Blue Sky

Sam  Fankuchen  shares his personal journey, beginning with a dramatic  close call  on 9/11 that profoundly influenced his career path. This pivotal moment led him to recognize the complexities and barriers within volunteerism, inspiring him to create Golden . The company aims to streamline the process for both volunteers and organizations,  leveraging  AI to match individuals with meaningful oppo...

Dr. Kenneth (Ken) Harris is an experienced practitioner of holistic medicine and author of the book,  Synchronicity .   In this Blue Sky conversation, Ken describes the subtle but  important  difference he sees between coincidence and synchronicity and tells why he thinks it's important for all of us to connect actively with others, leaving ourselves open to the mysterious and positive connections...

Dr. Kate Lund has spent much of her career as a psychologist studying children and parenting .   She's  distilled much of what  she's  learned in her  most recent book, Step Away: The Keys to Resilient Parenting .   In this episode, she describes who she persevered during her own childhood challenges and offers great advice for how we can all remain resilient during these  difficult times .     Ch...

When Eddie  Ndopu  was two years old, his mother was told he  wouldn't   likely live  past five .   Now in his early thirties, Eddie is an  internationally-known  and Oxford-educated advocate for the rights of the disabled .   In this interview, he shares how his optimistic single mother instilled in Eddie a love of learning and encouraged him to pursue a "life of the mind."  Today, Eddie is world...

We all know that our jobs are a huge part of our lives, and the way we feel about our workplace,   our supervisors, and coworkers has a lot to do with our ability to stay positive and mentally   healthy  a nd be optimistic about our future.  Blue Sky guest Amy  Leneker   was achieving every success  she'd  ever   imagined in her  work, but  was still unhappy and eventually became burned out.   She...

In this  very special  episode of Blue Sky, Steve D. tells the remarkable story of his struggle against his son's severe addiction to alcohol. (Steve is not using his full name here to protect his son's anonymity.)  While living what he would describe as a near perfect life – great marriage with his high school sweetheart, dream job, five great children – Steve discovers that his youngest child is...

The teenage years are always tough, not just for the teens but also for the parents, teachers, and coaches in their lives .   Charlene Engstrom and Johan Fallby have decided to do something about this and their firm, Playwell  Minds has developed an app and other teaching tools to develop in young people what they describe as "mental fitness."     Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to  Playwell  Minds  ...

Jeff Korzenik , the chief economist at a major US bank, explains how predicting a labor shortage in the US led him to discover the growing movement around "second chance" hiring of people with criminal records .  His passion for this work led him to write "Untapped Talent," a book that explains to companies the benefits of this type of hiring and offers a blueprint of how best to do it .  Jeff des...

Beatrice Erkers decided not to pursue a PhD after concluding that she wanted to do work that had more of a positive impact on the world .  She made her way to the Foresight Institute and is now director of their Existential Hope program .  In this episode, she describes her reasons for op timism and the work she's doing to create more hope around the benefits of emerging technologies.     Chapters...

LaTosha Brown has been described by many as a "force of nature," and from the first seconds of this Blue Sky episode, you will understand why .  Raised in Selma, Alabama she grew up surrounded by family members who were at the center of the civil rights movement in the United States .  Being close to grandparents who spent much of their adult lives unable to vote led her to appreciate this franchi...

Julie Roland's background is impressive and remarkably varied .  She's a retired naval aviator, magician, a law school graduate, a political staffer, and founder of the community-building nonprofit Just Tryna Make Friends .  In this Blue Sky episode, Julie spreads her infectious optimism about how the arts can be used to connect people at a time when so many forces are pulling us apart.     Chapte...

Older Americans are struggling with social isolation more than ever .  This can lead to challenges with mental and physical health as people age, and one nonprofit is having great success trying to do something about it. Life Story Club uses scheduled Zoom and phone calls form members to share stories about their past, present, and plans for their future .  In this Blue Sky conversation, interim d...

