Good Life Project

Latest Episodes:

David Krumholtz | Taking Life As It Comes Nov 14, 2019

Show notes

Growing up in Queens, NY, at the age of 13, David Krumholtz, stumbled into the world of acting when he followed friends to an open audition on a lark, landed the role, then found himself on a Broadway stage alongside Judd Hirsh and Tony Shaloub. That launched a decades-long career in acting and eventually writing in TV and film, with credits that include a five-year run on the TV show Numbers, The Good Wife, Law & Order, HBO’s The Deuce and movies like Addams Family Values, The Santa Clause series, Slums of Beverly Hills, and now in his newest role, he plays a police officer in the deeply-provocative movie, Crown Vic.

In today’s conversation, we dive into his journey as an actor, but also quickly zoom the lens out to explore his love of music, culture, family, feelings about the acting life and the role of work in his bigger mix, what makes him come alive, the importance of humility and kindness, his experience with depression and cancer, and then we dive into the gritty and provocative story behind his new film, Crown Vic, and the tough questions it asks viewers to consider, while leaving no pat answers.

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Finding Grace | Samira Rajabi Nov 12, 2019

Show notes

What if social media and tech could be a powerful ally in the process of recovering from trauma? That's exactly what today's guest, Samira Rajabi (@srajabi), discovered. A scholar of digital and social media, trauma and international relations, Rajabi teaches at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her work on personal and mass-scale societal trauma, and how social media and technology can actually be powerful tools for recovering, meaning-making and finding belonging and safety in the aftermath, is truly groundbreaking.

Rajabi's own experience of being othered early in life left her in search of a clear sense of identity and belonging. But it was a diagnosis of a brain tumor, followed by 10 surgeries, that led her to reexamine nearly every part of her life, values, relationships, choices, how she chooses to experience each moment, and reclaim a sense of grace and acceptance with whatever her life brings.

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Thomas Sadoski | Acting, Love & Service. Nov 07, 2019

Show notes

For Thomas Sadoski, acting has been in his DNA for as long as he can remember. With a decades-long love of the stage, he's landed award-winning performances on and off Broadway, features in movies like John Wick, The Last Word, and Wild, and TV shows including The Newsroom, Law & Order, Ugly Betty, and Life in Pieces. And, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the upcoming CBS series “Tommy” where he’ll be featured alongside Edie Falco.

What stood out more than anything in this conversation, though, was Sadoski's big, open heart, honestly, commitment to family, as well as his powerful embrace of service. He currently sits on the board of directors of INARA, an organization that provides life-saving and life-changing medical care to refugee children wounded in war, and serves as an ambassador for War Child USA, which works to provide educational, legal and economic aid to children and communities devastated by conflict all over the world. We dive into all of this in today's moving conversation.

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Taboo, Power & Possibility | Nadya Okamoto Nov 05, 2019

Show notes

Nadya Okamoto is a 21-year-old activist (https://www.instagram.com/nadyaokamoto), Harvard student, Founder and Executive Director of PERIOD (https://www.period.org/), the largest youth-run NGO in women’s health and one of the fastest growing organizations of its kind in the US. She is also co-founder and Chief Brand Officer of Gen-Z marketing agency, JUV Consulting. Her debut book, Period Power: A Manifesto for the Menstrual Movement (https://amzn.to/2mGr1h0), is a call to end period poverty and stigma through service, education, and advocacy. Okamoto was named to InStyle Magazine’s “The Badass 50: Meet the Women Who Are Changing the World." Astonishingly accomplished at a young age, Nadya's driven to make a difference, fueled in no small part by her own deep trauma, as she describes living through homelessness, abuse, sexual assault, racism and exclusion. But, it was her experience, befriending and hearing stories of homeless women in Portland that would lead her to found PERIOD, devote herself to giving voice and aid to the voiceless and launch a movement along the way. And, she's just getting started!

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Adam Rippon | Olympic Figure Skater & Media Phenom Oct 31, 2019

Show notes

Olympic figure skater, Adam Rippon, won the world over not only with a medal-winning performance at the 2018 games, but also with his disarmingly honest, unfiltered and funny on-camera presence. Rippon is an artist, athlete, and activist who's known for his passionate support for LGBTQ+ rights and the freedom to be oneself. He's been named to the 2018 TIME 100 List of Most Influential People, honored by the Human Rights Campaign, appeared on Ellen, Colbert, and Kimmel, and recently released his memoir Beautiful on the Outside (https://amzn.to/35KuJZ5). Adam's journey, however, has been anything but easy. In today's conversation, we talk about his rough start in skating, what turned it into a passion, and the yearslong struggles that come with trying to be the best in the world. We also explore how he stepped into and decided to share his sexual identity, grappled with perfection, family, expectations and eventually reclaimed control of his life and, in no small part, his happiness.

