Mapping an Ecology of Integrative Approaches to Addressing the Metacrisis

Mapping an Ecology of Integrative Approaches to Addressing the Metacrisis

IAM scholars Brandon Norgaard, Nicholas Hedlund, PhD, and Claudia Meglin provide a sweeping (albeit provisional) cartography of emergent frameworks rooted in an “Integrative Worldview“—ranging from metamodernism and integral theory to systems science, process philosophy, and critical realism—that are converging around a shared impulse to address the root causes of our civilizational predicament.
The End of America? How the Founders’ Genius Is Breaking Down (And What We Can Do About It)

The End of America? How the Founders’ Genius Is Breaking Down (And What We Can Do About It)

Can America still save itself — or is collapse inevitable? Drawing lessons from history, developmental psychology, and the meta-crisis, Keith explores why systems built on “enlightened self-interest” are faltering… and what kind of leadership could restore the balance.
Integral Democratic Inclusivity: A New Vision of Human Rights

Integral Democratic Inclusivity: A New Vision of Human Rights

Law professor and integral scholar Mark Fischler argues that American courts remain trapped in a binary approach to rights — a structure that cannot meet the complexity of today’s pluralistic society. Drawing on the example of Roe v. Wade, comparative legal models, and integral theory, he proposes a new legal paradigm — Integral Democratic Inclusivity — capable of honoring multiple rights and fostering a more inclusive, evolving vision of justice.
Ethics and Awakening: Why Spiritual Growth Isn’t Enough

Ethics and Awakening: Why Spiritual Growth Isn’t Enough

Kimberley Theresa Lafferty and Jac O’Keeffe explore the critical but often overlooked role of ethics in the spiritual path, challenging the assumption that awakening alone leads to maturity. Through personal stories, developmental insight, and hard-earned wisdom, they reveal how true spiritual integrity requires psychological integration, relational accountability, and a lifelong commitment to ethical embodiment.
Why Philanthropy Is the Most Powerful Lever for Systemic Change

Why Philanthropy Is the Most Powerful Lever for Systemic Change

This episode introduces a groundbreaking developmental map of philanthropy, revealing how the field is evolving from strategic rigor to empowerment-driven justice — and now toward a new paradigm of integrative systems change. Josh Leonard and Robb Smith explore how philanthropic institutions hold the unique freedom and leverage to become civilization’s steering mechanism, capable of addressing root causes rather than symptoms in the age of the metacrisis.
Terminal Crisis: The Economic World War Has Begun

Terminal Crisis: The Economic World War Has Begun

The global system isn’t collapsing — it’s transforming. In this urgent episode, Robb Smith reveals why the U.S. is facing a historic terminal crisis, what comes next in the 700-year cycle of capital accumulation, and how a new world order — or global anarchy — is already taking shape.
A Grand Strategy for the Transformation Age

A Grand Strategy for the Transformation Age

In this powerful second installment of Big Picture Mind, Robb Smith presents a sweeping yet grounded vision for the future of the integrative worldview — one that meets the historic demands of our moment and invites each of us into a shared project of planetary coherence.
Polarization and the Algorithmic Undertow: Integral and Critical Realist Perspectives

Polarization and the Algorithmic Undertow: Integral and Critical Realist Perspectives

Bruce Alderman explores how our rapid transition into a globally networked information environment has created unprecedented challenges for human cognition, social cohesion, and collective meaning-making and sensemaking.
Making Sense of the Extraordinary

Making Sense of the Extraordinary

In the debut episode of Evolving Spirit, Kimberley Theresa Lafferty invites us into a raw and heartfelt exploration of extraordinary experiences—those profound moments that challenge our understanding of reality and connect us to deeper meaning. From developmental insights to the importance of ethical grounding, Kimberley offers a sophisticated framework for integrating these transformative encounters into our lives with wisdom, compassion, and community.
What We’ve Learned: 2024 Reflections and Looking Ahead to 2025

What We’ve Learned: 2024 Reflections and Looking Ahead to 2025

The Institute of Applied Metatheory (IAM) is revolutionizing how we tackle global challenges by applying integrative metatheories—holistic frameworks that unify knowledge across disciplines. In this episode, Robb Smith and Josh Leonard reflect on IAM’s 2024 accomplishments and share an inspiring vision for 2025, highlighting leadership, collaboration, and storytelling as keys to driving transformational change.
Breakdown of the World System: Q&A with Robb Smith

Breakdown of the World System: Q&A with Robb Smith

Recorded on Election Night 2024, this Q&A session with Robb Smith offers an in-depth exploration of the profound challenges facing America in the wake of the election results. As the nation grapples with critical questions about the future — such as choosing between reform and revolt, addressing increasing polarization, and recognizing the urgent need for evolved leadership — Robb offers a deep exploration of these complexities through the lens of integral theory.
An Integral Metatheory of Conservatism

An Integral Metatheory of Conservatism

In a time of political upheaval and societal change, understanding the deeper currents that shape our worldviews is more crucial than ever. Join Robb Smith in this enlightening presentation recorded during our recent election watch party, where he delves into the rich tapestry of conservatism through the lens of integral theory.
SALT for Climate: Redefining Urgency and Transformation in Climate Leadership

