Future Tripping

We want to take a moment and thank you for joining us for Season Two! This community means so much to us. Truly.  And Guests it has been such a privilege to engage in these conversations with you each week. Many thanks, again, to Olivia Pi-Sunyer who is an incredible joy to collaborate with and without whom we couldn’t do this.  And, to Tom Stiles for such skill and steadfastness and to Freya Burr...

In our final episode of Season Two, we are in conversation with Abbey Brown. As Technical Lead for the Clean Fuel Standard with the Washington Department of Ecology, Abbey is on the front line of working for structural and systemic changes. She is wise beyond her years and we are very grateful to her for joining us to talk about how to sustain ourselves, collectively and individually, even when we...

This week we are joined by Stacey Moniz. As a beloved community member who is deeply rooted on the island, Stacey generously shares with us where things stand currently and helps us understand the complicated and entrenched forces that contributed to this disaster unfolding as it did. Stacey & Laura discuss grief & loss, the ineffable pain that continues to course through the island, the p...

Sex & hookup culture is what Dr. Lisa Wade and Laura talk about this week. Having written t-h-e  book on hookup culture, American Hookup: The New Culture of Sex on Campus, we couldn’t be in better hands for this ever more important and deeply relevant conversation. Because hookup culture intimately ties to so much else in our society, this conversation is meaningful whether or not you, or some...

Sleep! It’s something we all do & yet so many of us don’t understand, exactly, why it’s critical and how to truly get good/restorative sleep. Dr. Rafael Pelayo has spent decades of his career studying & treating sleep issues and disorders. This was both a lot of fun & very informative as Dr. Pelayo knows so [!] much about sleep and it seems like there is not a sleep issue that’s eluded...

Obsessive thoughts and compulsive behavior remain widely misunderstood. We are fortunate to be joined this week by Sarah Weber who has worked for years as an art therapist and mental health counselor. While many listening may not have ever felt the experience of obsessing about something, you likely know someone who does. Now and then or regularly. Sarah walks us through so much practical and inst...

Former NFL wide receiver & Super Bowl Champion with the Seattle Seahawks; current founder of the Family First Community Center; philanthropist; and CEO Doug Baldwin sits down with Laura this week. Doug’s openness and commitment to authenticity allow them to discuss, in detail, vulnerability and what it means to bring our whole selves to our lives. Originally filmed as an on-camera interview, w...

This week we are doing something a little bit different. A wonderful colleague of ours requested, given everything going on in the world, a very short Q & A session that she could share with others who may be struggling. This is our attempt at that! A video portion can be found on our site as well. We hope it’s helpful. To learn more about Future Tripping , Laura’s work, and The Trauma Steward...

Culture writer Kate Lindsay is with us this week to talk about everything from whataboutism and opinion fatigue to our online presence from when we are born until after we die. Kate’s experience with all angles of being online combined with her astute observations make this such an accessible conversation. There is so much I don’t know about social media and this was such a fun and informative rom...

Today I have the privilege of talking with Lily Levitt. I first heard Lily share a bit about her life when talking with her father, Steven Levitt, on his podcast People I Mostly Admire - part of the Freakonomics network. In our conversation, she powerfully shares about her struggle with, and recovery from, disordered eating. I am extremely grateful she was open to joining us so we can learn from h...

Dustin Washington joins us this week for a conversation about social justice, spiritual consciousness, & human solidarity. Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of The Soul Focused Group and Co-Director of the Human Solidarity Project, Dustin has worked for over 25 years as a Racial Equity educator and social change leader. More recently, he has grounded those efforts with his work in spiritu...

Our fall series starts with the tremendous wisdom & research of Dr. Anna Lembke. Her latest book, Dopamine Nation, is all about the role dopamine plays in our lives and how we can, realistically, work to find balance amidst a world that is drenched in over-stimulation. Dr. Lembke offers a key to understanding so much of human behavior. We are thrilled to have her with us this week! To learn mo...

