It’s no secret that our current economic model has stressed our natural environment and much of the population that inhabits it. So how can the Quaker principle of Right Relationship put things back in balance and restore a sustainable environment and economy? Also, how a 5,000-year-old delicacy inspired the world’s fiercest food fight in The Foie Gras Wars.

As stewards of the earth we often receive misinformation or conflicting data about issues impacting our environment and economy. Does it have to be either-or? Can we find the right balance between economy and environment? Can we bridge the increasing gap between the haves and have-nots? Can we—personally and collectively—protect our natural resources and build a sound economy? In Right Relationship Brown and Garver use the Quaker principle of “right relationship”—interacting in a way that is respectful to all and that aids the common good—as the foundation for a new and wholly sustainable economic model. Geoffrey Garver is our guest. He’s an environmental consultant and law lecturer in Montreal, and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Quaker Institute for the Future. Garver cowrote Right Relationship with Peter Brown, a professor at McGill University’s School of Environment.

Our second guest is award-winning journalist and reporter for the Chicago Tribune, Mark Caro. He wrote an article on Foie Gras that made the front page of the Chicago Tribune and that led him to investigate the subject in detail from both perspectives. Is the farming method unneccessarily cruel? Does is cause suffering to ducks and geese? Or as others argue, a just part of life that’s being going on since the Pharaohs began to forcibly fatten birds. Listen in and decide for yourself?

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How do you define adventure? Today’s guest says: “…it’s pushed me to pedal into the homelands of South Africa when everyone around me told me I’d lose my life …” It pushed his cultural limits in small Indian villages. Challenged him to visit Bosnia while troops and tanks were the norm. And prodded him to spend three months in Cuba when his government said he couldn’t.

Writer, photographer, and speaker Willie Weir is a columnist for Adventure Cyclist magazine and a traveling commentator for KUOW public radio. His articles on adventure travel earned him gold and bronze Lowell Thomas Awards from the American Society of Travel Writers. Weir speaks at schools, universities and events around the country, advocating the bicycle as the world’s best travel vehicle–as well as a vehicle for social and environmental change. He’s the author of Spokesongs and his latest book, Travels with Willie: Adventure Cyclist. More about Willie Weir.

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A Conversations Live favorite, Andrea Kay is recognized as one of America’s leading career experts. She joins us in this segment to discuss how to make today’s job market work for you. Kay shares how to unblock your fears; what you can do differently to develop a cohesive action plan; how to stop the panic flow that clouds common sense; what to let go of’, and what to embrace during these challenging times. Andrea Kay is the author of numerous books. Her latest is Work’s a Bitch and Then You Make It Work: 6 steps to go from pissed off to powerful.

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To celebrate the holiday, enjoy this musical encore celebrating some of the most pioneering, gutsy, innovative, and inspiring women who’ve shaped modern music history. Special guest Jay Warner is a bestselling author and six-time Grammy-winning music publisher. Eric Reidar co-hosts today and produced the music selection you’ll enjoy throughout the show!

In his latest book, Notable Moments of Women in Music, author Jay Warner traces the evolution of women in music from the stages of vaudeville and the blues saloons of the South, to the whirlwind of Woodstock and today’s pop music star factory. Warner’s other books include American Singing Groups, How to Have Your Hit Song Published, and On This Day in Music History. Jay Warner lives in Los Angeles.

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It began with a question: If you’re this successful doing work you don’t love, what could you do with work you do love? Find out why this Harvard lawyer quit her job to ‘dance’, and how can she help you create work you love. Tama Kieves of Awakening Artistry is followed by Mark Tomback who says life becomes much easier when we accept spiritual responsibility.

In THIS TIME I DANCE! Creating the Work You Love, we’ll share the inspiring story of how an honors graduate, Harvard lawyer, left her corporate job to follow her dreams. If you’ve ever wanted your own personal mentor, champion of your gifts, advocate for all you desire — your support system has arrived. Tama Kieves takes the life/work coach genre to a new level. Her book was chosen as a Finalist for the National Nautilus Book Award, along with the Dalai Lama’s The Art of Happiness.

Coming later in the show, Mark Tomback says we make life much “harder than it has to be.” Tomback has spent 35 years of focused study on the spirit’s human condition and believes that life is simply a spiritual event. His new book, Spiriting Around: A Modern Guide to Finding Yourself provides practical spiritual solutions to everyday problems.

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Dr. Bernie Siegel returns to Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair to continue the discussion on the powerful impact of the mind on healing and how it’s helped those who followed his advice. And Dr. Debra Greene follows with new insights that go far beyond convertional wisdom in Endless Energy: The Essential Guide to Energy Health.

