The Dialogue Studio

The Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue

What is genuine dialogue? How can we connect with others more deeply? Tune in to explore the transformative power of dialogue with us in this new podcast series, The Dialogue Studio hosted by the Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue. In these episodes, we will talk to members of our Ikeda Center community about their unique stories and how dialogue has played a role in their lives. We will also examine Buddhist leader, peacebuilder, and Center founder Daisaku Ikeda’s approach to dialogue. We invite you to join us in this space to practice a deeper way of engaging with one another and to transform our world one dialogue at a time. To learn more about our Center's mission and programs, visit ikedacenter.org.

  1. 6 days ago

    Episode 40: Inner Dialogue & Finding Your Purpose

    In this episode, our 2026 Summer Program Intern, Becca Faber, and Ikeda Center Peace Research Fellow, George Koichi Wong, explore the Japanese concept of ikigai, what it means to find our purpose in life, and the role that inner dialogue can play in that journey. Becca also speaks with other Ikeda Center staff about what purpose means to them and how their own experiences have shaped their understanding of it. Music attribution: Podcast Music To learn more about the Ikeda Center, visit ikedacenter.org or email us at podcast@ikedacenter.org

  2. 15 Jul

    Episode 39: Engaging with Different Perspectives: A Dialogue w/ Nuclear Disarmament Experts Joe Hodgkin & Molly McGinty

    In this episode, our 2026 summer program intern Becca Faber talks with nuclear disarmament experts Joe Hodgkin and Molly McGinty about how they found their way into the field, what has sustained their involvement over the years, and how they engage with those who come from different perspectives. They also explore some common assumptions and opinions about nuclear weapons and how they approach conversations around those widely held beliefs.  Dr. Joe Hodgkin is an attending hospitalist physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School.  He is on the national board of Physicians for Social Responsibility, and is the co-chair of its Greater Boston chapter.  In his work with these organizations, as well as with International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and Back from the Brink, he is involved in medical and peer education about the health effects of nuclear weapons, youth and medical trainee engagement, lobbying for disarmament and de-escalatory nuclear policy, and physician “Track II” diplomacy to promote peace in the medical and scientific communities across borders. He is committed to a world without nuclear weapons. Molly McGinty joined the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) in 2019 as a Quaker Voluntary Service Fellow and has remained on staff since the completion of the program. She graduated from Salisbury University in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Social Work and Gender & Sexuality Studies, where she engaged in advocacy on police demilitarization and anti-human trafficking policy. It was through these positions that she came to understand the power of grassroots organizing and youth-led movements. As Program Director, Molly coordinates IPPNW’s work on educating the public and decision-makers on the medical and humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, promoting the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and supporting our medical student movement and youth partners. She is on the International Steering Group of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) and the Board of the Nuclear Truth Project, and was previously on the Steering Committee of Youth for TPNW.   Music attribution: Podcast Music To learn more about the Ikeda Center, visit ikedacenter.org or email us at podcast@ikedacenter.org

  3. 6 Jul

    Episode 38: What Do We Mean By Value Creation?

    We are back with another episode in our What Do We Mean By..? series, this time unpacking the concept of value creation. Host Lillian Koizumi is joined by Dr. Nozomi Inukai, Translation, Research, and Instruction Faculty at the Institute for Daisaku Ikeda Studies in Education at DePaul University. In the episode, Dr. Inukai offers an in-depth and accessible explanation of what value creation means, how it can be put into practice, and what a value-creating society could look like.  Dr. Inukai is also a former Japanese-English bilingual education elementary teacher and was a 2018-2020 Education Fellow at the Ikeda Center. She earned her PhD in Curriculum Studies from DePaul and has published in multiple edited volumes and scholarly journals including Schools: Studies in Education, Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, and others. References from episode:  Goulah, Jason, ‘Value Creation and Value-Creating Education in the Work of Daisaku Ikeda, Josei Toda, and Tsunesaburo Makiguchi’ (26 May 2021), in Kathy Hytten (ed.), Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education (New York, NY, online edn, Oxford Academic, 9 June 2016 - ), https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.1137   Music attribution: Podcast Music To learn more about the Ikeda Center, visit ikedacenter.org or email us at podcast@ikedacenter.org

  4. 23 Feb

    Episode 37: And the dialogue continues… 30-day challenges & inner dialogue w/ Preandra and George

    Happy 2026! We are starting the year with another episode of “And the dialogue continues…” This time, Lillian talks with Preandra and the Center’s new Peace Research Fellow, George Koichi Wong, about our recent Dialogue Nights. Tune in to hear about how Dialogue Nights attendees created their own 30-day challenge vision calendar and what inner dialogue looks like for George and Preandra.  For more information on Dialogue Nights, visit the page here.  Music attribution: Podcast Music To learn more about the Ikeda Center, visit ikedacenter.org or email us at podcast@ikedacenter.org

  5. 27/10/2025

    Episode 36: What Do We Mean By Hope?

