Episode 37: And the dialogue continues… 30-day challenges & inner dialogue w/ Preandra and George

Episode 37: And the dialogue continues… 30-day challenges & inner dialogue w/ Preandra and George

Happy 2026! We are starting the year with another episode of “And the dialogue continues…” This time, Lillian talks with Preandra and the Center’s new Peace Research Fellow, George Koichi Wong, about our recent Dialogue Nights. Tune in to hear about how Dialogue Nights attendees created their own 30-day challenge vision calendar and what inner dialogue looks like for George and Preandra.  For more information on Dialogue Nights, visit the page here [https://www.ikedacenter.org/programs/dialogue-nights].  Music attribution: Podcast Music To learn more about the Ikeda Center, visit ikedacenter.org or email us at podcast@ikedacenter.org [podcast@ikedacenter.org]

Episode 36: What Do We Mean By Hope?

We are back with another episode in our What Do We Mean By series, this time unpacking what we mean by hope. Host Lillian Koizumi delves into the concept and introduces Daisaku Ikeda’s writings and perspectives on hope. She also invites Ikeda Center’s Program and Office Assistant Preandra Noel to share what hope means to her, how she cultivates and sustains it in her life, and how we can continue to have hope in seemingly hopeless times.  Learn more about the Center’s perspectives on hope here: https://www.ikedacenter.org/resources/what-do-we-mean-hope [https://www.ikedacenter.org/resources/what-do-we-mean-hope]  Resource from episode: Hope is a Decision: Selected Essays of Daisaku Ikeda. Middleway Press.    Music attribution:  Podcast Music “Space” Podington Bear Soundofpicture.com   To learn more about the Ikeda Center, visit ikedacenter.org or email us at podcast@ikedacenter.org [podcast@ikedacenter.org]

Episode 35: Learning About Peace in Nagasaki: Reflections From Center Staff

In April of this year (2025), several staff members of the Ikeda Center visited the city of Nagasaki in Japan. During their time there, they had the opportunity to visit the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Hypocenter Monument, the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, and other sites impacted by the US bombing of Nagasaki in 1945. They also had a chance to meet with several hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) to learn about their experiences as well as their efforts to advance peace. In the episode, host Lillian Koizumi is joined by Center staff Kevin Maher (Executive Director), Alexander Harang (Senior Peace Researcher), Anri Khare (Outreach Manager), and Preandra Noel (Program and Office Assistant). Together, they reflect on their learnings and takeaways from visiting this beautiful city and how they hope to continue this work at the Center.  Music attribution: Podcast Music To learn more about the Ikeda Center, visit ikedacenter.org or email us at podcast@ikedacenter.org [podcast@ikedacenter.org]

Episode 34: Dialogue or Debate? Reflections on Having Difficult Conversations

In recent years,  folks in our community have expressed deeper challenges when it comes to engaging in dialogue across differences and having difficult conversations. With this in mind, this episode explores how we might navigate these interactions  through the Center’s dialogue commitments and ground rules, which are informed by Daisaku Ikeda’s dialogic ethos and strategies.  In the episode, you’ll hear two scripted dialogues, followed by reflections by Ikeda Center staff (Lillian Koizumi, Anri Khare, Preandra Noel, and Sophia Robertson). Together, they explore how the dialogues went, what could have gone better, and ways we can practice genuine dialogue in our daily lives.   Read about the Center’s dialogue commitments here [https://www.ikedacenter.org/resources/ikeda-center-dialogue-commitments]. Read about the Center’s ground rules for genuine dialogue here [https://www.ikedacenter.org/resources/ground-rules-genuine-dialogue]. Music attribution: Podcast Music To learn more about the Ikeda Center, visit ikedacenter.org or email us at podcast@ikedacenter.org [podcast@ikedacenter.org]

Episode 33: Educating for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament w/ Brennan Tierney and Masako Toki

In this episode, host Lillian Koizumi talks with nuclear disarmament experts and educators Brennan Tierney and Masako Toki about their personal journeys, what inspired them to pursue this work, their thoughts on the role education plays in creating a nuclear-free world, the role of young people in the disarmament movement, and much more.  Brennan is a public school civics teacher and is passionate about building students’ capacity and leadership to create positive change in their communities. In 2024, he received the Richard Aieta Award for Promising New Teacher from the Massachusetts Council for the Social Studies. Brennan also serves as a Development Consultant with Back from the Brink, a national grassroots campaign working toward a world free of nuclear weapons, and as a Program Assistant for the Ellsberg Initiative for Peace and Democracy. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Legal Studies (2018) and a Master’s in Education (2023), both from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He lives in Northampton, Massachusetts. Learn more about Back from the Brink here: https://preventnuclearwar.org/ [https://preventnuclearwar.org/]  Masako is a Senior Project Manager and Research Associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute in Monterey, CA. She is passionate about disarmament and nonproliferation education for young generations.  She coordinates the Critical Issues Forum (CIF) to promote disarmament and nonproliferation education to high school students and teachers in the US, Japan, Russia and other countries, and the Summer Undergraduate Nonproliferation Fellowship Program. Her research interests include Japan’s nuclear disarmament policy, nonproliferation and disarmament education, humanitarian initiative, and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. She is also a member of the Japan Association of Disarmament Studies and the US-Japan Leadership Program (US-Japan Foundation).  Learn more about the Critical Issues Forum here: https://sites.middlebury.edu/criticalissuesforum/ [https://sites.middlebury.edu/criticalissuesforum/]    Music attribution: Podcast Music To learn more about the Ikeda Center, visit ikedacenter.org or email us at podcast@ikedacenter.org [podcast@ikedacenter.org]