The Lean In
Conversations to get close to. You’re invited to regular discussions and Q&A on big topics of today.
About
The Lean In is a quarterly series of conversations for making meaning in our changing world. Like a podcast, but in person. It’s a place to gather and turn towards big issues without easy answers. A space for sense-making in fragmented times.
Hosted by Human.Kind Co-founder Tessa Leon, with a range of special guests and community leaders, we’ll explore topics at the intersection of culture, science, and spirituality. Dialogues will traverse contemplative traditions, ethics and morality, eco-dharma and neuroscience, social philosophy, politics, and poetry.
Come listen or engage in vitalising discussions that spark the collective imagination, generate ideas to orient by, and offer a sense of refuge in our tender and tumultuous world
NEXT EVENT
The Lean In: I am not a robot.
With special guests Pink Shorts Press and Sahil Choujar.
Thursday 20 Aug | 7:30pm
City Studio. L1, 60 Halifax St
Kaurna Land
Elevator access via Surflen St.
Please contact us for lift entry.
Or online via livestream.
Free on-street 2hr parking on Halifax and surrounding streets. Or ride your bike, parking directly out front.
Up next: I am not a robot.
Thursday 20 Aug | 7:30pm
Today, we’re more digitally connected than ever, but our society is also experiencing a pandemic of loneliness. Hyper-local real-life communities will be a touchstone of the resilient future we need. But how does this look in practice? Let’s talk about it.
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Surely there’s more to our humanity than the ability to select boxes with traffic lights.
While it’s getting very tempting to fall down the rabbit hole where robots do our admin, help make hard decisions, and validate all our suggestions, deep down we know what we really need are veggie gardens.
Today, we’re more digitally connected than ever, but our society is also experiencing a pandemic of loneliness. Hyper-local real-life communities will be a touchstone of the resilient future we need. But how does this look in practice?
An analogue rebellion is rising. People are finding solace in film cameras, flip phones, cassettes are for sale on Smith St in Collingwood (so you know it must be cool). This nostalgia for a pre-digital era might reflect a rejection of artificially generated creativity. Artificial ideas. Artificial neatness. And how come the robots get to make art before they spend their 20’s waiting tables and sleeping on couches?
At the same time, online spaces are crucial to help us organise and facilitate connections that flow into IRL relationships. We need to use these digital tools wisely, so how can we stay human in today’s online world?
Let’s talk about it.
Join Margot Lloyd and Emily Hart of Pink Shorts Press, alongside Sahil Choujar, Director of Tech For Good. Hosted by Tessa Leon, come discuss how we can foster connection, trust, and creativity together without typing that prompt in a chat bar.ere
Past events
Summertime Sadness
This session took place on Thurs 26 March 2026
Featuring special guests Rana Kökçinar and Amber Cronin. Hosted by Tessa Leon.
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Feeling freaked about bushfires or sobbing over algal blooms are sensible responses to loss. But what happens when climate anxiety becomes a social pattern that leaves us overwhelmed? Eco-grief is the emotional and existential distress of witnessing environmental collapse, and it’s on the rise. How do we acknowledge the weight of these ecological realities, while also building collective resilience?
Let’s talk about it. Because how we navigate the emotional impacts of the climate crisis will shape what we do next. Join special guests Rana Kökçinar, a systemic therapist and author who researches the space between medical models of mental illness and the eco-systemic nature of climate change. Alongside Amber Cronin, a cross-disciplinary artist who explores how we process collective grief and facilitate creative responses to our time. Hosted by Human.Kind Co-founder Tessa Leon.
Creating new narratives for shared meaning and purpose is a key part of systems change. As Louise Ziane said, “if you want to change the world, you have to throw a better party than those destroying it.”
Session 5: Ageing Disgracefully
This session took place on 25 Sep 2025.
Featuring special guest Dr Kaye Cleave. Hosted by Tessa Leon.
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Naomi Wolf told us beauty was a myth way back in the ‘90s. But the pursuit of eternal youth wages today in full force. The billion dollar anti-ageing industry is fuelled by our almost mythical ideal of immortality. And yet, there is still nothing surer than death and taxes.
What’s the true cost of this cultural obsession? And how can we defy it? There is a growing counter-culture breaking these social norms. Suggesting we don’t need to age gracefully. It’s ok to be loud and gleefully grey-haired.
This conversation faces the ways we ascribe value based on age, looks, kids, or sexuality. And how we might resist the system’s assumed dominion over our bodies and voices. Deciding not to perform the roles we’re told can be scary. But there are people out there showing us what it looks like to rewrite health as we age, and live authentically.
