This is our unabridged interview with Anne-Laure Le Cunff. When Anne-Laure Le Cunff—then a high-achieving Google executive—was told to go to the hospital for a life-threatening blood clot, she found herself first checking her calendar. Her bizarre response told her something was wrong with her life and priorities. She left Silicon Valley, earned a degree in neuroscience, and wrote Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World. In this conversation with Lee C. Camp, Le Cunff explores the neuroscience behind procrastination, perfectionism, and burnout. She introduces a radical yet practical shift: replacing rigid goal-setting with small, curiosity-driven experiments. Drawing from her research at King’s College London and her work at Ness Labs, she explains how embracing uncertainty and intentional imperfection can unlock personal growth, reduce anxiety, and spark creativity. You’ll learn how to redesign your relationship with productivity by experimenting with tiny experiments, explore the psychology of goal-setting, and discover how tiny experiments can help rewire your mental scripts. For anyone struggling with burnout, toxic perfectionism, or simply feeling stuck, this episode offers a science-backed path toward a more adaptive, joyful life. Show Notes, Resources and Transcript⁠⁠ Tickets to Nov 23rd NSE Live in Nashville: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.nashvillesymphony.org/nosmallendeavor⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Join NSE+⁠ — our subscriber-only community — for ad-free listening, member-only bonus content, and early access to live show tickets. Your membership helps make No Small Endeavor sustainable. No Small Endeavor: An award-winning podcast that asks what it means to live a good life. Through conversations with leading thinkers across theology, philosophy, psychology, politics, and the social sciences, we explore human flourishing, meaning and purpose, faith and culture, science and religion, virtue and character, community, and the practices that help shape a good life grounded in truth, beauty, and goodness. Follow ⁠@nosmallendeavor⁠  Host Lee C. Camp: Lee has worked as a professor of theology & ethics for more than 25 years, teaching and writing on topics of faith & politics, inter-religious dialog, and human flourishing at the intersection of theology, moral philosophy, and social sciences. Follow ⁠@leeccamp ⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Anne-Laure Le Cunff—then a high-achieving Google executive—was told to go to the hospital for a life-threatening blood clot, she found herself first checking her calendar. Her bizarre response told her something was wrong with her life and priorities. She left Silicon Valley, earned a degree in neuroscience, and wrote Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World. In this conversation with Lee C. Camp, Le Cunff explores the neuroscience behind procrastination, perfectionism, and burnout. She introduces a radical yet practical shift: replacing rigid goal-setting with small, curiosity-driven experiments. Drawing from her research at King’s College London and her work at Ness Labs, she explains how embracing uncertainty and intentional imperfection can unlock personal growth, reduce anxiety, and spark creativity. You’ll learn how to redesign your relationship with productivity by experimenting with tiny experiments, explore the psychology of goal-setting, and discover how tiny experiments can help rewire your mental scripts. For anyone struggling with burnout, toxic perfectionism, or simply feeling stuck, this episode offers a science-backed path toward a more adaptive, joyful life. ⁠Show Notes, Resources and Transcript⁠ Tickets to Nov 23rd NSE Live in Nashville: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.nashvillesymphony.org/nosmallendeavor⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Join NSE+⁠ — our subscriber-only community — for ad-free listening, member-only bonus content, and early access to live show tickets. Your membership helps make No Small Endeavor sustainable. No Small Endeavor: An award-winning podcast that asks what it means to live a good life. Through conversations with leading thinkers across theology, philosophy, psychology, politics, and the social sciences, we explore human flourishing, meaning and purpose, faith and culture, science and religion, virtue and character, community, and the practices that help shape a good life grounded in truth, beauty, and goodness. Follow ⁠@nosmallendeavor⁠  Host Lee C. Camp: Lee has worked as a professor of theology & ethics for more than 25 years, teaching and writing on topics of faith & politics, inter-religious dialog, and human flourishing at the intersection of theology, moral philosophy, and social sciences. Follow ⁠@leeccamp ⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is our unabridged interview with Melina Laboucan-Massimo. What does perseverance look like on the long road to justice?  Melina Laboucan-Massimo was born in the Lubicon Cree community of Little Buffalo, in what today is called northern Alberta. Some of her earliest memories include chasing dragonflies through pristine wilderness and protesting with her family against the oil and gas companies that threatened their way of life. Melina spent decades tirelessly advocating for climate justice and indigenous rights, until recently, when the Alberta wildfires left her bedridden and exhausted. Today, Melina and Lee discuss her journey back to health and the pathways forward, grounded in Indigenous knowledge, balance, and collective flourishing.  Show Notes, Resources and Transcript⁠ No Small Endeavor: Exploring what it means to live a good life, with thought provoking conversations about human flourishing, theology, politics, faith, social sciences, search for meaning, meaning and purpose, practices, common good, truth beauty and goodness, productivity, habit formation, neuroscience, science and religion, social justice, cardinal virtues, how of happiness, theology and culture, self development, happiness, virtue theory, being human, moral philosophy, community Join our subscriber only community called ⁠NSE+ BY CLICKING HERE⁠. Get ad-free listening, great member only bonus content, and early access to tickets for our live shows. AND, know that you're helping make NSE sustainable by becoming a member.