Wild Mind Podcast

In this final episode of season one, I share about a number of key concepts from the first ten episodes and explain how listeners can get involved in the new virtual platform I have built to invite more people into these conversations. Here, I discuss: (1) Key themes that have arisen over the course of this initial season including permission, creativity, resistance, emotional labor, and ancestors; (2) How you can join the broader conversation begun on this podcast through my new virtual...

In this episode, I interview Dr. Clelia O. Rodríguez, educator and author of the book Decolonizing Academia: Poverty, Oppression, and Pain and creator of Stories from El Salvador–a virtual, intergenerational learning platform for Salvadorans to tell their own stories. Here, we discuss: (1) How an early education in decolonial love set the stage for a life of creative resistance; (2) How she found the right allies to publish her radical text on her terms; (3) Why she insists on balancing...

In this episode, I interview Gustavo Esteva, deprofessionalized intellectual and founder of Universidad de la Tierra (University of the Earth)—an alliance of collectivities engaged in learning through action based in Oaxaca, Mexico. Here, we discuss: (1) His decades-long journey from elite levels of government and the corporate world to revolutionary organizing at the grassroots (2) The complex process of recovering his indigenous self and sense of the good life (3) How he has created space...

In this episode, I interview Douglas Tsoi, founder of the Portland Underground Graduate School (PUGS)—a center for lifelong learning for social justice and personal empowerment with local experts in Portland, Oregon. Here, we discuss: (1) The unique financial strategy he used to retire early despite not coming from money (2) The organization he then built to facilitate radical, debt-free learning in Portland (3) The three tactics you can implement today to build the financial leverage to...

In this episode, I interview Dr. James Padilioni, now Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion at Swarthmore College and co-host of the Always Already Podcast—a podcast that explores a range of theoretical traditions including critical theory as well as people and projects animated by such ideas. In this conversation, we discuss: (1) The inspiration for his podcast series “Epistemic Unruliness" (2) How a deep connection with the ancestors lies at the core of his scholarly work (3) How he...

In this episode, I interview Dr. Glenn Wallis, a scholar of Buddhist Studies and Founder and Director of Incite Seminars---a series of animated humanities seminars that agitate personal awareness and incite social engagement amongst the general public in Philadelphia. Here, we discuss: (1) His journeys within and beyond educational institutions (2) How political concerns have reshaped his scholarly work (3) How he is creating space for inciting, public dialogues beyond the ivory tower

In this episode, I interview Martha Beck, a Harvard-trained Sociologist and bestselling author who has become one of the "best known life coaches in America”. She has served as a trusted coach to clients including Oprah Winfrey and as a field-defining master teacher to life coaches from around the world. Here, we discuss: (1) How motherhood and mystery radically transformed her relationship to academic values (2) How she leveraged these experiences to build an authentic body of work that has...

In this episode, I interview Dr. Bayo Akomolafe, a writer, speaker, and “walkout” academic who left the field of Clinical Psychology to pursue a “small, intense life”. He is Chief Curator and Executive Director of The Emergence Network—an earth-wide commonwealth of trickster-activist-artists inspired to rethink our patterns of responding to crises. Here, we discuss: (1) His decision to turn down a major academic promotion to prioritize authentic work and family life (2) His collaborative...

In this episode, I interview Cecilia Cabellero and Yvette Martínez-Vu, co-founders of Chicana M(otherwork)—a collective of five Chicana mother-scholars revisioning care work through activism, self-care, teaching, and mothering. Here, we discuss: (1) Barriers to self-care and childcare for women of color in the academy; (2) Tools for rejecting unacceptable treatment from others and ourselves; and (3) How they’re transcending the logic of permission to do work that nourishes them and their...

In this episode, I interview Dr. Theodore Richards— philosopher, poet, novelist, and founder of The Chicago Wisdom Project. Through this innovative nonprofit organization, he and his team help youth become teachers and cultural creators through a holistic pedagogy spanning critical dialogue, creative expression, therapeutic modalities, and nature connection.

In this episode, I interview Dr. Karen Kelsky— President and Founder of The Professor Is In— a consulting company that helps academics and academic hopefuls navigate a contracted academic labor market. In this conversation, she tells us how she found the courage to step away from tenured professorship at an R1 university, how she overcame decades of academic conditioning to build a highly successful business, and how she leverages her deep experience to deliver the unvarnished truth about...

In this very brief introductory podcast episode, I provide an update on the first season of the Wild Mind Podcast and give you a sense of what is in store as the season progresses.