The Leader’s Way

Austin Carty is a writer and pastor of Boulevard Baptist Church in Anderson, South Carolina. Before becoming a pastor, he taught high school English, and while teaching Tolstoy, heard the first call to ministry. As a minister, he continues to immerse himself in stories and words that speak to the human condition and inform how he preaches the Gospel. Austin is the author of High Points and Lows: L...

The Rev'd Elizabeth Riley is a priest and author with a vibrant digital presence on social media platforms, particularly TikTok, where she shares everything from the Good News of the Gospel to “rage prayers." Her book, Rage Prayers, is about turning your pent-up frustrations, daily annoyances, and righteous anger into a raw and transformative dialogue with a higher power who's ready to listen. As...

Seane Corn is an internationally-acclaimed yoga teacher, author, and public speaker who has been at the forefront of yoga, activism, and community service for 30+ years. Known for her social activism and impassioned teaching style, Seane is raw, honest, articulate, and spiritually inspired in her self-expression.    Welcome to Within, a contemplative segment of The Leader’s Way Podcast that explor...

Laurie Santos is host of The Happiness Lab podcast and professor at Yale, where she teaches Psychology and the Good Life, Yale’s most popular course in over 300 years, with almost one out of four students enrolled. Laurie is an expert on the science of happiness and the ways in which our minds lie to us about what makes us happy. In this episode of The Leader’s Way, host Brandon Nappi talks with L...

Bonnie Piesse is an Australian singer-songwriter, actress, soul alignment and manifestation coach and host of the podcast "Your Quantum Life." She helps conscious leaders and visionaries remember who they really are and step into their true power and light.   Bonnie is also an actress, best known for her role as ‘Star Wars’ Episode II - ‘Attack of the Clones’ and Episode III - ‘Revenge of the Sith...

Carey Wallace believes inspiration is an essential and often under-explored part of the creative life. In her new book The Discipline of Inspiration: The Mysterious Encounter with God at the Heart of Creativity, Carey meditates on the ways artists have experienced and negotiated with that "creative spark" across genres and throughout history, identifying it as something beyond them. In this conver...

What do we do in seasons of destabilization and doubt, uncertainty or rupture, when we find ourselves in the proverbial spiritual "wilderness?" Sarah Bessey tells us that the site of disruption is often “an altar to encounter God, an invitation from the Spirit” to encounter God’s love anew. Welcome back to Within, a contemplative segment of The Leader’s Way Podcast that explores the convergence of...

By his own admission, Father Laurence Freeman came into the monastic life "kicking and screaming.”   In this lively episode, host Brandon Nappi asks Fr. Freeman to share the story of his journey into the monastery, about his relationship with the incredible meditation teacher, John Main, and the profound ways meditation shapes our experience of the world.  Father Freeman is a monk of the Benedicti...

How can the science of spirituality help us discover our true purpose in life?  Welcome back to Within, a contemplative segment of The Leader’s Way Podcast that explores the convergence of mental health, art, and spirituality through authentic conversations across traditions about personal and collective transformation.   In this episode, Brandon Nappi talks with psychiatrist and spiritual coach D...

Welcome back to the new season of The Leader’s Way, a podcast for people who aren’t ready to give up on the world. In this episode, host Brandon Nappi talks with Volker Leppin about all things mysticism, for Meister Eckhart to Francis of Assisi to Martin Luther to so much more. Dr. Leppin is a German Protestant theologian and the Horace Tracy Pitkin Professor of Historical Theology at Yale Divinit...

In this live-recorded episode of The Leader’s Way Podcast, Brandon interviews Sophfronia Scott, a novelist, essayist, and leading contemplative thinker, whose book The Seeker and the Monk: Everyday Conversations with Thomas Merton won the 2021 Thomas Merton “Louie” Award from the International Thomas Merton Society. In this conversation, Brandon and Sophfronia explore the powerful ways a contempla...

Welcome back to Within, a contemplative segment of The Leader’s Way Podcast that explores the convergence of mental health, art, and spirituality through authentic conversations across traditions about personal and collective transformation. In this episode, Brandon Nappi talks with Shabnam Mogharabi, an award-winning entertainment executive and entrepreneur who is also trained in positive psychol...

