Best Larry Swanson Podcasts (2025)

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Mark Longhurst on The Holy Ordinary 46:28

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10d ago46:28

46:28

Mark Longhurst is an author and contemplative guide who has spent years exploring the sacred dimensions of everyday life. In our conversation we talk about his book The Holy Ordinary: A Way to God, a beautiful invitation to discover the divine presence woven throughout our daily movements. Mark draws on his experiences as an activist, pastor, fathe…

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Torrey Podmajersky: Aligning Language and Meaning in Complex Systems – Episode 39 32:40

15d ago32:40

32:40

Torrey PodmajerskyTorrey Podmajersky is uniquely well-prepared to help digital teams align on language and meaning.Her father's interest in philosophy led her to an early intellectual journey into semantics, and her work as a UX writer at companies like Google and Microsoft has attuned her to the need to discover and convey precise meaning in compl…

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Haleh Liza Gafori Brings Water to the Thirsty 59:23

24d ago59:23

59:23

Haleh Liza Gafori is a translator, performance artist, vocalist, and educator whose work bridges ancient Persian mysticism with contemporary spiritual longing. In our conversation we talk about her latest book Water, a luminous collection of new translations from the 13th-century Persian mystic Rumi, following her acclaimed debut Gold (you can find…

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Contemplative Parenting with Aizaiah G. Yong and Nereyda Yong 46:06

1M ago46:06

46:06

"This book is just what the world needs right now. At a time when tensions are hot, divisions are growing, and uncertainty is the order of the day, Sacred Parenting is a call to reconnect with what matters most: our children, our families, ourselves, and our God. The authors offer gentle wisdom and contemplative practices as antidotes to the high-v…

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[Rebroadcast] Dr. Larry Ward on America's Racial Karma, the Fragrance of Wisdom, and Learning How To Suffer Less 46:16

1M ago46:16

46:16

This is a repost of my conversation with Dr. Larry Ward. Dr. Ward passed away on August 19 at his home in Rhode Island. He was a Buddhist teacher, author, and co-founder of The Lotus Institute. He left behind a legacy of peace and advocacy for healing individual and collective trauma. I only ever interacted with Dr. Ward online, but his big soul, w…

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Amy Frykholm on Journey to the Wild Heart 1:00:17

2M ago1:00:17

1:00:17

"You can trust Amy Frykholm as a modern-day amma who knows the terrain of the soul. Reading Journey to the Wild Heart is like going out to the desert for a word. It helps us slow down, let go, unknow in Silence, and embody Love.― — Carmen Acevedo Butcher, author of Practice of the Presence Amy Frykholm is a writer and journalist who makes her third…

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Todd Davis on Ditch Memory 1:10:00

2M ago1:10:00

1:10:00

"To read a new and selected collection is to experience the evolution of a voice, in this case an essential voice in American poetry. To sit with the whole of these transportive, immersive poems is to awaken like a wild riparian corridor in spring. Wildflowers on the banks. Birdsong in the branches. The reader's heart is a bud: open. Beautiful work…

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Casey Hart: The Philosophical Foundations of Ontology Practice – Episode 38 39:06

2M ago39:06

39:06

Casey HartOntology engineering has its roots in the idea of ontology as defined by classical philosophers.Casey Hart sees many other connections between professional ontology practice and the academic discipline of philosophy and shows how concepts like epistemology, metaphysics, and rhetoric are relevant to both knowledge graphs and AI technology …

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Sr. Laura Swan, OSB on the Radical Wisdom of the Beguines 1:04:47

3M ago1:04:47

1:04:47

"…Swan's book provides an accessible overview of beguine spirituality in the context of their own times…[it] does a good job of explaining both the beguines' spiritual practices and their continuing legacy." — Commonweal Sr. Laura Swan is a Benedictine sister, spiritual director, author, teacher, and archivist. In our conversation we talk about her…

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Chris Mungall: Collaborative Knowledge Graphs in the Life Sciences – Episode 37 32:52

