“Real change happens together. By seeing, feeling, and then choosing we learn to slow things down and select paths that are aligned with our higher values and truths”. This week we are joined by Ahmed Darwish to discuss how to get to that path. By practicing authentic empathy and focusing on the individual we can create the world we want to live in, not just for Israelis and Palestinians but for the rest of the world.

After 7 extremely difficult months during which we had many intentional conversations about what is happening in Israel and Gaza, we have decided to finally record an episode about how we have maintained - perhaps even strengthened - our friendship during this time. We engage in an honest conversation about our experiences since October 7th and our differing perspectives while focusing on the importance of empathy, understanding, and mutual respect. This open dialogue and genuine connection has allowed us to preserve a strong relationship, and we believe it can have the same healing impact for others.

This week we debrief on No Small Matter - a documentary that explores the most overlooked, underestimated, and powerful force for good in America today. We give our personal opinions as educators about why early childhood development and education is vital to prioritize and highlight research that supports this. Investing in ECE will improve various socio-economic issues in the U.S. and around the world, so it’s time we address it.

This week’s episode is inspired by Bell Hook’s All About Love! We talk about our definitions of love and how they have evolved, summarize the seven components of love, and ask ourselves…what IS love??? Spoiler alert it’s a verb!

This week we dive into some of the many benefits and pitfalls of social media and the internet. Our main takeaway is that you don’t have to delete everything or fall victim to your phone addiction…we can all just be more intentional about how we use our phones and social media.

We’re back after a long hiatus talking about one of our favorite topics! This week we dive into the dangers of believing single stories about people, groups of people, and places. We also talk about the important of embracing multiple perspectives, humanizing “the other”, and finding common ground with anyone and everyone. Watch our inspiration for this episode here: https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story

This week we briefly touch on the history of Independence Day in the U.S. and rethink the holiday, what it means to different people, and how to celebrate it. “I love America more than any other country in the world and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually” -James Baldwin

This week we start off the episode by talking about religion and science and how they do not have to be mutually exclusive. We touch on mentions or lack of mentions about abortion in various religious texts. And lastly, we challenge the current framing of the abortion debate as a religious issue and suggest that we discuss it as an issue of education and healthcare for all.

This week we break down indigenous knowledge systems and the importance of balancing eastern and western approaches to medicine, wellness, environmental sustainability, and education. We can learn so much from indigenous cultures throughout history, and we can all benefit from collaborating today.

This week we look back on the history of the United Nations and it’s many successes and failures. Listen to this episode to learn more about why we think the UN struggles to implement sustainable intervention and successfully maintain peace.

This week we talk about the ongoing internment of the Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang and the human rights abuses that China continues to deny. What are the 10 stages of genocide? What’s the problem with the UN? What can we do as individuals in response to these atrocities?

This week we give a brief overview of what is happening in Ukraine and discuss how the international community and individual people are responding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We ask ourselves why we respond so differently to certain refugee crises and why it is easier to ignore to the plight of people who are not “similar” to us.

This week we discuss the importance of language education policy when it comes to tensions between Arab and Jewish Israelis. We also compare the alienation of marginalized students in Israel and the U.S. through language and curriculum in schools. Lastly, we spiral into a tangent about the dangers of “woke culture” and being “PC”…stay tuned for more on that last topic next week!

This week we talk about differentiating between appropriating and appreciating culture. If we change the approach to this conversation from gatekeeping to creating greater cross-cultural understanding we can empower and unify diverse groups of people.

This week Beatrice Karp - a Science, Technology, and Society major at UPenn - joins us to talk about the impact of file storage and our digital activity on the environment. The world’s resources are finite and we are taking up valuable space without even realizing it. Living a more conscious life starts with getting uncomfortable and unlearning!

Implicit vs. explicit racism, institutional and systemic racism, and the social construct of race. This week we connect the invention of race to the ways racism shows up in our world today and give our favorite resources for continuing to unlearn!

Listen to this fiery episode to learn about Brown v. Board of Education and the history of Affirmative Action. We also counter 10 common myths about Affirmative Action and discuss why it’s just the tip of the racial equity iceberg.

We’re back for more on Israel and Palestine! This episode is all about the peace process and grassroots movements for peace. We talk about the importance of education and human rights and how efforts must be driven by the Israelis and Palestinians themselves in order to create sustainable change.

We love history! This week we give a concise overview of the history of Palestine and the development of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from WWI to today. Stay tuned for more about the peace process next episode!

This week we talk about the infinite perspectives of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict focusing on two best friends - one Israeli and one Palestinian - as written about in the novel Apeirogon: a “daring and symphonic novel” that “tells an epic story rooted in the real-life friendship between two men united by loss”. We look through a human lens this week and will look through a political/historical one next week.