Advertise on podcast: The Garrison Institute Presents: The Common Good

In this conversation, Steve Varley sits down with spiritual teacher, author, and artist Rupert Spira at the Garrison Institute to explore nonduality, the nature of being, and the discovery of lasting peace and happiness. Reflecting on his journey from ceramic artist to spiritual teacher, Rupert discusses how beauty can reveal the reality beneath appearances, why his teaching increasingly speaks of being, love, and devotion, and how different spiritual traditions lead toward a recognition of our shared nature. They explore the relationship between inner peace and responsibility to others and whether artificial intelligence could ever experience consciousness.  We’d love to hear your thoughts about the podcast, please send us a note at [email protected] to let us know what you think. Produced by The Garrison Institute and The Podglomerate.

In this episode of The Common Good, Jonathan F.P. Rose speaks with Peter Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline, about systems thinking, organizational learning, personal mastery, and the deeper forms of awareness needed to address today’s interconnected challenges. Senge explores how generative social fields and “ethical space” can help people move beyond fragmentation and cultivate collective intelligence. He also draws on Indigenous wisdom, Buddhist traditions, and contemporary science to consider awareness, interdependence, and our relationship with community and Earth. We’d love to hear your thoughts about the podcast, please send us a note at [email protected] to let us know what you think. Produced by The Garrison Institute and The Podglomerate.

Roshi Joan Halifax is a Buddhist teacher, Zen priest, social activist, author, and pioneer in end-of-life care. In this conversation with Gretchen Steidle, she reflects on a lifetime of contemplative practice and service, exploring what death and dying can teach us about impermanence, grief, fear, interdependence, and living with greater courage and compassion. Drawing on her encounters with Thich Nhat Hanh, her work with dying patients and healthcare professionals, and her experiences in prisons and hospitals, Roshi Joan describes contemplative practice as a way of encountering reality as it is. She explores our cultural fear of mortality, the illusion of control, and the role of interdependence in social change. She also shares her recent experience encountering the threshold of death with peace, acceptance, and gratitude, and asks: What will serve this moment? We’d love to hear your thoughts about the podcast, please send us a note at [email protected] to let us know what you think. Produced by The Garrison Institute and The Podglomerate.

In this episode of Inner Works, Gretchen Steidle explores the relationship between inner work, education, and systems change with Radha Ruparell, Chief Learning Officer for the Global Institute for Shaping a Better Future and head of the Global Leadership Accelerator of Teach For All. Radha shares how educators and leaders can move from stress and reactivity toward greater awareness, connection, agency, and wellbeing. She explores the power of nervous system regulation, deep listening, and learning to be with difference and tension. Through stories from schools and communities around the world, Radha shows how individual transformation can ripple outward to reshape teams, institutions, and education systems, and why cultivating more compassionate, connected, and “whole” humans may be essential to creating a better future. We’d love to hear your thoughts about the podcast, please send us a note at [email protected] to let us know what you think. Produced by The Garrison Institute and The Podglomerate.

How can we create a future rooted in interdependence rather than isolation? In this episode of Inner Works, Gretchen Steidle speaks with Norma Wong, a Native Hawaiian Zen master, experienced political leader, and author of Who We Are Becoming Matters. Norma explores kuleana, the Hawaiian concept of mutual responsibility and stewardship, and how reconnecting with ourselves, each other, and the natural world can transform how we understand social change. She challenges us to look beyond systems change alone and cultivate the communities, practices, and relationships needed to navigate a time of profound disruption. From forest bathing and sharing food to collective action, Norma offers practical wisdom for moving from individual effort toward collective thriving and reminds us: “Let’s not get stuck.” We’d love to hear your thoughts about the podcast, please send us a note at [email protected] to let us know what you think. Produced by The Garrison Institute and The Podglomerate.

What if the greatest prison isn't made of concrete, but of the unconscious patterns we carry within ourselves? Susan Olesek, founder of the Enneagram Prison Project, and EPP ambassador Alex Senegal join Gretchen Steidle to explore how self-awareness, compassion, and the Enneagram are transforming lives inside prisons and beyond. Together they discuss the relationship between trauma, personality, and behavior, the power of psychological safety, and why healing begins by recognizing our innate goodness. Alex also shares his extraordinary journey from gang involvement and incarceration to becoming a leader helping others find freedom from within. This conversation offers a hopeful vision for criminal justice reform, personal transformation, and the role inner work can play in creating healthier individuals, stronger communities, and lasting systems change. We’d love to hear your thoughts about the podcast, please send us a note at [email protected] to let us know what you think. Produced by The Garrison Institute and The Podglomerate.

In this special bridge episode, Steve Varley, Managing Director of the Garrison Institute, introduces a new chapter in the Institute's podcast story. Reflecting on the themes explored in "The Common Good" with Jonathan F.P. Rose, Steve welcomes Gretchen Steidle, director of Garrison Institute's Spirituality and Social Change initiative, as the host of the forthcoming "Inner Works" series. Together, they explore the origins of the Conscious Change Collective, a global initiative mapping organizations that integrate contemplative practice, spirituality, and personal transformation into social change. Gretchen shares her own path into inner work, explains what the Collective has uncovered about the field, and offers a preview of four remarkable conversations that explore how inner transformation can become a catalyst for lasting systems change. We’d love to hear your thoughts about the podcast, please send us a note at [email protected] to let us know what you think. Produced by The Garrison Institute and The Podglomerate.

In this episode, Jonathan F.P. Rose speaks with Samir Goel, co-founder and co-CEO of Esusu, about reimagining credit, expanding financial inclusion, and building an economy that works for everyone. Samir shares his journey from the son of Indian immigrants to leading a billion-dollar fintech company helping millions of renters build credit and unlock economic opportunity. Together they explore the hidden power of credit scores, the role of trust and community in financial systems, housing affordability, and stakeholder capitalism. This conversation offers a hopeful vision for creating wealth, strengthening communities, and advancing the common good through thoughtful innovation and systems change. We’d love to hear your thoughts about the podcast, please send us a note at [email protected] to let us know what you think. Produced by The Garrison Institute and The Podglomerate.

