We kick of Season 7 of the Kroc Pod with a blockbuster -- in this episode, Kroc School Alumni Ryan Shipley shares his transformative journey from incarceration to becoming a leader in social justice through the Sisu Freedom Foundation. Shipley, the winner of the 2025 Necla Tschirgi Civic Engagement Award, discusses the challenges faced by system-impacted individuals during reentry, the importance of education in reducing recidivism, and the need for community support.

Ryan emphasizes the significance of lived experience in leadership roles and advocates for a shift in language to better represent those affected by the justice system. He also outlines future plans for the Sisu Foundation and offers advice for young people looking to create change in their communities.

Links:

• https://www.sisufreedom.org/
• https://www.sandiego.edu/torero-urban-scholars/
• https://thephoenix.org/app

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What happens when the system gets it wrong? In this episode, we dig into the haunting realities of wrongful convictions with Amanda Knox, one of the most well known exonerees of our time and Professor Justin Brooks, founder of the California Innocence Project. Together with other leading voices in law and interrogation techniques, we unpack the hidden mechanics behind false confessions, implicit bias, and the 4,000 documented wrongful convictions in the U.S. since 1989.

Check out these links for more information related to this episode:

• The Innocence Center -- https://theinnocencecenter.org/
• You Might Go to Prison Even Though Your Innocent by Justin Brooks -- https://www.youmightgotoprison.com/

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What happens when Earth itself starts to wake up? In this episode, Kroc School Prof. Topher McDougal joins us to talk about his new book Gaia Wakes, where he explores the idea of Earth’s emergent consciousness and the possibility of a global AI-powered governance system. From the collision of economics and ecology to the Butlerian Jihad of the Dune series, McDougal pushes us to rethink humanity’s role in an AI-dominated future.

In this wide-ranging episode, we dive into Luddites, the idea of a grand bargain between humans and AI, and what it really means to have — or be — a soul. In this episode we discuss:

• The four radical evolutionary upgrades (so far…)
• Humans as natural phenomena
• Why our future may demand a new relationship with technology
• The ethical risks of being domesticated by our own tools

Check out these links for more information after you listen:

Gaia Wakes The Book: https://cup.columbia.edu/book/gaia-wakes/9781788218283/

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