New Dimensions

Sim Van der Ryn has been leading the way for a more regenerative, resilient, and sustainable future as a pioneer of the green building movement. This movement emphasizes the value to our health and well-being of a direct connection to nature. Designing in collaboration with nature is a major tool toward creating a vital new architecture for an empathic world. Van der Ryn has been a leading proponent of the green building movement (even before it was known as that), and for more than a half a century has been leading the way to a more regenerative, resilient, and sustainable future. His books include The Integral Urban House: Self-Reliant Living in the City (Random House 1982) and Design for an Empathic World: Reconnecting to People, Nature, and Self (Island Press 2013)Interview Date: 1/22/2014   Tags: Sim Van der Ryn, nature deficit disorder, regenerative architecture, Christos’ fence, People’s Park, Occupy movement, resilience, green building, closed environments, toxic environments, watercolors, water coloring, five principles of eco-design, biomimicry, Bill McDonough, Jason McLennan, Bucky Fuller, Buckminster Fuller, mimic nature’s process, incidental contact, natural light, Monterey hospital, Real Goods Trading Company, water conservation, ecological architecture, Community, Environment/Nature/Ecology, Social Change/Politics

Hassouri goes through the reactions of shock, resistance, grief, acceptance, and finally pride when her 13-year old child tells her that she is transgender. What would happen if society weren't so strict with gender roles and thought more in terms of a gender spectrum? What would we look like as a society if we didn't assign binary roles to the different genders? Paria Hassouri, M.D. is a pediatrician, mother of three, and a transgender rights advocate. She’s a proud Iranian-American and has written articles that have appeared in multiple media outlets including the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and the Huffington Post. is She is the author of a memoir: Found in Transition: A Mother’s Evolution During Her Child’s Gender Change (New World Library 2020) Interview Date: 10/26/2020  Tags: Paria Hassouri, transgender, trans, bisexual, gay, LGBTQIA, gender spectrum, autism spectrum, binary world, cisgender, Social Change/Politics, Parenting, Relationship/Partnership/Sexuality

This program explores a pervasive ailment of our age which is Nature Deficit Disorder. “The more high-tech our lives become, the more nature we need.” Louv also adds, “Conservation is no longer enough. For everything we receive from nature, we need to give back, we need to nurture nature, as much as it nurtures us.” Richard Louv’s writings and books have helped launch an international movement to connect children, families, and communities to nature. He is cofounder and chair emeritus of the nonprofit Children & Nature Network. In 2008 he was awarded the Audubon Medal which he shares with such notables as Rachel Carson, E.O. Wilson, and Sir David Attenborough. Richard Louv is the author of many books including:Last Child in the Woods (Algonquin Books 2008), The Nature Principle: Reconnecting with Life in a Virtual Age (Algonquin Books 2012) and Our Wild Calling: How Connecting with Animals Can Transform Our Lives—and Save Theirs (Algonquin Books 2019)Interview Date: 10/8/2020    Tags: Richard Louv, generation amnesia, Nature Deficit Disorder, Glenn Albrecht, Symbiocene Era, Ecozoic Era, Anthropocene Era, E.O. Wilson, Thomas Berry, Rouge River Ford Motor Plant, William McDonough, Singapore, Douglas Tallamy, Homegrown National Park, native plants, wildlife corridors, social capital, Jon Young, 8 Shields, Sit Spots, Children & Nature Network, octopus, Paul Dayton, reciprocity, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Social Change/Politics, Science

When a realization flashes into our consciousness that we are aging, we tend to tighten up with fear. Negative images of our parents, grandparents, and friends loom before us. Anderson counsels us to move from that gripping fear into curiosity. She shares poignant stories about elders and luminaries such as Marion Woodman. This is a deeply personal and moving conversation. Sherry Ruth Anderson writes and teaches about spiritual development, with a special interest in women's experience and aging as awakening. Her documentary film "A Woman's Descent to the Sacred “ was an official entry in the Mill Valley Film Festival in 2011. She’s the author of The Feminine Face of God (coauthor Patricia Hopkins) (Bantam 1991), The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People are Changing the World (coauthor Paul Ray) (Crown 2001) and Ripening Time: Inside Stories for Aging with Grace (Changemakers Books 2013)Interview Date: 10/3/2013    Tags: Sherry Ruth Anderson, aging, diminishment, death, ripening, lifespan, fear, forgetting, fearful, curiosity, growing older, Marion Woodman, elders, presence, deep listening, circles, nursing homes, vulnerable, vulnerability, voluntarism, laughter, Dustin Hoffman, Maurice Sendak, generosity, authenticity, Personal Transformation, Spirituality, Women’s Studies, Death & Dying, Community

