Latest Difficult conversations Podcast Episodes
90 - Entrepreneurs! Stop the f***ing juggling act, a conversation with Kari Lotzien
I Need To F***ing Talk To You - April 23, 2024 07:00 - 1 hourIn this episode Russell needs to f***ing talk to Kari Lotzien. Kari specializes in personalized coaching and leadership training tailored to help entrepreneurs regain control of their time and find their spark again. Her mission is to assist you in creating a business that not only thrives in th...
Bye-bye, Berlin – Are artists and others in creative fields that gave the city its post-Cold War identity leaving?
Common Ground Berlin - April 21, 2024 22:00 - 31 minutes ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsBerlin has been referred to as a “creative utopia,” where the arts and cultural scene exploded after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Nowadays, the city’s draw as an artist hub is fading and its spaces are being displaced, thanks to skyrocketing real estate prices and limited space, among...
Modern Asian Kitchen w/ Kat Lieu
Making Room by Gather - April 19, 2024 13:00 - 41 minutesWhere do you learn about cooking? This question hit me lately. If we look back, we learned the ins and outs of hosting and navigating the kitchen from our families, and things have rapidly, and drastically, changed. So quickly we resort to social media, and while it's a great source of inspirati...
Berlin Blues - Navigating mental health care in the German capital and beyond.
Common Ground Berlin - April 14, 2024 22:00 - 32 minutes ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsBerlin is ranked as one of the three unhappiest states in Germany. What role does a shortage of therapy play? And is there a way to get around that shortage if you need help? Guest host Eden Brockman explores the accessibility and quality of mental health care in Berlin and across Germa...
89 - The f***ing power of improv with Jessica Belbin
I Need To F***ing Talk To You - April 09, 2024 07:00 - 1 hourIn this episode Russell talks with Jessica Belbin. Jessica is a facilitator, improviser, performer and writer. She facilitates workshops that use improv to help evolve the soft skills of people. A former broadcaster, she understands the power of great communication and believes the world should ...
Date with Kayt: You Invited Them Over For Dinner...Now What
Making Room by Gather - April 03, 2024 20:00 - 19 minutesYou invited new friends over for dinner... ...it went well ...and now you're thinking, NOW WHAT? Don't wait another year to invite them over again. Instead listen to this! So many of us are craving deeper connection through our hospitality. We are longing for friendships but honestly- cult...
Date with Kayt: You Invited Them Over For Dinner...Now What?
Making Room by Gather - April 03, 2024 20:00 - 19 minutesYou invited new friends over for dinner... ...it went well ...and now you're thinking, NOW WHAT? Don't wait another year to invite them over again. Instead listen to this! So many of us are craving deeper connection through our hospitality. We are longing for friendships but honestly- cult...
88 - Step outside the f***ing perimeter with Ken Cameron
I Need To F***ing Talk To You - March 26, 2024 07:00 - 33 minutesIn this episode Russell talks to Ken about his recent work at a strategic board retreat when Ken utilized one of Chris McGoff's tools from his book 'The Primes' relating to Perimeters. When individuals convene, they erect boundaries. These boundaries delineate topics deemed acceptable for discus...
Episode 107: Out of Work – What to do about rising unemployment in Berlin and Germany.
Common Ground Berlin - March 24, 2024 23:00 - 26 minutes ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsThe number of people who are out of work in Germany increased by more than expected in February 2024 to more than 2.7 million as the slowdown in Europe’s largest economy bears down on the labor market. That translates to the highest jobless rate across Germany since 2021, with Berlin be...
Loyal to a Fault w/ Courtney Burg
Making Room by Gather - March 15, 2024 20:00 - 54 minutesCancel culture, boundaries and gossip oh my! Makes you kind of want to say, 'you know what...let's just cancel', I get it! Culture is slowly but surely making more spaces for us to get honest about our relationships, and while it's an important step for so many of us, it still can seem uncer...
