How My View Grew

Latest Episodes:

Noor Awad: Can Israeli and Palestinian Narratives Co-exist? May 15, 2024

Show notes

In this episode of How My View Grew, Palestinian Noor Awad describes an encounter with a Zionist Israeli settler that caused him to broaden his view of the conflict. This is a story of growing up within a particular narrative and learning to take seriously a very different narrative without given up one's own. What would be possible if more Palestinians—and Israelis—developed this capacity?

**Key takeaways**

3:30 Noor becomes aware of the conflict during the Second Intifada
9:30 The Palestinian identity Noor was born with
13:30 Noor's early-life view of Israelis and Zionism
18:00 Noor discovers Israel's New Historians, who questioned the conventional Israeli narrative of 1948
20:45 Noor meets Hanan Schlesinger, a passionate Zionist settler, and has a life-changing experience
31:00 "I'm right, they're wrong" is not the only way to see things
34:30 Noor's capacity to hold two narratives is rare
38:00 The devastating impact of October 7 and the war on Roots' efforts to build mutual understanding
42:30 Amiel's reflections

**Resources**

**Subscribe to the podcast**

To hear the origin stories of more big ideas, subscribe to How My View Grew on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

**Share the love**

Leave me a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Different Strokes for Different Folks May 08, 2024

Show notes

This short episode is about giving better advice. Just as medicine containers have warning labels, I propose that all advice about being a better citizen, leader, parent, or partner come with three disclaimers:

Not for everyone
May have side effects
Dilute before using

After all, different folks deserve different strokes.

Carlos Hoyt: Do Races Exist? May 01, 2024

Show notes

In this episode of How My View Grew, educator Carlos Hoyt describes his early life experience transcending racial categories and how he discovered that the entire concept of "race" was false and unhelpful. What if the racial categories that pervade our conversations, public policy, and social science data are scientifically meaningless? What can we learn from people who have deracialized themselves and others? How might these insights improve lives and undermine racism at its roots?

**Key Takeaways**

8:00 Growing up in Boston—"Black and proud," changing school districts, mixing it up at summer camp
18:00 Discovering research on other "race transcenders"
22:00 The five steps in racializing people
27:00 The pseudoscience of race
34:00 Why "racial equality" is an oxymoron
40:00 Making the U.S. Census more accurate
44:00 How to adjust the way you refer to people
50:00 Amiel's reflections, including the analogy of the Elvis Lives Fan Club

**Resources**

**Subscribe to the podcast**

To hear the origin stories of more big ideas, subscribe to How My View Grew on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

**Share the love**

Leave me a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Regaining center when verbally attacked Apr 24, 2024

Show notes

In this short episode, I share a personal story about a time I was knocked off center by the verbal attacks of a human "bull."

When someone attacks you, what can you do to regain center and respond skillfully? Here are five tips.

**Subscribe to the podcast**

To hear the origin stories of more big ideas, subscribe to How My View Grew on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

**Share the love**

Leave me a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Rachel Eryn Kalish: When is Violence Necessary? Apr 17, 2024

Show notes

Rachel Eryn Kalish is a peacemaker. Personally, she radiates harmony. Professionally, she has devoted decades to non-violence and was mediating conflict before the term conflict resolution existed.

Yet, today, she doesn't view non-violence as the one and only approach to global conflict. Sometimes, she has learned, force is necessary to save lives and reduce suffering. The massacre of Israelis by Hamas on October 7 is one example.

We all know the saying that violence begets violence. But are there situations in which non-violence begets violence?

This is the story of how Rachel Eryn began asking this question and listening deeply for answers.

**Key takeaways**

5:30 Facilitating conflict resolution and violence prevention in the workplace
9:30 Teaching dialogue skills to mixed groups of Israelis and Palestinians amidst the suicide bombings of the Second Intifada
14:15 Helping the deeply divided Bay Area Jewish community talk constructively about Israel
19:00 The civil war in Sierra Leone prompts Rachel Eryn to reconsider her view of non-violence
25:00 The savagery of October 7 and the need to get rid of Hamas's infrastructure
31:30 Amiel's reflections: what type of humans commit barbaric violence, and what types of response can constrain them?

