Curated Questions: Conversations Celebrating the Power of Questions!

"Not being a hundred percent sure all the time is a weird strength." - Haru YamadaIn this episode of Curated Questions, Ken Woodward is in conversation with Dr. Haru Yamada, a sociolinguist, intercultural communication scholar, and author of Kiku: The Japanese Art of Good Listening, to explore what it really means to listen. Haru traces her early understanding of questions back to age four, when she moved from Tokyo to New York and had to use questions as a tool for language, belonging, and survival.Together, they unpack how culture shapes communication: English often rewards “flashlight” questioning, the precise, content-driven clarity, while Japanese culture tends to favor a “lantern” approach that illuminates context, relationship, and what isn’t said. Haru also shares the harrowing accident that reshaped her understanding of listening as a health practice, linking felt-heard experiences to relational, mental, and even physical well-being.In a noisy, multitasking world, this conversation reframes listening as an active, life-giving skill, and a compass for navigating each other with empathy.This Curated Questions episode can be found on all major platforms and at CuratedQuestions.com.Keep questioning!Episode Notes00:00 Introduction: Embracing Uncertainty01:57 Introducing Dr. Haru Yamada02:23 The Art of Listening: Kiku03:12 A Life-Altering Accident03:37 Welcoming Dr. Yamada04:02 Early Experiences with Questions04:57 Navigating Cultural Differences07:28 The Journey of a Third Culture Kid08:19 Academic Pursuits in Linguistics10:32 The Strength in Uncertainty16:04 Questioning Anti-Fragility As A Goal23:02 Flashlight vs. Lantern: Different Approaches to Questions26:57 Cultural Context in Business Meetings28:16 Interpersonal Communication Challenges32:12 The Importance of Listening39:51 Personal Anecdotes and Reflections44:11 The Healing Power of Being Heard47:42 Reflecting on Past Medical Experiences48:16 The Evolution of Listening Post-COVID49:41 Remote Work and Multitasking52:24 The Impact of Isolation on Communication54:02 Curated Interactions in the Digital Age55:34 The Shift in Media Consumption57:48 The Importance of Visual and Auditory Listening59:04 Personal Experiences with Hearing Loss01:00:58 Advancements in Hearing Aid Technology01:03:20 The Value of Ambiguous Questions01:04:23 The Fear of Uncertainty in Listening01:05:05 The Role of Multitasking in Communication01:07:24 Learning from Students' Unique Needs01:11:29 The Changing Nature of Academic Inquiry01:19:23 Better Understanding The Lantern View01:22:35 Cultural Differences in Language Learning01:24:52 The Complexity of Bilingualism01:26:48 The Challenges of Cross-Cultural Communication01:31:07 Final Reflections and TakeawaysResources MentionedKIKU: The Japanese Art of Good Listening by Dr. Haru YamadaLynn Borton at Choose To Be CuriousJeff WetzlerAustin K GraffAntifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas TalebThe Power of Introverts TED Talk by Susan CainStanford Interpersonal Dynamics ClassDr. Haru Yamada on LinkedInProducer Ben FordBeauty Pill

Rob Walker, a writer and cultural observer known for The Art of Noticing, discusses the transformative power of asking questions. He shares how his passion for journalism at 18 gave him permission to ask, fueling his curiosity. Rob highlights the unique storytelling culture of New Orleans and how small noticing assignments can enrich everyday life. He illustrates the significance of narratives in valuing objects through his Significant Objects project and emphasizes that questions hold the key to creativity, agency, and societal progress.

