The Missing Conversation
Robert J Strock
Subscribe
On The Missing Conversation podcast, we will explore current affairs and our own affairs and emotions to situations and issues as they relate to the world. We will radically break from traditional thinking and acting as we look at our challenges from a freer and more independent point of view. You will be provoked to face your most important present issues and challenges and guided to directions to create benefit. Your Host, Robert Strock is a teacher, psychotherapist, author, and humanitarian and has developed a unique approach to communication, contemplation, and inquiry.
Available episodes
Newest first
Oldest first
Apr 24, 2023
Small Steps Create Positive Change in Supporting Survival on our Planet - Episode 83
The world is divided against itself. So divided in fact, that the implications have the potential to be the tragedy of all time. Valuing the individual above all else is the result of human conditioning and not human nature. This is how it is but not how it could be. Each person taking small steps equals positive change to support survival on our planet. The idea is to be an active participant. Join us for ideas on getting motivated and inspired, not to get grandiose, but to be open and explore how the energy, money, and ideas you put into the world make all the difference.
It is important to make the connection that protecting our families makes it necessary to support the most destitute parts of the world to help themselves. To have opportunities to work makes terrorism and alienation less likely and unity more available. Skepticism is encouraged. Be deeply skeptical and then challenge yourself to use it to accept that our whole planet is endangered. Being a part of the change is utterly possible. The world is likely on the verge of dying or being born in a way that fosters connection, using our intelligence and wisdom. Every one of us is the one that is important to make these small changes. If enough of us can change our attitudes, we are so interconnected it will be a quantum leap. Listen for ideas on how to get started today, it's easier than you think.
Read the transcription and listen to this episode on The Global Bridge Foundation website
playlist_add
Apr 10, 2023
Taking Collaborative Action to Support World Survival - Episode 82
As we move further into the 21st century, the threats to our country and the world are becoming increasingly apparent. We must take collaborative action to support world survival. The ongoing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, the nuclear posturing by Putin, China's threats to Taiwan, terrorism, global warming, and the growing waves of corruption in the United States all demonstrate that the human race is facing significant risks. It is disheartening to see how our conditioning and history of endless wars have prevented us from fully embracing the gift of life. The possibility of living in a more interconnected way has the potential to be profoundly inspiring for everyone.
In this context, Robert examines current events and encourages us to join forces to improve mankind's chances for survival and find grounded wisdom amidst the alienating conditioning that we have come to see as normal. It is vital that we realize we matter and that we can play a significant role in supporting peace and interconnectedness. It is time to act, both in small and large ways, without making any excuses. This is not idealism but rather a realistic approach to the trajectory of our survival on this planet, and how each of us can be active participants in creating a better, kinder, and more connected world.
Read the transcription and listen to this episode on The Global Bridge Foundation website.
playlist_add
Mar 27, 2023
This Is the Greatest Opportunity in the History of Mankind to Wake Up - Episode 81
Equal rights for everyone is something that our world has always failed at. However, this is the greatest opportunity in the history of mankind to wake up. We pay a deep and often unconscious price for our prejudice to continue to care only for ourselves and those familiar to us. Of course, it's natural to care for our families, but, how much is too much? It is possible for you to move into greater balance to include more people and other beings on this planet. Even the smallest changes will make a humongous difference in our chance to survive in the world, be more whole in our hearts, and protect our children.
Robert and Dave explore how one of our most deeply rooted American ideals, that all men are created equal, is being violated with endless rationalizations, beliefs, actions, and attitudes. They discuss ways to move in a direction that will get us closer to this core belief in both small and large ways. Through Robert’s psychotherapy practice for almost 50 years, it has been evident that treating others like we want to be treated is not something that is normally associated with mental health. However, this lends itself to the disconnection and increased loneliness we see in our society today. Expanding our definition of family to include more people and beings can improve our individual mental health and the world at large.
Read the transcription and listen to this episode on The Global Bridge Foundation website.
playlist_add
Mar 13, 2023
A Balanced Use of Medication Is an Act of Self-Love - Episode 80
The Missing Conversation welcomes you to the third and final installment focusing on the balanced use of medication. This is often the neglected side of the discourse surrounding America's relationship to opioids. There are significant dangers on both ends of the spectrum being either too loose or too restrictive. Robert and Dave discuss how to optimize our best relationship with sleeping and pain medications that can change our quality of life immensely. Not only are we emotional beings but we are chemical as well. There is a lot of talk about the mind-body connection, but not so much about the psycho-chemical connection. We are much more chemistry than we realize. Finding a balanced use of medication is an act of self-love.
Robert speaks to this issue in a way that few people can. After his kidney transplant 23 years ago it took him 350 experiments with his medication to reach a surprisingly peaceful equilibrium. It has become part of his lifestyle and through his experience would like to offer others hope to keep trying and advocating for themselves with the help of friends, family, and doctors. It is important to respect your own uniqueness in this process because experimentation more often than not will be necessary. Robert addresses the fear and hopelessness that often accompanies this process, and how to not let that stop you. Medication can be a part of our chemistry that can make all of our systems operate in harmony. If you or someone you love is suffering from sleep issues, anxiety, chronic pain, or trauma, this series of episodes is for you.
Read the transcription and listen to this episode at The Global Bridge Foundation website.
playlist_add
Feb 27, 2023
4 Most Common Medication Personality Types - Episode 79
Opioid abuse has been very well covered in the media. Here on The Missing Conversation Robert and Dave will look at the other sides of opioid and medication use. Carefully dispensed and given to a properly screened patient who requires it for better health can be a life-changing solution. The reality is, that the longer we live, the more inevitable it becomes that we will need to introduce potent medications, which may include controlled substances, in our routines. If we can learn to cautiously view these substances as a major ally, our chance of having a long-term quality of life is vastly expanded.
Robert and Dave spend the second episode on the topic of medication reform, asking you to inquire into your own patterns. What is your medication personality type? Whether you have an addictive personality type, are medication-phobic, are an obsessed researcher, or are balanced, Robert will help move away from black-and-white thinking. Find a more balanced approach to advocate for yourself and the ones you love with more confidence and perspective. Optimize what will be best to ingest with the partnership of your well-chosen and trusted medical professionals.
Read the transcription and listen to this episode on The Global Bridge Foundation website
playlist_add
Feb 13, 2023
How to Be Resourceful in Chronic Pain - Episode 78
In this episode, Robert and Dave take the conversation in a new direction to discuss the crucial issue of using controlled substances for medications for those in critical need. At the same time, they will be suggesting guidelines and safeguards to prevent addiction while still providing pathways to find maximum relief and equilibrium for those with chronic pain and long-term sleep challenges. The goal is to find the optimum quality of life, which often includes the use of medications to alleviate chemical or physical maladies our bodies cannot manage on their own.
This topic is more than personal to Robert as he pursued finding the right combinations of medications after a severe reaction to kidney transplant medications for nearly a decade. Through his experience, he provides tools to learn how to advocate for ourselves. It can also be invaluable to have somebody close to you that can guide the communication with doctors so we can best take care of serious life issues. The corruption of big pharma, as depicted in Dope Sick, has created an understandable wave of panic throughout the country. Robert and Dave address the effects this has had on the way controlled substances are prescribed for those with chronic pain and long-term sleep issues, and how we can navigate our way at these critical times
Read the transcription and listen to this episode on The Global Bridge Foundation website.
playlist_add
Jan 30, 2023
The Best of 2022: Finding More Inclusivity in Religion & Spirituality - Episode 77
In this, “Best Of” series,” Robert asks listeners, spiritual practitioners, leaders, and mentors to reflect on ways to be more inclusive. He suggests modeling by those in positions of leadership to reveal how they integrate tendencies to idealize their own religion or spiritual teaching. Whether it be, meditation, prayer, or faith-centered, it can be helpful to their communities to show how they don't want to fall prey to using their teachings to unwittingly create an "us versus them" with other approaches. This blanketing of their challenging parts and an unwillingness to share deprives the practitioners and students of the advantage of seeing the teacher's deep wisdom in practice and how this can lead to superiority, rather than love for humanity. When we can be vulnerable and real about our humanness, doubt, and uncertainty this leads to a common identification with everyone because we realize we are all in the same boat. Nobody has immunity from life, death, or the challenges in between. Join Robert as he explores these challenges week by week and how to meet them with ever-growing awareness.
A full experience of reality includes a certain level of faith, wisdom, and belief, but it also needs to include our humanity. Humanness is not the denial of faith but the inclusion of our primal fears, confusions, any challenging emotions, and seeing the goodness and wisdom in other approaches. In Robert's view, it is very important to keep questioning, to stay curious, and to keep a certain amount of mandatory humility rather than false confidence. It is the ignoring of our exclusivity and compartmentalization that has led to war, alienation, competition, and endangering our planet. The stakes are incredibly high for our survival and our fulfillment. However, this shift is not enough if it is simply an insight, unless we also use more of our time, money, and resources toward our troubled country, the world, and unite with other approaches that are primarily focused on loving humanity and the planet. If you enjoyed this conversation please look for the full episodes in the show notes.
Read the transcription and listen to this episode on The Global Bridge Foundation website.
playlist_add
Jan 16, 2023
The Best of 2022: Top Minds Share The Answer To Ending The Homeless Crisis - Episode 76
As is finally common knowledge, homelessness is a massive and ongoing issue in the United States and many countries worldwide. This elusive problem has been a mission for The Global Bridge Foundation. In this “Best Of” series, we dive into the issue and explore how the Global Bridge Foundation is partnering with leading organizations and people to pave the way to make significant steps toward ending homelessness with evidence-based solutions to multifaceted challenges. You will hear from some of the most creative minds in the country who have dedicated their time and resources to ending the homelessness problem.
Our current system for dealing with this crisis is not working. We can create therapeutic communities using public-private partnerships that bring ecological and cost effective solutions like regenerative agriculture, grid alternatives which teaches solar installation both in structure and solar fields, repurposed or modular housing, and job training right on site. This will allow individuals to utilize their skills to create products the world badly needs like healthy food or clean energy. The dignity this gives to the unhoused community, of not always asking for something, but also helping can be transformative. Contrary to popular belief, many of the unhoused are highly motivated to aspire toward strong financial performance and positive social change which are inherently connected. The tragedy and the blessing is that homelessness is quite solvable. Robert's dream is to create models of lower-cost communities that have job training and mental health services where they live and create a sense of belonging at the same time. Listen to uncover roadblocks and breakthroughs that can solve the problem and learn how you can get involved.
