Larger, Freer, More Loving

Matt LaVine & Dwight K. Lewis Jr.

We hope to aid ourselves and others in a journey towards living a “larger, freer, and more loving” life through critically engaging the popular culture that we live in, particularly with a focus on justice, care, the Arts, and community.

  1. 10/01/2025

    The City of Portland, the US Government, and Violence: a Humanity Check

    Today, Dwight and Matt are talking about the Trump administration's war on what's now known as Portland, Oregon (traditional, rightful, occupied lands of many different Indigenous peoples of the Lower Columbia River). Dwight asks Matt about his experience as someone who lives in and whose activism is based in Portland. After Matt identifies some particular ways we need to reframe how we think and talk about violence, Dwight offers a solution in the form of a collective humanity check.

  2. 02/11/2025

    Welcome Back: it's only been 3 weeks?

    It's good to be back with you all. It's been a minute since we've had an episode. In this episode, Matt LaVine and Dwight K. Lewis Jr discuss the impact of the first three weeks of the second Trump administration on marginalized communities. They emphasize the importance of community, resilience, and activism as a response to the administration's actions. Dwight shares his personal experiences of grief and anger, highlighting the need for collective healing and resistance. Matt leads a discussion on the concept of white [patriarchal, heteronormative, capitalist] supremacist settler colonialism and its implications, urging white allies to recognize their role in the system and to support themselves, marginalized folx, and the community at large. Furthermore, Dwight and Matt discuss these concepts and the ways that they exist as an “organizing principle” continuously shaping our world. They also recommend resources like "My Grandmother's Hands" by Resmaa Menakem and "Black Joy" by Tracey M. Lewis-Giggetts for personal and community healing.

  3. 04/19/2023

    Race Equity: nurturing Peace, Healing, and Joy

    It's good to be back with you all. It's been a minute since we've had an episode. But no matter what you listen to us for, we've got a feeling that this episode is for you! Because today, we've got with us multi-hyphenate, Hanif Fazal—an activist, a writer, a race equity facilitator and consultant, a business owner, awesome father, brother, and son. We're talking about his new book, "An Other World: The Fight For Freedom, Joy, and Belonging". Pre-order it now!https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/an-other-world-hanif-fazal/1142911253

  4. 04/19/2022

    Black Planetary Ecology: Diamonds in the Cave

    Today, we were lucky enough to have a conversation with a scholar, public intellectual, and activist who happens to be one of our favorite human beings on the planet – Dr. Claudia Ford. We began by asking Claudia to explain the relation between Planetary Consciousness and Blackness. From there, she talked about the intersection of Black ecology and Afro-pessimism. This led to a discussion of her new book project and her term Black “Grandmother Epistemology”, which unfolded into conversations on balance, flexibility, life, individualism, fear, and rebirth. Dr. Claudia Ford has done wonderful work on all of this season’s themes – the role of emotion in social justice work, ideas around transformation and revolution, and uplifting ways of being and knowing that are marginalized in our white supremacist, patriarchal, capitalist world. Named here: “Introduction to Environmental Studies: Interdisciplinary Readings”; “The Triple Pandemic: Revolt is the Only Option”; “Black to Nature: Pastoral Return and African American Culture by Stephanie K. Dunning”; “The Gift of Touch”; “Pain Pollen: The Twisted Ethnobotanical Roots of Cotton, Black Haw and Ground Hemlock”; and “Watering the Gardens of the Grandmother of Plants”.

  5. 03/16/2022

    Rage & Social Justice: a new beginning

    Welcome back for our second episode of season 2 which, as we said last time, is going to forefront things like the role of emotion in racial justice and social justice work more broadly, concepts of transformation and revolution, and uplifting ways of being and knowing that are marginalized in our white supremacist, patriarchal, capitalist world. We were lucky enough to have a scholar, public intellectual, and activist who has done wonderful work that touches on all of these fronts–Dr. Myisha Cherry. We began by getting Myisha’s thoughts on Nekima Levy Armstrong's response to Mayor Frey and Deputy Police Chief Huffman, who all spoke at the Amir Locke press conference in Minneapolis. Our hearts yearn for and with the family of Mr. Locke and the Minneapolis community. This was a murder, and the cops and mayor need to be held accountable. We continued by discussing her most recent book “The Case for Rage”. Please go pick up a copy! It is a fantastic book! We then asked her about teaching and advice for graduate and undergraduate students, especially those wanting to do radical work, and we concluded by asking, “What feeds your strength and resilience?”

  6. 02/16/2022

    Returning to a “Larger, Freer, More Loving” Life

    Alright, welcome folks. We are back at it again with SEASON 2. We are extremely excited about this season and what we have in store for you all. In this episode, we talk about transitions we’ve both been going through since Season 1, what’s been happening in the worlds around us, and how those things came together in our thinking about themes for Season 2. We talk about protest, loss, grief, emotions, and how they all come together when trying to fight for a more racially and socially just world. We conclude this episode by discussing some of the guests that we are attempting to bring on the podcast to talk about these themes. We may not be able to get them all, but we are going to try! We encourage you all to live “larger, freer, and more loving”!

  7. 10/20/2020

    First Thoughts on Trump's Executive Order Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping

    In this episode, we began thinking through Trump's Executive Order Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping. It is a little raw.... which we took to be a good thing. We hope that this raises awareness!

  8. 09/24/2020

    A Counter Narrative using Non-western, Anti-western, and Other-western Philosophers and Philosophies

    Today, we had three scholars that do fantastic research on counter narratives and counter histories in philosophy, John Harfouch, Meena Krishnamurthy, and Peter K.J. Park. We begin by defining counter narratives or histories in philosophy; then engage the ways that western and white power limits counter narratives and the emotions that motivate them. Following that, we discuss a number of ways we can push back against white supremacy culture both from the inside and the outside. And lastly, we conclude by discussing the ways that job postings can present as anti-counter narratives.

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About

We hope to aid ourselves and others in a journey towards living a “larger, freer, and more loving” life through critically engaging the popular culture that we live in, particularly with a focus on justice, care, the Arts, and community.

Information

  • Creator
    Matt LaVine & Dwight K. Lewis Jr.
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2025
  • Episodes
    16
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © LaVine & Lewis 2020
  • Show Website
    Larger, Freer, More Loving