Culture Stew

Maria Morukian
  • 4.8 (17)
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  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

Culture Stew is a show dedicated to exploring diversity, inclusion, and cultural identity in its many dimensions. We explore how our identities and values influence our personal and professional lives. Through interviews with scholars, journalists, scientists, and leadership development practitioners, we'll delve into different concepts around cultural identity, explore how to lead diverse teams and organizations, and seek ways to build bridges across cultural chasms.

  1. 1D AGO ·  VIDEO

    Re-envisioning Social-Emotional Learning- A Conversation with Ashley Brown, Executive Director of Peace of Mind

    Ashley Brown is the Executive Director of Peace of Mind, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. that is on a mission to equip kids with the mindfulness tools they need to manage big emotions, build healthy relationships, and become — in their words — peacemakers. For over a decade, Ashley has championed educational equity and student success across diverse school communities. Whether she's designing curriculum, leading professional development for educators, or facilitating workshops directly with students, her focus has always been the same: creating learning environments where every child can thrive. What Ashley and her team at Peace of Mind do is more than teaching breathing exercises and yoga poses. It's mindfulness woven together with brain science, conflict resolution, and social justice — giving kids not only the tools to regulate themselves, but the courage and agency to stand up for what's right in their communities. Today we're talking about what it really looks like to teach peace, why this work is more urgent than ever, and how one small D.C. nonprofit is quietly building a global movement — one classroom at a time.

    56 min

  2. MAY 6 ·  VIDEO

    Reframing Civic Engagement For Children & Caregivers- A Conversation With Allison Matulli, Ed.D., J.D.

    Allison Matulli, Ed.D., J.D., M.Ed. is an author, law professor, childhood educator, and Free Speech advocate and Fellow for the First Amendment at the Freedom Forum. Dr. Matulli has dedicated her career to helping communities and their children understand the law, with specific attention to the First Amendment. Combining her legal training and education background, she is also the founder of The Little Lawyers, which empowers communities and children to learn the law. Dr. Matulli recently completed her Ed.D. with a doctorate thesis on Free Speech and Digital Citizenship. She is also a Global Fulbright Scholar focusing on how children experience freedom of speech in various countries worldwide, both online and offline. She is a lecturer at Howard University and serves as a criminal justice adjunct professor at  Florida International University and affiliate faculty at the  Maurice A. Ferré Institute for Civic Leadership.  Her book, Your Freedom, Your Power: A Kid's Guide to the First Amendment (Hachette/Running Press Kids) has garnered broad interest from educators and free speech advocates and was named a  Junior Library Guild Selection and included in the Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best Books of 2023. She is the author of three forthcoming picture books. We Are Free (RISE x PRH) invites the youngest readers to understand how the First Amendment affects their lives and the world around them.  Matulli was named one of Miami's Most Prominent Black Women in Business and Industry by Legacy magazine, among other accolades.

    48 min

  3. APR 23

    Reimagining Sustainable Economies: A Conversation with Veryl Pow of Sustainable Economies Law Center

    Veryl Pow is a movement lawyer at the Sustainable Economies Law Center who practices at the intersection between solidarity economics, housing decommodification, and land liberation. An activist first, Veryl's politics developed from his grassroots organizing experiences in resistance movements that spanned Third World solidarity to abolitionist campaigns; and has since expanded to prefigurative worldmaking movements that attempt to transform social and economic relations from profit accumulation, extraction, and atomization to care, cooperation, and mutual aid in the here and now.    The Sustainable Economies Law Center is a worker self-directed nonprofit that is one such experiment in worldmaking because of its non-hierarchical structure and democratization of decision-making and labor. You can learn more about the work of the Law Center through their 2026 Project Gallery. In the month of May 2026, the Law Center is running their annual, community-gathering Grassroots Fundraising Campaign. The theme this year is #AllHandsOnDeck, as we need as many hands to build strong ties in local communities to meet this moment of curated chaos in our federal government.

    56 min

  4. APR 9

    Recentering Courage & Care in Education with Dr. Todd Beer and Dr. Devin Moran

    What is the role academics play in institutions, especially in the classroom, when it comes to supporting students' critical thinking around social issues? As we struggle with questions around free speech and what can or cannot be taught on campuses, how do educators navigate these issues, not necessarily from an administrative perspective, but from a student-focused one?  Dr. Todd Beer is an Associate Professor and Chair of Sociology and Anthropology at Lake Forest College in Illinois, where his research spans globalization, social movements, environmental sociology, and climate justice.  Dr. Devin M. Moran is a faculty member at Austin Peay State University's College of Education in Tennessee, teaching classroom management, instructional design, and the foundations of education. Dr. Moran is a sought-after speaker, researcher, and facilitator known for helping institutions build more inclusive, equitable, and effective learning environments.