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will technology change what it means to be human? Thanks to the rise and implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the common sci-fi trope of a machine-perpetuated apocalypse has taken on a new gravity in recent days. But is Chat GPT really going to rebel against humans, or even change things very much at all? “We're at the point where we do have technologies that are incredibly powerful,” says writer and commentator Meghan O’Gieblyn. “They're able to do things that they weren't programmed to do.” In this episode, Meghan discusses AI in great detail, and lays out what she believes to be the social, political, ethical, and even theological issues at stake as humanity learns to live with new technology. Show Notes Resources mentioned this episode: Meghan’s Website 'God, Human, Animal, Machine' by Meghan O’Gieblyn Similar No Small Endeavor episodes: The Price of the Pursuit of Pleasure: Anna Lembke The Most Polarized Issue in the United States: Katharine Hayhoe Beyond Fake News: Justin McBrayer PDF of Lee's Interview Notes Transcription Link JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is our unabridged interview with Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. How can you respond to climate change with joy? Those two words—climate change—can fill us with a sense of dread, anxiety, and doom. Those advocating action are often fueled by a sense of breakneck urgency. But for many, such an outlook isn’t motivating. It’s paralyzing. But what if there was another way filled with joy and satisfaction? “This is the work of our lifetime,” says Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, “so why don't we find ways to make it delightful?” In this episode, she explains why the climate crisis is no less dire than the news makes it seem, but why climate activism must be done with hope and joy to be sustainable. Show Notes Resources mentioned this episode: "What If We Get It Right" by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson  GetItRight.Earth Similar No Small Endeavor episodes: Debra Reinstra: Healing the Earth Bill McKibben: The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon Katharine Hayhoe: The Most Polarized Issue in the United States PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcript of Abridged Episode JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How can you respond to climate change with joy?  Those two words—climate change—can fill us with a sense of dread, anxiety, and doom. Those advocating action are often fueled by a sense of breakneck urgency. But for many, such an outlook isn’t motivating. It’s paralyzing. But what if there was another way filled with joy and satisfaction? “This is the work of our lifetime,” says Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, “so why don't we find ways to make it delightful?” In this episode, she explains why the climate crisis is no less dire than the news makes it seem, but why climate activism must be done with hope and joy to be sustainable. Show Notes Resources mentioned this episode: "What If We Get It Right" by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson  GetItRight.Earth Similar No Small Endeavor episodes: Debra Reinstra: Healing the Earth Bill McKibben: The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon Katharine Hayhoe: The Most Polarized Issue in the United States PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcription Link JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is our unabridged interview with Edith Hall. What if you’re wrong about what it means to be happy? In spite of unprecedented access to things that give pleasure - buy this pill, eat this food, go on this trip - mental health issues are increasing globally at an astonishing rate. It’s clear that the modern idea of happiness is lacking something. In this episode, Edith Hall offers an ancient definition of happiness from Aristotle that might just be the solution to our crisis of despair. “It’s a way of life, it's not a psychological state,” she says. “To live well…submit yourself to your own best self, and don't let transient temptations derail you.” Show Notes: Resources mentioned this episode: Aristotle’s Way by Edith Hall Similar No Small Endeavor episodes: Jeffrey Rosen: The Pursuit of Happiness Meghan Sullivan: What It Takes to Live a Good Life Gretchen Rubin: The Happiness Project Rebecca DeYoung: The Seven Deadly Sins Dacher Keltner: How Awe Will Transform Your Life PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcript of Abridged Episode JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if you’re wrong about what it means to be happy? In spite of unprecedented access to things that give pleasure - buy this pill, eat this food, go on this trip - mental health issues are increasing globally at an astonishing rate. It’s clear that the modern idea of happiness is lacking something. In this episode, Edith Hall offers an ancient definition of happiness from Aristotle that might just be the solution to our crisis of despair. “It’s a way of life, it's not a psychological state,” she says. “To live well…submit yourself to your own best self, and don't let transient temptations derail you.” Show Notes: Resources mentioned this episode: Aristotle’s Way by Edith Hall Similar No Small Endeavor episodes: Jeffrey Rosen: The Pursuit of Happiness Meghan Sullivan: What It Takes to Live a Good Life Gretchen Rubin: The Happiness Project Rebecca DeYoung: The Seven Deadly Sins Dacher Keltner: How Awe Will Transform Your Life PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcription Link JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is our unabridged interview with Cyntoia Brown Long. On August 7th, 2019, Cyntoia Brown Long was released from the Tennessee Prison for Women. It was 13 years after she had been sentenced to life without parole for the murder of a man to whom she had been sex-trafficked. In this special episode, Cyntoia tells an uncensored account of the great personal and systemic brokenness which led to her imprisonment, and the dramatic, at times hard-to-believe nature of the grace and providence which brought her to faith and ultimate release. Please be advised this episode contains details upsetting to some listeners, including references to sexual assault and trafficking. Additional resources are available at NO MORE. Show Notes Resources mentioned: "Free Cyntoia" by Cyntoia Brown Long The JFAM Foundation Similar NSE episodes: Emi Nietfeld: Acceptance Anthony Ray Hinton: An Innocent Man on Death Row Greg Boyle: Homeboys, Delight, Gladness Bill Haslam: Humility and the Art of Politics PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcript for Abridged Episode  JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On August 7th, 2019, Cyntoia Brown Long was released from the Tennessee Prison for Women. It was 13 years after she had been sentenced to life without parole for the murder of a man to whom she had been sex-trafficked. In this special episode, Cyntoia tells an uncensored account of the great personal and systemic brokenness which led to her imprisonment, and the dramatic, at times hard-to-believe nature of the grace and providence which brought her to faith and ultimate release. Please be advised this episode contains details upsetting to some listeners, including references to sexual assault and trafficking. Additional resources are available at NO MORE. Show Notes Resources mentioned: "Free Cyntoia" by Cyntoia Brown Long The JFAM Foundation Similar NSE episodes: Emi Nietfeld: Acceptance Anthony Ray Hinton: An Innocent Man on Death Row Greg Boyle: Homeboys, Delight, Gladness Bill Haslam: Humility and the Art of Politics PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcription Link JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is our unabridged interview with Quincy Byrdsong. How are the world’s poor and oppressed affected by inequity in healthcare systems? In the United States, “health inequity started with slavery,” says Dr. Quincy Byrdsong, himself a longtime healthcare professional. Since slavery was abolished, health inequities have not gone away, but have become more complex and subtle. In this episode, Dr. Byrdsong discusses how such cases as the infamous Tuskegee syphilis trials