The Ben & Jamesa Podcast: Conversations about Compassion, Curiosity, and Courage

Ben and Jamesa
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🎙️  The Ben & Jamesa Podcast Conversations about Compassion, Curiosity, and Courage. Join Ben and Jamesa as they explore the experiences, perspectives, and challenges that shape who we are and how we relate to one another. Through personal stories, thoughtful dialogue, and practical ideas, each episode invites you to notice difference, embrace complexity, and build deeper, more inclusive connections — all with warmth, humor, and heart. Start with Episode 163, the first episode in season 10!

  1. MAR 7

    Ep. 164: Male Friendships, Hot Mics, and Raising Kids who Care, A Conversation with Author Derrick Barnes

    Ben and Jamesa are joined by author Derrick Barnes to discuss the growing challenges men face in forming deep friendships, the backlash against gentle parenting and what it means for raising children with empathy and courage. We also discuss a recent incident in New York City where a professor’s racist remarks were caught on a hot mic during a school board meeting.  Derrick is a New York Times bestselling author and has earned numerous honors, including a Newbery Honor, Caldecott Honor, Coretta Scott King Award, Ezra Jack Keats Award, Charlotte Huck Award, Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor, YALSA Excellence in Young Adult Nonfiction Award, and the Kirkus Prize. Derrick’s books  have reshaped children’s and young adult literature with joy, dignity, and cultural pride. The Ben and Jamesa Podcast explores the subtle ways harm and injustice show up in our lives, from relationships and family to community and culture. Learn more at www.benandjamesapod.com  Support the show

    59 min

  2. FEB 26

    Ep. 163: Season Opener: Olympics, Loneliness, and Interracial Dating

    In this season opener of the Ben and Jamesa Podcast, we explore relationships, loneliness, and cultural moments like the Olympics through the lens of compassion, curiosity, and courage. We discuss interracial dating, the challenges of human connection, and what it means to grow and repair in our personal and communal lives. Along the way, we reflect on our own life changes and share what’s coming this season with guests and new conversations.  About the Podcast: Ben and Jamesa explore the subtle ways harm, injustice, and human connection show up in everyday life — from relationships and family to community and culture — through the lens of Compassion, Curiosity, and Courage. Learn more:  Leadership Coaching: www.benandjamesa.com  Podcast:  benandjamesapod.com Support the show

    40 min

  3. 11/18/2025

    Ep. 162: The End of the Ben and Jamesa Podcast (at least for 2025)

    In this short end-of-season episode, we share why we’re pausing The Ben and Jamesa Podcast for the rest of 2025—and what it means to winter. We explore the wisdom of slowing down, resting, and syncing with the natural world, especially as we enter a season that asks for softness and recalibration. We also talk about why Americans often do the opposite—speeding up, overcommitting, and pushing through the darkest months of the year—and what it costs us. Expect a beautiful nature fact about how the living world winters, a reflection on choosing slowness, and a look at how we’re preparing ourselves and our community for the new year. 🎙️ The Ben and Jamesa Podcast explores the deep work of healing, leadership, and community in a world built for disconnection. Support the show

    15 min

  4. 11/09/2025

    Ep. 161 Communities and Workplaces that Give a Damn and Gratitude Part Two

    What happens when gratitude becomes more than a feeling — when it turns into a shared responsibility? In this week’s episode, we explore gratitude as a community practice — how remembering what sustains us can become a guide for how we lead, work, and live together. We talk about the real consequences of recent SNAP cuts, the vacuum they’ve created, and the people and organizations stepping up to make sure everyone is still fed. These stories reveal what we call gratitude in action — not just saying thank you, but showing up for one another in tangible, compassionate ways. We also unpack how this lens of collective gratitude could reshape how governments and businesses operate — replacing toxic individualism with mutual care, responsibility, and respect for the many unseen hands that sustain every community and workplace. If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like when compassion drives policy, leadership, and daily life — this conversation will give you a glimpse. 🌿 Listen to hear: The difference between performative and collective gratitudeReal stories of communities filling the gaps left by policy failuresHow gratitude can guide workplaces toward deeper connection and trustFive ways businesses can lead through collective care🎙️ The Ben and Jamesa Podcast is where we explore the deep work of healing, leadership, and building connection in a world built for disconnection.  → Learn more about our coaching: www.benandjamesa.com Support the show

