Denizen

DemocracyNext founder and CEO Claudia Chwalisz returns to the Denizen podcast to explore the intersection of deliberative democracy and artificial intelligence. Here we are particularly interested in how we might crease democratic resilience by leveraging AI to scale deliberative processes. Governance innovation is the AI application we're most enthusiastic about so we're excited to bring this conversation to the Denizen audience. Claudia and Jenny discuss broader trends of rising autocracy, weakening civil societies, and attacks on basic rights, while situating deliberative democracy as a counterforce to these issues. They explore what aspects of the deliberative process are fundamentally human, giving rise to the limitations and risks of certain applications of AI. They also break down five different ways we can think about scaling deliberative democracy, which enables a more nuanced conversation about the opportunities AI presents. Claudia stresses that technology is not a silver bullet, but must be integrated with the human elements of social and political change. Resources: https://www.demnext.org/Five Dimensions of Scaling Democratic Deliberation: With and Beyond AIThe Populist Signal: Why Politics and Democracy Need to ChangeThe People's Verdict: Adding Informed Citizen Voices to Public Decision Making,Citizen's Assemblies episodeCitizen's Assemblies overview To stay connected to all things Denizen, you can sign up for our newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com. There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.

In this final episode of a three-part series, Jenny Stefanotti of the Denizen podcast is joined by Robert Gilman, founder and president of The Context Institute. They discuss the importance and challenges of collaboration in achieving systemic change. This episode delves into the concept of moving from a dominator model to win-win solutions, integrating psychodynamics, diverse cognition modes, and effective feedback loops. They explore how to build trust, safety, and relationality within organizations, leveraging tools like sociocracy and AI. They also emphasize the need for a fundamental redefinition of success and leadership, focusing on stewardship and servant leadership for more effective, holistic outcomes. 00:00 Introduction to the Series and Guest 01:23 Exploring Collaboration and Omni-Win Solutions 03:09 The Obsolescence of Dominator Models 05:39 Redefining Success and Systemic Thinking 08:18 The Role of Stewardship and Hierarchies 11:40 AI and Governance 12:09 The Importance of Design Processes 13:36 Addressing Dominator Behaviors and Adversarial Paradigms 19:10 Systems Consciousness and Collaborative Design 25:07 The Importance of Feedback Culture 26:37 Building Trust in Organizations 27:37 From Transactional to Relational Paradigms 28:49 Optimal Zones and Collaborative Outcomes 31:00 Design Thinking and Sociocracy 33:41 Consent vs. Consensus in Decision Making 36:25 Integrating Nature into Decision Processes 38:38 The Role of AI and Information Flows 42:50 Leadership in Collaborative Groups 47:25 Conclusion and Call to Action To stay connected to all things Denizen, you can sign up for our newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com. There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.

This episode explores the importance of understanding and integrating various modes of cognition. It is the second in a three-part series with Robert Gilman, founder and president of The Context Institute, covering essential competencies for the regenerative era. Jenny and Robert discusses the limitations of object perception and categorical thinking, the roles of visual and kinesthetic thinking, and the value of intuition. The episode also explores the concept of systems consciousness and its implications for living in harmony with life on Earth. Additional discussions include the impact of the Age of Enlightenment on modern thinking, the limitations of language, and the importance of cultural and contextual awareness in decision-making. 00:00 Introduction to Modes of Cognition 00:27 Meet Robert Gilman and Series Overview 01:03 Exploring Various Modes of Cognition 02:14 Understanding Cognition and Its Importance 03:43 Historical and Cultural Analysis of Cognition 05:50 Dominant Modes of Cognition 15:25 Visual Thinking and Its Richness 18:37 Kinesthetic Thinking and Somatic Awareness 24:51 The Importance of Intuition 25:07 Exploring the Concept of Intuition 26:32 The Role of Subconscious in Creativity 27:34 Interconnection of Consciousness 29:16 Balancing Different Modes of Cognition 34:02 Understanding Systems Consciousness 37:56 The Impact of Communication on Understanding 41:47 Developing a FUD Immune System 47:16 Sustainable Motivation and Future Pull 48:31 Conclusion and Resources To stay connected to all things Denizen, you can sign up for our newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com. There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.