have allowed racism and classism to persist in healthcare systems, and what might be done in response to such injustice. Show Notes Resources mentioned this episode: Tuskegee Syphilis Study Similar No Small Endeavor episodes: Andre Churchwell: Diversity, Virtue, Healthcare Willie James Jennings: The Christian Imagination Transcript of Abridged Episode JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How are the world’s poor and oppressed affected by inequity in healthcare systems? In the United States, “health inequity started with slavery,” says Dr. Quincy Byrdsong, himself a longtime healthcare professional. Since slavery was abolished, health inequities have not gone away, but have become more complex and subtle. In this episode, Dr. Byrdsong discusses how such cases as the infamous Tuskegee syphilis trials have allowed racism and classism to persist in healthcare systems, and what might be done in response to such injustice. Show Notes Resources mentioned this episode: Tuskegee Syphilis Study Similar No Small Endeavor episodes: Andre Churchwell: Diversity, Virtue, Healthcare Willie James Jennings: The Christian Imagination Transcription Link JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is our unabridged interview with Jerry Mitchell. In the 1990s, investigative journalist Jerry Mitchell started working on a handful of closed murder cases from the Civil Rights Era which he believed were never brought to justice. Since then, Jerry’s work has led to 24 convictions in Civil Rights murder cases. In this episode, he tells some of the most jaw-dropping stories from his life’s work, from the discovery of sealed spy records which reveal government involvement in racial murder, to interviews with klansmen who made threats on his life. “Them trying to threaten me really made me more determined to do it than ever,” he says. “A life of fear is not worth living.” Show Notes Resources mentioned this episode: "Mississippi Burning" (1988) "Race Against Time: A Reporter Reopens the Unsolved Murder Cases of the Civil Rights Era" Similar No Small Endeavor episodes: Dr. Fred Gray: Doing Justice Alongside MLK and Rosa Parks Eddie Glaude: On James Baldwin’s America Robert Jones: White Too Long Transcript for Abridged Episode  JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does perseverance look like on the long road to justice?  Melina Laboucan-Massimo was born in the Lubicon Cree community of Little Buffalo, in what today is called northern Alberta. Some of her earliest memories include chasing dragonflies through pristine wilderness and protesting with her family against the oil and gas companies that threatened their way of life. Melina spent decades tirelessly advocating for climate justice and indigenous rights, until recently, when the Alberta wildfires left her bedridden and exhausted. Today, Melina and Lee discuss her journey back to health and the pathways forward, grounded in Indigenous knowledge, balance, and collective flourishing.  Show Notes, Resources and Transcript No Small Endeavor: Exploring what it means to live a good life, with thought provoking conversations about human flourishing, theology, politics, faith, social sciences, search for meaning, meaning and purpose, practices, common good, truth beauty and goodness, productivity, habit formation, neuroscience, science and religion, social justice, cardinal virtues, how of happiness, theology and culture, self development, happiness, virtue theory, being human, moral philosophy, community Join our subscriber only community called NSE+ BY CLICKING HERE. Get ad-free listening, great member only bonus content, and early access to tickets for our live shows. AND, know that you're helping make NSE sustainable by becoming a member.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 1990s, investigative journalist Jerry Mitchell started working on a handful of closed murder cases from the Civil Rights Era which he believed were never brought to justice. Since then, Jerry’s work has led to 24 convictions in Civil Rights murder cases. In this episode, he tells some of the most jaw-dropping stories from his life’s work, from the discovery of sealed spy records which reveal government involvement in racial murder, to interviews with klansmen who made threats on his life. “Them trying to threaten me really made me more determined to do it than ever,” he says. “A life of fear is not worth living.” Show Notes Resources mentioned this episode: "Mississippi Burning" (1988) "Race Against Time: A Reporter Reopens the Unsolved Murder Cases of the Civil Rights Era" Similar No Small Endeavor episodes: Dr. Fred Gray: Doing Justice Alongside MLK and Rosa Parks Eddie Glaude: On James Baldwin’s America Robert Jones: White Too Long Transcription Link  JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is our unabridged episode with Clay Hobbs. What if you knew you had one year left to live? With just 365 days left on earth, how would you spend them?  After a terminal cancer diagnosis, host Lee C. Camp’s friend Clay Hobbs was faced with this exact question. Doctors estimated he would die before the year was out, and Clay took them literally. He chose a date, marked it on a calendar, and began planning accordingly.  In today’s intimate episode, Lee shares several conversations with Clay in the last year of his life. The friends discuss coming to terms with a terminal diagnosis, saying goodbye, and how the practice of facing death may help us all lead more intentional lives. Show Notes Resources mentioned this episode: On Death And Dying - Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life - Winifred Gallagher Similar No Small Endeavor episodes: Oliver Burkeman: Time Management for Mortals Burying 250 Friends: Greg Boyle on Community Amidst Gang Violence  The Opposite of Faith is Certainty: Christian Wiman Dacher Keltner: How Awe Will Transform Your Life Transcript for Abridged Episode JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if you knew you had one year left to live? With just 365 days left on earth, how would you spend them?  After a terminal cancer diagnosis, host Lee C. Camp’s friend Clay Hobbs was faced with this exact question. Doctors estimated he would die before the year was out, and Clay took them literally. He chose a date, marked it on a calendar, and began planning accordingly.  