Bernie, as he prefers to be known, is widely recognized for his dedication to helping cancer patients. Many readers of Siegel’s ground breaking Love, Medicine, and Miracles have wondered what happened to patients who followed Siegel’s advice. In Faith, Hope, and Healing, Siegel shares the inspiring stories of people who have experienced cancer and found deeper faith, hope, joy, and healing through the process.

Later, we are joined by the author of Endless Energy: The Essential Guide to Energy Health, Dr. Debra Greene. She has dedicated her life to studying and mastering energy work as a teacher, researcher, and practitioner. Debra Greene started her energy health practice in 1993 and is the founder and developer of Inner Clarity (IC), an integrative balancing method that uses energy kinesiology to pinpoint hidden core beliefs and a variety of energy based techniques to facilitate conscious transformation. Dr. Debra Greene practices in Maui, where she lives, and the Bay Area.

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Last time award-winning eBay specialist, Kevin Boyd, was featured on Conversations Live, you had a LOT of questions for him! This time, we’ll dive deeper into that conversation.  We’ll also talk with Dr. Joanne Stern about an increasingly common family issue.

Dr. Stern is a psychotherapist in private practice, emphasizing family and couples counseling. She’s a teacher, consultant, speaker, and expert on parenting and family topics. In 2002, she also became an EEG neurofeedback practitioner to address a variety of childhood disorders, including attention deficit disorder, anxiety, and depression. Her new book is Parenting is a Contact Sport: 8 Ways to Stay Connected to Your Kids for Life.
Kevin Boyd was presented eBay’s Education Specialist Award for Excellence. He’s been selling, teaching, and consulting on building eBay business for eight years; and has several eBay books. In this segment we’ll look at problem-solving eBay issues and how to increase your profit margins. Kevin Boyds books include eBay Business at Your Fingertips, eBay Rescue: Profit Maker, and eBay Rescue: Problem Solver.   (Listen to the first show with Kevin – eBay 101.)

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Today we examine the controversies, myths, facts, and alternative treatments of a disorder affecting millions of women — depression during pregnancy.

Dr. Shoshana S. Bennett, Clinical Psychologist and founder of Postpartum Assistance for Mothers discusses the controversy and myths of taking anti-depressants while pregnant; she’ll also review alternative treatments and how to talk with your family and friends about this issue. Pregnant on Prozac is the first guide of its kind, and is essential reading if you want to make the best decision for you and your baby.

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How many times have you heard someone say they can lose the weight, but not keep it off? Well Stacey Grieve asks Why Are You Weighting? She says It’s not food that’s making you fat and will share her proven strategies so that you can become one of the 5% who do keep it off. We’ll also talk with Ron Garner about making Conscious Health choices to heal our bodies and improve the quality of our lives. and tell us what you think through the Contact Page!

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Giving world peace a deadline — realistic or romanticized nonsense? Authors Nathan Otto and Amber Lupton traveled the world to define peace and say we can do it in five years. We’ll also talk with journalist, Lydia Denworth, about today’s #1 environmental health hazard for American children. And to a son trying to honor his father’s memory.

Nathan Otto, a successful entrepreneur in his own right, is the grandson of visionary business leaders Bill and Vieve Gore, founders of the company that makes Gore-Tex™. Amber Lupton studied from a young age with teachers such as Tony Robbins, Deepak Chopra, and Ken Wilber, and leads workshops around the world. Together with Otto, Lupton is the cofounder of DharmaMix, an Internet-based social venture media company. They’ve traveled the globe studying the peacemaking process and assert we must Give Peace a Deadline.

Lydia Denworth, a leading expert on America’s lead-free policies and author of Toxic Truth: A Scientist, A Doctor and the Battle of Over Lead joins us to discuss the controversy over how companies – big and small – test and certify that their toys contain no lead. Yet lead paint is frequently used to make paint colors brighter and last longer. Lead has been found in everything from Thomas the Tank Engine to artificial turf. What do we need to know? What can, and should we do to protect ourselves and our children? That’s what we’ll find out.

We’ll also talk with Eric Tomei who describes himself as an ordinary guy who dealt with his grief by writing I Miss My Dad. Tomei is a physical therapist in the metro Detroit area. His passions include financial education, physical fitness, and charity work for organizations such as Gleaners Food Bank and Children’s Hospital in Detroit. His book provides a guide for coping with close personal loss; Tomei’s goal (through book sales) is to raise one million dollars for Habitat for Humanity in memory of his father.

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