"We vote with our labor for the world we want to create. If you don't reflect on what you're doing, how do you know you're casting the right vote?" - Radhika DuttIn this episode of Curated Questions, host Ken Woodward engages entrepreneur and author Radhika Dutt in a profound exploration of how questions can transform organizations from goal-driven to puzzle-solving entities. Radhika is the author of "Radical Product Thinking" and shares her journey from MIT to becoming a serial entrepreneur to developing the puzzle-based leadership OHLA framework (Objectives, Hypotheses, Learnings, Adaptations).The conversation reveals how traditional goal-setting, rooted in 1940s assembly-line thinking, fails in today's complex environment, where creative problem-solving matters more than repetitive execution.Radhika demonstrates through a live experiment how "puzzles" energize while "goals" burden, explaining that puzzles tap into internal motivation rather than external pressure. She emphasizes the critical importance of reflection, a practice she credits with enabling better decision-making both personally and professionally.Drawing from her nine languages and global experience, including living in post-apartheid South Africa, Radhika offers insights on creating psychological safety for questions across cultures. The episode culminates with practical guidance on implementing puzzle-based thinking in organizations, showing how asking better questions leads to ownership, engagement, and transformative results.This Curated Questions episode can be found on all major platforms and at CuratedQuestions.com.Keep questioning!Resources MentionedRadical Product Thinking: The New Mindset for Innovating Smarter by Radhika DuttLobby SevenMITAvid TechnologyMonetary Authority of SingaporeChatGPTSam AltmanGates FoundationWhat has the Gates Foundation done for Global Health?Muhammad YunusMicroloansEsther DufloAbhijit BanerjeeFrank BlakeAdobeAppleOnly The Paranoid SurviveDavid Eagleman Management by Objectives detailed in The Practice of Management by Peter DruckerGeneral MotorsLean StartupAdidasBryn Mawr CollegeMonument LabAlbert EinsteinDrama of the Gifted Child by Alice MillerOHLA Framework Toolkit (Objectives, Hypotheses, Learnings, Adaptations)Radhika Dutt on LinkedInRadicalProduct.comProducer Ben FordBeauty Pill

"The Insight Pause is sitting in the rubble of your shattered worldview before clearing a single stone." - Ken WoodwardIn this solo episode, Ken Woodward introduces The Insight Pause—a five-step framework for navigating the moments that crack open our worldview. Through his own story of confronting the hidden history behind the Indigenous names and artifacts that shaped his childhood landscape, Ken explores how insights arrive fully formed, unsettle our identities, and demand more than quick fixes or defensive reactions.He walks listeners through the foundational skills that prepare us for these moments, the instant of recognition, the sacred pause that follows, and the slow work of integrating unsettling truths into a new, liberated worldview.Whether you're rethinking long-held beliefs, noticing contradictions you can’t ignore, or sensing that something in your life no longer fits, this episode offers a practical and compassionate guide for holding discomfort without collapsing into denial or overreaction.Discover how the Insight Pause can transform the questions you carry—and the person you’re becoming.This Curated Questions episode can be found on all major platforms and at CuratedQuestions.com.Keep questioning!Episode Notes00:00 Introduction and Welcome01:55 Personal Story: Early Realizations02:36 The Cracks in the Story02:51 Framework Introduction03:37 Manifest Destiny and Indigenous Names04:29 A Shattered Worldview05:37 The Moment of Insight05:56 Step One: Foundation07:38 Step Two: Insight08:47 Step Three: Insight Pause10:23 Step Four: Integration12:04 Step Five: Liberation13:28 Insight Pause Deep Dive16:14 Practical Applications17:11 Creating Your Own Pause Practice19:36 Final Thoughts and Call to ActionResources MentionedYavapai County (https://www.yavapaiaz.gov/Home)Hopi (https://www.hopi-nsn.gov/)An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz (https://a.co/d/8xO1EDb)Manifest Destiny (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifest_destiny)Prescott, Arizona (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prescott,_Arizona)Quinnipiac River (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinnipiac_River)Niantic (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niantic_people)Montauk Point (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montauk_Point_Light)Mashantucket Pequot (https://www.mptn-nsn.gov/)Mohegan (https://www.mohegan.nsn.us/)Bison herds (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_bison)American exceptionalism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_exceptionalism)Founding Fathers of the United States (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founding_Fathers_of_the_United_States)Piscataway (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piscataway_people)Narragansett (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narragansett_people)Producer Ben Ford (https://www.producerbenford.com/)Beauty Pill (https://www.beautypill.com/)Questions AskedWhat question are you avoiding that would change everything?What questions float at the edge of your consciousness?What contradictions do you live with daily?Even if 50% of the book was false, what do I do with the 50% that's true?What do I do with the 50% that's true?What truths are hiding in plain sight in your life?Why do our best people keep leaving?Why do I keep having the same fight?Why does this success feel empty?Why does this certainty require so much defending?What am I working hard not to see?Where do you feel the truth in your body?What truths are hiding in plain sight in your life?What feedback have you been deflecting?What patterns have you been rationalizing?What questions are you unwilling to ask?What costs are you refusing to calculate? (What names are you driving past?What pottery shards are you collecting without asking whose hands shaped them?What “half-truth” would change everything if you faced the true half?What seedling of truth needs protection in your sacred uncertainty?

