Poet, author, farmer, philosopher, activist, conservationist Wendell Berry passed a couple of weeks ago at the age of 94. Within those 94 years Wendell demonstrated something rare amoung most. He was unwavering in belief of that in which he wrote about over decades of writing and he didn't just write about it, he lived it. He had much to say about how the simple life is the best life and how to have separated people away from the ground from which they stand would yeild nothing but more troubles for which we would over complicate the solutions. He believed in being those things for which you want to see. His words are valuable for all time, maybe especially now as antiquated as it may seem to most, one cannot say he was wrong.We hope there will be more that will pick up a Wendell Berry book for poems, essays or fiction for great food for thought. Wendell was intrumental in the farm to table movement, the homestead movements and more but he himself was not a fan of movements.

When a scheduled guest had a last minute situation come up the Two Broads had to decide quickly whether to not record at all since no other topic was at hand or to wing it. Of course we chose to wing it making for a conversation that flowed in and out of very random topics. Travel, books, book binding and organ harvesting is a pretty good teaser on the show about nothing. As random and weird as it is there is actually some very good food for thoughts strewn about. Off the cuff broads, what can we say. Enjoy.

Leadership. There are several different styles of leadership. What is the foundation of leadership? What examples of leadership do we see? What are the priorities of those in leadership? Serving? Leading for the best interest of others or leading according to what is best for or according to said leader? Aren't we all called to leadership. Some thoughts on this and more and how we might up the leadership role.

The Two Broads Turn Four episode! Join Lauri and Sarah as they somewhat marvel over showing up for podcasting for four years now. Having done 155 episodes over a myriad of topics it all feels hard to believe and it's special. Sticking with something is diffecult especially when it is something that is not attached to ones income. Seemingly though, the broads are catching their first big wave as this organically grown podcast has almost doubled in download activity over the past few months over what it had done in well over three years. We will keep showing up, we still have things to start conversations over, we still have interesting, fun, smart and talented guests to have on. We still love people and we still enjoy this podcast of ours. There is something to be said for perseverance.

Architecture, interiors, exteriors, public spaces, vehicles, clothing style all the way to food is not what it once was. Many do not recognize the lack of detail, color, design, embellishments and varied elements as missing. Most don't know the difference. Most may see beauty amoungst what is now a normal standard. Most don't feel deprived from deeper and more creative esthetics but all have been living at a lower frequency by the void that craft, artistry, reverence and detailed beauty has left us in. Uglification, a phrase coined by Jason Christoff and a book by the same by Sylvana Seymour, examines how the grey the drab and the ugly has replaced what once was attention to detail in everything down to door knobs. It is a fascinating concept that uglification has been slow dripped into societies under the guises of functionality, cost cutting, convenience and leveling playing fields but is it true? Could it be that our environments devoid of beauty creates mind numbing, lowered standards and lowered frequencies to make societies more manageable? Join the Two Broads on what we think is a serious consideration for observation.

Certified midwife Aubrey McMillan joined the Two Broads for a great discussion on childbirthing. There is a whole lot of fear surrounding this life changing event. Fears that are partically manufactured by a medical guideline system. The amount of stress this brings on top of normal concerns is truly out of control and is not resulting in robust mind, body and soul outcomes for so many. This is an important episode for anyone expecting or desiring children in their future. Society has lost its way in trusting the perfectly designed creation process and while emergencies can and do happen, many times stress and interventions unwarrented are rising those occurances. The good news is that many women are more in tune with what this should look like and the rise of birth preferences are on the gain. Women need to take back what is inheriently their's to own. I hope this episode brings the encouragment and empowerement it was intended to bring. Share with the expectant family you know.

Our friend Lynne Taylor joined us to discuss the upcoming 250th milestone celebation for the United States. We weave around the constitution in conversation seeking for some of the long ago signs of it being off the track. We have been watching slowly but surely ways to skirt logic, original intent, accountibilty, responsibility and down right tryanny over a slow simmer. Are we now boiling frogs? This episode may be a rather salty take to many but it's also possible we are not alone in feeling not in a celebration mood regarding this. Sometimes it just feels like a mourning.

In this episode we discuss what it looks like to be job searching in todays fast moving and changing employment market. The jobs themselves are changing along with the hiring process with the advent of AI and human resource tools. The average time to find an early/to mid career professional job is 2-4 months, specialized technical roles 3-5 months, director levels 4-6 months and VP and C level execs 6-9 months. Factoring in rising costs and minimal if any savings for such time lines it does seem like a real wild west market with peoples lives on the line. The Broads wanted to initiate a conversation regarding this with the hopes of shedding some encouragement and mostly to let people under the weight of these timelines to feel seen.