Episodes

  • Curiosity, Belonging, and the Practice of Dialogue with Brian Adams – Walk Talk Listen (Episode 223)

    Curiosity, Belonging, and the Practice of Dialogue with Brian Adams – Walk Talk Listen (Episode 223)
    Dec 24 2025
    In this episode of Walk Talk Listen, Maurice Bloem speaks with Brian Adams, who has spent nearly three decades building bridges of respect and understanding across more than 40 countries in Africa, Europe, North America, and the Asia–Pacific. Brian reflects on curiosity as a defining thread in his life — a habit of asking questions that began in childhood, often driving his mother to distraction, and later shaped his work across cultures, faiths, and institutions. Growing up in poverty in rural Arkansas and later encountering deep diversity in places like France and West Africa helped him understand belonging as something richer than simple connection: a sense of unity, purpose, and shared humanity. Drawing on his experience as Chair of the Board of Trustees of A Common Word Among the Youth (ACWAY), co-founder of the G20 Interfaith Forum, and founder of multiple dialogue initiatives, Brian explores dialogue as a lived practice, not a performance. He speaks about why openness about faith can strengthen trust, what youth teach us about honesty and discomfort, and how ACWAY’s Interfaith Development Goals offer a values-based framework for engaging religious and cultural diversity alongside the SDGs and Inner Development Goals. The conversation closes with reflections on humility, inner development, and the invitation to move beyond knowing others toward actively serving those outside our own circles. Listener Engagement:
    • Discover the songs picked by Brian and other guests on our #walktalklisten here.
    • Learn more about Brian via his LinkedIn, and the ACWAY's website.
    • Share your feedback on this episode through our Walk Talk Listen Feedback link – your thoughts matter!
    Follow Us:
    • Support the Walk Talk Listen podcast by following us on Facebook and Instagram.
    • Visit 100mile.org or mauricebloem.com for more episodes and information about our work.
    • Check out the special series "Enough for All" and learn more about the work of the Joint Learning Initiative (JLI).
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    1 hr and 11 mins
  • Crossing Thresholds: Three Worlds of Resilience — Indigenous Cosmology from Sakha with Vera Solovyeva (Episode 1)

    Crossing Thresholds: Three Worlds of Resilience — Indigenous Cosmology from Sakha with Vera Solovyeva (Episode 1)
    Dec 18 2025
    Welcome to Episode 1 of Crossing Thresholds: Religion, Resilience & Migration, a special mini-series of Walk Talk Listen produced by the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith & Local Communities (JLI). This series brings to life new research on climate change, faith, and human mobility from JLI’s recently published Climate, Faith & Migration report, developed in collaboration with Christian Aid. In this opening conversation, Maurice Bloem speaks with Vera Solovyeva, an Indigenous leader and researcher from the Sakha Republic in Siberia. Vera introduces the cosmology of the Three Worlds and the Three Souls, a worldview that shapes identity, responsibility, and resilience for her people. She reflects on ecological imbalance, cultural pressure, spiritual loss, and the deep relationship between people and land. Vera explains how indigenous knowledge systems guide communities in responding to climate change, not only as practical adaptation strategies, but as living expressions of culture, faith, and belonging. This episode sets the tone for the series by connecting lived experience with evidence, showing how global research findings are rooted in real stories from the frontlines. Learn more: The full Climate, Faith & Migration report by JLI and Christian Aid is available here. Listener Engagement:
    • Learn more about Vera via her Instagram account
    • Share your feedback on this episode through our Walk Talk Listen Feedback link – your thoughts matter!
    Follow Us:
    • Support the Walk Talk Listen podcast by following us on Facebook and Instagram.
    • Visit 100mile.org or mauricebloem.com for more episodes and information about our work.
    • Check out the special series "Enough for All" and learn more about the work of the Joint Learning Initiative (JLI).
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    1 hr
  • Learning to Receive: Humility, Burning Man, and the Spaces Between Us with Lorenz Sell – Walk Talk Listen (Episode 222)

    Learning to Receive: Humility, Burning Man, and the Spaces Between Us with Lorenz Sell – Walk Talk Listen (Episode 222)
    Dec 17 2025
    In this episode of Walk Talk Listen, Maurice Bloem is joined by Lorenz Sell, co-founder of Sutra, for a reflective conversation about humility, receiving, and what it means to create spaces—both digital and human—where genuine connection can emerge. Lorenz shares how experiences such as Burning Man became unexpected teachers in his life, challenging deeply ingrained habits of control, self-sufficiency, and productivity. In those liminal spaces, where usual social scripts fall away, he began to notice how difficult it can be—not to give, but to receive. Receiving attention, support, care, and presence requires a different posture: one rooted in humility. The conversation weaves together Lorenz’s background in technology and engineering with his growing attention to inner development and relational practice. Rather than seeing technology as neutral or inevitable, he reflects on how digital environments quietly shape our behavior, our pace, and our ability to listen to one another. Designing spaces, he suggests, is always also designing relationships. Throughout the episode, humility is not framed as self-effacement, but as openness: a willingness to be changed by others and by experience. Receiving becomes an active practice—one that makes mutuality possible and allows communities of learning to form over time. This conversation is an invitation to slow down, to notice where we resist receiving, and to consider how the spaces we create—online and offline—can support deeper presence, trust, and shared becoming. And it also reminded me that receiving is not something we do once we understand—it’s something we practice by listening a little longer. Listener Engagement:
    • Discover the songs picked by Lorenz and other guests on our #walktalklisten here.
    • Learn more about Lorenz via his LinkedIn, and the Sutra's website.
    • Share your feedback on this episode through our Walk Talk Listen Feedback link – your thoughts matter!
    Follow Us:
    • Support the Walk Talk Listen podcast by following us on Facebook and Instagram.
    • Visit 100mile.org or mauricebloem.com for more episodes and information about our work.
    • Check out the special series "Enough for All" and learn more about the work of the Joint Learning Initiative (JLI).
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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Where Belonging Begins with Sara Rahim — Walk Talk Listen (Episode 221)