Robert Gilman returns to the Denizen podcast with a three part series on essential personal competencies for a regenerative future. This first episode explores psychodynamics: having direct personal awareness of our underlying motivations, the state of our nervous system, and cognitive biases.To stay connected to all things Denizen, you can sign up for our newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com. There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.

In this episode of the Denizen podcast, host Jenny Stefanotti and activist Julia Rhodes Davis delve into the concept of 'white work,' which goes beyond confronting and dismantling racialized identities. They discuss the importance of understanding personal legacy, taking accountability for ancestors' actions, and taking actions individually to repair past harms. They also discuss the inner, interpersonal, and cultural aspects of this work. Julia emphasizes the importance of ongoing practice within a community setting. 00:00 Introduction to Solidarity and Whiteness 01:22 Meet Julia Rhodes Davis 01:34 Exploring White Work 02:13 Putting White Work within the Denizen Inquiry 02:32 Julia's Background and Evolution 05:25 Understanding Racialized Capitalism 07:51 Personal Stories and Ancestral Context 11:30 The Inner Work of Racial Justice 25:42 Misguided White Work and Diversity 32:17 White Work as a Lifelong Practice 33:17 Understanding Shame and Discomfort in Anti-Racism Work 34:57 Circles of Practice: Community and Storytelling 38:36 Depersonalizing and Understanding Racial Conditioning 46:41 The Role of Inner Work in Anti-Racism 48:28 Exploring Power Dynamics in Relationships 51:18 Rupture and Repair in Relationships 57:12 Building Solidarity Against Fascism 59:40 Closing Remarks and Community Engagement Resources: https://www.jrdavis.me/White Supremacy Culture - Still Here To stay connected to all things Denizen, you can sign up for our newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com. There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.

We are incredibly fortunate to welcome Tema Okun to the Denizen podcast for this important conversation. Tema is the author of the influential 1999 paper "White Supremacy Culture" and has been a leader in the racial justice movement for over 35 years. In this insightful episode, Jenny and Tema explore the pervasive influence of white supremacy culture in society. They discuss the concept's historical context, its impact on both personal and systemic levels, and the importance of recognizing internalized racist conditioning. Tema shares the journey of her original paper, detailing its attributes and their societal implications. She also outlines into the interconnectedness of colonialism, capitalism, and white supremacy. Tema and Jenny reflect on the necessity of self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and a culture of appreciation as antidotes to these ingrained systems. The dialogue also highlights the significance of love, belonging, and making conscious choices in combating fear-based energies, ultimately advocating for a collective effort towards systemic change and personal transformation. Outline for the episode: Resources: White Supremacy Culture websiteWhite Supremacy CultureWhite Supremacy Culture - Still HereRacial Equity Principleshttps://www.fiercelove.info/15 Commitments of Conscious LeadershipThe New Rules of Marriage To stay connected to all things Denizen, you can sign up for our newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com. There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.

This conversation features Tyson Yunkaporta, academic, arts critic, researcher, and member of the Apalech Clan in far north Queensland. Tyson is the author of Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World; Right Story, Wrong Story: How to Have Fearless Conversations in Hell; and Snake Talk: How the World’s Ancient Serpent Stories Can Guide Us. Unlike our typical episodes which focus on a topic, here Jenny embraces Tyson's generative cultural practice of yarning. Tyson describes a yarn as "like a conversation but taking a traditional form his people have always used to create and transmit knowledge." Thus here we capture a raw conversation between Jenny and Tyson, touching on topics of whiteness, identity, modes of cognition, justice, and the hero complex. Tyson shares the story behind each of the three books in his trilogy, touching on their relevance for the modern technologically driven era. To stay connected to all things Denizen, you can sign up for our newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com. There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.

In this conversation Jenny and Jasmine discuss: Resources: https://www.jasminerashid.com/Trauma of Money programFriends of public banking pledgeJust Economy Institute To stay connected to all things Denizen, you can sign up for our newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com. There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.

