how her family gets its social and emotional needs met while staying safe and virus-free.


It turns out that Christine is not only a distinguished scientist, she’s a brave research subject. Christine was one of thousands of volunteers in the Stage 3 vaccine trials. You’ll get to hear about her experience with the Moderna vaccine and why I’m really excited to get a sore arm and a fever.


We also talk with our local Health Department’s Information Officer, Terri Farneti, who makes us appreciate the courage and commitment all the hard-working people in our health infrastructures have demonstrated in the face of a massive health crisis combined with incontheivable blowback.


Link to the full show notes.

Nov 30, 202001:18:20
How to Feed a Wolf - Two Stories and Four Tips for Better Leadership

How to Feed a Wolf - Two Stories and Four Tips for Better Leadership

So We’ve been thinking about the parable of The Two Wolves in the aftermath of the national election. Given how much anger, xenophobia and racism has risen, will a new president make a difference?
Were we always this awful and now it’s just visible? Or have we become more awful under the influence of a, well, craven and selfish leader?
Listeners know we’re big believers in the “both/and theory” of everything. So we're going big and ambitious today and working to tackle both the implications of leadership and responsibility of individuals in the battle of wolves.
Hang out with us today as Charles tells a true story of how green wolf leadership created opportunities for excellence and unity in the midst of a crisis.
AND we’ll explore how everyday people (That’s us) can feed the right wolf the right diet and become the kind of leaders in their own lives that, together, transform our culture into one of compassion, responsibility, and inclusion.
We wrestle this set of weighty subjects with our usual mix of humor and empathy. Stay sharp for 3-4 pop culture easter eggs and a chance to win a HERE.together T-shirt.

Follow this link to see full show notes and a picture of a Tyrolean Traverse.
Nov 23, 202001:20:28
How to Not Know - Balancing Contemplation and Action

How to Not Know - Balancing Contemplation and Action

If you think of Buddhists as quiet, gentle people who meditate all the time, think again.  Our guest this week is a proponent of engaged Buddhism, a movement within the philosophy that turns contemplation into action, practice into purpose.  We learn from Pete that it’s not enough to acknowledge the suffering in the world, engaged Buddhists strive to do something to relieve suffering where they find it.

If your efforts to help others - friends and family OR out in the world - fall short of your expectations, or if you are confused about how to start making a difference, this episode might be for you.

Welcome to the weekly podcast for people craving

  • A sense of connectedness
  • A dose of empathy
  • A glimpse of the way forward
  • An opportunity to engage

Pete Pierson has been a man of action his whole life, so it makes sense that he would be attracted to a practice and community that embraces action.  Once an Outward Bound instructor, as well as a firefighter and Mobile Intensive Care Paramedic in remote and extreme areas of Minnesota and Alaska, Pete knows how to help.  He’s seen death up close, and as a UU lay minister, he was asked the big questions – Why?  Not finding a good answer to that question eventually led him to Zen and engaged Buddhism, which, as you will hear, taught Pete to make peace with not knowing.

He also knows the value of community and has been active in the many communities he’s called home.  While living here in Prescott long enough to go to grad school, he allowed himself to be recruited to run for the state house of representatives against an incumbent republican with dubious personal history.  He agreed to run, not because he thought he could win, which he didn’t, but in order to force the public conversation on vital issues.

Now working as a farm laborer in Kansas, Pete is finding solace in physical work and taking care of family through the pandemic.  He is serving on the township board, doing freelance writing and non-profit consulting, and he doesn’t know what’s next.  But he’s ok with that.

In this episode, Pete reads from the essay “A Gift of Not Knowing”. His story takes us to a hot, windy day at the Wounded Knee Memorial in SD and a concrete example of how to engage with history, suffering, and cultural divides. As he explains, Not knowing is a good place to start.

Link to full show notes with references and RECIPES!

Nov 16, 202001:12:15