    Where Belonging Begins with Sara Rahim — Walk Talk Listen (Episode 221)
    Dec 10 2025
    In this episode of Walk Talk Listen, Maurice Bloem speaks with Sara Rahim, a global interfaith practitioner and youth leader working at the intersection of belonging, inclusion, and social transformation. Sara is part of the Programming Team of ACWAY, supporting young leaders across regions who are building bridges across difference through interfaith cooperation and grassroots leadership. With a decade of experience in network cultivation, health equity, workforce development, and intercultural engagement, she has helped design and lead initiatives that move inclusion from theory into daily practice. Sara has addressed major platforms on the role of interfaith action, including the White House, the United Nations, and multiple G20 Interfaith Forums. She is a Global Shaper with the World Economic Forum and previously served as a UN Youth Representative for the Parliament of the World’s Religions. She holds a Master of Public Policy from the University of Chicago. In this conversation, we explore:
    • how her understanding of belonging formed early in life
    • what youth leadership really looks like today
    • how interfaith engagement translates into everyday work
    • why inclusion is not an “extra,” but a responsibility
    • and how she responds to the powerful question passed on by Benny Rietveld: “What are you doing to help?”
    This episode is about becoming, choosing to help in quiet but structural ways, and discovering where belonging begins. Listener Engagement:
    • Discover the songs picked by Sara and other guests on our #walktalklisten here. Also check out Sara's own playlist here.
    • Learn more about Sara via her LinkedIn, and the ACWAY Instagram account and their website.
    • Share your feedback on this episode through our Walk Talk Listen Feedback link – your thoughts matter!
    Follow Us:
    • Support the Walk Talk Listen podcast by following us on Facebook and Instagram.
    • Visit 100mile.org or mauricebloem.com for more episodes and information about our work.
    • Check out the special series "Enough for All" and learn more about the work of the Joint Learning Initiative (JLI).
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    56 mins
  • Being in the Moment with Benny Rietveld - Walk Talk Listen (episode 220)

    Being in the Moment with Benny Rietveld - Walk Talk Listen (episode 220)
    Dec 3 2025
    Benny Rietveld — bassist, composer, arranger, musical director for Santana, and former member of Miles Davis’ band — joins Walk Talk Listen for a deeply reflective, funny, and generous conversation about music, presence, heritage, and healing. Born in Utrecht and raised in Honolulu, Benny grew up in a multicultural mix of Dutch-Indonesian roots, Hawaiian upbringing, family parties full of guitars, and the irresistible pull of a piano in a department store. At age 12 he was playing in bands; by his 20s he was on stage with Sheila E., Prince, and later Miles Davis, whose “laser beam of attention” taught him what it means to be truly present in music. Today, Benny is the longtime musical director and bassist for Carlos Santana, and continues writing, recording, composing for film, and leading a genre-defying ensemble he jokingly calls “the circus.” In this episode we talk about:
    • Growing up as a Dutch-Indonesian kid in Hawaii’s melting pot of cultures
    • How Hey Jude sparked his first steps into music
    • What Miles Davis really taught him: presence, intensity, and honesty
    • Why music remains “medicine” for a dark and distracted world
    • Leaving Miles for Santana — and why Miles wanted people to move on
    • The joy (and lessons) of performing with his son
    • His upcoming projects, including a new album and film score
    Benny also leaves a powerful question for the next guest Listener Engagement:
    • Discover the songs picked by Benny and other guests on our #walktalklisten here.
    • Learn more about Benny via his LinkedIn, and Instagram accounts.
    • Share your feedback on this episode through our Walk Talk Listen Feedback link – your thoughts matter!
    Follow Us:
    • Support the Walk Talk Listen podcast by following us on Facebook and Instagram.
    • Visit 100mile.org or mauricebloem.com for more episodes and information about our work.
    • Check out the special series "Enough for All" and learn more about the work of the Joint Learning Initiative (JLI).
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    1 hr and 5 mins
  • It’s Decreed the People Rule with Adam Nicholas Phillips – Walk Talk Listen (Episode 219)

