Front and Center with Steve and Michael

Conversation with Author and Propaganda Expert Mark Crispin Miller “Who needs conspiracy theories when we have con’s piracy facts?” -- Swami Beyondananda If you’re like most Americans I know, you are watching the train wreck that is American politics chugging down the track to oblivion, and wondering how it is that the likes of Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln have devolved into the (dis)likes of Trump and Biden? How is it we have hunkered into angry rival political camps spending our fury on one another rather than coming together to face our multiple crises together? As the Swami has noted, we are no longer rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. We are now throwing them at each other. If this toxic “shituation” has left you feeling baffled … disheartened … enraged, then you will find this week’s Front and Center conversation with author, NYU professor, and propaganda expert Mark Crispin Miller illuminating and elucidating, as he shines a light on how entire populations are manipulated, and don’t even know it. To quote Swami again, “The truth shall upset you free.” Mark Crispin Miller is a long-time faculty member of New York University, and author of numerous books on the political and cultural scene, including Boxed in: the Culture of TV … The Bush Dyslexicon: Observations on a National Disorder… Cruel and Unusual: Bush/Cheney's New World Order … Fooled Again: How the Right Stole the 2004 Election and Why They'll Steal the Next One Too (Unless We Stop Them) … and Loser Take All: Election Fraud and the Subversion of Democracy, 2000-2008. And while Mark didn’t exactly “write the book” on propaganda, he did write the introduction to the 2005 edition of Edward Bernays’ classic 1928 book, Propaganda. (For those who don’t know, Bernays was Sigmund Freud’s nephew and has been called “the father of modern public relations”. Perhaps his best-known stunt occurred at the Easter Parade in Manhattan in 1928, when he was in the employ of the American Tobacco Company, makers of Lucky Strike cigarettes. At an appointed moment, young women marching as suffragettes stopped, lit up cigarettes, held them aloft and proclaimed them “torches of freedom.” Prior to that time, it was considered unladylike to smoke. After that … well, you’ve come a long way, baby. For a deeper look at Bernays and his work, check out the 2002 BBC documentary, Century of the Self. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ3RzGoQC4s) Curious to learn more? In this riveting and highly-informative conversation, Mark shares how a truth-teller becomes a “conspiracy theorist”, and how being branded as such led him to discover how and why that term was popularized. He walks us through the untold history (i.e., provable facts that have been conveniently left out of the narrative) of post-World War II American history. Mark says, “They call people conspiracy theorists so that no one will pay attention to what they're saying.” Speaking of how the term “conspiracy theorist” was used to delegitimatize those who questioned the official JFK assassination story, he says, “The purpose of the propaganda is to persuade people to ignore a threatening counter narrative. The tactic of dismissing dissidents as conspiracy theorists has worked like a charm, and put a lot of people to sleep.” Mark offers his own story of having his NYU class on propaganda de-platformed because he had the audacity to discuss how propaganda was being used to “sell” the official COVID narrative. And … he offers this caveat – no one, no matter how “smart” they are, are “infoolable”. And he cites his own experience and discomfort confronting his own cherished “truths”. He tells us, “Many things that I believed, and believed ardently, I came to discover were groundless. And I came to that discovery through the critical study of propaganda. You can actually learn a great deal about reality by studying propaganda.” Above all, Mark says, it is much, much easier to see how others (particularly the “other side”) are being manipulated by propaganda, while we stay convinced our side is telling us “The truth”. He says, “Bernays understood that propaganda has to be disguised as something else. It has to be disguised as news, has to be disguised as entertainment, and if it is disguised in this way, then people have let their guard down, because they don't know that that's what it is that's confronting them. And they tend to believe it that much more readily.” One of our key missions at Front and Center is “seeking the whole truth together”. Join our quest, join the upwising, join the conversation. Mark’s website https://markcrispinmiller.com/ Propaganda in Focus http://propagandastudies.ac.uk/propaganda-in-focus/ Mark’s Substack Site https://markcrispinmiller.substack.com/ Watch onLocals. https://frontandcenter.locals.com/ Watch onYouTube. https://youtu.be/WINmvhod1so

Using the “Adjacent Possible” to Get Us from the Ideal to the Real Deal “The best way to overgrow the ‘deep state’ is by cultivating a deeper state.” -- Swami Beyondananda Here is the oxymoronic political contradiction of our times. We seem more polarized than ever, and yet the vast majority of us long to work together for mutual benefit. Perhaps the resolution of this seemingly impossible “shituation” can be found in the “real” American dream of our founders: individual freedom AND collective wellbeing. The accentuated polarization of our times has put these two universal aspirations in conflict with one another. But what if they need to co-evolve together? Is there a way to transform these dueling dualities into dynamic-duo dance partners? Our guest this week on Front and Center, Foster Gamble (https://www.freetothrive.com/), has spent his adult lifetime seeking what he calls a “universal morality” that is not imposed from the top down, but realized from the individual on up. Growing up in privilege – he’s a Gamble as in Proctor & Gamble – Foster’s journey to extend political and economic wellbeing to all has led him to the “consciousness” movement and through the “truth movement”, to exo-politics and suppressed inventions. He and his wife Kimberly Carter Gamble have produced two hugely successful Thrive movies, and created a worldwide Thrive platform that has informed millions of people. And today, his work boils down to just one idea – the Non-Aggression Principle, which states simply that no one is allowed to defraud another, or initiate force, except in true self-defense. As the Swami has said, he is proposing a sane world – he must be crazy! Seriously, is there a way to turn that ideal into the real deal? This freewheeling Front and Center “conversation for possibility” leads us to some surprisingly practical ways to use the “adjacent possible” to bridge us, step-by-step from where we are now to where we want to go. It’s been said that the truth will set us free – but more accurately, it will UPSET us free first. In producing the outside-the-official-narrative Thrive movies, Foster has confronted the challenge of presenting inconvenient truths when people would much rather believe convenient lies. He is heartened however, with how the consciousness movement and the various “truth” movements have interacted in recent years to “transcend the fake polarity of political rulership, and actually come together on truth and freedom and harmonious collaboration.” And while his notion of a noncoercive universal morality may seem out there in some distant future, Foster’s approach is eminently practical. It involves activating truly independent forces in our political system – like the Common Sense and Forward Parties – to slow the spread of what he calls “turn-key totalitarianism”, where what used to be called the military-industrial complex has now metastasized into the military-industrial-pharmaceutical-media-tech complex with the unchecked, unbalanced power to monitor and control every aspect of our lives. In keeping with the Swam’s prescription for sanity, “turn off your TV and tell-a-vision instead,” Foster shared his vision of the prize he has his eye on: It’s a planet where every individual has the opportunity to thrive, and no one is authorized to encroach on anyone else's person, or property. It's a planet of truly voluntary exchange, where people can feel happy in their pursuit of happiness and also feel secure that that their community has their back, where they can be productive through the unleashing of the creative their natural creativity. That would happen as people know that their individual freedom is the key to liberating all of us. And as we master love of ourselves, of one another, and our environment, we can be welcomed into the cosmic community.” Can we step off the political battlefield and cultivate a cooperative playing field together? Can we confront the true evils facing us, rather than project them onto some convenient “other”? Can a critical mass of the heretofore uncritical masses unite to “overgrow” a global domination agenda? As the great philosopher / centerfielder Willie Mays said, “That’s what we’re going to play the season to find out.” Tune into this heartening conversation here.

