We brought three people together to discuss the recent legislative wins around reforming the incarceration system, but the conversation becomes much deeper. These guests share insight on how to build a loving, stable, successful, sustainable community within the most difficult circumstances. Guests: Justin Terrell, Raymond Dehn and Brother Shane Price 0:00- Intros13:39- Can you say a little bit about the context of POP, the Power of People Personal Development and Leadership Institute?21:19- How do you humanize the people that have had a dehumanizing myth told about them for so long?33:22- What were the key pieces that lined up this year to get things done?50:30- How do you find shared purpose to get things done, when everyone has their own ideas? 54:15- What advice would you give someone just starting out? 

The second act of the play you've heard in the podcast. Find out where the Capitol's newest employee ends up, as she navigates change, relationships, power, history, information and so much more at the Minnesota State Capitol.  

Listen to the first act of the play you've heard referenced so many times in the podcast:  While a chorus of activists, legislators, lobbyists, civil servants, and tour guides attempt to get their way, an idealistic new employee finds herself at the center of an unexpected controversy. Misunderstandings and mistaken identity lead to a crash course in the realities that both constrain and inspire the men and women who have devoted themselves to public service (inside a building brimming with idealism, cynicism, absurdity, significance, and power—plus more than a few old ghosts who have something to say).

Follow the 40 year journey of one piece of legislation about adoption and how it finally got passed this year! Guests: Gregory Luce and Penelope Needham 

What does it feel like to be the pieces on the game board rather than the players? Two activists who advocate from outside the system remind us that its the community that matters. Guests: Monica Hurtado and Vina Kay 

If you learn nothing else about Minnesota state government, learn this: Relationships, relationships, relationships! Guests: John Apitz and Henry Jimenez 

Though not officially part of state government, the press play an essential role. The information they traffic in can make things happen. Guests: Briana Bierschbach and Lori Sturdevant 

Our guests shed light on the staff members that would rather, and sometimes need to be, invisible in order to get work done.  Guests: Jerry Krueger and Ned Rousmaniere

In some ways the state capitol is like theater. In other ways, it really IS theater. Guests: Sam Fettig and Jim Schowalter 

Why do people get so upset about what art is displayed at the Capitol? Because how we see the past guides where we will go, and who is invited, into our collective future. Guests: Kate Beane and Paul Mandell