“Convictions are beliefs strongly held. It’s responsibilities that have rebuilt societies.”

-Christopher Spicer

This week, Andy is joined by friend and neighbor Christopher Spicer — a writer, father, longtime human rights advocate, and recent candidate for Somerville City Councilor At-Large. He has served as Chair of the Somerville Human Rights Commission, participated in nonviolent protest and civil disobedience, and is deeply shaped by the Catholic Worker tradition. His work centers on community listening, local democracy, and what he calls a “responsibility ethic” rooted in relationship rather than ideology.

This conversation unfolds at the intersection of local politics and spiritual practice as Andy and Christopher explore what it means to practice democracy not just at the ballot box, but in the everyday acts of neighboring, listening, and showing up for one another in times of fear, instability, and profound social change. Christopher reflects on his decision to run for office amid rising authoritarianism, ICE detentions impacting families in his community, and a housing crisis reshaping the fabric of Somerville.

Drawing from his work on the Somerville Human Rights Commission, his Catholic Worker roots, and years spent interviewing his neighbors block by block, Chris offers a grounded vision of civic life shaped less by ideological purity and more by responsibility, relationship, and care.

from "The People, Yes" by Carl Sandburg Lincoln? He was a mystery in smoke and flags Saying yes to the smoke, yes to the flags, Yes to the paradoxes of democracy, Yes to the hopes of government Of the people by the people for the people, No to debauchery of the public mind, No to personal malice nursed and fed, Yes to the Constitution when a help, No to the Constitution when a hindrance Yes to man as a struggler amid illusions, Each man fated to answer for himself: Which of the faiths and illusions of mankind Must I choose for my own sustaining light To bring me beyond the present wilderness? Lincoln? Was he a poet? And did he write verses? “I have not willingly planted a thorn in any man’s bosom.” I shall do nothing through malice: what I deal with is too vast for malice.” Death was in the air. So was birth.

Show Notes:

* “Bringing ‘perspective of human rights’ to council named as aspiration for at-large candidate Spicer” by Sydney Wise (Cambridge Day)

* City of Somerville, MA Human Rights Commission

* Catholic Worker Movement

Connect with Andy:

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjcahill/

* Instagram: https://instagram.com/wonderdomepodcast​

What is your fiercest hope for humanity?

“When you drop a team in the realm of process […] they’re one step closer to getting to the human dimension.”

-Alexander Caillet

Alexander Caillet is an internationally recognized organizational psychologist, consultant, and coach dedicated to helping organizations achieve high performance through powerful teaming. As the CEO of Corentus, Inc., Alexander has worked across more than 30 countries on five continents, bringing deep expertise in both leadership coaching and large-scale organizational transformation. Alexander makes visible the invisible dynamics and patterns that shape a team’s behavior, helping them see themselves and their operational styles with renewed clarity through blends of individual coaching with whole-team development.

In this episode, Alexander traces the roots of his craft back to his own origin story: a childhood marked by constant relocation, othering, and longing for belonging. It was as a student at Columbia studying organizational psychology that he discovered his calling in group dynamics, and his experience of feeling like an outsider looking in became the foundation for a career in helping others learn to belong with each other.

This is essential listening for coaches, leaders, team members, and anyone who’s ever wondered why group work often feels so hard — and how it could be so much better.

"To be of use" by Marge Piercy The people I love the best jump into work head first without dallying in the shallows and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight. They seem to become natives of that element, the black sleek heads of seals bouncing like half-submerged balls. I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart, who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience, who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward, who do what has to be done, again and again. I want to be with people who submerge in the task, who go into the fields to harvest and work in a row and pass the bags along, who are not parlor generals and field deserters but move in a common rhythm when the food must come in or the fire be put out. The work of the world is common as mud. Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust. But the thing worth doing well done has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident. Greek amphoras for wine or oil, Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museums but you know they were made to be used. The pitcher cries for water to carry and a person for work that is real.

Show Notes:

* https://corentus.com

* The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High Performance Organization by Jon R. Katzenbach and Douglas K. Smith

Connect with Andy:

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjcahill/

* Instagram: https://instagram.com/wonderdomepodcast​

What is your fiercest hope for humanity?

“We’ve worshipped a hungry monster. And the more you feed and worship a hungry monster, the hungrier it gets.”

-Josh Schrei

This week we welcome Josh Schrei — storyteller, mythologist, and creator of The Mythic Body. As host of The Emerald podcast, Josh shepherds listeners through explorations of our modern world through a vibrant lens of mythos, music and mindfulness. His work is a salve for modern wounds, using song and story to help us de-center the “hungry monster” of consumerism and bring us back to the sacred, animate center of the living world.