Since the 1960s Paul Winter has been in the vanguard of musicians who express special appreciation for the natural music of our world, including wolves, whales, birds, wind and water. His inclusivity combines everything from Bach to Bossa Nova, and his albums, Common Ground and Callings, are cultural landmarks, as is his album Missa Gaia/Earth Mass. Our New Dimensions theme music, "Icarus," is performed by the Paul Winter Consort. Paul Winter’s albums include: Common Ground (1989), Wolf Eyes: Retrospective (1989), Callings (1989), Canyon Lullaby (1998), Prayer for the Wild Things (1994), Missa Gaia/Earth Mass (1994), Miho: Journey to the Mountain (2010), Light of the Sun (2020)Interview Date: 10/9/2020   Tags: Paul Winter, improv, jazz, music ensemble, Jackie Kennedy, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Roger Payne, Humpback whale, wolves, orcas, I.M. Pei, Miho Museum, Paul Spong, Mickey Hoolahan, Ralph Towner, David Darling, Grand Canyon, Soviet Space Bridge, Art & Creativity, History

Poet, spiritual thinker and author of Seven Thousand Ways to Listen, Nepo explores the many ways that deep listening is a matter of being changed by leaning into all we don't understand. Intuitive listening requires us to still our minds until the beauty of things older than our minds can find us. He describes this kind of listening as "a process by which what matters moves between us." He is the author of many books including Reduced To Joy (Cleis Press 2013) and More Together Than Alone: Discovering the Power and Spirit of Community in Our Lives and in the World (Atria Books 2018) Interview Date: 12/6/2013     Tags: MP3, Mark Nepo, giving and receiving, deep listening, what matters, personal mythology, web of relationship, friendship, witnessed, trust, paradox, Beethoven, outwaiting the clouds, truth, ocean, eternity, endure and endear, beauty, John Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn, John Paul Lederach, Personal Transformation, Health & Healing, Self Help 

Moeller describes herself as a former “self help junkie” but when her home and all of her belongings burned in a raging wildfire she realized that she had only dipped her toes into the waters of living the life she longed to be living. After the fire, she was inspired to quit waiting for things to be “perfect” before acting on her passions. In this dialogue we explore the many reasons we wait for our life to begin, such as waiting for enough money, waiting for the right time, waiting to be smart enough, or to have the right relationship. Kristen Moeller is a coach, speaker, workshop leader, author, and radio show host. She is the author of Waiting for Jack: Confessions of a Self-Help Junkie: How to Stop Waiting and Start Living Your Life (co-author Jack Canfield) (Morgan James Publishing 2010) and What Are You Waiting For? Learn How To Rise to the Occasion of Your Life (Viva Editions 2013)Interview Date: 5/3/2014    Tags: Kristen Moeller, wildfire, giving and receiving, letting people help, receiving help, rehab, recovery, enlightenment, non-attachment, fluidity, Elizabeth Gilbert, self-acceptance, mourning, grief, dogs, Beagle Rescue project, Christian the lion, failure, dogs, Personal Transformation, Self Help, Spirituality, Community, Animals

We are an unruly republic of independent entities, a multiplicity of selves. In this dialogue we explore how we discover, honor, and work with each of these selves. You’ll discover how awareness heals as we become aware of the reality of our own selves and the selves of others. James Fadiman, Ph.D. is a former president of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, a Professor of Psychology, and one of the foremost researchers in microdosing studies. He’s the cofounder of the Sofia University, rooted in transforming the transpersonal, and has been researching healthy multiplicity for more than 20 years. He's the author of many books including Your Symphony of Selves: Discover and Understand More of Who We Are (coauthor Jordan Gruber J.D.) (Park Street Press 2020). Jordan Gruber was awarded a J.D., Juris Doctor degree, and has forged and sculpted authoritative volumes in forensic law, financial services and self development. He founded the enlightenment.com website. He is the author of The Bounce: The Complete SuperBound® Guidebook to 21st-Century Rebound Exercise (coauthor Joy Daniels) (SuperBound 2020)Interview Date: 9/14/2020    Tags: Jordan Gruber, James Fadiman, single self assumption, sub-personality, sub-personalities, a multiplicity of selves, angry self, AA, addiction, addicted self, schizophrenia, multiple selves, Psychology, Dreams, Personal Transformation

Hersch Wilson is a volunteer firefighter-EMT who is committed to revealing how first responders can guide us in ways to act more effectively in our own lives. With insightful and practical wisdom he advises, and it is his experience, that it is helpful to approach life’s inevitable emergencies with the intention to remain calm and act creatively. He is the author of: Play to Win!: Choosing Growth Over Fear In Work And Life (coauthor with his late father, Larry Wilson) (Bard Press; Revised Edition 2004) and Firefighter Zen: A Field Guide To Thriving In Tough Times (New World Library 2020)Interview Date: 9/25/2020   Tags: MP3, Hersch Wilson, Talmud, the pandemic, Otis Maxfield, M.D., CISD, critical incident stress debriefing, FOMO, fear of missing out, adrenalized, grief, grieving, courage, pandemic 2020, fear, being useful, King Midas, happiness, Personal Transformation, Health & Healing