In today’s intimate episode, Lee shares several conversations with Clay in the last year of his life. The friends discuss coming to terms with a terminal diagnosis, saying goodbye, and how the practice of facing death may help us all lead more intentional lives. Show Notes Resources mentioned this episode: On Death And Dying - Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life - Winifred Gallagher Similar No Small Endeavor episodes: Oliver Burkeman: Time Management for Mortals Burying 250 Friends: Greg Boyle on Community Amidst Gang Violence  The Opposite of Faith is Certainty: Christian Wiman Dacher Keltner: How Awe Will Transform Your Life Transcription Link JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today says that for 50% of our lives, we are not paying attention to what we’re doing. In today’s fast-paced, technology-driven world, many of us are coming to terms with the fact that our capacity for paying attention is laughably weak. Our work, mental health, and relationships suffer because of it. But what if there was a tried-and-true way to change this, something like “push-ups for your brain?” Neuroscientist Amishi Jha has dedicated her career to studying this question, and the results are in. In this episode, she describes the practice of mindfulness meditation - why it can work for everyone (not just the spiritual folks), and how it only takes 12 minutes each day to reach one’s “Peak Mind.” Show Notes Resources mentioned this episode: Peak Mind by Amishi Jha Similar No Small Endeavor episodes: Naomi Shihab Nye: The Life Changing Benefits of Paying Attention Charles Duhigg: The Power of Habit Kristin Neff: The Power of Self-Compassion Dacher Keltner: How Awe Will Transform Your Life PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcript for Abridged Episode JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today says that for 50% of our lives, we are not paying attention to what we’re doing. In today’s fast-paced, technology-driven world, many of us are coming to terms with the fact that our capacity for paying attention is laughably weak. Our work, mental health, and relationships suffer because of it. But what if there was a tried-and-true way to change this, something like “push-ups for your brain?” Neuroscientist Amishi Jha has dedicated her career to studying this question, and the results are in. In this episode, she describes the practice of mindfulness meditation - why it can work for everyone (not just the spiritual folks), and how it only takes 12 minutes each day to reach one’s “Peak Mind.” Show Notes Resources mentioned this episode: Peak Mind by Amishi Jha Similar No Small Endeavor episodes: Naomi Shihab Nye: The Life Changing Benefits of Paying Attention Charles Duhigg: The Power of Habit Kristin Neff: The Power of Self-Compassion Dacher Keltner: How Awe Will Transform Your Life PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcription Link JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is our unabridged interview with Rabbi Shai Held. “I think part of what it means to live in an honest way with a religious tradition is to live with its ragged edges.” It’s not unusual to assume that one of religion's prime functions is to give us answers. But what if some of life’s hardest questions weren’t meant to be answered, but rather perpetually asked? In this episode, Rabbi Shai Held, author of the book, "Judaism is About Love: Recovering the Heart of Jewish Life,” exemplifies this possibility, engaging the messiness and joy of life with honest grappling. He argues that some Jews have internalized traditional anti-Jewish bias and he seeks to help recover what has been lost. He shows that love and grace are at the center of a good life. Show Notes Resources mentioned this episode: Judaism Is About Love by Shai Held Similar No Small Endeavor episodes: Amy-Jill Levine: A Jewish Take on Jesus Jesuitical: How Young Catholics See the World Miroslav Volf: A Theology of Joy Pete Enns and Jared Byas: The Bible for Normal People PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcript for Abridged Episode JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I think part of what it means to live in an honest way with a religious tradition is to live with its ragged edges.” It’s not unusual to assume that one of religion's prime functions is to give us answers. But what if some of life’s hardest questions weren’t meant to be answered, but rather perpetually asked? In this episode, Rabbi Shai Held, author of the book, "Judaism is About Love: Recovering the Heart of Jewish Life,” exemplifies this possibility, engaging the messiness and joy of life with honest grappling. He argues that some Jews have internalized traditional anti-Jewish bias and he seeks to help recover what has been lost. He shows that love and grace are at the center of a good life. Show Notes Resources mentioned this episode: Judaism Is About Love by Shai Held Similar No Small Endeavor episodes: Amy-Jill Levine: A Jewish Take on Jesus Jesuitical: How Young Catholics See the World Miroslav Volf: A Theology of Joy Pete Enns and Jared Byas: The Bible for Normal People PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Episode Transcript JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is our unabridged interview with Pete Enns and Jared Byas. “It was our curiosity about the Bible that is now leading to conclusions that are no longer welcome in these institutions.”Pete Enns and Jared Byas host The Bible for Normal People, a podcast which is loved by some, lambasted by others. They started it as a way to have honest conversations about the Bible, for folks both religious and non-religious -- conversations that cost them both previous jobs at religious institutions.In this episode, they discuss the complexity of the Bible, and what their work has taught them about courage, curiosity, humility, and the dangers of certainty. Show Notes Resources mentioned this episode: The Sin of Certainty by Pete Enns How the Bible Actually Works by Pete Enns Love Matters More by Jared Byas The Bible for Normal People PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcript for Abridged Episode Similar No Small Endeavor episodes: Amy-Jill Levine: A Jewish Take on Jesus Jesuitical: How Young Catholics See the World N.T. Wright and the Bancroft Brothers: Theology and Poetry JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“It was our curiosity about the Bible that is now leading to conclusions that are no longer welcome in these institutions.”Pete Enns and Jared Byas host The Bible for Normal People, a podcast which is loved by some, lambasted by others. They started it as a way to have honest conversations about the Bible, for folks both religious and non-religious -- conversations that cost them both previous jobs at religious institutions.In this episode, they discuss the complexity of the Bible, and what their work has taught them about courage, curiosity, humility, and the dangers of certainty. Show Notes Resources mentioned this episode: The Sin of Certainty by Pete Enns How the Bible Actually Works by Pete Enns Love Matters More by Jared Byas The Bible for Normal People PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcription Link Similar No Small Endeavor episodes: Amy-Jill Levine: A Jewish Take on Jesus Jesuitical: How Young Catholics See the World N.T. Wright and the Bancroft Brothers: Theology and Poetry JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is our unabridged interview with Stanley Hauerwas (Part II). “This is my life. I want no other.” Time Magazine has recognized Stanley Hauerwas as the best theologian in America. But you don’t get that title by making everybody happy. Stanley's enigmatic personality is loved by some, lambasted by others. His dogged pacifism is laced with profanity. He’s a stereotypical Texan, but is a vocal opponent of gun ownership. Many think him to be a liberal, but he disavows liberalism. Others call him conservative, but his extreme dislike for evangelicalism and war-making dispute that claim. Wherever you're coming from, you're in for a disarmingly candid episode on one man's life in his own words, a life spent relentlessly seeking the nature of a good life. Show Notes: Resources mentioned this episode Hannah’s Child by Stanley Hauerwas John Dear NSE Interview PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcript for Abridged Episode JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is our unabridged interview with Michael Luo. When journalist Michael Luo was told to “go back to China” on a Manhattan sidewalk, it sparked a deeply personal journey into America’s past. In his new book Strangers in the Land, Luo unearths the overlooked history of Chinese exclusion in the U.S.