The Lev Natan Podcast

After attending the Schumacher Lecture with Samantha Power and Tyler Wakefield, Lev reflects on mutuality, courage, and showing up fully in a time of planetary crisis. Speaking candidly on his drive home, he explores how connection, purpose, and the force of life itself guide us to take meaningful action even amid uncertainty. ______ Your Invited to Deep Roots 2026 - Regenerative Leadership for Ch...

In this episode, Lev Natan explores the idea that the personal and professional are inseparable, especially in a time of global turbulence and deep transformation. Drawing on visionary thinkers like Barbara Marx Hubbard, Thomas Berry, and Joanna Macy, he reflects on why authentic emotion, spiritual insight, and inner purpose must be brought into our work if we hope to meet the challenges of the po...

Walking along the Housatonic River, Lev Natan reflects on the ancient roots of partnership culture and how reconnecting with our ancestral wisdom can guide us through today’s ecological and social crises. Drawing from Jewish mysticism, Riane Eisler's work, and personal inquiry, he invites listeners to rediscover cooperation, empathy, and regeneration as pathways toward a more viable future. ______...

In this episode, Lev Natan honors his late teacher and mentor, Hawksbrother, whose wisdom and guidance continue to shape his work in regenerative leadership. Walking along the Housatonic River, Lev reflects on the teachings of interconnectedness, gratitude, and council—the ancient practice of sitting in circle to listen, dream, and heal together. Through vivid storytelling and visionary imagery, h...

Lev Natan reflects on the practice of “Be, Do, Have,” a framework inspired by environmental activist Julia Butterfly Hill. Walking along the Housatonic River, Lev explores how grounding ourselves in being—in presence, purpose, and connection to the earth—naturally informs what we do and ultimately what we have. Weaving personal stories, ecological wisdom, and a vision for regenerative leadership,...

The Wellbeing Economy Alliance believes that humanity should determine economics, not the other way around. In this episode, Jimmy Paul, Director at the Wellbeing Economy Alliance in Scotland - speaks of their work with partners to drive change by co-creating, testing & lobbying for alternative policies, practices & models, and will look to identify the cross-sectoral opportunities for fundamental...

Do you feel an urgency to step up and face the climate crisis? At no other time in human history has our human species needed to wake up to the harrowing fact that our planet’s natural systems may not be able to support human life— within the coming generation—by 2050. Climate Leadership is a pathway forward that integrates personal & professional development work, for emerging and established lea...

“It’s better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it,'' says Jon Lee Rucker, founder of Wild Beauty Farm (wildbeautyfarm.com), PermaJam (permajam.com), and a dear friend of mine. This empowering conversation will bring awareness to the uneasy feeling about the instability all around us - conflict in the Ukraine, market and supply chain issues, and the environmental turbulence....

It is clear that the climate crisis is not going to go away. How can individuals and families best prepare themselves to meet the health challenges that are inevitable? One of the keys is that “we need to harness the power of focus,” says Dr. Stephanie Mines, the author of five books that reflect over three decades of research as a neuroscientist. She has investigated shock and trauma as a survivo...

What do you say at your Thanksgiving dinner table to honor our Native American relatives? In this episode, host and Executive Director of Alliance for a Viable Future, Lev Natan, shares stories of the Haudenasaunee Confederacy, The PeaceMaker, the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohicans, and The Seven Generations teaching. Lev’s wish is that his words spark your ideas for what to say around the di...

What’s the purpose of Indigenous People’s Day? Where did it come from? Why does it matter? The purpose of this panel, “Listening Deeply: Indigenous Voices Panel Discussion,” was to educate our community in preparation for Indigenous Peoples’ Day. It happened on Friday, October 1st from 6:00-8:00pm at the Unitarian Universalist Meeting of South Berkshire in Housatonic. Our panelists were Shawn Stev...

How can you integrate spiritual wisdom, social justice, reconciliation and deep personal growth? Rabbi David Jaffe’s teaching, organizing, writing and consulting explore the intersection of moral-spiritual development and ethical action in the world. In our interview, he draws from his book, Changing the World from the Inside Out, where he speaks to the needs of change makers and spiritual leaders...

