Waking Youth

Carmen Prema has been studying and teaching Integral Yoga Teacher for over 35 years and personally, she’s my favorite yoga teacher, for the depth of her knowledge, the beauty of her being, and her rare wisdom. In this episode, we talk about how Carmen first got into yoga, what integral yoga is all about, what exactly can be considered yoga, and what is the relevance of traditional yoga in our meta...

A conversation with Andreas Endries, co-founder of the land-based project and former intentional community Alma Ohana . I invited Andreas because I’ve been attempting (and failing) to build community myself. I wanted to listen to his story; learn why Andreas’ dream didn’t materialize: what broke, why it broke, and what they’d do differently. Together we talk about Andreas' roots: how a boy who did...

To say that a book has changed my life sounds like a cliché. There aren’t many that truly do, but Jem Bendell’s Breaking Together: a Freedom Loving Response to Collapse is certainly one of them. So when I heard Jem Bendell was coming to Lisbon for the launch of the Portuguese edition of Breaking Together , I had to try to interview him. We recorded this conversation in late 2024, the day after the...

In this interview, we listen to the story of becoming of Elad Kaspin—someone who shatters not only the stereotype of a ‘hippie,’ but also that of an ‘Israeli man,’ ‘father,’ and ‘entrepreneur.’ Born in Israel, son of a military man, Elad grew up dreaming of becoming a combat pilot. Due to a health condition—or as Elad calls it, a divine intervention—that path closed, and he became a computer engin...

If there’s a central inquiry to the Waking Youth podcast it’s this: How might we consciously initiate ourselves—as individuals and as a species–into the next stage of our evolution? Turn our ecological emergency, our polycrisis, into an opportunity for global transformation? Daniel Pinchbeck has dedicated his life and career to living this question. Author of Breaking Open the Head , 2012 The Retu...

Hannah Close is a writer, photographer and cultural curator. I invited her because, to me, she embodies the pursuit of wisdom and wholeness. Her art—whether in the form of an image, written piece, or Instagram post—emerges from a profound, quiet place. It moves the stuff of the spirit, and invites us to question who we are and what we’re really here for.  Together we unpack Hannah's early life as...

As someone interested in both personal healing and social change, I often notice a divide between these two transformational movements. On one hand, spiritual seekers can become overly focused on their inner journeys, moving from retreat to retreat without reflecting much on the planetary events unfolding in the world and their relationship to them.  On the other hand, changemakers and activists c...

What does it mean to live from our intuition, beyond the expectations of our communities of origin? This is the question that accompanies this episode.  Chiara Baldini , the first woman in her family to attend university, was born in rural Florence, in Italy. Throughout her twenties, she took on various jobs  – waitress, translator, tour guide – anything that allowed her the freedom to travel and...

A conversation with Cristina Bernardo Kullberg about how we might navigate the limiting beliefs that so often get in the way of where we want to go and who we want to be, as women, as humans, for ourselves and our communities. Together we delve into Cristina's personal history as a Cuban American with nine siblings. We explore some of the challenges and learnings throughout her career as a busines...

A conversation with the regenerative farmer and entrepreneur Fausto Araújo. Alongside his partner Maria Pussig, Fausto has spent the last five years transforming his family’s estate, Quinta do Pinheiro , in Guimarães, Portugal, into a pioneering lab of what it looks like to produce food more wisely. Together we explore Fausto’s story of becoming. What is syntropic farming and how it differs from m...

A conversation with Tatjana von Steiger about how she become a diplomat and mediator. Together we explore Tatjana’s early life, including how her unlikely studies in Russian Literature shaped the way she approaches her work. We listen to some of the challenges Tatjana encountered as a rather shy woman learning to play the diplomacy game. We talk about her experience navigating the high-stakes nego...

What is the role of stories in shaping our understanding of reality? What is failing in our current media landscape and what might alternative models look and feel like? Who are the people experimenting with them and what do they value? These are some of the questions we explore with our guest Maria Almeida . Together we talk about Maria’s early life and her dreams of becoming first, a football pl...

