Episodes

Stories of Impact brings back some of our favorite conversations this season. Our expert today is not a researcher, but a former world-class dancer: Judith Jamison. Judith sadly passed away in 2024, but when we spoke with her in 2021, she shared the incredible story of revered Black dancer Alvin Ailey and what she’s learned from a life spent in the arts. Learn more: Judith Jamison Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Alvin Ailey Video: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performing Revelations S...

Stories of Impact brings back some of our favorite conversations this season. This time, we travel to Medellín, Colombia, to meet Dr. Santiago Tobón. He has dedicated his life to understanding the structures and societal role of Medellín’s criminal gangs, why teenagers want to join them, and how to help them see that a lawful life can be prosperous, too. His work offers hope towards ending Medellín gang violence. Read the transcript of this episode Catch the video edition of this episode ...

Stories of Impact brings back some of our favorite conversations this season - today it's about what contributes to making human cooperation possible, initially aired during the Covid-19 pandemic. Dr. David Sloan Wilson is a biological sciences researcher at Binghamton University, and he explains what actually makes teamwork dream work, how cultures engender or discourage cooperation, and how to get people from different backgrounds to cooperate during times of crisis. Learn more about David ...

Stories of Impact brings back some of our favorite conversations this season. In our last episode, we heard about the positive effects of coming together and sharing a meal. But for millions of Americans, that rarely happens. In fact, some 20 million people in the US today say they don’t have any friends. So how do we solve this loneliness epidemic? How do we heal widespread loneliness? Today, we revisit a conversation with Dr. Emiliana Simon-Thomas, who studies just that. Dr. Emiliana Simon-...

Today we’re back in conversation with Dr. Adam Cohen, social psychologist and psychologist of religion at Arizona State University, who shares another research project that explores the way religious ritual connects participants more deeply not only with faith, but with community — this time, not through the practice of abstaining from food, but from breaking bread together at Shabbat Dinner. Dr. Arielle Levites, Managing Director of the Collaborative for Applied Studies in Jewish Education a...

In today’s episode we speak to Athena Aktipis, co-director of the Human Generosity Project, about the current results of her study of cooperation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Professor Aktipis discusses the insights both past and current research offer about the extent and the limits of human generosity during catastrophic events. This is the third episode in a special, five-part Covid-19 conversation series. Learn more about Athena Aktipis and The Human Generosity Project Mentioned in th...

In today’s episode, host Richard Sergay speaks with Erez Yoeli, director of the Applied Cooperation Team at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, about how to motivate people to cooperate and behave altruistically during a pandemic: altruism psychology. Dr. Yoeli discusses how we can harness the power of reputation to encourage prosocial behavior, and suggests ways to make the message of altruism appeal to everyone in a time when people are receiving conflicting messages about what is right. This...

In this religious studies podcast, we hear from Joseph Bulbulia, professor at the University of Auckland and the MacLaurin Goodfellow Chair in Theological and Religious Studies. Professor Bulbulia discusses how religious interaction, worship, and teaching come together in different ways to facilitate group cooperation, and what we can learn from that to support us during the pandemic. Learn more about Joseph Bulbulia. Subscribe to​ ​Stories of Impact wherever you listen to podcasts. Mo...

The first episode of the Stories of Impact podcast special, five-part Covid-19 conversation series features Dr. Barbara Fredrickson, director of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Lab at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Host Richard Sergay speaks with Dr. Fredrickson about why her work in positive psychology is more relevant than ever during the Covid-19 pandemic. Dr. Fredrickson offers tips on how to nurture our positive emotions and resilience amid the stress and anxiet...

Today’s conversation is with David O’Brien, Assistant Research Director at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. Prof. O’Brien talks to Richard about how we as citizens can bring our democratic values to bear on social media platforms; the role privacy plays online in allowing democracy and democratic citizenship to flourish; protecting democracy online; and more. More about David O’Brien and the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society Mentioned in thi...

In today’s episode, we consider what writers, researchers, and scholars say we can learn from the history of polarization in other countries and learn about some of their potential political polarization solutions. Today’s episode features researchers Jay J. Van Bavel and Dominic J. Packer, co-authors of The Power of Us: Harnessing Our Shared Identities to Improve Performance, Increase Cooperation, and Promote Social Harmony. We also hear from Dr. Hahrie Han, Professor of Political Science an...

This episode defines and explores political polarization causes and effects. Next, we consider what we can learn from the history of polarization in other countries and share the antidotes to polarization that research has uncovered. Finally, we explain why it’s important to make a long-term investment in polarization research. Today’s episode features researchers Jay J. Van Bavel and Dominic J. Packer, co-authors of The Power of Us: Harnessing Our Shared Identities to Improve Performance, In...

