Life of the Mind from the Oak Guild Institute

As we wrap up the Career Journeys series in the Life of the Mind Podcast, we talk with Bella Park about looking forward. Bella is a senior at Homestead High School in Cupertino, Ca. Unlike our previous guests who looked back at their careers, civic minded Bella looks forward to college and life with a mix of hope, empathy and a deep desire to get involved. She wants to make a difference. Enjoy!

"Bring your whole self to work" is a given for Millenials and GenZ in the workplace. In this concluding episode of Career Journeys, we talk to a baby boomer who brought his whole self to his whole career. For Rajan Mathews, his whole self included his faith identity which he brought to his role as an executive in the U.S., India, and Afghanistan. We hear stories about life and work in different places and cultures over many decades including one hair raising episode of running into a U.S. Army tank! Kavita Mathews, Rajan's daughter provides the commentary in this Oak Guild Institute production together with your host Jake Chacko.

In this continuation of the Career Series in the Life of the Mind podcasts from the Oak Guild Institute we talk with Dr. Bill Lloyd. For sure Bill is an ophthalmologist. However, the good doctor is more. Bill is also a radio and tv personality, he is a communicator, he is an educator, he is a husband, he is a father and he is a friend. Because of his communications skills, Bill imparts life lessons even as he tells his career story.

As an added bonus, enjoy the commentary from two Oak Guild founders Katie Gray and Jake Chacko as they draw the parallels between Bill's story and Arthur C. Brooks' book From Strength to Strength.

The Tax Man cometh.... and we are glad to see him!! In the continuing series on Career Journeys and the accompanying decisions and choices, we are delighted to feature a good friend of the Oak Guild Institute-Larry Langdon. Larry loves taxes but he loves so much more. At the young age of 85 ( as of 2023), Larry is still going strong, parlaying his tax and business experience, his strong sense of ethics, as well as his faith to help non profits and people in the Bay Area and beyond. Come join us as we explore Larry's career journey shaped by his family and Quaker upbringing with a passion to bring justice and ethics to the IRS , the Ford Motor Company, back to the IRS , to Hewlett Packard, back again to the IRS and then to the law firm of Mayer-Brown where he is still a partner doing pro-bono work.

We find out how Larry's work helped reform corporate tax shelters, enabled Amish pastors to not pay Social Security taxes for good reason, drive non profits to better management and more. Always willing to listen and help, Larry has been an inspiration for so long to so many. We get a glimpse in this episode of what makes this great human being who he is. At the Oak Guild Institute, we the founders Jake, Kate and Katie consider him a special friend.

We offer this episode as a tribute to that friend.

Jake-Kate-Katie

Join us as we kick off a Life of the Mind series on career stories and the decisions that led to them. In the first of this series, we explore the career and decision choices of Anne Stuhler who our host Jake Chacko ran into at his 50th High School Reunion. Anne is probably unique in that no one else most likely has had the two careers that she has enjoyed- a Tennis Professional and a Production Designer in film and TV. Anne has been responsible for works such as Boiler Room and Blue Bloods and many more. Enjoy this fascinating story as well as the opportunities that came Anne’s way together with the decisions, sometimes abrupt she had to make. Kate Whitehead provides her usual insightful commentary. Our show notes will tag time frames for specific episodes and/or works in both her tennis as well as tv and film career along with decision points. While the entire 60minute + episode is fascinating in our opinion, there may be fewer people who love both tennis and production arts but want the details in one or the other!

In the second part of A Woman's Journey,  Julie Oomen and your host Jake Chacko unpack the value of empathy which is prominent on the Oomen Family Wall of Values. The pair use their understanding of empathy in real time to discuss the recent United States Supreme Court Decision on Dobbs which upended the 50 year old precedent set by Roe V Wade. A controversial decision with strong feelings on both sides, both Julie and Jake process their individual feelings. Additionally, Julie describes how she intends to use the power of empathy to discuss this decision during an upcoming trip back to Missouri to visit her folks. They are on the other side of this issue from Julie!