3M ago32:52

32:52

Chris MungallCapturing knowledge in the life sciences is a huge undertaking. The scope of the field extends from the atomic level up to planetary-scale ecosystems, and a wide variety of disciplines collaborate on the research.Chris Mungall and his colleagues at the Berkeley Lab tackle this knowledge-management challenge with well-honed collaborativ…

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Patrick Boland on Contemplative Leadership 1:07:53

3M ago1:07:53

1:07:53

Patrick Boland is an author, teacher, coach, and consultant. In our conversation we talk about his book The Contemplative Leader: Uncover the Power of Presence and Connection. Patrick is a whipsmart, strategic thinker with a contemplative heart and presence. Patrick's atypical approach to leadership brings a new vitality to leadership development. …

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Emeka Okoye: Exploring the Semantic Web with the Model Context Protocol – Episode 36 34:51

3M ago34:51

34:51

Emeka OkoyeSemantic technologies permit powerful connections across a variety of linked data resources across the web. Until recently, developers had to learn the RDF language to discover and use these resources.Leveraging the new Model Context Protocol (MCP) and LLM-powered natural-language interfaces, Emeka Okoye has created the RDF Explorer, an …

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Cynthia Bourgeault on Thomas Keating, Christian Nonduality, and Mystical Maps 1:07:42

4M ago1:07:42

1:07:42

Rev. Dr. Cynthia Bourgeault is a mystic, teacher, writer, Episcopal priest. In our conversation we talk about her book Thomas Keating: The Making of a Modern Mystic. A book that should not have, but did, surprise me with its brilliance in understanding the route Thomast Keating took on (and off) wellworn mystical maps. And Cynthia has had an outsiz…

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Tom Plasterer: The Origins of FAIR Data Practices – Episode 35 32:13

4M ago32:13

32:13

Tom PlastererShortly after the semantic web was introduced, the demand for discoverable and shareable data arose in both research and industry.Tom Plasterer was instrumental in the early conception and creation of the FAIR data principle, the idea that data should be findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable.From its origins in the semantic…

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Intensification of Life (Season 6 Trailer) 4:36

4M ago4:36

4:36

"Practice simply is one intensification of what is natural and around us all the time. Practice is to life as poetry is to spoken language. So as poetry is the practice of language, "practice" is the practice of life." - Gary Snyder SEASON 6 TRAILER contemplify.comBy Paul Swanson | Contemplative Shoveler

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Mara Inglezakis Owens: A People-Loving Enterprise Architect – Episode 34 30:57

5M ago30:57

30:57

Mara Inglezakis OwensMara Inglezakis Owens brings a human-centered focus to her work as an enterprise architect at a major US airline.Drawing on her background in the humanities and her pragmatic approach to business, she has developed a practice that embodies both "digital anthropology" and product thinking.The result is a knowledge architecture t…

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Manny Silva: Docs as Tests for Resilient Technical Documentation – Episode 213 36:18

5M ago36:18

36:18

Manny SilvaTechnical documentation of software products is critical work that needs to accurately inform end users, regardless of how quickly and substantially the software might be changing.Manny Silva has created the Docs as Tests, a system that integrates a set of well-developed practices and a collection of engineering tooling, to help technica…

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Manny Silva: Docs as Tests for Resilient Technical Documentation 36:19

5M ago36:19

36:19

Technical documentation of software products is critical work that needs to accurately inform end users, regardless of how quickly and substantially the software might be changing. Manny Silva has created Docs as Tests, a system that integrates a set of well-developed practices and a collection of engineering tooling, to help technical communicator…

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Frank van Harmelen: Hybrid Human-Machine Intelligence for the AI Age – Episode 33 29:31

5M ago29:31

29:31

Frank van HarmelenMuch of the conversation around AI architectures lately is about neuro-symbolic systems that combine neural-network learning tech like LLMs and symbolic AI like knowledge graphs.Frank van Harmelen's research has followed this path, but he puts all of his AI research in the larger context of how these technical systems can best sup…

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Denny Vrandečić: Connecting the World’s Knowledge with Abstract Wikipedia – Episode 32 32:34