While the connection between football and social impact might not be an immediate one, in this episode we listen to the story of becoming of Alexia García , a football lover and activist, who will show us their joint potential. Guest Bio: Alexia García is a player, coach, director of business development and project manager at Dragones de Lavapiés . Located in the Madrid's most diverse neighbo...

Ashanti Kunene , our guest, defines 'calling' as that which keeps coming back to you, whether you like it or not. In this episode, she tells us how she came into acceptance of hers as a social justice activist helping, mostly white, people walk their talk as leaders, and become more aware of and accountable to systemic discrimination, racism and inequality. What is the role of intuition in...

In this episode, we listen deeply to the story of becoming of Pablo Esteves , a professional golfer turned social entrepreneur. Are you torn between following your professional bliss and opting for a path of more security? Are you curious about entrepreneurship and business? Are you interested in making the world a better place? If you've ever found yourself pondering some of these questions,...

In this episode, we listen deeply to the story of Rui Quinta, a precocious pine nut seller who came of age as a self-proclaimed typefreak and graphic designer. In recent years, as he discovered the post-it-world of design thinking, Rui has transformed into a more systemic designer and conscious entrepreneur. Should we start our own business now or learn with others first? What does it mean to lead...

Should we follow a conventional career path, or pursue our artistic longings? Can the pursuit of knowledge coexist with a spiritual journey? How might a radically honest approach to our relationships foster personal and collective evolution? In this episode, we converse with filmmaker Caveh Zahedi to listen deeply to his experience of living the questions above mentioned. Caveh is a film director,...

Have you ever pondered dedicating your life to making the world a better place? Are you curious about what motivates people to choose a humanitarian career? In this episode, we sat with Amanda Huits to explore the roots of her decision to venture into a humanitarian career, in part influenced by the experience she had when visiting her mom's original home in a favela in Brazil. Amanda holds a...

How many failures precede success? How many books are written before one of them becomes a best-seller? How many anxieties and insecurities hide underneath the surface of a "successful" career? In this month's episode, we converse with Rebecca Seal, best-selling author of the book " Solo: How to Work Alone and Not Lose Your Mind " and host of the Solo Collective Podcast . R...

Joana Leite de Castro is from Porto, Portugal. A bright student throughout her school years, when the time came to pick a Bachelor's degree, Joana elected Business Management at Católica University in Porto. Her dream was to become the CEO of Coca-Cola or Google. After graduating with distinction, Joana got a job at a US pharmaceutical company where she worked in the nutrition department for t...

What career path should I choose?—an all too prevalent question if you are a youngster (in age or at heart) like us. What if, instead, we asked: What do I want to experience? Where is there growth for me? With a Ba in History from the University of Porto and a Ma in History from the University of Edinburg, Mariana is a former academic and writer who published her first fiction book,  The Voices  -...

Happiness. What is the role of this word in your life? Does it signify a goal? A choice? A state? Does it resonate with you? Perhaps you find terms like fulfillment, purpose, or meaning more useful? What about your relation to melancholy? In what ways are happiness and melancholy connected? If they conversed, what would they say to one another? These are some of the questions we contemplate with D...

How might we contribute to the planet's regeneration while pursuing our creative curiosities and material prosperity? - is the question that accompanies this episode. Grounded in Giancarlo Canavesio's story of becoming, in this conversation, we explore how a former investment banker boldly transitions into a career in film production and, later on, regenerative hospitality and agriculture...

What would our romatic relationships look like if, instead of being predefined according to unquestioned default modes, they were customized to the needs and desires of the people in them? In this episode, Dr. Jorge Ferrer walks us through his work aimed at transcending the binary monogamy-polyamory, culminating in Jorge's coining of the term novogamy. Guest Bio: Jorge is the author of several boo...

Humans often make sense of reality in binaries. What would happen if we temporarily suspended such reductionist tendencies in the context of both gender identity and romantic relationship types? Esaú Gozalo will tell us all about it.  Esaú is a multimedia designer who lives in Segovia, a small town in Spain. He's animated by the intersections across art and tech, social change, and spiritualit...