Braver New Worlds

Braver New Worlds is a podcast for people navigating change, questioning inherited narratives, and trying to lead with intention and humanity even when the path forward is unclear. It’s about the stories we need to share–about ourselves, our work, and our vision–for the future want to create. Each episode is a thoughtful human conversation with someone actively trying to change something, whether that’s through their work, their being, or their relationship with community. We discuss personal stories, public responsibility, and how identity, values, and lived experience shape the way we see and show up in the world.

Braver New Worlds is a society podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 35 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Unknown Host hosts Braver New Worlds, a society show with 35 episodes published.

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  Episode #34

  Financing the World We Want: Capital, Story, and Indigenous Self-Determination

  Sep 28, 20261h 1m

  What kind of world are we building through the way we move money? It’s a question that gets at the heart of everything. Because unless we finance the world we want, we’re unlikely to get it. This week Nathan is joined by Alexander “Brave Journey” Sterling. He is Co-Founder and CEO of Turtle Island Community Capital, a financial service organization working to build the monetary infrastructure for Indigenous communities to have greater agency over their own capital, rather than simply greater access to existing financial systems. Alexander argues that capital is infrastructure. Communities need more than money: they need trust, relationships, knowledge, technical assistance, institutions, and long-term support that allow capital to actually work. The conversation moves from fundraising and storytelling into much bigger questions about power, risk, philanthropy, Indigenous economic sovereignty, ecological stewardship, and what it means to finance a future that does not yet fully exist. The conversation also examines why storytelling matters so much in fundraising. Alexander argues that what moves people is often not another quantitative metric but a story about how something became possible. Changing the stories funders encounter about Indigenous communities can therefore change not only perceptions, but where capital flows. Guest Bio Alexander “Brave Journey” Sterling is Co-Founder and CEO of Turtle Island Community Capital, a Native-led financial institution building the capital infrastructure Indigenous communities need to shape their own futures. His work sits at the intersection of impact investing, community development, and national field building, advancing models that move power, resources, and decision-making closer to communities. Alexander works across movements to strengthen relationships among investors, funders, CDFIs, and community leaders, championing a more relational and regenerative financial system rooted in sovereignty, reciprocity, shared prosperity, and long-term community resilience. Links Website: turtleislandcommunitycapital.org LinkedIn: Turtle Island Community Capital Instagram: @Turtleislandcc Threads: @Turtleislandcc Facebook: Turtle Island Community Capital

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  Episode #33

  Reimagining Capitalism, Business Ownership, and the Next Economy - Abraham Chen of B Local San Diego

  Sep 22, 202658 min

  What if business wasn't primarily designed to maximize value for shareholders, but to help people, communities, and the planet flourish? Wild idea, right? But maybe it’s possible? In this conversation, Abraham Chen, Executive Director of B Local San Diego, makes the case for rethinking the role of business in our society, and for questioning the economic assumptions we've come to treat as inevitable. Abraham explains how the B Corp movement challenges shareholder capitalism by instead prioritizing how businesses treat workers, communities, customers, governance, and the planet. But he is also clear about B Corp's limitations. Certification isn't a silver bullet, and even mission-driven companies can eventually be pulled toward the pressures of the existing financial system. That leads to a deeper question: who owns a company, who controls its governance, and how can a business protect its purpose for generations? Abraham describes B Corp as “the doula for the next economy”—a transitional movement helping people experiment with structures that could eventually produce a more regenerative and equitable economic system. We explore examples including Patagonia, Tony's Chocolonely, Mondragón's worker-owned cooperative system in northern Spain, and the emerging world of AI governance. The conversation ultimately becomes aspirational too. We all have a limited amount of time on this planet. How do we want to spend it? Guest Bio Abraham Chen is the Executive Director of B Local San Diego, a 501(c)(3) focused on economic systems change through the B Corp movement. His work centers on redefining business as a force for good and helping companies move toward models that benefit workers, communities, and the planet alongside financial stakeholders. Connect with Abraham Website: www.blocalsandiego.org LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abraham-chen/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blocalsandiego/ Company LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/b-local-san-diego Linktree: https://linktr.ee/blocalsandiego