Read the transcription and listen to this episode on The Global Bridge Foundation website.
playlist_add
Jan 2, 2023
The Best of 2022: Redefining Success - Episode 75
In our second “Best Of 2022” episode, we look at what it means to “redefine success.” This set of year-end dialogues, specially curated by Robert Strock, shows how his distinguished and inspired guests have fully expressed, in their own lives, what it means to care for oneself, one’s family, and the world. These are joyful excerpts that demonstrate how these unique individuals have integrated their life’s work and passion in a manner that provides self-fulfillment while improving the lives of those around us and the world at large.
The emphasis is intended to encourage you to look at your potential to expand in this direction no matter where you are starting from. Don’t fall into the trap of comparing yourself to anyone. The key is to look at the next steps to enable moving into greater balance in your life, to accept—right where you are—and expand your capacity to care, recognizing that your focus on caring can expand day by day. The podcast encourages us to not be in denial about the challenges of universal insecurity, those of the impoverished, or our unique personal difficulties. Our country, the world, and our most wise self—for most of us—is beckoning us to include all of this in our contemplation and to motivate us to find how we can contribute, even in the smallest of ways.
This absolutely is not meant to create a guilt trip. It is tuning into the potential fulfillment of every next step and opening our hearts to see where we “get to” through the aim of love, practicality, and authenticity. This is a refined definition of success, and the key lies in our own authentic balance to take the time to guide ourselves.
Read the transcription and listen to this episode on The Global Bridge Foundation website.
playlist_add
Dec 19, 2022
The Best of 2022: Psycho-Politics - Episode 74
Welcome to our “Best Of 2022” edition. Join us for this compilation that highlights some of our favorite moments and special guests centered around the idea of Psycho-Politics. Our world is at a tipping point where our sense of normalcy needs to catch up to the reality of our country and world. What's being proposed is to care for our families and widen our scope to reach out beyond our loved ones. It is perfectly natural to want to care for our relatives and close friends, however, continuing to only support our small circles perpetuates poverty, war, terrorism, and global warming. Receive encouragement, tools, and support from Robert and Dave on ways to increase the percentage each of us can reach out to the world to create ripples of positive change during this holiday time of giving and beyond.
Although this idea may feel grandiose and external, the work starts from within. We are repeatedly creating wars outside of ourselves by not facing and resolving the war inside ourselves. If we are caught in our fears, anxieties overwhelm and helplessness, we are trapped. Learning to face our most challenging emotions can allow space to contemplate what qualities, actions, and thoughts will foster wisdom and healing. Together we can develop the capacity to be wise and caring responders to these challenging feelings. We all have the freedom to be in our traditional conditioning, to run away, to act out, or we have the freedom to ask ourselves, what is our best self and how can I help? These questions can be an expanding catalyst for external dialogue and internal inquiry. If we can stay in this state of looking for solutions rather than reacting against the problems to find core universal needs, these billions of small changes will make a difference in the planet's momentum and our collective future. Thank you for listening. Wishing you and yours a very happy and healthy holiday. We look forward to greeting you next year with more great content and thought-provoking ideas.
Read the transcription and listen to this episode on The Global Bridge Foundation website.
playlist_add
Dec 5, 2022
Global Bridge Foundation: Bringing Realistic Hope to the Homeless Crisis - Episode 73
The Global Bridge Foundation wants to do its part to turn the history of mankind on its head. It is time for the wealthiest country to acknowledge the poor and give them work opportunities. We mustn’t keep seeing them in inaccurate stereotypes as unmotivated, but giving them a chance to contribute and use their potential. As revealed through micro-finance in the world, the poor are very motivated to work, they just haven't been given realistic job opportunities. The wealthy simply becoming wealthier, and not reaching out to those that need it the most with job creation has created the infrastructure for pollution. By not serving the needs of the poor we have and will continue to divide societies throughout the world forever. When societies are divided, that is the perfect fertile ground for terrorism. So you see, it is much bigger than just bringing the bottom up. The work that Robert and Dave have been doing with The Global Bridge Foundation on the issue of homelessness in L.A. coun…
playlist_add
Nov 28, 2022
Homelessness is Solvable, Here's How - Episode 72
Homelessness is truly solvable. The fact that it is a pervasive problem is a failure of creativity and practicality. Robert and Dave have been at the frontlines of this human crisis and will share with you some of the innovative and cost-effective ways this issue can be handled humanely with respect for all, including the planet, within the next 5 years. The nonprofit work that Robert and Dave have done through The Global Bridge Foundation focuses on bringing the bottom of the economic population up through the vision of creating communities with low-cost housing with job training and purpose.
This multi-faceted issue requires multifaceted solutions which Robert discusses on the podcast including, creating flexibility with agricultural zoning and land use. It is now well known that existing programs can use manufactured substantial modular housing and not just tiny homes at a fraction of the cost, and regenerative agriculture which the community will be trained on how to grow food sus…
playlist_add
Nov 21, 2022
Dexter: We Too Are Not Perfectly Innocent - Episode 71
In this episode, Robert continues to explore the lessons from select TV shows to look beyond the entertainment and use their stories to depict unconscious areas of our life worthy of examination with potential great benefit. All of the shows that Robert and Dave present can support us to break free from what we were taught growing up and encourage us to have individual contemplation with new insight. This individual contemplation is crucial. We cannot afford to be carbon copies of prior generations because we are facing a very imperiled world in the 21st century. Many of us learn much better through the arts than we do from words alone. Join us as Robert and Dave unpack the hit series, Dexter and use it as a tool for self-reflection and awakening.
At first glance, Dexter appears to be just another violent show. However, as we are let into his inner thoughts and introduced to his alter ego, he turns out to be a very relatable and sympathetic character. We too are not perfectly innocent…
playlist_add
Nov 14, 2022
The Americans: More Unity Through Understanding - Episode 70
This week, Robert and Dave switch gears back to the series focused on a few shows that bring meaning and potential benefit in the media. Specifically, television shows that possess themes crucial to wake us up from the dangers that we are facing, prejudices we have, and ideas that support survival on the planet. Highlighted today is The Americans. We cannot help but love the Russian family that is portrayed as spies planted in the United States in this show. Not only how the main characters love each other, but how they love their kids. These relationships humanize them in such a way as to melt the barrier between them and us watching in our living rooms. The upper echelons of the power of Putin are as corrupt as it gets, representing the most disturbed leaders like Hitler, Stalin, and the worst elements of Trump. These authoritarian influences guide us into black-and-white thinking that blocks many of us from seeing how similar all of our needs and desires are as people.
The American…
playlist_add
Nov 4, 2022
Special Political Series - Part 6: Converting Our Anger into a Passion for Justice
This week, Robert and Dave will wrap up this special political series with its 6th episode. American politics is infected where the truth no longer seems to matter. It doesn’t seem to matter that Republican judges saw that elections were fair. It doesn't matter that there was an attempted coup in The Capital and police officers were killed. It doesn't seem to matter that we may be losing our right to vote unless you get involved more than you are right now. The truth matters and is the antidote. Robert and Dave speak not from the viewpoint of a party, but as democracy advocates in an effort to energize you, the listener, and maybe even shake you away from the very understandable denial many of us are in.
Robert takes great care to separate the rational Republicans from the election deniers that have gone along with clear and intentional deception. In addition to presenting the facts, using his training and experience as a psychotherapist, Robert explains the core psychology behind t…
playlist_add
Oct 31, 2022
Special Political Series - Part 5: How Collective Denial Threatens Democracy
Join Robert and Dave on the 5th installment of this special political series. Drawing from his knowledge and professional background as a psychotherapist, Robert illuminates ways in which it is both understandable and easy to be caught in denial in this crucial moment in US history. He offers a profound plea to shake free from the fear and anger that often unconsciously supports Trump and MAGA authoritarianism. We are in a new century where we must recognize that to be individuals in a free country, we need to get involved. Fast forward and see the implications if election fraud is normalized. Democracy is over for the world if we are not able to commit to this kind of fundamental truth to add up the number of votes in the country and honor the will of the majority of citizens. Fear and anger are the great distorter of history which we cannot afford to be in denial about it any longer.
Robert reminds us that our country had a significant minority of people in the 1930s that were pro-H…
playlist_add
Oct 28, 2022
Special Political Series - Part 4: Waking Up to the Potential of an American Dictator
Welcome back to The Missing Conversation for the 4th installment of this Special Political Series. The election is just weeks away and the stakes have never been higher. If we do not attend to the deceptions, denial, and angry provocations that threaten our democracy, we very well could lose our fundamental way of life. Robert and Dave ask you to hear the call to action in their passion for passive Democrats, Republicans that are not in the MAGA group, and Independents to light a fire in your bellies and wake up from the denial of the reality of this crucial time. Violence, fear, anger, and denial have the power to condemn our world to devastation.
Robert points us to the past to illustrate what is happening currently and the potential outcome if Trump and his authoritarian agenda continue to increase in power. Mussolini simply had to threaten violence and the powers of Italy acquiesced to his demands. In essence, that is what is happening now. In the episode, Robert points out the ma…
playlist_add
Oct 24, 2022
Special Political Series - Part 3: Let Passion & Action Guide you to the Polls
In about a month, The US will have one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime aside from perhaps the rejection of Trump in 2020. There are so many close races that every vote matters. Approximately 60% of Americans are going to have a candidate on their ballot that is an election denier, embracing the big lie of our time. The potential fall of our democracy is very real if the authoritarian MAGA party infiltrates deeper into our institutions to further weaken and centralize them. Robert and Dave want to make clear the distinction between MAGA and the more classic definition of those identifying as Republican. It will take the action of us all, Republicans, Independents, and Democrats in this crucial time.
