Inner Revolutionary Radio

Today our guest is Bill Cordasco, President of Babbitt Ranches. Bill will share his experience and vision for the future as an environmental steward, and cattle rancher. Are these two passions congruent? How do you navigate the tough terrain? The values of Character, Nature and Community have guided Babbitt Ranches since its founding in 1886, a family owned business, Bill has 'steered' the company through environmental challenges and the economic reality of running a private ranch. Bill's passion to do the right thing is Inner Revolutionary. How do we stay connected to one another, in the face of criticism and daunting shifts in the economic landscape? How do we consider the highest good of all as we long to preserve a way of life that previous generations have built? Can cattle ranching follow the Inner Revolutionary principles of Oneness, Accountability and Mutual Support? How do we create a vision for the future that will hurt some people and possibly disappoint others? Let's ask!

On June 17-18, 2017 TheInnerRevolution.org sponsored a retreat where Beth Green totally blew open our definition of creativity! What IS this new definition of creativity? Did everyone develop new artistic talents or did they truly embrace creativity as a lifestyle? Have you wondered how to be more creative in your own life? Can we learn to break old habits and respond to life in a more fluid and open way, letting go of tradition and being truly open to new solutions or processes? Join co-hosts Chris Reese and Helen Hillix as they interview Inner Revolutionary participants. Listen in as participants from the workshop share their experiences at the retreat and their “aha” moments. We are sure that you will relate and will be inspired in your own life! Join us for a lively and deep exploration of how we live and how much we can do to make our experience of living more fun, more effective, more connected, more creative!

Most of the work being done toward changing how people relate to the environment and social justice is well-intentioned, but ends up being ineffective, or worse, counterproductive. Achieving true, lasting changes in behavior, it turns out, requires changing our worldviews so the new action becomes part of who we are. But if you've ever tried to change a worldview or pattern of behavior in yourself or another person, you know it's quite an effort! Cassandra Vieten, President of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, along with her colleagues, has been studying the science of behavior change for years. She’ll join us to discuss the research and how it is being applied in working with people all around the world. If you are someone committed to bringing about sustainability and justice in your life and for the planet, if you want to be able to communicate more effectively and be a more powerful change agent in the world, you will want to hear this conversation!

What inspired LA branding studio executive and founder of Exile Lifestyle blog, Colin Wright, to get rid of everything he owned that didn’t fit in a backpack, and take off across the world? Find out how Colin inspired others to take on the minimalist lifestyle in pursuit of their dreams. Host Helen Hillix will interview Colin about what he has learned in the 8 years of his travels, and how it has changed his view of the world, people, politics, and what is important in life. How does his lifestyle relate to Oneness, Accountability and Mutual Support? Join us as Colin shares how it feels to own nothing, and to be alone as his blog readers vote where he will live next around the world. Are you, also, finding the American Dream is not bringing you the happiness it promised? Are you a minimalist waiting to happen? Join us for a revolutionary conversation about what life can look like if you are willing to give it all up and follow your calling.

Do we have creative capacities we haven’t tapped into? Maybe! Granny Rocks is the new musical venture of Beth Green, former host of Inner Revolutionary Radio, and already a well-known commentator, author, counselor and teacher. Granny is an inspiration. A chronically ill 72-year old semi-invalid, Beth is launching a new career as a singer/songwriter, composer/arranger, and it’s working. Her music is fresh, exciting, beautiful, touching, outside the box and we love it! Beth’s musical career was blocked by illness at the age of 15, but she’s coming back strong at the age of 72. How is she doing it? How is Granny using technology to compensate for her lack of physical capacities? How does she face the challenges and keep going? What can we take away for our own lives and creativity? Tune in, find out, and sample some of the delicious Granny Rocks music we’ll be sharing on air. We’ll also learn about a retreat on living life creatively that Beth will soon be leading in person and online.

The InnerRevolution supports an evolution in our economy to move away from the disproportionate distribution of wealth toward an economy and society where individuals' needs are met. How can we do this? Esteban Kelly has some answers. As an important leader and creative force in a solidarity economy and co-op movements, Esteban will share the reality of what it takes for the economic model to transform. Lets challenge ourselves to move beyond our ego's view of life where only MY needs matter and be inspired by the cooperative movement. With Oneness, Accountability and Mutual Support, we can co-create a different world!