A Conversation with Author and Talk Show Host Thom Hartmann “We need to replace the Four E’s – extraction, exploitation, extortion and extinction -- with the Four C’s, cooperation, collaboration, cultivation and community.” -- Swami Beyondananda The lost people. What an intriguing title. Who are those “lost people”? Are they an ancient people whose ways and history are lost to us? Or are they the “hungry ghosts” in our own society, unhinged from meaning and purpose, who have acquiesced to, and perpetuate the “taker” culture? According to award-winning talk show host and prolific author Thom Hartmann, the answer to both questions is “yes.” There is a profound and significant connection between the “lost” ways of our indigenous ancestors, and the many “lost souls” who inhabit modern industrial society. “The Lost People” was an essay Thom wrote nearly 25 years ago that he recently re-published, that is perfectly timed for our times, when we are re-examining both the genocide of Native Peoples of the new world, and forced to reckon with the fruits of 300 years of black African slavery on this continent. The article explores the unfathomable loss of the indigenous heritage of European peoples, and how that led to the domination of Native peoples, and the unsuccessful attempts to dominate nature. The essay – first published in 1998 – was inspired by a conversation Thom had with a Native American elder at a ceremony, and informed by meeting an Aboriginal elder who suffered greatly at the hands of white settlers. Thom also introduces the word “Wetiko”, a term he discovered in Native American scholar Jack Forbes’ book first published in 1978, Columbus and Other Cannibals: The Wetiko Disease of Exploitation, Imperialism, and Terrorism. Indeed, “Wetiko” means cannibal, and that is the term many Native Peoples used to characterize the white invaders. To find out how we got here, and the reunion that holds the key to our species’ survival and thrival, please join us for this eye-opening and sobering conversation. In the process, you’ll learn about the two entirely different Maori cultures in New Zealand, and how each came about. You’ll hear about an indigenous society that occupied what is now New Orleans that had a four-tiered hierarchical society with an intriguing twist. And you’ll discover a nomadic Malaysian tribe that lived in the “dream world” they considered the “real” world, and used their dreams to navigate “this world.” Most importantly, you will learn how the shared trauma of all peoples living in a dominate-or-be-dominated world has brought us to the brink of extinction – and the cultural reweaving required for us to navigate this evolutionary passage. Thom Hartmann, ranked by Talkers Magazine as the #1 progressive talk show host in America for over a decade. His show airs live nationwide daily (M-F) on SiriusXM from 12-3pm ET. He’s also a four-time Project Censored-award-winning, New York Times best-selling author of more than 30 books in print in 17 languages. Thom has co-written and been featured in 6 climate-related documentaries with Leonardo DiCaprio, and his book The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight, about the end of the age of oil and climate change, is an international bestseller and used as a textbook in many schools and colleges. Live transcript: https://otter.ai/u/700M_L0o225LHAmh3bXNpuoJaZg To find out more about Thom Hartmann’s work: https://www.thomhartmann.com/ To read ‘The Lost People’ https://hartmannreport.com/p/the-lost-people #ThomHartman, #indigenouspeoplesday, #indigenouspeoplesday2021 #indigenouspeoples, #indigenous

“Why should corporations pay taxes, when they can simply pay the legislators directly and eliminate the middle man?” -- Swami Beyondananda In case you haven’t noticed, there has been a key missing element in government of, by, and for the people – the PEOPLE! So … it’s up to the people on the outside to stir and move those on the inside. Zen Honeycutt, our guest on Front and Center this week, is one of those “inciteful outsiders”. Her organization Moms Across America, has led a highly-successful campaign to educate moms – and everyone else – about organic, GMO-free food. Her journey began when her own children developed food allergies, and even autism symptoms. She started educating herself – “a worried mom does more research than the FBI” she says – and when she switched her children’s diets to organic non-GMO foods, their health conditions cleared up. The next thing she noticed is how many other parents were having the same issues show up in their kids. After educating herself about GMOs, and glyphosate (the major ingredient in Round-Up), she began to educate and enroll others. Launching in February 2013, Moms Across America scaled to reaching 300,000 people a week on Facebook. “Moms buy 85% of the food and make 90% of the buying choices in America,” she said. “Legislators and government officials are more scared of moms than any other group of voters,” says Zen. “That’s because moms are passionate, dedicated … and unstoppable when it comes to safeguarding the wellbeing of their children.” In fact, Zen has authored a book about her campaign called … Unstoppable. If you’ve wondered how it is that the USA spends more on “health care” per capita than any other country in the world, yet ranks next to the bottom in “industrial nations” in healthy outcomes, maybe it’s the “unhealthy incomes” of those who provide us with industrialized food. Chalk it up to a “regulatory system” controlled by the industries they are supposedly regulating. Oh, and here is the elephant and donkey in the living room – BOTH major political parties are indebted to corporate interests who instead of paying their way, are paying to have their own way. She isn’t waiting for the system to change. Moms Across America launched a campaign called Toxin-Free Town campaign, and more than 100,000 people have downloaded their document offering ten alternatives to Round Up, so we can get it out of streets, parks, and playgrounds – not to mention our food. 280 million pounds of this toxic chemical are used each year in agriculture, 20 million pounds in other public places. What makes this conversation even more interesting is that our very own Michael Maxsenti is working with the California Common Sense Party in alliance with the national Forward Party to lift us beyond the two-party divide to work together. And Michael brings up an interesting point – wouldn’t it be common sense to have a national party move past the identity issues that keep us separate and focus on the “identical” issues we all face, like clean and healthy food? Join us for this lively conversation and find out how YOU can join the upwising – to bring us clean and healthy food, and clean and healthy government. Find out more about Zen Honeycutt and Moms Across America here: https://www.momsacrossamerica.com/ You can offer financial support here at out Locals channel: https://frontandcenter.locals.com/support California Common Sense Party https://act.cacommonsense.org/ Forward Party https://www.forwardparty.com/

A Conversation with Food Safety Advocate Zen Honeycutt and Former California Secretary of Agriculture A. G. Kawamura “There are no sides, only angles and when we see it from the right angle, we’re all on the same side.” -- Swami Beyondananda We have three founding principles at Front and Center: 1. From political battlefields to cooperative playing fields. 2. Seeking the whole truth together. 3. Putting the government on the side of the people. Each one is a challenge, to be sure, in these politically polarized times. Number two is particularly challenging because most political “discussions” devolve into dueling narratives. So, in this “conversation for possibilities” we brought together two passionate advocates for abundant, healthy, nutritionally-dense food. On one hand, we have A.G. Kawamura, a third-generation produce farmer in California who served as Secretary of Agriculture under Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger from 2003-2010, who advocates “big agriculture” as necessary to feed 8 billion people worldwide. On the other hand, Zen Honeycutt, founder of Moms Across America, has seen how switching her family to an organic, non-GMO diet transformed her children’s health, and she has built a formidable organization to promote regenerative agriculture that heals the soil, and doesn’t cause the kinds of health conditions she observed in her children. In “seeking the whole truth together”, we had three goals. First, a “humanizing” format that acknowledged good intentions, personal passion, and mutual respect. Second, an opportunity for both Zen and A.G. to share their viewpoints and expertise into a “listening” instead of a debate, so that participants and listeners would emerge with a broader and deeper perspective. Third, we were looking for areas of agreement, and even opportunities for collaboration. And …we succeeded on all counts! You’ll have to watch the full interview to experience this for yourself, but we ended up with a vigorous, impassioned and ultimately kind conversation that might have turned “opponents” into agreeable colleagues who disagreed on certain points. A.G.’s focus was on preventing the worst food disaster of all – starvation. A century ago, the world’s population was “just” 2 billion; today, we have four times as many people, meaning we need to insure we have four times as much food. Zen pointed out that while food scarcity is a disaster we all want to avoid, another burgeoning disaster is a society that cannot function because there are too many sick people. She points out that during the growth phase of industrial agriculture, “there’s been an explosion of sickness”. GMOs, pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers have led to not just the health problems her children experienced (severe allergies and early autism symptoms, all of which disappeared when she went organic and GMO-free), but problems like infertility. “A young man today,” she says, “has 50% less sperm than his grandfather.” Both A.G. and Zen agreed that the food industrial complex was NOT providing nutrient-dense foods, and that increasing locally-grown food is essential for our health and wellbeing. (In fact, years ago, A.G. sparked one of the early “food gleaning” programs in California, bringing food that would normally be thrown away to feed the hungry. He is also an advocate of neighborhood and urban gardens.) As someone whose entire life has been spent growing food, and then helping to manage the distribution of that food, A.G. prefers seeing the glass as “half full” – that we give proper credit to a system that has in his view prevented worldwide hunger. Zen, on the other hand, points out the “shadow side” of this industrial food system. She says, “Syngenta makes the largest amount of pesticides and agrochemicals in the world and their sister company is AstraZeneca, which produces 400 pharmaceutical products that treat the very same symptoms that their pesticides and chemicals cause!” We hope you will tune in, listen to the conversation, and hopefully come up with a more nuanced view, regardless of which “side” – or angle – you identify with. You can find out more about A.G.’s work here: https://www.solutionsfromtheland.org/about/name/ag-kawamura/ You can find out more about Zen’s work here: https://www.zenhoneycutt.com/ And, if you appreciate OUR work at Front and Center to help lift us all off the political battlefield, seek the whole truth together, and put government on the side of the people, we encourage you to support our work, or as Swami says, “If you prefer getting real news digitally, put your money where your mouse is.” https://frontandcenter.locals.com/support Yours in the “great up-wising”, Steve Bhaerman and Michael Maxsenti