In this episode, Robert and Dave discuss this, as well as other key dangers facing our country. Robert uses his 45 years of psychotherapy experience to uncover the subtleties of the unconscious anger that is coming out in the rage and support of the Trump Republicans. Pe…
playlist_add
Oct 21, 2022
Special Political Series - Part 2: SOS U.S.A. - The Dangers of Losing Our Democracy
Robert and Dave bring their passion to the second part of this special political series to hopefully spark the light in you, the listener, to overcome any obstacles in your way to get to the polls and vote for those who truly want to be elected to serve us, our world and our country and not just themselves. Robert continues to illuminate the many ways electing Trump and his followers will lead to catastrophic consequences, the likes of which are hard to imagine and convenient to deny. Trump's open admiration of Putin, Kim Jong Un, and neo-Nazis previews the total danger our democracy is in. The lies are obvious and examples numerous, many of which are reviewed in this episode.
Are we going to be a country where one of our mainstream parties supports conspiracy theories, alienating our allies and NATO? The answer so far from the MAGA Republicans is yes. Robert and Dave are careful to differentiate the MAGA Republicans from the rest of the Republican party and see the goodwill as well a…
playlist_add
Oct 17, 2022
Special Political Series - Part 1: Examining Gut Feelings & Unconscious Anger
Join Robert and Dave on this special political series to help shake ourselves out of a state of denial and electrify ourselves into action to enable sane voices to prevail in this upcoming election. Most Americans are in a state of shock because of Trump and the MAGA faction proliferating corruption and lies. Robert and Dave make a clear distinction that MAGA Republicans are seemingly caught up in their unconscious anger or are simply supporting a dominating power grab. The vast majority of Republicans and Independents are good human beings and this podcast is in support of you and asking you to see what’s needed to support the quality of life for you and your children’s future.
Many people have been misguided to operate from gut feelings that are frequently the source of denial. Robert too had a gut feeling early on about Trump. He wanted him to be someone that stirred up both the Democratic and Republican parties. However, he was rooting for somebody he wasn't. Looking at that g…
playlist_add
Oct 10, 2022
Homeland: Seeing The Same Humanness Beyond Our Own Country - Episode 69
This week, Robert and Dave explore the lessons of the TV series Homeland to illuminate one key aspect of what is challenging our world. All the shows talked about in this set of podcasts can deeply support us to break free from what we were taught when growing up in American culture and encourage us to contemplate this crucial distortion individually. We have our American perspective of being "the good country," while the Middle East is marginal at best, maybe even evil. Through its story, Homeland reveals the dangers of black-and-white thinking. Robert is advocating love for America while also pointing out how as Americans our view has been distorted in the way we have been conditioned. In Homeland, there is a Bin Laden-type character. The audience is shown how his son is killed in an unwitting attack also killing 20 children. This news was not advertised in the west and so the western world is completely unaware of his hurt and anger. This is one example, or many, of how we often do…
playlist_add
Oct 3, 2022
Reviewing 24: We All Have a Role to Play - Episode 68
Robert will continue to look at the TV series 24 for its unique elements which highlight the struggle between being loyal to family and loyal and dedicated to supporting the world. In addition to that struggle, the show exemplifies the heroism of being a humanitarian and having your heart open to what is best for humanity. Beyond the glitz and the excitement of 24, we are looking to see what the deeper meanings are through the lens of psycho-politics, the 3 principles of which will be covered in the podcast. It is important to note that the themes explored isolate torture as being the one weakness of the show because torture doesn’t work and is inhumane.
Robert and Dave talk through the themes of 24 as it relates to taking care of our families and being more generous to the world. The show encourages you to imagine how this does and could apply to your life. If a sincere part of you wants to find a balanced way to love both your family and the world, then this episode is for you.
R…
playlist_add
Sep 26, 2022
Reviewing 24 & Its Potential Implications for the World - Episode 67
Today's show has a very unique focus on the TV program 24. Robert points out from the start that it is a potential danger for the public to idealize Jack Bauer and 24 for torturing terrorists. In contrast to this insight, Robert emphasizes there is a movie called The Report, which is a true story where America acknowledges that America tortured prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and that America gained zero benefits from using torture as a strategy. 24 is viewed, instead, at a completely different level of depth by Robert and Dave, revealing examples of how it could wake up a part of us that is all too frequently asleep. The storyline helps bring us in touch with the potential of mass death, nuclear war, and other world threats. It shatters a level of denial that we are safe for those that really let themselves face a level of reality that we’re threatened by now. It models for us how to summon up the courage to look at and respond to what is needed for the greater good of our country and t…
playlist_add
Sep 19, 2022
Erin Beasley: Ecosystem Restoration for A Healthy Planet- Episode 66
Join Robert and his special guest Erin Beasley. It is worth stretching our brains and hearts to comprehend her message and its potential positive implications. Erin is the Executive Director of the non-profit Ecosystem Restoration Camps in the USA. It is under the umbrella of psycho-politics that Robert welcomes Erin to the show because she represents it so well. Ecosystem restoration and better land management practices are one of the top tools that we have in our tool belt, anywhere around the world, to respond to climate change. These practices are relatively inexpensive and generally underfunded, but fortunately for our planet, gaining in recognition.
The world needs us to take action and think about our potential to respond from a protective place toward the world. We are not going to achieve a healthy planet without asking how we can contribute in small or large ways, whichever is viable for us. Hear Erin's friendly nature and glimpse her unique perspective on taking care of nat…
playlist_add
Sep 12, 2022
Susan Hough: Living Your Gifts - Episode 65
Meet Susan Hough the woman and her work. Susan leads by example through vulnerable and courageous transparency by modeling the importance of honest communication, and awareness of self and others. You will see that she has an infectious generosity of spirit and is a very hard person not to like. She is the Executive Director of the nonprofit Wisdom Spring, a teen leadership humanitarian development program currently serving 7 high schools. Their fundraising efforts have thus far resulted in the construction of 45 water wells in Africa and India to serve marginalized communities.
Robert and Susan explore how to find greater inspiration and fulfillment. In their exchange, you can feel the depth of reverence they share for each other’s work. They investigate the range in how some people are choosing not to give or even looking at their potential to support others and the planet outside of friends and family circles. On the other end of the spectrum, some suffer because they are not sup…
playlist_add
Sep 5, 2022
Daniel Matalon: The World Game & The Part We Play - Episode 64
Look forward to an inspirational conversation with the spirit of Buckminster Fuller and the practical programs and ideas of Robert and his guest Daniel Matalon. Daniel is the founder of Is There Enough, a provocative new conversation about the intersection of survival economics and social justice.
Psycho-Politics, and what Buckminster Fuller called the world game, relate to very complex existential issues that Robert and Daniel make accessible. It is centered around our human responsibility to make the world work for 100% of humanity. The world is dysfunctional, but what would it mean to have the opposite of that, which is optimal functioning? The Is There Enough campaign innovated by Daniel is meant to inspire humanity and bring us to a more contemplative and practical place. If real wealth is survival and choice over time, how do we build that? Only by agreement. How do we not have to go to war and create that expansion? It is a very simple and elusive idea that both Robert and Dani…
playlist_add
Aug 29, 2022
Finding the Balance Between Individual Freedom & Collective Responsibility - Episode 63
Robert and Dave continue their spirited conversation in the final installment on gun safety. The attempt is to look at the most sincere elements of each political party. As they examine the details of what could inspire the country to unite the fringe extremes are excluded. Trump and his key supporters who are committed to the big lie, insurrection, and many illegal activities are not considered part of the solution. A vote for Trump is a vote that threatens gun ownership. The paranoia and fear that he has unleashed and the deaths and mass shootings that have been a result of the questioning of democracy and every institution are a result of his alternative fact environment. We must tone down this animosity through more programs and treatment centers to combat dangerous nationalists and the anti-democratic calls to violence on the internet and in schools. What will make democracy flourish once again is finding the balance between individual freedom and collective responsibility. The ot…
playlist_add
Aug 22, 2022
Gun Safety: Creating More Peace & More Conversations - Episode 62
Welcome to part 5 of a 6 part series on the very important topic of gun safety. As one of the most pressing issues The United States is facing today, Robert suggests that a solid starting point comes from taking a close look and realizing that a very large percentage of gun owners purchase them to protect their families. When we can begin to see the protective nature l we can find a way to create more peace and meaningful conversations. Robert expresses the need to set strong boundaries for those individuals that are fostering violence and increasing the dangers of guns. Those that have violated laws need to be jailed. We need not get lost in hating them but rather, they need to be taken out of circulation. This means empowering people with guns to step into the responsibility of being protectors (with close coordination with police/National Guard) but also empowering our police departments so they are ready. Stay tuned as Robert will be addressing police reform in future episodes.
Th…
playlist_add
Aug 15, 2022
Making Gun Safety Viable in America - Episode 61
Robert and Dave continue to wrestle with the divisive issue of gun safety. This episode is part 4 of the series in search of the middle ground to make gun safety a viable possibility in our country. How can we avoid stereotypes to reduce the heat and the hate? As Robert focuses on creating a greater chance for peace, the extremes of both parties must be excluded. The fringe ends generally create more conflict than resolution. Former President Trump is in a completely different category. He is a danger to democracy. Nor does he have respect for the truth or voting rights. Trump fosters violence and gun danger.
Hopefully, soon, a wave of centrist Republicans will turn the tide toward a party more in line with Justice Berger and see the sanity in the original intent of The Second Amendment. Gun owners have good intentions to protect their families. This mentality could be harnessed to protect and support the police, The National Guard, and create an extra protection layer for our countr…
playlist_add
Aug 8, 2022
Harnessing Core Good Intentions for Gun Safety in America - Episode 60
Continue to break from traditional thinking with Robert in the third installment of our series on gun safety. This is a tough yet current conversation where Robert and Dave grapple with the consequences of the Democratic and Republican parties acting from the extreme ends of the political difference. Trump is an extreme and bad actor. He should be prosecuted and taken off the map completely. His vitriol and insanity are exactly the extreme views hindering the democratic evolution of gun safety in our laws and politics. The Democrats also possess the extremes as well. This podcast attempts to think outside the box and back into the center to find the humanity in each party and find a safe ground on which to work together.