87 - The f***ing doctor will see you now - with Dr. Liora Elias
I Need To F***ing Talk To You - March 12, 2024 07:00 - 48 minutesDr. Liora Elias is a college professor at University of Minnesota, a communication and sexuality subject expert, and an enneagram consultant. Dr Elias works with the enneagram to help clients and therapists build their capacity to be more themselves. She is also a six on the anagram which means...
Update on getting dual citizenship in Germany – What works and what doesn’t
Common Ground Berlin - March 11, 2024 08:12 - 37 minutes ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsHost Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and senior producer Dina Elsayed untangle the landmark reform to Germany’s citizenship law with guests: Jan Schneider, deputy managing director of The Expert Council on Integration and Migration and head of its research unit; Gökçe Yurdakul, Georg Simmel Pr...
A U.S. election the world is anxiously watching – Part One: What role do voters abroad play?
Common Ground Berlin - March 04, 2024 10:45 - 33 minutes ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsHost Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson discusses the role of overseas voting in the 2024 U.S. primaries and why you should care, even if you aren’t a U.S. citizen, with guests: Constance Chucholowski, chairman of the Berlin chapter of Democrats Abroad; Jeremy Shapiro, research director of the E...
Redefining Health: An Honest Conversation on Food, Body Image and Community w/ Heather Creekmore
Making Room by Gather - March 01, 2024 18:00 - 59 minutesWhat if I told you that body image issues are not...actually about our body? What if I told you that health is not solely about food and exercise? What if we're getting it all wrong? ...and because of it our relationships are seeing the consequences? ...and because of it the way we 'show up'...
86 - Lessons from the psychotherapists f***ing couch, with Lindsay Tsang
I Need To F***ing Talk To You - February 27, 2024 08:00 - 43 minutesThis episode, we need to f***ing talk to Lindsay Tsang. Lindsay is a registered psychotherapist and executive coaching expert. He brings unique blend of psychological insight and practical business acumen. He specializes in guiding CEOs and business owners of small to medium size enterprises to ...
Whither Ukraine – If Western support wanes, will Russia win? And what does this mean for Berlin and Germany?
Common Ground Berlin - February 25, 2024 23:00 - 39 minutes ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsIt’s been two years since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a war that is not going well for Kyiv at the moment. The war has killed and wounded a half million people and sent millions of Ukrainians fleeing to the West. Some 60,000 of them live here in Berlin. Host Sora...
85 - Good F***ing Communications Can Fix Almost Everything with Simon Heath
I Need To F***ing Talk To You - February 13, 2024 08:00 - 56 minutesSimon is the author of “The Invisible Asset: How Good Communications Can Fix Almost Everything”. He is an Executive Communications Coach who has been delivering communications coaching to executives since 1996. And most importantly, he was Ken’s coach and mentor, who taught him to speak in fro...
A BER report card – Is Berlin’s airport the one to use or one to avoid?
Common Ground Berlin - February 12, 2024 09:22 - 31 minutes ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsEveryone has an opinion of BER, and many of them aren't kind: Passengers recently ranked it 19th of 20 airports in Germany, which suggests it still isn’t the airport of our dreams. In this episode, host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson spoke on Feb. 6, 2024 with urban planner Dieter Faulenbach da...
Being Franz Kafka, Part Two: How the iconic author who was sensitive to sound affects today’s music.
Common Ground Berlin - February 04, 2024 23:00 - 33 minutes ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsWhen we think of Franz Kafka, it’s usually about his books and short stories. But Kafka Band founder and Czech author Jaroslav Rudiš and world renowned Irish composer Gerald Barry say the noise-averse author influences today’s music, too. Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and Senior Produc...
84 - How to F***ing Collaborate Online
I Need To F***ing Talk To You - January 30, 2024 08:00 - 1 hourWe talk about online and remote collaboration with Jonathan White a Designated Miro Expert. If you haven’t explored the online whiteboarding platform at Miro.com (or one of its knock-offs) during the pandemic, Jon is here to tell you all about it. If your question is ever “What do we do with our...