Josh and Andy trace a path back to the core truths we’ve forgotten in our contemporary times — that humanity’s innate desire for transcendence can be found not in the hungry maw of capitalism that encourages our relentless consumption, but in a return to ritual, presence, and belonging.

"Remember" by Joy Harjo Remember the sky that you were born under, know each of the star’s stories. Remember the moon, know who she is. Remember the sun’s birth at dawn, that is the strongest point of time. Remember sundown and the giving away to night. Remember your birth, how your mother struggled to give you form and breath. You are evidence of her life, and her mother’s, and hers. Remember your father. He is your life, also. Remember the earth whose skin you are: red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth brown earth, we are earth. Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them, listen to them. They are alive poems. Remember the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the origin of this universe. Remember you are all people and all people are you. Remember you are this universe and this universe is you. Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you. Remember language comes from this. Remember the dance language is, that life is. Remember.

Show Notes:

* The Mythic Body

* The Emerald Podcast with Josh Schrei

* Let Us Sing of the Syncretic Gods of Outcasts and Wanderers

* For the Intuitives (Part One)

Connect with Andy:

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjcahill/

* Instagram: https://instagram.com/wonderdomepodcast​

What is your fiercest hope for humanity?

“Radical listening gives us agency — it’s something we can still do even when everything feels uncertain.”

- Christian van Nieuwerburgh

Robert Biswas-Diener and Christian van Nieuwerburgh, two distinguished voices in coaching, positive psychology, and leadership, join Andy to explore the radical and joyful art of listening.

As co-authors of Radical Listening: The Art of True Connection, Robert and Christian provide a framework for cultivating this most vital (and often neglected) skill. In an increasingly divisive, distracted, and digitized world, it’s never been more essential to harness the power of listening beyond a means of simply hearing words, but to co-create meaning and connection.

In this episode, you’ll learn why “active listening” as we know it may not be enough; the traps of certainty and comparison; and how curiosity, humility, and a sense of play can deepen our connections and help us listen with intention.

"Generous Listening" by Marilyn Nelson A conversation can be a contest, or a game of catch with invisible balloons. They bounce between us, growing and shrinking, sometimes floating like cloud medicine balls, and sometimes bowling at us like round anvils. You toss a phrase and understanding blooms like an anemone of colored lights. My mind fireworks with unasked questions. Who is this miracle speaking to me? And who is this miracle listening? What amazingness are we creating? Out of gray matter a star spark of thought leaps between synapses into the air, and pours through gray matter, into my heart: how can I not listen generously?

Show Notes:

* https://robertdiener.com/

* https://coachonamotorcycle.com/

* Radical Listening: The Art of True Connection by Christian van Nieuwerburgh and Robert Biswas-Diener

* #162 Positive Provocation (with Robert Biswas-Diener)

Connect with Andy:

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjcahill/

* Instagram: https://instagram.com/wonderdomepodcast​

“We need an abundance of the things we need — safe homes, good jobs, healthcare — not an abundance of consumption.”

- Saul Humphrey

Saul Humphrey is a UK-based leader and sustainability advocate, a professor of sustainable construction at Anglia Ruskin University, and Vice President of the Chartered Institute of Building. He’s also the founder of an eponymously named consultancy practice that integrates sustainable design with practical innovation. The arc of his career bends towards reducing carbon impact and creating long-term resilience in the built environment.

With both realism and hope, Saul and Andy explore the tension between growth and sustainability; what “abundance” means in an ever-warming world; how our built environment shapes our collective destiny; and how we can reimagine construction as an act of care for future generations.

"Design" by A.R. Ammons The drop seeps whole from boulder-lichen or ledge moss and drops, joining, to trickle, run, fall, dash, sprawl in held deeps, to rush shallows, spill thin through heights, but then, edging, to eddy aside, nothing of all but nothing’s curl of motion spent.

Show Notes:

* https://www.sauldhumphrey.com

* https://www.ciob.org

* https://www.humannature-places.com

* Values: Building a Better World for All by Mark Carney

* Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think by Peter H. Diamonds and Steven Kotler

* Kuni: A Japanese Vision and Practice for Urban-Rural Reconnection by Tsuyoshi Sekihara, Richard McCarthy, and Kathleen Finlay

* #148 It Makes a Village (with Jonathan Smales)

* #157 Eco-Responsive Envrionments (with Soham De & Prachi Rampuria)

* #158 The Neutral Project (with Nate Helbach)

Connect with Andy:

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjcahill/

* Instagram: https://instagram.com/wonderdomepodcast​