    It’s Decreed the People Rule with Adam Nicholas Phillips – Walk Talk Listen (Episode 219)
    Nov 26 2025
    Adam Nicholas Phillips is Chief Executive Officer of Interfaith America, the nation’s largest bridge-building organization working across campus, corporate, and civic settings. With two decades at the intersection of faith and public life, Adam previously served in the Biden–Harris Administration at USAID, where he led Faith-based and Localization efforts, shaped development policy, and supported democracy initiatives in nearly 100 countries. An ordained minister, he has also founded congregations, led national advocacy campaigns, collaborated with the White House and the State Department, and worked with global partners to expand interfaith cooperation. In this conversation, Adam reflects on:
    • how his upbringing shaped his calling to service and bridge-building
    • the relationship between faith, democracy, belonging, and civic renewal
    • what gives him hope in a polarized world
    • youth and spirituality — and what the next generation is trying to build
    • why Patti Smith’s People Have the Power still moves him
    • and why remembering that “it’s decreed the people rule” matters now more than ever
    This episode is a reminder that agency, compassion, and community are not abstract ideals — they’re everyday commitments. Listener Engagement:
    • Discover the song picked by Adam and other guests on our #walktalklisten here.
    • Learn more about Adam via his LinkedIn, and Instagram accounts.
    • Share your feedback on this episode through our Walk Talk Listen Feedback link – your thoughts matter!
    Follow Us:
    • Support the Walk Talk Listen podcast by following us on Facebook and Instagram.
    • Visit 100mile.org or mauricebloem.com for more episodes and information about our work.
    • Check out the special series "Enough for All" and learn more about the work of the Joint Learning Initiative (JLI).
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    54 mins
  • Travel That Changes You with Sibu Szymanowska — Walk Talk Listen (Episode 218)

    Travel That Changes You with Sibu Szymanowska — Walk Talk Listen (Episode 218)
    Nov 19 2025
    In this episode of Walk Talk Listen, our guest is Sibu Szymanowska, a human rights advocate, entrepreneur, traveler, and global citizen with nearly two decades of experience living and working across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Sibu is the co-founder of The Hybrid Tours, a social enterprise that blends sustainable, intentional travel with storytelling to challenge stereotypes and foster real connection. With a background in economics and a master’s degree in humanitarianism and international conflict, she uses travel as a tool for justice, empathy, identity exploration, and global understanding. In this conversation, Sibu reflects on:
    • how travel reshaped her sense of self
    • the responsibility we carry when entering someone else’s home, country, or story
    • the difference between seeing a place and being transformed by a place
    • what it means to grow up between cultures and belong to more than one world
    She also shares how co-founding The Hybrid Tours with Hira Aftab (go to episode 216 to listen to her) grew organically out of shared values — and how their differences strengthen the work. This episode invites listeners to think not only about the places they’ve traveled, but about the ways those journeys have shaped who they’ve become. Listener Engagement:
    • Discover the song picked by Sibu and other guests on our #walktalklisten here.
    • Learn more about Sibu via her LinkedIn, and Instagram accounts of her companies The Hybrid Tours and Go Global with Sibu.
    • Share your feedback on this episode through our Walk Talk Listen Feedback link – your thoughts matter!
    Follow Us:
    • Support the Walk Talk Listen podcast by following us on Facebook and Instagram.
    • Visit 100mile.org or mauricebloem.com for more episodes and information about our work.
    • Check out the special series "Enough for All" and learn more about the work of the Joint Learning Initiative (JLI).
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    56 mins
  • Resilience Isn’t an Outcome — It’s a Practice with Åsa Jarskog — Walk Talk Listen (Episode 217)

    Resilience Isn’t an Outcome — It’s a Practice with Åsa Jarskog — Walk Talk Listen (Episode 217)
    Nov 12 2025
    In this episode of Walk Talk Listen, host Maurice Bloem speaks with Åsa Jarskog, a key leader in the global Inner Development Goals (IDG) movement. Åsa has spent more than 35 years working in leadership, strategy, and sustainability across 67 countries — coaching executive teams, governments, development banks, and global organizations including IKEA, Ericsson, Lufthansa, Vodaphone, and the World Economic Forum. Åsa reflects on why inner development is not a concept — it’s a practice. She shares personal stories from her early life in northern Sweden, where cross-country skiing taught her the mindset of steady effort and inner resilience, a theme that now guides her work in human flourishing and transformational leadership. When asked about the song that represents her, Åsa laughs and says that while “I Will Survive” reflects resilience, the song that truly embodies her journey is “My Way.” Because for her, leadership is not about perfection. It’s about presence, authenticity, and showing up — again and again. Listener Engagement:
    • Discover the song picked by Åsa and other guests on our #walktalklisten here.
    • Learn more about Åsa via her LinkedIn, and Facebook.
    • Share your feedback on this episode through our Walk Talk Listen Feedback link – your thoughts matter!
    Follow Us:
    • Support the Walk Talk Listen podcast by following us on Facebook and Instagram.
    • Visit 100mile.org or mauricebloem.com for more episodes and information about our work.
    • Check out the special series "Enough for All" and learn more about the work of the Joint Learning Initiative (JLI).
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    1 hr and 4 mins