Denizen

How might we move beyond polarization and integrate the truths held in opposing points of view? Storyteller and producer Stephanie Lepp shares with us her tools and strategies to, in her words, "leave no insight behind" -- a skill essential to address the challenges of our time. To stay connected to all things Denizen, you can sign up for our newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com.  There we share...

In this essential episode, Jenny discusses stakeholder capitalism with Jasper van Brakel, CEO of RSF Social Finance. This is one of the most important topics of the Denizen inquiry, as it tees up true economic reform where profit is put in service of purpose. In this conversation Jenny and Jasper cover stakeholder capitalism comprehensively: Defining stakeholder capitalism and differentiating betw...

How can art contribute to systemic change? Design Science Studio co-founder Roxi Shohadaee shares her insights from working with hundreds of artists across myriad disciplines. To stay connected to all things Denizen, you can sign up for our newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com.  There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our man...

The regenerative story starts with single core idea: we can use the universal principles underlying stable, healthy, and sustainable living and nonliving systems throughout the real world as a model for economic-system design. ‍ After 20 years on Wall Street, John Fullerton embarked on an intellectual journey that led him to formulate his ideas around regenerative economics. In this conversation J...

Post Growth Institute 's Donnie Maclurcan returns to the Denizen podcast with an important follow up to one of our most popular episodes, Post Growth Economics. Here Donnie reiterates on why capitalism is fundamentally flawed, outlines what is working around the world today, and explains his theory of change for how we evolve to an economy that is regenerative, just, and circular. ‍ Outline for th...

This episode comes along side of the launch of Tobias Rose-Stockwell's book Taming The Outrage Machine: How Technology Amplifies Discontent, Disrupts Democracy -- And What We Can Do About It . Tobias is an author, designer, and media researcher who has been working at the forefront of this topic for many years. By investigating media's role in information flows throughout history, Tobias' book bri...

How might we design our organizations and institutions to align incentives for all stakeholders? Taking inspiration from small, kin-based groups, Joon Yun asks how we can scale such dynamics globally. To stay connected to all things Denizen, you can sign up for our newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com.  There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and a...

How might we inspire humans to think on the time scale of civilization? What can we learn about long term thinking from the world's most enduring organizations? Long Now Foundation's Executive Director reflects on his learnings from 25 years in his role. To stay connected to all things Denizen, you can sign up for our newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com.  There we share our latest content alongs...

Sociocracy is a form of governance that utilizes content-based decision making in small groups. By delegating authority to the handful of people who are responsible for executing on the related work, power is distributed more broadly throughout organizations. In a consent based model, everyone takes responsibility for decisions made by the group. This conversations covers essential things you need...

Long-term capitalism is one of our most foundational topics. We investigate how we might instantiate a variation of capitalism that optimizes over longer time horizons that a quarter, which is the form of capitalism that dominates the public market. Michelle Green, founding employee, President Emeritus, Board member and Interim CEO of the Long Term Stock Exchange joins us for this foundational con...

On the heels of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's testimony before Congress, we are releasing this important conversation from 2021. Jenny sits down with Stanford political science professors Rob Reich, Jeremy Weinstein, and Nate Persily to interrogate big tech's role in society. How did we get to where we are today? What interventions in the near term, from creating new ethical norms to putting in place mo...

In this episode Jenny sits down with Jim Rutt and Jordan Hall, founders of the Game B movement, to understand it's history and main tenets. Jim and Jordan have thought deeply about many facets of the Denizen inquiry, this conversation dives into many core concepts related to social and institutional redesign. ‍ The genesis of Game B [3:05] Defining complexity science [4:04] Epistemology and episte...

In this episode Jenny sits down with three leaders in the regenerative movement: John Fullerton, Founder of the Capital Institute and champion of Regenerative Capitalism; Hunter Lovins, pioneer in the sustainability movement and author of Natural Capitalism; and Joon Yun, philanthropist and advocate of inclusive stakeholding. Each have been guests on various topics within the Denizen inquiry: Rege...

