Learning Conversation

5 min

Today's word is: message.

Learning Practice features a 3-minute conversation about a single word. Unrehearsed, without forethought of the word to be discussed, we practice the art of Learning Conversation.

If you want to practice with us by supplying a word and joining us: contact us through our websites.

Landscapes for Learning

YogaHEALS

15 min

Today's Learning Conversation is about the death of conversation.

Maureen and Pierre share thoughts on the value and importance of conversation for health and wellness in a democracy .

The Death of Conversation is also the title of a podcast between Coleman Hughes and Jonathan Haidt which is resourced in this episode.

Coleman Hughes is a black, African-American, intellectual with a podcast called Conversations with Coleman. Check him out. https://colemanhughes.org.

Jonathan Haidt is a professor of moral philosophy, the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at NYU Stern School of Business, Pierre's alma mater. Professor Haidt's books include:

• The Happiness Hypothesis
• The Coddling of the American Mind
• The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion

Both Professor Haidt and Mr. Hughes tackle difficult subjects. Coleman Hughes does so with aplomb which both Maureen and Pierre find remarkable.

Here’s what Coleman says about his podcast: “Home to honest conversations with leading intellectuals on the polarizing issues in the realm of grace, politics and racism.”

Say what? People are talking about these things? Yup. In Conversations with Coleman.

Check him out. This conversation that we’re ‘resourcing’ is called “The Death of Conversation” and can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsW7q12WJBs

Jonathan Haidt’s podcasts with others can be found here: https://jonathanhaidt.com/podcasts/

Enjoy Learning Conversations.

Enjoy Conversations with Coleman.

Live to Learn and Learn to Live

Peace through grace

5 min

Today's word is: opportunity

Learning Practice features a 3-minute conversation about a single word. Unrehearsed, without forethought of the word to be discussed, we practice the art of Learning Conversation.

If you want to practice with us by supplying a word and joining us: contact us through our websites.

Landscapes for Learning

YogaHEALS

17 min

Listen to Maureen and Pierre podcasting from their less than professional sound studios!

Pierre introduces a resource that Maureen has not heard of, read about, or taught. Wow! Score one for Pierre.

Pierre brings forward a resource: Vivekananda. Called the ‘Messenger of Indian Wisdom to the Western World,’ Vivekananda was the first person to come to America and teach yoga and Indian spiritual philosophy.

Only in the United States for four years, Vivekananda had a profound effect on the trajectory of yoga and eastern philosophy in America. He was the first in a line of yogis journeying to America.

The occasion of Vivekananda journey to the US was the ‘World’s Parliament of Religions’ taking place in Chicago in 1893.

Fittingly, his speech was given on September 11th, 1893, the same day of the year that this podcast is being released. A fitting anniversary for a speech that rocked our world.

His first words were: Sisters and brothers of America…. Pause and think about those five words for a moment.

His message was one of love. He spoke in opposition to the pursuit of fanatical religious ideas wherein dissension, wars, and centuries of tragedy perpetuated senseless ideas.

Vivekananda’s book Bhakti Yoga, meaning the yoga of love and devotion, is instructive for its deep insights into how the universe works.

Vivekananda writes of energy being the essence of the universe. He also writes that man’s striving for pleasure, the sensational joys of mind and body, is short-sighted and not in keeping with the ways of God. Uninvited, yet traveling all the way from India by ship and train, he arrived and spoke at this august gathering to powerfully proclaim an end to bigotry and fanaticism.

If you’ve not heard of Vivekananda, you might want to check him out. When his work was done on July 4th, 1902, he reportedly passed releasing his soul through ‘mahasamadhi’ while meditating.

Enjoy Learning Conversations.

30 min

Pierre is retired and working. Wait, what? Why? What does retirment mean? What does work mean?

Work and retirement are the subjects of today’s podcast.

The action of leaving one’s job: retirement. Is this a good thing?

Work life balance. What does that look like in different stages of life.

What does work look like in a capitalist society? Is it a good thing? Is it a bad thing?

The amount of physical labor has lessened over the years, so does that change work and retirement in any fundamental way?

Join us for a meaningful discussion on what work means in different ages and stages for different people in different jobs.

