imperfected Dave Kang, TJ Berden, Sam Buti

What if food holds the power to dissolve the barriers that divide us? 
 
Meet Vin Noth, the Executive Director of Milwaukee’s Riverwest Food Pantry. Like all cities, Milwaukee has its cracks such as segregation, isolation, and systemic poverty. The Riverwest Food Pantry is finding gold in these cracks - bringing people of all backgrounds together into radical kinship, friendship, and mentoring, all through the power of food.  When you visit this place, you can’t tell who’s a shopper or who’s a volunteer. You’ll be surprised by the gift you have to give and the gift you’re meant to receive. And it’ll wreck you in the most beautiful way.
 
We talk to Vin about finding gold in the cracks of the city and his life, particularly in his background in the arts and acting. It turns out that the greatest gifts we have to give often rhyme with our deepest pain. When you find gold in the cracks, it takes the same shape as the crack.

Hosted by Dave Kang and T.J. Berden.
Produced by Sam Buti.

How do we prepare for the ultimate journey - passing over from this life to the next?

Today we meet hospice chaplain, recording artist, and spiritual director, Jeremy Bryan, to talk about the ultimate liminal space. In Jeremy’s experience walking with people and their families as they pass over, he’s seen some things. Certain things that seem to mysteriously “want to happen'' when we’re standing at the veil between this life and the next. Along the way, we talk about the difference between funeral virtues and resume virtues and how witnessing death can free us from our perfectionisms. Jeremy has helped many people reconcile with their loved ones, themselves, and their God and the Universe. At this threshold, everything comes mysteriously into focus. And we’re seldom more alive than when we’re dying.

Hosted by Dave Kang. Produced by Sam Buti.

Imagine a world where your mental health challenges become someone else's hope.

Ariana Gibson is the creator of an app that’s designed to end the stigmas around mental health, through the power of story and community. In today’s conversation, we learn about Ariana’s project to use technology to “crowdsource hope.” She shares with us the personal inspirations for creation of the Stigma app - from the mental illness and trauma experienced by her loved ones, to her epiphanies as a storyteller, and her vulnerability as a superpower. Ariana shows us how by sharing stories from the cracks in our lives, we can discover new hope with others.

Hosted by filmmakers T.J. Berden & Dave Kang. Produced by Sam Buti.

More about Ariana Gibson and Stigma
About Ariana Alejandra Gibson Ariana Alejandra Gibson on Instagram Follow Ariana Alejandra Gibson on Twitter Stigma App Ariana Alejandra Gibson on Medium Connect on LinkedIn with Ariana Alejandra Gibson
Related Episodes
More from Imperfected - Ep 1: Broken Bowls and the Art of Imperfection Ep 6: Dreams and Visions with the Producers of Imperfected How Comedy Can Improv(e) Our Lives with Mary Lemmer Imperfected Heroes – On Robin Williams & Anthony Bourdain Our Imperfected Democracy with Jason Blakely Of Gangs & God with Fr. Greg Boyle Introducing “Imperfected”

Why do seemingly ephemeral experiences like dreams have the power to change us?

On today’s episode, the producers of Imperfected share stories of visions and signs. Those strange too-perfect-to-be-random moments that seem to want to communicate something profound, if imperfectly ... and change us. T.J. tells the story about a season with spirit animals: Crows. Hundreds of crows whose presence pushed him from fear to hope. Dave shares visions from his father’s passing, gifts that continue to define him to this day. Sam never thought he was the type to experiment with psychedelic drugs. But rather than an escape from the world, his experience brings his past, present, and future into vivid new light.

Hosted by filmmakers T.J. Berden & Dave Kang. Produced by Sam Buti.

"It's not about reaching folks at the margins. It's about allowing yourself to be reached." - Fr. Greg Boyle

Fr. Greg Boyle is the founder of Homeboy Industries, the largest gang intervention program in the country. We’re honored to talk to him about his 30+ years of serving the gang-involved and previously incarcerated.

Join T.J. and Greg for a conversation about wisdom and love born out of the cracked concrete of real life -- about seeing the thorns beneath each other’s pain and how if you don’t welcome you’re own wound, you’ll be tempted to despise the wounded. The culture of Homeboy Industries is a vision for repairing severed belonging for us all.

Fr. Greg is the author of the New York Times Bestselling book Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion. His third and most recent book The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness is currently available.

Homeboy Industries is located in downtown Los Angeles and provides hope and job training for formerly gang-involved and previously incarcerated people so they can redirect their lives and become contributing members of society.

Hosted by T.J. Berden.
Produced by Sam Buti.

Why does our society seem more divided than ever before?

Since our nation's birth, our democracy has been an experiment - an attempt to do better than previous governments and right their wrongs. In our time of polarization and insecurity over the bonds of our union, how can we be more thoughtful participants in this grand experiment?

In this episode, T.J. is joined by Jason Blakely, Professor of Political Science at Pepperdine University. Jason and T.J. talk about how politics is a “theater of meaning” that we enter through our most personal experiences. Aristotle famously said that human beings are the "political animal." That means that whether we consider ourselves political or not, we're all searching for a vision of what is good and spaces where we can ask questions together.

Hosted by T.J. Berden.
Produced by Sam Buti.