—from early migrations and violent hostility to the nation’s first racially targeted immigration laws. He reflects on the enduring legacies of that history and the echoes we see today. Michael explores not just patterns of injustice but also stories of resilience and solidarity that offer a hopeful vision for America’s future.  ⁠Show Notes, Resources and Transcript⁠ No Small Endeavor: Exploring what it means to live a good life, with thought provoking conversations about human flourishing, theology, politics, faith, social sciences, search for meaning, meaning and purpose, practices, common good, truth beauty and goodness, productivity, habit formation, neuroscience, science and religion, social justice, cardinal virtues, how of happiness, theology and culture, self development, happiness, virtue theory, being human, moral philosophy, community Join our subscriber only community called ⁠NSE+ BY CLICKING HERE⁠. Get ad-free listening, great member only bonus content, and early access to tickets for our live shows. AND, know that you're helping make NSE sustainable by becoming a member.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is our unabridged interview with Stanley Hauerwas (Part I). “This is my life. I want no other.” Time Magazine has recognized Stanley Hauerwas as the best theologian in America. But you don’t get that title by making everybody happy. Stanley's enigmatic personality is loved by some, lambasted by others. His dogged pacifism is laced with profanity. He’s a stereotypical Texan, but is a vocal opponent of gun ownership. Many think him to be a liberal, but he disavows liberalism. Others call him conservative, but his extreme dislike for evangelicalism and war-making dispute that claim. Wherever you're coming from, you're in for a disarmingly candid episode on one man's life in his own words, a life spent relentlessly seeking the nature of a good life. Show Notes: Resources mentioned this episode Hannah’s Child by Stanley Hauerwas John Dear NSE Interview PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcript for Abridged Episode JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“This is my life. I want no other.” Time Magazine has recognized Stanley Hauerwas as the best theologian in America. But you don’t get that title by making everybody happy. Stanley's enigmatic personality is loved by some, lambasted by others. His dogged pacifism is laced with profanity. He’s a stereotypical Texan, but is a vocal opponent of gun ownership. Many think him to be a liberal, but he disavows liberalism. Others call him conservative, but his extreme dislike for evangelicalism and war-making dispute that claim. Wherever you're coming from, you're in for a disarmingly candid episode on one man's life in his own words, a life spent relentlessly seeking the nature of a good life. Show Notes: Resources mentioned this episode Hannah’s Child by Stanley Hauerwas John Dear NSE Interview PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcription Link  JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is our unabridged interview with Jeffrey Rosen. “In many ways, we're living in the founders’ nightmare,” says Jeffrey Rosen, president of the National Constitution Center. “All of the founders thought that we could not govern ourselves as a democracy unless we first achieved self-government as individuals.” For Independence Day, Rosen shares how the "pursuit of happiness" mentioned in the Declaration of Independence is defined differently than our contemporary notion of the word. It includes a life in pursuit of self-mastery as what would ensure our individual and collective flourishing. Jeffrey also discusses the goods of stoic philosophy and touts the practice of deep reading as a potential antidote to civic issues the U.S. is facing currently. Show Notes: Resources mentioned this episode The Pursuit of Happiness by Jeffrey Rosen We The People Podcast PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcript for Abridged Episode JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“In many ways, we're living in the founders’ nightmare,” says Jeffrey Rosen, president of the National Constitution Center. “All of the founders thought that we could not govern ourselves as a democracy unless we first achieved self-government as individuals.” For Independence Day, Rosen shares how the "pursuit of happiness" mentioned in the Declaration of Independence is defined differently than our contemporary notion of the word. It includes a life in pursuit of self-mastery as what would ensure our individual and collective flourishing. Jeffrey also discusses the goods of stoic philosophy and touts the practice of deep reading as a potential antidote to civic issues the U.S. is facing currently. Show Notes: Resources mentioned this episode The Pursuit of Happiness by Jeffrey Rosen We The People Podcast PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcription Link  JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is our unabridged interview with Emi Nietfeld. “When I was 13, I went to the psych ward for the first time,” recalls Emi Nietfeld. After a childhood spent in manipulative therapy, institutional facilities, foster care, and even times of homelessness, Emi got into Harvard, and then went on to get a great job at Google. This is the classic American rags-to-riches story, of someone overcoming misery to find success and happiness, right? Not exactly. “Those perfect human interest stories are fictions,” she says. “We really do expect people to be perfect in a way that I knew I was not.” In this episode, the nuance of learning to accept one’s pain, and yet refusing to stand for it. ** Please be advised that this episode contains details that may be upsetting to some listeners including references to suicide, sexual assault, and disordered eating. ** Additional resources are available at:  SAMHSA National Sexual Violence Resource Center National Alliance for Eating Disorders Show Notes Resources mentioned this episode: Acceptance by Emi Nietfeld Quote from James Baldwin “Notes of a Native Son” PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcript for Abridged Episode JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“When I was 13, I went to the psych ward for the first time,” recalls Emi Nietfeld. After a childhood spent in manipulative therapy, institutional facilities, foster care, and even times of homelessness, Emi got into Harvard, and then went on to get a great job at Google. This is the classic American rags-to-riches story, of someone overcoming misery to find success and happiness, right? Not exactly. “Those perfect human interest stories are fictions,” she says. “We really do expect people to be perfect in a way that I knew I was not.” In this episode, the nuance of learning to accept one’s pain, and yet refusing to stand for it. ** Please be advised that this episode contains details that may be upsetting to some listeners including references to suicide, sexual assault, and disordered eating. ** Additional resources are available at:  SAMHSA National Sexual Violence Resource Center National Alliance for Eating Disorders Show Notes Resources mentioned this episode: Acceptance by Emi Nietfeld Quote from James Baldwin “Notes of a Native Son” PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcription Link JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is our unabridged interview with Charles Duhigg. How do you form a good habit? How do you change a destructive one? “It's up to us to decide which…habits that we wish to embrace,” says Charles Duhigg, author of the longtime bestseller "The Power of Habit." In this episode, he explains how to tackle new and old habits in an empowering way.  