Lynda Ulrich and her daughter Liesl Ulrich-Verderber are the mother-daughter team behind t he Goodness Exchange , a global positive-news platform founded in 2014 to help people cut through today's negative nose with research-backed, solutions-focused storytelling. On this Blue Sky episode, they describe how they came to their optimistic outlooks at different stages of their lives and have managed...

Before Stan Andrisse was sentenced to ten years in prison for a Class A drug felony, the prosecutor had asked for a life sentence, suggesting that the defendant was irredeemable .  In the years since, Stan, now "Dr. Andrisse " has proved this attorney and many others wrong .  While in prison, he discovered an interest in science and endocrinology and today is a tenured professor at the Howard Univ...

Kevin Lowe has come a long way since he was seventeen years old and lost his eyesight during a medical procedure gone wrong. In this Blue Sky conversation, Kevin describes how he's rallied from this devastating event to live a life full of resilience, purpose, and optimism .  This episode concludes with a surprise musical feature, courtesy of Kevin himself.     00:00 Kevin Lowe's Childhood & Early...

Chris Anderson was inspired by the growth of TED once they expanded from being simply a conference company to adding the concept of offering their talks free to the world over the internet .   He's now calling on us all to "reclaim the internet" and use it as a force for spreading less hate and division and more kindness and generosity .  His new book, Infectious Generosity , lays out clearly the...

Matt Ridley's seminal book, The Rational Optimist , has inspired many since its publication in 2010 and greatly influenced the creation of The Optimism Institute .  In this far-ranging discussion, Matt will describe an early education that he said was steeped in pessimism but how later in life he found that much of what he'd been taught was simply not true .  This led him to set on a nearly evange...

Amy King watched the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and seeing people sheltered in a leaking football stadium inspired her to work with her husband on shelter solutions .  The result was Pallet , a company that makes safe, secure, and easily assembled temporary shelters .  In this episode she shares her inspiring story and details about her remarkable company.     Chapters: 00:00 Intro...

Mimi Nicklin left a successful career as a marketing executive to take on the task of educating the world on the value and power of empathy.  In this episode, Mimi describes the alarming "empathy deficit," its root causes, and practical strategies like self-empathy and "ALUR" (Authenticity, Listening, Understanding, Recognition) that she espouses to reconnect our workplaces and world.     Chapters...

Paul Leonardi is an expert in technology management and has developed a deep understanding for why today's digital tools—even those that are helpful—can contribute to our growing sense of exhaustion .  Pulling from research he's written about in his book Digital Exhaustion, he explains why this happens and as importantly, what we can do about it.     Chapters: 02:00 Why Digital Exhaustion?   Paul...

Guy Kawasaki has had an amazing life and career .  After growing up in Hawaii, he went to California for college and later went on to what was then known as Apple Computer where he was a self-described "brand evangelist" during some of their highest growth and most entrepreneurial years .  He describes Steve Jobs as being optimistic almost to the point of being delusional, and working for him has...

We all know that huge sums of money are invested in creating new, more effective weapons of war .  Brian Abrams sees an opportunity to invest instead in what he calls "peace tech," emerging businesses using technologies and creative methods designed to prevent war from happening in the first place. He's created a new firm, B Ventures , and in this Blue Sky ep isode he describes with infectious opt...

Blue Sky host Bill Burke first met Scott Nash nearly 30 years ago, when both were working in the cable television business .  In the years since, Scott has gone on to a successful career in publishing, both as an illustrator and an author, and with his wife Nancy co-founded Illustration Institute on a small island in Maine .  In this episode, Scott describes his outgoing, experimental, and optimis...

Phil Green has had a successful career in music and sports .  For what he describes as his "third act," Phil is now overseeing Follow the Music , a nonprofit in his hometown of Oakland, California .    Follow the Music provides artist development, booking and management services to young artists — to shine a light on their talents and bring visibility to the programs that helped develop them.     ...

Stacy Palmer leads The Chronicle of Philanthropy , the leading journal in the world of nonprofits .  In this Blue Sky conversation, she talks about the evolution of nonprofits into sophisticated organizations that do remarkable work around the world .  She describes the role of donors large and small, and how they're helping address challenges created by cuts in government funding .  Stacy also sh...