Frank Sesno, an Emmy Award-winning journalist and former CNN bureau chief, delves into the art of strategic questioning. He shares how curiosity shaped his career, starting from a childhood question about astronauts. Frank introduces the 'echo question' technique for deeper conversations and discusses how to balance respect with directness in interviews. He emphasizes the importance of bridge-building questions in today’s polarized world and explores how AI can enhance human curiosity. Frank inspires listeners to make an 'appointment with curiosity' for richer dialogues.

"When you have a trusting environment, it is exactly to hold each other accountable." - Jaimie ReeseWhat does it take to build trust in one of the world’s largest bureaucracies? Former U.S. Navy Senior Executive (SES) Jaimie Reese joins Ken Woodward to explore how genuine curiosity and courageous questioning can reshape systems, teams, and lives. From the aftermath of 9/11 to boardrooms and the Pentagon, Reese shares hard-won lessons on leadership, timing, and the art of listening when stakes are high.Through stories that move from crisis to calm, she unpacks why trust isn’t granted by authority but earned through everyday inquiry—how slowing down, asking better questions, and truly hearing the answers can transform any organization. Jaimie traces the invisible threads between humility, communication, and change, revealing what happens when leaders replace certainty with curiosity.This episode challenges every listener to reimagine leadership as an ongoing dialogue. Because, as Jaimie reminds us, “Leadership is a conversation you have with the future—one question at a time.”This Curated Questions episode can be found on all major platforms and at CuratedQuestions.com.Keep questioning!Episode Notes00:00 Building Trust and Accountability01:07 Introduction to Curated Questions01:51 Meet Jamie Reese03:05 Jamie's Early Career and Learning the Power of Questions05:36 The Importance of Prioritizing Questions06:37 Building Relationships Through Questions10:17 Navigating Requirements and Funding in the DOD14:31 Engaging Stakeholders22:16 The Role of Diverse Voices in Decision Making28:29 Creating a Safe Space for Questions36:44 The Importance of Time in Asking Questions37:36 Reflections on Time Management39:21 The Importance of Time Management40:03 AI and the Art of Asking Questions40:52 Balancing Speed and Quality43:07 The Cost, Schedule, Performance Triangle43:26 Applying Business Principles to Human Capital45:38 Managing a Large Workforce46:08 Strategic Workforce Development52:38 Data-Driven Decision Making55:10 The Role of Questions in Leadership59:11 Navigating Organizational Change01:02:42 Finding The Skeletons in The Closets01:11:14 Building Trust and Accountability01:12:50 The Value of Trust in the Workplace01:14:09 Balancing Organizational Trust and Personal Sacrifice01:15:04 The Decision to Leave the Federal Workforce01:15:56 The Importance of Trust in Relationships01:17:11 Facing Unhappiness and Making Changes01:17:59 Reflecting on Career and Organizational Loyalty01:19:49 The 9/11 Experience: A Day of Chaos and Leadership01:21:13 Evacuation and Immediate Aftermath01:23:07 Returning to Work Post-9/1101:24:15 Leadership Lessons from Crisis01:30:44 Navigating Healthcare for a Loved One01:35:20 The Importance of Being Present in Healthcare01:38:31 Final Thoughts and Ways to ConnectResources MentionedThe PentagonDASNOSDNAVSEA (Naval Sea Systems Command)Kevin Kelly – Wired magazine founder, author of The InevitableFerris Bueller’s Day OffReeseReimagined.comJaimie Reese on LinkedInProducer Ben FordBeauty Pill

"The closer you become with these people while you're wearing that mask, the more distant you actually feel from the people around you." - Garrett WoodIn this episode of Curated Questions, host Ken Woodward engages in a deep conversation with Garrett Wood, a national board-certified health and wellness coach and certified clinical hypnotherapist. Garrett shares his insights on the hidden tolls of high achievement, addressing issues such as perfectionism, imposter syndrome, and burnout. He explores the power of questions and how they can transform our understanding of identity, worth, and achievement.The discussion dives into the paradox of wearing masks to gain social acceptance, the first signs of burnout manifesting as cynicism, and the importance of creating authentic connections. Garrett also discusses practical strategies, such as non-sleep deep rest, to enhance performance and creativity, as well as the role of self-compassion in maintaining mental health.This episode offers valuable perspectives on how to navigate and make sense of the world through the power of questioning.This Curated Questions episode can be found on all major platforms and at CuratedQuestions.com.Keep questioning!Episode Notes00:00 The Mask of Perfectionism01:11 Welcome to Curated Questions01:55 Meet Garrett Wood02:57 Garrett's Early Experiences with Questions05:14 The Power and Danger of Questions06:02 Socratic Method and Questioning Authority08:50 Curiosity