Beyond Us & Them: Council, Connection, and Taking Action (with Jared Seide)

In this episode of the Peacemakers Podcast, hosts Jim Hōden Fricker and Geoff Shōun O’Keeffe sit down with Jared Seide of Beyond Us & Them to explore a simple, radical practice: sitting in a circle and truly listening. What begins as “ordinary” turns out to be transformative—calming classrooms, easing tensions in neighborhoods, helping people heal in prisons and police precincts, and weaving connection where stress and isolation have taken root.

Jared traces the arc of Council from its early days in Los Angeles schools to deep work in reentry, law enforcement, and global bearing witness contexts—from Auschwitz to Rwanda. We hear how “everyone needs to feel seen and connected and valued,” and how Council offers a reliable structure for belonging—one voice at a time—embodying Taking Action, the third of the Zen Peacemakers’ Three Tenets.

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Show Credits:

* Speakers: Jared Seide

* Recording Date: February 20, 2025

* Hosts: Geoff Shōun O’Keeffe, Jim Hōden Fricker

* Audio & Video Editing/Engineering: Jim Hōden Fricker

* Related Video: HERE

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