SALT for Climate: Redefining Urgency and Transformation in Climate Leadership

Josh Leonard sits down with Gail Hochachka and Lisa Gibson, leaders of the SALT for Climate initiative, to explore their pioneering approach to climate action. They discuss the often-overlooked psychological and social dimensions of climate work, share insights from their work on collective sensemaking and leadership training, and explain why a focus on human dynamics may be the missing piece in our response to the climate crisis.
Overflowing Purpose: An Inside Look

Overflowing Purpose: An Inside Look

In this short 14-minute video, we give you an exclusive inside look at Overflowing Purpose, a transformative new course that brings together renowned thinkers like Ken Wilber, John Vervaeke, Robb Smith, Cindy Wigglesworth, Gail Hochachka, Peter Merry, Greg Thomas, and others to address the complex challenges of our time — and your unique role in meeting those challenges.
Polarity Politics and the 2024 Election

Polarity Politics and the 2024 Election

Corey deVos and Mark Fischler explore the complexities of the 2024 U.S. presidential election through an integral lens, offering insights into how political polarization is shaped by systemic structures, and how these structures influence our individual psyches and sense-making. They introduce practical approaches for navigating political polarities, recognizing personal and collective shadows, and engaging in more nuanced political discourse.
The Wonderful (But Flawed) Ideals of DEI

The Wonderful (But Flawed) Ideals of DEI

Keith Martin-Smith takes a careful look at the diversity, equity, and inclusion movement when he began to notice the damage it was causing people he knew under the guise of progress, or equity. Putting his keen mind to the task, Keith identified seven key areas where the DEI movement goes markedly astray from the values it aspires to.
Introducing the Cultural Complexity Index

Introducing the Cultural Complexity Index

The Institute of Applied Metatheory recently chose to organize, fund and incubate a significant new Applied Metatheory Initiative called the Cultural Complexity Index, which we see as holding the potential to act as a high-leverage project for long-term social emancipation.
How America Got Here: A 50 Year Journey to Polarization

How America Got Here: A 50 Year Journey to Polarization

Robb Smith and Josh Leonard look at the deep structures — in the form of actual events, policies and decisions between 1970 and 2024 — that radically shifted America from one form of system “regime” and associated equilibrium, that of relative national coherence in the early 1970s, into a new, radically- and qualitatively-different regime and equilibrium of extreme polarized decoherence of 2024.
Democracy in Decline? The Supreme Court and the Threat to Public Morality

Democracy in Decline? The Supreme Court and the Threat to Public Morality

How did the democratic process and the values it represents — equality and liberty for all — come to be teetering on the brink? Mark illuminates the fact that the Constitution is not a set-in-stone document, but eminently open to interpretation, and explains that its interpretation is a direct reflection of the worldviews of the Supreme Court justices. In fact, the whole process of democracy needs to be aligned with a certain level of development in order to deliver...
Transforming Law Enforcement: Integral Policing Roundtable

Transforming Law Enforcement: Integral Policing Roundtable

Josh Leonard hosts three leading experts in the field of integral policing to explore how applying big-picture, integrative frameworks could help address the complex challenges facing modern law enforcement.
Reintegrating DEI: Beyond the Culture Wars

Reintegrating DEI: Beyond the Culture Wars

Keith Martin-Smith explains the developmental levels in detail that allowed DEI to form in the first place, as well as the levels from which DEI is often expressed (and resisted) from, allowing us to more clearly see and understand the cultural wars we are all experiencing.
Healing the Infosphere: How Integral Journalism Can Elevate Public Discourse

Healing the Infosphere: How Integral Journalism Can Elevate Public Discourse

Corey deVos talks to Stefan Schultz, a journalist at Der Spiegel magazine, about his model for integral journalism that he has been developing over the past few years. This model, staggering in both its depth and its breadth, examines journalism and media literacy through a developmental lens, looking at how the infosphere shapes society and how journalism can positively influence this process.
What Feels Right: An Embodied Perspective on the Ethical Line of Development

What Feels Right: An Embodied Perspective on the Ethical Line of Development

This article examines ethical frameworks across levels of human development and via the quadrants of the AQAL model. The ethical line is examined as it progresses through stages of development, paying special attention to the role of the felt sense in the determination of right action. The role of unconscious forces, particularly the felt sense of disgust, is examined as the basis of moral intuition. Integral Ethics includes the ethical framework of the previous stages and an examination of personal motivation for right action. By inquiring into the unconscious drives that move us, we may begin to recognize the cultural...
Bringing Soul and Integrity to American Politics

Bringing Soul and Integrity to American Politics

More than a political talk, Marianne reveals a psychological and spiritual portrait of the United States, referencing the brilliant vision of our founding fathers, Martin Luther King’s goal of Beloved Community, and telling a stirring story of the way Abraham Lincoln’s second inauguration reflects the high morality of the populace at that time.
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