Peace is Power - Trailer

Hollywood actress and meditation teacher Stephanie Nash joins Janessa Gans Wilder to explore how inner peace can transform our relationship with emotions, conflict, and the world around us. Reflecting on her connection to the ocean, Stephanie shares how mindfulness helped her embrace vulnerability and find peace beyond external circumstances. Together, they explore practical ways to process difficult emotions, interrupt stress through breathing and laughter, and approach life's challenges with greater presence. They also discuss why peace is not passivity, the importance of women's leadership in peacebuilding, and how simple, accessible meditation practices can create meaningful change in our lives and relationships.

In this episode of Peace is Power, Janessa Gans Wilder speaks with Rev. Dr. Fuhbang Emmanuel Tanifum, a pastor, theologian, interfaith leader, and grassroots peacebuilder working in Bamenda, Cameroon, amid the country’s ongoing Anglophone conflict. Emmanuel shares the childhood experience that first shaped his commitment to nonviolence: as a teenager, he was seriously wounded after responding to a family conflict with violence. The experience led him to question what violence could actually accomplish and convinced him that “violence will only beget violence.” His organization combines peacebuilding and leadership education with vocational and self-employment training, helping young people develop both the skills and economic independence to reject recruitment by violent actors.

In this episode of Peace is Power, Janessa Gans Wilder speaks with Palestinian non-violence leader Ali Abu Awwad about identity, non-violence, hope, and the search for a practical path toward peace. Drawing on his experiences during the First and Second Intifadas, imprisonment, a hunger strike, and the death of his brother, Ali describes how his understanding of conflict transformed from resistance and revenge toward nonviolence as an identity and way of life. He argues that Palestinians and Israelis must confront their own fears, anger, stereotypes, and assumptions before they can build a shared future. Ali calls on people around the world, particularly Americans, to become “pro-solution,” support constructive grassroots efforts, and engage their political representatives. Above all, he emphasizes steadfastness, shared humanity, and the need to build a future based on dignity, freedom, and mutual responsibility.

Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action and author of Fired Up, joins Janessa Gans Wilder to explore how ordinary people can create extraordinary change through grassroots organizing, courage, and community. Reflecting on the origins of Moms Demand Action after the Sandy Hook school shooting, Shannon shares how a single Facebook post evolved into one of the largest volunteer-led movements in the United States, driven by women who refused to accept gun violence as inevitable.

Today on Peace is Power , Janessa Gans Wilder speaks with renowned Iraqi cellist, composer, and conductor Karim Wasfi about the role of music, culture, and human connection in the midst of violence and division.