and Childhood12:32 The Role of Questions in Executive Coaching15:13 Creating a Safe Space for Growth20:22 Helping Clients Trust The Process32:02 The Therapeutic Relationship34:22 Understanding Pain and Healing38:17 Non-Sleep Deep Rest46:55 The Mundane Tasks and Mind Wandering47:39 Non-Sleep Deep Rest Explained48:29 The Power of Journaling51:25 Practical Applications of Non-Sleep Deep Rest54:20 Recognizing and Addressing Burnout56:08 The Importance of Biofeedback56:58 Understanding and Identifying Cynicism01:01:43 The Concept of Masking01:06:36 Living Authentically01:11:30 The Journey of Self-Discovery01:13:56 The Role of Questions in Personal Growth01:20:48 Exploring Identity and Attachment01:29:31 Final Thoughts and TakeawaysResources MentionedGnosis TherapySocratesDouglas AdamsImmanuel KantAmy RadinExplain Pain Theory by David Butler and Lorimer MoseleyNociceptionThomas EdisonAlbert EinsteinCarl JungFive Levels of Attachment by Don Miguel Ruiz Jr.Garrett Wood on LinkedIn at Gnosis TherapyGnosis Therapy on InstagramProducer Ben FordBeauty PillProducer Ben FordBeauty Pill

Episode Notes00:00 The Possibility Of Your Avoided Question01:21 Welcome to Curated Questions01:59 Tangled Wings' Impact04:31 The Question That Changes Questions07:43 When Your Brain Says "Nope" (A Friendly Science Tour)12:06 The Locked Door Model (Your Map to the Question)15:11 A Personal Interlude (When I Found My Door)16:10 From Boardroom to Living Room (How This Scales)19:45 When Giants Finally Ask (The Storm Before the Breakthrough)26:05 Integration Accelerators (Making It Stick)27:07 Why This Matters Now (The Gentle Urgency)28:22 Three Companion Questions (For Your Toolkit)29:32 Your Next 48 Hours32:01 Takeaways - Choose Your Own Adventure Resources MentionedSumner CrenshawJerry ColonnaDavid EaglemanLeonard MlodinowAntonio DamasioLeon FestingerSatya NadellaMary OliverProducer Ben FordBeauty Pill Questions AskedWhat question are you avoiding that would change everything?What topic made you slightly tense when I said “that decision you keep postponing”?Where does it hurt?What are you willing to give up that you love in order to change those conditions?How has it benefited you to maintain these conditions you say you don’t want?What am I avoiding right now, this week?What topic, if I brought it up right now, would make you want to skip ahead in this podcast?When will it be?How much is enough?What’s the cost of not asking?Is it above your integrity grade?What would our best competitor assume we’re too afraid to do?If my kid was watching me handle this, what would I want them to learn?Where are we optimizing for looking good instead of being good?What would be different if…?What does it look like to be a modern-day Freedom Rider?How does my embrace of the American myth change upon the discovery of the broken treaties and massacres enacted on Indigenous people?How do I hold dear to a faith when the church protected abusers and the powerful while endorsing slavery?Why is there no national memorial celebrating the resilience of those enslaved and holding to account those who perpetrated the evil in our American history?What if people don’t want to drive to a store?What if they didn’t have to?What if film is temporary?What if photos are social?What behavior does our incentive system actually reward?Are we helping our customers succeed, or just protecting Windows?What are we really afraid will happen if we plan for our own absence?What am I pretending not to know about what my partner needs?What question would my teenager ask if they felt truly safe?What story do I tell about why I can’t change this?What would I do if I knew I was already enough?What if the future isn’t about PCs?Are we a PC chip company, or are we a chip company that happens to make PC processors?What question am I avoiding?Are you? Or are you avoiding something more specific that might actually require change next Monday?What elephant do you see in my room that I keep walking around?Why do we keep this meeting?Why does the team need to be aligned?Why are we siloed?How would we design collaboration into our resource model?If we had zero history, zero sunk cost, and zero politics, what would we do?What would someone who loves our mission but sees our flaws say we’re avoiding?What question are we avoiding?What would change if we asked it?What is the smallest next step?Should I change jobs?Am I becoming who I want to be?Who do I want to be when I’m no longer afraid?Where have we stopped questioning?What are we pretending not to know?What would be different in 90 days if we faced this?What question am I avoiding this week that would change my next 90 days?What question am I avoiding today?What question do you think I’m avoiding?What question are we all thinking but no one’s saying?What assumption haven’t we tested since we wrote this?Where do our stated values and daily behaviors most diverge?What are we not discussing that our successors will wish we had?What would our most frustrated customer say we’re avoiding?What would we try if we knew we could iterate our way to success?