The Loss of Indigenous Culture and the Roots of “Wetiko” “We need to replace the Four E’s – extraction, exploitation, extortion and extinction -- with the Four C’s, cooperation, collaboration, cultivation and community.” -- Swami Beyondananda The lost people. What an intriguing title. Who are those “lost people”? Are they an ancient people whose ways and history are lost to us? Or are they the “hungry ghosts” in our own society, unhinged from meaning and purpose, who have acquiesced to, and perpetuate the “taker” culture? According to award-winning talk show host and prolific author Thom Hartmann, the answer to both questions is “yes.” There is a profound and significant connection between the “lost” ways of our indigenous ancestors, and the many “lost souls” who inhabit modern industrial society. We’re sure you’ll want to watch the full conversation (see below) but in this highlight video taken from the longer conversation, you’ll learn how the trauma of losing indigenous identity has led to the extractor, exploiter, taker culture we see today – what the Native People call “Wetiko,” defined as “cannibalism.” You’ll discover what Thom learned from Native American and Aboriginal elders, and discover what indigenous societies learned in 10,000 years of “trial and error.” You’ll learn what these cultures had that we have lost – and must rediscover and cultivate if we are to survive and thrive in these perilous times Thom Hartmann, ranked by Talkers Magazine as the #1 progressive talk show host in America for over a decade. His show airs live nationwide daily (M-F) on SiriusXM from 12-3pm ET. He’s also a four-time Project Censored-award-winning, New York Times best-selling author of more than 30 books in print in 17 languages. Thom has co-written and been featured in 6 climate-related documentaries with Leonardo DiCaprio, and his book The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight, about the end of the age of oil and climate change, is an international bestseller and used as a textbook in many schools and colleges. Live transcript: https://otter.ai/u/qN1mFJ6Gxw4txPWxhaFXYBXrkic To find out more about Thom Hartmann’s work: https://www.thomhartmann.com/ To read ‘The Lost People’ https://hartmannreport.com/p/the-lost-people #ThomHartman, #indigenouspeoplesday, #indigenouspeoplesday2021 #indigenouspeoples, #indigenous

“The Status Quo Will Not Disrupt Itself” “Trickle-down economics is when all the wealth is at the top, and a small portion of it trickles down to the masses. That’s why they call the people at the bottom peons.” -- Swami Beyondananda When I interviewed Marianne Williamson after her 2020 Presidential campaign, she told me that she was shaken and a bit shocked at the meanness of campaign politics – and that was just from her own side! So naturally, the first question Michael Maxsenti and I asked in our Front and Center interview was, “What has motivated you to do it again?” To get the full answer, you’ll have to watch the interview. The short form is that she is seeing more Americans awakening from the partisan trance and recognizing the entire system is corrupt and “the status quo will not disrupt itself.” That, and she has developed the “emotional antibodies” to withstand the proverbial slings and arrows. First and foremost, she sees economic inequality as the issue that defines what America has become. In his “Study of History”, British historian Arnold Toynbee points out that a sign of an empire in decline is the growing gap between rich and poor. This is more than an economic issue, Toynbee says. It’s a moral issue, because it indicates a society’s unwillingness to care for “the least of us.” Marianne points out that since the 1970s, there has been a $50 trillion transfer of wealth from the bottom 90% of Americans to the top 1%. Do the math. Do the aftermath. No other advanced democracy would tolerate such economic “un-democracy”, she says. “The American people have been played. It's as simple as that. The American people have been trained to expect too little, the American people have been told that the issues are ‘complicated’. They're actually not complicated. They're corrupt.” Two other key issues for Marianne are health care (she calls the current system “sickness care”) and care for our children, who will either move our society forward in the future, or burden society because of poor health, poor education, and poor economic prospects. She says, “When your society's governing principle -- as ours now is – is about short-term profit maximization for huge corporate entities as opposed to the humanitarian values that should inform our policies, I think the greatest collateral damage is our children.” She reiterates a point she made well in her 2020 campaign, if a child doesn’t learn to read by the age of eight or ten, then “the chances of high school graduation are drastically decreased and the chances of incarceration are drastically increased.” She continues, “When I was in college, we had 300,000 people incarcerated in the United States, now we have 2.3 million.” Marianne’s bottom line – one not generally addressed by other Democratic Party leaders – is that there is a spiritual “ground of being” above and beyond all religious, spiritual, and secular ethical systems. This point of view is important, first because it reminds us of the principles and values that the 90% of us who are not sociopaths would agree on. As we’ve shifted to a secular, post-modernist view that there IS no such universal ground of being, we lose the very foundation of all of society’s systems. As she points out, Adam Smith – the “father” of free market capitalism – said that free market capitalism cannot work outside an ethical context. This “spiritual ground of being” is also a key element in “rehumanizing one another”, she says, so that the best elements of conservatism and the best elements of progressivism can emerge. Can Marianne Williamson shift the political conversation, address our political malaise, and unite Americans to face the daunting problems before us? Can she help shift the rules of the game to put governance in the hands of the people? Watch this interview and decide for yourself. You can offer financial support here at out Locals channel: https://frontandcenter.locals.com/ To donate to Marianne’s campaign, please go here: https://marianne2024.com/

“There are no sides, only angles, and when we see it from the right angle, we’re all on the same side.” – Swami Beyondananda As we find ourselves in the midst of another toxically-divisive electoral campaign (that’s where we spend $14 billion to elect a candidate nearly half the people despise and the rest merely dislike), don’t you think it’s time to put an end to this bi-polar insanity? We think so. We – Steve Bhaerman and Michael Maxsenti – are rededicating our Front and Center podcast and platform to bringing America together around the virtues, values, and principles the 90% of us who are not sociopaths share, and from this new sensibility, call forth a “sane and sacred center” so that Americans from all sides can come together and hold our system accountable – and work together for what we DO want. We playfully call our newly-honed focus “a transpartisan movement to break the partisan trance.” That is, we need to break the trance of separation that is destroying our nation and disempowering the American people, by bringing people together around a truly unifying and healing campaign. Check out our exciting “rededication” podcast here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmSj9mWtS6g Support Front and Center and our transpartisan mission to end the partisan trance. http://frontandcenter.locals.com https://rumble.com/c/c-1458064 ___________________________ FiveThirtyEight https://fivethirtyeight.com/videos/the-ross-perot-myth/ Forward Party https://www.forwardparty.com/ We the People Party https://www.kennedy24.com/california Robert F. Kennedy for President https://www.kennedy24.com/ RFK Jr.’s ‘How I See The State of Our Union’ (9 min) “Let's rebuild our nation and fulfill America's promise. Join me in the journey of restoration to end forever foreign wars, clean out corrupt Washington, and turn towards a future of peace, freedom, health, and prosperity.” https://youtu.be/A0yvc2Qhn5E?si=RsKheyH3NTwe3_Zw _________________________ Meet the REAL RFK, Jr. Documentary FREE link https://www.youtube.com/live/hfJR4DF_MYU?si=dFXYIf6tyO8XXvel ________________________ RFK JR Podcast IRS: Pro-Pharma Anti-Health How the government, particularly the IRS, looks at exercise and diet versus weight loss drugs and other pharmaceuticals is discussed in this episode with Calley Means and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rfk-jr-podcast/id1552000243?i=1000649109153 _____________________ We The People: California Party Registration FAQ https://www.kennedy24.com/we-the-people-faq ______________________ Ross Perot and the ‘Spoiler Effect’ (10 min documentary FiveThirtyEight show) ‘The Ross Perot Myth’ Deep voodoo, chicken feathers and the 1992 election. https://fivethirtyeight.com/videos/the-ross-perot-myth/ _________________________ Why Biden and Trump Supporters Should Vote For RFK Jr. 4:31 video https://youtu.be/S0EZQaXp2U0?si=z_iL_BsiIhyf0kx1 Listen to RFK Jr.’s pitch to Trump voters on @RealAmericasVoice with @RealCharlieKirk If you want a president who can stand up to bureaucracy and who will reform the Federal Reserve and big banks, corporate influence, and the CIA—if you want to get back the America we all envision—vote for RFK Jr., not Donald Trump or Joe Biden. Also, please consider these examples and do they have any impact on your thinking? ⁃ Trump and Biden’s support for the extradition of Julian Assange and how that impacts our 1st Amendment right of Free Speech and has a chilling effect on journalists. ⁃ Trump rolled out ’Warp Speed’ for the vaccines while not allowing the use of the 33 million doses of Hydroxychloroquine and, the use of Ivermectin. Biden then tried to make it mandatory for everyone including children, to get vaccinated while forcing many people to lose their jobs. ⁃ Trump got NATO nations to increase their military budgets which feeds our military industrial complex. That also better prepared those nations for war and played into the neocons war strategy. Biden has gotten us into wars and funded them with Trillions of our dollars. ⁃ Neither made any meaningful changes to the Affordable Care Act (Obama Care) thus allowing the medical and pharmaceutical industries to continue dramatically growing their profits while our nation’s health continues deteriorating at alarming rates. All good points to ponder. Also, while as president, Trump recognized Jerusalem as the sole exclusive capital of Israel and moved the American Embassy there. A move no other president made prior to and which was tantamount to crossing a red-line and giving Israel unprecedented momentum to ignore the rest of the world. Biden has now given only lip service, while standing by and acquiescing to the hard line approach of the current Israel regime. Please consider these actions. Do they have any impact on your thinking?

