Thriving Communities
Thriving Communities creates documentary films that elevate community solutions to the challenges of our times, telling stories about “common people doing uncommon work for the common good.” Born from the joy and inspiration that founder Jerry Millhon found in storytelling while serving as Director of the Whidbey Institute in 2012, the organization produces two to […]
Garth Stevenson
Garth Stevenson is a double bassist and composer raised in the mountains of Western Canada, where nature became his primary inspiration and the common thread between his life and music. His three solo albums—Alpine, Flying, and Voyage—reflect his experiences carrying his 150-year-old double bass to remote locations including woods, beaches, deserts, Antarctica, and Tuva. During […]
The Berkana Two Loops Model
The Berkana Two Loops Model, developed by Margaret Wheatley and Deborah Frieze of the Berkana Institute, illustrates how systems undergo transformation through the interplay between an old, declining system and a new, emerging one, helping those involved in systems change understand their role within the transformation process. The model addresses the messy in-between period when […]
The Happy Secret to Better Work
Psychologist Shawn Achor challenges conventional wisdom in this TED Talk, arguing that happiness inspires productivity rather than being a result of it. Achor, a former Harvard researcher and CEO of Good Think Inc., reveals that the traditional formula “work harder to be more successful to be happier” is scientifically flawed because every time the brain […]
The Power of Addiction and The Addiction of Power: Gabor Maté at TEDxRio+20
This powerful TEDxRio+20 presentation features Dr. Gabor Maté challenging conventional thinking about addiction through his groundbreaking approach. In this video, Maté, a Canadian physician who works with severely addicted patients in Vancouver, asks the crucial question: “Why the pain?” rather than “Why the addiction?” He connects childhood trauma to brain development, showing how early experiences […]
IFS (Internal Family Systems) Institute
The IFS Institute is the official hub for Internal Family Systems (IFS), a transformative therapeutic model developed by Dr. Richard C. Schwartz. IFS is based on the idea that the mind is naturally multiple, composed of distinct “parts” or sub-personalities—including Protectors, Exiles, and a core Self that is compassionate, calm, and capable of healing internal […]
Facing Adversity: Choosing Earth, Choosing Life
Facing Adversity: Choosing Earth, Choosing Life is a 70-minute documentary exploring the speed, depth, and magnitude of our growing planetary crisis—and the opportunity we have to meet this crisis consciously, with eyes and hearts wide open. Why it matters: It holds together what many discussions of planetary crisis separate: the unflinching reality of our situation […]
The Wisdom of Trauma
The Wisdom of Trauma is a documentary featuring Dr. Gabor Maté that offers a revolutionary perspective challenging how our society understands and responds to mental health, addiction, and chronic illness. The film presents the profound insight that “so much of what we call abnormality in this culture is actually normal responses to an abnormal culture,” […]
Fantastic Fungi
Fantastic Fungi, a film by Louie Schwartzberg, takes viewers on an immersive journey through time and scale into the magical earth beneath our feet—an underground network that can heal and save our planet. Through the eyes of renowned scientists and mycologists like Paul Stamets, and best-selling authors including Michael Pollan, Eugenia Bone, and Andrew Weil, […]
Kiss the Ground Documentary
Kiss the Ground is a full-length documentary narrated by Woody Harrelson, shedding light on a “new, old approach” to farming called regenerative agriculture—a practice with the extraordinary ability to balance our climate and feed the world. The film unveils a game-changer to our climate crisis: the Earth’s own soil. At a moment when the future […]
Biggest Little Farm
The Biggest Little Farm chronicles the eight-year quest of John and Molly Chester as they trade city living for 200 acres of barren farmland and a dream to harvest in harmony with nature. Through dogged perseverance and embracing the opportunity provided by nature’s conflicts, the Chesters unlock and uncover a biodiverse design for living that […]
Changing of the Gods
White Buffalo Calf Woman
Kevin Locke tells the story of White Buffalo Calf Woman (Lakȟótiyapi: Ptesáŋwiŋ), a sacred woman of supernatural origin who is central to the Lakota religion as the primary cultural prophet. Oral traditions relate that she brought the Seven Sacred Rites to the Lakota people, providing the ceremonial foundations that continue to guide Lakota spiritual life. […]
Saving Capitalism
Saving Capitalism is a documentary film that follows former Secretary of Labor and Professor Robert Reich as he takes his book and his views to the heart of conservative America to speak about our economic system and present big ideas for how to fix it. The film documents Reich’s journey into communities often dismissed by […]