"The most fundamental relationship in any change process is the one that you have with yourself. It's the questions that you ask yourself first and foremost that are the game changers." - Jill Reilly In this episode of Curated Questions, host Ken Woodward is in conversation with global citizen and author Jill Reilly to explore the power of questioning in navigating life’s complexities. Jill shares her journey from the Midwest to South Africa, Zimbabwe, and beyond, reflecting on her experiences as an aid worker and the lessons that shaped her understanding of change and personal agency. They discuss the importance of self-permission, processing grief, and the need to adapt amidst societal and technological upheaval. With insights from her new book The Ten Permissions: Redefining the Rules of Adulting in the 21st Century, Jill emphasizes the transformative potential of asking the right questions to unlock personal growth and resilience. This Curated Questions episode can be found on all major platforms and at CuratedQuestions.com. Keep questioning! Episode Notes00:00 Introduction: The Power of Self-Questioning00:49 Milestone Celebration: 100,000 Downloads03:13 Introduction to Jill Reilly05:23 Jill's Journey to South Africa07:37 Choosing a Different Path09:30 The Concept of Permission13:39 Exploring New Paths18:23 Jill's Work in Zimbabwe21:44 Engaging with Questions29:05 Political Uncertainty and Fear31:18 Grieving the Old Stories32:05 Reimagining Our Future35:36 Challenging Fixed Mental Models37:16 Questioning Traditions and Conventions38:54 Intentional Conversations Around Adaptation40:07 The End of Predictable Progress41:40 Exploring Personal Undoing43:18 The White Savior Complex45:49 The Importance of Self-Permission47:04 Engaging with Yourself for Change49:11 Navigating AI and Rapid Changes55:56 No Need To Blow Up Your Life59:09 The Value of Leisure Time01:02:31 Professional Adaptation and Evolution01:08:19 Right Now Question01:12:27 Final Reflections and Takeaways Resources MentionedShame: Confessions of an Aid Worker in Africa by Jill ReillyVain Aid TED Talk by Jill ReillyThe 10 Permissions: Redefining The Rules of Adulting in The 21st Century by Jill ReillyHughes Network SystemsRobert MugabeTen Permissions websiteJill Reilly on LinkedInJill Reilly email: jill@tenpermissions.comProducer Ben FordBeauty Pill Questions AskedWhen did you first understand the power of questions?How is it that you chose to pursue going to South Africa?Were we allowed to question it?Were we allowed to create alternatives to it?What else did you do?What are the things that you could do?Do we even feel allowed to have those conversations?Am I defaulting to just take the next safest step, or am I allowing him and myself to consider that?Isn't it a good opportunity to begin to explore a variety of options?Are we preparing them for this evolving reality, or are we continuing to default to what worked in our day or what we've always done?How did things go when you got to South Africa?Who am I? How am I introducing myself? What am I about?What do you think were some of the modality, spirit, and heart posture as you use questions to engage this new world for you?Can you contract aids from a public toilet seat?What are good questions to use when wrestling with political uncertainty, upheaval, and the like?Am I gonna be the one to try and fill the void that's being created right now with something new, something better, or is our only option to try and patch together what once was and keep hobbling along?Why haven't we done any more amendments? Why haven't we changed things?How far can we go? What are we allowed to do?Do we need to make changes?Why would we choose the old version?Isn't there a better way? Isn't there more? Isn't there different? Isn't there now?Do I feel allowed to do the thing that I think I should or they say I should? Or does fear, intervene in my own sense of permission? Are there external authorities whose power over me is so great that I'm not willing to take a risk? or am I the thing that's in the way of me actually taking a risk to do something different?What are the questions that you're asking?How are you poking into your own assumptions?How are you testing those? What questions are you intentionally using? And what is your practice for going after that?And are you gonna be ready for that or are you gonna be blindsided?Am I allowed? What's desirable? What's allowable?What do you wanna do with it? What does it look like for you? How is it a vehicle for you to live and experience in ways that maybe you haven't fully lent into yet?What is your Right Now Question?How can, and how will my book and these permissions support people to navigate this age of AI?What's possible in this time? What's allowable? We allow ourselves to imagine showing up to this moment differently, and what might that look like?What situation in your life right now feels unfamiliar or uncomfortable where you could experiment with leading with questions instead of assumptions?How might genuine curiosity change those interactions?Where in your life are you waiting for approval when what you actually need is to give yourself permission?What would change if you separated these two concepts this week?How might you make space to process loss and grief that continue to weigh you down?Can you identify three "shoulds" that are currently driving your decisions?What would happen if you spent 10 minutes each day this week asking yourself what YOU actually want, without editing or judging the answers?

