The Heart of Laguna copertina

The Heart of Laguna

The Heart of Laguna

Di: William Crist
Ascolta gratuitamente

Offerte di stagione | 0,99 €/mese per i primi 3 mesi

A seguire 9,99 €/mese – si applicano condizioni. Puoi disdire mensilmente.
A proposito di questo titolo
 The Heart of Laguna is a weekly series of candid, human conversations with Fr. Will Crist and faith leaders from across Laguna Beach—followed by dialogues with civic, nonprofit, and philanthropic voices shaping our community. This is not a show about debating doctrine or defending ideologies. It is about listening deeply, honoring real stories, and naming the values that knit us together as neighbors, citizens, and human beings.

We live in a world that feels increasingly fractured—by politics, religion, and socioeconomic division. This podcast exists to push back against that fragmentation by creating space for trust, belonging, and mutual respect to grow again. Each episode explores questions that matter:
  • What does it mean to be a community today?
  • What gets in the way?
  • And how, across our differences, can we begin to rebuild trust and heal—right here in Laguna Beach?
The Heart of Laguna is more than a conversation—it is an act of civic and spiritual courage. These dialogues don’t stop at shared beliefs; they move toward shared action, identifying practical ways faith communities, nonprofits, public institutions, and individuals can work together for the common good.

Originally broadcast on KXFM radio, each episode now lives on as a podcast—so you can listen in your own time, at your own pace. At its core, this show exists to remind us of a simple truth:
Beneath our labels and roles, we are all human beings longing to belong, called to love, and capable of making our community more kind, just, and connected.William Crist Spiritualità
Episodi
  • Learning to See, Learning to Love: Greg Whitely on Seeing People — Fr. Will Crist and Greg Whitely, September 16, 2026

    Learning to See, Learning to Love: Greg Whitely on Seeing People — Fr. Will Crist and Greg Whitely, September 16, 2026
    Sep 16 2026
    Learning to See, Learning to Love

    What happens when we stay with someone long enough to see beyond our first impression?

    Documentary filmmaker Greg Whiteley joins Fr. Will Crist on The Heart of Laguna for a conversation about curiosity, creativity, community, and what years behind a camera have taught him about loving other people.

    Greg begins close to home: an impulsive move to Laguna Beach with his wife, Erin, and a neighborhood walk that introduced him to the astonishing world of downhill skateboarding. What began as alarm at a young man hurtling down Temple Hills became friendship—and an appreciation for the passion, freedom, and distinctive communities that keep Laguna wonderfully weird.

    The conversation turns to Arthur Kane, the former New York Dolls bassist Greg knew through church. Giving Arthur rides became an opportunity to listen to stories of a life few people around him knew. When an unexpected band reunion brought Arthur back to the stage, Greg picked up his camera. That friendship became his first feature documentary, New York Doll, and an experience that changed Greg’s own life.

    From Arthur to the athletes in Last Chance U, Cheer, and America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Greg describes a consistent responsibility: sit with people in their triumphs and suffering, and try to understand. When someone has a bad day, give it context. Film another person as you would want to be filmed. Help viewers recognize something of themselves in the person on screen.

    Greg and Will also explore the communities that make creative work possible, the uncertainty of following a calling, and Will’s vision of how AI might change work and invite deeper questions about purpose. Their shared Christian faith brings them back to belonging, grace, and the challenge of remaining in relationship with people whose views they profoundly reject.

    Greg offers a simple response to disagreement: “Tell me more.”

    At the heart of this conversation is an invitation to look again—at a neighbor, a stranger, someone across the Thanksgiving table—and discover the human being we have not yet learned to see.

    In this episode:

    • Finding friendship and creative energy in Laguna Beach
    • Arthur Kane and the unexpected beginnings of New York Doll
    • Filmmaking as collaboration, community, and care
    • Portraying vulnerability with dignity and context
    • Creativity, AI, and questions of work and purpose
    • Faith, belonging, and curiosity across disagreement

    About the Show
    The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00.
    Mostra di più Mostra meno
    54 min
  • When Fear Gives Way to Love: Chuck Henry on 9/11, the News, and What Makes Us Human — Fr. Will Crist and Chuck Henry, September 2, 2026

    When Fear Gives Way to Love: Chuck Henry on 9/11, the News, and What Makes Us Human — Fr. Will Crist and Chuck Henry, September 2, 2026
    Sep 16 2026
    When Fear Gives Way to Love: Chuck Henry on News, 9/11, and Our Common Humanity

    What happens when a veteran news anchor who has spent more than 50 years reporting the news sits down to talk about what he has learned about people?

    Chuck Henry joins Fr. Will Crist for a wide-ranging conversation about news, fear, vulnerability, and the experiences that bring human beings together.

