Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda

When someone wants to make the world a better place – and actually has the means to do it – you wonder: How do they go about it? What are their guiding principles? What works and what doesn’t? In this candid and inspiring interview, Alan Alda asks Melinda Gates about her work as a philanthropist and her lifelong dedication to social change. They discuss her book, "The Moment of Lift: How Empowerin...

Season 5 of Clear+Vivid® with Alan Alda starts on Tuesday, August 27th! Listen to the exclusive producer's cut of the official trailer to meet some of Alan’s next guests — including Melinda Gates, Yo-Yo Ma, Robert Sapolsky, and many more! New episodes are available every Tuesday. Subscribe and listen for free on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you like to enjoy podcasts. For more details and...

How do you engage a national audience and bring attention to a cause? Katie Couric’s decision to allow her colonoscopy to be broadcast live on television was but one highlight in an extraordinary career in television. As co-host of NBC’s Today show and later the first female anchor of a national nightly news program on CBS, her work has been distinguished by her ability to relate to her audience....

Is there a way to bring up the climate crisis and not lose friends and disinfluence people? Katharine Hayhoe has found ways to communicate about a topic that desperately needs good communicating – the increasingly dire crisis that’s gripping our planet. What makes her so special is that she finds a way to connect with people – even people who deny the reality of climate change – through things tha...

There's a difference between communication and communications, with an "S." The way we look at it, communicating is connecting with people; and communications with an "S" is the technical way you reach out to millions, as with broadcasting. Some people find ways to combine those two ideas in ways that have a real impact, and Henry Schleiff is one of them. With vast experience as a broadcaster, Hen...

Your visit to the doctor isn’t what it used to be. Now, there are more options for doctors to consider, and much less time for them to decide on them. Dr. Eric Topol, one of our country’s leading visionaries in the field of medicine, has a fascinating way of looking at this problem. Even though some experts on this show have talked about digital technology as a threat to our privacy, to our abilit...

Do animals have emotions? What can we learn from them about family, friendships, and stable relationships? A surprising amount. Frans de Waal began studying chimpanzees when he was a student. He's the director of the Living Links Center at the Yerkes National Primate Center in Atlanta where he studies the social lives of chimpanzees and what they can tell us about ourselves. Support the show: http...

There's an "Art of War," but is there a place for the arts in the military? Adam Driver is a brilliant young actor who is taking the worlds of television, film, and theater by storm. His own world changed in 2001, when he was just 18 and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. His experience in the military helped to shape who he is today, both as a person and as an actor. Adam is dedicated to giving b...

Do you ever imagine what it's like to be a plant? Do they communicate? Hope Jahren, author of the bestselling book, Lab Girl, has been fascinated by plants her whole life. As a scientist and author, she has dived so deep into the lives of plants that they come alive in our imaginations. This while weaving her own personal story of a life in science that allows us to share in her own experience. Ho...

When you first think about science, what comes to mind first? What words do use to describe science? How does science make you feel? Asking these questions is Chris Volpe, who heads the non-profit organization Science Counts. Through its research into how the public sees the role that science plays in their lives, Science Counts has set itself the task of discovering what is needed to strengthen A...

Earlonne Woods was recently released from San Quentin prison after 20 years inside. For the last 3 years he’s been helping inmates get their stories out in a remarkable podcast called Ear Hustle. Ear Hustle is produced in creative collaboration with Nigel Poor, who met Earlonne when she was a volunteer teacher at the prison. In this episode, Alan sits down with Earlonne and Nigel to talk about how...

Every Saturday night for 11 years, Carol Burnett communicated a sense of family to the entire country. She worked alongside other skilled comic actors. But it wasn’t just skill. There was always a sense of community among the actors and we in the audience felt we were invited in as part of the gang. It was fall-down-funny, belly laugh humor that new generations are still discovering. And they are...

Empathy is a powerful tool and, when mixed with politics, it can be used to help the greater good. But, it also has a dark side. In this episode, Alan Alda speaks with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. As Secretary of State, she brought communication skills to international relations that were not only powerful, they were inventive and game changing. They also discuss her recently publ...