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  Braver New Worlds

  Accountability, Inclusion, and the Grace to Stumble with Daniel Aguirre

  Sep 14, 202659 min

  What does it actually mean for someone to belong? For Daniel Aguirre, founder of Pueblo Collab, the answer goes beyond a workplace saying it values inclusion or creating a “sense of belonging.” Real belonging means not having to wonder whether you belong at all. In this conversation, Daniel and Nathan explore what happens when organizations take an honest look at the difference between how they imagine their culture and how that culture is actually experienced by the people inside it. They talk about why some so-called diversity problems may really be problems of leadership and accountability; and why meaningful change often requires slowing down long enough to listen. Daniel and Nathan also discuss power, disruption, leadership, mistakes, and the skills required to create change. Daniel argues that leadership and accountability are not traits some people are simply born with. They are skills—and people need room to stumble, learn, recognize harm, and actually change their behavior. Daniel’s ultimate vision is a world where people can exist in their neighborhoods without worrying about whether the air, water, or environment is harming them—and where the next generation can imagine a hopeful, joyful future. ABOUT DANIEL AGUIRRE Daniel Aguirre (el/he) is a community-engagement and relationship-building strategist, organizational-change practitioner, and founder of Pueblo Collab. Through Pueblo, he helps organizations build genuinely inclusive cultures and authentic relationships with the communities they seek to partner with. His work focuses on the relational side of change: facilitating honest conversations about bias and equity and grounding partnerships in care, effective listening, reciprocity, and demonstrable accountability. He works across grassroots, science, research, and institutional settings, approaching inclusion as an ongoing practice rather than a box to check. CONNECT WITH DANIEL Website: pueblocollab.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/daniel101 Email: daniel@pueblocollab.com

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  Braver New Worlds

  Power, Pay, and Purpose in a 'Matriarchal Economy' with Lindsay LaShell

  Sep 7, 202659 min

  EPISODE SUMMARY Lindsay LaShell calls herself a ‘doula for the matriarchal economy’ — helping purpose-driven entrepreneurs move away from top-down, patriarchal, and extractive business practices into ones that are more equitable, regenerative, and abundant. In this conversation, Lindsay and Nathan trace the difference between patriarchal and matriarchal values and get concrete on what this might look like when applied to business. This includes compensation models built on shared profit negotiation, a delegation framework built around clear "asker/doer" roles, and an honest look at why so many well-intentioned leaders are quietly afraid of power itself. The conversation explores challenges and opportunities when it comes to efficiency, trust, idealism, and accountability. Toward the end, the conversation opens into Lindsay's other project, Buffalo Collective, and the emerging science of epigenetics: the idea that trauma can be inherited biologically. This is a valuable conversation for anyone who feels like the business practices they inherited and find to be most prevalent in society just don’t quite make sense, and they are looking for affirmation that maybe a different way of approaching business might be worth considering. ABOUT LINDSAY LASHELL Lindsay LaShell's work explores what happens when business, finance, and leadership are rebuilt from relationship rather than extraction. After years inside impact finance and purpose-driven entrepreneurship, she began questioning systems built on scarcity, ownership, and performance — and searching for models grounded instead in regeneration, reciprocity, and human integration. Through ventures including Buffalo Collective, Lindsay is building new approaches to community, leadership, and regenerative finance that challenge the separation between who people are and how they lead. LINKS Substack (MBA for the Matriarchy): https://mbaforthematriarchy.substack.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsaylashell/ BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/lindsaydayton.bsky.social Buffalo Collective: https://buffalocollective.co

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  Braver New Worlds

  Proactive Justice in a World Built for Reaction with Rebecca Young

  Aug 31, 202652 min

  What if justice isn't what happens after someone is harmed—but what we build to prevent the harm in the first place? This is the question at the heart of the conversation with civil rights attorney Rebecca Young. She has spent approximately two decades practicing law, much of it in civil rights. She's also a former U.S. Army soldier, writer, and speaker whose talk Crayons Before Constitutions: Because Real Justice Doesn't Color Inside the Lines challenges some of our most basic assumptions about justice and the systems we've created to deliver it. Rebecca argues that systems naturally optimize for efficiency. They categorize people, assign roles, eliminate friction, and remove unnecessary connections. That's often exactly what makes them function. But some of the things that look inefficient from a system's perspective may be precisely where creativity, connection, and possibility emerge. Rebecca advocates for proactive justice and the conversation explores what that might mean for community care, workplace policies, politics, technology, AI, local businesses, the ways we value different kinds of work, and more. The conversation isn't an argument against systems, technology, work, or ambition. It's an invitation to notice what they're costing us—and to remain human enough to challenge them when necessary. Because perhaps building a braver new world doesn't require everyone to make the same contribution. It requires enough of us, working from different places, to keep pushing in the same direction. Connect with Rebecca LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccayoung52/ Talk: Crayons Before Constitutions: Because Real Justice Doesn't Color Inside the Lines About the Guest Rebecca Young has spent much of her life serving and defending the institutions that shape our society. As a soldier and later as a civil rights attorney, she dedicated more than two decades to protecting the principles of justice, equality, and democracy. She believes that the most transformative ideas often come from those willing to challenge convention, question assumptions, and color outside the lines. Through her speaking and advocacy, Rebecca inspires audiences to embrace creativity as a force for social change and reminds us that a better future is something we create together.

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