    1h 5m

  5. MAR 25

    Reimagining Media Literacy: A Conversation with Lyanne Alfaro

    In a media landscape shaped by algorithmic amplification, AI-generated content, and narratives that move faster than facts — credibility has become the scarcest resource in the room. Lyanne Alfaro is an award-winning journalist, a narrative advisor, and a former insider at some of the most influential institutions shaping how the world understands business, technology, and capital. Her latest venture, Project Reliable, is an independent initiative working at the intersection of narrative strategy, media posture, and ethical influence. In this conversation, Lyanne shares how we can engage in everyday activism in how we consume, question, and share media. We also discuss the importance of organizations being intentional in how they respond to crisis situations to build credibility and trust.  Find out more about Lyanne and her projects at: https://projectreliable.com/ https://www.monedamoves.com/

    57 min

  6. MAR 11

    Rethinking Patient Advocacy: A Conversation with Dr. Leigh Ann Simmons

    Dr. Leigh Ann Simmons wants to give women tools to better advocate for themselves at every stage of their health journey. As a medical practitioner and researcher, Dr. Simmons has published extensively on health disparities and is a leading scholar in promoting behavioral interventions to improve equity in health care.   Dr. Simmons is a professor at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis and co-director of the Perinatal Origins of Disparities (POD) Center at UC Davis. She is the author of an upcoming book that will help women advocate for their care and help healthcare professionals become better allies for women's health.

    1h 5m

  7. FEB 27

    Rethinking Community and Climate Justice with Collective Power

    "At the roots of Collective Power is the idea that we can do more collectively than we can do individually." On this week's episode of the Culture Stew,  Maria interviews Kelly and Christine Wyche, co-founders of Collective Power, an organization founded with the purpose of assisting underserved communities facing the challenges of climate change, aging infrastructure, and unsustainable lifestyle practices. Together,  they explore how to imagine new infrastructures for sustainable living, scaling from book clubs to broader communities. We will get a sneak peak into their new book "Building Community with Collective Power: A Practical Tool," which outlines how you can bring this work to life in your own community. Find out more about Collective Power at https://www.ourcollectivepower.com/

    1h 7m

  8. FEB 11

    Redefining Food as Activism: An Interview with Kari Sanchez of Veggie Mijas

    How can the food we choose to eat, as well as the practices we use to source, prepare, and share our food, be a source of activism and liberation?  Karina Sanchez (she/they) is a holistic health and wellness practitioner and food justice organizer. She co-leads Veggie Mijas Chicago, supporting plant-based education, mutual aid, and community programming for Queer BIPOC communities. Karina is an herbalism apprentice with Urban Growers Collective, a yoga teacher through the Latina Sweat Project, and an energy healing apprentice at Verde Holistic Wellness Studio, where she studies Mesoamerican healing practices and facilitates trauma-informed, culturally rooted wellness offerings.  With over a decade of experience in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and community engagement, Kari brings a strategic and relational approach to systems change. In recent years, she has hosted workshops and community spaces that invite participants to begin decolonizing their relationships to food, health, and healing. Her work centers reconnecting people to their bodies, the land, plant medicine, and ancestral wisdom as pathways toward individual and collective liberation. Ways to Connect With Veggie Mijas  Follow on Instagram: National: @VeggieMijas Chicago: @VeggieMijasChicago Donate via the website to support programs, including community fridges, food access, and education. Purchase the digital cookbook, Manteniendo Nuestra Cultura, available on the Veggie Mijas website — a celebration of plant-based recipes rooted in culture and tradition. Partner or work with Veggie Mijas: they offer services and collaborations for individuals, teams, and organizations interested in plant-based education, food justice, and sustainable, equitable food systems.

    52 min
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Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

4.8
out of 5
17 Ratings

About

Culture Stew is a show dedicated to exploring diversity, inclusion, and cultural identity in its many dimensions. We explore how our identities and values influence our personal and professional lives. Through interviews with scholars, journalists, scientists, and leadership development practitioners, we'll delve into different concepts around cultural identity, explore how to lead diverse teams and organizations, and seek ways to build bridges across cultural chasms.

Information

  • Creator
    Maria Morukian
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    123
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    Culture Stew

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