How often do you find yourself in great conflict with two parts of yourself? The conflict might be about whether you should eat that brownie or not, work longer or go to Yoga, keep your mouth shut and not answer your partner’s snide remark, or thousands of other possibilities. And this is just on the personal level. What about collectively? What side of us in charge there? We’ll explore these questions and more with Ronit Herzfeld, an Integral Psychotherapist, Social Activist and Co-Founder of the Leap Forward community. In this wide-ranging conversation, we’ll discuss how Ronit’s formative experiences, her education, her work in a locked in unit of an inpatient psychiatric hospital and her work as a therapist has helped her come to some compelling insights about these two aspects of ourselves. And together, we’ll investigate how to “re-wire” ourselves in order to bring out our capacity for compassion, generosity and creativity.

Last month Beth Green started a powerful conversation about work, housework, money and fun. She discussed production, reproduction and regeneration in a way that blew our paradigm: Paid and unpaid work are one, consumption and production are one, and we've been thinking of economics in an upside down way -- one that keeps us all less powerful and less happy. On May 6 Beth will be leading an event called No More Divide and Conquer, where she’ll discuss the fundamental social division that runs through most human societies, why it exists and how it has hurt us all. In addition, she’ll be talking about the purpose of any economy and where we can go from here. Beth will be sharing all that with us on today’s show and helping point the way to an approach to the economy that makes sense, is revolutionary, supports our happiness and blows up the destructive divisiveness of our current social and economic system. Tune in to this enlightening. Who knew economics could be such fun?

Daryl Davis could have ended up like so many celebrity musicians focusing on indulging himself and making money above all else, but not Daryl! He decided, as a Southern Black man to take on the Ku Klux Klan, one member at a time! Join us for his inspiring and courageous story of how he loaned his tour bus to the Klan and invited them into his home. Find out how Daryl’s warmth and compassion helped to transform hundreds of KKK members to revoke their memberships. What prompted him to take this action? Can we use his example to help us realize that we can all make a difference? How did he feel facing these men and women who professed to hate his whole ethnic group? What has he learned about himself and humanity in the process? Daryl exemplifies the core principles of the Inner Revolution, Oneness, Accountability and Mutual Support. Watch Daryl’s new Netflix documentary, “Accidental Courtesy.” Call in and join the conversation.

It feels good to recycle, buy local, and verify that our clothing brand has sustainable practices. But are we really making a difference? What could have a larger impact? What can we actually do that will impact the economy and the environment in a positive way, supporting sustainability? Join co-hosts Chris Reese and Helen Hillix as they interview Alden Wicker, the founder of EcoCult, a leading sustainable lifestyle blog and a freelance journalist who has been featured in Newsweek, Quartz and many other publications. Alden provides an informed and compassionate perspective and she urges us to take action! Listen in and join the InnerRevolution, where we question everything and are often surprised and inspired with the outcome.

In 1950, guest Beth Green heard a popular song: “Lucky, lucky, lucky me, I’m a lucky son of a gun. I work 8 hours, I sleep 8 hours and have 8 hours of fun.” Even as a child, Beth was baffled by those words. People worked 8 hours and slept 8 hours but definitely didn’t have 8 hours for fun. Who does? This little ditty shows the lie that we live every day: the lie that work is what we get paid for. This narrow definition ignores all the unpaid work we do every day and disguises how housework and relaxation are connected to work. Aren’t we either getting ourselves ready for work, recovering from work, helping others function at work, avoiding work or raising the next generation of workers? Beth says the way we have been taught to connect work with money has led to the disempowerment of men and women, blinded us to our overwork and kept us divided and down. So what do we do? Let’s start by revolutionizing the conversation about work right now! Tune in to this show and call if you can.

The economic and political system that reigns supreme does not care about the health or welfare of anyone. It's a machine that chews up executives, secretaries and fast food workers alike. But what if this wasn't the case? What if our economic system was based on a wholly different model – based on the notion that quality of life should be measured by more than national income? U.C. Berkeley Economics professor Clair Brown will join us to answer these questions and more. She'll share her approach to organizing the economy that embraces questions of values, sustainability, and equity. In her new book, Buddhist Economics, Brown incorporates the Buddhist emphasis on interdependence, shared prosperity, and happiness into her vision for a sustainable and compassionate world. We cannot thrive in a world where we sacrifice ourselves to an economy and societal norms which put short-term self-interest before our health and the health of the earth. Join us for this important conversation!

Aren’t you sick of the pain of the polarized conversation in our country about abortion? Do you believe that there is common ground between the two sides? Is it true that most pro-life supporters are not feminists? And is it true that most pro-life supporters truly believe in supporting all life? Are the New Wave Feminists truly an original idea? Do they promise the hope that the two disparate sides of this issue might be coming toward finding commonalities at last? Are pro-choice women the only group that can be feminists and pro-women’s rights? We won’t shy away from the tough questions on this show! Join us for what is sure to be a dynamic conversation that just might challenge all our perspectives and move us all to a new place on this most painful issue. And it might just help create an Inner Revolution in some of us! Call in with your questions and share your experiences. Then join us for the April 8th, 10-1, Revolutionizing the Abortion Conversation event online or in person.