15 min

Health and fitness questions from Pierre. Answers from Maureen. Or is it questions that answer from Maureen?

This is a pretty hilarious account of Pierre’s inquiry into how to use a gym. Maureen knows gyms inside and out.

Pierre’s set up to this podcast is classic Pierre mumbo jumbo, until Maureen sends the strike missile! Yup - laser guided question: why do you think you want to do this? What’s your motivation - strike missile is at the 7 min mark.

Maureen explains the magic of Cross Fit. Maureen explores entrees and motivations to fitness.

Long and short of it, if you are interested in fitness you might be interested in this Learning Conversation. It’s a practical dive into why we do fitness, how we do fitness, and what fitness context is right for you.Strength, social, movement, cardio, outdoor, indoor, guided, free-form?

Check it out. You might look at lifelong fitness challenges and find a key to unlock your interest and desire to be fit.

Enjoy Learning Conversations!

5 min

Today's word is: Radical

Learning Practice features a 3-minute conversation about a single word. Unrehearsed, without forethought of the word to be discussed, we practice the art of Learning Conversation.

If you want to practice with us by supplying a word and joining us: contact us through our websites.

Landscapes for Learning

YogaHEALS

18 min

Pierre and Maureen introduce a resource: Yuval Noah Harari.

Listen to the end of the podcast and find out why Pierre is so happy. :-)

This podcast veers from Learning Conversation’s usual resources in physical, mental and spiritual health to consider human behavior from the beginning of time. Yup - big subject!

Yuval Harari takes on the history of humans masterfully. A professor at Hebrew University, Harari received his PhD from Oxford University in history and social philosophy.

Sapiens - A Brief History of Humankind is a tour de force in describing humans behavioral effects. Insightful and scary.

Pierre and Maureen riff on the destructive qualities of human kind as puzzle pieces in the natural forces of creation and destruction that are universally present.

Harari’s book, Sapiens, sold 25 million copies. It reads like a page turning novel. The Guardian newspaper credits Harari with re-popularizing non-fiction. Check him out.

For reference, Harari’s books include:

2014: Sapiens - A Brief History of Humankind;

2016: Homo Deus - A Brief History of Tomorrow;

2018: Twenty-Lessons for the Twenty-First Century; and

2022: Unstoppable Us - The True Story of Humans.

5 min.

Today's word from Maureen is:  Pushing.

Maureen wants to move away from nouns. Her word pushing, pushes Pierre right into Forumla 1.  Push, push, push. Hilarious practice where Pierre speaks so fast to get in all he wants to say about F1, that he leaves Maureen with 9 seconds!   Enjoy.

Learning Practice features a 3-minute conversation about a single word.  Unrehearsed, without forethought of the word to be discussed, we practice the art of Learning Conversation.  

If you want to practice with us by supplying a word and joining us:   contact us through our websites.

Landscapes for Learning

YogaHEALS

25 min

Maureen and Pierre wander a bit off the road of spiritual mind body health by discussing “narratives.”  

Pierre’s been wondering about the term “narrative.” He is a little hesitant to express himself, lest Learning Conversation lands in the quagmire of politics.  His insight to the word  narrative - stories with a moral, a teaching moment - considers moral stories previously emanating from trusted sources, like parents, grandparents, teachers - and they tended to shape lives for the better.  Now narratives are employed ubiquitously in the press, social media, and other life shaping institutions, operating to tell people how life is. Seems a bit scary.  Are new narratives from trusted sources?  What happened to reporting? Why all the narratives? Is culture shifting so rapidly new narratives are needed? Is power at the root of it all?

Maureen steers the conversation back to mind body spirit by recounting how humans developed conversation and stories with meaning around campfires.  Conversing and convening to develop cultural and social meaning is what humans do. We’ve done it since the beginning of time.

This Learning Conversation evolves to consider the perils of new forms of communication, which power can manipulate faster than humans evolve to adapt. Hence, from new technologies in communication comes revolutionary change - the printing press, Bible, radio and new 20th century empire building.  

Pierre closes off the conversation with Martin Gilbert’s History of the 20th Century on facism’s use of radio technology to consolidate power, and then tells a funny story, factoid really, about Eisenhower’s time at West Point.  Fun fact - as Maureen says.

Enjoy.