We’re told that success has a formula. That if we work hard, play by the rules, and chase the right goals, we’ll find happiness. But what if that formula is flawed? What if the values we once held—compassion, honesty, virtue—have been reduced to just one: value. Not the kind that makes life meaningful, but the kind that gets you a good deal.

Hi, I’m Vicki Shaw, and I spent years climbing the corporate ladder, following the well-paved path, doing everything I was supposed to do—only to realize I had never stopped to ask: Where is this actually leading me?

This podcast is about unlearning the rules we inherited, questioning the values that shape our world, and exploring what it really means to live well. Through personal stories and conversations with historians, ecologists, and valuescientists, we’ll pull apart the invisible forces that shape our choices—and imagine new ways forward.

If you’ve ever had that nagging feeling that something about our world is off, that the way things are isn’t the way they should be, you’re not alone.

Let’s start questioning together.