6M ago32:34

32:34

Denny VrandečićAs the founder of Wikidata, Denny Vrandečić has thought a lot about how to better connect the world's knowledge.His current project is Abstract Wikipedia, an initiative that aims to let anyone anywhere on the planet contribute to, and benefit from, the world's collective knowledge, in their native language.It's an ambitious goal, b…

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Charles Ivie: The Rousing Success of the Semantic Web “Failure” – Episode 31 33:49

6M ago33:49

33:49

Charles IvieSince the semantic web was introduced almost 25 years ago, many have dismissed it as a failure.Charles Ivie shows that the RDF standard and the knowledge-representation technology built on it have actually been quite successful.More than half of the world's web pages now share semantic annotations and the widespread adoption of knowledg…

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Andrea Gioia: Human-Centered Modeling for Data Products – Episode 30 32:48

6M ago32:48

32:48

Andrea GioiaIn recent years, data products have emerged as a solution to the enterprise problem of siloed data and knowledge.Andrea Gioia helps his clients build composable, reusable data products so they can capitalize on the value in their data assets.Built around collaboratively developed ontologies, these data products evolve into something tha…

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Jeff Eaton: Content Observability in Complex Systems – Episode 212 31:36

6M ago31:36

31:36

Jeff EatonModern content systems are complex and abstract, presenting problems for managers who want to understand how their content is performing.At Autogram, Jeff Eaton and Karen McGrane have developed a content observability framework to address this complexity.Their framework evaluates the composition, quality, health, and effectiveness of cont…

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Jeff Eaton: Content Observability in Complex Systems 31:37

6M ago31:37

31:37

Modern content systems are complex and abstract, presenting problems for managers who want to understand how their content is performing. At Autogram, Jeff Eaton and Karen McGrane have developed a content observability framework to address this complexity. Their framework evaluates the composition, quality, health, and effectiveness of content prog…

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Jeffrey A. “jam” McGuire: The Value Map Content Framework – Episode 211 40:25

7M ago40:25

40:25

Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuireAligning and orchestrating product content for complex business use cases is much easier when you have a framework to structure and guide your efforts.Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire and his business partner developed the "value map" framework to structure and organize product marketing information. This helps them to align interna…

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Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire: The Value Map Content Framework 40:25

7M ago40:25

40:25

Aligning and orchestrating product content for complex business use cases is much easier when you have a framework to structure and guide your efforts. Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire and his business partner developed the "value map" framework to structure and organize product marketing information. This helps them to align internal stakeholders on strat…

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Greg Dunlap: Designing Content Authoring Experiences 31:10

8M ago31:10

31:10

Experience design for readers of online content gets a lot of attention. The authors who create the content and get it ready for publication aren't as well served. In his new book, Designing Content Authoring Experiences, Greg Dunlap addresses this situation, showing content-system creators how to design better interfaces, streamline workflows, and…

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Greg Dunlap: Designing Content Authoring Experiences – Episode 210 31:10

8M ago31:10

31:10

Greg DunlapExperience design for readers of online content gets a lot of attention. The authors who create the content and get it ready for publication aren't as well served.In his new book, Designing Content Authoring Experiences, Greg Dunlap addresses this situation, showing content-system creators how to design better interfaces, streamline work…

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Sarah Johnson: Moving Content Forward with “Content-first Design” – Episode 209 29:38

9M ago29:38

29:38

Sarah JohnsonSarah Johnson asks, "If a digital experience is a conversation with a user, how can you have that conversation if you don't know what the words are?"Sarah addresses the crucial role of content in her new book, "Content-first Design," tackling both the pragmatic aspects of a content-first approach to design as well as how to advocate fo…

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Sarah Johnson: Moving Content Forward with Content-first Design 29:38

9M ago29:38

29:38

Sarah Johnson asks, "If a digital experience is a conversation with a user, how can you have that conversation if you don't know what the words are?" Sarah addresses the crucial role of content in her new book, "Content-first Design," tackling both the pragmatic aspects of a content-first approach to design as well as how to advocate for content pr…

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Leah Buley and Joe Natoli: The UX Team of One – Episode 208 33:09