Big Bites: Tik Tok, Postpartum & the Importance of Creativity w/ Kat Ashmore
Making Room by Gather - January 30, 2024 00:00 - 53 minutesDo you have a creative outlet? I mean, really, in your schedule do you take the time to be creative outside of your job and responsibilities? Very few of us carve out time for creativity but that comes at a cost! Today's guest and I talk through some really delicious, and hard truths about ide...
Being Franz Kafka, Part One: How the unconventional author affects life today.
Common Ground Berlin - January 29, 2024 11:28 - 58 minutes ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsJoin host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and senior producer Dina Elsayed who interview TV personality and Kafka sleuth Kathi Diamant, in San Diego; National Library of Israel archivist Stefan Litt in Jerusalem, and figurative abstract artist Marianne Kolb in Sacramento on how Franz Kafka chang...
Our 100th Episode
Common Ground Berlin - January 22, 2024 08:50 - 30 minutes ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsHost Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and Senior Producer Dina Elsayed share key moments, personal insights and a look ahead as Common Ground Berlin kicks off its 2024 season. Featuring German Comedian Christian Schulte-Loh; Iranian-American Comedian and Actor Maz Jobrani; Renae Watchman, who is ...
Food Network Obsessed w/ Jaymee Sire
Making Room by Gather - January 19, 2024 15:00 - 43 minutesLet me paint a picture for you... 5th Grade Kayty goes to her room to watch TV. What does she turn on? Not Nickelodeon, nope, Food Network. Surprised? That and Game Show Network. From an early age my passion for food, culinary arts (and apparently game shows?) ran through my veins and through i...
83 - So you Think You Can F***ing Innovate?
I Need To F***ing Talk To You - January 16, 2024 08:00 - 50 minutesIn this episode Shannon Phillips and Tristan Ham co-founders of Unbounded Thinking share the stage to talk innovation, why an entrepreneur is just a pissed off intrapreneur and how leaders can prevent their best employees from leaving out of frustration. Shannon Phillips, co-founder of Unboun...
Forever Home: Designing a Beautiful Life w/ Anh Lin
Making Room by Gather - January 12, 2024 14:00 - 43 minutesTransition. It's something that marks a lot of our stories, but especially that of today's guest Anh Lin. Moving and navigating short term relationships are both things that she has come to know quite well in her life...and that that in a very unique way led her to design. From being raised in V...
82 - Happy F***ing New Year
I Need To F***ing Talk To You - January 02, 2024 08:00 - 49 minutesIt’s our first episode of 2024, so a Happy New Year to you all. Russell and Ken wish you a very Happy F**ing New Year. Russell and Ken are going to discuss the most difficult workplace conversations that each of them has encountered and they are gonna talk about what we learned from those expe...
The Road to Auntie Annes: An Unexpected Story of Redemption
Making Room by Gather - December 30, 2023 15:00 - 59 minutesI thought I was preparing for a conversation surrounding our favorite, nostalgic, shopping snack. We all know the one I'm talking about, the soft pretzels that you either ate coated in cinnamon sugar or dunked in that crave-worthy cheese sauce. As it ended up, I found us taking through the tear-...
Guten Rutsch from Common Ground Berlin!
Common Ground Berlin - December 22, 2023 17:04 - 1 minute ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsHost Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson brings together prominent voices from all walks of life to tackle questions on vital and fascinating topics to increase public awareness and understanding. Senior Producer: Dina Elsayed.
81 - How to Make Small Talk at a F***ing Holiday party
I Need To F***ing Talk To You - December 19, 2023 08:00 - 40 minutesIn this special Holiday episode, we need to f***ing talk to …. Ourselves. Because it's the holiday season and everyone is forced to attend an office holiday function whether they want to or not. Don’t you hate having to make small talk at these things? We do too. So we have a series of quick-fir...
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