This powerful conversation explores the relationship between decolonization and consciousness. Ashanti is a systems change agent focused on helping organizations deconstruct dominant narratives of colonization and replace them with life affirming narratives that support a regenerative future. She believes that true transformation must begin within, guiding leaders to embrace spiritual coherence and walk their talk. ‍ Jenny and Ashanti discuss: Resources Learning 2 Unlearn,"White supremacy lives in the mundane"Pedagogy of the Oppressed, We Will Not Cancel Us: And Other Dreams of Transformative Justice To stay connected to all things Denizen, you can sign up for our newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com. There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.

This episode builds on many prior conversations exploring work that we can do on ourselves, including living authentically, trauma and the nervous system, nonviolent communication, transforming relational conflict, and optimal zone resilience. It demonstrates how the work on ourselves extends upwards into the organization context, and further amplifies our impact at a systemic level. ‍ In this conversation Jenny and Diana discuss: Resources: The 15 Commitments of Conscious LeadershipThe 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership: A New Paradigm for Sustainable Success,The Conscious Leadership GroupWholeBodyYes.comConscious Loving: The Journey To Co-Commitment, https://terryreal.com/Man's Search For Meaning,Existential Kink: Unmask Your Shadow and Embrace Your Power Sign up for the Denizen newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com to stay plugged into our work. There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.

Ethnocide is a word Barrett both coined and resurrected, referring to the destruction of a people’s culture while keeping the people. From Barrett’s point of view, Trump’s re-election is not cause for disbelief, but a glaring reminder of what America has been since its inception: a country founded by white men for the purposes of wealth accumulation, whose rhetoric of freedom and equality has always been tenuous alongside its prevalence of white supremacy and patriarchy. In this conversation Jenny and Barrett discuss: Resources: The Crime Without A Name: Ethnocide and the Erasure of Culture in AmericaThe Sustainable Culture LabHalf Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism Sign up for the Denizen newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com to stay plugged into our work. There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.

Melanie Rieback is a cybersecurity entrepreneur and the founder of Nonprofit Ventures, an organization dedicated to supporting post growth entrepreneurs. She runs an incubator to support post growth entrepreneurs and teaches a course at the University of Amsterdam on post growth entrepreneurship. Her lectures are available on YouTube, linked below. This episode builds on a long series of conversations on this podcast exploring economic reform: stakeholder capitalism, steward ownership, co-ops, post-growth economics, to name a few. While it's called pot growth entrepreneurship, really this conversation is about non-extractive entrepreneurship. PGE rejects the typical silicon valley model of capital, scale, exit, in favor of bootstrapping, flat growth, and non-extraction. In this conversation Jenny and Melanie discuss: Resources: https://nonprofit.ventures/three minute explainer video"Putting Post Growth Theory Into Practice"8 YouTube lectures Sign up for the Denizen newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com to stay plugged into our work. There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.

Consciousness is one of the six themes of the Denizen podcast and the role of psychedelics are an important subset of that inquiry. It's an honor to bring Rick Doblin to the podcast with this episode, he has been at the forefront of the movement since founding the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) in 1986. Rick is joined by Nirvan Mullick, filmmaker and founder of Interconnected Media, who has been working on a documentary about Rick and MAPS for ten years. This conversation extensively explores the role of storytelling in the psychedelic movement over the last three decades. The episode is an epic story in and of itself: Rick takes us back to the cultural context of his childhood and shares his own experience of awakening through experimenting with psychedelics as a young adult. He discusses his initial strategy with MAPS and how storytelling complimented the data-driven approach of MAPS's clinical trials. We talk about MAPS's corporate structure and how it evolved over time, with its incentives slowly corrupted as MAPS was forced to bring in venture capital to continue its work. Rick shares the story of the year leading up to the FDA's response letter, and how MAPS's leadership inhibited his ability to contribute to a more balanced narrative about the treatment of MDMA for PTSD. We then look forward to what comes next, and how storytelling is critical for the movement to succeed in bringing psychedelics to the mainstream to enable a global shift in consciousness. Throughout, Nirvan shares his insights as a filmmaker documenting Rick's story over the last ten years.