“Indian girl use all your heart, or they’ll eat it raw, while singing la la la la”” Janel Munoa is a Native American Musician, who grew up on her Luiseño tribe’s reservation in Southern California. She moved to the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, where she has cultivated her professional musical career, while becoming active in in community organizing efforts for social and environmental issu...

Women are designed to sustain life. When supported to grow from healing into leadership, they naturally bring forth life-sustaining values such as love, compassion, joy and gratitude. In this interview, Catherine Ayotte shares her intimate experience of shifting from the ''victim'' to the ''leader'', using integrity, community and dignity as anchors in the process. She shares about her initiatory...

“We had to ask ourselves, if people are cutting down trees to cook their meals, then how can we help them reduce the amount of wood needed every time they cook.” These words from the co-founders point to their mission: to address the underlying causes of deforestation. For over twenty years, Trees, Water & People has been a leader in not only reforestation, but also in the design and distribution...

Indigenous People's Day is a new holiday that is being observed instead of Columbus Day around the United States and the World, as part of the movement to take down statues of confederate leaders and to tell a more accurate history. Here in the Berkshires, the non-profit organization, Alliance for a Viable Future is organizing an Indigenous People's Day Walk in Great Barrington, on October 11th, a...

In our modern culture, there's virtually no acknowledgment of personal rites of passage for women or any human being. The Rites of Passage Project features a diverse collective of sixty-five women of color from around the country. The purpose is to reclaim and expand the concept of a “rite of passage” to recognize that every significant experience in a woman's life from birth to death - the beauti...

Young voices should not only be heard but recognized as having the power to make change. Jewish Youth Climate Movement (JYCM) is dedicated to empowering teens to mobilize intelligent responses to climate change. In this episode, we are joined by Yonah Sadeh, Alex Tananbaum and Eli Anderson, members of JYCM’s Executive Board about their motivation to create a more equitable and sustainable world fo...

Author Julia Mayer’s new book, Painting Resilience is a very personal exploration of the role Fred Terna’s art played in surviving four concentration camps, and living a creative life as a successful artist. In our interview, we spoke about what Fred’s capacity to be creative and resilient has to teach us about facing the convergent crises of our times. Fred himself says that living through it was...

Edson Sean is the kind of guy, you want to get to know. And, once you know him, you want to learn more. He is one of those unique artists who inspires us to be better human beings; he is a musician, emcee and producer, who gets real. In our conversation, we went deep and made significant connections: what it’s like to be a man in today’s world - a black man, and a white man - the importance of Lov...

Arin Maya opens new dimensions of possibility - a singer/songwriter on the rise, bringing political consciousness deeply rooted in soul lineage. She is, quite simply, a breath of fresh air. In our interview, we riff on her amazing new music video, Dancing a Red Line (watch here: https://youtu.be/-ALv3nBgKfQ) , which inspires new vision for the more beautiful world that we all know is possible. She...

The riot on the Capitol last week, led by far-right, white supremacists, has revealed the depths of this deeply vulnerable moment in our nation. Let’s focus on a unifying message from Jake Singer - a Sundance Chief, traditional Navajo Medicine Man, decorated Vietnam Veteran, and founder of the organization Walk with the Warriors, with the mission of honoring Native American Veterans for their serv...

While the election is over, it has revealed a stark fracture in our communities. In 2021, how might we stay grounded in a vision that addresses the most poignant issues of our time - racial justice, climate change, and equity, while charting a sensible path that diffuses the brittle conflicts that have boiled over? As cultural healers, changemakers, and leaders committed to a viable future, how ca...

Sound healing is a mysterious portal into the sacred space of vision. Research shows that humming and toning boosts the immune system, enhances mental clarity, reduces stress, and increases "the trust hormone." In this powerful time of the winter solstice, we have an opportunity to utilize sound as a doorway into our deeper reservoirs of energy, vitality and vision. As we approach the winter solst...

What gives you the courage to keep going? What do you do to remember the source of your care? How do you renew your commitment when you feel run down? When I reconnect to my lineage, and remember the long-line of mentors and teachers who inspire me, I find my center, once again. When I remember the initiations that I’ve endured, I find my commitment, once again. In this episode, I present the thre...