Our friend, Melissa Chureau, former state prosecutor, purpose and mindset coach, mindfulness teacher, practicing lawyer, and the host of The Fully Mindful podcast brings her 25 years of personal mindfulness practice, her J.D. from Lewis & Clark Law, and her a B.A. in English Literature from U.C. Berkeley to explain that we aren't great at breathing. *She's not wrong* We talk about staying sane in a challenging political climate. And, how to maintain health and serenity, while remaining engaged and politically active.

THE FULLY MINDFUL PODCAST

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Friend of the pod, Alyssa Ann Beall, co-founder of the People Too Alliance, and out trans woman, talks about her experience coming to her age of awareness, transitioning, and some of the barriers and hate she's encountered.

PEOPLE TOO ALIANCE

TRANSGENDER RESOURCES

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Author, and host of the Dismantling Doctrine podcast Clint Heacock returns to the pod to talk about his book "Not So Shiny Not So Happy People, How Bill Gothard, Church, and Family Taught Me Christianity Doesn't Work." Clint talks about turning away from a lifetime of studying and sharing the gospel in favor of an atheistic ideology. After earning a PhD in theology, becoming an elder in the church, teaching at a bible college, being a respected pastor, Clint ultimately came to find the belief system he had been propagating irreconcilable with reality. He deconstructed and reconstructed. He shares some of the revelations of the damage the church wrought on his young psyche and how he got out.

NOT SO SHINY NOT SO HAPPY PEOPLE (THE BOOK)

DISMANTLING DOCTRINE PODCAST

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Former US Attorney, Amanda Marshall returns to the pod to try and make sense of the presidential immunity ruling handed down by the US Supreme Court. She tells a great story about Kamala Harris going to the mat to protect the people she serves. And, she walks us through what led to the reversal of Oregon's drug decriminalization efforts (Measure 110).

US SUPREME COURT DECISION (Presidential Immunity)

ACLU STATEMENT ON IMMUNITY RULING

NPR ON OREGON'S DECRIMINALIZATION RESULTS

MARSHALL ADVOCACY CENTER (CONTACT AMANDA)

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Elyse Maloni, leader in AI Operations at PanasonicWELL, stops by the pod to lament the end of human creativity! We discuss likely job disruptions and displacements caused by AI but soothe ourselves, remembering that militarized superintelligence will be the death of us all, anyhow!

THE NEURON (newsletter)

THE IMPACT OF THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION ON THE BRAIN & BEHVIOR (NIH article)

HOW GENERATIVE AI CAN AUGMENT HUMAN CREATIVITY (HBR article)

ANDREW NG'S COURSERA OPTIONS (mostly free & approachable for anyone who wants to learn how to use & apply AI)

CONCERNING AI (podcast)

Links to popular AI models for people to experiment with (if so inclined):

OPENAI (ChatGPT)

GEMINI (Google)

COPILOT (Microsoft)

CLAUDE

PI

MISTRAL

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Intelligence Officer, Former Narcotics Investigator, and Host of the podcast Headlines and History, Jon Molik taps into our Zoom call to share some historical context on the Israeli Palestinian conflict. After reciting my Google search history, he puts us at ease about government surveillance of US Citizens and explains the FISA warrant process. We discuss Putin and the differences in dealing with rational vs non-rational heads of state. As a Senior Intelligence Warrant Officer in the New York Army National Guard and former Organized Crime Investigator in the New York State Attorney General’s Office, he sheds light on the inner workings of our intelligence and criminal investigatory bodies. Grab your security clearance badge and meet us in the SCIF for a great talk!

HEADLINES AND HISTORY PODCAST

HEADLINES AND HISTORY WEBSITE

HEADLINES AND HISTORY YOUTUBE CHANNEL⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Lewis and Clark College grad (History major) turned Baltimore Maryland City Planner turned US Department of Energy Sustainability Expert, and former high school student Steve Bruno stops by the pod for an illuminating discussion of all things energy policy. We walk through our divided political climate, disinformation, advances in sustainable energy, and we're left slightly more optimistic about the future of mankind. Slightly.

OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL CHIEF SUSTAINABILITY OFFICER COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

GLOBAL MONITORING LABAROTORY EDUCATION AND OUTREACH

GLOBAL MONITORING LABORATORY BASICS OF THE CARBON CYCLE

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS AND SINKS

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY CLIMATE CHANGE INDICATORS

US ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION GREENHOUSE GASSES AND THE CLIMATE

US ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT EXPLAINED

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Former Pastor and church Elder Clint Heacock stops by the pod to talk about how his lifelong pursuit, study, and practice of his faith ultimately led him to abandon it. We talk about the damage religion is doing to our planet and the people on it. He shoots a couple holes in Noah's ark and explains why I probably shouldn't own Hebrew slaves (even if the bible tells me I can). Clint holds a PhD in Theology from the University of Chester, hosts The Mindshift Podcast, and is currently writing a book called Baptism, Third Time’s a Charm (My Story of Deconversion from Christianity).

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CLINT'S WEBSITE

THE MINDSHIFT PODCAST

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