Melanie Rieback is a cybersecurity entrepreneur and the founder of Nonprofit Ventures, an organization dedicated to supporting post growth entrepreneurs.  She runs an incubator to support post growth entrepreneurs and teaches a course at the University of Amsterdam on post growth entrepreneurship. Her lectures are available on YouTube, linked below.This episode builds on a long series of conversations on this podcast exploring economic reform: stakeholder capitalism, steward ownership, co-ops, post-growth economics, to name a few. While it's called pot growth entrepreneurship, really this conversation is about non-extractive entrepreneurship. PGE rejects the typical silicon valley model of capital, scale, exit, in favor of bootstrapping, flat growth, and non-extraction.In this conversation Jenny and Melanie discuss:Melanie's path from cybersecurity entrepreneur to post growth entrepreneurshipWhy not all forms of steward ownership ensure profit serves purposeWhy Melanie believes business is one of the most effective forms of activismDefining post growth entrepreneurship (PGE)Why PGE is a leverage point for systemic changeIssues with the Silicon Valley model of capital, scale, exitIssues with status quo social enterprise and impact investingPrinciples of PGE: bootstrapping, flat growth, non-extractionAsset locks and stable steward ownership implementationPolicy initiatives in Europe to create a steward owned business entityHow to think about fair compensation when implementing PGEThoughts on the cultural component of this workBusiness as spirituality Resources:Nonprofit Ventures website: https://nonprofit.ventures/Post Growth Entrepreneurship: three minute explainer video"Putting Post Growth Theory Into Practice" Medium postMelanie's post growth entrepreneurship course at the University of Amsterdam; 8 YouTube lectures Sign up for the Denizen newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com to stay plugged into our work.  There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.

Rick Doblin, the founder of MAPS and a key figure in the psychedelic movement, teams up with filmmaker Nirvan Mullick, who spent a decade documenting this journey. They delve into the transformative power of psychedelics and storytelling in shaping narratives for societal change. Rick shares personal experiences and challenges faced in the fight for MDMA's FDA approval, while Nirvan reflects on the importance of compelling narratives in promoting public understanding. Together, they explore how these elements can catalyze a global shift in consciousness.

Ferananda Ibarra is the CEO of the Coventina Foundation, co-founder of the Metacurrency Project, and expert in utilizing the decentralized web to enable economic innovation, collective intelligence, and the commons.In this conversation we explore the role of currency innovation in economic innovation and regenerative economics.  Fernanda has such an incredible range of experience and knowledge that she brings to bear with her work — from her expertise in technology to her love of nature and study of indigenous wisdom to her deep foundational understanding of  the commons and collective intelligence.While the headline for this conversation is currencies, ultimately it’s abroad ranging discussion that explores money, wealth, currencies, why flows are so critical for healthy living systems, what’s wrong with blockchain and the familiar cryptocurrencies out there, and more. Sign up for the Denizen newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com to stay plugged into our work.  There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.

What are citizen's assemblies, and how might they address challenges faced with representative democracy around the world today? Sign up for the Denizen newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com to stay plugged into our work.  There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.

Resources:Development in Progress: https://consilienceproject.org/development-in-progress/ Sign up for the Denizen newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com to stay plugged into our work.  There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.

If you’re wondering how we might reform capitalism to be less extractive and more regenerative, this conversation is for you.  Our guests Chelsea Robinson and Jay Standish have just published a book, Assets in Common, sharing recent research on what is happening in the most progressive corners of the current economic landscape.   We discuss shared and stewardship governance models, which yield a more equitable, more purpose-driven economy.  Chelsea and Jay relay key findings from his research on how forward thinking entrepreneurs can address constraints they face, which  enable a more progressive economy to scale.  This isn’t a theoretical conversation that leaves you questioning what’s realistic, it is tactical and grounded in case studies. Resources:Assets in Common: Stories of Business and Community Leaders Remaking the Economy from the Ground Up Sign up for the Denizen newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com to stay plugged into our work.  There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.

Ted Rau, an expert in collective decision-making and organizational structures, dives into the intricacies of collective power. He discusses power dynamics, highlighting the difference between power-over and power-with, and emphasizes the need for personal empowerment. The conversation explores the significance of consensus in decision-making and the importance of psychological safety within organizations. Ted shares insights on avoiding 'blobs' and fostering effective governance while balancing autonomy with collective goals, making a case for trust and coherence in group dynamics.