Conversation with Political and Community Activist Nancy Vogl “Even Jesus believed in evolution. Otherwise, he would have said, ‘Now don’t do a thing until I return.’” -- Swami Beyondananda As per a recent Atlantic Monthly article, the new phrase describing America’s ever-deepening political divide is “pernicious polarization”. That old phrase “I wouldn’t want my son / daughter to marry one”, that used to apply to someone of another race, now applies to someone of a different political persuasion. Let that one sink in, folks. While we as a society have largely accepted racial, ethnic and religious intermarriage, that toxic “othering” has now been transferred to the political divide, which has now taken on the feel of a “religious war.” So, if we are to rehumanize one another, get off the political battlefield and onto the cooperative playing field, put government on the side of the people, and write our new story together, where do we turn for guidance and wisdom? This week on Front and Center, we air part one of a three-part conversation with long-time political activist and community educator Nancy Vogl. Why? Because at a time of deepening polarization, the story of her own political evolution offers a clue as to how it can be done. Growing up in a Republican family in Los Angeles County, she recounts a moment where her dad rethought his political stance, and this open-mindedness offered Nancy a living example of political evolution. When she came out as gay in her late teens, Nancy had her parents’ support. She was a founding member of one of the first feminist rock bands of the 1970’s Bay Area Women’s music scene, and played bass at the First International Women’s Rock Festival in Germany in 1981. A poster she saw while on tour of the Midwest that posed the provocative question, “What America do you want to live in?” led her to study with James and Grace Lee Boggs, Detroit-based political activists and “evolutionaries.” The book they authored, Revolution and Evolution in the Twentieth Century, was decades ahead of its time, pointing out that ideologies outlive their usefulness (or in too many cases, uselessness) because their rigidity leaves no room to encompass new information and perspective. “One view is never going to be the answer to anything,” says Nancy. “When you harness the wisdom from different perspectives and different experiences, you increase the capacity for change because you've gotten the best ideas and you create a new whole.” Taking what she learned from vigorous and rigorous conversations with the Boggs, she chose to turn the ideal into the real deal working with high school students, linking young people with “authentic community activities'. She served on the State Superintendent’s Task Force on Service Learning for the California Department of Education and as Youth Service Director for the Volunteer Center of Sonoma County. She was Co-Director and Leadership Coach for Sonoma County’s LGBTQI support group, and represented Northern California as a Rotary Foundation Peace Ambassador in Barcelona, Spain. She is currently on the Advisory Board of the California Common Sense Party, where she is applying her broad political perspective and wisdom to bring the awakening people of California together around common values and common cause, and a commonly-sensed common sense consensus – we the people have been divided and nearly conquered, and now we have the choice to “unite and thrive.” Please tune in for this heart-opening and mind-expanding interview. You will also want to listen to her upcoming interviews, where she sheds light on two controversial and polarizing issues – the so-called Critical Race Theory (CRT), and gender identification. One of our early Front and Center guests, Randall Paul, President of the Foundation for Religious Diplomacy, offered what should be the standard and challenge of journalism – seeking the whole truth together. Our three interviews with Nancy Vogl put us on track for doing just that.

To launch our podcast Front And Center: Writing Our New Story Together ... and to help propel us off the political battlefields and on to the creative playing fields, we had a conversation with visionary philosopher Charles Eisenstein, author of several books including, “The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible.” Says Charles: “We are immersed in a story of separation, a story that has served us for millennia, and is now breaking down, leaving us with a crisis of meaning, a crisis of identity, an uncertainty, and panic even -- and also a sense of possibility of transcending the circumstances we call the human condition.” He calls the vision of a brighter future “the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible” because, he says, “that feeling often goes against what the rational mind, which is steeped in the old story, believes to be possible. But the heart knows the world is supposed to be, and can be, so much more beautiful, authentic, joyful, harmonious and alive than what we’re accustomed to.” Of course, on our way to that “beautiful world”, we have to deal with the contrast – “the more ugly world our programming insists is probable.” Charles recently came up against that ugliness after publishing a piece called “Mob Morality and the Unvaxxed” that got him canceled and de-platformed because he dared to – mildly – criticize the official pandemic story. Charles discusses that too, and offers a much-needed pathway to sanity and sanctity at a time of fear and manipulation. He also addresses these “frequently UNASKED questions”: How do we use this “more beautiful world” as a guiding light we navigate toward? How do we re-humanize one another, and emerge from seeking to control life’s conditions, and take command of our own lives? How do we balance the needs of the collective and the sacredness of the individual? And how do we create a “sane asylum” in the midst of our current polarized insanity? Join us for this enlivening and heartening conversation. Live transcript: https://otter.ai/u/8IPUBAS050wuqzNckFmoIgBrbeU To lean much more about Charles Eisenstein we suggest you start by visiting https://charleseisenstein.org/

Part 3 of conversation with Political and Community Activist Nancy Vogl “I believe in fundamental minority rights. Each of us has the right to be the individual we truly are.” -- Swami Beyondananda One of our missions at Front and Center is “finding the whole truth together”, and on a practical level it means unpacking narratives that have become too volatile to talk about. In part 2 of our interview with Nancy Vogl, we addressed Critical Race Theory (CRT), and how polarized misunderstandings have put our body politic on the “critical list.” In Part 3, we address the “gender agenda”, where individuals who don’t identify as M or F get to personally choose their own personal pronouns. To prepare for this conversation, we read the highly-controversial illustrated autobiography, “Gender Queer” which is graphic in more ways than one. To get a “bilateral” view, we invited Nancy, who has journeyed across the political spectrum, from Republican to gay activist to evolutionary revolutionary to Common Sense Party advisory board member to offer her wisdom and perspective. As with critical race theory, gender engenders an even more passionate and heated response, where fear interferes with rational discourse. We have come a long way from the time when gays were confined to mental institutions and put in straight-jackets. Now that the narrative has flipped, fearful straight men are worried about being put into “gay jackets”. Seriously, sexual identity has always been a “touchy” issue, particularly when it comes to men’s concern about their own masculinity. As Nancy points out, when she was a girl in the late 50s and 60s, it was acceptable for her to be a tomboy. Not so for boys who wanted to play with dolls. The book, Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe, who identifies as “nonbinary” is literally a journey of self-discovery of someone born female who never, ever identified that way. While the book outraged many – particularly because it is so graphic about “nonbinary” reality – Michael and I both found it eye-opening and compelling. Why SHOULDN’T someone be able to identify any way they like, and share their story and perhaps provide perspective and support for others going through the same identity struggle? Nancy characterized it as a “suicide prevention” book. “It was life changing to some of the young people who might be considering self-harm, who might be considering that they are such an anomaly that they don't deserve to exist.” If you’re ready for an uncommonly commonsensical conversation that will liberate you from the “binary” views on all sides, please tune in. Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe Leadership and the New Science: Learning about Organization from an Orderly Universe by Margaret J. Wheatley | Sep 1, 1992

