Lauren Jackson is a religion columnist for the New York Times where she is the associate editor and writer for The Morning, the Times's flagship daily newsletter. Over the past year, she has been deeply involved in reporting on belief. Lauren developed 'Believing,' a project that explores how we experience religion and spirituality in contemporary times. Lauren's thought-provoking columns delve into the complexities of faith, spirituality, and society. In this episode of The Leader’s Way, Lauren discusses the powerful transformation that is possible when we turn our attention to the people around us, attending to hyper-local needs, longings, and joys within our own community.

Host: Brandon Nappi
Guest: Lauren Jackson

Instagram: @theleadersway.podcast berkeleydivinity.yale.edu/podcast

You can support our work at https://tinyurl.com/support-transforming-leaders


69: Believing with Lauren Jackson

Oenophiles are known for their evocative writing about wine, but that’s also true for sophisticated bourbon lovers. Some sensuous tasting notes from bourbon expert Susan Reigler from American Whiskey magazine serve as a case in point. http://waywordradio.org

1668-Whiskey-Language

Someone bitten by a werewolf becomes a werewolf, but what does a werewolf bitten by a nurse practitioner become? In Quiz Guy John Chaneski's punny puzzle, the first syllable of each answer to a question like this rhymes with the were- in werewolf. http://waywordradio.org

1668-Word-Quiz-Rhymes-With-Were

One means of hazing newbies in the Army: send them to get a hundred feet of chow line. http://waywordradio.org

1668-Hundred-Feet-Of-Chow-Line

Listen to an excerpt from THE UNCOOL by Cameron Crowe. 

THE UNCOOL Audiobook Excerpt

 Date of episode recording: 2025-10-02
 Duration: 00:47:48
 Language of episode: English
 Presenter: Steve Fleming, Selina Wray
 Guests: Caswell Barry, Lucy Unwin
 Producer: Patrick Robinson


Episode 23- Jenny Lange on the gothic history of neuroscience, a Halloween special

An exclusive look inside the surprising history and contentious future of Hollywood’s most unlikely blockbuster—the Fast & Furious franchise—a series that uncannily anticipated the shifting currents of pop culture while changing the business of global entertainment at the same time.   

What do Miami drug traffickers, bloodthirsty Yakuza warriors, Corona-soaked backyard BBQs, Dame Helen Mirren, and a duct-taped 1984 Pontiac Fiero-turned-rocket-fueled spaceship have in common? They are all essential elements of the ever-expanding, logic- and laws-of-physics-defying Fast & Furious universe: the most entertaining, outlandish, and secretly genius Hollywood creation that everyone has taken for granted – until now.

Through an escalating series of high-risk maneuvers – from synapse-stretching stunts to timeline-bending narratives to explosive PR wars between the biggest, baddest, baldest egos in showbiz – the Fast family (and it is a family above all else) has redefined the art and commerce of popcorn moviemaking. And the gang did it all while staring down the kind of monumental, soul-rattling challenges – the death of a star, the upheaval of an industry – that would have crushed the speed and spirit of any other filmmaking team.

An unauthorized journey into the makings of a cinematic saga unlike any other, Welcome to the Family exposes the stranger-than-fan-fiction journey of the franchise from the ground up. Through rigorous behind-the-scenes reporting and incisive cultural commentary, writer Barry Hertz’s ride-or-die epic details every single twist and turn of Fast & Furious drama, a quarter mile at a time. By the end, you will believe a car can fly.

Welcome to the Family by Barry Hertz read by Barry Hertz

A welcoming guide to using magical craft and tarot as tools in a sobriety journey—whether you have been sober for years, are trying to quit, are sober-curious, or are simply interested in reassessing your relationship with alcohol.

Growing numbers of people are exploring the transformative choices to reduce their consumption of alcohol or remove it from their lives altogether. But the traditional tools or frameworks don’t work for everyone. In this book, sober witch and renowned tarot practitioner Sarah Potter acts as a guide on a journey for those who are curious about getting sober while creating a spiritual practice through witchcraft and tarot.

With card readings, rituals, enchantments, and a self-exploration process inspired by both the twelve-step recovery framework and the fool’s journey of the tarot, Sober Magic empowers you to discover your inner light, honor your intuition, and celebrate your magic—without drinking.

Sober Magic by Sarah Potter read by Sarah Potter

In August 2025, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization held its 25th annual summit in Tianjin, China, with the country’s leader Xi Jinping, hosting representatives from more than 20 countries including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and India’s Narendra Modi. The absence of the United States in this gathering of global leaders may tell us about how China is competing with the US and building its own global order.

To discuss China’s strategic competition with the US, and how it is evolving under the Trump administration, in September 2025, the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Evan Medeiros, the Penner Family Chair in Asian Studies and the Cling Family Senior Fellow in US-China Relations at Georgetown University.

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata.  

Further reading and resources

•	“China and Russia Will Not Be Split”, Michael McFaul and Evan S. Medeiros, Foreign Affairs, 4 April 2025
•	Medeiros, E. S., & Polk, A. (2025). China’s New Economic Weapons. The Washington Quarterly, 48(1), 99–123. 
•	“U.S.-China Relations for the 2030s: Toward a Realistic Scenario for Coexistence”, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace”, 17 October 2024
•	“The Delusion of Peak China”, Evan S. Medeiros, Foreign Affairs, 24 April 2024

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LSE: The Ballpark | US-China strategic competition with Professor Evan Medeiros

In the course of 6 weeks spent in Turkey in 1974, I made recordings of Circassian (mostly the Abzakh dialect but also some Shapsugh) in the Anatolian village of Demir Kapı and of Ubykh (mostly with Tevfik Esenç in Istanbul but also with some other elderly speakers in the village of Haci Osman Köyü). The recordings posted here represent a selection of those materials.

Hasan's Tale | 3 | Ubykh

B George Hewitt