The Shallowness Crisis

It's the kind of thing that happens a million times a day. Old friends bump into each other on the street for the first time in years. They spend a couple of minutes trying to reconnect, to get caught up. And then they part, vowing to get together soon, but knowing they never will.

It happened to Charles Halpern once, but his story didn't end in the predictable way. Charlie's chance encounter would change his life, and spawn a new phrase. On that day, Charles Halpern had to ask himself a question: 'What if I'm just not very deep? Am I looking at a 'shallowness crisis' here?'

This week - wade into the dreaded shallowness crisis with Mary Hynes and her guest, Charles Halpern. He is the founding dean of the City University of New York School of Law, and Chair of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society. He is also the author of Making Waves and Riding the Currents: Activism and the Practice of Wisdom, published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

Also on the show: soon after Harry Schachter's father died, Harry began a year-long ritual - the recital of the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead. We'll hear Harry's documentary, Kaddish for my Father.

It's the kind of thing that happens a million times a day. Old friends bump into each other on the street for the first time in years. They spend a couple of minutes trying to reconnect, to get caught up. And then they part, vowing to get together soon, but knowing they never will.

It happened to Charles Halpern once, but his story didn't end in the predictable way. Charlie's chance encounter would change his life, and spawn a new phrase. On that day, Charles Halpern had to ask himself a question: 'What if I'm just not very deep? Am I looking at a 'shallowness crisis' here?'

This week - wade into the dreaded shallowness crisis with Mary Hynes and her guest, Charles Halpern. He is the founding dean of the City University of New York School of Law, and Chair of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society. He is also the author of Making Waves and Riding the Currents: Activism and the Practice of Wisdom, published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

Also on the show: soon after Harry Schachter's father died, Harry began a year-long ritual - the recital of the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead. We'll hear Harry's documentary, Kaddish for my Father.