This week’s guest is John Todd, executive director of Wild Montana. Wild Montana’s mission is to unite and mobilize communities to keep Montana wild. Since 1958, Wild Montana has played a key role in securing 16 wilderness designations and protecting millions of acres of public lands.In this conversation, John talks about his journey to conservation and the importance of using storytelling and community engagement to facilitate conservation success. John encourages Montanans to prioritize public lands when casting their ballots, and says that despite the polarization of the political environment, conservation is a bipartisan issue.

This week is the October edition of Incentives & Instincts, a recurring series in which Justin speaks with economist and friend Bryce Ward about some of the broader challenges facing our society. Last month, they pondered the purpose of college in a world with AI. To follow up on that conversation, Justin invited his friend and colleague, David Firth, p…

This week’s guests are Alissa Quart and Anne Larson of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project. Alissa built the organization with the legendary Barbara Ehrenreich, whose landmark book, Nickel and Dimed, is now 25 years old. Alissa, Anne and several others recently published a retrospective in The Nation commemorating Ehrenreich’s enduring impact.In this conversation, Alissa and Anne touch on Barbara’s legacy and their wish for her to be remembered among the likes of Gloria Steinem and George Orwell. They discuss redefining the middle class, the broken social contract and the idea of collective action as a solution.

This week’s guest is Hilary Oliver, who recently published How to Stay You When Your Name Becomes Mom. This guided journal is designed to help new mothers reconnect with themselves. Hilary’s writing has appeared in Outside, National Geographic Adventure, The American Alpine Journal and many other prominent outlets.In this conversation, Hilary defines the word matrescence, a motherhood life phase. She talks about how she wasn’t big into journaling, but stumbling upon a guided journal she intended as a gift made her realize how useful it could be for a mom. Justin and Hilary also get into how the writing profession will square with AI development, and touch on both of their thoughts on aging.

This week is a special, on-location conversation with Pete Hinmon, co-director of Tippet Rise. Tippet Rise is an amazing fusion of art, music, architecture and nature, all mixing together on a working ranch near Fishtail, Montana.After attending a performance at the space by a brass ensemble, Justin sits down with Pete to chat about Tippet Rise’s origin story, the founders and their philosophy, how land-specific art is different from a museum experience and how the founders built a trusting relationship with the ranching community.

This week’s guest is Elizabeth MacBride. Elizabeth’s work has been published in prominent outlets such as the MIT Technology Review, The Atlantic, Newsweek and many others. She recently co-authored Capital Evolution: The New American Economy with Seth Levine. Elizabeth will be delivering the keynote address at the upcoming CoBuild Montana summit.In this conversation, Elizabeth explains the shift from neoliberal capitalism to what she calls dynamic capitalism. She gets into shareholder primacy, alternative forms of ownership and the importance of strengthening democratic institutions.

This week is our September edition of Incentives & Instincts, a recurring series in which Justin speaks with economist and friend Bryce Ward about some of the broader challenges facing our society.This conversation is a back-to-school college edition centered on AI. Bryce talks about a MIT paper, which reported that AI can take over a lot of undergradua…

This week is the next edition of The Ripple Effect, a quarterly series in which Justin speaks with grantees of the Headwaters Foundation. Today’s guest is David Quattrocchi, community organizer at Partnership Health Center. David’s work illuminates that healthcare is much more than an individual issue.In this conversation, David starts by explaining what a community organizer is and why a health center needs one. He talks about the social drivers of health, the hurdles of Medicaid enrollment and his concept of liberation.