The Second Amendment was intended to allow for the formation of militias as protection of the states against a rogue government or other rogue elements. Join Robert and Dave in their discourse as they imagine what the country could look like if we were able to return…
playlist_add
Aug 1, 2022
Thinking Outside the Box on Gun Safety in America - Episode 59
Continuing the conversation this week Robert and Dave focus on one of the many issues that are dividing our country today, gun safety. They look at the most sincere elements from each political party to take the best potential inspiration from both approaches to serve The United States. The extreme ends of the left and right are pretty well excluded from this discourse as they only seem to polarize. It is emphasized that President Trump and all those that helped him in the various conspiracies and violations to democracy are excluded. Robert holds a strong view that he and his accomplices need to be tried on multiple accounts and if what appears evident, they need to be put in jail. Instead, the show strives to strike a balance between individual freedom and collective responsibility to support our evolving democracy.
Thinking outside the box, Robert will be exploring an alternative narrative and a clarification of what the Second Amendment is trying to provoke. According to Justice B…
playlist_add
Jul 25, 2022
Breaking Away from the Us vs. Them Mentality: Gun Safety in America - Episode 58
This week begins a new series exploring gun safety as a polarizing issue in the United States. Robert's approach deconstructs the us vs. them mentality to assume both political parties' goodwill, innocence, and virtuous intentions. The process requires us to begin to think in shades of gray rather than black and white. This is as much the purpose of this series as gun safety, as one will naturally support the other, as well as our democracy.
What will make democracy flower is finding the balance between individual freedom and collective responsibility. In this situation, like many others, both parties are looking at extreme ends of the political difference and are ignoring the tangible, potentially reachable, sane, and safe ground. As you hear this podcast see if you are open to considering not being identified with only one party. As you do this, please eliminate former President Trump and all of the people that directly support him with corruption, flagrant lies, anti-democracy acti…
playlist_add
Jul 18, 2022
Dr. Paul Brenner: Love, Wonder, and Purpose - Episode 57
Join Robert as he speaks with another extraordinary guest on this week’s show, Dr. Paul Brenner. Paul has dedicated his career to counseling cancer patients. This has been the work and passion driving his life. He continued to share his unique love and wisdom with patients even as he also learned to live with cancer and profoundly accept limited mobility himself. All the while he has maintained and cultivated a sense of wonder and innocence. For many the word cancer equals fear. His depth of acceptance of his illness is an inspiration. Dr. Brenner speaks eloquently and lovingly about the living of his heart's dream of becoming a doctor and how it has shaped who he is.
The show encourages us to take a moment to review our childhood. Reflect on things that happened that made you decide what you were going to do, and see if you can remember your dreams. The conversation highlights that success orientation has so often taken over due to our conditioning but encourages reflection on that…
playlist_add
Jul 11, 2022
Cristian Cardoner: Minimizing the Sense of Us & Them - Episode 56
This week, Robert is joined by a special guest Christian Cardoner. It is both heartfelt and moving to hear the journey of Cristian move through the dark night of his soul as he was profoundly touched when spontaneously faced with holding a baby as it died from hunger in his arms. We are in 2022 with more technology and access to information than ever before, yet this episode focuses on alternatives to the fact that there are still more than 500 million people who go to bed every single day with hunger. It can be difficult to sit with such a consuming reality. The cultivation of compassion can enable us to stay with what is uncomfortable and begin to ask ourselves questions that may move us into action. Here are two questions to start with. What do I see as the balance between giving energy and money to my family and the rest of the world that is suffering? What percentage of giving might I want to consider in this next part of my life?
Christian Cardoner worked in banking and finance…
playlist_add
Jul 4, 2022
Adam Bendell: Reconsidering the Classic Definition of Success & Planting Seeds for Change - Episode 55
This week, Robert is joined by a guest that exemplifies the essence of a psycho-political life with his relationship with the world. Adam Bendell is the CEO of Toniic, a global action community for impact investors. Toniic creates community, provides educational resources, and curates impact investment opportunities for its members. Adam joined Toniic from his role as chief innovation officer for FTI Consulting. He was also CEO and co-founder of Strategic Discovery, an electronic discovery innovator. Adam is an active impact investor, philanthropist, innovator, meditator, yogi, backpacker, motorcyclist, utilitarian, student of collaborative communication, and a lifelong learner. Here, Robert and Adam discuss the great work he is currently doing and share the seeds of change that led him away from the classic definitions of success. It also reveals how well this motivation dovetails into Psycho-Economics.
Psycho-Politics can be broken down into three core principles. The first is to be…
playlist_add
Jun 27, 2022
Brent Kessel: Ethical Wealth Management, One Small Step at a Time - Episode 54
This week, Robert is joined by a special guest and his step-son Brent Kassel. They meet with a sense of purpose and shared vulnerability here on The Missing Conversation. Brent is the co-founder and CEO of Abacus. Abacus is a holistic wealth management company that invests over 4 billion in companies and projects that, above all, do not create harm in our world. A significant portion of the funds aim to help society and the environment directly while earning competitive investment returns. He is also the author of The Next Fifty Years of the Racial Wealth Gap, and What You Can Do About It, as well as, It’s Not About the Money, which was named one of the top five business books of the year by Kiplinger.
Being faced with his own mortality after a surprise health event, Brent began to ponder, how much was enough? Engaging his wife and children he began a deep financial exercise to quantify this. Working with outside experts, including Robert, he began to work out ways to use the surplu…
playlist_add
Jun 20, 2022
Jack Lampl: The Gap Between Us and How to Move Toward Bridging It - Episode 53
Jack Lampl graduated from Harvard in 1973 and has been dominantly involved in the nonprofit sector for the last thirty years. During that time, he has worked as a community mediator and president of two national nonprofits. The Threshold Foundation is a progressive philanthropic fund for wealthy donors. The AK Rice Institute for the Study of Social Systems advances a methodology for studying the unconscious dynamics of groups. He now consults with various nonprofits, and psychological and religious organizations, pro bono for the most part, and is a non-ST board member of the San Diego Psychoanalytic Center.
Robert and Jack seamlessly weave their conversation around topics of psycho-politics, diversity, race, and inequity. These factors have effects on each of us that are both conscious and unconscious. Some unseen parts of our behavior often do not serve our best interests. This conversation is both insightful and introspective of Jack Lampl’s journey on an unusual life and someone…
playlist_add
Jun 13, 2022
Including Uncertainty On The Path You’re On - Episode 52
Join Robert in the final episode of the series regarding spirituality and religion. TMC continues to discuss the role of certainty in our religions and spiritual paths. Robert shares many of his own personal stories with his teachers to highlight some minor and major ways in which he experienced the dangers of certainty. How in many cases, the rigidity and demand for full compliance within the group ultimately led him to turn away from the communities themselves. While you listen, perhaps his experiences resonate with your own. You may begin to ask yourself, how much freedom do you feel you have to add your wisdom to whatever approach you are embarking on?
A power dynamic is created when a leader takes on an almost superhuman quality and does not allow space for humanness and vulnerability. This can translate into anything as benign as the teacher appearing to have it all together or something much more dangerous such as sexual impropriety. You could hold the keys for your community t…
playlist_add
Jun 6, 2022
Understanding the Perils of Certainty - Episode 51
This week on TMC Robert focuses on the importance of seeing the dangers of certainty as it applies to religious spiritual approaches or even anti-spiritual approaches. It is like putting on a blindfold and not differentiating between faith and being 100% sure. Being open to inquiry actually expands our ability to create a deeper faith with humility and a greater more grounded sense of humanity. In addition, each of us has the potential inspiration of including our doubts as alternative views of how to love. It gives us the chance to learn how to love our extended world family and live beyond the bounds of our prior views and conditioning. It is not about criticism, but about the more inclusive vision that the doubts inspire. This kind of profound, not knowing approach is the ground that makes virtually every practice grow, stay humble and be curious.
The world is so polarized that we must try to connect even to those that have opposing views. Our leaders are often so concerned about p…
playlist_add
May 30, 2022
The Wisdom of Doubt - Episode 50
Robert and Dave continue the topic of spirituality and how our deepest beliefs affect not only us individually but the health of the planet as a whole. Robert believed at 18 that what he most desired was to become awakened. He believed that he could sidestep the fear and realness of death and firmly grasp the ultimate truth with such work. He found instead a great reverence for not knowing and shares his deeper insight of cultivating faith with a healthy amount of doubt.
Doubt is what allows us to make space for everyone and a vast array of views. Humanness softens the edges of certainty to make way for empathy and inclusiveness, and this is what the world is most in need of now. To continue to remain uncritical of our traditions is dangerous by unwittingly creating a kind of exclusivity, superiority, and even callous indifference toward others that are not in our particular state of certainty. Every religion and every spiritual approach needs to be the protector of all of life. The e…
playlist_add
May 23, 2022
Developing a Sense of Greater Family to Include Those Beyond our Immediate Relations - Episode 49
Robert encourages us this week to really do our best to listen to our most heartfelt selves. Let us bring as much realism as possible to our imagination of caring for ourselves, our nuclear families, our global family, and our precious planet earth. We have not been taught to do this or how to do this. In this episode, we are given guidance. If we can expand our caring we can begin to embrace our global challenges. It is not required for us to be from a particular religion or spirituality. From wherever you start, we can naturally expand our hearts and actions beyond the smaller group we normally give to. We are being encouraged, not out of guilt, but to check into our unique hearts and reach from there. To work towards being able to say, I've never met you, but because I realize the world and our country is seriously suffering, I want to ask, how can I help? We can then look for who we might be able to have contact with.
As we are doing this, we must also look at our inner enemies. T…
playlist_add
May 16, 2022
Exploring the Unconscious: Mining for Gold in the Unknown - Episode 48
Exploring the unconscious is really like mining for gold. All the emotions that we discover that are challenging represent the potential conversion of the unconscious to what is most essential. This week, Robert and Dave discuss how to recognize and begin to work with blind spots in our own lives as well as within the spiritual institutions, political organizations, or other circles you may frequent. We cannot wait for our leaders to be the ones that will question the traditions that we as individuals are a key part of. What we believe doesn’t reveal the truth as much as all of us have thought.