What does it mean to flourish—not as isolated individuals, but as members of a living web of relationships? In this episode, Indigenous scholar, contemplative researcher, and author Yuria Celidwen explores the wisdom traditions that have shaped her work on collective wellbeing, ecological belonging, and kinship with the more-than-human world. Drawing from her Maya Tseltal heritage and decades of research bridging Indigenous contemplative sciences and Western scholarship, Yuria reflects on language preservation, ancestral knowledge, the healing of historical harms, and the responsibilities we owe future generations. Hosted by Garrison Institute co-founder Diana Calthorpe Rose, this episode examines the principles behind Yuria’s groundbreaking book Flourishing Kin and consider how Indigenous perspectives can help us reimagine belonging, stewardship, and the transformation our world urgently needs. We’d love to hear your thoughts about the podcast, please send us a note at [email protected] to let us know what you think. Produced by The Garrison Institute and The Podglomerate.

In this episode, Jonathan F.P. Rose speaks with Otto Scharmer, founder of the Presencing Institute, senior lecturer at MIT, and creator of Theory U, a leadership and systems-change framework for sensing and shaping emerging futures. Drawing on his journey from his family's regenerative farm in Germany to pioneering global transformation initiatives, Scharmer explores how deep listening, awareness, and collective action can help leaders move beyond outdated patterns and respond to today’s social, economic, and ecological challenges. Together they discuss the practice of “presencing,” the shift from ego-system to ecosystem awareness, and why the future often emerges first at the edges of systems. Scharmer also shares his vision of a “Second Axial Age,” where humanity must cultivate new forms of consciousness, collaboration, and leadership to meet planetary challenges and serve the common good. We’d love to hear your thoughts about the podcast, please send us a note at [email protected] to let us know what you think. Produced by The Garrison Institute and The Podglomerate.

In this 10-minute guided meditation, Sharon invites you to gather your attention and energy toward the practice of loving kindness. Through the use of select phrases, you'll have an opportunity to direct your heart's energy toward those around you, toward yourself, and ultimately toward all creatures and beings. You can find more meditations and contemplative resources like this at GarrisonInstitute.org, along with information about our Contemplative-Based Resilience initiative and other programs supporting those who serve our communities. You can find more meditations and contemplative resources like this at ⁠GarrisonInstitute.org⁠, along with information about our Contemplative-Based Resilience initiative and other programs supporting those who serve our communities. Follow the podcast at ⁠https://www.garrisoninstitute.org/podcasts/⁠ Sign up for the newsletter to receive upcoming show previews and special resources heard on the podcast ⁠here.⁠

Buddhist teacher Josh Korda of Dharma Punx NYC joins Steve Varley for a wide-ranging conversation on addiction recovery, meditation, neuroscience, and the search for meaningful community in modern life. Josh reflects on his own path to sobriety, leaving a successful advertising career after 9/11, and helping build a contemplative community for outsiders and seekers. Together they explore the overlap between Buddhist practice and modern psychology, the dangers of “corporate mindfulness” divorced from human connection, and how nature and spiritual friendship are essential for breaking the repetitive cycles of the mind. A powerful conversation about healing, purpose, and what genuine spiritual practice looks like today. We’d love to hear your thoughts about the podcast, please send us a note at [email protected] to let us know what you think. Produced by The Garrison Institute and The Podglomerate.

In this special in-person conversation recorded at the Garrison Institute, Cynthia Bourgeault and David Frenette explore the transformative practice of Centering Prayer, nondual consciousness, and the spiritual legacy of Father Thomas Keating. Drawing from decades of teaching, retreat leadership, and personal friendship with Keating, Bourgeault and Frenette reflect on prayer not as escape, but as a path toward compassion and deeper participation in reality. Intimate and searching, yet grounded, this conversation offers a rare opportunity to hear two influential contemplative teachers thinking together in real time about what it means to awaken, let go, and fully inhabit the world. We’d love to hear your thoughts about the podcast, please send us a note at [email protected] to let us know what you think. Produced by The Garrison Institute and The Podglomerate.

Cultural ecologist David Abram explores the “more-than-human world,” challenging the human-centered mindset of the Anthropocene and calling for a return to ecological humility. In this rich conversation, Abram weaves philosophy, indigenous wisdom, and lived experience to reveal our deep reciprocity with Earth—from the air we breathe to the bodies we inhabit. He unpacks concepts like consanguinity, mutuality, and the ethics of interdependence, offering a powerful critique of modern disconnection. Drawing on his journey as a sleight-of-hand magician and encounters with traditional healers, Abram highlights the lost role of mediators between human and nonhuman realms. We’d love to hear your thoughts about the podcast, please send us a note at [email protected] to let us know what you think. Produced by The Garrison Institute and The Podglomerate.

In this conversation recorded not long before her death in 2025, activist and systems thinker Joanna Macy joins Jonathan at a Garrison Institute Pathways to Planetary Health forum to discuss how we can stay present and purposeful in a time of ecological and social crisis. Drawing on Buddhism, systems theory, and decades of activism, she shares insights on interdependence, non-linear thinking, and what she calls “the Great Turning”—the shift from a destructive industrial growth society to a life-sustaining world. Macy speaks candidly about despair, climate grief, gratitude, and the courage to feel deeply without becoming paralyzed. We’d love to hear your thoughts about the podcast, please send us a note at [email protected] to let us know what you think. Produced by The Garrison Institute and The Podglomerate.