We are taking a few weeks off the grid. Hoping you enjoy these episodes from the archives. In this not to be missed episode, we are joined by a very special guest. Laura talks with 6-year-old Casey and their mom, Abigail, about being non-binary and gender expansive. Casey generously shares with us their insights, experiences and advice for other children and adults. We even get some book recommend...

We are taking a few weeks off the grid. Hoping you enjoy these episodes from the archives.  This week, Laura talks with Brother Chân Pháp Hữu. Brother Hữu is a Zen Buddhist monk, Abbott of Plum Village in France, international educator, and long time attendant to the venerable Thích Nhất Hạnh. They discuss how as a boy in Canada, he first met Thích Nhất Hạnh and was so moved by his teachings that...

We are taking a few weeks off the grid. Hoping you enjoy these episodes from the archives. This week Laura talks with her friend and colleague Matt Reddam. Matt is a survivor of complex childhood trauma and now works with children, families, schools and systems in a variety of roles. He lives in Butte County which experienced the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California’s history. Mat...

If there is something Emily Carmichael has known well, it’s been how to work incredibly hard. Writing independently for 11 long years, the stress of paying rent continuously looming, she’ll never forget the day Steven Spielberg asked to meet with her. This week we get to hear about Hollywood. What’s gotten better in terms of supporting artists, how far it has to go regarding destigmatizing mental...

The future of psychedelic science & psychedelic-assisted therapy is incredibly promising. Practiced for millenia by Indigenous communities, this path is proving to be very hopeful for so many who have not found relief through other modalities. While having just graduated from Pomona College, Eloise Cherian joins us today with an incredibly impressive amount of experience already in this field....

Mother of four, this week we get to talk with Connie Burk about non-precious parenting. What it looks like, why it can be so sustaining, and why maintaining one’s sense of humor through it all is critical. Long time advocate and activist; community leader; Co-author of Trauma Stewardship, there is no shortage of directions this conversation could have gone, but we know Connie’s wisdom and insight...

While getting to attend college is a true privilege, the application process is grueling at best. Carter Osborne has worked with students for years as they craft their essays, but the role he plays in kids’ lives during this pivotal time goes much deeper. Devoted to teen mental health and suicide prevention, Carter approaches the entire process as an actual opportunity for students to get to know...

Sara Ainsworth is an absolute force. Kind, brilliant, skillful, and entirely devoted, she and her incredible colleagues work to [from their site] transform the law and policy landscape through advocacy, support, and organizing so all people have the power to determine if, when, and how to define, create, and sustain families with dignity, and to actualize sexual and reproductive wellbeing on their...

As a colleague and friend, Nate and I have spent years talking about the importance of having a Plan B in life. Very fortunately, one of Nate’s Plan B’s led him to the incredible work at Athlete Ally . Their mission is to end homophobia and transphobia in sport and to activate the athletic community to exercise their leadership to champion LGBTQI+ equality. Nate shares with us about their extremel...

Stella was 14 when she died and yet her life has left an indelible legacy on everyone who was blessed to know her. Today, we have the privilege of talking with her older sister who was with her from when the diagnosis was received until she passed away. The family was blessed with an incredibly loving community and a deep bench of support and yet, there is nothing quite like the sibling bond when...

From ancient forest bathing to modern biome boosting, we’re hearing more and more about our gut health. Our conversation with Dr. Christopher Lowry helps us begin to understand the very important implications of maintaining one’s gut health and how it has major ramifications not just for our physical health but our mental health as well. Dr. Lowry’s research focuses on stress-related physiology an...

This week we are getting to see how transforming trauma into art can be truly life-affirming. Joined by filmmaker, artist, writer, and activist Eliaichi Kimaro, we learn how metabolizing one’s overwhelm can lead to enduring beauty. Years ago, Eli moved from full-time work as an advocate and activist to becoming a filmmaker. Her award-winning documentary A Lot Like You has won many awards and toure...

There are many long-held cultural practices that have new science bolstering them, and cold water immersion is definitely one of those. Matt Soule is Washington state’s only Level 3 Wim Hof Method instructor and has been studying and practicing strategies to help master one’s stress response for years. In this conversation, Matt and Laura walk through very practical, accessible, concrete ways to r...