There is not any widely accepted teaching that educates on how to be looking out for spiritual bypass or premature spiritual transcendence. What this means is using our beliefs to cover everything, including our human experience. As Robert is a seeker himself he says, Yes! Go for your truest beliefs. Go for understanding. Go for them as totally as possible, but not at the expense of also inqu…
playlist_add
May 9, 2022
Being Financially Free and Finding the Sweet Spot to Care for Ourselves and the World - Episode 47
This week, like all weeks, Robert requests some introspection from his listeners. What makes this week stand out is his additional ask, not to just reflect on self, but to reflect on the institutions that act as our spiritual guides through this life. Topics include the seemingly natural interconnectedness of religion, spirituality, and humanitarian work. Robert takes us ever further down this thought path to delve into the original spiritual premise of loving your brother and sisters as yourself and the joy there is when we can share our excess and see the well-being in others.
Some questions to reflect on personally are, am I living in balance as it relates to my relationship with money and giving? Does this balance between myself, my family, and the world take into consideration the dangers we currently are facing? What does giving mean now when you compare it to other periods? Robert explains how when we are financially free “the sweet spot” fulfills and inspires us in a natur…
playlist_add
Apr 25, 2022
Exploring the Spectrum from Exclusivity to Inclusivity - Episode 46
Robert continues exploring the spectrum from exclusivity to inclusivity. He holds a mirror for us to investigate how some of the core religions, politics, our sense of self, and various other key groups we are a part of, where we find community, may be the same sources that unwittingly foster the experience of being more separate and isolated. As individuals, as we live our lives, we care primarily about ourselves, which is perfectly natural, that’s one source. Another natural source of our love is caring about our families, so much so, that we limit our caring for others, those that are in poverty, for example. For many of us, how much we care and give to the planet and those most in need is quite limited and causes us unwittingly to pay a great price leaving many suffering and the world in jeopardy. This is true in multiple aspects of our society including corporations, religions, nations, and the spiritual world. Robert invites us to use this insight as an inspiration to look at o…
playlist_add
Apr 18, 2022
Building Modern & Inclusive Spiritual Traditions - Episode 45
This week on The Missing Conversation we continue to penetrate into the dangers of exclusive teachings and the benefits of inclusiveness and unity. Gain insight with Robert and Dave as they open up about some of their early experiences with the charismatic guru archetype. They discuss the risks of blind faith in leaders who do not hold themselves to the integrity of their teachings and how seductive it can be to let yourself believe fully without any healthy doubt. If I just surrender here, all else will be taken care of for me.
This podcast attempts to clarify for you the importance of looking at whatever spiritual approach you are most involved with and to notice the potential limitations of exclusivity that might leave out those of different orientations. You may also notice that you need to open yourself to apply these teachings considering others in a more universal, accepting, and inclusive way. Also recognized here are non-religious and spiritual traditions that have a greater…
playlist_add
Apr 11, 2022
Imagine A World Where We All Support Each Other – Our Survival May Depend on it! – Episode 44
All the messengers of the key religions have an immense value and a unique angle from which they have something priceless to offer. In this compelling episode, Robert explores the idea of being aware of our conditioning and offers an alternative narrative where we can both observe our own wisest individual responses to our lives and return to the core values of our greatest teachers. We often become indoctrinated in our religions and we are so frequently shown how to live in a way that is quite isolated from our hearts and simple wisdom at a young impressionable age. Potentially, the final expression of this separateness may be in the destruction of our precious planet. Let us, together, contemplate and re-envision steps to do what we can to be a healing influence in the world. Our survival likely depends on it.
Read the transcription and listen to this episode on The Global Bridge Foundation website.
playlist_add
Apr 4, 2022
Why is inclusiveness the purpose of our life? - Episode 43
How much have you wondered about the purpose of your life? What’s the reason for your existence in this world today, tomorrow and in both small and large ways? Perhaps, as Robert explores, everyone’s purpose can be fulfilled if we really understand and live with a greater sense of inclusiveness. Simply put, it’s a way of caring for people outside your circle of friends, your family, or your communities. It’s caring for our endangered planet; it’s caring for those in utter poverty and those who need our help the most. Our purpose in life can be simple, yet it requires a rewiring of what we have been taught — we must try to be more selfless, generous, and sensitive towards others.
Most of us who are religious by nature are often born into our religious choices. Our parents or communities dictated which religious teachings we’ll follow, what traditions will be a part of our lives, and so on. Religion has an overtly social aspect — it fosters a connection between those in…
playlist_add
Mar 28, 2022
Human As Hell. Learning Grief Literacy with Dr. Ken Druck - Bonus Episode 3
On this week’s bonus episode Robert speaks candidly to his long-time friend, fellow author, survivor, philanthropist, and therapist, Dr. Ken Druck. Ken lost his oldest daughter at a young age, entering him into a period of the dark night of the soul. Robert experienced his own version of hell as he battled back over a 10 year period from severe reactions to the medication from a kidney transplant. Their conversation centers on their experiences and on creating grief literacy for others facing dark moments. Learning how to embrace these moments with the most self-compassion and human authenticity as possible is their focus. And then guiding us on how to transform our suffering and growth into a benefit for our communities at large, in whatever ways are possible for us. How to sensitize ourselves in this direction is a central theme. Ken offers his “6 Honorings,” or guideposts of how to go on after enduring life’s most difficult challenges. In this conversation, Robert and Ken sh…
playlist_add
Mar 21, 2022
All teaching is not THE teaching — We need to be more inclusive – Episode 42
Almost every religion in the world says that its teachings are the key to helping humanity. In this episode of The Missing Conversation, Robert explores just how much of our actions match what we have to say about our religious teachings.
Pause for a moment and think about the percentage of our wealth that’s going toward bettering humanity and the planet. Now, what percentage of that wealth is inclusive — how many people are genuinely struggling to get help, to be given work opportunities, housing and a chance to live in a way that can be dignified, no matter their religious and spiritual affiliations?
Our society places a lot of emphasis on taking care of yourself, your family and loved ones, and then taking care of those within your specific community. Almost always in that order. But that means we don’t use the resources we have to better the lives of others outside that group. So little of our time and energy is devoted to volunteering for those outside our communities —…
playlist_add
Mar 14, 2022
Psycho-Politics In Action—A Chat With Mark Gerzon (PP) - Episode 41
". . . it becomes clearer and clearer that we're all in the same boat and failure to realize and respond to this will inevitably result in us all being doomed to sink."
In this episode of The Missing Conversation, Robert is joined by Mark Gerzon, founder of the Mediators Foundation. Mark is also a dedicated activist in the movement for a diverse, inclusive civil structure and transpartisan politics.
Robert and Mark explore the three elements of psycho-politics. Politics is human behavior, and it's not the best idea to separate the two as they are two distinct yet intertwined aspects of humanity.
The first essential element of psycho-politics is our individual and collective tendency to want to take care of ourselves, our loved ones, and our favoritism to those closest to us. But it's important to take a step back and see the bigger picture. If we are only taking care of ourselves, who is taking care of those in the greatest need? The planet? Our ecosystem?
Robert and Mark also touc…
playlist_add
Mar 7, 2022
How do religions being inclusive of each other benefit all of us? (STR) - Episode 40
If one were to examine and study the core tenets of every major religion or spirituality around the world, they would most likely find a shared sense of compassion, caring for others, and love. Yet, even with these profound similarities, people tend to view those not from their religion as different from them. In this episode of The Missing Conversation, Robert talks about the importance and benefits of inclusive faiths that share international values.
What does that mean? Essentially, Robert points out how most religions are united in their principle teachings. The faith that the students and followers of individual religions share common pillars and some significantly aligned values, actions, and attitudes. However, over time, these religious practices, traditions, and beliefs have taken precedence over core, humanistic values and actions.
There is value and benefit to being inclusive of other religions and treating them with respect and acceptance, and finding common ground to bon…
playlist_add
Feb 28, 2022
LA Mayoral Candidate Craig Greiwe discusses Homelessness, Affordability, and Public Safety with Robert Strock - Bonus Episode 2
The Missing Conversation explores the pressing issues in our world and the innovative solutions that support a greater chance of survival for our city, country, and planet. In this episode, on Psycho-Politics, Robert Strock is joined by LA Mayoral Candidate Craig Greiwe, who expands on his plans to help end homelessness, reduce affordability issues, and improve crime response in LA. Getting to the root of these problems is crucial to eradicating them. Instead of surface measures that act as bandaids, Craig takes us through his actual, transparent plans to achieve these goals. As he shares his background, one that's starkly different from most other institutionalists in government, Craig underscores his experience with problem-solving and the importance of taking responsibility for your role in the world. The idea is to lead with empathy — something Craig understands from his own personal experiences with poverty and abandonment. He talks about the awareness of trying to move from fru…
playlist_add
Feb 21, 2022
How to take care of doubts and questions in our religious faith (STR) - Episode 39
In the last few episodes of The Missing Conversation, Robert has explored the nuances of having our religious leaders share their personal challenges with us and be more vulnerable with their congregation. It is difficulties, fears, and our grief that make us human, after all. When students and followers are able to view their teachers as human and relate better to them, it gives students more insight on how to tackle their own challenges.
Indeed, sometimes religious leaders allow their students to be human and help them work towards healing with advice, spiritual healing, and teaching. But when it comes to sharing their own personal challenges and how they're working on them, they often fall short. They give others a chance to show their humanness but very rarely share their own.
If religious leaders were to share their challenges and how they use religious and spiritual teachings to work towards healing and well-being, then students can also learn similar values and principles. Thi…
playlist_add
Feb 14, 2022
We're all works in progress, even our religious leaders (STR) - Episode 38
No one feels totally comfortable being vulnerable — it's scary, and we might often think others might take advantage of what we're sharing from a place of trust. It's likely the same for even those in our communities who appear secure in their beliefs and selves — our religious leaders and ministers of faith.
