A Year of Listening Colleen Powell

It’s the last episode of 2019 and Colleen is sharing what she learned this year from listening to all her guests. This year provided so much food for thought as she listened and learned from a variety of people. Find out what were the most popular episodes and which ones have stuck with Colleen long after the microphone was turned off.
 
Colleen also announced her future project, The Medium Talk Podcast with Jenn Batchelor and Anna Jordan. It drops in January and she’d love for you to be a part of the launch team. You can join the team here.
 
Also mentioned in this episode:
Episodes 47, 54, and 59: Sexual Orientation and the Church part One, Two and Three
Episode 48 :Parenting in an Age of Judgement
Episode 50: Separating Church and State, God and Politics
Episode 60: Reclaiming the Singular Narrative 
Episodes 46: Post Incarceration Rehabilitation and Employment and Episode 55: Mass Incarceration and Prison Reform
Episode 69: White Supremacy and the Church
Episode 72: Listening Across Differences
Episode 74: A Conversation About Outrage Culture
Episode 79: A Conversation About the Role of Government
#ListenFirst
Living Room Conversations
Pantsuit Politics
The Medium Talk Podcast 
Medium Talk Instagram

In this episode we talk Enneagram, or rather the pros and cons of this ancient self-knowledge tool.  Colleen chats with two friends, Jenn Batchelor and Anna Jordan (from episode 77), about why they love the Enneagram, how its current popularity has effected its use, and what can be problematic about the Enneagram.  Whether you’ve been doing a deep dive into the Enneagram for months, or you’ve just started wondering what the heck it is, this conversation will help you to understand the highest and best uses of the Enneagram.

If you are new to the Enneagram you can find information at the Enneagram Institute.  Check out The Liturgists Enneagram episode (episode 37) for a great overview of each of the nine types.  Annie F. Downs EnneaSummer is another great introductory series.  Suzanne Stabile is our favorite Enneagram Wizard.
 
Connect with Anna and Jenn!  They are both writers for the very popular Coffee + Crumbs website. You can find Anna on Instagram or at her website.  You can find Jenn on Instagram or her website.

This week we’ve got another special conversation.  Colleen sits down with her long time friend, Mike Lindberg, to discuss the role of government.  Mike and Colleen have spent many an hour discussing all the things they disagree about and over time they’ve come to realize their differences of opinion may root in what they each believe about the truest and best role of government.  So with a few microphones between them they hashed it out, dialoguing about government overreach, who to trust to solve problems and provide aid, and whether the government or the private sector would be more effective.   
 
Also mentioned in the episode:
Thomas Sowell
Milton Freedman
Mere Christianity by CS Lewis

What happens when you use the technology of Match.com to do its opposite? Instead of connecting people in common you try to connect people across differences. And then what would happen if you took that technology into classrooms and allowed students to video conference other students from vastly different socioeconomic, regional, and cultural places? And then helped the students to hold conversations where they discuss issues like immigration and free speech with these other students like them, but not like them. You’d have Mismatch. Mismatch is helping teachers connect their students with classrooms across the country and giving students opportunities for discourse and dialogue about the issues that are polarizing our country. On this episode Colleen learns about how Mismatch technology works with its founder Kristin Hansen and then speaks with educator Kent Lenci about his experience using the technology in the classroom. Kent and Colleen discuss what his students took away from their experience and why he pushes his students to pay attention to the differences in order to foster the skills to work with people who think differently than themselves.
Check out Mismatch and its partner All Sides for Schools. If you are an educator or know an educator, be sure to spread the word about this program. It could be incredibly powerful in schools. And if you’d like to connect with Kent about his experience or the work he is doing you can email him at kent.lenci@gmail.com.

This week’s discussion deals with the topic of transracial adoption and parenting.  Guest Anna Jordan is a writer and educator as well as a mom to three, including a son who came to her family through adoption.  Anna and Colleen discuss Anna’s family’s story, the unique challenges that face transracial families, and how the conversation around transracial adoption has changed in the last 30 or so years.  They also delve into adoption ethics and what family’s need to consider before diving into transracial adoption.
 
Follow Anna!  Find information about Anna on her website and follow her on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.  Also, if you are interested in more information about Anna and adoption check out her appearance on the Coffee and Crumbs podcast.
 
Also Mentioned in this Episode:
No White Saviors instagram account
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Today we have two special guests.  Graham Bodie and Pearce Godwin are two colleagues who are doing good work to help our country listen across the divide.  Graham Bodie is a listening scholar, educator, and consultant. Pearce Godwin is Founder & CEO of Listen First Project, Executive Director of National Conversation Project, and leader of the #ListenFirst Coalition of ~250 partner organizations. Together the two have incredible experience helping people to listen across divides. Today we will discuss how people can move from listening to understand towards working together for change. This is a conversation about how we have productive conversations, what compromise is and isn’t and the roles both good conversation and activism play in any social movement.
 
Connect with Graham and Pearce! Find Graham at his website and on Twitter and follow Pearce on Twitter! And be sure to check out the #ListenFirst Project. Find more here and follow on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Additionally take a look at the National Conversation Project. You can find information here and follow the movement on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
 
Also mentioned in this episode:
The Only Human Podcast: The Birth of Climate Change Denial
Listen First Pledge