EPISODE 4: STEPHEN JENKINSON ~ elder, author, storyteller, sage, death witness and teacher of ”orphan wisdom”

Teaching through story, song, metaphor and poetry can be so much more powerful than the mere intellectual transference of ideas. Stephen Jenkinson employs his extraordinary mastery of language in loyal service of that more creative, illustrative sharing of wisdom in ways only a true elder is equipped to do. In so doing, he is an inspiration and a pleasure just to listen to. While the willingness to cast off outmoded ways of being and thinking is crucial to the envisioning of new paradigms and forms, so is also the consideration of what elements of past forms still merit retention and incorporation. Who could be better endowed than an elder with the wisdom to make that discernment? Stephen talks about the responsibility of linguistic prowess and reframes the contemporary conversation about patriarchy. Breaking the term down to its roots, he lays out a unique understanding of patriarchy as a function rather than an identity or a system and later explores Vladimir Putin as an example of someone who falls egregiously short of that function.