Ferananda Ibarra is the CEO of the Coventina Foundation, co-founder of the Metacurrency Project, and expert in utilizing the decentralized web to enable economic innovation, collective intelligence, and the commons. In this conversation we explore the role of currency innovation in economic innovation and regenerative economics. Fernanda has such an incredible range of experience and knowledge that she brings to bear with her work — from her expertise in technology to her love of nature and study of indigenous wisdom to her deep foundational understanding of the commons and collective intelligence. While the headline for this conversation is currencies, ultimately it’s abroad ranging discussion that explores money, wealth, currencies, why flows are so critical for healthy living systems, what’s wrong with blockchain and the familiar cryptocurrencies out there, and more.

What are citizen's assemblies, and how might they address challenges faced with representative democracy around the world today?

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If you’re wondering how we might reform capitalism to be less extractive and more regenerative, this conversation is for you. Our guests Chelsea Robinson and Jay Standish have just published a book, Assets in Common, sharing recent research on what is happening in the most progressive corners of the current economic landscape. We discuss shared and stewardship governance models, which yield a more equitable, more purpose-driven economy. Chelsea and Jay relay key findings from his research on how forward thinking entrepreneurs can address constraints they face, which enable a more progressive economy to scale. This isn’t a theoretical conversation that leaves you questioning what’s realistic, it is tactical and grounded in case studies. Resources: Assets in Common: Stories of Business and Community Leaders Remaking the Economy from the Ground Up

Over the last few episodes we’ve been exploring work that we can do on ourselves and in intimate relationships. This conversation builds on those by extending that individual work into the group and organizational level. We explore power and examine the patterns that show up at all organizational levels, from teams to organizations to coalitions to movements. ‍ In this conversation Jenny and Ted cover: Resources Collective Power: Patterns For A Self=Organized Future,

In this episode we’re discussing healing trauma, specifically what is required to address trauma at the root: in our nervous systems. This topic is critical because what most of us don’t realize is how many people live in a perpetually dysregulated state due to unresolved trauma. This leaves us with an ongoing baseline of reactivity, hypervigilance, and anxiety that spills over into every area of our lives. Very often our unresolved trauma stems from so far into our childhoods that we are unable to parse out who we actually are at our core from who we become when our nervous systems are stuck in a fight, flight, or freeze response. ‍ Our guest for this episode is Danielle Rubio. Danielle uses nervous system rewiring, movement therapy, and mindfulness to help her clients do the deep work required to truly address their trauma and live lives of purpose from a center, empowered place. She is a yoga and meditation teacher, reiki master, and touch therapist who has studied extensively with leaders in the field such as Dr. Fleet Maul, Irene and Seth Lyon, Gabor Mate, and Arielle Schwartz. ‍ In this conversation Jenny and Danielle discuss: Resources: The Body Keeps The Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

In this episode we’re discussing conflict resolution, in particular, the distinction between an adversarial paradigm, that all of us unwittingly hold, and a restorative paradigm, that gets us what we ultimately want: healthy, thriving relationships with those closest to us . The difference between the two is quite literally life changing. In the former hurt leads to disconnection and distance, with a slow and steady degradation of the relationships that matter most. In the latter, hurt creates an opportunity for deeper connection and intimacy, which obviously reflects the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible. This deep, provocative, practical conversation will help us all move in that direction. ‍ Our guest is David Cooley, he is a relationship coach who works with individuals and couples, guiding them to address conflict in a way that restores harmony. His work interweaves his background in restorative justice with training in nonviolent communication, mindfulness based practices, narrative therapy, somatic work, and attachment theory. He is also the author of Poly-wise with his partner, Jessica Fern. ‍ In this conversation Jenny and David discuss: ‍ Alongside this episode we are sharing David's incredible handouts with our listeners. Contact us at www.becomingdenizen.com and we will happily send them your way.