Plus, Duhigg discusses his new book "Supercommunicators," in which he shares how to understand the type of conversation you're having with someone and how to show them your listening—hint, it’s not with your body language. Show Notes: Resources mentioned this episode The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcript for Abridged Episode JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do you form a good habit? How do you change a destructive one? “It's up to us to decide which…habits that we wish to embrace,” says Charles Duhigg, author of the longtime bestseller "The Power of Habit." In this episode, he explains how to tackle new and old habits in an empowering way.  Plus, Duhigg discusses his new book "Supercommunicators," in which he shares how to understand the type of conversation you're having with someone and how to show them your listening—hint, it’s not with your body language. Show Notes: Resources mentioned this episode The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcription Link JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“​​We started the public desegregation of the nation,” says Reverend James Lawson, “and we did it without hating anybody.” In this episode, the man who Martin Luther King Jr. called friend, mentor, and the very conscience and architect of the Civil Rights Movement, Reverend James Lawson, discusses the United States’ past and present, and what it took to organize a whole population across the country to fight back without throwing a punch.  This episode is dedicated to the memory of Reverend Lawson, who passed away on June 9th 2024, at the age of 95. Show Notes: Resources mentioned this episode James Lawson Full Interview PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcript for Juneteenth Special Episode JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Juneteenth celebrates the day that the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation was given in Texas, officially making slavery illegal in the U.S. But what factors led to the worldview that condoned slavery in the first place, and how might those factors still be affecting the country today? Martin Luther King Jr.’s attorney Fred Gray discusses his work against segregation in the South, particularly in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Yale professor Willie James Jennings describes the religious and cultural origins of racism. And James Lawson, considered by many as one of the architects of the civil rights movement, explains how he and other leaders came to believe that the only way to effectively desegregate the nation was through non-violent protest. Show Notes: Resources mentioned this episode James Lawson Full Interview Fred Gray Full Interview Willie James Jennings Full Interview The Christian Imagination by Willie James Jennings Bus Ride to Justice by Fred Gray PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes - Willie James Jennings PDF of Lee's Interview Notes - James Lawson Transcription Link  JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When journalist Michael Luo was told to “go back to China” on a Manhattan sidewalk, it sparked a deeply personal journey into America’s past. In his new book Strangers in the Land, Luo unearths the overlooked history of Chinese exclusion in the U.S.—from early migrations and violent hostility to the nation’s first racially targeted immigration laws. He reflects on the enduring legacies of that history and the echoes we see today. Michael explores not just patterns of injustice but also stories of resilience and solidarity that offer a hopeful vision for America’s future.  Show Notes, Resources and Transcript No Small Endeavor: Exploring what it means to live a good life, with thought provoking conversations about human flourishing, theology, politics, faith, social sciences, search for meaning, meaning and purpose, practices, common good, truth beauty and goodness, productivity, habit formation, neuroscience, science and religion, social justice, cardinal virtues, how of happiness, theology and culture, self development, happiness, virtue theory, being human, moral philosophy, community Join our subscriber only community called NSE+ BY CLICKING HERE. Get ad-free listening, great member only bonus content, and early access to tickets for our live shows. AND, know that you're helping make NSE sustainable by becoming a member.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What has the power to change our minds about the world? In John Blake’s case, it was a surprise encounter. “I knew I had a white mother,” says award-winning journalist John Blake. “Her name is Shirley, and her family hates black people… that's all I knew.” At age 17, John Blake’s father casually asked him if he’d like to meet his mother for the first time. Three days later, he found himself in the waiting room of a hospital. “The meeting is nothing that I expected,” he recalls. “It's incredibly shocking.” Today, Blake tells the story of his childhood, born in the sixties as the son of an interracial couple in Baltimore. His story sheds light on the history of racial prejudice in the United States, and offers wisdom about the ways in which we might find hope and healing in the midst of all kinds of struggle and hostility. Show Notes: Resources mentioned this episode More Than I Imagined by John Blake PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcript for Abridged Episode JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Blake’s father was Black. The mother he never knew was white. The two met in Baltimore in the 60’s when interracial marriage was illegal. “I knew I had a white mother,” says the award-winning journalist. “Her name is Shirley, and her family hates black people… that's all I knew.”  At age 17, John Blake’s father casually asked him if he’d like to meet his mother for the first time. Three days later, he found himself in the waiting room of a hospital where he uncovered a long held family secret. “The meeting is nothing that I expected,” he recalls. “It's incredibly shocking.”  