We – Steve Bhaerman and Michael Maxsenti -- launched our Front and Center podcast in September with the intention to help all sides get off the political battlefields and onto the cooperative playing fields so we could write our new story together. Our first seven guests have shown us the pathway to turn this ideal into the REAL DEAL – by awakening the recognition of what is possible and highlighting how to navigate there. This seemingly dark time is actually leading us to the birth of a new era for humanity, an era of REUNION …where we can come together as a family to face our common challenges, and thrive in harmony with the web of life and the web of love. We know how busy most people are, and we want to make sure you get the essence of these conversations so you can start this New Year as encouraged and optimistic as we are about the future. So, to clarify our intention and help see a path forward, we’ve distilled more than seven hours of conversation into two 17-minute videos …and now we’ve boiled THAT down to this very short 10-minute video. Here are the purposes, principles, and practices that emerged from conversations with Charles Eisenstein, Charles Randall Paul, Bobby Austin, Shawna Bluestar Newcomb, Thom Hartmann, Glenn Aparicio Parry, and Joan Blades: 1. To step off the battlefield and onto a new playing field, we need a UNIFYING VISION that expresses our common human aspiration to live in a loving, healthy and coherent world – best expressed by Charles Eisenstein’s phrase, “The more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.” 2. The great obstacle to achieving this heartfelt aspiration of humankind is the learned habits of separation. To address this separation, we invited Charles Randall Paul to explain the concept and benefits of “religious diplomacy” – accepting and holding the peaceful tension between opposing viewpoints so we can seek the whole truth together. 3. Bobby Austin shared how “public kinship” can bring diverse viewpoints together around a common purpose and develop a common culture that allows us to disagree in our minds while staying united in our hearts – unity without uniformity. 4. To further ground our unifying vision, we next invited Shawna Bluestar Newcomb to bring forth her Native American perspective, and show how we can evolve from the “doctrine of domination” to “the reverence code” that connects us to the web of life, and the web of love. 5. Our next guest, talk show host Thom Hartmann, spoke about the “Lost People” – the disconnection of European people from their own indigenous roots that made the doctrine of domination possible – and led to the collective trauma that we must acknowledge and begin to heal to build kinship and experience reunion. 6. To acknowledge the Native American contribution that has been largely ignored and to bring forth its wisdom that is so needed today, we invited Glenn Aparicio Parry, author of “Original Politics”, to tell the story of how the Native Peoples influenced America's founders and our sacred purpose – unity and diversity. He also emphasized the importance of bringing together the indigenous and the modern, the feminine and the masculine, the progressive and the conservative, so that we have the FULL POWER of wisdom on our side to guide our actions. 7. With the understanding that we needed to bring all these concepts and perspectives into the room to bring forth a greater wisdom, we wrapped up our foundational series with Joan Blades, founder of MoveOn.org and co-founder of Living Room Conversations – a platform to have the “re-humanizing” conversations that provide the foundation for collaboration and reunion, where the dignity of everyone is respected. So that’s the boil down, folks. What we require now is a compelling and unifying vision to lift us beyond our differences so we can work together for the thrival of each and all. We can heal the separation, by affirming kinship in the heart, even as we have disagreement in our heads – unity without uniformity. Our vision must be compatible with the web of life, and the web of love, and we must acknowledge and heal the collective trauma that is part of our human DNA. We must cultivate the wisdom of all sides and all polarities to improve the human condition, and “overgrow” the human conditioning. To do so, we must engage in rehumanizing conversations that respect the dignity of everyone. From this foundation of vision, kinship, unity and diversity, respect and acknowledgment, we begin this New Year, bringing all sides front and center to face the music and dance together. We hope you will join us on this journey to a healthier, more joyous, and more prosperous world. Steve Bhaerman Michael Maxsenti January 3, 2022 Live Transcript: https://otter.ai/u/BdiNsSEieiUlOn5Twf6oGjiPP2U “Courage” Our Front and Center Theme Song http://www.danceawake.com/

Our guest on Front and Center this week, Glenn Aparicio Parry, author of Original Politics: America’s Sacred Purpose, offers an enlightening glimpse into how the Native peoples influenced the colonists’ cultural, spiritual and political views, and how this cultural exchange shaped what was to become “the American.” For example, did you know the first Native American visitor to the Plymouth settlement in 1621 … spoke English? That the Iroquois Nation’s Great Law of Peace became the foundation of our own Constitution? That Benjamin Franklin’s meeting with Onandoga chief Canasatego on JULY 4TH (1744) led to our creating our own confederacy? Then, there were the sacred aspects of Native American awareness that got ignored by our Founders – like the Council of Grandmothers who brought feminine wisdom to issues like going to war or impeaching a chief – and the reverence for the natural world as the source of wellbeing. And now, as we write our new story together, Aparicio Parry says, we must reintegrate the feminine, and sacred respect for nature as we embody America’s sacred purpose – unity and diversity. Not just diverse colors and genders, but diverse beliefs and worldviews. And if we think of political polarities as incompatible as “oil and water”, Aparicio Parry offers the example of “sacred mayonnaise” where both oil and water can exist in a stable suspension. By “suspending” our judgments of one another, we can bring forth the most functional aspects of “progressive” and “conservative”, as we ask, “How do we want to progress?” and “What would we like to conserve?” Glenn Aparicio Parry, PhD, is a writer, educational consultant, international speaker, and entrepreneur with a vision to reform thinking and education into a coherent, cohesive whole. From 1999-2011, he organized and participated in the groundbreaking Language of Spirit Conferences, bringing together Native and Western scientists in dialogue. The founder and past president of the SEED Institute, he currently runs a think tank and regularly moderates dialogues. In addition to his current book, “Original Politics: Making America Sacred Again”, he is the author of the Nautilus award-winning Original Thinking: A Radical Revisioning of Time, Humanity and Nature. He lives in northern New Mexico. If you’re ready for a meta-view of how we can establish the heart and soul of who we really are at a time of toxic polarization, please tune in. Live transcript: https://otter.ai/u/_nGItnPxWt-flaGWCp7FfhEAm1o To learn more of Glenn Aparicio Parry’s work visit www.originalpolitics.us “Courage” Our Front and Center Theme Song http://www.danceawake.com/

Conversation with Integral Philosopher Steve McIntosh “Instead of the familiar political tug-of-war pulling us apart, we need a tug of peace where we all pull together in the same direction.” -- Swami Beyondananda Here is the political paradox of our times. At a time when the body politic seems more polarized than ever, there seems to be a parallel impulse to come together at a coherent and cohesive center. However, as author and integral thinker Steve McIntosh tells us, “Centrism” has failed us, and is no longer workable. That means, instead of coming together in the muddled middle ready to compromise so that no one is satisfied, we need a “transcendent” and “inclusive” new context that includes not just a variety of races and genders, but a variety of viewpoints as well. Writes McIntosh: “Hyper polarization is not a problem that can be solved under America’s current cultural conditions. The only way to ameliorate this wicked problem is to effectively grow out of it by pointing to achievable next steps for America’s cultural evolution. Integral philosophy accordingly offers a realistic remedy for America’s political dysfunction.” Steve McIntosh, author of Developmental Politics: How America Can Grow into a Better Version of Itself, has been a leader in the integral philosophy movement for decades. He is president and co-founder of the Institute for Cultural Evolution think tank, which focuses on the cultural roots of America's political problems. He is also co-author with John Mackey and Carter Phipps of the book, Conscious Leadership: Elevating Humanity through Business. He has authored three previous books on Integral philosophy … The Presence of the Infinite, Evolution’s Purpose, and Integral Consciousness and the Future of Evolution. So, how do we “overgrow” our current “bi-polar insanity” and “go sane” together? We do it by cultivating what McIntosh calls “cultural intelligence” and a “new vision of the common good.” We do it by recognizing that each worldview has a blind spot, and integrating the best aspects of the worldviews from the past, into a new vision for the future. Imagine using the two natural human impulses of growth and protection, progressivism and conservatism, to address two functional questions: How do we want to progress? What do we want to conserve? I know, I know. We are proposing a sane world. We must be crazy! Seriously, join us for this deep conversation on how we can use our differences to find our sane and sacred center. Full Otter transcript: https://otter.ai/u/q3i-qu84txEbtmKv8lniesEGG_M Article referenced: "Why Centrism Fails”: http://integralleadershipreview.com/17747-12-21-why-centrism-fails-and-how-to-overcome-hyperpolarization/ The Institute for Cultural Evolution’s online magazine: https://post-progressive.org/ The Institute for Cultural Evolution’s existing headquarters website https://www.culturalevolution.org/

