Ancient Words, Modern Wounds
New Thinking for a New World - a Tallberg Foundation Podcast
05/22/25
•44m
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Great art is timeless because it provides insights into our souls, into how we think and why we do what we do. That's as true of Shakespeare's sonnets as it is of Michelangelo's frescoes, as it is of the Greek tragedies.
But what if those classics could be repurposed to shed light on the specific challenges facing us today? Would it be possible to understand the impact of racial discrimination, political corruption, war or flawed relationships in the same raw and real ways that the original audiences of Shakespeare, Michelangelo, and the Greeks understood them?
The results would be amazing, healing, entertaining, and educational. The long lens of antiquity could strip away what we think is so special about our time, focusing instead on what makes us human.
That’s exactly what Bryan Doerries and the Theater of War Productions have been doing for almost two decades, around the United States and around the world. And the results are, in fact, transformational.
Listen as Bryan explains how he personal loss led him to re-imagine a very old art form.
Previous Episode
Has the Amazon Run Out of Chances?
May 8, 2025
•33m
In 2019, Carlos Nobre, a leading Brazilian scientist, published an open letter entitled "Amazon tipping point: Last chance for action.” If that article were published today, it might have to be titled, “No more chances” because the past five years have seen record-breaking drought throughout the region as well as record-breaking forest fires.
Indeed, from a distance it looks like large parts of the rainforest are now tipping towards grasslands, with potentially devastating consequences for regional and global rain and weather patterns. Can what is still left—essentially the northern slice from the Atlantic to the Andes—be saved?
Francisco von Hildebrand (Pacho) thinks it can. As someone who essentially grew up in the Amazon and now as leader of Gaia Amazonas, he has a key role to play in the struggle to support the Indigenous people living in the Amazon who have the best chance to keep what’s left of the rainforest intact.
Listen as Pacho explains why he believes the Amazon can still be saved. Tell us what you think.
Next Episode
Voodoo Economics: Tariffing Our Way to Prosperity or Doom?
May 30, 2025
•54m
President Trump has launched an unprecedented trade war, a radical overhaul of regulation, and a significant reshaping of U.S. fiscal policy. His purpose? To rewire global trade patterns and supply chains, recreate American manufacturing capacity, and change the essential structure of the U.S. and world economies. Can he succeed? How would success be measured? What are the risks it will fail --- and what would failure look like? How might all of this affect your job, your savings, your kids’ future prospects?
Those are almost impossible questions to answer, but Marco Annunziata is willing to try. He is former Chief Economist at General Electric, where he was also Head of Business Innovation Strategy. Listen as he and host Alan Stoga explore the upside as well as the downside of Trumponomics.
What do you think? Do you expect to be better off a year from now — at least in economic terms — because of what President Trump is doing?
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