**Resources**

**Share the love**

Leave me a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

**Subscribe to the podcast**

To hear the origin stories of more big ideas, subscribe to How My View Grew on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Possibility Conversations Apr 10, 2024

Show notes

In this episode, I describe a conversation that is pivotal to approaching big global messes. Also useful for parenting, partnering, being a friend, and being a citizen.

The possibility conversation is about the future. It's aspirational. It doesn't include assessments of the past. It's not about coordinating action. The critic stays on the bench. Our mood is constructive.

**Share the love**

Leave me a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

**Subscribe to the podcast**

To hear the origin stories of more big ideas, subscribe to How My View Grew on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Valerii Pekar: Ukraine's stunning resilience Apr 03, 2024

Show notes

Two years ago, Ukraine stunned the world with its response to Russia's full-scale invasion. Where did its resilience come from?

Leading Ukrainian civic activist Valerii Pekar has an answer. It's a story of a nation—and a man—undergoing two major transformations after the fall of the Soviet Union. First, a shift into freedom, then an awakening of dignity and civic activism.

Why this matters to you and me: If Russia were to defeat Ukraine, its next likely targets are NATO countries the United States is bound by treaty to defend.

Here's the back story—cultural, political, economic, and personal—behind Ukraine's extraordinary response to Russian aggression.

**Key takeaways**

7:00 The many facets of freedom after the fall of the Soviet Union
10:35 Ukrainians vote for independence
12:30 Valerii shifts from traditional to modern worldview
15:00 Moscow tries to steal an election. Ukrainians take to the streets
19:00 Valerii's speech on the Maidan about Ukraine's three revolutions
20:00 The progressive postmodern worldview emerges
23:00 Ukrainians explore a big question: what mistakes did we make ten years ago
25:30 Valerii is elected to the National Reform Council
29:30 A meeting with the President, who issues an invitation
31:00 Russia invades, and Ukraine's new horizontal networks activate
34:30 My reflections

**Resources**

Valerii's essays in the journal New Eastern Europe

**Share the love**

Leave me a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

**Subscribe to the podcast**

To hear the origin stories of more big ideas, subscribe to How My View Grew on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

The Real Reason You're Ready to Grow Mar 27, 2024

Show notes

A short episode in which I explore: why would any of us want to shift our perspective on a big complex issue like climate change, democracy, the Middle East, or political polarization? Doing this isn't easy and can affect our status and relationships, so why bother?

The answer is a quick primer on how as adults we grow our span of care.

**Share the love**

Leave me a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

**Subscribe to the podcast**

To hear the origin stories of more big ideas, subscribe to How My View Grew on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

William Deresiewicz: What News Sources Can I Trust? Mar 20, 2024

Show notes

In this episode of How My View Grew, essayist Bill Deresiewicz describes the moment he stopped trusting his go-to news sources and started listening to "heterodox" perspectives. This is a story about American journalism and culture. It's also a story about the humility and courage it takes to let go of deeply held ideas and create space for something new.

**About the guest**

Bill Deresiewicz is an award-winning essayist and critic and frequent speaker at colleges and high schools. He is the author of five books, including the New York Times's best-seller Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life. His latest book is The End of Solitude: Selected Essays on Culture and Society.

**Key takeaways**

5:20 "Hate listening" to NPR and discovering the heterodox world
9:00 When an ideology from academia entered the mainstream
15:00 Realizing his attitude about art and money is BS
22:00 Growing up in a world of liberal Democrats and Orthodox Judaism—and making breaks from this world
27:00 Discovering the misery and despair of many students at elite colleges
31:00 Learning from Pride and Prejudice that feelings can be wrong
35:00 Bill's message to Antifa and other young people revolting against the system
39:00 Learning that he knew much less than he thought he did
41:00 Amiel's reflections on the conversation

**Resources**

**Share the love**

Leave me a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

**Subscribe to the podcast**

To hear the origin stories of more big ideas, subscribe to How My View Grew on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Permission to Despair Revoked Mar 13, 2024

Show notes

In this short episode, I revoke my permission to get stuck in a mood of despair and show you how to do the same.

How moods differ from emotions.

If you can't beat despair, don't join it. Dissolve it with humor.

**Share the love**

Leave me a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.