Wilmette Institute

In this episode of the Wilmette Institute's Changing Course Podcast Series, we explore the concept of humanity's movement toward collective maturity and what it means for our personal lives and efforts to contribute to social transformation.

Host Emily Chou sits down with Bob Blecher—educator, former attorney, and graduate of Wilmette Institute's Social Transformation Certificate Program—to reflect on his journey of learning and service. Together, they discuss how expanding our understanding of reality, engaging in meaningful discourse, and generating new knowledge can help us move beyond inherited patterns and contribute to the advancement of our communities.

This episode is part of our ongoing exploration of the themes at the heart of the Social Transformation Certificate program.

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In this episode of the Wilmette Institute’s Changing Course Podcast Series, we explore what it means to see learning as a mode of operation—not simply as something that happens in classrooms, but as a way of navigating life itself.

Host Emily Chou sits down with Gelareh Eslami—curriculum development specialist and educator—to reflect on how transformative learning reshapes the way we approach relationships, service, work, and personal growth. Together, they discuss learning through action and reflection, the importance of reciprocal relationships, and how embracing a learner's mindset can lead to lasting individual and social transformation.

This episode is part of our ongoing exploration of the themes at the heart of the Social Transformation Certificate program.

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In this episode of the Wilmette Institute’s Changing Course Podcast Series, we explore multiple ways of knowing and being through a thoughtful and reflective conversation.

Host Emily Chou sits down with Julia Berger—curriculum development specialist, educator, and researcher—to reflect on transformative education, relational learning, and research as a sacred act. Together, they discuss how knowledge can emerge through the heart, relationships, lived experience, and community, and how these perspectives can reshape education and social transformation.

This episode is part of our ongoing exploration of the themes at the heart of the Social Transformation Certificate program.

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In this episode of the Wilmette Institute Podcast Series, we explore the relationship between Oneness and Justice through a rich and reflective conversation.

Host Emily Cho sits down with Chloé Greene—liberation historian, cultural worker, and “love sower”—to reflect on love as an active practice that can transform how we relate to one another and build more just communities. Together, they discuss the power of connection, the role of the soul in social change, and how practicing love can deepen our understanding of unity across difference.

This episode is part of our ongoing exploration of the themes at the heart of the Social Transformation Certificate program.

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In the first episode of the Wilmette Institute Podcast Series, host Emily Chou sits down with educator Nika Esmailizadeh to explore the meaning of universal participation in education and community life.

What does it truly mean to create spaces where every voice matters? How can teachers cultivate classrooms in which students are not passive recipients of knowledge, but active contributors to learning and collective progress?

Drawing from lived experience and reflection, this conversation examines participation not simply as inclusion, but as a shared responsibility — one that calls forth the capacity of every individual to contribute to the advancement of a more just and unified society.

This episode is part of our ongoing exploration of the themes at the heart of the Social Transformation Certificate program.

Subscribe and join the conversation.