    Chuck takes us back to September 11, 2001, when he and an NBC news crew drove from Los Angeles to New York after air travel was shut down. Along the way—and later on the streets of New York—he discovered a story he hadn't expected: strangers helping strangers, communities gathering together, and people responding to tragedy with compassion.

    Chuck shares remarkable original audio from that journey and reflects on what he witnessed in New York in the days following the attacks.

    Will shares his own experience after 9/11, when the command to “love your enemies” led him to walk into an Orange County mosque, meet his Muslim neighbors, and eventually help create friendships among Christian, Muslim, and Jewish congregations.

    Together, Chuck and Will explore:

    • Why fear captures our attention—and what it does to us
    • What Chuck discovered while covering 9/11
    • How vulnerability can bring strangers together
    • Why people increasingly turn away from traditional news
    • How to disagree without turning another person into “the other”
    • What changing technology and AI may mean for the future of news
    • Why listening to another person's story matters
    • Grief, loss, compassion, and the unexpected places we discover love

    And they arrive at a deceptively simple possibility:

    Love is what we discover in vulnerability.

    About the Show
    The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00.
    Mostra di più Mostra meno
    51 min
  • A Community Is a Team Sport: Matt Lawson on Leadership, Public Safety, and Loving Laguna Beach — Fr. Will Crist and Matt Lawson, August 26,

    A Community Is a Team Sport: Matt Lawson on Leadership, Public Safety, and Loving Laguna Beach — Fr. Will Crist and Matt Lawson, August 26,
    Aug 28 2026
    Description

    What transforms someone from a resident into a steward of a community?

    In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes Matt Lawson, longtime Laguna Beach civic leader and public safety advocate, whose decades of volunteer service recently were recognized when the City of Laguna Beach named its new Emergency Operations Center in his honor.

    Matt shares the remarkable journey that brought him from New York and rural Connecticut to Laguna Beach, where he and his wife, Mary, discovered not simply a beautiful place to live, but a community they came to call home. That sense of belonging led to a lifetime of public service—from improving the city's design review process to helping reshape Laguna's approach to emergency preparedness, wildfire safety, and disaster resilience.

    Together, Matt and Will explore what makes a healthy community, why volunteers matter, how trust is built between citizens and public officials, and why public safety is ultimately a shared responsibility. At its heart, this is a conversation about leadership, service, and the ordinary people whose quiet persistence helps extraordinary communities flourish.

    Show Notes

    In this episode, Fr. Will and Matt discuss:
    • Matt's childhood in New York City and rural Connecticut, and the experiences that shaped his outlook on life
    • The journey that eventually brought Matt and Mary Lawson to Laguna Beach
    • Why Laguna immediately felt different from every other place they had lived
    • The moment Matt stopped thinking of Laguna as simply where he lived and began thinking of it as home
    • How a love for community naturally led to a commitment to public service
    • Matt's first civic involvement through Laguna Beach's Design Review Process Task Force
    • Why listening to diverse perspectives produced better public policy than ideological agreement
    • The importance of improving public processes rather than simply changing outcomes
    • Lessons learned from visiting other California coastal communities and adapting best practices to Laguna Beach
    • How predictable, transparent government builds trust and reduces unnecessary conflict
    • Why serving on local committees taught Matt the value of listening before proposing solutions
    • The origins of Laguna Beach's Emergency Disaster Preparedness Committee
    • The leadership of former Mayor Elizabeth Pearson and others who recognized the need for stronger emergency planning
    • How Matt learned the importance of working alongside firefighters, police officers, engineers, and emergency professionals
    • Why volunteers earn credibility by learning the work and respecting the expertise of professionals
    • The challenges Laguna Beach faces because of its geography, topography, and wildfire risk
    • How improved emergency planning has made the city significantly safer over the past decade
    • The creation of modern emergency management systems, hazard mitigation planning, and stronger public safety infrastructure
    • The importance of fuel modification, defensible space, underground utilities, and local water reliability
    • Why families should prepare their own homes before the next emergency rather than waiting until disaster strikes
    • The continuing work needed to modernize Laguna's aging fire stations and critical public safety facilities
    • How thoughtful leadership balances environmental stewardship with protecting lives and property
    • Why collaboration between volunteers, city staff, elected officials, police officers, firefighters, and residents has transformed Laguna's emergency preparedness
    • What it meant to have Laguna Beach's new Emergency Operations Center named in Matt's honor
    • Matt's conviction that public safety—and community itself—is ultimately a team sport
    Key takeaway

    Strong communities are not built by government alone. They are built when ordinary people decide that the place they call home is worth serving. Through patient listening, thoughtful leadership, and a willingness to work together, neighbors become stewards, and a city becomes more resilient, more connected, and better prepared for whatever the future may bring.

    About the Show
    The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00.
    Mostra di più Mostra meno
    52 min
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
Ancora nessuna recensione