Stories of Impact brings back some of our favorite conversations this season. Today, we continue our series about how citizens can understand and heal polarization, with a conversation with Dr. Sean Westwood. Dr. Westwood is an expert in political polarization research, studying American politics and how partisan conflict manifests in the United States, its consequences and its origins. Read the transcript of this episode
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We’re discussing political polarization in this moral psychology podcast, wrapping up a conversation with Dr. Kurt Gray, professor of moral psychology and neuroscience at UNC Chapel Hill, and the director of the Deepest Beliefs Lab in the Center for the Science of Moral Understanding. Moral psychology is the descriptive understanding of our moral judgments, or concern with not just how people should make moral decisions, but how they actually do. Why does this matter? In Dr. Gray’s words: "To...

Our intention on the Stories of Impact Podcast, whether flora, fauna, homo sapiens, or otherwise, the variety of subjects we’ve featured across 120+ episodes has underscored our commitment to people’s progress and well-being. It's part of a global flourishing study. (It’s certainly enriched our wellbeing to tell each story!) But is well-being the same as flourishing, or does one lead to the other? How do we know what flourishing is? What do people actually need to flourish? Times are tough; I...

How does a scientist become involved in elephant intelligence research? When Joshua Plotnik was a kid, he wanted to become a veterinarian and day dreamed of a future caring for animals large and small. By the time he got to college, he eagerly worked with every type of vet he could think of, from small animal vets to large animal horse veterinarians. On a summer break from his undergraduate studies at Cornell University, he interned as a zookeeper at the Central Park Zoo, and a mentor there enco...

Are animals capable of feeling joy? How do we know? What is joy? Dr. Erica Cartmill wants to find out. She’s the Indiana University professor of cognitive science, animal behavior, and anthropology that long-time listeners to Stories of Impact will recognize from conversations we’ve had in the past about her studies of diverse intelligences and humor in apes. Today, we’ll learn about one of her latest collaborative projects — a first of its kind multidisciplinary study: Joyful by Nature, on the ...

In remembrance of Jane Goodall (4/3/34 - 10/1/25), we're bringing back our conversation featuring her life and legacy. Luminary Dr. Jane Goodall for decades made significant contributions to not only the scientific world, but arguably, to the entire planet. When 26-year-old British-born Jane Goodall began field studies of primates in Tanzania in July 1960, she was the first researcher to observe chimpanzees in the wild, and she remains the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees. Her rigorous...

“If you ask most people what's the most morally profound, significant, meaningful thing in your life, they'll say something about the way that they have been taking care of children or parents or friends, or people who are ill, or spouses. There's something very distinctive about it. It's just intrinsic to the human condition is that we're going to be babies, we're going to be ill, we're going to be old. That just comes with the territory of being human, and care seems to be a way of allowing us...

The world today is grappling with enormous challenges: how will we allow artificial intelligence to impact society? How hot will we let the planet get? How do we stop the conflicts making life for so many so painful? We are not powerless. These are decisions that humans are capable of making, though no one person can solve such existential questions on their own. To solve the world’s problems, to take care of each other and create a better future, we have to decide to work with each other to do ...

When Coschool founder and CEO Henry May began his career as a teacher, he learned that his job was not just about enriching the mind, but the soul and spirit of a student as well. He saw that part of excellence in education was helping school communities thrive despite painful circumstances. Nicole Bruskewitz, Coschool’s Director of Education, was also a problem solver who’d questioned inequality and education access since childhood. When May and Bruskewitz were introduced to the pioneering work...

In the societies in which most of us live, our capitalist economic systems run on transactions—on individual sales of goods and services. But are you aware that there are other infrastructures of support and help that meet our need for information, connection, even love? We live with gift economies that already enrich our lives. As we delve into gift economy psychology, we start our story with professional disruptor, clinical psychologist and entrepreneur Dr. Glen Moriarty, founder of one of the...

Today’s episode is full of beauty, hope, healing, community, and connection. In fact, it might be one of the most feel-good, good news stories we’ve ever gotten to tell. Meet Dr. Richard Lerner and Dr. Elizabeth Dowling, Director and Deputy Director of the Institute for Applied Research and Youth Development at Tufts University. Like many great teachers, they can tell you to look for people who care about kids like that in school — and one school in particular: Thanda, named after the Zulu word ...

Over the last five years, we’ve explored stories with countless scientists whose thoughtful research reveals the way they’re answering big questions and solving big problems. We’ve shared conversations about studies done in labs and out in the field. Well, today’s field is Brazil in this Brazilian anthropology podcast. The labs are crowded city streets and verdant jungles. And the big question? What happens when you stop fearing and fighting against diversity, and start exploring and embracing d...