“The idea of bringing heaven to earth for me, is not metaphoric. It's not a story. And I believe -- from my own experience -- that you can actually connect to the Transcendent as a power and it can be embodied within us.” -- Richard Flyer Greetings and welcome to what we hope will be a truly NEW New Year! Front and Center launches a new year of podcasts with a conversation with Richard Flyer, whose life work has been all about lifting us off the old battlefield of what he calls “the culture of separation” and onto a new playing field that he calls “Symbiotic Culture”. In the wake of an out-of-this-world life changing experience at the age of 12, Richard dedicated his life and work to bringing about “heaven on earth”. Huh? Heaven on earth? As Richard explains in this eye-opening interview, this is no pie-in-the-sky ideal, but a feet-on-the-ground real deal – reality tested by his work building a local living economy network that transformed Reno, Nevada, and the work of his mentor Dr. Ariyaratne via the Sarvodaya movement in Sri Lanka. A biologist by training, Richard says, “Symbiosis occurs in nature when organisms come together for mutual benefit over a period of time.” Symbiotic Culture, he explains, is a society where mutually-beneficial interactions are the norm, happening at every scale – from individual to family to community to nation to world. “It’s a kind of ‘fractal empowerment’ that can happen simultaneously in communities around the world.” And – the “secret sauce” is a Sacred Source that he calls an “ancient blueprint” -- universal principles like the Golden Rule at the foundation of every spiritual, religious, and secular ethical system. It harkens back to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and expresses itself through Gandhi’s “village awakening movement”, and Dr. Ariyaratne’s Buddhist-based Sarvodaya movement – a network of 5,000 villages in Sri Lanka dedicated to bringing this ancient blueprint to daily life. Influenced by Dr. Ari, Richard was able to bring the Reno, Nevada community together above and beyond tribes and silos, around a “common purpose to connect the good.” The good news is, what Martin Luther King Jr., has called “beloved community” has been created in the real world, in ordinary communities involving ordinary people – using the extraordinary power of what he calls “multi-siloed, distributed networks.” That is, instead of creating one more organization to address a problem – like hunger or homelessness – this network becomes the “scaffolding” that allows already-existing organizations to be more effective and more efficient. Richard’s work now is to weave together the “threads” of siloed networks, to build a parallel society from the grassroots up, as our current “culture of separation” falters. Please join us for an enlightening “Newer Year” conversation that will help us bring about a “newer world order” of intentional mutual benefit. Watch here on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEmb2kie0yE&t=190s To find out more about Richard Flyer’s book, please go here: https://richardflyer.substack.com/ About “Courage” Our Front and Center Theme Song When I heard “Courage” performed live by Luke Anderson with Aea Luz and Jakob Pek at a gathering this past fall, I immediately recognized it as our theme song for Front and Center. ~Steve Courage, courage, courage like a lion Strength of the heart, strength of the spirit to rely on To truly lift ourselves above the political battlefields so we can populate and animate the new cooperative playing fields requires strength of heart, and strength of spirit. It takes courage to rise above tribal beliefs, to venture beyond the familiar habits of separation to see the bigger picture. And our courage will encourage others to do the same. You can find out more about Luke Anderson’s music here: http://www.danceawake.com/

Conversation with Activist and Wisdom-Keeper Shawna Bluestar Newcomb “Life calls on us to move from survival of the fittest to thrival of the fittingest.” -- Swami Beyondananda Are you familiar with the “Doctrine of Discovery”? Probably not. It sounds innocuous, but was the Papal bull that legitimized the conquest of the new world and the genocide of its inhabitants. Believe it or not, this 15th century decree is still recognized as legal precedent by our own U.S. Supreme Court! We know this thanks to Native American legal and Latin scholar Steven Newcomb. In looking to take us from a toxic past to a healthy future, his daughter, Shawna Bluestar Newcomb, has developed what she calls “the Reverence Code”, to bring our society into harmony with the web of life, and the web of love. The Reverence Code, she explains, isn’t so much a learning process as an “unlearning process” where so many ideas we took for “reality” must be re-examined, lest our species be woven out of the web of life. If you’ve been feeling frustrated …confused … hopeless, about our so-called “civilization”, please join us for this heartening and enlightening conversation. Live transcript: https://otter.ai/u/vYus_9yDPkAiy6mtUmIJ8HlpNdI To learn much more about Shawna’s work visit: https://www.shawnabluestar.com/ The Doctrine of Discovery, Unmasking the Domination Code https://doctrineofdiscovery.org/the-doctrine-of-discovery-unmasking-the-domination-code/ Pagans in the Promised Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery https://www.amazon.com/Pagans-Promised-Land-Christian-Discovery-ebook/dp/B00AXS5U9U/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Steven+Newcomb&qid=1634497030&s=books&sr=1-1 #ShawnaBluestar, #ShawnaBluestarNewcomb, #indigenouspeoplesday, #indigenouspeoplesday2021 #indigenouspeoples, #indigenous

A Servant with Integrity “It’s time to bring left and right front and center to face the music and dance together.” -- Swami Beyondananda Our Front and Center podcast is dedicated to inspiring our community to get off the political battlefield and onto the cooperative playing field, to seeking the whole truth together, and finding a “commonly-sensed common sense consensus” that represents the virtues and values we share in common above and beyond our political differences. Yes, yes. I know. We are proposing a sane world. We must be crazy. Well, there is good news. There’s a “sane asylum” being built here in California, and more and more awakening voters are committing themselves to it. Even as people are pulled toward toxically divisive political narratives by the two major parties, exacerbated by both legacy and social media, there is an awakening awareness that NEITHER of the two parties have our common well being at heart. While the two parties divide us through cultural issues, the commonwealth is being stolen by the uncommonly wealthy. Consider that while the two sides were “mask-debating” during the COVID crisis, the billionaire class increased their wealth by nearly two thirds. https://ips-dc.org/u-s-billionaires-62-percent-richer-during-pandemic/ Fortunately, there is an “upwising” afoot, as nearly 25% of registered voters here in California have chosen “no party preference.” Into this fertile field, a new political force is emerging, the Common Sense Party https://www.cacommonsense.org Unlike other “third party” movements, this one is non-ideological, but rather represents the one ingredient that seems to be missing from government by the people – the PEOPLE. And while the Common Sense Party is not yet an “official” party, it is already having influence by supporting candidates who have declared their “independence” from intractable party narratives. One such candidate is Democrat Marie Alvarado-Gil (https://www.votealvaradogil.com/), who is running against a mainstream Democrat in the largest Senate District in California, Senate District Four, that includes thirteen counties. Since the district has trended Republican, as a common sense Democrat – committed to working to solve problems across the divide – she has a good shot against the front-runner, a Democrat committed to the entire party line. When you watch this interview, you will find Marie has a background in health and education, and is a strong supporter of charter schools – because these schools REQUIRE parental involvement. She has been a loyal Democrat her entire career …until she recognized that entrenched political posturing has prevented California from addressing its problems. Water, for example. All sorts of solutions have been studied and proposed, including desalination plants. The inability of the sides to partner around the common good has so far kept this from happening, even as California goes deeper into drought conditions. Marie says she is representing, “People just like me, who don't subscribe to one ideology or the other, who don't completely agree with the far left or the far right. People who haven't had their voices heard in Sacramento.” In place of what she calls “weaponized narratives”, Marie brings “a mindset of critical thinking, curiosity, and just openness to understand.” Remember that quaint term “public service” – the idea that our representatives need to do the people’s bidding, and not the bidding of the highest bidder? That – not fame, fortune and power as a “career politician” – is what motivated her to run. “As the state senator, in my district,” she says, “I would be working with six different assembly members. Can you imagine if we had seven minds that we're working together for the betterment of the people in our district, what we could accomplish in both houses?” Imagine, indeed! In the midst of dueling dualities, there IS a third, and new way. Watch this interview, support Marie’s candidacy https://www.votealvaradogil.com/ any way you can, and if you’re a California voter, register as Common Sense Party https://www.cacommonsense.org/thanks/register and bring new perspectives into a cooperative playing field.

A Conversation with Randall Paul Foundation for Religious Diplomacy What if the key to breakthrough is not getting opposing parties to agree – but getting them to disagree agreeably? This week’s guest, Randall Paul, President of the Foundation for Religious Diplomacy, says that when we transform those we perceive as opponents into “trustworthy rivals”, we open the door to finding the “whole truth” together. This is similar to what Abraham Lincoln did when he turned his political opponents into a “team of rivals”, uniting to preserve the Union. Randall Paul came to his notion of “religious diplomacy” early. Growing up in New Jersey as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he was clearly in a minority. Other than another LDS family, his high school was one third Protestant, one third Catholic, and one third Jewish. As a teenaged “missionary”, he was eager to share his faith with others. However, when he visited the homes of his Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish friends, he found happy, healthy people secure in their own faith. Instead of asking, “What’s wrong with this picture?” he asked, “What’s RIGHT with this picture?” He recognized the power of what he calls “collaborative contestation” – those with different religious (or for that matter, political) beliefs engaging in heart-centered conversation, so that their strongly-held beliefs could be fully aired and heard, in the context of seeking the whole truth together. This “peaceful tension” among rivals who are both “critical and appreciative”, creates a little “psychological miracle” where they are able to engage in conflict with respect and honesty. How has this approach worked in the past? Can it work in the contentious and polarized present? Tune in and find out how diverse tribes with seemingly conflicting beliefs can continue to disagree and yet find the “higher truth that matters more than any human difficulty.” Live transcript: https://otter.ai/u/uk69m5jA9_2fsHiARgIA0dE6XUk To learn more about Foundation for Religious Diplomacy visit http://religious-diplomacy.org/