In this episode of The Missing Conversation, Robert explores how sharing our insecurities, grief and anger can actually help us bond better with each other. When our religious leaders don’t share their humanness from us, it prevents us from learning how they use a combination of divine values and human qualities as part of their wisdom, which guides them to take better care of themselves during challenging situations.
As humans, there are many, many things we still don't know. From not knowing what's in the depths of the ocean to what happens after death, the faith we have in God or the Universe keeps us grounded and helps us deal with the 'not-knowing'.
Indeed, sometime…
playlist_add
Feb 7, 2022
Asking Christians, what would Jesus tell you about your relationship with money? (STR) - Episode 37
In this episode of The Missing Conversation, Robert is joined by his friend and co-founder at The Global Bridge Foundation, and Mark Spiro from Trash Prophets, a recycling initiative that gives purpose and job opportunities to the homeless. The two of them join him as he continues to explore how a more transparent relationship with money could lead us to help each other and humanity at large — this time with a focus on the Christian faith.
Like Buddhist teachers, most Christian ministers and leaders of faith have not revealed to their congregation their development or thought about their specific relationship with money, and how that would help our world that so badly needs it. Without the example from their teachers, pastors, and priests, Christian followers have been unable to reconcile with what the Bible teaches — that their true wealth awaits them in heaven, and that money on earth is here to be used for balance. But instead of being grateful and sharing, as Jesus taught us…
playlist_add
Jan 31, 2022
The importance of personal transparency with money from Buddhist teachers (STR) - Episode 36
In the previous episode of The Missing Conversation, Robert Strock explored the relationship between Buddhist spiritual teachings, their impact on students' and teachers' relationships, and the impact of a lack of personal transparency with money.
Most of the current Buddhist teachers tend to live simply and frugally, in relative simplicity, with a low income to moderate lifestyle. More often than not, they depend on donations or Dāna (alms) from their students or those who attend their spiritual services. In this episode, Robert talks about his conversations with several teachers who had mixed emotions about the degree of simplicity required to live according to the current donation system. This meant that the teachers often lived in different neighborhoods than their students. This ambivalence with the students was significantly uncomfortable for some of the teachers. There was concern that it might provoke resistance if the students were asked to evaluate their own relationship wi…
playlist_add
Jan 24, 2022
What do the current Buddhist Teachers tell us about money, and why not more? (STR) - Episode 35
It's no secret that we all need money to live. This is true even for religious and spiritual leaders as well as their students. That's why, in this episode of The Missing Conversation, Robert explores Buddhism within the lens of money and monetary attachment. Buddhist teachers rarely deal with the importance, and excessive emphasis on money or how attached their students and society are to it. One of the ways they often miss an opportunity is by detaching themselves from communication and by not carefully addressing what it means from the original Buddhist teachings to be balanced.
Buddha himself did not outright denounce money and material possessions. He simply cautioned against letting such worldly things control, change, and possess us. When greed and hungry desire become us, we lose sight of how we could use these material riches to help the world and humanity at large. That's when resources like money become evil and destructive.
Buddhist monks, teachers, and followers are enco…
playlist_add
Jan 17, 2022
How can de-idealizing our teachers make them more beneficial to us? (STR) - Episode 34
If you think about it, we're all drawn to people most like us. Call it in-group bias or being 'hard-wired' for like-minded people — the fact remains that we can connect best with those we think are similar to us. That's why, when a celebrity, superstar, or sports person comes forward with a challenge they've been facing, we begin seeing them in a different light. Their candor and the fact that they're also dealing with something you or someone you love have made them more human and relatable.
This also applies to religious leaders and spiritual teachers. In fact, it also works for any of your teachers — anyone you think has the capability to make an impact on you. When teachers come forward with their own challenges and how they deal with them, it has a transformational effect on students. Not only do the students gain a deeper understanding of 'who' their teacher is as a human, but they or someone they love might be in a similar situation. Instead of idealizing the teacher, the…
playlist_add
Jan 10, 2022
What is premature transcending, and how can psychology help? (STR) - Episode 33
No matter who you are, you will have to confront some challenging concepts like death, disease, and suffering at some point in life. To understand and get through these difficult moments, many of us will turn to religious or spiritual teachings, hoping for (spiritual) help or support. Others will turn towards psychology and science, hoping to regain their awareness through medicine or counseling. Some will even do both.
Because the truth is that we will all have to deal with the inevitable challenges that life throws at us, in moments of uncertainty, fear, anger, or grief, we will seek direction, support, and understanding. Even though most religions encourage some form of community outreach and work, there is an element of appearing to transcend prematurely at play most of the time. As Robert explains, “It means that we have a sense of wellbeing, from our beliefs that often prematurely suppress our human sides. We think we understand.” But when it’s our turn to face challenging…
playlist_add
Jan 3, 2022
How can religious and spiritual leaders connect with their congregation on a human level? (STR) - Episode 32
When we look up to someone, often, we tend to place them on a pedestal. We may do this unknowingly, or we may do it because that person behaves in a way that is far from us. Today, as spiritual teachers embody and share tenets of the original teachings, there's a need for them to go beyond simply listening and responding to their followers.
Whether it's medication, meditation, or anything else, we all depend on more than divinity and enlightenment to take care of ourselves. Robert and Dave point out that when leaders are open, honest, and vulnerable, it gives others a glimpse into their humanness. It allows students to relate better to their teachers and understand how to approach similar problems in their lives. This act of vulnerability also allows others to see how to intertwine personal spiritual guidance and external help to get through difficult moments.
If you're a leader or teacher, take a moment to think about how you let your congregation identify with you? Do you include t…
playlist_add
Dec 27, 2021
How Do We Unite Psychology and Religion? (STR) - Episode 31
Some folks think attending a religious service (like confessing your sins and burdens to a priest) is similar to therapy. After all, they both are designed to help you come to terms with what is most essential in life. But while these two activities might sound similar in theory, what they offer people is very different.
There is a unique nexus between religion and psychology because both help you expand your quality of life, one way or another. Therapy encourages you to explore your feelings and, at its best, helps guide you to your core needs. The most astute religious leaders will encourage you to remain curious — about life, about the world, about the universe itself. This humble curiosity, this drive for mystery, and the questions you ask can help you look at the world in a new and different light.
For a religious teacher, leading their congregation toward loving their brothers and sisters is also a part of their vocation. As Robert explores in this episode of The Missing Conv…
playlist_add
Dec 20, 2021
It's Okay To Be A Doubting Thomas And Stay True To Your Beliefs (STR) - Episode 30
One of the core tenets across most religions and spiritual practices around the globe is being a more generous person. We unlock our greatest potential when our attitudes, thoughts, actions, and beliefs contribute positively to society. To do that, we also need to work through personal challenges, which requires awareness, humility and faith. That way, we can share what we've learned and help others in their difficulties.
In difficult moments, faith is what keeps traditionally religious and spiritual folks going. Whether it's faith in God or the Universe, the belief that something or someone is out there looking out for us is good enough for most to try and tackle the problem. In this episode, as they explore the necessity of holding on to your inner truths, Robert and Dave expand upon Christianity, the Western World's dominant religion and its emphasis on complete and utter faith.
But what happens if your faith is not the same as the one you're expected to have? To put it simply, wh…
playlist_add
Dec 13, 2021
Why Religious Leaders Need To Share Their Personal Challenges (STR) - Episode 29
A problem shared is a problem halved. Isn’t that why most of us choose to share our troubles and difficulties with our loved ones? We value their advice, their insight, and their support. In this episode of The Missing Conversation, Robert and Dave share how religious and spiritual leaders can extrapolate this idea by sharing their own challenging issues to help their community better.
We tend to place teachers of formal religion or leaders in spirituality on a pedestal. While believers and practitioners may take advice from them, rarely do we see help flow the other way around. What if, instead of shouldering their personal challenges alone, these leaders turned around and shared their troublesome issues openly? This would create a relationship of mutual respect and trust while humanizing leaders. It would also support them to relate to people in a more complete and authentic way.
In doing this, not only will people be able to see how to deal with similar challenges, but they will…
playlist_add
Dec 6, 2021
The Importance of Humanitarian Principles in Religion & Spirituality (STR) - Episode 28
What’s common between religious folks, spiritual people, and those that do not formally identify as anything but try their best to better life in our world? Robert and Dave explore the united goal among the three — caring for our planet and for humanity.
Core universal values like compassion, kindness, and authenticity are embodied in original religious and spiritual teachings. These values are how religious teachers like Jesus, Buddha, Muhammed, Moses lived their lives. Billions around the world learn from these root teachings, practicing them every day. But how much do these traditional practices and beliefs benefit the world through compassion and care? Throughout time and history, formal religion has placed a heavy emphasis on traditions and rituals, and less on generosity to the planet and the poor.
But there’s a question to be asked — do these traditions and rituals significantly help develop a humanitarian instinct? Can meditation and prayer bear fruit without cultivat…
playlist_add
Nov 29, 2021
Why We Need to Redefine Our Relationship to Money (PP) – Episode 27
Whether we acknowledge it or not, our relationship with money impacts several avenues of our life and the world at large. So often, many people confuse self-worth with net worth — money equals security and an esteemed life. Robert Strock explores how a few people have obtained excessive riches, which requires being born in an environment that offers unique opportunities. In contrast, this has been simply impossible for others. Now, as the world teeters on a dangerous precipice, those that have excesses have a chance to give back a greater percentage of what they’ve earned for the wellbeing of the planet, to increase the chances of humanity surviving and thriving in the coming generations.
The right ideas coupled with systemic structural changes can channel money for healing results across the globe. There’s a moment of caution, though, against taking ideas to the extreme (asking someone to donate almost all their money) or giving too little when you’re a multi-billion dollar c…
playlist_add
Nov 22, 2021
Developing True International Values (PP) - Episode 26
Host Robert Strock discusses how we can develop true international values. If we can take ownership of our own lives and become questioners who challenge old values, we can guide ourselves toward a broader view. Facing our challenging emotions lets us build a healthy self so we can also look beyond ourselves, our families, and our communities to a bigger, more complex world.