Yet there is hope to having a real, loving dialogue even though there is disagreement- the essence of what  the Oak Guild Institute is trying to promote.

Kate Whitehead challenges the listeners to think deeply about both empathy and the abortion issue at the conclusion of the conversation.

There is a fascinating postscript on empathy, something we all assume is "good" , at the end of Kate's concluding commentary!

Pictures of the Oomens and their Family Wall of Values will be available soon on the website www.OakGuild.org.

What do you do when all of your bearings regarding society and even your country get upended and you feel extremely unsettled? In this episode of the Life of The Mind Podcast, we follow the journey of one such woman, Julie Ooomen. We travel with her as she settles and centers herself and her immediate family consisting of her husband and two young daughters via a wall of values. We further see how she uses the values on their family wall to navigate teaching moments for her kids.  We also see Julie reestablishing a framework for dialogue with her parents and family of origin using the value and power of empathy.

Both episodes in this series A Woman's  Journey go to the heart of what the Oak Guild Institute is attempting to do- relearn the art of loving dialogue, even on contested topics while continuing to learn and grow.  

More detailed show notes with pictures of the Oomen Family Wall of Values will be available soon on our website at www.OakGuild.org

Your host is Jake Chacko and as usual Kate Whitehead provides insightful and thoughtful analysis, commentary and perspective.

What would it be like to under an oppressive regime in a country that has just undergone a coup? One of our guests, "Sam" in this Life of the Mind podcast from the Oak Guild Institute (OGI) is doing just that! Fortunately he has a friend named "Don", an American  living in Atlanta, who is helping Sam and his colleagues with encouragement, love, friendship and wise counsel. Our guests' real names are not used for their protection. The specific country in South East Asia is not named explicitly either but is pretty easy to deduce. 

How does an individual survive but in a loving manner under such circumstances? Typically folks experiencing such  situations have either fled  or withdrawn (think Ukrainians or more to the point Russians), resisted (Ukraine) or even joined forces with their oppressors - think Germans under the Third Reich. While those of us living in the United States may think this improbable, our polarization and events like January 6 are perhaps warning signals.

Join our host Jake Chacko for an intense, moving and insightful conversation on "The 4th Way". Even as you listen to what is happening, notice the story within the story. "Sam" is living it now- real and raw. "Don" is so, so wise and a good friend. Jake listening in real time sounds incredulous and sometimes flabbergasted. Our OGI commentator Kate Whitehead, having absorbed the conversation, provides really wise perspective that brackets the conversation and provides context.

Enjoy!!!

Emerging technologies like Web 3, AI and the MetaVerse among others are barreling down toward us. In this 2 part set of the Life of the Mind podcasts from the Oak Guild Institute we discuss the philosophical and moral implications and ramifications of these and similar technologies. Futurist Becca Carroll and Pastor/Philosopher John Ortberg join Oak Guild’s Jake Chacko in exploring these implications in a fascinating and wide ranging conversation. Kate Whitehead, also of Oak Guild, provides her usual insightful context and commentary to add color and texture to the conversation.

Part 1 of the conversation focuses around Web 3- an Internet that according to Becca promises to decentralize and democratize not just the Internet but also long standing institutions whether in Finance or Education or more. The conversation here discusses the role of authority from sources of authority to need for authority. If Part 1’s ramifications revolved more around society, the conversation in Part 2 around AI and the MetaVerse dives deeply into the concept of personhood. Do these emerging technologies make us more, or less human?

A lot of sources for additional study are mentioned, particularly by John Ortberg. The show notes that will be up on the Oakguild.org website will provide a listing of these.

Enjoy and pass along!

Emerging technologies like Web 3, AI and the MetaVerse among others are barreling down toward us. In this 2 part set of the Life of the Mind podcasts from the Oak Guild Institute we discuss the philosophical and moral implications and ramifications of these and similar technologies. Futurist Becca Carroll and Pastor/Philosopher John Ortberg join Oak Guild’s Jake Chacko in exploring these implications in a fascinating and wide ranging conversation. Kate Whitehead, also of Oak Guild, provides her usual insightful context and commentary to add color and texture to the conversation.