"Am I my brother's keeper? Is answered in the daily work of showing up, being challenged, getting it wrong, being corrected, and showing up again." - Ken Woodward In this solo episode, Ken Woodward explores one of humanity's oldest and most challenging questions: "Am I my brother's keeper?" Born from Cain's evasion after murdering Abel, this question continues to shape how we answer fundamental issues about immigration, homelessness, healthcare, and who deserves our care.Drawing from his 101-week walk through every street and alley in Washington, DC, Ken reflects on how he spent 50 years answering "no" to this question while convincing himself he was answering "yes." He shares powerful conversations with Raymond Coates about the Sugar House in Charleston, encounters with a woman who demanded accountability, and the devastating costs of both saying yes and saying no.This episode challenges listeners to examine their own complicity, confront inherited assumptions, and honestly assess who they've decided doesn't count as "brother." Ken offers four concrete takeaways to help transform this ancient question from theological abstraction into daily practice.This Curated Questions episode can be found on all major platforms and at CuratedQuestions.com. Keep questioning! Episode Notes00:00 The Work of a Brother's Keeper01:12 Welcome to Curated Questions01:50 Am I My Brother's Keeper02:36 The Origin: Cain's Evasion04:44 The Question I Avoided Asking09:09 The Question I Lived11:07 Who Counts As Brother?14:21 What This Question Reveals15:45 The Cost of Yes!19:51 The Cost of No23:50 the Present Moment27:22 The Military Exception28:42 Repentance & Reparation32:35 The Vulnerability of Yes34:00 The Question For You36:58 The Invitation38:41 Takeaway43:27 Final Closing Resources MentionedCain & AbelBook of GenesisJames BaldwinLies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. LoewenCaste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel WilkersonGeorge FloydBreonna TaylorAhmaud ArberyThe TorahThe parable of the Good SamaritanJesusJesus and the Disinherited by Howard ThurmanRaymond CoatesLorton PrisonSugar House, Charleston, South CarolinaTraining Day with Denzel WashingtonBuddy HarrisonMalcolm XJerry ColonnaAn Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-OrtizSouthern StrategyRedliningNegro BibleCivil Rights ActCivil Liberties Act of 1988Emmett TillJerry JonesMary OliverProducer Ben FordBeauty Pill Questions AskedAm I my brother's keeper?Where is your brother Abel?Who have I decided doesn't count?Whose suffering have I accepted as normal?Whose voice have I decided doesn't matter quite as much as others?How am I actually answering this question with my life, not with my words?Why didn't Black service members get access to the GI Bill after returning from World War II?How is the Republican adoption of the Southern Strategy to disenfranchise Black voters starting in the 1950s still functioning?How was a Black family supposed to build generational wealth when redlining was legal?What do I do with the half that's correct?Who is my neighbor?How are people with their backs against the wall supposed to relate to Christianity when Christians have their boot on their necks?Will my brother keep me?How have you been complicit in creating the conditions you say you don't want?You think that didn't affect him?You think he went home and was a good father? A good husband?You think that violence stayed contained in the Sugar House?You think you got something to say, don't you?Are you a racist?What do you think about slavery?What do you think about policing?What about reparations?What about income inequality?What is this project going to accomplish?How is this going to make a difference in my life?Are you really my brother's keeper, or are you just performing?What does repentance look like?What does turning away from these sins look like?What does making amends look like?Who have you decided doesn't count as your brother?How has your boundary line shifted over time?Who is included that wasn't before, and who has now shifted beyond that border?What would it cost you to say yes to someone you've been saying no to?What are the things your grandparents taught you—not explicitly, but through silence, through who was welcome in your home, through what neighborhood you lived in—that were actually answering "no" to this question?Which of those things are you still practicing?Am I ready to become my brother's keeper?What would it cost me to actually be this person's keeper?What have I taught you, through my actions and choices rather than my words, about who counts as your brother?Is that the inheritance you want from me?