Today, Blake tells the story of his childhood shedding light on the history of racial prejudice in the United States. He offers wisdom about the ways in which we might find hope and healing in the midst of all kinds of struggle and hostility. Show Notes: Resources mentioned this episode More Than I Imagined by John Blake PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcription Link JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is our unabridged interview with Naomi Shihab Nye. What do scientists and poets both agree on? On this show, we often host guests whose work is in scientific or concrete fields, such as psychology or sociology, which rely on experiments and research to come to helpful conclusions. But such conversations sometimes fall short of the wonder and beauty we experience in everyday life, and for such subjects, we turn to the poets. In this episode, award-winning poet Naomi Shihab Nye corroborates what researchers have confirmed—the benefits of paying attention. She shares abundant wisdom for living a good life through the lens of poetry. Her work has a quality that the best poetry has, that of paying rapt attention to small moments, making meaning and hope out of everyday wonders. Show Notes: Resources mentioned this episode Everything Comes Next by Naomi Shihab Nye PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcript for Abridged Episode JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do scientists and poets both agree on? On this show, we often host guests whose work is in scientific or concrete fields, such as psychology or sociology, which rely on experiments and research to come to helpful conclusions. But such conversations sometimes fall short of the wonder and beauty we experience in everyday life, and for such subjects, we turn to the poets. In this episode, award-winning poet Naomi Shihab Nye corroborates what researchers have confirmed—the benefits of paying attention. She shares abundant wisdom for living a good life through the lens of poetry. Her work has a quality that the best poetry has, that of paying rapt attention to small moments, making meaning and hope out of everyday wonders. Show Notes: Resources mentioned this episode Everything Comes Next by Naomi Shihab Nye PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcription Link JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is our unabridged interview with Kristin Neff. Is high self-esteem crucial to human flourishing, or, rather, a hindrance? “The biggest problem with self-esteem is that it tends to be contingent,” says Kristin Neff. “We only feel good about ourselves when we succeed.” Far too often, high self-esteem breeds narcissism, bullying, and prejudice. Kristin is a professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. She’s also a prominent expert on the topic of self-compassion, which her research has found to be much more effective than self-esteem in helping people flourish. In this episode, she shares what makes self-compassion different from self-esteem, how to cultivate it, and how it can help us to flourish amidst stress, suffering, and everyday life. We also hear briefly from psychiatrist and author Curt Thompson illuminating the negative neurobiological effects of shame while Kristen explains how self compassion can remedy these effects. Show Notes: Similar episodes Tara Brach: Radical Acceptance Judith Moskowitz: How to Flourish Amidst Stress Alfie Kohn: Why You Shouldn’t Punish–or Reward–Your Kids Curt Thompson: The Soul of Shame Resources mentioned this episode Self-Compassion by Kristin Neff Fierce Self-Compassion by Kristin Neff Self-Compassion.org Why Self-Compassion Works Better than Self-Esteem PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcript for Abridged Episode JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTube Follow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube Follow Lee: Instagram | Twitter Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is high self-esteem crucial to human flourishing, or, rather, a hindrance? “The biggest problem with self-esteem is that it tends to be contingent,” says Kristin Neff. “We only feel good about ourselves when we succeed.” Far too often, high self-esteem breeds narcissism, bullying, and prejudice. Kristin is a professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. She’s also a prominent expert on the topic of self-compassion, which her research has found to be much more effective than self-esteem in helping people flourish. In this episode, she shares what makes self-compassion different from self-esteem, how to cultivate it, and how it can help us to flourish amidst stress, suffering, and everyday life. We also hear briefly from psychiatrist and author Curt Thompson illuminating the negative neurobiological effects of shame while Kristen explains how self compassion can remedy these effects. Show Notes: Similar episodes Tara Brach: Radical Acceptance Judith Moskowitz: How to Flourish Amidst Stress Alfie Kohn: Why You Shouldn’t Punish–or Reward–Your Kids Curt Thompson: The Soul of Shame Resources mentioned this episode Self-Compassion by Kristin Neff Fierce Self-Compassion by Kristin Neff Self-Compassion.org Why Self-Compassion Works Better than Self-Esteem PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcription Link JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTube Follow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube Follow Lee: Instagram | Twitter Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is our unabridged episode with Amy-Jill Levine. What happens when you get a self-dubbed “yankee Jewish feminist” talking about Jesus? Turns out, you get a fascinating conversation leaving folks of all faiths and worldviews with much to think about. Amy-Jill Levine is a brilliant professor of New Testament, and, perhaps surprisingly, a practicing Jew. In this episode, she uses her knowledge of Jewish culture to highlight common mis-readings of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’s stance on societal and gender norms, and how “Christian fragility” can impede one’s ability to address religious and social questions honestly. Show Notes: Similar episodes Amy-Jill Levine: Jewish, Yankee Feminist, New Testament Professor John Dear: Taking the Beatitudes Seriously N.T. Wright and the Bancroft Brothers: Theology and Poetry Jesuitical: How Young Catholics See the World Resources mentioned this episode Sermon on the Mount: A Beginners Guide to the Kingdom of Heaven by Amy-Jill Levine PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcript for Abridged Episode JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTube Follow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube Follow Lee: Instagram | Twitter Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happens when you get a self-dubbed “yankee Jewish feminist” talking about Jesus? Turns out, you get a fascinating conversation leaving folks of all faiths and worldviews with much to think about. Amy-Jill Levine is a brilliant professor of New Testament, and, perhaps surprisingly, a practicing Jew. In this episode, she uses her knowledge of Jewish culture to highlight common mis-readings of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’s stance on societal and gender norms, and how “Christian fragility” can impede one’s ability to address religious and social questions honestly. Show Notes: Similar episodes Amy-Jill Levine: Jewish, Yankee Feminist, New Testament Professor John Dear: Taking the Beatitudes Seriously N.T. Wright and the Bancroft Brothers: Theology and Poetry Jesuitical: How Young Catholics See the World Resources mentioned this episode Sermon on the Mount: A Beginners Guide to the Kingdom of Heaven by Amy-Jill Levine PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcription Link JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTube Follow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube Follow Lee: Instagram | Twitter Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is our unabridged interview with Angela Williams Gorrell. What is joy? Is it equatable with happiness, or pleasure, or both? Is it to be found in a career, or a romantic partner, or a religion? And if we were to manage it, would our lives forever be free from sorrow, pain, and suffering? In this episode, author and professor Angela Williams Gorrell, who was teaching a class on joy at Yale when she lost three people that she loved in a four-week span, describes her personal experience of finding joy amidst loss. Show Notes: Similar episodes Philip Yancey: Where the Light Fell Azim Khamisa: Ending Violence Through Forgiveness Kelly Corrigan: How Vulnerability Leads to Connection William Paul Young: Author of The Shack Christian Wiman: The Opposite of Faith is Certainty Resources mentioned this episode The Gravity of Joy by Angela Williams Gorrell The Epidemic of Despair PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes - Angela Williams Gorrell Link to Transcript for Abridged Episode JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTube Follow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube Follow Lee: Instagram | Twitter Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is joy? Is it equatable with happiness, or pleasure, or both? Is it to be found in a career, or a romantic partner, or a religion? And if we were to manage it, would our lives forever be free from sorrow, pain, and suffering? In this episode, two guests discuss joy, describing both what it is and, perhaps more importantly, what it is not. Author and professor Angela Williams Gorrell, who was teaching a class on joy at Yale when she lost three people that she loved in a four-week span, describes her personal experience of finding joy amidst loss. And Yale theologian Miroslav Volf, himself no stranger to suffering growing up in a war torn country, explains the connection between joy and sorrow. Show Notes: Similar episodes Philip Yancey: Where the Light Fell Azim Khamisa: Ending Violence Through Forgiveness Kelly Corrigan: How Vulnerability Leads to Connection William Paul Young: Author of The Shack Christian Wiman: The Opposite of Faith is Certainty Resources mentioned this episode The Gravity of Joy by Angela Williams Gorrell The Epidemic of Despair PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes - Angela Williams Gorrell Transcription Link JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTube Follow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube Follow Lee: Instagram | Twitter Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a world that is increasingly dominated by profit over people, it’s easy to be cynical about the future. But what if there was a different way forward? Could capitalism, technology, and human flourishing go hand in hand, and what would it take to get us there? In this episode, Lee Camp invites Astro Teller, co-founder and "Captain of Moonshots" at Alphabet’s X, into a conversation about reshaping the business narrative. From developing sticker technology to track global goods more sustainably, to pioneering affordable ways to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, Astro shares how he thinks moonshot thinking can reconcile profit, purpose, and planetary health.  Show Notes, Resources and Transcript No Small Endeavor: Exploring what it means to live a good life, with thought provoking conversations about human flourishing, theology, politics, faith, social sciences, search for meaning, meaning and purpose, practices, common good, truth beauty and goodness, productivity, habit formation, neuroscience, science and religion, social justice, cardinal virtues, how of happiness, theology and culture, self development, happiness, virtue theory, being human, moral philosophy, community Join our subscriber only community called NSE+ BY CLICKING HERE. Get ad-free listening, great member only bonus content, and early access to tickets for our live shows. AND, know that you're helping make NSE sustainable by becoming a member.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is our unabridged interview with Karen Korematsu. What is it like to be an Asian American? In light of the beginning of AAPI month, we present a re-airing of our episode from 2021 with Karen Korematsu and Eugene Cho, two Asian-Americans with unique stories of grief and hope. Karen Korematsu tells the story of her father Fred Korematsu, a famed Japanese-American civil rights activist who refused Franklin Roosevelt’s executive order to report to what FDR himself called “a concentration camp” on American soil shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Show Notes: Similar episodes Eugene Cho: Thou Shalt Not Be a Jerk Elise Hu: Obsessed with Beauty Resources mentioned this episode The Korematsu Institute PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes - Karen Korematsu Transcript of Abridged Episode JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTube Follow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube Follow Lee: Instagram | Twitter Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is it like to be an Asian American? In light of the beginning of AAPI month, we present a re-airing of our episode from 2021 with Karen Korematsu and Eugene Cho, two Asian-Americans with unique stories of grief and hope. Karen Korematsu tells the story of her father Fred Korematsu, a famed Japanese-American civil rights activist who refused Franklin Roosevelt’s executive order to report to what FDR himself called “a concentration camp” on American soil shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Eugene Cho discusses his experiences as a Korean-born American immigrant, and how we might learn to love our neighbors in the face of political polarization and racial discrimination. Show Notes: Similar episodes Eugene Cho: Thou Shalt Not Be a Jerk Elise Hu: Obsessed with Beauty Resources mentioned this episode Thou Shalt Not Be a Jerk by Eugene Cho The Korematsu Institute PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes - Eugene Cho PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes - Karen Korematsu Transcription Link JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTube Follow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube Follow Lee: Instagram | Twitter Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we’re sharing a special episode from The Gist—hosted by Mike Pesca. Sir David King, formerly the UK's Government Chief Scientific Adviser, is now the Founder and Chair at Cambridge's Center for Climate Repair. He advocates carbon capture technology as part of the mix of solutions to climate change. Many environmentalists are not sold. Mike Pesca has established a seven-year connection to his audience as host of The Gist. For thirty minutes each day, Pesca challenges himself and his audience, in a responsibly provocative style, and gets beyond the rigidity and dogma. The Gist is surprising, reasonable, and willing to critique the left, the right, either party, or any idea. Listen to more episodes of The Gist and follow the podcast: https://pod.link/873667927 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices