The Horizon Story with Norma Wong

The Horizon Story Podcast
  • 5.0 (15)
  • Arts

Will we choose humanity? Interdependent, thriving, emergent? The Horizon Story with Norma Wong explores, questions, and shares insights, skills, strategies, and practices to navigate today’s challenges while keeping our eyes on the horizon.

  1. 6d ago

    S3E3: Resisting the Binary of "Us" and "Them"

    Questions? Leave us a message. In this episode, recorded live in New Mexico, host Norma Wong explores how othering takes hold across the ideological spectrum, fueled by scarcity, survival, and the need to define who is “us” and who is not. Vivian Chang joins Norma to discuss what it would mean to let go of othering – not only in our organizations and movements, but in how we think about power, resources, and what it would take to create durable wins. They explore how the pull toward othering and the pull toward belonging coexist right now, and what it would take to tip toward community built on shared responsibility rather than shared opposition. In This Episode The hungry ghost- a Buddhist perspective on otheringWhy othering is a bad strategy and happens regardless of ideologyLessons on governance from a 100-year-old cheese consortium in ItalyWhy a 'big tent' alone won't get us to belongingFeatured Guest Vivian Chang - Founder and Principal of the Democratizing Philanthropy Project. Vivian works with movements and frontline organizations to build sustainable, community-rooted sources of power and funding.Find us: thehorizonstory.com | Substack | YouTube | wherever you get your podcasts If this conversation resonated with you, share it with someone who’s ready to hear it. And if you’d like to help keep this work going, consider becoming a supporter of the show. Support the show

    S3E3: Resisting the Binary of "Us" and "Them"

  2. Sep 11

    S3E2: The Polycrisis Is Here: Why Fighting Harder May Not Get Us Further

    Questions? Leave us a message. **NOTE: We've updated this episode's audio file to fix a technical issue with the previous upload. We updated the file on 9/10 at 9 pm ET.** We're living through a polycrisis: multiple overlapping crises accelerating each other, which has only intensified this year with  the energy of the Year of the Fire Horse. In episode 2, recorded live in Albuquerque, host Norma Wong shares an important lesson. Our instinct to respond to crises by fighting harder, maneuvering for position, or escalating efforts can work against us strategically. Aggressive action is not necessarily forward-moving action. Chhaya Chhoum of Southeast Asian Freedom Network joins Norma to discuss the structural realities shaping this moment: a K-shaped economy, a wave of decentralization, and the vacuum it creates. They also explore burnout culture within movements, identity, and time. They even talk time itself: that we're never only living in the present. Instead, we always carry the past and already see the future coming, like a driver holding the rearview mirror and the road ahead at once. The real discipline, Norma suggests, is acting on what we can already see coming. In This Episode How the fast, "double fire" energy of the Year of the Fire Horse shows up in current events, and why things are escalating so quicklyWhy lone wolf violence is a symptom of this moment, and what we can do about it.Why maneuvering and aggressive action can feel like progress while actually being a step backwardHow holding onto a fixed definition of who you are can limit how much you're able to growFeatured Guest Chhaya Chhoum- Organizer with SEAFN (Southeast Asian Freedom Network).  Instagram: @seafnofficial | @chhayachhoumFacebook: SEAFN | Chhaya ChhoumFind us: thehorizonstory.com | Substack | YouTube | wherever you get your podcasts If this conversation resonated with you, share it with someone who's ready to hear it. And if you'd like to help keep this work going, consider becoming a supporter of the show. Support the show

    S3E2: The Polycrisis Is Here: Why Fighting Harder May Not Get Us Further

  3. Sep 3

    S3E1: Are We Ready To Wage Peace?

    Questions? Leave us a message. Season 3 of The Horizon Story Podcast is different for us — we recorded it live in front of an audience in Albuquerque, New Mexico! Host Norma Wong opens with the season's central question: Are we ready to wage peace? What does it mean to be ready? Who are we called to be? How can people who long for peace respond in this moment of conflict and war?  Drawing on nature, history, and her own Buddhist practice, Norma makes the case that peace is not a null state, but an active, creative, and communal practice. IN THIS EPISODE How Minneapolis is showing us the way forwardWhy tending to your spirit is essential in polycrisisHow burnout is a strategic failureThe case for peace as an active, creative, and communal practiceFind us: thehorizonstory.com | Substack | YouTube | wherever you get your podcasts If this conversation resonated with you, share it with someone who's ready to hear it. And if you'd like to help keep this work going, consider becoming a supporter of the show. Support the show

    S3E1: Are We Ready To Wage Peace?

  4. Aug 13

    S2E7: The Horizon Story Mailbag- Norma Wong Answers Listener Questions (Season 2 finale)

    Questions? Leave us a message. In the season 2 finale, Host Norma Wong and Executive Producer Na’alehu Anthony open The Horizon Story Mailbag to answer listener questions covering burnout, the value of practice, and the paradox of technology. Plus, a heartfelt moment you won’t want to miss: our resident archivist surprises Norma with a relic from the mid-1970s. In this episode: Why did Norma, a strategist and Zen teacher, decide to start a podcast? She discusses realizing the limits of her tradition and how The Horizon Story podcast became her answerKuleana and what it means to “do your part” when everything feels like it’s falling apartWhat is collapse and how do we recognize that it is happeningWhy holding systems accountable must go beyond critiqueHow our relationship with ancestors and descendants relates to the polycrisisDo you have any questions you’re still pondering after season 2? Join the conversation on Substack or send your questions to hello@thehorizonstory.com. Find us: thehorizonstory.com | Substack | YouTube | wherever you get your podcasts If this conversation resonated with you, share it with someone who's ready to hear it. And if you'd like to help keep this work going, consider becoming a supporter of the show. Support the show

