Life of the Mind
A Podcast by the Oak Guild Institute
Life of the Mind Podcast
We host an interview-style podcast exploring controversial topics. Listen in if you want to challenge your brain with ideas from people coming from different experiences and diverse perspectives. Our core belief is that dialogue, when loving even if contested, is a great way to learn.
Jake Chacko is our primary host and interviewer.
Katie Gray Garrison typically provides introduction and commentary.
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Episodes
All Episodes
Click each to access the podcast on Apple Podcasts.
Salon-Related Episodes, 2024
These podcast episodes connect to our in-person salon gatherings where we may engage in loving contested dialogue in the pursuit of truth and learning from one another.
Hidden Potential
Insights from Adam Grant's bestselling book and Oak Guild members.
Rethinking Hidden Potential
We explore how hidden potential shapes our lives, inspired by Adam Grant’s bestseller. Oak Guild Institute members Dr. Ava Satnik and Cary Fukada share personal stories of uncovering and nurturing potential, challenging Grant’s framework for supporting growth in individuals, families, and systems.
Career Journeys, 2023/24
In this new series, we explore what professional choices individuals make at pivotal junctures in their lives and what themes emerge from those decisions. It’s also a chance to explore history from a unique and individual perspective.
Bella Park
Hopes for college, empathy, and making a difference.
A Gen Z Student Looks forward
As we wrap up the Career Journeys series, we talk with Bella Park about looking forward. Bella is a senior at Homestead High School in Cupertino, CA. Unlike our previous guests who looked back at their careers, civic-minded Bella looks forward to college and life with a mix of hope, empathy and a deep desire to get involved. She wants to make a difference. Enjoy!
Rajan Mathews
What it means to bring your authentic self to work for an executive who found himself in the U.S., India, and Afghanistan.
What does it mean to bring your authentic self to work?
“Bringing your whole self to work” is common for Millennials and Gen Z, but in this episode of Career Journeys, we talk to baby boomer Rajan Mathews, who did this throughout his career. Rajan shares how his faith shaped his role as an executive across the U.S., India, and Afghanistan, including some thrilling moments—like encountering a U.S. Army tank! His daughter, Kavita Mathews, provides commentary.
Bill Lloyd
From strength to strength to strength. How one built a career across military, medical, and media industries.
What is your strength now? What will it be in 20 years?
Dr. Bill Lloyd is a self-professed medical educator. He's been on CNN and radio stations helping simplify complex ideas and provide common sense advice. How did this man who attended the United States Military Academy at the height of Vietnam War become a medical doctor and then a TV/radio personality? And why? This episode takes us on the journey of how transitions are key to a fulfilling career and life. We reference the book, Strength to Strength, by Arthur C. Brooks.
Larry Langdon
The tax-man cometh... and he is welcomed with a warm embrace.
What is your North Star and how does that drive you to the future?
Larry Langdon is beloved. He is a founding advisor, supporter, and dear friend of OGI. Born before U.S. entered WWII, Larry has lived a life focused on justice and service. And of all places, that led him from large corporations to law firms to the IRS and back a few times. A career path may not be linear, but it can be powerful especially when values and strong character are at the center of the decision process. Larry is a true inspiration, and ahead of his time.
Anne Stuhler - Art & Sports
A tennis pro hangs up her racket to bring visual life to stories.
Was it a sudden career pivot, or was it years in the making?
Anne Stuhler grew up playing tennis in a time where women were still not encouraged to play. She was later responsible for sets and design for film and TV in projects such as Boiler Room and Blue Bloods. But what got her from point A to point B? And what did she learn along the way?
Podcasts from 2021-2022
The Colors of Us
A women's journey to understanding identity and defining values to live by.
What do you do when society is changing all around you and you don't know where you fit in?
Julie Oomen, an executive, wife and mother living in the San Francisco Bay Area, discusses how she deals with the current division and polarization in this country and society. She discusses the wall she built for herself and her family and how it grounds them in the values they hold true. Enjoy this 2 part podcast with Jake Chacko as host and interviewer.
The Fourth Way
One man's work to flourish against painful oppression.
Can a person not just survive but flourish living life under an oppressive regime?
In this deeply moving episode, Jake Chacko interviews "Sam" about how he lives under an oppressive regime. One would think his anger would propel him to fight, flee, or even give in. But we learn from "Sam" and his mentor, "Don," about another way. This fourth way is not easy, but powerful. Jesus, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, and Nelson Mandela. (Names of guests altered for their protection.)
Web3 - AI - Metaverse
Philosophical, moral, and societal implications of emerging technologies.
What happens when new world tech meets old world wisdom?
Emerging technologies are upon us, upending many spheres of life and even what it means to be a "human." In this fascinating 2-part series, host Jake Chacko discusses with Becca Carroll of design firm IDEO and pastor theologian John Ortberg about the philosophical, moral, and societal implications of several emerging technologies.
Religion vs. Science
The growing or shrinking conflict between scientific and faith-driven pursuits.
In a world full of new scientific discoveries, why do we need religion or faith?
In this episode, Jake Chacko interviews Jim Stump of the organization, Biologos (biologos.org) founded by Frances Collins, former head of Human Genome Project and NIH. The organization's vision is for faith and science work together.
Jim explains some of the controversies that have divided science and faith and evidence of how they work hand-in-hand.
Race in America
A 50+ year journey for immigrants of color making their home in the United States and Canada..
How did immigrants from India navigate Racial Tensions in America?
Race has been a part of the dialogue ever since the United States was born. Race initially referred to the difference between the European settlers and colonists with the native population and the imported African slaves. In the second half of the 20th century more immigrants of color entered the United States. This 3-part series examines the traditional concept of Race in America from the point of view of 3 Indian-born men who immigrated as young children to the U.S. and Canada.
Gospel of Work
A conversation about the meaning of work and how it has been distorted over time.
Is work good for you and the world?
Denise Yohn leads The Faith & Work Journey, an organization created in the San Francisco Bay Area to help Christian professionals cultivate vital integration of their faith and work. Denise and Jake discuss how the meaning of work has been warped into something either negative or all-consuming by people both with religious faith and without. And they highlight new ways to view and interact with the idea of work as something good.
Satyalogue
A look at the definition of truth and Gandhi's teachings.
What is truth? And can we learn truth from Ghandi?
Raj Oza, author of Satyalogue joins Jake Chacko to explore post-modern Gandhi. They examine Gandhi's philosophy of holding fast to truth, apply it to current society, and Jake compares it with a search for truth in the Christian tradition.
“Knowing the truth, seeing the truth, and telling the truth are all different experiences.”