Part 1 of the conversation focuses around Web 3- an Internet that according to Becca promises to decentralize and democratize not just the Internet but also long standing institutions whether in Finance or Education or more. The conversation here discusses the role of authority from sources of authority to the need for authority. If Part 1’s ramifications revolved more around society, the conversation in Part 2 around AI and the MetaVerse dives deeply into the concept of personhood. Do these emerging technologies make us more, or less human?

A lot of sources for additional study are mentioned, particularly by John Ortberg. The show notes that will be up on the Oakguild.org website will provide a listing of these.

Enjoy and pass along!

Over the centuries, Christendom and Science have had an interesting relationship-sometimes friends, sometimes not. As Science's authority grew, many, but certainly not all or even the majority, of scientists eschewed any kind of faith in God as superstition.  Understandably, there was a backlash from Christianities' "authorities". 

The United States with its Protestant ethic and beliefs developed a particularly interesting tributary of this relationship. The division started with the Scopes Monkey Trial of the early 20th century to the Young Earth Creationism movement in the 1960s to the rise of  the Evangelical Block through the latter part of the 20th century right to the present time. The Covid Pandemic has brought this division right to the open.  Evangelical Christians comprise one of the larger blocks of groups against vaccines, whether because this group refuses to recognize the authority of "science" or that of the "government". 

In this Life of the Mind Podcast, Jake Chacko of OGI interviews Jim Stump from BioLogos- an organization started by renown scientist and most recent NIH Director Francis Collins. The organization's founding aimed to bridge the divide between science and "Christian" faith. Instead, it finds itself caught in between and most recently, with vaccines, pitted against a large segment of Evangelical Christians. Jim is a deep thinking, articulate philosopher who provides unique insights and wisdom. Kate Whitehead, also of OGI and the commentator, talks about her learnings and "aha" moments as she absorbs the conversation. (Note- we mistakenly label BioLogos in the podcast as an Evangelical organization. While BioLogos is certainly promoting Science to people of faith, including Evangelicals, the organization itself does not classify itself as an "Evangelical" organization.)

We delve into the topic of Race in America from the point of view of 3 first generation Indian Americans. All came to the United States in the 1960s shortly after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and as a direct result of the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965. This Act abolished immigration quotas by country which had intended to limit people of color while prioritizing western Europeans.

In this final episode of the 3-part series, our participants reflect on the "swing" years from Trump to the present day. As they approach the end of their careers, they offer perspectives on a life lived in North America as people of color but not African Americans.  They speak to their hopes, dreams and fears for their children and grandchildren.

We delve into the topic of Race in America from the point of view of 3 first generation Indian Americans. All came to the United States shortly after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and as a direct result of the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965. This Act abolished immigration quotas by country which had intended to limit people of color from entering the U.S.

In part 2 of 3 of this series, the conversation continues as our participants talk about building careers as well as raising families in the United States and Canada. The period spans the Reagan era through the Obama period in the United States. They share their observations on racial justice and progress.

We delve into the topic of Race in America from the point of view of 3 first generation Indian Americans. All came to the United States shortly after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and as a direct result of the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965. This Act abolished immigration quotas by country which had intended to limit people of color from entering the U.S.

In the first episode, the conversation spans the 1960s and 1970s from each family’s move to the kids adjusting to school in a new country and culture. Our participants share personal stories of how they were treated and observations of the African American experience from a unique perspective - foreigners and people of color not of that group.

We explores the "Good News" of Work in a conversation with Denise Yohn of The Faith&Work Journey (https://faithandworkjourney.com).

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A conversation by Jake Chacko with Raj Oza, author of Satyalogue. This is a book about Post Modern Gandhi. We examine Gandhi's philosophy of holding fast to truth, apply it to current society and compare it with a search for truth in the Christian tradition. (https://www.satyalogue.com/books)

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