    We are back with another episode in our What Do We Mean By series, this time unpacking what we mean by hope. Host Lillian Koizumi delves into the concept and introduces Daisaku Ikeda’s writings and perspectives on hope. She also invites Ikeda Center’s Program and Office Assistant Preandra Noel to share what hope means to her, how she cultivates and sustains it in her life, and how we can continue to have hope in seemingly hopeless times.  Learn more about the Center’s perspectives on hope here: https://www.ikedacenter.org/resources/what-do-we-mean-hope  Resource from episode: Hope is a Decision: Selected Essays of Daisaku Ikeda. Middleway Press.    Music attribution:  Podcast Music “Space” Podington Bear Soundofpicture.com   To learn more about the Ikeda Center, visit ikedacenter.org or email us at podcast@ikedacenter.org

  6. 03/09/2025

    Episode 35: Learning About Peace in Nagasaki: Reflections From Center Staff

    In April of this year (2025), several staff members of the Ikeda Center visited the city of Nagasaki in Japan. During their time there, they had the opportunity to visit the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Hypocenter Monument, the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, and other sites impacted by the US bombing of Nagasaki in 1945. They also had a chance to meet with several hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) to learn about their experiences as well as their efforts to advance peace. In the episode, host Lillian Koizumi is joined by Center staff Kevin Maher (Executive Director), Alexander Harang (Senior Peace Researcher), Anri Khare (Outreach Manager), and Preandra Noel (Program and Office Assistant). Together, they reflect on their learnings and takeaways from visiting this beautiful city and how they hope to continue this work at the Center.  Music attribution: Podcast Music To learn more about the Ikeda Center, visit ikedacenter.org or email us at podcast@ikedacenter.org

  7. 14/08/2025

    Episode 34: Dialogue or Debate? Reflections on Having Difficult Conversations

    In recent years,  folks in our community have expressed deeper challenges when it comes to engaging in dialogue across differences and having difficult conversations. With this in mind, this episode explores how we might navigate these interactions  through the Center’s dialogue commitments and ground rules, which are informed by Daisaku Ikeda’s dialogic ethos and strategies.  In the episode, you’ll hear two scripted dialogues, followed by reflections by Ikeda Center staff (Lillian Koizumi, Anri Khare, Preandra Noel, and Sophia Robertson). Together, they explore how the dialogues went, what could have gone better, and ways we can practice genuine dialogue in our daily lives.   Read about the Center’s dialogue commitments here. Read about the Center’s ground rules for genuine dialogue here. Music attribution: Podcast Music To learn more about the Ikeda Center, visit ikedacenter.org or email us at podcast@ikedacenter.org

  8. 28/05/2025

    Episode 33: Educating for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament w/ Brennan Tierney and Masako Toki

    In this episode, host Lillian Koizumi talks with nuclear disarmament experts and educators Brennan Tierney and Masako Toki about their personal journeys, what inspired them to pursue this work, their thoughts on the role education plays in creating a nuclear-free world, the role of young people in the disarmament movement, and much more.  Brennan is a public school civics teacher and is passionate about building students’ capacity and leadership to create positive change in their communities. In 2024, he received the Richard Aieta Award for Promising New Teacher from the Massachusetts Council for the Social Studies. Brennan also serves as a Development Consultant with Back from the Brink, a national grassroots campaign working toward a world free of nuclear weapons, and as a Program Assistant for the Ellsberg Initiative for Peace and Democracy. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Legal Studies (2018) and a Master’s in Education (2023), both from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He lives in Northampton, Massachusetts. Learn more about Back from the Brink here: https://preventnuclearwar.org/  Masako is a Senior Project Manager and Research Associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute in Monterey, CA. She is passionate about disarmament and nonproliferation education for young generations.  She coordinates the Critical Issues Forum (CIF) to promote disarmament and nonproliferation education to high school students and teachers in the US, Japan, Russia and other countries, and the Summer Undergraduate Nonproliferation Fellowship Program. Her research interests include Japan’s nuclear disarmament policy, nonproliferation and disarmament education, humanitarian initiative, and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. She is also a member of the Japan Association of Disarmament Studies and the US-Japan Leadership Program (US-Japan Foundation).  Learn more about the Critical Issues Forum here: https://sites.middlebury.edu/criticalissuesforum/    Music attribution: Podcast Music To learn more about the Ikeda Center, visit ikedacenter.org or email us at podcast@ikedacenter.org

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About

What is genuine dialogue? How can we connect with others more deeply? Tune in to explore the transformative power of dialogue with us in this new podcast series, The Dialogue Studio hosted by the Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue. In these episodes, we will talk to members of our Ikeda Center community about their unique stories and how dialogue has played a role in their lives. We will also examine Buddhist leader, peacebuilder, and Center founder Daisaku Ikeda’s approach to dialogue. We invite you to join us in this space to practice a deeper way of engaging with one another and to transform our world one dialogue at a time. To learn more about our Center's mission and programs, visit ikedacenter.org.

Information

  • Creator
    The Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    41
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © The Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue
  • Show Website
    The Dialogue Studio

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