9M ago33:09

33:09

Leah Buley and Joe NatoliBoth UX and content professionals routinely find themselves on teams where they are the sole practitioner of their craft.Leah Buley and Joe Natoli recently revised "The UX Team of One" (use code ELLESS15 at checkout to get 15% off through then end of February) to share their pragmatic take on solo UX practice, deftly balanc…

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Leah Buley and Joe Natoli: The UX Team of One 33:09

9M ago33:09

33:09

Both UX and content professionals routinely find themselves on teams where they are the sole practitioner of their craft. Leah Buley and Joe Natoli recently revised "The UX Team of One" to share their pragmatic take on solo UX practice, deftly balancing the application of human-centered research insights with the need to show the business value of …

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Rob Punselie: Content Jobs to Be Done – Episode 207 31:11

10M ago31:11

31:11

Rob PunselieA truly customer-focused content strategy is the cornerstone of good customer experiences.Over the past 25 years, Rob Punselie has developed and honed content discovery research methods based on time-tested usability knowledge and the Jobs to Be Done product-development framework.This approach has helped him consistently deliver to his …

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Rob Punselie: Content Jobs to Be Done 31:12

10M ago31:12

31:12

A truly customer-focused content strategy is the cornerstone of good customer experiences. Over the past 25 years, Rob Punselie has developed and honed content discovery research methods based on time-tested usability knowledge and the Jobs to Be Done product-development framework. This approach has helped him consistently deliver to his clients ef…

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Peter Traben Haas on Prayer as a Practice of Centering, Abiding, & Radiating 1:04:42

10M ago1:04:42

1:04:42

On this last episode of Season Five of Contemplify, we welcome Rev., Dr. Peter Traben Haas. Rev., Dr. Peter Traben Haas rises each morning watching the light shade from dark to dawn and the still silence births words. His aim as a pastor and writer is to deepen spiritual fecundity by exploring biblical wisdom, verse by verse. He is an ordained Teac…

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Alan J. Porter: Storytelling for Enterprise Content Strategy – Episode 206 32:21

11M ago32:21

32:21

Alan J. PorterStorytelling is the oldest content practice. Alan Porter helps enterprises and content practitioners improve their story craft.Alan shows how better stories both convey the unique benefits of a business to their customers and improve cross-functional communication within organizations.We talked about: Content Pool, the enterprise cont…

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Alan J. Porter: Storytelling for Enterprise Content Strategy 32:22

11M ago32:22

32:22

Storytelling is the oldest content practice. Alan Porter helps enterprises and content practitioners improve their story craft. Alan shows how better stories both convey the unique benefits of a business to their customers and improve cross-functional communication within organizations. https://ellessmedia.com/csi/alan-porter/…

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Backporch Advent Outpost with Hadewijch and the Mother of Love 5:41

11M ago5:41

5:41

Backporch Advent Outpost with Hadewijch and the Mother of Love visit contemplify.comBy Paul Swanson | Contemplative Shoveler

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Katherine May on Enchantment, Building Community, Tasting Words, and a Drink of Lake Water 57:28

11M ago57:28

57:28

"I love Katherine May's new book, Enchantment.… It's a beautiful offering of light, truth and charm in these strange, dark times." — Anne Lamott Katherine May is an internationally bestselling author and podcaster living in Whitstable, UK. Her most recent book, Enchantment became an instant New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller. Her internatio…

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Joe Gollner: A Multi-layered Definition of “Content” – Episode 205 32:44

11M ago32:44

32:44

Joe GollnerAs recently as 40 years ago, we didn't have much need for the word "content."But as soon as we started delivering the same information via multiple channels, we needed a way to identify the essential elements of content assemblies and to work with them independent of their various manifestations in information products. So the concept of…

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Joe Gollner: A Multi-layered Definition of "Content" 32:44

11M ago32:44

32:44

As recently as 40 years ago, we didn't have much need for the word "content." But as soon as we started delivering the same information via multiple channels, we needed a way to identify the essential elements of content assemblies and to work with them independent of their various manifestations in information products. So the concept of "content"…