S2E3: The Future Is Ours To Determine

S2E3: The Future Is Ours To Determine

Is our future pre-determined?  Is there only one story possible–just the extension of what happened in the past, and what is happening right now? What are the stories in our head and heart that tell us what we should do today? How we should act, who we should be? In this episode, Norma and guest Ariel Jacobson trace those questions from the family dinner table to a lifelong question of what it means to “do your part” — and ask what it takes to write a different story about the future: one that isn't waiting for someone else to decide who we become. In this episode:  * A different perspective on karma * Norma's relationship with the U.S., and how "ambivalent" stopped being enough * The habitual traps that compress the possibility of new futures * Every day practices for staying engaged without being consumed * An important lesson that 3-7 year olds can teach adults about telling stories Find us: thehorizonstory.com [http://thehorizonstory.com] | Substack [https://substack.com/@thehorizonstory] | YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@TheHorizonStory] | wherever you get your podcasts If this conversation resonated with you, share it with someone who's ready to hear it. And if you'd like to help keep this work going, consider becoming a supporter of the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2608983/supporters/new]. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2608983/support]

S2E2: A Useful Crisis- Finding the Interval In Which Change Is Possible

In this episode, Norma sits down with Season 2 guest Ariel Jacobson to unpack what makes crisis useful and what crisis teaches us about the possibility for change. Norma and Ariel share stories from Maine, Detroit, Hawaii, and beyond, real examples of communities that met their moment when the interval opened. IN THIS EPISODE * 危机, the Chinese word for crisis, and what it teaches us about the possibility for change * Why readiness matters more than reaction: knowing what to do and what we want before the interval opens * Building the team and the "we" we want to move with, rather than waiting to figure it out alone * A reading from Norma's book, When No Thing Works, chapter four: "Threshold" Find us: thehorizonstory.com [http://thehorizonstory.com] | Substack [https://substack.com/@thehorizonstory] | YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@TheHorizonStory] | wherever you get your podcasts If this conversation resonated with you, share it with someone who's ready to hear it. And if you'd like to help keep this work going, consider becoming a supporter of the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2608983/supporters/new]. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2608983/support]

S2E1: How Do We Know If We Are Living Through Collapse — and What Happens Next?

What do we do about this state of collapse? The more we accept and understand the state we're in, the more agency we have. The signs are everywhere and the evidence keeps mounting, but naming collapse is only the first move. The harder question is what we do once we've said it out loud. And what becomes possible when we stop bracing against the breakdown and start trying to make sense of it? In this first episode of the second season, Norma Wong speaks with Executive Producer Nā'ālehu Anthony to explore the question. In this episode: * How do we know we're in collapse, and what are the indicators? * The importance of observation * Climate change and how it relates to this moment * Implementation failure as a sign of collapse * Why the typical assumptions in systems advocacy no longer hold * Why we should focus on leaping instead of rebuilding * How the ingenuity of communities is an essential part of this moment REFERENCED * When No Thing Works: A Zen and Indigenous Perspective on Resilience, Shared Purpose, and Leadership in the Timeplace of Collapse [https://bookshop.org/p/books/when-no-thing-works-a-zen-and-indigenous-perspective-on-resilience-shared-purpose-and-leadership-in-the-timeplace-of-collapse-norma-wong/913499c4c58aac35?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=dsa_nonbrand&utm_content=%7Badgroupname%7D&utm_term=dsa-19959388920&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=12440232635&gbraid=0AAAAACfld41y1S587mGkyQRUldBKCQruz&gclid=Cj0KCQjwr4jSBhCSARIsAOX1E-Ks61mKv7WkahPN6B7Rq6JlDvBxLPP4ulNxU4tCzGfRTbbAbLz1AS0aAo7UEALw_wcB], Norma Wong Find us: thehorizonstory.com [http://thehorizonstory.com] | Substack [https://substack.com/@thehorizonstory] | YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@TheHorizonStory] | wherever you get your podcasts If this conversation resonated with you, share it with someone who's ready to hear it. And if you'd like to help keep this work going, consider becoming a supporter of the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2608983/supporters/new]. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2608983/support]

Episode 7: Everybody's Got a Manaʻo- Norma Wong on Isolation, Division, and Waging Peace (Season 1 Finale)

Everybody's got a manaʻo—a thought, a belief, a way of seeing the world. In the Season 1 finale, the questions come from many listeners, and the manaʻo from one: Norma Wong.  The tables turn as Executive Producer Naʻalehu Anthony and guest Nan Stoops pose a series of challenging questions to host Norma. Together they explore the anxiety and isolation of this moment, the pull of othering and identity politics, and the role of creativity in finding our way back to each other. And finally, Norma takes on the question on all of our minds: is peace possible? In this episode: * Mental health, young people, and the quiet epidemic of isolation * Ho'okipa: what it means and why it matters now * The case for defiance: refusing to be divided * The importance of creating small things * Is peace possible? Resources for this episode: * Story of the Lei [https://keolamagazine.com/culture/story-of-the-lei/] * Stand with Minnesota [https://www.standwithminnesota.com/] Find us: thehorizonstory.com [http://thehorizonstory.com] | Substack [https://substack.com/@thehorizonstory] | YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@TheHorizonStory] | wherever you get your podcasts If this conversation resonated with you, share it with someone who's ready to hear it. And if you'd like to help keep this work going, consider becoming a supporter of the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2608983/supporters/new]. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2608983/support]

Episode 6: 1+1 Is Always More Than Two

What if the most important element is missing from the periodic table? What if understanding that element could improve your strategy and help you take bigger, bolder leaps? In this episode, Norma sits down with guest Nan Stoops to get gloriously wonky, digging into chemistry, math, and the core question of this episode: what is the Human Quotient, and why might it determine whether we, as a species, make it fruitfully to the other side of this collapse?  In this episode: * Did scientists actually get the periodic table wrong? * Why 1+1 is always more than two * What separates knowledge from wisdom? * Why leaders and strategists should account for the Human Quotient (and what happens when they don't). * Awake versus woke  * What does it look like to spread a useful contagion? Referenced in this episode: * Scientific American [https://www.scientificamerican.com/author/jeffrey-branzburg/], April 2026. Jeffrey Brandzburg, Limerick on Infinity * When No Thing Works [https://bookshop.org/p/books/when-no-thing-works-a-zen-and-indigenous-perspective-on-resilience-shared-purpose-and-leadership-in-the-timeplace-of-collapse-norma-wong/913499c4c58aac35?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=dsa_nonbrand&utm_content=%7Badgroupname%7D&utm_term=dsa-19959388920&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=12440232635&gbraid=0AAAAACfld42h9ds0KAp9dcHISr-V4QjFX&gclid=CjwKCAjwidXQBhAZEiwA4egw6A9kLngu7qfIRphsLowazbXntIhYwSjpt65O8ksxYr9HoMBW8ksuZxoCsuYQAvD_BwE], page 80 * Who We are Becoming Matters [https://www.northatlanticbooks.com/shop/who-we-are-becoming-matters/], chapter 7 Find us: thehorizonstory.com [http://thehorizonstory.com] | Substack [https://substack.com/@thehorizonstory] | YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@TheHorizonStory] | wherever you get your podcasts If this conversation resonated with you, share it with someone who's ready to hear it. And if you'd like to help keep this work going, consider becoming a supporter of the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2608983/supporters/new]. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2608983/support]