Lives Radio Show & Podcast with Stuart Chittenden

Stuart Chittenden
  • 4.8 (26)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Every Sunday at 9am on KIOS 91.5FM, Omaha's NPR affiliate, Season Three of Lives will tackle the big questions: What is a good life? Why are we here? How might we feel more connected? These and other big questions about how we live will be explored each week. Through intimate conversations, fascinating guests will share their spiritual, philosophical, artistic, and cultural approaches to exploring the wonders of our human experience. Join me as we delve into the practical and profound possibilities of living well. As well as listening to this Season Three of Lives being broadcast on KIOS, listen back to Seasons One and Two, featuring fresh voices and diverse perspectives on culture, community, business, and more. From the Midwest and beyond, inspiring guests share compelling stories spanning the fields of politics, business, media, community activism, arts and humanities, philanthropy, and more. On air since January 2017, Lives Radio Show & Podcast initially broadcast on the community radio station Mind & Soul 101.3FM in north Omaha, housed at the Malcolm X Center, and more recently broadcast with 1st Sky Omaha.

  1. JAN 11

    Mohammad Sahil S3E149

    Mohammad Sahil, executive director of the Nebraska Afghan Community Center, shares a journey that moves from refugee beginnings and work as an interpreter for the US military to life in America, ultimately building community infrastructure for Afghan and other immigrant families in Nebraska. It’s a conversation about home, dignity, moral responsibility, and what it looks like to pursue the American Dream. Sahil is a former combat interpreter who served alongside the U.S. military in Afghanistan for nearly a decade before immigrating to the U.S. with his wife through the Special Immigrant Visa program. For almost nine years, he’s supported refugee and immigrant communities through case management, education work, and interpretation, including service with Omaha Public Schools, where he received a 2021 Excellent Service Award. He now leads the Nebraska Afghan Community Center and serves in key community leadership roles, including Chair of the Omaha Refugee Task Force. ************************* Today's show and others are supported by the generous membership of Amy and Tom Trenolone. *Bonus content* for Lives members only features exclusive content and more. Find a Lives membership tier that fits you - support link here.

    1h 7m

  2. JAN 4

    Jewel Rodgers S3E148

    Nebraska State Poet, Jewel Rodgers, talks about how her poems arrive, and how they land; the possibilities of writing and performing to make sense of herself and for community, and what it takes to step fully into an artistic life when your creativity and work become public and the stakes feel real. Jewel Rodgers is the 2025–2029 Nebraska State Poet, a 2025 Academy of American Poets Fellow, and a nationally touring interdisciplinary performer who blends poetry, storytelling, and placemaking. A three-time TEDx speaker and Omaha Entertainment & Arts Award–nominated performance poet, she’s shared her work from major arts stages to civic gatherings and moments of social witness. Beyond performance, Rodgers also reshapes neighborhoods through PlaceMade, the resident-led initiative she founded to transform blighted lots into community spaces. ************************* Today's show and others are supported by the generous membership of Amy and Tom Trenolone. *Bonus content* for Lives members only features exclusive content and more. Find a Lives membership tier that fits you - support link here.

    52 min

  3. 12/27/2025

    Year End Review 2025 S3E147

    This end of year show features a curated selection of guest conversations from 2025, plus a couple of teaser snippets from shows coming in 2026. The end of the year is a time for reflection. In today’s show, I look back on conversations with some guests this year that illuminate what it is to be human. In fact, I look back in astonishment at the sheer privilege afforded to me to be an intimate witness to people’s lives. I am a humanist, meaning my life is informed by well-reasoned critical thinking, humbled and called to action by empathy, and enlarged by wonder and respect for the world around us. I bring that humanist life stance to my work as an existential coach, providing space, support, and guidance for people asking life’s big questions: Who am I? What matters now? How do I live well? Lives Radio Show and Podcast is a public expression of that commitment to our shared humanity. Above all, for me, it is the immeasurable gift of bearing witness to the lives of others. I am interested in people’s “who” and “why” - understanding the self - and their “how” and “what” provides some of the narrative illustrating that. So this week - with the last show for 2025 - you’ll hear excerpts from conversations that stayed with me. The stories are particular. And yet, if you listen closely, I hope you’ll recognize something familiar in your own life. ************************* Today's show and others are supported by the generous membership of Amy and Tom Trenolone. *Bonus content* for Lives members only features exclusive content and more. Find a Lives membership tier that fits you - support link here.

    52 min

  4. 12/21/2025

    Leo Louis II S3E146

    Community activist and organizer Leo Louis II has spent nearly two decades turning pain into purpose. From roles leading the Malcolm X Memorial Foundation and in the documentary film “My Omaha” he shares why, after decades of struggle and service, he is doing the work he was born to do. Louis has experience in various disciplines including gang intervention, urban farming, entrepreneurship, public speaking, fatherhood, facilitation, and more. Louis has led various community efforts, including the March for Solidarity in Omaha during 2020 unrest after George Floyd’s death, in which more than 2000 people took part. Louis was featured in the Nick Beaulieu 2025 documentary "My Omaha," which addresses racial and cultural prospectives in Omaha; is a recent recipient of the Omaha NAACP Presidents Award, and the Civic Nebraska's Adam Morfeld’s Founders Award of 2025. Louis is most known for his decade plus volunteer leadership role with the Malcolm X Memorial Foundation from which he stepped down in 2024 as the board chair. He currently continues his work serving as a community organizer, strategist, owner of Visionary Lions LLC, and builder of humanity. ************************* Today's show and others are supported by the generous membership of Amy and Tom Trenolone. *Bonus content* for Lives members only features exclusive content and more. Find a Lives membership tier that fits you - support link here.