In this episode we’re discussing healing trauma, specifically what is required to address trauma at the root: in our nervous systems.  This topic is critical because what most of us don’t realize is how many people live in a perpetually dysregulated state due to unresolved trauma.  This leaves us with an ongoing baseline of reactivity, hypervigilance, and anxiety that spills over into every area of our lives.  Very often our unresolved trauma stems from so far into our childhoods that we are unable to parse out who we actually are at our core from who we become when our nervous systems are stuck in a fight, flight, or freeze response.  ‍Our guest for this episode is Danielle Rubio.   Danielle uses nervous system rewiring, movement therapy, and mindfulness to help her clients do the deep work required to truly address their trauma and live lives of purpose from a center, empowered place.  She is a yoga and meditation teacher, reiki master, and touch therapist who has studied extensively with leaders in the field such as Dr. Fleet Maul, Irene and Seth Lyon, Gabor Mate, and Arielle Schwartz.‍In this conversation Jenny and Danielle discuss:How Danielle defines traumaIts prevalence in the United States and the extent of its economic and social costs to societyWhat trauma actually does to the body and what it looks like when we have an unhealed, regulated nervous systemThe distinction between true healing and bypassing, illustrated by Danielle’s rude awakening after the traumatic birth of her daughterCritical learnings from Danielle's research that inform her practice todayWhat doing the work to heal actually looks like, and why it’s important to do it with supportDanielle's most essential toolsWhat it looks like to live in a more embodied state, addressing trauma as it surfacesThe one thing Danielle wishes everyone knew Resources:Danielle's website: https://danielle-rubio.com/The Body Keeps The Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, Bessel Van Der Kolk Sign up for the Denizen newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com to stay plugged into our work.  There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.

In this episode we’re discussing conflict resolution, in particular, the distinction between an adversarial paradigm, that all of us unwittingly hold, and a restorative paradigm, that gets us what we ultimately want: healthy, thriving relationships with those closest to us .  The difference between the two is quite literally life changing. In the former hurt leads to disconnection and distance, with a slow and steady degradation of the relationships that matter most.  In the latter, hurt creates an opportunity for deeper connection and intimacy, which obviously reflects the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible. This deep, provocative, practical conversation will help us all move in that direction.‍Our guest is David Cooley, he is a relationship coach who works with individuals and couples, guiding them to address conflict in a way that restores harmony.   His work interweaves his background in restorative justice with training in nonviolent communication, mindfulness based practices, narrative therapy, somatic work, and attachment theory.  He is also the author of Poly-wise with his partner, Jessica Fern.‍In this conversation Jenny and David discuss:What the adversarial paradigm isHow culture and the criminal justice system affect how we show up in interpersonal conflictThe insidious ways the adversarial paradigm shows up in our beliefs, responses, and internal narrativesHow our conflict resolution defaults impact our nervous systems and the nervous systems of our partnersHow the stories we hold distort how we perceive our partners in moments of conflictWhy all of this leads to increasing disconnect and degradationsWhat the restorative paradigm isThe restorative versions of the believes, responses, and narratives of the adversarial paradigmThe nervous system and how critical self-awareness and self-regulation is to addressing conflict productivelyThe role of fairness in intimate relationshipsThe role of forgiveness and the distinction between repair, expression, and forgivenessHow we can care for our partner's emotional needs without taking responsibility for our partner's emotions and compromising ourselves‍Alongside this episode we are sharing David's incredible handouts with our listeners. Contact us at www.becomingdenizen.com and we will happily send them your way. Sign up for the Denizen newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com to stay plugged into our work.  There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.

In this episode we delve deep into how we can live more authentic lives, in alignment with our true selves.‍Our guest is Maria Camara Serrano, co-director of the Hoffman Institute's international division. In addition to her work leading the Hoffman Institute internationally, Maria is trained in Gestalt Therapy, Mindfulness, and Emotion-Focused Therapy.  She has a PhD in psychology and has been studying and practicing Buddhism for over 20 years.  ‍Jenny and Maria integrate both psychology and spirituality into the conversation as they explore the question of how we might live more authentic lives, covering the following:What does it mean to live authentically?Why this topic is so relevant for Denizen's vision for the futureWhy most of us don’t lead an authentic lifeWhat the spiritual traditions have to teach usWhat psychology has to teach usWhat the work to learn to live authentically looks likeWhat the work doesn’t look like, and common ways people misunderstand what the work is or try to bypass critical components of itThe Hoffman Institute’s cycle of transformation: awareness, expression, compassion and forgiveness, and new ways of beingWhat a healthy relationship with our emotional experience looks likeHow we can heal from traumatic experiences stored in the bodyWhy our emotional competence is so important for compassion and forgivenessWhy compassion and forgiveness is an essential part of returning to our authentic selvesWhat it looks like to live authentically in our day to day livesThe role of self love Resources:Hoffman Institute: https://www.hoffmaninstitute.org/The Body Keeps The Score, by Bessel Van Der Kolk Sign up for the Denizen newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com to stay plugged into our work.  There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.