    40 min

  5. 11/02/2025

    Ep. 160: SNAP, Decolonizing Gratitude, Remembering Deeply and Gratitude Part One

    Gratitude isn’t about counting blessings — it’s about remembering the people, systems, and histories that make our lives possible. In this opening episode of our Gratitude Series, Ben and Jamesa reclaim gratitude from individualism and performance, grounding it instead in interdependence, justice, and care. We explore:  🌾 How gratitude became aesthetic and performative — and how to reclaim it as relational and transformative  🥣 What the threat to SNAP benefits reveals about how our culture has forgotten shared care  🌍 The difference between colonial gratitude and ancestral gratitude  💭 How remembering our ancestors and the land can return gratitude to its roots in accountability and reciprocity This conversation is an invitation to remember deeply — to practice gratitude not as denial or comfort, but as a quiet act of resistance in a culture that teaches us to survive alone. 🎙️ The Ben and Jamesa Podcast is where we explore the deep work of healing, leadership, and building connection in a world built for disconnection.  → Learn about our coaching: www.benandjamesa.com → Download our Connection vs Control Starter Kit to learn your control style and receive our bi-weekly newsletter: https://www.benandjamesa.com/link-in-bio Support the show

    44 min

  6. 10/26/2025

    Ep. 159 It Takes A Village to Work with Anger (Anger Part Four)

    In this fourth and final episode of our anger series, we explore what happens when emotions are treated as private property—and how that belief keeps us isolated, performative, and disconnected. We dive into the idea of toxic individualism—the cultural pressure to “handle your emotions alone”—and how it shows up in colonized therapy models, workplace expectations, and even family dynamics. What would it look like instead to manage anger together—to create communities and workplaces that can hold, process, and transform emotion collectively? Along the way, we share one of the most bizarre natural phenomena on Earth: China’s Qiantang River tidal bore—a massive wall of water that reverses the river’s flow. Communities have learned to face this force together, turning danger into shared wisdom. It’s a perfect metaphor for collective emotional management: when the tide rises, no one faces it alone. 🎙️ The Ben and Jamesa Podcast is where we explore the deep work of healing, leadership, and building connection in a world built for disconnection.  → Learn about our coaching: www.benandjamesa.com Support the show

    52 min

  7. 10/19/2025

    Ep, 158: The Neurobiology of Good Trouble: The No Kings Protest and Anger Part Three

    What happens in the brain when we rise up against injustice — and how can anger become a force for clarity, compassion, and creativity rather than destruction? In this episode, Ben and Jamesa explore the neurobiology of “good trouble,” drawing from the wisdom of John Lewis, Greta Thunberg, and the No Kings protest to understand how anger can transform into courageous, values-driven action. We look at what actually happens in the brain when we’re angry — from the amygdala’s rapid-fire alerts to the prefrontal cortex’s capacity for reflection — and how this energy can fuel moral courage, not reactivity. Together we unpack: How the fight-flight-freeze-fawn system processes angerThe difference between reactive, suppressed, and regulated angerWhat neuroscience teaches us about turning outrage into actionReal-world examples of anger as a moral force for justice and connection→ Tune in for a grounded, compassionate look at how we can harness anger as a tool for healing, leadership, and community change. 🎧 The Ben and Jamesa Podcast explores the deep work of healing, leadership, and building connection in a world built for disconnection. → Join our Patreon for insight-driven tools and practices to build authentic community and personal growth: https://www.patreon.com/c/BenandJamesa  → Learn about our coaching: www.benandjamesa.com  → Download our Connection vs Control Starter Kit: https://www.benandjamesa.com/link-in-bio Support the show

    47 min

  8. 10/12/2025

    Ep. 157: Unrighteous Anger: Cockroaches, Narcissists, and Politicians (Anger Part Two)

    In Part Two of our series on anger, we get honest about what happens when anger stops being a tool for truth and starts becoming a trap. From the self-righteous outrage that fuels online culture to the quiet, corrosive resentment that poisons connection, we explore how ego, projection, and unhealed pain distort our sense of justice. We also ask: why are narcissists and politicians so good at weaponizing anger—and what can we learn from that about our own patterns? Join us for stories, laughter, and a few uncomfortable truths about the difference between clarity and control, anger and arrogance.  → Learn about our coaching: www.benandjamesa.com Support the show

    48 min
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About

🎙️  The Ben & Jamesa Podcast Conversations about Compassion, Curiosity, and Courage. Join Ben and Jamesa as they explore the experiences, perspectives, and challenges that shape who we are and how we relate to one another. Through personal stories, thoughtful dialogue, and practical ideas, each episode invites you to notice difference, embrace complexity, and build deeper, more inclusive connections — all with warmth, humor, and heart. Start with Episode 163, the first episode in season 10!

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