We Can Be podcast - The Heinz Endowments
Society & Culture
Dr. Barry Kerzin is foremost a kind, giving, smart and all-around inspirational human being.
And if that were all he was, it would be more than enough.
But Barry is also a Buddhist monk, a personal physician to the Dalai Lama, and the founder of both the Human Values Institute in Japan and the United States-based Altruism in Medicine Institute, which teaches resilience to health care workers through training in compassion and mindfulness.
He shares his fascinating and moving journey with “We Can Be” host Grant Oliphant, including how the Dalai Lama told him that his path would be “50-50—one half medicine and the other half spreading love and compassion.” Barry listened and has followed that auspicious path for more than three decades.
“If we can learn to focus our mind even a little bit, we will be more successful in training our minds to be more compassionate—and therefore happier,” Barry says of his work teaching mindfulness to nurses, doctors and police forces in an effort to help them cope with the stress and trauma of their professions.
He has been profiled in media outlets around the world, including PBS and CNN, and shared his wisdom with audiences throughout Europe and North America, as well as in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Russia, and Mongolia, to name but a few.
Barry, whose brain has been studied by both Princeton University and the University of Wisconsin as part of their quests to understand the effects of long-term meditation, believes that “socially engaged Buddhism” has enormous potential for all of us.
“When you’re being compassionate, “he says, “you feel good.”
“We Can Be” is hosted by Heinz Endowments President Grant Oliphant, and produced by the Endowments, Josh Franzos and Tim Murray. Theme music by Josh Slifkin. Guest inquiries can be made to Scott Roller at sroller@heinz.org.
Breaking down the hydrogen hub hype w/ Joanne Kilgour, exec. dir. Ohio River Valley Institute (We Can Be S04EP16)
Groundbreaking Post-9/11 veterans data w/ Dr. Daniel Perkins, founder Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness @ Penn State Uni.(S04EP15)
Black Urban Gardeners’ Raqueeb Bey is growing food, minds & leaders (S04EP14)
PBS NewsHour’s Jeffrey Brown: Yes, the arts are essential & here’s why (S4E13)
”Your dreams are possible” w/ Dr. Kathy Humphrey, trailblazing pres. of Carlow University (S4E12)
Grant Oliphant on gratitude, speaking truth to power & making room for everyone (We Can Be S4EP11)
Facing America‘s crisis of connection w/ Jenn Hoos Rothberg, Einhorn Collaborative Exec. Dir. (We Can Be S04EP10)
The New Climate War author Michael Mann & the fight to take back our planet (We Can Be S04EP09)
Appalachia‘s battle b/w wish & hope w/ energy industry researcher Sean O’Leary (We Can Be S04EP08)
Environmental Health News investigative reporter Kristina Marusic uncovers hard truths & arms public w/ facts (We Can Be S04EP07)
The true cost of military service w/ War Horse founder/journalist Thomas Brennan (We Can Be S04EP06)
Reinventing Social Change author Nell Edgington on embracing abundance, joy & power of “yet” (We Can Be S04EP05)
Rebuilding Appalachia for a new energy economy w/ Coalfield Development CEO Brandon Dennison (We Can Be S04EP03)
How & why radical generosity works w/ GivingTuesday co-founder Asha Curran (We Can Be S04EP02)
“Diversity Explosion” author/demographer William Frey on where America is headed & why it's good for us (S04EP01)
Bridging gap between university & community: The Center for Shared Prosperity (WeCanBeSpecEp)
Designing cities for justice w/ Toni Griffin, “Patterned Justice” co-editor & Harvard’s Just City Lab lead innovator (We Can Be S03EP12)
“Reach” author & BMe co-founder Trabian Shorters on the astounding power of asset framing (We Can Be S03EP11)
"White Fragility" author Robin DiAngelo: why it’s so hard for white people to talk about racism (S03EP10)
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