    S2E7: The Horizon Story Mailbag- Norma Wong Answers Listener Questions (Season 2 finale)

  5. Aug 6

    S2E6: Courage Means You Might Mess Up

    Questions? Leave us a message. Courage isn’t the absence of fear; it’s moving beyond it and taking a leap- even though you might mess up. In this episode, Norma Wong and Ariel Jacobson discuss courage and what it truly takes to make a courageous leap. Drawing on history and personal stories, including ancestors fleeing melting ice, Queen Liliʻuokalani's choice not to fight an unwinnable battle, and a Lebanese grandmother’s role in supporting community and sustenance, they show that courage involves evaluating risks and moving beyond fear in order to move toward interdependent thriving. In this episode: Why endless resources don’t necessarily end in big leaps,Moving from advocacy to governance, and the courage it takes to actually do the thing you're calling forWhat makes something a leap instead of a step- and how to know when you're leaping too small, or not at allThe Celtic "Prayer of Approach" and why we need to all practice this together.A reading from When No Thing Works.REFERENCED When No Thing Works: A Zen and Indigenous Perspective on Resilience, Shared Purpose, and Leadership in the Timeplace of Collapse, Norma WongFind us: thehorizonstory.com | Substack | YouTube | wherever you get your podcasts If this conversation resonated with you, share it with someone who's ready to hear it. And if you'd like to help keep this work going, consider becoming a supporter of the show Support the show

    S2E6: Courage Means You Might Mess Up

  6. Jul 30

    S2E5: In Collapse, The Fundamentals Matter

    Questions? Leave us a message. When everything needs attention, how do we decide where to begin and where needs are greatest? Pay attention to the fundamentals. In this episode, Norma Wong lays out a roadmap for focusing on basics and talks fundamentals with Executive Producer Na'alehu Anthony and guest Ariel Jacobson - what they are, how to execute them, and  how an interdependent world shapes them. In this episode: Affordability as the word of the year, and maybe the decadeIs migration a choice in an interdependent world?Why Europe is reversing its stance on damsThe hidden industrial weight of AI and data centersWorking at scale - the household, the community, and what neither can do aloneFind us: thehorizonstory.com | Substack | YouTube | wherever you get your podcasts If this conversation resonated with you, share it with someone who's ready to hear it. And if you'd like to help keep this work going, consider becoming a supporter of the show. Support the show

    S2E5: In Collapse, The Fundamentals Matter

  7. Jul 23

    S2E4: Don’t Wait For Systems Change (The Spam Musubi Rule)

    Questions? Leave us a message. We rely on systems every day without really thinking about them: the banks that hold our money, the rules that keep our food safe, the agencies meant to help when things go wrong. These systems are so familiar that we hardly notice we're choosing to trust them. In this episode, Norma Wong and Ariel Jacobson talk about all things systems: why they're designed to be steady and reliable and what happens when the world starts changing faster than systems can handle. They also discuss why even the most well-meaning people who want to serve their community should stop relying on systems.  In this episode: Why systems are designed for stability, not speed, and how that shapes what we can expect from themWhat it means that we no longer live in a cash economyWhy good intentions aren't enough when systems have to work at scale, uniformly, in a fast-changing worldThe three to five competing worldviews fighting over what the future should look like, and why none can reach critical massThe Epstein files as a case study in what happens when trusted systems meet bad actorsAre all systems broken? Not yet, but the pressure on systems is showingWhy most fixes to broken systems make them more rigid instead of more flexibleIs representational democracy still worth holding onto?Find us: thehorizonstory.com | Substack | YouTube | wherever you get your podcasts If this conversation resonated with you, share it with someone who's ready to hear it. And if you'd like to help keep this work going, consider becoming a supporter of the show. Support the show

    S2E4: Don’t Wait For Systems Change (The Spam Musubi Rule)

  8. Jul 15

    S2E3: The Future Is Ours To Determine

    Questions? Leave us a message. Is our future pre-determined?  Is there only one story possible–just the extension of what happened in the past, and what is happening right now? What are the stories in our head and heart that tell us what we should do today? How we should act, who we should be? In this episode, Norma and guest Ariel Jacobson trace those questions from the family dinner table to a lifelong question of what it means to “do your part” — and ask what it takes to write a different story about the future: one that isn't waiting for someone else to decide who we become. In this episode:  A different perspective on karmaNorma's relationship with the U.S., and how "ambivalent" stopped being enoughThe habitual traps that compress the possibility of new futuresEvery day practices for staying engaged without being consumedAn important lesson that 3-7 year olds can teach adults about telling storiesFind us: thehorizonstory.com | Substack | YouTube | wherever you get your podcasts If this conversation resonated with you, share it with someone who's ready to hear it. And if you'd like to help keep this work going, consider becoming a supporter of the show. Support the show

    S2E3: The Future Is Ours To Determine
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
15 Ratings

About

Will we choose humanity? Interdependent, thriving, emergent? The Horizon Story with Norma Wong explores, questions, and shares insights, skills, strategies, and practices to navigate today’s challenges while keeping our eyes on the horizon.

Information

  • Creator
    The Horizon Story Podcast
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    18
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Horizon Story with Norma Wong
  • Show Website
    The Horizon Story with Norma Wong

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