“There are no sides, only angles. And if we see things from the right angle, we’re all on the same side.” -- Swami Beyondananda Three months ago, amidst very little fanfare, we – Michael Maxsenti and Steve Bhaerman – launched a podcast to bring awakening individuals from all sides “front and center” to get off the political battlefields, and on to the cooperative playing fields, so that we could write humanity’s new story together. At a time when the news “out there” emphasizes division and conflict, we recognized that the new story begins “in here” with an emerging desire to work together in fruitful collaboration, rather than waste our precious energy in fruitless battle. Our intention has been to spark a sane and sacred community that serves as a beacon for those ready to “create the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.” We lifted that phrase from Charles Eisenstein’s book of the same name, and we chose Charles as our first guest to share his unifying vision, in contrast to the division currently dominating our public discourse. We had no idea where this first conversation would lead, and now after our first seven guests, we are both humbled and amazed how the new narrative has unfolded. We’ve created two summary videos where our first guests help lead us “out of the bewilderness” by seeing both where we are coming from, and how we can get where we want to go. We’re hoping they will lift you off the battlefield, and motivate you to get onto the playing field we’re helping create. Build it, and they will come. Well, here it is …and welcome! Please enjoy both of these, and we hope you’re as inspired as we were. Please watch first, Foundational Video Part 1 – 'From Separation and Domination to Kinship and Reverence' Part 2 A couple of months ago, we saw an article written in the 1990’s by author and talk show host Thom Hartmann called “The Lost People” that addressed something not often discussed – the disconnection of European people from their own indigenous culture. This disconnection and the trauma that resulted, helps explain why domination and exploitation has ruled the day – until now. Next, Glenn Aparicio Parry, author of “Original Politics”, offers insights on how the Native Peoples influenced the colonists and America’s founding institutions and “sacred purpose.” Finally, Joan Blades, founder of both MoveOn.org and Living Room Conversations, shares her journey from partisan activist to transpartisan pioneer – and points us toward the “re-humanizing” conversations that provide the foundation for collaboration and reunion. From this foundation of a unifying vision, an understanding of how separation occurred, and practical pathways to collaboration, cooperation, and community, we now seek to address divisive issues together in a constructive way, and explore the exciting solutions available to us if we work together, above and beyond our political institutions and distracting, divisive narratives. Where Do We Go From Here? As we look at the current political conversations based on “divide-and-conquer” we recognize the remedy – unite and prevail. We also see the sacred purpose of the United States of America, and its gift to the world – unity AND diversity, individual freedom in the context of sacred community. Please join us on our journey of reunion to turn the ideal into the real deal. Here's how you can participate and contribute: Become a Member – it’s FREE. You’ll become part of our “sane and sacred community” on www.FrontandCenter.us , a place where we can share ideas free of censorship – and trolls. Become a Supporter. Your one-time or ongoing monthly support will help us do our work, and build our community of collaborators, cooperators and connectors. You’ll also be able to post on our site to share your own work, as well as other information and resources. We will also be doing livestream programs in 2022 that you’ll be able to participate in directly. Watch the Full Interviews here on our YouTube channel. We are creating a presence on YouTube as well so that more awakening folks can watch our conversations and share them with others. The journey we are on today will determine the future of our species. Currently, we are threatened by a confluence of crises, and fomented fear seems to have us on course toward a “Hunger Games”-style dystopia. No external force or savior will save us. Only by waking and working together can we create this more beautiful world our hearts know is possible. Please join us on this journey! Steve Bhaerman Michael Maxsenti December 1, 2021 Live transcript: https://otter.ai/u/waUFLSrNDUNyVZWMjIB1a6rlyoE “Courage” Our Front and Center Theme Song http://www.danceawake.com/

Conversation with Independent National Conference Convener Christopher Life “We have a deeply divided body politic. Half the people think our system is broken. The other half believe it is fixed.” -- Swami Beyondananda Join Independent National Conference convener Christopher Life in a lively discussion about how we the people can stopping fighting one another and unite to restore the missing element in government by the people – the people! Here is the paradox of our times. The body politic seems more divided and polarized than ever – and yet the great majority of us would much prefer working together to actually solve problems, rather than blame the “other side” for them. The good news is, there’s an exciting upcoming conference in Austin, Texas April 3rd to 5th seeks to spark an “independents” movement – voters from across the political spectrum declaring their independence from the “one party” system disguised as the two-party system, where the people are mobilized to fight one another, and so are essentially unable to unite to hold the system accountable. The purpose of this face-to-face, in person conference is to bring together independent sectors and unaffiliated voters to “let go of that left/right divide as the dominating paradigm of our politics,” and “increase transparency in government to decrease corruption.” Rather than focus on and gather around our ideological differences, Christopher says we “need an independent sector so that we can actually create a fundamentally new center of gravity.” The Austin Conference that happening April 3rd to 5th will be headlined by independent political leaders like Tulsi Gabbard and Dennis Kucinich, along with leaders of the progressive People’s Party and the Libertarian Party, as well as political innovator Katherine Gehl (co-author of "Why Politics is Failing America”), along with many other political innovators, activists and solutionaries. If you’re thinking, “Where can I sign up?” that’s easy. Just go here: https://www.inc23.us/event?affiliate_id=4061994 You can offer financial support here at out Locals channel: https://frontandcenter.locals.com/

“There are no sides, only angles. And if we see things from the right angle, we’re all on the same side.” -- Swami Beyondananda Three months ago, amidst very little fanfare, we – Michael Maxsenti and Steve Bhaerman – launched a podcast to bring awakening individuals from all sides “front and center” to get off the political battlefields, and on to the cooperative playing fields, so that we could write humanity’s new story together. At a time when the news “out there” emphasizes division and conflict, we recognized that the new story begins “in here” with an emerging desire to work together in fruitful collaboration, rather than waste our precious energy in fruitless battle. Our intention has been to spark a sane and sacred community that serves as a beacon for those ready to “create the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.” We lifted that phrase from Charles Eisenstein’s book of the same name, and we chose Charles as our first guest to share his unifying vision, in contrast to the division currently dominating our public discourse. We had no idea where this first conversation would lead, and now after our first seven guests, we are both humbled and amazed how the new narrative has unfolded. We’ve created two summary videos where our first guests help lead us “out of the bewilderness” by seeing both where we are coming from, and how we can get where we want to go. We’re hoping they will lift you off the battlefield, and motivate you to get onto the playing field we’re helping create. Build it, and they will come. Well, here it is …and welcome! Please enjoy both of these, and we hope you’re as inspired as we were. Foundational Video Part 1 – From Separation and Domination to Kinship and Reverence We begin with author and philosopher Charles Eisenstein, pointing us toward a healing, unifying vision, and acknowledging the opposing force – the learned habits of separation. Next, Charles Randall Paul, founder of “Religious Diplomacy” shows how we can use our differences constructively so that “enemies” become “trusted rivals.” Then, long-time activist Bobby Austin shares how “public kinship” can bring diverse viewpoints together, so we can have unity without uniformity. Finally, visionary and teacher Shawna Bluestar Newcomb brings her Native American tradition into the conversation, showing how we can evolve from the “doctrine of domination” to what she calls “the reverence code” that connects us to the web of life, and web of love. Please watch our Foundational Video Part 2 – How the “Lost People” Can Find Themselves by Finding One Another Now, from this foundation of a unifying vision, an understanding of how separation occurred, and practical pathways to collaboration, cooperation, and community, we now seek to address divisive issues together in a constructive way, and explore the exciting solutions available to us if we work together, above and beyond our political institutions and distracting, divisive narratives. Where Do We Go From Here? As we look at the current political conversations based on “divide-and-conquer” we recognize the remedy – unite and prevail. We also see the sacred purpose of the United States of America, and its gift to the world – unity AND diversity, individual freedom in the context of sacred community. Please join us on our journey of reunion to turn the ideal into the real deal. Here's how you can participate and contribute: Become a Member – it’s FREE. You’ll become part of our “sane and sacred community” on www.FrontandCenter.us , a place where we can share ideas free of censorship – and trolls. Become a Supporter. Your one-time or ongoing monthly support will help us do our work, and build our community of collaborators, cooperators and connectors. You’ll also be able to post on our site to share your own work, as well as other information and resources. We will also be doing livestream programs in 2022 that you’ll be able to participate in directly. Watch the Full Interviews here on our YouTube channel. We are creating a presence on YouTube as well so that more awakening folks can watch our conversations and share them with others. The journey we are on today will determine the future of our species. Currently, we are threatened by a confluence of crises, and fomented fear seems to have us on course toward a “Hunger Games”-style dystopia. No external force or savior will save us. Only by waking and working together can we create this more beautiful world our hearts know is possible. Please join us on this journey! Steve Bhaerman Michael Maxsenti December 1, 2021 Live transcript: https://otter.ai/u/UZ9h6nDNV2NjisA10QBofc_z6Nk “Courage” Our Front and Center Theme Song http://www.danceawake.com/

