Podcasts from the Center for Courage & Renewal

This podcast is an interview of Parker Palmer by Tom Heck of the International Association of Teamwork Facilitators, initially recorded on May 16, 2012. In it, Parker draws connections between leadership, spirituality, and the 5 Habits of the Heart as addressed in his book Healing the Heart of Democracy. Download or play podcast: Leadership and the 5 Habits {rawcontent rc=18}

Parker Palmer's lastest book Healing the Heart of Democracy: The Courage to Create a Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit has hit the shelves.  This podcast is a re-broadcast of an interview of Parker by Jean Feraca on her wonderful Wisconsin Public Radio Show, Here on Earth. Our webcast with Parker Palmer, called Doing Democracy from the Inside Out, is scheduled for next week, October 11, at 8 p.m. Eastern Time. Click on the link above to register to participate in this live event, or, if you're seeing this after October 11, to view the archive of the webcast. Download or play podcast: Democracy, Here on Earth {rawcontent rc=18}

The forthcoming book from Parker Palmer, Healing the Heart of Democracy: The Courage to Create a Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit, is releasing this fall. In it, Parker writes, "The heart is where everything begins: that grounded place in each of us where can overcome fear, rediscover that we are members of one another, and embrace the conflicts that threaten democracy." In this podcast, Parker Palmer tells the story of three political leaders highlighted in the new book - Quaker John Woolman, President Abraham Lincoln, activist Rosa Parks - and how their "habits of the heart" prepared them to live undivided lives in American democracy. Download or play podcast: Stories from Healing the Heart of Democracy {rawcontent rc=18}

We're excited to see Parker participating on Facebook.  In a recent update, he wrote: I argue there are two ways for the heart to break: APART into many shards like a fragment grenade, or OPEN into greater capacity so we can hold life’s inevitable tensions creatively, not destructively. Many of us learn how to hold personal tensions in that open, life-giving way. How do we learn? And how can we transfer that “habit of the heart” into our political lives where it is so badly needed? This podcast is again from the 5-CD set from Sounds True, called An Undivided Life: Seeking Wholeness in Ourselves, Our Work & Our World. In it he discusses the "Broken-OPEN heart" and his conviction that the journey toward wholeness almost always involves having your heart broken open.  Download or play podcast: Open Heart {rawcontent rc=18}

Happy New Year!  Again we share two segments from Parker Palmer's 5-CD set from Sounds True, called An Undivided Life: Seeking Wholeness in Ourselves, Our Work & Our World. The first is entitled "Perfection is not the goal of an undivided life" and the second, "Trust and distrust in personal and political life."  Please listen and return to our blog to share your comments.  Parker is in the midst of writing a new book, The Politics of the Brokenhearted and is planning two retreats, open to the public, with the same title.  Please click here to learn more and to participate in this rare opportunity. Download or play podcast: New Year {rawcontent rc=18} 

In this piece, Parker Palmer shares one of his favorite teaching stories, "The Woodcarver" by Chuang Tzu.  To read the full story, please see page 95 of A Hidden Wholeness.  We'd love to have you share your reflections on this "third thing."  Please visit our blog to do so.  This podcast is one segment on the new 5-CD set from Sounds True, called An Undivided Life: Seeking Wholeness in Ourselves, Our Work & Our World. Download or play podcast: The Woodcarver {rawcontent rc=18} 

Parker Palmer reflects on the consequences of living a divided life and the quest for wholeness.  This podcast is one segment on the new 5-CD set from Sounds True, called An Undivided Life: Seeking Wholeness in Ourselves, Our Work & Our World. Download or play podcast: The Divided Life and the Quest for True Self {rawcontent rc=18} 

During his appearance on PBS's Bill Moyers Journal in February 2009, Parker Palmer spoke about being present for someone suffering from depression.  Participants in our retreats have the opportunity to experience this way of relating in a practice called "Clearness Committee."  Please have a listen to this short piece that includes Parker's description of the practice, and come back to our site to learn more about retreats in your area where you might be able to experience this important part of our work. Download or play podcast: The Clearness Committee {rawcontent rc=18} 

A new voice on our podcast this time!  In October 2008, our Associate Director Terry Chadsey spoke about Courage to Teach at an international Education Symposium on Creativity in Seoul, Korea. His talk described the experience of teachers in Courage to Teach seasonal retreat programs and illustrates how “we teach who we are.”  He recreated the presentation for this podcast.  If you haven't heard it already, please also listen to Parker Palmer's recent appearance on the National Public Radio Program "Speaking of Faith." Download or Play Podcast: Courage to Teach in Korea {rawcontent rc=18} 

In this podcast, we hear from Parker Palmer on three timely topics.  In the first segment, he reads his essay on Autumn, which appears in Let Your Life Speak (Jossey-Bass, 2000).  In the second segment, he speaks about the relationship between the inner and outer lives, and in the final segment, reflects on the study Trust in Schools by Tony Bryk and Barbara Schneider. Download or play podcast: Back to School {rawcontent rc=18}