Braver New Worlds

Nathan Cody Young

Braver New Worlds is a podcast for people navigating change, questioning inherited narratives, and trying to lead with intention and humanity even when the path forward is unclear. It’s about the stories we need to share–about ourselves, our work, and our vision–for the future want to create. Each episode is a thoughtful human conversation with someone actively trying to change something, whether that’s through their work, their being, or their relationship with community. We discuss personal stories, public responsibility, and how identity, values, and lived experience shape the way we see and show up in the world.

  1. 6d ago

    Shared Equity, Collective Power, and Rethinking Who Owns Housing with Josh Newton

    EPISODE SUMMARY What if the goal of homeownership wasn't a payout at the end, but a say in what happens along the way?  In this episode, Nathan sits down with Josh Newton, researcher, lecturer, and co-founder of the San Diego Community Wealth Building Coalition. Together they dig into two financial ownership models most people have never heard of: community land trusts and limited equity housing cooperatives. Josh walks through how these models separate land ownership from what's built on top of it, why "limited equity" might be the wrong name for what's actually a form of shared equity, and how one-share-one-vote governance makes cooperative housing more democratic than the corporations most of us assume are the default.  Along the way, Josh takes apart two of the most common arguments used to explain the housing crisis, supply-and-demand theory and "filtering." He also shares a real local example born out of decades of displacement: Barrio Logan's Tierra Indígenas land trust.. The conversation moves from mechanics to something bigger: what it would look like if cities were governed from the neighborhood up instead of the top down, and what's actually standing in the way. Hint: it’s a combination of education, funding, and political will… and not the models themselves. ABOUT JOSH NEWTON Josh Newton is a Researcher and Lecturer in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the University of California, San Diego. He received his Ph.D. in Urban Planning and Public Policy from the University of Texas at Arlington. He has written on the impact of philanthropic foundations in housing and community development, housing precarity and grassroots solutions in informal subdivisions, and the economic and political benefits of community land trusts and limited equity housing cooperatives. Outside of academia, he co-founded the San Diego Community Wealth Building Coalition to expand and support community land trusts and housing, worker, and food cooperatives in the region through education, technical assistance, and policy advocacy. LINKS LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/city-josh-newton/Instagram: instagram.com/cityjoshnewton/Website: cityjoshnewton.comSan Diego Community Wealth Building Coalition: https://www.instagram.com/sdcwbc/Tierras Indígenas Community Land TrustInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/tierras_indigenas/Website: https://www.tierrasindigenasclt.org/

  2. Jul 28

    Community Over Competition and Advocating for Culture with Susanna Peredo Swap

    Episode Summary Susanna Peredo Swap has spent the last decade building something rare: a creative community in San Diego that operates on collaboration instead of competition. As founder of Vanguard Culture, she's brought together thousands of artists across every discipline — starting, almost by accident, from a single potluck where the first fifty people to RSVP were invited to bring not just food, but talent. In this conversation, Susanna traces that arc from a scrappy email newsletter to a nonprofit and unpacks the philosophy underneath it: a "yes, and" approach borrowed straight from her years in theater, where saying yes to one more collaborator almost always makes the work better. She and Nathan dig into the tension between boldness and hubris; how a decade of professional rejection as an actor left her with less fear of failure; and stepping up to your creative strength, whether that’s in how you put your own work forward or how you build community. We also talk about why she thinks the "starving artist" mindset is a kind of self-imposed sabotage, and the economic case for why a city's investment in its creative sector pays for itself many times over. ABOUT SUSANNA PEREDO SWAP Susanna Peredo Swap is an award-winning producer, journalist, and film director with 25+ years of experience in arts administration, acting, jazz vocals, arts advocacy, and public relations. At the San Diego International Airport Art Program, she curated over 80 exhibitions and led a dynamic performing arts series.  She currently serves on several boards and advisory committees, including the San Diego Museum Council, San Diego Press Club, Burnham Center for Community Advancement, and One San Diego. She recently co-led Arts & Culture for World Design Capital San Diego–Tijuana, served on the board of Women in Tourism & Hospitality International, and advised UCSD-TV's ARTS Channel.  Her passion for the arts led her to found Vanguard Culture, a nonprofit dedicated to uplifting San Diego's creative workforce — an organization that has won 82 awards for Excellence in Journalism, 2 Gold Anthem Awards presented by the Webbys, a feature on the National Geographic Channel, and an official Vanguard Culture Day designation from the County of San Diego marking 10 years of service to the arts community. LINKS Website: vanguardculture.comNewsletter: Sign up hereFree resource guide for creatives: Access hereSan Diego Arts PassLinkedIn: Vanguard CultureInstagram: @vanguardcultureFacebook: Vanguard CultureYouTube: @VanguardCultureSDThreads: @vanguardculture

  3. Jul 21

    The Ocean, Healing, and Turning Pain Into Purpose with Risa Bell

    EPISODE SUMMARY Risa Bell never planned to run a nonprofit. Yet a single paddle-out event she organized where she expected maybe 25 people to attend actually drew thousands. The thoughts and questions that followed her in her life later led her to start Paddle for Peace, an organization connecting BIPOC and underserved communities with the ocean as a source of healing and reconnecting with nature. In this conversation Risa unpacks the multi-layered generational reasons why the coast isn't equally accessible, the historical exclusion of Black and Brown communities from beaches and pools, and the ripple effects that’s caused.  She also shares her own path from foster care and survival mode as a teenager, to her growth as an adult and ultimately walking away from a stable healthcare career on two months' savings to build something she couldn't yet explain. Risa talks candidly about being a guarded person who has had to learn vulnerability later in life and how her community has repeatedly shown up for her in ways she didn't initially know how to accept. She and Nathan close with an unexpectedly philosophical exchange about purpose, meaning, and what pulls people together in the first place. ABOUT RISA BELL Risa Bell is a social entrepreneur and founder of Paddle for Peace. She draws from her multicultural experiences and is driven by a zest for life and a commitment to diversity in outdoor spaces. Her upbringing fuels her passion for creating healing and transformative experiences for underserved communities at the ocean.  One thing that sets her apart is her ability to turn personal challenges into community driven solutions. She has faced barriers that could have kept her from leadership, but instead, they fueled her mission. She doesn't just advocate for change, she builds programs, creates access, and makes space for others who have been historically excluded.  Her work with Paddle for Peace isn't just about bringing people to the ocean, it’s about shifting systems, fostering belonging, and ensuring future generations see nature as a place of healing and peace. LINKS Paddle for Peace: www.paddleforpeace.orgInstagram: @paddleforpeaceFacebook: facebook.com/paddleforpeaceSDYouTube: youtube.com/@paddleforpeace4431Newsletter: sign up at www.paddleforpeace.org

  4. Jul 14

    Entrepreneurship, Access, and What Money Really Buys with Alex Waters

    EPISODE SUMMARY What actually separates entrepreneurs who make it from those who don't? It isn't always talent or work ethic. It's something else completely. In this conversation, Nathan sits down with Alex Waters, Executive Director of The Program Labs, to unpack what it really looks like to build a business without a safety net, and why the entrepreneurs he works with aren't failing when a plan takes longer than expected, but they still need to figure out how to manage themselves in the meantime. The conversation moves from the deeply personal to the systemic: why financial literacy still isn't taught in schools, why AI has closed the information gap but not the execution gap, and why so many founders quietly believe they only get one shot. Alex offers concrete tools along the way, including his approach to prioritization ("deciding what you're not going to do") and a reframe on quitting that treats it as data, not failure. In the back half, the conversation turns toward philanthropy and venture capital. Venture capital tolerates enormous failure rates in pursuit of a single unicorn — while philanthropic funding is expected to succeed every time, with almost no appetite for productive risk. It's a pointed challenge to rethink what our culture treats as "cool" to fund — and why programs nonprofits build need to deliver value back to the organizations themselves, not just to beneficiaries. ABOUT ALEX WATERS Alex Waters is an ecosystem builder who creates spaces where people can experiment and bring their ideas to life. As Executive Director of The Program Labs, he helps organizations build entrepreneurship programs that create economic opportunity. Currently, he's partnered with the San Diego College of Continuing Education to build and operate a community Business Resource Center in Barrio Logan. Over the last decade, Alex has built community programs, coached executives, led lean innovation sprints for global companies, and designed accelerator programs — most notably the Jacobs Center Business Accelerator, a HUD-funded initiative that graduated more than 120 businesses and supported millions of dollars in investment and job creation in the San Diego region. Beyond program development, Alex serves on the boards of the SDSU Research Foundation and the San Diego Neighborhood House Association, and sits on the Impact Investment & Audit Committee for the Alliance Healthcare Foundation. LINKS Website: theprogramlabs.orgLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/watersalexEmail: alex@theprogramlabs.orgFree Program Consultation: form.jotform.com/Plabs/free-consultation

  5. Jul 7

    Storytelling as the Opposite of the News with Philippe Lazaro

    What if the goal of a story wasn't to convince someone, but to hand them their own voice back?  Philippe Lazaro has spent nearly two decades helping international nonprofits and climate organizations tell stories from the Congo Basin to Bangladesh — and along the way, he's developed a clear-eyed philosophy about what ethical storytelling actually requires.  In this conversation, Philippe and Nathan dig into why he thinks of his work as "the opposite of the news," how the charity and NGO world has historically gotten storytelling wrong, and what it looks like to get it right: local creative teams, informed and enthusiastic consent, and a hard commitment to letting people narrate their own experience instead of having it narrated for them. From there, the conversation opens into the craft itself — the "Hollywood treatment," the three layers every story operates on, and a detour into how different cultures structure narrative differently, from Japan's Kishōtenketsu to cyclical storytelling traditions that don't follow a Western arc at all.  Philippe also makes a case for a healthier relationship between storytelling and data, arguing the two are too often treated as rivals when they're actually complementary tools for understanding impact. ABOUT PHILIPPE LAZARO Philippe Lazaro is a strategic communications leader with over a decade of experience helping international nonprofits grow through ethical, solutions-focused storytelling. He's worked with leading climate and international development organizations, telling stories from Ethiopia to Haiti to Bangladesh. He's an avid traveler, illustrator, and improviser, as well as a dad to three. Whether telling stories through video, writing, or visual media, his goal is always to help audiences feel more connected to the world. He’s also recently launched his own agency, Banana Leaf Storytelling. LINKS Banana Leaf Storytelling: https://bananaleafstorytelling.com/Philippe's website: https://www.philippelazaro.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippe-lazaro-b2872169/Instagram: @philippelazaroThreads: @philippelazaroYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@philippelazaroSubstack: https://philippelazaro.substack.com/

  6. Jun 30

    AI Beyond the Hype: Ethics, Work, and What Makes Us Human with Dr. Karen Boyd

    In this episode, Nathan sits down with AI researcher and economist Dr. Karen Boyd for a conversation that explore the AI related questions many of us are wrestling with. How is AI reshaping work, creativity, trust, and human connection? And why navigating these questions requires more nuance than either the enthusiasts or the skeptics often provide. Karen explains why many of the biggest concerns surrounding AI—from environmental impact and privacy to bias and job displacement—deserve careful attention without resorting to fear or false certainty. Along the way, the conversation expands into much bigger questions: What parts of our work actually give us meaning? Does effort have value beyond efficiency? How do we preserve authenticity in a world where machines can increasingly imitate human creativity? And if AI can do more of our work, what kinds of work should we value in the future? Whether you're excited about AI, deeply skeptical of it, or simply trying to figure out where you stand, this conversation offers a grounded, practical, and deeply human perspective on one of the defining technological shifts of our time. ABOUT DR. KAREN BOYDDr. Karen Boyd helps mission-driven organizations navigate AI with confidence. She is an economist at the Policy and Innovation Center in San Diego and co-founder of Our AI Futures Lab, where she has trained more than 300 nonprofit, government, and social-impact leaders on the thoughtful adoption of artificial intelligence. Her research focuses on AI ethics, machine learning documentation, and the future of work. Karen earned her PhD from the University of Maryland, where she studied how machine learning engineers identify and respond to ethical issues in training data, and she also holds an MBA from the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego. Karen serves on the San Diego Foundation's AI Council and is the author of Amplify Good Work: Effective, Ethical AI for Mission-Driven Work. Her work has been featured in leading academic conferences and publications, cited in hundreds of scholarly articles, and recognized by organizations across the nonprofit and technology sectors. She also hosts the upcoming Labor in the Loop podcast, exploring the future of work in the age of AI. LINKSKaren Boyd Website: https://drkarenboyd.comNewsletter: https://drkarenboyd.com/newsletterBlog: https://drkarenboyd.com/blogLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drkarenboyd/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenboydauthor/ Resources Mentioned Amplify Good Work: Effective, Ethical AI for Mission-Driven WorkFree Sustainability & AI Chapter: https://drkarenboyd.com/freechapterMission First Starter Kit: https://drkarenboyd.com/missionfirstComing Soon: Labor in the Loop Podcast: https://www.laborintheloop.com/

  7. Jun 23

    Masculinity, Relationships, and the Courage to Grow with Dave Lishansky

    What does it really mean to become a man in a world that offers plenty of expectations but a lot of contradictory direction. In this episode, Nathan sits down with men's relationship coach Dave Lishansky for a wide-ranging conversation about masculinity, relationships, emotional growth, and the work of becoming more fully human. Together they explore why so many men are taught grit, responsibility, and self-sacrifice, yet rarely given the tools to understand themselves, express vulnerability, or build meaningful emotional support systems. Drawing from his own relationship journey and years of coaching men, Dave shares how intimate relationships often become mirrors that reveal the parts of ourselves that are unfinished, wounded, or longing for growth. The conversation explores the difference between reacting and responding, the role of anger and people-pleasing in men's lives, and why many of the patterns that create conflict in relationships begin long before we ever meet our partners. Nathan and Dave also dive into larger cultural questions: the disappearance of meaningful rites of passage, the ways modern work and capitalism have replaced traditional forms of initiation, and how many men unconsciously sacrifice themselves to expectations they never consciously chose. Throughout the discussion, they return to a central theme: growth is not about reaching a finish line, but about continually waking up to ourselves, our relationships, and the opportunities life gives us to become more present. Whether you're navigating a relationship, questioning old definitions of masculinity, or simply curious about what it means to live with greater intention, this conversation offers a thoughtful and deeply human exploration of courage, connection, and personal transformation. ABOUT DAVE LISHANSKYDave Lishansky is a men's and relationship coach and the host of the Reclaiming the Gentle Man podcast. He helps men find their inner steadiness in the moments relationships test them most—when everything inside wants to shut down, withdraw, or fight back—and discover what becomes possible when they remain open and present instead. Drawing from both personal experience and years of coaching, Dave helps men develop greater self-awareness, emotional resilience, and deeper connections in their relationships. He and his wife spent more than a decade building their relationship before getting married in November 2025, an experience that continues to inform his work and perspective on growth, intimacy, and partnership. LINKSConnect with Dave Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dave_lishansky/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dave_lishansky Dave's Podcast Reclaiming the Gentle Man: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reclaiming-the-gentle-man/id1813031348 Free Relationship Assessment Discover what may be causing your relationship conflicts to escalate "out of nowhere": https://your-reconnection-code.lovable.app

  8. Jun 16

    Science, Skepticism, and Public Trust with Lola Akapo

    In this episode of Braver New Worlds, Nathan sits down with Lola Akapo, founder of Benchtop to Boardroom, a biotech communications consultancy specializing in mRNA therapeutics and biologics. Drawing on nearly a decade of vaccine and drug development work, Lola argues that the biotech companies shaping the future of medicine can’t simply rely on building breakthrough technologies. They also need to be proactive towards building trust. Lola shares the concept of a "trust infrastructure" which includes the partnerships, educational efforts, and coalition-building that all serves to help investors, regulators, advocacy groups, and the public understand why scientific work matters long before a therapy reaches the market. The conversation also dives into the tension between healthy skepticism and public trust, the challenge of communicating complex science to non-scientists, and whether society needs more "translators" who can bridge the gap between researchers and the wider world.  Along the way, Nathan and Lola discuss scientific literacy, risk, regulation, storytelling, and how societies decide what—and whom—to trust. ABOUT LOLA AKAPOLola Akapo has spent nearly a decade inside mRNA vaccine and biologics programs, where she saw firsthand how brilliant science and fragmented narratives can prevent early-stage teams from communicating their impact effectively. She is the founder of Benchtop to Boardroom, a consulting practice focused on helping biotech organizations build the internal scientific literacy infrastructure needed to communicate clearly with boards, regulators, manufacturers, investors, advocacy groups, and eventually the public. Her work helps early-stage teams align around a shared understanding of their mission, impact, and scientific story. LINKSLola Akapo (LinkedIn) https://www.linkedin.com/in/damilola-akapo/ Benchtop to Boardroom Website https://benchtoptoboardroom.com/ Benchtop to Boardroom Substack https://benchtoptoboardroom.substack.com/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/benchtoptoboardroom/ Learn more about Lola's consulting work, speaking engagements, and scientific communication resources through the links above.

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

Braver New Worlds is a podcast for people navigating change, questioning inherited narratives, and trying to lead with intention and humanity even when the path forward is unclear. It’s about the stories we need to share–about ourselves, our work, and our vision–for the future want to create. Each episode is a thoughtful human conversation with someone actively trying to change something, whether that’s through their work, their being, or their relationship with community. We discuss personal stories, public responsibility, and how identity, values, and lived experience shape the way we see and show up in the world.

Information

  • Creator
    Nathan Cody Young
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    27
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Nathan Cody Young
  • Show Website
    Braver New Worlds