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Tracking Your Life | Boyd Varty Oct 29, 2019

Show notes

Born into a family of conservationists and trackers in South Africa, Boyd Varty (https://boydvarty.com/) began learning the art of tracking lions at a young age. Not for hunting, but rather as a devotion. And, eventually, as a scout for guides to bring guests into the wilderness in search of seeing animals, most often lions, in a protected environment. Through the process, learning to connect deeply with the land and natural environment, he discovered how to see and follow threads that often took hours, if not days, to lead to a majestic and wild end. But, when it came to his own life, he found himself shut down after trauma, operating on autopilot until a chance encounter with Martha Beck changed everything and opened his eyes to the possibility of using his skills as a tracker to find his way back into a life of meaning, joy and connection. Now, a storyteller, coach, tracker, activist, founder of the Good Work Foundation and the author of The Lion Tracker's Guide to Life (https://amzn.to/2Ov4jnJ), he's on a mission to help others find their own paths to healing, wholeness and wildness or, in his words, to “Track Your Life.”

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Life Beyond Exile | Liz Phair Oct 24, 2019

Show notes

Liz Phair took the music world by storm (https://www.lizphairofficial.com/) in the early 90s with the release of her iconic album Exile in Guyville. That, along with her self-produced Girly Sound tapes, landed her on the cover of Rolling Stone and launched a decades-long career in music. Now, a multi-Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, guitarist, and composer, mom and mentor to so many, Phair’s new memoir, Horror Stories (https://amzn.to/2MY7ulD), gives a glimpse into so many of the hidden moments that shaped her journey. In today's conversation, we touch down on these, and also explore how Liz's lens on life, meaning, music, creativity, quitting, complexity and spirituality has evolved over time.

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Trauma & Transformation | James S. Gordon, MD Oct 22, 2019

Show notes

James S. Gordon, MD is a Harvard-educated psychiatrist internationally recognized for using self-awareness, self-care, and group support to heal population-wide trauma. He is the founder and executive director of the nonprofit Center for Mind-Body Medicine, (https://jamesgordonmd.com/), a clinical professor at Georgetown Medical School, and was chairman of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy. His latest book, The Transformation (https://amzn.to/31Xi5nl), helps us understand that trauma will come sooner or later to all of us, and how to navigate it.

Gordon has been on the ground during moments of profound upheaval, from Haight-Ashbury during the Summer of Love to Mozambique in the wake of a civil war fought largely by child soldiers, and war in the Balkans, the Middle East, Africa and more. In today’s conversation, he talks about what it’s like to lead teams in hands-on trauma prevention and integration work in these extremely challenging environments, as well as his hopes for re-humanizing medicine, choosing risks over betraying the self, and the incredible power we have to heal in community.

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One Last Secret | Augusten Burroughs Oct 17, 2019

Show notes

Augusten Burroughs knows how to keep a secret. An autodidact with no formal education (https://www.augusten.com/) beyond elementary school, he began working as a copywriter in his late teens and spent 18 years creating global ad campaigns. Behind the scenes, though, he was falling apart, an alcoholic, harboring the effects of what he describes as a wildly-chaotic, abusive and destructive childhood that he'd eventually detail in the massive New York Times bestseller-turned major motion picture, Running With Scissors (https://amzn.to/2qkxRus).

He's since written numerous follow-on memoirs and novels, and crafted a life as a successful writer. But, there was one area Augusten never told anyone about, even his husband. Until one day, it literally came bursting onto the page. It was time to "come clean" with this one final, and deeply-provocative part of himself, detailed in his new memoir, Toil & Trouble (https://amzn.to/32mSkNk). In today's conversation, we unwrap the layers that led Augusten from a traumatic childhood through to his wild successes, the life-saving role that writing played in his recovery from alcoholism, what it’s like to navigate the world with atypical sensitivities, and finding the gift among the unfixable things in life.

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Brave, Not Perfect | Reshma Saujani Oct 15, 2019

Show notes

Reshma Saujani is the Founder and CEO of Girls Who Code (https://girlswhocode.com/), the nonprofit organization working to close the gender gap in technology and change the image of what a computer programmer looks like and does. She is the author of three books (http://reshmasaujani.com/), including Brave, Not Perfect (https://amzn.to/33hlNbH), New York Times bestseller Girls Who Code: Learn to Code and Change the World (https://amzn.to/33f9JaT), and Women Who Don't Wait In Line. Her TED talk, "Teach girls, bravery not perfection," has more than four million views and has sparked a worldwide conversation about how we're raising our girls.

Reshma's earned broad recognition for her work as an attorney, activist, and advocate for young women, including Fortune World's Greatest Leaders; Fortune 40 Under 40; WSJ Magazine Innovator of the Year; Forbes Most Powerful Women Changing the World; Fast Company 100 Most Creative People; and Crain's New York 40 Under 40, among others.

Join us today to hear how a young, outsider Indian girl in Chicago who was expected by her family to grow into a quiet, unassuming life, now regularly battles tech giants and thinks nothing of going to the White House to speak out for the rights and opportunities denied to young women. It's a great conversation about navigating cultural and familial expectations, how things that initially appear to be devastating losses can actually lead to some truly unexpected opportunities, and the beauty of living brave, not perfect.

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If you enjoyed the show, please share it with a friend. Thank you to our super cool brand partners. If you like the show, please support them - they help make the podcast possible.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.