The Reverend Dr. John F. Ross is the Executive Director of The Saint John’s Bible Heritage Program at Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, where he shepherds global engagement with the Saint John’s Bible—the first handwritten illuminated Bible in over 500 years. In this episode of The Leader’s Way, Brandon Nappi asks John to tell the story of how this artistic and beautiful Bible ca...

In this lively conversation, Brandon, Misty, and Whitney talk with The Most Rev'd Sean Rowe, presiding bishop and primate of The Episcopal Church. In this role, he serves as the church’s chief pastor and CEO. Known for his expertise in organizational learning and adaptive change, Rowe is committed to strengthening support for local ministry and mission. This episode offers a wide-ranging conversat...

In this tender and powerful episode, Leader’s Way host Brandon Nappi interviews Nelba Márquez-Greene, a devoted advocate for survivors of gun violence and someone who has been named one of the “Ten Women Changing the World,” according to People Magazine’s October 2019 issue. A Community Scholar at the Yale School of Public Health, Nelba also hosts the “Shared Humanity” podcast and video series, w...

If you’re considering applying to Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, this episode is for you!   It’s the SEMINARIAN TAKEOVER episode of The Leader’s Way Podcast. Berkeley Divinity School at Yale students Whitney Kimball Coe ’26, Misty Krasawski ‘26, and Jae Kirkland Rice ’27, pull back the curtain on what it’s like to be at seminary and divinity school.    Our seminarians tell stories about how the...

What does “community” actually mean? Is community something we achieve or is it something we practice? Claire Brown and Austin Sauerbrei are partners, parents, and community practitioners, living and working in small town rural America. Claire is the rector of a small Episcopal church and Austin is a community organizer with the 50+ year-old statewide nonprofit, SOCM. Their daily lives are a whirl...

Joseph Yoo was baptized, raised, and ordained in the United Methodist Church, and is now an Episcopalian priest and the planter of Mosaic Episcopal Church located in the suburbs of Houston, Texas. Joseph is the author of When the Saints Go Flying In: Stories About Faith, Life, and Everything in Between and is known for his dynamic presence on Instagram and TikTok, where he reflects on everything f...

Omid Safi was raised in a Muslim family where mystical poetry, particularly “love” poetry, and spirituality, were the currency of daily life. Poetry still “perfumes” Omid's social interactions, intellectual pursuits, and his curiosity about the ways religion, love, and justice intersect. Safi is a professor of Islamic Studies at Duke University. He specializes in the study of Islamic mysticism and...

We practice meditation because the present moment is the only place where we can truly find ourselves, love others, and be loved by the divine. This is why we gather, why we sit, why we breathe together. We practice surrendering to what lies beyond our control and responding rather than reacting to life's challenges. We cultivate curiosity about what's arising within and around us, learning to do...

What do we do with our pain? It’s an important spiritual question, and one that Brandon Nappi explores with James Kimmel, Jr., JD, on this episode of Within, a contemplative segment of The Leader's Way Podcast, that explores the convergence of mental health, art, and spirituality through authentic conversations across traditions about personal and collective transformation. James Kimmel is a viole...

Lauren Jackson is a religion columnist for the New York Times where she is the associate editor and writer for The Morning, the Times's flagship daily newsletter. Over the past year, she has been deeply involved in reporting on belief. Lauren developed 'Believing,' a project that explores how we experience religion and spirituality in contemporary times. Lauren's thought-provoking columns delve in...

Loretta Ross  is a public intellectual, professor, activist, and author of Calling In, a collection of stories from five remarkable decades working in social justice movements, including reproductive justice, white supremacy, and women of color organizing. Loretta and Leader’s Way host Brandon Nappi go deep into conversation about why calling people in—inviting them into conversation instead of co...

Host Brandon Nappi keeps the flame of curiosity alive in this edition of Within, a contemplative segment of The Leader's Way Podcast, that explores the convergence of mental health, art, and spirituality through authentic conversations across traditions about personal and collective transformation. In this episode, Brandon welcomes Elise Loehnen, best-selling author of “On Our Best Behavior” and c...

Dwight Zscheile is a professor of congregational mission and leadership at Luther Seminary, and his wife, Blair Pogue, is a priest and canon for vitality and innovation in the Episcopal Church in Minnesota. They join Leader’s Way host Brandon Nappi for a conversation about their joint passion for engaging the innovative ways the Church is renewing its commitment to community and communion by meeti...