We are honoured to welcome special guest for this session, Dr Kaye Cleave. Rebel and muse to millions around the world, Kaye inspires people to age intentionally, flip off stereotypes, and normalise conversations about loss.
Come give a middle finger to anti-aging. (And no, you’re not too old to wear that.)
Session 4: Who's Going to Save Us?
A federal election special.
This session took place 28 March 2025.
Featuring special guests Dr Verity Cooper and Alex Macmillan. Hosted by Triton Tunis-Mitchell.
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Our date with a democracy sausage is imminent. The federal election will be called any day now. And as the race to win your vote hits fever pitch, this will be the question we’re all trying to answer.
Everyone is scared about the cozzy living, nestled inside the overarching climate crisis, not to mention the way Aussie pollies risk careening towards the broligarchy we’re witnessing in the US. Big money is getting thrown around by big coal magnates, with big party corruption par for the course. So how do we filter reality from the BS? (Thanks for nothing, Murdoch.) How can we escape the two party system? Who can help us feel hopeful? Perhaps it will be the smart and powerful women stepping up into leadership positions. Perhaps it will be, (gasp), us!?
Join Dr Verity Cooper, Community Independent candidate for Sturt, alongside Alex Macmillan, Campaign Organiser for Bob Brown Foundation. Hosted by Triton Tunis-Mitchell. Bring your big questions. Bring your far-right rellies. No clue how politics works? This is for you, too. FREE event. *Democracy sausage not included.
Session 3: Women On Top
This session took place 5 Sep 2024.
Featuring special guests Senator Sarah Hanson-Young and Eloise Hall. Hosted by Tessa Leon.
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What does it take to stand up for equality, integrity, and lead from the front in business and politics today? Let’s talk resilience, vulnerability, and courage with women who are shifting the balance of power to centre diversity and put people and the planet above profits.
In a time of hyper-partisanship, conflicting morality, and plural truths, integrity in leadership is more crucial than ever. Are we seeing a shift where voters and consumers are getting behind powerful women with the courage to call out injustice and take bold steps to make change?
Let’s talk about sustaining the strength and candour to stand up to marginalisation and bullying. And understand how we can all help scaffold systems of power to invite and include more diverse voices at the front.
The face of leadership is changing.
Session 2: Fall of the Guru
This conversation took place on 6 June 2024. Hosted by Tessa Leon, with Adam Whiting, and special guest Tess Fuller from Teach Us Consent.
(Content note: this conversation discusses sexual abuse).
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Sex and power: two eternal forces that shape human behaviour.
The cultural ramifications of privilege and patriarchy have caused great harm in many institutions and religions. And the traditions of yoga have been no exception. In recent history, leader after leader of yogic lineages has fallen from grace. Often through accusations and convictions of abuse against women.
Today, in the contemporary ‘wellness’ industry we see the rise and adoration of celebrity experts, given guru-like status, only to witness their subsequent dethroning through scandals, lies, or unethical personal conduct.
As students and teachers of these beloved wisdom traditions, it is hard to watch. We witness how these practices can be used as medicines for social and cultural repair. And we also witness hierarchies of power in ‘spiritual communities’ becoming hotbeds for the silent proliferation of gendered violence.
How do we respond?
It’s easy to feel disillusioned. Or cling even tighter to blind faith. Of course we can blame the system, but then what? As we hold people accountable for their actions, can we still trust and cherish the teachings they transmitted?
Collectively moving forward requires entering into a dialogue with the past, understanding cultural contexts, and re-visioning ways to share power safely within communities. Let’s talk about it.
“Spiritual power, without service, is just power.”
-Jivana Heyman
Session 1: Joy & the Apocalypse
This conversation took place on 11 April 2024. Hosted by Tessa Leon, with Becca Gross and special guest Amber Cronin.
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Wendell Berry once said, “Be joyful, even though you have considered all the facts”. This conversation is for those who understand the facts, and are struggling with them.
As we confront the real prospect of civilisational collapse and mass extinction in the not-too-distant future, how do we stay engaged? How do we continue to care and take compassionate action, when faced with immense suffering?
Overwhelm, eco-grief, and even the daily news can leave us in despair, or even worse, apathy. Burnout in activism is real. We must find ways of living that keep us buoyant and connected to purpose. As the impacts of our changing world gain momentum, this art will be critical for community resilience, creativity, and our ability to take care of eachother.
“We must risk delight and enjoyment. We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world. To make injustice the only measure of our attention is to praise the devil.” – Jack Gilbert