There are options out there to end hunger and homelessness, but it will take a wider view from those with wealth and power to make change. Regenerative agriculture is one of the possibilities that, if embraced, can change communities, states, and countries by restoring balance with the land. We can develop a sense of self that’s inclusive of those of all socioeconomic levels and any other number of divisive factors. Facing our challenges lets us move beyond them so we can finally build the necessary international mentality.
Read the transcription and listen to this episode on The Global Bridge Foundation websit…
playlist_add
Nov 15, 2021
Thinking and Acting with Solutions for the Global Good (PP) - Episode 25
Host Robert Strock dives into the complexities of the homelessness crisis in the state of California and other urban areas. He focuses on solutions that provide a sense of belonging and community, where people can be nourished and feel at home instead of temporary housing. If we start talking about these solutions as a community and society, we can rebuild our infrastructure to support people at all income levels. As we begin to explore options that help those in the most need, we can contemplate and redefine our relationship with money recognizing that we are at a time like no other in human history where the needs of the planet are blatant and vital. It can become a natural tool for inspiration, joy, purpose, and connectedness. The process of internal questioning can help us develop international values, qualities, actions, and thoughts to think of ourselves as part of a global unit rather than dominantly being separate beings taking care of ourselves. If we can continue to question…
playlist_add
Nov 8, 2021
Reevaluating The Way We View Our Place In The World PP - Episode 24
Host Robert Strock discusses the need for a change in how we view and respond to our relationship with ourselves and the rest of the world. Our world is at a breaking point. Socioeconomic divisions, racial divisions, and many other dividing factors can be overcome if we can see that we can be the witness and responder to our conditioning, rather than be controlled by it, and contemplate individually how we view our place in the world. We can start by asking “What are the small or large gifts that will allow us to respond in a way that is grounded and inspired and have the best chance to be as fulfilling as possible. Are we open to this? Can we see a longing inside that wants to be heard? We may be able to see beyond our immediate identifying group, expand, and do more for others and society as a whole. Strock encourages readers to investigate movements and opportunities to help the impoverished and the planet. Search terms like “ecosystem restoration” and “regenerative agricult…
playlist_add
Nov 1, 2021
We Can All Contribute Regardless of Our Wealth PP - Episode 23
Host Robert Strock helps identify small ways we can each begin today to discover how we individually can make a difference in the bigger world. There’s a need to contemplate the norms of how we raise children facing the new challenges of the world, view our roles within the community, adjust our relationships to step up and support our nation, and change how we respond to our place in the world. We can learn to face and care for our own difficult emotions and use them to help us make more meaningful contributions to others and by extension, the world. Minute actions like a smile or dollar donations can act as a first step. As long as we each take steps forward and repeatedly ask ourselves if we’re moving in a direction that dignifies our relationship to ourselves and the world, we will naturally be guided to contribute toward healing our communities and the planet.
Read the transcription and listen to this episode on The Global Bridge Foundation website.
playlist_add
Oct 25, 2021
Caring for Ourselves while Protecting The Earth PP – Episode 22
Robert Strock encourages looking beyond the self to save the planet. Previous podcasts explored facing our most challenging feelings, but the next step is to continue to work toward our best self and develop the person who cares for self, family, community, and the world. Without developing an outward focus, we run the risk of standing by while the planet dies. Strock encourages the kind of introspection that sees how to better the life of the individual and use what we have as individuals to benefit the world. Without a change in how children, parents, and society sees our relationship with world communities and the planet, the planet (and us) is seriously endangered.
Read the transcription and listen to this episode on The Global Bridge Foundation website.
playlist_add
Oct 18, 2021
Building a Healthy World One Step at a Time PP - Episode 21
Host Robert Strock asks the question, what can you do today in the smallest of ways to help you or others survive and thrive, especially in a way that is evolving? This intention can generate a sense of purpose in each of our lives as much as we pay attention to the little and big things in our environment. Awareness and self-inquiry combined with the search for how to care for others and the world in small ways can build a global and national contagion of health. A contagion of health is one where we care for the psychological, emotional, and physical health of the individual, group, society, nation, and global communities, including the Earth itself. However, it starts with recognizing the small differences we can make in our mindset and actions on a daily basis.
Read the transcription and listen to this episode on The Global Bridge Foundation website.
playlist_add
Oct 11, 2021
Healing Ourselves to Heal the World PP - Episode 20
Host Robert Strock continues to explore how we can see ourselves as part of an interconnected global community through internal inquiry that looks for and develops the best self. Using self-inquiry and the free Introspective Guides on AwarenessthatHeals.org, listeners can learn to guide themselves to a place where they can use their time, energy, and resources for the survival and betterment of self, others, and the world. As he states, “We are repeatedly creating wars outside of ourselves by not facing and resolving the war within ourselves.” The discussed process helps resolve the conflict within so that we can develop a sustainable way of living at all levels—private, community, state, national, global.
Read the transcription and listen to this episode on The Global Bridge Foundation website.
playlist_add
Oct 4, 2021
Balancing Love For Family And The World PP - Episode 19
Host Robert Strock highlights the need for continual questioning to reexamine our relationships with ourselves, our family, and responding to the world situation as a whole. This ongoing questioning of our personal and societal relationship and our conditioning can open doors to greater insight, empathy, and connection with the world around us. It helps us live more in the moment and see where we can become more sensitive and grow. That growth includes facing life’s challenges, responding with expanding heart and wisdom to help ourselves, and making changes that are needed both personally as well as globally. A change in how we view and relate to our own wealth and our neighbors of all races, socioeconomic status, ethnicities, and religions can break barriers and division to cultivate a healthier society. For those that don’t have wealth, there is great dignity and importance in making best efforts to survive without creating harm, which is important for all of us to realize.
Read…
playlist_add
Sep 27, 2021
It's Important to Question the Balance in Our Lives - Episode 18 PP
Host Robert Strock focuses on the third set of questions surrounding a needed change in psycho politics—Am I doing enough? Am I using my resources in a way that benefits the world? There’s a dire need to change the psycho-political climate in the United States and in the world. It’s not enough to love and use our resources only for family and friends. Consistently questioning how and why we’re using our resources can help develop a community and world-centered focus rather than a self-centered one.
We should continually ask ourselves these questions and give of our money, time, and talents to benefit society. In the current state we’re in, the vast majority of people miss out on the joy that comes from contributing to community and society by choice. We can use our ability to choose to help the vulnerable and take care of the planet. In the process, we save the planet, while also saving our freedom and the democracy on which it is built.
Read the transcription and listen to…
playlist_add
Sep 20, 2021
Changing for the Good of Humanity - Episode 17 PP
Host Robert Strock discusses the current psycho-political environment. We’re currently in a time where COVID-19 and natural disasters have highlighted individual and societal vulnerability. Before COVID-19, there was a great amount of disconnection between those with the financial means and power and those struggling to survive day to day. There’s now a profound sense of equal vulnerability to disease and natural disasters. We need a growing understanding of the disparity— yet connection— between the poor, rich, and everyone in between.
Strock calls for change in how children are raised and educated from a young age through to adulthood into the highest degree programs. There’s also a driving need for everyone to affect change through the power of the vote. As citizens and political leaders look outside themselves to the greater whole, the United States can stand as a leader for the world. Our society and elected officials can lead by doing what’s right for the world, not…
playlist_add
Sep 13, 2021
Finding Balance to Help the Homeless and Save the Planet - Episode 16 PP
Host Robert Strock asks the question: "Are we balanced in how we view ourselves and use our resources?" To address the growing issues of global warming, homelessness, immigration reform, and other world and societal problems, there’s an overwhelming need for each individual to broaden their view. As we learn to see beyond our immediate needs and question ourselves and society, we better use the resources at our disposal as individuals and as a society. Currently, the planet is headed toward rock bottom. Consequently, building awareness is crucial to healing. Healing those in need, healing ourselves, and healing the planet.
Read the transcription and listen to this episode on The Global Bridge Foundation website.
playlist_add
Sep 6, 2021
Waking the Individual to Wake the World - Episode 15 PP
Host Robert Strock introduces and discusses what will be an ongoing discussion on psycho-politics. Strock focuses on the current state of psycho-politics and how it’s led to a society that’s largely neglected the poorest of the poor and the planet. Over the next few episodes, we’ll look at how to expand our vision and redefine what it means to be psychologically healthy. As we put our familial and societal relationships into perspective, we can use our energy, money, and work abilities to benefit not only ourselves but vulnerable populations and future generations with a thriving planet and society. This process of developing a deeper psycho-political understanding will lead to the habit of questioning our positions in society and how we as individuals, groups, and countries can act as a coordinated unit that thinks, feels, and functions as a whole and acts for the good of humankind and the planet.
Read the transcription and listen to this episode on The Global Bridge Foundation…
playlist_add
Aug 30, 2021
Immigration Reform - Episode 14
Host Robert Strock introduces an immigration reform framework that unites government agencies, the private sector, and the philanthropic world to provide a viable, safe, legal way for immigrants to enter the United States’ southern border. The plan proposes the creation of fully functional immigrant communities composed of enough tiny homes to house approximately 10,000 people. Residents would work full-time to support the community and neighboring cities. Tiny homes cost ⅕ of traditional low-income housing options and give immigrants a safe, secure place to live while they go through the immigration process. There would also be training opportunities in needed industries such as solar power and regenerative agriculture. Leaders in the regenerative agriculture industry, like Gabe Brown, have already pledged to help in these efforts.
At the same time, residents would go through an immigration process where they are evaluated by administrative staff and their coworkers. This process…
playlist_add
Aug 23, 2021
Trash Prophets with Mark Spiro - Episode 13
Mark Spiro, award-winning songwriter, producer, recording artist, and founder of Trash Prophets, joins host Robert Strock to discuss Spiro’s work with the unsheltered. Trash Prophets is a mobile recycling organization that helps train the unsheltered in collecting recyclables for a profit. In Spiro’s work with the homeless, he’s learned that many factors come into play, keeping people homeless. If they make too much money, they can lose the few benefits they get. Taxes and other laws may take what wages or inheritance they may have at their disposal. It turns into a repeating cycle. Yet, the unsheltered are often people who’ve hit the bottom and developed humility and openness that accepts people in their darkest hours. They’re not afraid of the bottom because they’ve already seen it.