Donnie Maclurcan returns in this episode to discuss the radical, embodied practices he employs as Executive Director of the Post Growth Institute. Learn how PGI uses an asset-based approach, sociocratic governance, and lean processes to create trust, safety, and virtuous cycles. Recorded live in San Francisco, Donnie and Jenny discuss PGI's cutting edge practices such as silent meetings, a long hi...

This episode is a little different than most, we’re not exploring a single topic.  Instead we discuss Elena’s expansive work as it relates to our inquiry. This conversation ties to so many episodes to date: Change from Within with Bobby Klein, Nonviolent Communication, Beyond the Enlightenment, Liberatory Technology, and Parenting, just to name a few.  Elena  helps us weave them together under the...

Our guests for this episode are Aden Van Noppen, Davion Ziere, and Sará King, the team behind Mobius . With historical and current advisors such as Jack Kornfield, Dr. Angel Acosta, and Krista Tippet, Mobius's mission is to activate a tech ecosystem focused on healing and well being. Mobius' work prioritizes support for Black, Brown, Indigenous, queer, youth, and others who are marginalized by the...

In this episode we're exploring a foundational topic: trust. Our guest Davion Ziere, known as Zi, has been thinking deeply about this topic for years. He's even written a yet to be published book on it. Davion is co-director of Mobius, founder of an online community marketplace called Origyn, a recording artist, and student of many indigenous traditions. This is the first of a two part series expl...

In this episode we discuss the importance of service, the value of community, finding one’s purpose, the need for ceremony and ritual, how to really listen, and much more. To stay connected to all things Denizen, you can sign up for our newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com .  There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our m...

Our guest for this episode is Carla Fernandez, co-founder of The Dinner Party, a platform for young adults who have lost someone close to them. The Dinner Party now operates in over 100 cities around the world and has been featured in media outlets such as NPR, CNN, and the New York Times. Carla is also a designer, facilitator, and strategist whose work brings creativity, joy, and connection to th...

This conversation investigates the fundamental challenges of a capitalism and outlines a vision for a post-growth economy that better achieves a just, sustainable society. Our guest, Donnie MacLurcan, is the founder and Executive Director of the Post Growth Institute. He's one of the most brilliant thinkers we've met on new economics. In this episode Jenny and Donnie discuss: Defining post-growth...

Steward ownership is one of the single most important concepts to understand for those interested in reforming capitalism. Whereas all other models of corporate governance that seek to integrate purpose co-ops, public benefit corporations, B Corps, and PBLLCs leave intact a fundamental tension between purpose and profit, steward ownership instantiates profit in service of purpose in a way that is...

This episode covers an important corporate governance form: the cooperative, also known as a co-ops. There are many types of co-ops which makes it challenging to fully understand what distinguishes them from other corporate forms. This is an essential topic, as it is within the incentives of corporate governance that alternative economic outcomes can be designed. In this conversation Jenny, Jessic...

Our guest for this episode is Robert Gilman, founder of the Context Institute. Robert is a pioneer in the sustainability movement and an elder in our midst. His career began with 30 years in astrophysics, so he is deeply versed in the mindsets of scientific thinking. Robert is particularly interested culture and cultural change. He sees us in a moment of significant transition towards what he call...

This conversation connects systemic change and big paradigm shifts to our everyday behaviors. The dominant way that we think about and speak to one another reflects a story of separation and has us regularly in a state of fight or flight. It lends itself to right/wrong thinking, extracting from one another and keeping score. The principles and practices of nonviolent communication (NVC) offer an a...

In this episode we discuss governance on social media platforms, an important topic given the enormous social consequences of our reliance on them. Our guests are Columbia sociology professor Sudhir Venkatesh and Yale legal professor Tracey Meares. Sudhir and Tracy co-direct Yale's Social Media Governance Initiative, which is leading research in this field. In this conversation, Jenny, Sudhir, and...