391: What Can Chronic Uncertainty Teach Us About Control, Acceptance, and Resilience?
Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity
Release Date: 12/02/2025
407: Why Might the Arts Teach the Holocaust More Powerfully Than History Alone?
Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity
Guest Karen Berman, Ph.D., Chaired the Department of Theatre and Dance at Georgia College and previously taught for 15 years at Georgetown University. She is Dean Emerita, College of Fellows of the American Theatre; Past President of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education; Director of 150 Holocaust and other theatre productions; and winner of the Georgia Governor’s Award for the Arts and the Hillel Heroes Award. Karen is co-Artistic Director of Washington Women in Theatre. She is the co-author with Dr. Gail Humphries of the two-volume work, Stories of the Holocaust: Art for Healing...
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406: "Attack!" How Do the Complexities of Character and Context Converge to Shape History?
Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity
Guest Bill Whiteside abandoned a 30-year career in software sales to devote his time to a story that he started researching to keep his mind engaged during his business travels. Intrigued by a little-known incident from early in Winston Churchill’s first term as Britain’s Prime Minister, this diversion evolved into an obsession as he dug into the story of a controversial and catastrophic clash between the British and French Navies from multiple angles. The more he learned, the more it became a book he just had to write. That book, Operation Catapult: Winston Churchill and the British...
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405: What Can Standing in Awe of the Natural World Teach Us?
Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity
Guest Tom Reed studied photography at Rutgers while studying Geography. Ansel Adams, Edgar Payne, and the Hudson River School are major influencers. Zen sensibilities profoundly influence his compositions and writings, as he is a student of Japanese martial arts and aesthetics (chado). His photographs and writing center on the experience of awe at the sight of a landscape. He hopes this leads to considering nature itself divine and sacred, and that stewardship, rather than the dominant utilitarian view, is the only sane attitude. Summary In this episode, Jeff speaks with...
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404: How Do the Experiences of War Echo Across Generations?
Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity
Guest Matthew Collins is a writer, speaker, and voice coach whose career spans British television, travel writing, prison education, and Shakespeare. A former BBC presenter, he now leads voice and public speaking workshops and teaches Shakespeare to students ranging from ex-prisoners to members of the Women's Institute. His approach is non-academic. He encourages students to explore Shakespearean texts using spoken voice exercises - and to feel the effects they can have on the mind and body. (And soul...) Matthew also gives entertaining talks. And last year, he launched...
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403: What Do Artifacts Explain About the History of the West?
Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity
Guest Paul Knowles has not followed a conventional path. Originally from Texas, he worked in Downtown Dallas as a financial advisor for the world’s largest private wealth manager. He then served as marketing director for a highly successful Colorado regional bank and later for one of the nation’s top real estate offices. However, it was after stepping away for a year and a half that Paul stumbled onto his true calling, and for the past ten years, he has been the Assistant Director of the Museum of Northwest Colorado, located in Craig, Colorado Summary In this episode, I visit with Paul to...
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402: How Does Animal-Assisted Education Improve Student Focus and Mental Health?
Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity
Guest Barbara Vokatis is a professor at the State University of New York an Oneonta, keynote speaker, award-winning author, and therapy dog partner. She is an author of books in dog therapy in educational settings (“Teachers and Therapy Dog Teams: Innovative Collaborations to Make a Difference for Children”) and a children’s book (“Carmel Goes to School”) with the therapy dog theme. Her latest book is titled “Unshakable: Parenting through Autism with Love, Courage, and Purpose.” Summary In this episode, Jeff Ikler speaks with Dr. Barb Vokatis about the role of animal-assisted...
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401: How Do Writer Friendships Make the Creative Journey More Sustainable?
Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity
Guest Hurley Winkler is a writer and editor from Jacksonville, FL. Her newsletter, “Lonely Victories,” is among the top Substack publications in the Literature category. She teaches creative writing at Flagler College. Summary In this episode, I speak with writer and teacher Hurley Winkler about journaling, creative practice, and building a sustainable writing life. Hurley traces her path to writing back to childhood anxiety and early journaling inspired by Harriet the Spy, and describes how writing eventually became her preferred independent art form after early interests in...
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400: How Do Observing and Deep Listening Help Shape Strong Writing?
Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity
Guest Heather Lende is the author of four books centered on her life in Haines, Alaska: If You Lived Here, I’d Know Your Name, Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs, Find the Good: Life Lessons from a Small-town Obituary Writer, and, most recently, Of Bears and Ballots, about her adventures in local politics. Heather served as Alaska Writer Laureate from 2021-2023, has an honorary Ph.D in Humane Letters from the University of Alaska, Anchorage, and is the recipient of the Middlebury College Alumni Award. Summary In this, my 400th episode, I sit down with writer Heather Lende...
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399: Why Do Public Lands Remain a Source of Controversy?
Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity
Guest Adam Bronstein grew up exploring the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York and knew from a young age that he wanted to work to protect wild places. He received a BS from SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry in Environmental Studies and Geographic Information Technologies. Adam first joined the Western Watershed Project staff in 2020. Outside his capacity at WWP, Adam hosts and produces Our Public Lands podcast, advocates for Wilderness, and is a dedicated public lands hunter and angler—always looking for that elusive cow-free habitat. Summary In...
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398: Why Do Internal Customers Matter as Much as External Ones?
Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity
Guest April Obersteller is a people-centered leader, operator, and founder of And Not Or, a community and leadership platform built around the belief that we don’t have to choose. She has led customer and employee experience across iconic consumer brands, including YETI and woom, and now leads community and experience at Recess. April also hosts The AND Podcast, where she shares real conversations about leadership, growth, and humanity. Summary In this episode, Jeff talks with April Obersteller, co-founder and CEO of And, about what it really takes to build companies that succeed by...
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Jonathan Gluck is a writer and editor whose work has appeared in The New York Times and The Washington Post. He was deputy editor of New York magazine for ten years, after which he worked as managing editor of Vogue. He currently works at Fast Company. His work has been recognized with multiple National Magazine Awards. He is the author of An Exercise in Uncertainty, a memoir of how his journey with incurable cancer has reshaped his identity, marriage, and daily life.
Summary
In this deeply candid conversation, journalist and author Jon Gluck recounts his 22-year journey living with multiple myeloma, an incurable but treatable bone-marrow cancer. He describes the shock of his diagnosis at age 38 and the long, winding road of tests, remissions, relapses, and emerging treatments that have kept him alive. The discussion explores how Gluck navigates profound uncertainty, the illusion of control, and the emotional toll that chronic illness places not only on the patient but also on family and relationships. He and his wife confronted the strain of living in medical limbo, ultimately turning to therapy to rebuild connection during what he calls becoming “cancer zombies.”
The conversation also highlights the restorative role of fly fishing, which Gluck describes as one of the few activities capable of placing him entirely in the present. This genuine flow state quiets fear and anxiety. He shares broader lessons about empathy, how to speak to someone with a serious diagnosis, and the importance of intentionally pursuing joy, connection, and meaning while living alongside uncertainty.
The Essential Point
The heart of the discussion is Jon’s insight into living meaningfully in the face of uncertainty. His story shows that while we cannot control the inevitabilities of illness or life’s unpredictability, we can control how we show up—seeking information, accepting our limits, nurturing relationships, and embracing activities that restore us. His emphasis on intentionally choosing joy, connection, and presence—even in the shadow of chronic illness—offers a universal lesson for anyone facing their own uncertainties.
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