Are you wondering if resistance and fighting are the solution? Is there a nagging voice in the back of your mind challenging you to not polarize? We cannot fight hate with hate. And we cannot capitulate and recede into the background. How do we find our voice and join forces for real change; to create Oneness, Accountability and Mutual Support? The Handbook for the Inner Revolution provides guidance. Join live or listen in as the InnerRevolution.Org members share from the Handbook and relate their own experiences in overcoming our tendencies to fight and separate. Let's move into more harmony and forward movement for the highest good of all.

Andrea Shelton, president of Heart Bound Ministries, answers that question: Your mommy will read to you. Hear Andrea share about the transformative healing programs that HeartBound brings into the GA correctional system to restore family bonds. This work is Inner Revolutionary because the inmates are not confined to the role of prisoner or criminal. They get to be parents too. Haven't we all made mistakes? Don't we hope that others will forgive us and possibly see us in a different light? Join us as we feel our connection through the common human bond that transcends religion or political affiliation, of longing for family and redemption.

A generation of Americans have grown up seeing progress as an inevitable fact, but many are waking up for to realize that each of us is responsible for shaping our shared future. How can we shape that shared future together, without resorting to shortcuts like labeling or dismissing those we consider different from us? Can we instead, try to understand how the life experiences of others impact their views and choices? Join us for a conversation with Andrew Morgan, who returns to Inner Revolutionary radio to talk about his new online documentary series, Untold America. Can this new series help to foster an Inner Revolution of Oneness, Accountability and Mutual Support? Tune in and find out. The country is more divided than at any point in modern history and the need for powerful and clear stories of who we are, where we came from, and where we can go are more important than ever.

While soldiers make up only 7% of our population they are responsible for 20% of the suicides in the US. Why? What is moral injury and how do we help those who are suffering its effects? Join us as Rev. Brock exposes the painful reality of a deep and wrenching injury that cannot be seen: the injury to the soul when a soldier is asked to do things that are contrary to his or her moral convictions. While PTSD treatment helps many soldiers heal and return to normal lives, there are a significant number who are not healed by it. We will explore why and whether it has anything to do with the type of military engagement, as well as the country’s perception of the battle being fought. What effect does this have on the families? How do they feel about their loved ones being involved in battle and possibly killing others, sometimes civilians and children? Join us as we explore the true cost of war and how to treat our returning soldiers with the care they need.

Many people are angry about the policies of the new U.S. government, and the word “resistance” is on many people’s tongues. But is resistance enough? How would this resistance be different from the right-wing resistance to President Obama, when the “other” side felt excluded and disenfranchised, which in turn, helped swing the pendulum to Trump? How can we move past divisive politics, where the pendulum keeps swinging back and forth, problems don’t get resolved and a lot of folks get hurt? Is it possible to free ourselves from the tyranny of the pendulum, go beyond resistance and achieve a revolutionary shift in the foundation of society? Tune in to this show, where co-hosts Beth Green and James Maynard talk with Helen Hillix, Co-Director of Outreach of TheInnerRevolution.org, and learn more about what some people are doing to overcome the tyranny of the pendulum swing and to bring about the historic changes we need for a better world. Call in if you can.

Our children are experiencing alarming rates of stress, depression, obesity, diabetes and other health risks associated with sedentary lifestyles, according to many researchers. At the same time, children are increasingly disconnected from the natural world. This disconnect is more prevalent in lower income urban neighborhoods where health risks are already high. A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that the creation of nature-rich urban environments can help improve overall health, creativity, and social cohesion. Join host Chris Reese and co-host Helen Hillix as they speak with Margaret Lamar, the Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Children and Nature Network. Lamar tackles the huge issue of children’s sedentary lifestyle and their often-unmet need to play in nature. She works in communities across the U.S. to connect children to outdoor learning and play with the goal of wellbeing. Listen and call in if you can. It will be enlightening, informative, and inspiring!

Have you noticed how few men have really close male friendships. And if they do they're usually drinking or sports buddies. Why is that? What keeps men from connecting with one another in a real way? Join us as men from the men's group Inner Revolutionary Men explore this topic together. We'll share the outcome of our recent retreat Crush or Build: A Workshop for Men Who Want to Use Our Power for the Good. What happened in our lives that caused us to feel men weren't safe to connect to? And what happens in our socialization that reinforces that message? Finally, what can we do to undo all that programming and connect to one another in ways that are authentic, caring, loving and emotionally honest. We're excited to share what we've learned as well as our own challenges in connecting to each other instead of going back to our safe ways of relating. Join us with your questions and comments too.