Teaching Peace

In this episode of Teaching Peace , we move into Chapter 4 of the Dhammapada : Flowers —a poetic meditation on impermanence, beauty, and the urgency of the spiritual path. These verses use the imagery of flowers to reflect on the fleeting nature of life and the importance of inner practice over outer appearances. Through a liberationist and trauma-informed lens, Jason Storbakken explores what it m...

In this episode of Sister Sister , host and teen peacebuilder Zipporah sits down with Kawsar Yasin , a Uyghur student and activist at Harvard, to explore what it means to speak out in the face of genocide. Together, they unpack the history of state violence and cultural erasure in East Turkestan (Xinjiang), the criminalization of Uyghur identity and faith, and how sisterhood, memory, and joy are r...

In this episode of Teaching Peace , we explore Chapter 3 of the Dhammapada : Mind Matters —a focused reflection on the restless, powerful, and often untamed nature of the mind. These verses describe the mind as elusive and difficult to control—yet capable of shaping our entire existence. Through a liberationist and trauma-informed lens, Jason Storbakken invites us to consider how taming the mind i...

🎙️ Sister Sister | A series of the Teaching Peace podcast by Brooklyn Peace Center In this powerful episode, Zipporah sits down with Sudanese writer, feminist, and activist Reem Abbas for an unflinching conversation on Sudan’s history of resistance and the movement for justice amid ongoing conflict. From smuggling banned books to organizing women-led movements, Reem shares how everyday acts—from c...

In this episode of Teaching Peace , we continue our journey through the Dhammapada with Chapter 2: Care-fullness —a powerful teaching on appamada , or mindful vigilance, which the Buddha called the path to immortality. These verses remind us that liberation is not accidental. Through a trauma-aware and liberationist lens, Jason Storbakken explores how care-full presence—what the Buddha calls appam...

Chapter 1: Dualities In this episode of Teaching Peace , we begin our deep dive into the Dhammapada with Chapter 1: Dualities —a powerful opening that sets the foundation for the Buddha’s path to wisdom and liberation. These verses reveal how our thoughts shape our reality , emphasizing the connection between mind, suffering, and peace . Through a liberationist and trauma-aware lens , Jason Storba...

Dhammapada – Episode 1 Welcome to Teaching Peace , the official podcast of the Brooklyn Peace Center. In this first episode of our new series, we begin an exploration of the Dhammapada , one of the most revered Buddhist scriptures, through a liberationist and trauma-aware lens . This episode features the introduction and first three chapters , originally published in the University of Hawaii Press...

Rita Nakashima Brock is Senior Vice President and Director of the Shay Moral Injury Center at Volunteers of America. She leads the organization’s efforts to deepen understanding about moral injury in the many populations who experience it. A noted theologian, Dr. Brock was the Founding Director of the Soul Repair Center at Brite Divinity School where she also was a Research Professor of Theology a...

Chloe and Elgin Storbakken, guest cohosts, are in conversation with Madison  Banks and Peony Walcott. Madison and Peony are MCC Summer Service Program Leaders at Groundswell and Radical Living, respectively. #TeachingPeace

Iris de León-Hartshorn has served Mennonite Central Committee (1996-2007) and Mennonite Church USA (2007-present) in various leadership roles. Previously the denomination’s director of transformative peacemaking, the Portland, Oregon, resident is now its associate executive director for operations, a new position that encapsulates the roles of chief of staff and key advisor to the executive direct...

In this episode of Teaching Peace, Addie and Jason are in conversation with Alexandra Meneses, cofounder of Quite Peace Center, coordinator for Project for Refugee People, and former pastor at Quito Mennonite Church. Also joining us is Peter Wigginton, Ecuador partnership coordinator for Mission Network, who provided interpretation.

Addie and guest cohost Greg Vanderbilt are in conversation with Gordon McDade. Gordon is a peacebuilder in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Along with Karen Sethuraman, Gordon facilitates a peace & reconciliation hub called Soulspace (and the Down Community).

Jason and Addie are in conversation with Oscar Nceba Siwali, founder and executive director of a South African peace center called Southern African Development and Reconstruction Agency (SADRA). https://sadra.co.za/

In the inaugural episode of the second season of Teaching Peace, Jason Storbakken and Addie Banks are in conversation with Sue Park-Hur, Denominational Minister for Transformative Peacemaking in the Mennonite Church USA, and co-director of ReconciliAsian, a peace center in Los Angeles specializing in conflict transformation and restorative justice for immigrant churches. #BringThePeace

Addie and Jason are in conversation with Rev. Dr. Emma Jordan-Simpson, executive director of Fellowship of Reconciliation.

Addie and Jason talk with Cesar Garcia, general secretary of the Mennonite World Conference, a global communion of Anabaptist related churches that serves some 1.5 million members around the world, distributed in more than 10,000 Mennonite, BIC, and other Anabaptist congregations. Rev. García is from Bogotá, Colombia, and his appointment in 2011 marked the first time a leader from the global South...

Addie and Jason are in conversation with Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee, a Liberian peace activist, trained social worker and women’s rights advocate. www.brooklynpeace.center #TeachingPeace

Jason and guest cohost Kayla Berkey talk with Dr. Malinda Elizabeth Berry, ethicist and theologian, about Shalom Political Theology as the connective tissue and intersectional space that holds together liberation theologies and practical peacemaking for long-term social transformation.

Addie Banks and guest cohost Gregory Vanderbilt talk with Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Soto Albrecht about uprooting generation family violence through practicing peacemaking. Dr. Soto Albrecht is author of "Family Violence: Reclaiming a Theology of Nonviolence" (Orbis Books) and the forthcoming "Liberating the Politics of Jesus: Renewing Peace Theology through the Wisdom of Women." www.brookynpeace.center

Addie and Jason talk with Jayne Docherty, the executive director of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University.    www.brooklynpeace.center

In this episode of Teaching Peace, Addie Banks and Jason Storbakken talk with Stanley Hauerwas about the ethics and theology of peacebuilding.  Hauerwas is the  Gilbert T. Rowe Professor Emeritus of Divinity and Law at Duke University. He is considered to be one of the world's most influential living theologians and was named "America's Best Theologian" by Time magazine in 2001. www.broo...

In this first episode of Teaching Peace, Addie Banks and Jason Storbakken talk with, Glen Guyton, the executive director of Mennonite Church USA, the largest denomination of Peace Christians in the United States. They explore themes related to peacemaking in institutions and congregations. www.brooklynpeace.center