Spiro discusses his findings that the majority of the unsheltered are ready and willing to work to improve their lives with great motivation. Many times all they need is an opportunity and an…
playlist_add
Aug 16, 2021
Discovering the Meaning of Home with Alan Graham - Episode 12
Join host Robert Strock in an interview with guest Alan Graham, founder of Community First! Village and Mobile Loaves and Fishes (MLF) of Austin, Texas. Graham organized and runs a permanent community that offers permanent housing to the unsheltered. However, 20 percent of residents are there voluntarily, coming from a wide range of successful backgrounds. The key to the community’s success is the acceptance of everyone for where and who they are in their journey. Graham’s time feeding and housing the unsheltered has brought home the importance of one-on-one connection with people. Learning to see and care for the unsheltered as brothers and sisters helps everyone feel valued and like they belong.
In the 20s and 30s, caring for the unsheltered fell to the government, using a transactional versus a relational model. Going forward, efforts need to move toward relational, seeing people as people and loving them for it. Part of that relational quality is welcoming those with mental he…
playlist_add
Aug 9, 2021
Homelessness and Agriculture with Perry Goldberg - Episode 11
The President of E Pluribus University and founder of thrivela.org, Perry Goldberg, joins host Robert Strock to discuss current efforts to identify solutions and barriers to the growing homelessness problem in California. Current solutions involve building affordable housing where land runs at a premium and laws, regulations, and objections of neighbors add to the expense and time it takes to develop the properties. The results are not enough housing for a growing vulnerable population. Both Goldberg and Strock point toward a pervasive false perception of the majority of the unsheltered being addicted, mentally ill, or unable to contribute to society.
A better understanding of who these people are and the natural value they have as fellow human beings lies at the heart of the problem. In addition, there’s a great need to change and adapt laws that allow for affordable, scalable housing options like tiny homes that include a small kitchenette and shower. Goldberg discusses his ongoin…
playlist_add
Aug 2, 2021
Solutions to Homeless Challenges with John Maceri - Episode 10
Guest John Maceri, chief executive officer of People Concern, an organization that tackles the multifaceted issues surrounding homelessness, joins host Robert Strock. The current cost per unit for permanent housing isn’t tenable. People Concern’s model is one way to cut costs and connect people with needed services. One of the ways to accomplish this is by leasing housing units from private landowners and managers and then sublet them to unsheltered people whose credit and job history may disqualify them under usual circumstances. The truth is that homlessness isn’t cheap. People experiencing homelessness use first responders, emergency services, and hospitals as their medical care and often cycle in and out of the prison system as their only source of mental health resources. When connected with the right services and a permanent home through People Concern, expenses drop drastically.
The Pandemic has exposed the gaps in the fundamental inability of the current system to care f…
playlist_add
Jul 26, 2021
Housing Options for the Unsheltered with Brian Greenberg - Episode 9
Brian Greenberg, PhD, manager of Life Moves, joins host Robert Strock to discuss the current and growing needs among the unsheltered population. Life Moves is the largest comprehensive homelessness program in Northern California. It focuses on providing amenities like private/public showers and toilets along with connecting participants with job opportunities, housing support, and health services. When less expensive housing options have basic privacy, it provides incentives that bring people off of the streets. Organizations like Life Moves work to provide a maximum amount of services at a minimal cost. Greenberg's program works with psychology masters and PhD interns to provide needed mental health services at a fraction of ordinary cost for these mental health services. The program also views people as people. People can go through the program multiple times even if they relapse or make a bad choice. As long as they’re trying to move forward in their lives and follow the rules tha…
playlist_add
Jul 19, 2021
Bonus Episode: Psycho-Politics
It's really vital that we each look at the state of the world today because it's quite evident that global warming is a real risk, along with terrorism, cyber-attacks, and too many other dangers to mention. The essence of Psycho-Politics informs us that it’s natural to care for our family and friends—but it’s not natural during this time of global warming and the unprecedented gap between the wealthy and the poor, and the fact that we aren’t contributing more to those who struggle to survive and are struggling for the survival of the planet. This unprecedented time requires us to think for ourselves in an entirely new way.
Listen to the episode and find out more at: The Global Bridge Foundation
playlist_add
Jul 12, 2021
Peer Support Can Solve Homelessness with Brian Ulf - Episode 8
Brian Ulf’s background in real estate and addiction recovery contributes to his involvement in many organizations, but notably his work with Shares Self-Help and the Recovery Exchange and Share Collaborative Housing programs. The unique approach to both housing and recovery needs connects the unsheltered with single-family homes for housing, along with needed services and peer support groups led by specialized peer bridgers. Peer bridgers help residents resolve conflicts, set long and short-term goals, and work toward the next step in their life. The program is designed to meet people where they are and facilitate their ability to make their own life choices. Experience shows that people thrive when they have a personal connection to their home, where they get peer support and feel loved and connected to their community. From volunteers to financial contributions, there are ways to support these and other programs that help the unsheltered on their way to the success and lives they d…
playlist_add
Jun 30, 2021
Ecosystem Restoration Camps with John D Liu - Episode 7
Guest John D. Liu, ecosystem ambassador for the Common Land Foundation, joins host Robert Strock in a discussion about restoring the planet’s biodiversity and biomass through regenerative agriculture and ecosystem restoration. These two practices and concepts recognize and incorporate the symbiosis of all living things in order to restore and reclaim land. Restorative agriculture programs, including Liu’s Ecosystem Restoration Camps, are now found on six continents, including a massively successful pilot program on China’s Loess Plateau that covered 35,000 square kilometers. Regenerative agriculture organizations are now partnering with homelessness programs in LA to train the unsheltered in these techniques, developing skills and confidence in the unsheltered and providing a means to contribute to the health and well-being of society. Learn what you can do to learn more about and help support restorative agriculture organizations.
Listen to the episode and find out more at: The…
playlist_add
Jun 30, 2021
Reconnecting Homeless to Family with Ron Hooks - Episode 6
Pastor Ron Hook’s 26 years of working with the unsheltered gives him a unique perspective on those experiencing homelessness. He talks with host Robert Strock and guest host Shelley Pearce about some of his personal turning points that led him to devoting his life to helping the unsheltered. His organization, West Coast Care, often fills a gap between what other organizations offer and what the unsheltered need to reconnect with family, find meaningful employment, or move forward in their recovery journey. A compassionate heart lies at the center of his work and will move listeners to seek ways they, too, can relieve the suffering of people who may find themselves down on their luck.
Listen to the episode and find out more at: The Global Bridge Foundation
playlist_add
Jun 30, 2021
Funding Alternative Housing Solutions with Elizabeth Funk - Episode 5
Guest Elizabeth Funk, innovator and Board Member of Life Moves, talks with host Robert Strock about her work in the microfinance industry abroad and current focus and efforts to eliminate homelessness in the United States. Together, they shed new light on the complexity of the growing housing crisis, from the needs of interim housing to potential solutions that involve portable, permanent housing units. The COVID pandemic has left more people unsheltered, but it’s also been a catalyst for changing attitudes and forces that have acted as barriers to permanent housing solutions. New ideas are on the horizon as organizations develop practical solutions that benefit the unsheltered and private companies and citizens, such as private developers or landowners leasing unused land for use of portable, permanent shelters. Funk also shares ways listeners can promote, help, and become a part of eliminating homelessness.
Listen to the episode and find out more at: The Global Bridge Foundation
playlist_add
Jun 30, 2021
Caring for the Homeless and Hungry with Ken Craft - Episode 4
Los Angeles faces a growing humanitarian crisis as the number of unsheltered persons continues to grow. An interview with Ken Craft, founder of Hope of the Valley, reveals his organization’s work to develop temporary small tiny homes throughout the San Fernando Valley, and now, in LA. A safe place to sleep with an array of healing services can be a turning point for many who come to Hope of the Valley shelters. However, challenges to establishing these communities and permanent housing options range from zoning laws to attitudes about unsheltered persons. Ending homelessness requires addressing the complexity of the issue, including the trauma, addiction, and the mental health issues of the unsheltered, along with the logistical barriers created by laws and a lack of understanding for those who find themselves without a safe, permanent home.
Listen to the episode and find out more at: The Global Bridge Foundation
playlist_add
Jun 30, 2021
Permanent Affordable Housing with Charlie Ligety - Episode 3
An interview with Charlie Ligety, Director of The Housing Innovative Collaborative, explores the successes and failures of supplying affordable housing in a growing homelessness crisis. Today we have a diverse (and quick) range of housing options that aren’t currently being tapped to their full potential. A combination of changes in government policies, cultural and socioeconomic stereotypes, and perceptions around personal responsibility can come together to create solutions that transition people out of homelessness and into affordable permanent housing options that support dignity and community.
Listen to the episode and find out more at: The Global Bridge Foundation
playlist_add
Jun 30, 2021
Regenerative Agriculture with Gabe Brown - Episode 2
An interview with Gabe Brown, founder of Understanding Ag, explains and explores the principles behind and potential of regenerative agriculture for the future of farmers and consumers. A different approach to farming where nature serves as the example and farmers integrate animals, insects, and soil into a happy, symbiotic growing relationship which leads to practical benefits like access to more nutrient dense food and growing in diverse climates. It also sequesters carbon from the atmosphere. There are opportunities to learn regenerative agriculture at any scale, from a backyard garden to a large scale profit-producing operation. Whether it’s financially supporting regenerative agriculture organizations or learning the practices yourself, you can find hope and peace in nurturing the land for future generations.
Listen to the episode and find out more at: The Global Bridge Foundation
playlist_add
Jun 30, 2021
Welcome to The Missing Conversation – Episode 1
The Missing Conversation Podcast with host Robert Strock explores an array of complex issues inherent to modern life. From immigration and homelessness to how we as a society find ourselves polarized and facing crises on a global level, this podcast faces challenges head-on with the goal of bringing understanding, healing, and tangible solutions to the forefront of every conversation. A look at Robert’s personal journey sets the tone for podcasts designed to face, question, and envision concrete steps to address difficult topics, issues, and emotions.
Listen to the episode and find out more at: The Global Bridge Foundation
playlist_add