Episodes

Did you know that you are part of one of the most significant revolutions in the last 85 years? If you’re one of the 180-million Americans in the labor force, and at some point since the 2020 pandemic, you joined the ranks of work-from-home, you are historically revolutionary. Today, we sit down with Dr. Nicholas Bloom, economist and professor of economics at Stanford University. He's studied work-from-home habits for over 20 years—so long before covid-19—and now, his data is showing how the re...

We’re back this episode for our second timely interview focusing on political polarization, wrapping up in 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...

When we spoke recently with Dr. Sean Westwood, associate professor of government at Dartmouth College and the director of the Polarization Research Lab, we knew we wanted to share the conversation with you as quickly as possible, because it speaks so directly to the current moment. Dr. studies 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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Today we wrap up an enlightening series of conversations on religious ritual as a pathway to human flourishing with Dr. Anna Corwin. When Dr. Corwin became connected to the Diverse Intelligences initiative and researchers who collaboratively examine the variety of intelligence on the planet or beyond, whether plant, animal, human, alien, or artificial, she was inspired to see new possibilities for her own unique research interest, and to embark on a scientific exploration into spiritual intellig...

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. Dr. Arielle Levites, Managing Director of the Collaborative for Applied Studies in Jewish Education and a Research Assi...

In today's episode, we continue the discussion about fasting, as we hear from two scholars about research focusing on what is considered the holiest day of the year in Judaism: Yom Kippur. During the 25-hour Day of Atonement, observant Jews focus on deepening their relationship with God through prayer, community connection, and by fasting. Over the last three years, two Arizona State University researchers, professor of psychology Dr. Adam Cohen and associate research professor Dr. Kathryn A. Jo...

Meet Dr. Mostafa Salari Rad, a postdoctoral fellow in psychology at the New School in New York City. Born in Iran in a Shia Muslim practicing family, he always had an interest in philosophy, psychology, social science. He wondered why people behaved the way they did, why countries developed the way they did, and later, as a high school student in Japan, when he was the only person observing Ramadan, he started asking deeper questions about the self control he had to exert to fast, as Ramadan ask...

Meet Dr. Santiago Tobón. Born and raised in Medellin, Colombia, Dr. Tobón grew up in the 80's and 90's while the country surged with gang violence. As a kid, young Santiago was lucky to have enough privilege to keep himself safe and to give him a promising future of education and employment. But there was no denying the impact that gang violence was having on kids — kids his own age. When he graduated from college with a degree in computer science, and got a job working in rural economic d...

This season on Stories of Impact, we look through a new lens at old traditions, see new generations explore new solutions, and search for new ways to help kids make sense of modern life. Over the last seven seasons, Stories of Impact has brought listeners conversations about the art and science of human flourishing. We've met luminary artists like dancer Judith Jamison, pioneering researchers like Dr. Jane Goodall, and national leaders like Freddy Mutanguha. In this year's programming, we bri...

Please take our listener survey: THANK YOU! Today, we’re in conversation about the act of listening. Our guests are researchers Netta Weinstein, Associate Professor in Psychology at the University of Reading, and Guy Itzchakov, an assistant...

Please take our listener survey: THANK YOU! In today’s episode, we explore the social cognition found within our own species, and what the benefit to every person might be if we deepen our understanding of the wide variety of intelligences of human...

Please take our listener survey: THANK YOU! Today’s episode highlights Richard’s conversation with Dr. Everett Worthington. Dr. Worthington is Commonwealth Professor Emeritus at Virginia Commonwealth University. For the last 30 years, Dr....

Please take our listener survey: THANK YOU! Today, we meet , a Jamaican-born obstetrician and gynecologist with a long, distinguished career focused on preventing unintended pregnancies in the United States and globally. After decades of service in...

Today, we hear from , native of Nigeria, President of the , Harvard-educated economist, expert in sustainable development, and civil rights and Democracy advocate. Dr. Abiola’s father, M.K.O. Abiola, was imprisoned after decisively winning the...

In today’s episode, we welcome , an expert in public health and preventive medicine. Dr. Addiss has spent his career thinking not only about science, but about service. In his early career, he cared for the health of migrants in the San Joaquin...

Today’s episode features the collaborative exploration of Dr. Fred Sharpe, an expert in humpback whales and the Principal Investigator with the Alaska Whale Foundation, and Dr. Laurance Doyle, astrophysicist and Principal Investigator of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute. Drs. Sharpe and Doyle are investigating humpback whales’ complex, long-distance communication with the aim of learning about how alien intelligences, if they exist, might attempt to transmit their me...

Over our last couple of episodes, we’ve told the inspiring story of decades of positive transformation the nation of Rwanda has sustained since the catastrophic 1994 genocide against the Tutsis. We learned that Rwanda’s peacemakers have for decades nurtured a culture of reconciliation and resilience, cultivating communities where citizens flourish. Deep healing and renewal like that can come only after conflict ends — it can’t happen in the midst of war. In order for children, families, and e...

In our last episode, we met Rwandan leader Freddy Mutanguha, who shared his remarkable journey to finding meaning and forgiveness after dozens of his family members, including his parents and sisters, were murdered during the genocide against the Tutsis in 1994. Freddy’s powerful and timely testimony underscored the importance of truth, remembrance, and community organizing in helping genocide victims — and perpetrators — find healing and peace. Today we hear again from Freddy Mutanguha, and ...

Today’s episode offers a powerful example of courage, peace, and forgiveness. Our story looks back thirty years, to one of the most violent periods in modern history — the genocide against the Tutsi — and to the resilience and wisdom of the Rwandan spirit and heart. On April 6, 1994, beautiful Rwanda, known as the Land of a Thousand Hills, became a hell on Earth. Between April and July 1994, hundreds of thousands of Rwandans were slaughtered in a horrifying frenzy of state-sponsored terror. ...

In our last episode, we spent time with the extraordinary Dr. Jane Goodall, primatologist, writer, speaker, and conservationist. Dr. Goodall previewed today's episode, featuring the three recipients of the Wildlife Intelligence Project, a $2.7 million joint initiative between National Geographic Society and Templeton World Charity Foundation designed to support "three early-career scientists…whose passion for and discoveries in wildlife field research have the potential to illuminate unknown won...

In today’s episode, we hear from leader and luminary Dr. Jane Goodall, who has, for decades, made significant contributions to not only the scientific world, but to, arguably, 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 and creative approach quickly gained the attention of the Nati...

Today we bring you a follow-up story about revolutionary education in Northern Ireland, this time exploring the impact of teaching young children to not just tolerate difference and diversity, but to seek it out, embrace it, and celebrate it. Our episode explores the history and legacy of Lough View Integrated Primary and Nursery School, a school founded 30 years ago to intentionally create a space where diverse points of view and religious and social practices could come together, and what’s...

Today we're back for another exploration of the magnificence and mystery of the universe — talking with three researchers who share not only a passion, but a respect for the species in their decidedly non-human, wildly intelligent subjects of research. First we meet Dr. Paco Calvo, a renowned cognitive scientist and professor of philosophy of science at the University of Murcia in Spain. Dr. Calvo has been called a philosopher of biology, who believes that by studying plant cognition, humans mig...

In today's episode, we meet , Emory University and Utrecht University primatologist Dr. Frans de Waal, a trailblazer in the science of animal cognition, and Dr. Michael Levin, distinguished professor of biology at Tufts University and associate...