Conversation with Former US Congressman and CSP Founder Tom Campbell “We have a deeply-divided body politic. Half the people believe our system is broken. The other half believe it is fixed.” -- Swami Beyondananda When asked if we need a new third party in the United States, our cosmic comic uncommontator Swami Beyondananda answered, “No. We need a new FIRST party in this country.” And … what if there were a “third force” that could transform our system from a dysfunctional two-party duopoly to a thriving multi-party system? Our conversation with former U.S. Congressman and Common Sense Party founder Tom Campbell offers up an uncommonly sensible common sense approach to get government on the side of the people. And Tom Campbell is no sidelines commentator. He served five terms in the US Congress, and two years in the California State Senate. He was finance director for the state of California, and Director of the Bureau of competition for the Federal Trade Commission. He earned a PhD in Economics from the University of Chicago, and a law degree magna cum laude from Harvard. He was a White House fellow, and a US Supreme Court law clerk, a tenured law professor at Stanford, Dean of the Haas School of Business at Berkeley, was founding Dean of the Fowler School of Law at Chapman University. Currently, he is professor of law and professor of economics at Chapman. In this rich conversation, Tom brings his experiences – and frustrations – as a legislator dedicated to working across party lines to bring constructive policies that benefit We the People, not the special interests, and not just the party elites. You’ll learn why legislators in states like California where there is one-party monopoly, CANNOT deviate from their party line, and why this leaves the majority of voters unrepresented by either party. As an insider, he offers telling examples of this uncommonly senseless system where rigid party stances prevent so many good things from happening …and the way issues were resolved in the past that can be revived in the future. He presents the Common Sense Party as a truly “radical” alternative, radical meaning “getting to the root of.” Instead of platform planks designed to cater to special interests, all platform items will have the approval of three quarters of the party members, giving ordinary citizens not just a vote every two years, but a VOICE in setting policy priorities. Above all, the Common Sense Party is dedicated to collaborating to solve the real problems we face as opposed to staying on the partisan battlefield where regardless of which party wins, the people will lose. Imagine … instead of having the default choice of voting for the “lesser evil” every two years, the voters of California will be able to work for the GREATER GOOD together. As Tom explains, this experiment is beginning in California, both because it is currently a one-party monopoly, and because the “open primaries” mean that in overwhelmingly blue or overwhelmingly red districts, two members of the same party might find themselves opponents in the general election. By supporting the candidate that most represents the independent, common sense approach, the Common Sense Party can be a powerful influence, even in districts where they aren’t running their own candidate. “Instead of being just another political party that runs candidates every two years,” Tom says, “the Common Sense Party offers an ongoing dynamic process for support of positions and supportive of candidates. It's a way that invites people who would otherwise be excluded … and a new way to govern that reflects the needs of the people.” If you’re ready to entertain a constructive alternative to the destructive status quo – a “party for the rest of us” – please tune into this informative and heartening conversation, and find out how YOU can participate. The Common Sense Party website: www.cacommonsense.org

In Front and Center’s first podcast, Charles Eisenstein offers “the more beautiful world our hearts know as possible” which is a key foundational element of our work and to help us write our new story together. To hear the full conversation where we discuss and learn: How do we use this “more beautiful world” as a guiding light we navigate toward? How do we re-humanize one another, emerge from seeking to control life’s conditions, and take command of our own lives? How do we balance the needs of the collective and the sacredness of the individual? And how do we create a “sane asylum” in the midst of our current polarized insanity? After watching (2:14) Charles offer his vision of “the more beautiful world our hearts know as possible” here. Please scroll below to watch the entire conversation. Live transcript: https://otter.ai/u/GrkIele5UcQIBWwzh62tndNst2M Tendrils definition: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tendril

Transpartisan Dialogue to Overgrow the Partisan Trance “If we truly want peace in the Middle East, we must first have peace in the Middle West.” -- Swami Beyondananda For decades, we’ve been exposed to the meme, “visualize world peace.” Well, maybe the key to transforming the world at large is to transform the “world at small” – a peace-building movement to bring together our red and blue tribes to sit in “sacred circle” and talk until they’re “purple in the face.” That’s the approach this week’s guest, Joan Blades, is taking. The co-founder of MoveOn.org, known for its partisan alignment with the Democratic Party, she has spent the last decade building “Living Room Conversations” to bring parties from both parties into heart-opening, re-humanizing dialogue, which she describes as “respectful discourse across ideological, cultural and party lines, grassroots engagement around allowing people at the community level to really connect.” In this highlight condensation of the longer conversation (see below), Joan speaks of her involvement with MoveOn (which began, she says, as a transpartisan call to move beyond Bill Clinton’s impeachment), and the insights and influences that led her to co-found Living Room Conversations as a “listening practice to grow connection and understanding, a way to get in right relationship with those around us.” You’ll find out why these conversations work, how they create “safety” for participants even as they discuss divisive issues, and hear success stories about how heart-to-heart connections have been made, and how these conversations have led to fruitful collaboration. In contrast to mainstream media and social network platforms that sow the seeds of mistrust and separation, Living Room Conversations offers face-to-face communication to lift us off the political battlefield and onto the cooperative playing field – so left and right can come front and center to “face the music” and dance together. Live transcript: https://otter.ai/u/erGXsuDdXnqHG-MoOQpvGPEdhw4 https://livingroomconversations.org/ Learn about and watch the documentary: Social Dilemma https://www.thesocialdilemma.com/ https://youtu.be/uaaC57tcci0 Learn about and watch the Black Mirror series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mirror https://youtu.be/di6emt8_ie8 “Courage” Our Front and Center Theme Song http://www.danceawake.com/

“If we truly want peace in the Middle East, we must first have peace in the Middle West.” -- Swami Beyondananda For decades, we’ve been exposed to the meme, “visualize world peace.” Well, maybe the key to transforming the world at large is to transform the “world at small” – a peace-building movement to bring together our red and blue tribes to sit in “sacred circle” and talk until they’re “purple in the face.” That’s the approach this week’s guest, Joan Blades, is taking. The co-founder of MoveOn.org, known for its partisan alignment with the Democratic Party, she has spent the last decade building “Living Room Conversations” to bring parties from both parties into heart-opening, re-humanizing dialogue, which she describes as “respectful discourse across ideological, cultural and party lines, grassroots engagement around allowing people at the community level to really connect.” In this conversation about seeing beyond the divide to recognize our shared values, Joan speaks of her involvement with MoveOn (which began, she says, as a transpartisan call to move beyond Bill Clinton’s impeachment), and the insights and influences that led her to co-found Living Room Conversations as a “listening practice to grow connection and understanding, a way to get in right relationship with those around us.” She also discusses the obstacles to “trust” conversations, including the role of social media in deepening the gap between the two sides, citing last year’s documentary, The Social Dilemma. In response to the defensive question coming from both sides “Why would I want to talk to THEM?” Joan offers plenty of good reasons, including finding our way forward together as a society – or, as the Swami puts it, “Hey, let’s put the CIVIL back in civilization.” You’ll find out why Living Room conversations work, how they create “safety” for participants, even as they discuss divisive issues, and hear success stories about how heart-to-heart connections have been made, and how these conversations have led to fruitful collaboration. In contrast to mainstream media and social network platforms that benefit from sowing the seeds of mistrust and separation, Living Room Conversations offers face-to-face communication to lift us off the political battlefield and onto the cooperative playing field – so left and right can come front and center to “face the music” and dance together. Live transcript: https://otter.ai/u/_wXBMN40L18_6HkRPIig_2f0IO8 https://livingroomconversations.org/ Learn about and watch the documentary: Social Dilemma https://www.thesocialdilemma.com/ https://youtu.be/uaaC57tcci0 Learn about and watch the Black Mirror series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mirror https://youtu.be/di6emt8_ie8 “Courage” Our Front and Center Theme Song http://www.danceawake.com/