Season 4 of Clear+Vivid® with Alan Alda starts on Tuesday, June 4th! Listen to the official trailer to meet some of Alan’s next guests — including Madeleine Albright, Carol Burnett, Adam Driver, Katie Couric, and many more! New episodes are available every Tuesday. Subscribe and listen for free on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you like to enjoy podcasts. For more details and to subscribe t...

You need little more evidence these days that our country is badly divided than to toggle back and forth between Fox News and MSNBC – two perspectives on the same day’s events that might be coming from two different universes. We have become a nation of tribes. We didn’t set out on Clear+Vivid to explore this divide, but in our conversations about connecting and communicating, the topic kept comin...

Regular listeners to Clear+Vivid know that we have a thing for empathy, as do many of our guests. For our host, Alan Alda, empathy is the indispensable foundation for good communication. But exactly what empathy is isn’t always obvious – nor is it obvious that it’s always a good thing. So, we thought we could look back over the 40-odd conversations we’ve had on this podcast so far and see where an...

We love hearing from our listeners! Through social media and email, you've been sending us your own answers to "Alan's 7 Questions" and we've been having a great time reading through all your witty, smart, and often poignant responses. In this episode, we're highlighting all of our favorites! We want to keep hearing from you, so please continue to write us at: podcast@aldacommunication.com or get...

Why doesn't Dr. Ruth talk about her sex life? What keeps Michael J. Fox optimistic? Why does Isabella Rossellini have a passion for animals? What's the strangest question someone ever asked Tina Fey? How do Sarah Vowell and Sarah Silverman stop compulsive talkers? Our guests have hilarious, thoughtful, and heartwarming answers to Alan Alda's "7 Questions" -- in this episode, we bring you all of ou...

Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda is coming back soon for a sensational season 4! In the meantime, we've been having a lot of fun behind the scenes creating bonus episodes, new experiences, and great content for you. And, we also want to introduce you to some of our favorite podcasters. So, here's a podcast we like called Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast. In this episode Gilbert and Frank wel...

How do you learn? It may be different from how I learn. David Flink knows about learning differences. Dave was diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD in grade school, but with the right support he got into an Ivy League college. There, he helped start a program for kids with a diagnosis of dyslexia or ADHD to be mentored by college students with the same diagnosis. Dave's program, "Eye to Eye," is now e...

At Harvard, she's known as the "rollerblading, rockstar scientist." Pardis Sabeti mines the human genome for its secrets to eradicate deadly scourges. Her breakthrough work helped tackle an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Africa. She also finds time to write and perform with a rock band. In this episode, Pardis and Alan Alda talk about her extraordinary work, and how to tackle any challenge...

How do we come up with ideas? How do we make decisions? And how can we do both better? Steven Johnson has explored this question and written a dozen books about it. In this playful, thoughtful episode, Steven has some fascinating stories, like how Darwin made the decision to get married — or how a defecating duck helped lead to the invention of the computer. Through their own stories, Steven and A...

Steven Strogatz possesses a special ability to see into the unseen. How does he do it? Steve is a world class mathematician, who sees through the window of math. But, lucky for us, he’s also a world class communicator. An award-winning professor, researcher, author, and creative thinker, Steve can help anyone (even Alan Alda) understand some of the unseen world of numbers. In this episode, Alan an...

Alan Alda wanted to get off the island quickly. Steven Strogatz explains how an 18th century British clergyman could have helped. In this short bonus episode, Steven helps Alan understand something that he’s wondered about for years. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of...

How do we get beyond Right versus Left, "Us" versus "Them," and even "Me" versus "You"? Jonathan Haidt has a few theories about this all too-familiar tribalism and the seemingly endless culture wars of our time. As someone who studies morality and emotion, Jonathan has deep insight into the moral foundation of our politics and his research in moral psychology has revealed new ways for us to engage...