Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity

In this episode, the first in the Curiosity series, I've asked a number of people to come on the show over the next few weeks to talk very briefly about an aspect of their life that makes them tilt their heads in curiosity and want to know more about how to satisfy it. My first guest is Pat McHugh. Pat is the Executive Vice President of Sales for the hand2mind school publishing company, which develops supplemental curriculum, social and emotional learning products, and hands-on resources. He's starting to engage his curiosity to confront an issue that each of us will eventually face: retirement.

My guest in this episode is Mary Thomas-Vallens. Mary, a 40-year classroom teacher in the Irvine California Unified School District, currently serves as a moderator and in various other capacities for the Braver Angels organization, which works to depolarize "reds" and "blues," "conservatives" and "liberals" and help them become better listeners.

"It's really all about building relationships. Actually, that's what advocacy is about at its core." Sue Inches is an experienced environmental advocate, educator, and policy consultant. She is the author of the highly acclaimed Advocating for the Environment: How to Gather Your Power and Take Action.

When the supply chain works, it's a beautiful thing. But as the old saying goes, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and given the complexity of most supply chains today, any disruption can have a significant impact. Today's guest St. Claire L. Gerald, an Association of Supply Chain Management Certified Supply Chain Professional, helps us understand why the system is so delicate and how it can impact us.

My guest in this episode is Leanne Gordon, the principal of Leanne Gordon, a firm dedicated to helping individuals navigate what overwhelms them when considering change, their personal or their organization's false starts in change initiatives, and the inevitable resistance they'll encounter leading change.

Tania Marien is an independent environmental education professional and the Director of Talaterra — "Speak Earth" — a network of independent environmental education (EE) professionals who contribute to lifelong learning and environmental health in communities. OK, that's Tania's official bio. After talking with her for a couple of hours and studying what she does and how she works, I prefer to describe her as a "citizen for our age": she's a connector, an organizer, a contributor, a doer, a giver, and infinitely smart about how to approach the highly complex topics of the environment and climate change.

My guest in this episode is Steve Ehrlich. Steve is semi-retired, but now applying his life-long experience in adult learning, psychology, and literature to a new chapter — bringing the transformative lessons and stories gleaned from the fly fishing environment to support personal and professional growth. In this episode, we will wade into the literature of fly fishing — a contemplative, lyrical, and often poetic genre that examines water and our association with nature as a metaphor for life.

My guest in this episode is Dr. Donna Curtin, a historian serving as the Executive Director of the Pilgrim Hall Museum. Pilgrim Hall is "the oldest continuously operating public museum in the country and America's museum of Pilgrim possessions. I wanted to talk to Dr. Curtin because as a former high school history teacher and developer of social studies classroom materials for more than 35 years, I'm very concerned about the restrictions being placed on what some history teachers can teach especially on the theme of racism. Having met Donna on a tour of the Pilgrim Hall Museum, I felt she would bring the professional historian's view of the role and value of history for young and old alike.

My guest in this episode is Bradley Wright, a professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut and host of the "School of Purpose" podcast. When I began to investigate curiosity, Bradley's focus on purpose was one of the first ideas that intrigued me because I don't ever remember saying to myself, "That's why I'm here! That's what I meant to do in life!" Instead, it was more like, "Well, maybe I could teach." Curious as I am, I wanted to explore the relationship between my passion for curiosity and the appeal of discovering life's purpose. So, too, it turns out, did Bradley.

How do you go about telling a very inviting and understandable story in film? My guest in this episode, Rita Grant, is an award-winning documentary film cinematographer, director, and producer, and the driving force behind Sweet Sage Pictures. In our conversation, she explains how she harnesses her technical skills, curiosity, instinct, and heart behind the camera.