    51 min

  5. 12/14/2025

    Tina Bakehouse S3E145

    Intuitive communications coach Tina Be Bakehouse shares how, drawing on theatre, storytelling, and a spiritual lens, she helps people speak in ways that truly resonate and connect. Bakehouse also shares coming into her own truths around sexual identity, faith, and personal healing that has transformed the way she works, lives, and shows up in the world. Bakehouse helps heart-centered leaders move beyond performance into presence. Drawing on over 25 years in communication, theatre, and teaching, she guides clients to tune into body, breath, and voice so they can clarify their message and speak with grounded confidence. Her work blends skill, play, and spirituality—shaped by university teaching, storytelling and improv, and training in holistic approaches to the whole person. A two-time TEDx speaker, Leadership Iowa alum, former Walt Disney cast member, and author of Discovering Our Magnetic Speaker Within, Tina empowers people not just to speak, but to resonate—because your voice is not only how you’re heard, it’s how you’re felt. ************************* Today's show and others are supported by the generous membership of Amy and Tom Trenolone. *Bonus content* for Lives members only features exclusive content and more. Find a Lives membership tier that fits you - support link here.

    51 min

  6. 12/07/2025

    Dr. Athena Ramos S3E144

    Public health expert Dr. Athena Ramos shares her commitment to public health and justice, such as tobacco prevention efforts and improving farmworker health, safety, and equity in the Midwest. Dr. Ramos talks about the cultural, health, and lived experiences influencing this award-winning passion and that are reshaping her life and her work, including becoming a cowgirl. Dr. Athena Ramos is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Promotion at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s College of Public Health, where she leads community-engaged research focused on farmworker and agrifood worker health, social determinants of health, and reducing health disparities across the Great Plains and Midwest. A native Nebraskan and first-generation scholar, Dr. Ramos partners closely with Latino, immigrant, and rural communities, working with producers, workers, and organizations to improve conditions in agriculture and meatpacking. Her work has been recognized with numerous honors, including UNMC’s 2025 Distinguished Scientist Award, and she serves on multiple local and national boards and networks. Beyond campus, Dr. Ramos is a sought-after speaker, advocate, and mentor, and at home she and her husband are raising four children in Omaha. ************************* Today's show and others are supported by the generous membership of Amy and Tom Trenolone. *Bonus content* for Lives members only features exclusive content and more. Find a Lives membership tier that fits you - support link here.

    51 min

  7. 11/30/2025

    Brian Wetjen S3E143

    Omaha-based artist and web developer Brian Wetjen recounts a childhood programming the family’s first computer to make it funnier, leading to the heady early days of web-based businesses and entrepreneurship. Wetjen also shares his transformative plant-medicine journeys that have quieted his anxiety and OCD, and sharpened his attention, presence, and being in the world. Brian Wetjen is an Omaha-based artist, web developer, husband, and dad who moves between paint and pixels, plants and code—from his home office and Hot Shops Art Center—to create calm, nature-infused art and human-centered websites. A lifelong Nebraskan, his curiosity has recently deepened through plant-medicine journeys that he describes as profoundly transformative, quieting anxiety and OCD and sharpening attention and presence. He shares music, books, and playlists freely, seeing art, psychedelics, code, and culture as different ways to explore, heal, and help people feel more at ease in the world. ******************** Today's show and others are supported by the generous membership of Amy and Tom Trenolone. *Bonus content* for Lives members only features exclusive content and more. Find a Lives membership tier that fits you - support link here.

    58 min

  8. 11/22/2025

    Sarah Phelps S3E142

    Organizational and community development consultant Sarah Phelps recognized early in life that she was neurodivergent and very very smart. Influenced by her experiences from the rural midwestern town of her upbringing to time in France, India, China and more, Phelps has become a champion for people thriving, bringing a deep care for community at every opportunity. With an IQ over 160, Sarah Phelps is smart. She is a facilitator, strategist, and community builder who helps organizations weave wellbeing, equity, and innovation into the everyday realities of learning, leadership development, and culture change. Drawing on more than 20 years of nonprofit and corporate experience in strategic HR and organizational development, she’s known for identifying solutions that stick. Phelps has consulted with values-driven organizations nationwide—including OutNebraska and Inclusive Communities—to cultivate inclusive, mission-aligned teams and brave, growth-oriented conversations. She is the founder of the Emerging Speakers Institute, co-founder of Leaders for Equity, Allyship and Diversity, a speaker with Hummingbird Humanity, and Board President of Umbrella US, where she champions neurodivergent and LGBTQ thriving. A voracious reader, gardener, and singer, Phelps brings curiosity, creativity, and deep care for community to every room she’s in. ******************** Today's show and others are supported by the generous membership of Amy and Tom Trenolone. *Bonus content* for Lives members only features exclusive content and more. Find a Lives membership tier that fits you - support link here.

    49 min
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Trailer

4.8
out of 5
26 Ratings

About

Every Sunday at 9am on KIOS 91.5FM, Omaha's NPR affiliate, Season Three of Lives will tackle the big questions: What is a good life? Why are we here? How might we feel more connected? These and other big questions about how we live will be explored each week. Through intimate conversations, fascinating guests will share their spiritual, philosophical, artistic, and cultural approaches to exploring the wonders of our human experience. Join me as we delve into the practical and profound possibilities of living well. As well as listening to this Season Three of Lives being broadcast on KIOS, listen back to Seasons One and Two, featuring fresh voices and diverse perspectives on culture, community, business, and more. From the Midwest and beyond, inspiring guests share compelling stories spanning the fields of politics, business, media, community activism, arts and humanities, philanthropy, and more. On air since January 2017, Lives Radio Show & Podcast initially broadcast on the community radio station Mind & Soul 101.3FM in north Omaha, housed at the Malcolm X Center, and more recently broadcast with 1st Sky Omaha.

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