What is genuine dialogue? How can we connect with others more deeply? Tune in to explore the transformative power of dialogue with us in this new podcast series, The Dialogue Studio hosted by the Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue. In these episodes, we will talk to members of our Ikeda Center community about their unique stories and how dialogue has played a role in their lives. We will also examine Buddhist leader, peacebuilder, and Center founder Daisaku Ikeda’s approach to dialogue. We invite you to join us in this space to practice a deeper way of engaging with one another and to transform our world one dialogue at a time. To learn more about our Center's mission and programs, visit ikedacenter.org.
Publisher
The Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue
We are back with another episode in our What Do We Mean By series, this time unpacking what we mean by dialogue. Host Lillian Koizumi speaks with Dr. Olivier Urbain about Daisaku Ikeda’s philosophy and practice of dialogue, why Ikeda viewed dialogue as essential to peacebuilding, how we can engage in meaningful dialogue in this age of division, and much more.
Dr. Olivier Urbain is the director of the Min-On Music Research Institute (MOMRI) in Tokyo, Japan. He is the editor of the first volume dedicated to the topic of music in peacebuilding, Music and Conflict Transformation (2008). His main source of inspiration is the philosophy and practice of dialogue of Daisaku Ikeda, the founder of the Min-On Concert Association. Publications on this topic include Daisaku Ikeda’s Philosophy of Peace: Dialogue, Transformation and Global Citizenship (2010), as well as “Peacebuilding 2020” in the journal Music & Arts in Action (2020). His most recent publication, co-authored with Michael Golden, is titled “Musicking, Consciousness, and Peacebuilding” (2026), published open access in the Journal of Consciousness Studies.
Resources from the episode:
Daisaku Ikeda’s Philosophy of Peace: Dialogue, Transformation and Global Citizenship by Olivier Urbain
Min-On Music Research Institute (https://hub.institute.min-on.org/)
“The Flowering of Creative Life Force” (https://www.daisakuikeda.org/main/culture/essays-on-culture/life-force.html) by Daisaku Ikeda
Music attribution: Podcast Music
To learn more about the Ikeda Center, visit ikedacenter.org or email us at podcast@ikedacenter.org
12 Aug 2026
Episode 40: Inner Dialogue & Finding Your Purpose
In this episode, our 2026 Summer Program Intern, Becca Faber, and Ikeda Center Peace Research Fellow, George Koichi Wong, explore the Japanese concept of ikigai, what it means to find our purpose in life, and the role that inner dialogue can play in that journey. Becca also speaks with other Ikeda Center staff about what purpose means to them and how their own experiences have shaped their understanding of it.
Music attribution: Podcast Music
To learn more about the Ikeda Center, visit ikedacenter.org or email us at podcast@ikedacenter.org (mailto:podcast@ikedacenter.org)
15 Jul 2026
Episode 39: Engaging with Different Perspectives: A Dialogue w/ Nuclear Disarmament Experts Joe Hodgkin & Molly McGinty
In this episode, our 2026 summer program intern Becca Faber talks with nuclear disarmament experts Joe Hodgkin and Molly McGinty about how they found their way into the field, what has sustained their involvement over the years, and how they engage with those who come from different perspectives. They also explore some common assumptions and opinions about nuclear weapons and how they approach conversations around those widely held beliefs.
Dr. Joe Hodgkin is an attending hospitalist physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is on the national board of Physicians for Social Responsibility, and is the co-chair of its Greater Boston chapter. In his work with these organizations, as well as with International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and Back from the Brink, he is involved in medical and peer education about the health effects of nuclear weapons, youth and medical trainee engagement, lobbying for disarmament and de-escalatory nuclear policy, and physician “Track II” diplomacy to promote peace in the medical and scientific communities across borders. He is committed to a world without nuclear weapons.
Molly McGinty joined the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) in 2019 as a Quaker Voluntary Service Fellow and has remained on staff since the completion of the program. She graduated from Salisbury University in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Social Work and Gender & Sexuality Studies, where she engaged in advocacy on police demilitarization and anti-human trafficking policy. It was through these positions that she came to understand the power of grassroots organizing and youth-led movements. As Program Director, Molly coordinates IPPNW’s work on educating the public and decision-makers on the medical and humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, promoting the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and supporting our medical student movement and youth partners. She is on the International Steering Group of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) and the Board of the Nuclear Truth Project, and was previously on the Steering Committee of Youth for TPNW.
Music attribution: Podcast Music
To learn more about the Ikeda Center, visit ikedacenter.org or email us at podcast@ikedacenter.org (mailto:podcast@ikedacenter.org)
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
149,996
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.9 / 5
19 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
13 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 59 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
64
Social presence
0
YouTube
86
Engagement
51
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