Blue Sky

Dr. Anita Nowak has made the study of empathy her life's work and in this Blue Sky conversation she provides her definition of the term and gives numerous examples of the value of empathy in both our personal and work lives.  As someone who teaches, consults, podcasts, and writes about this subject, Anita discusses empathy with persuasive passion and just might change the way you think about how y...

Margo Walsh is an entrepreneur who created MaineWorks, a certified B-Corp that helps people with substance use disorder and/or criminal records find employment in the construction sector.  Her company finds and screens potential employees and through the non-profit she founded with her sister, sets them up for success by making sure that their basic needs for getting back to work are met (e.g., pr...

Sean Legister was raised by a strong single mom who put a premium on his education and set him up for success. After completing his degree and playing two sports at a small liberal arts college, he entered the competitive world of Wall Street and continued to thrive. While building his own career, Sean consistently goes above and beyond to lift others up.  In this episode, Sean describes that whil...

Today's Blue Sky guest tells her story from the coast of Maine, but the work she's doing was inspired by her upbringing in Pennsylvania and has ramifications for the future of coastal communities around the world.  Briana Warner is the CEO of Atlantic Sea Farms and has dedicated her life to doing well by doing good. She is passionate about her adopted home state of Maine and working with partner f...

The life of Jonathan Conyers is full of junctures where it appears he's not going to make it.  Both of his parents battled addiction to crack cocaine, yet somehow managed to instill in their son a desire to be educated and advance in the world.  As he grows, Jonathan is surrounded by teachers and mentors who take special interest in him and encourage him to reach high, including "Dico," his transg...

Dr. Robert Soiffer took an interest in medicine at an early age when he played a physician in his first-grade play.  Today, he is a leading physician, researcher, and teacher at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a world leader in oncology.  In this episode, Dr. Soiffer describes the incredible pace of change in the field of cancer research and treatment and the detection tools and cures that are right...

Following a challenging childhood and the tragic death of her father, Kathryn Goetzke decided that the best way to tackle depression and despair is to create reasons for hope.  After studying the issue deeply with experts in psychology, she determined that hope was both teachable and measurable and has made it her life's work to spread this message.   In 2022, she published The Biggest Little Book...

Elizabeth Cousens grew up with an insatiable curiosity about world events.  This early interest has led to a remarkable career of service, including significant roles with the United Nations, both in the New York headquarters and areas of armed conflict like Bosnia and Haiti.  At the United Nations Foundation, she oversees the organization that was formed thanks to Ted Turner's $1 billion contribu...

Alan Patricof began his career in venture capital before the industry even had that name.  Since 1969, he's been seeking out and backing talented entrepreneurs with big ideas and earned his reputation as one of the all-time great investors.  While he's best known for early bets on such successful companies as Apple, Office Depot, Audible, Axios, and many more, he is also a successful investor in f...

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-renowned an...

In this wide-ranging conversation, renowned author and professor Steven Pinker describes that while he resists being called an "optimist," as the label doesn't necessarily suit his temperament, his deep dives into historical data have convinced him that the world is indeed getting better and has been on a steady trajectory since the days of the Enlightenment, the subject of one of his many acclaim...

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 s...

Vanessa Cooksey has held a variety of roles at a wide range of organizations — from Cartoon Network to Wells Fargo — and she explains how these all have prepared her to take the helm of the Regional Arts Commission (RAC) of St. Louis.  Vanessa describes in touching detail how a piece of art once literally helped save her life, and how she channels her appreciation for creativity into the work she...

Dan Reicher's interest in and advocacy for environmental protection and clean energy began when he was a child and has continued throughout his life.  In addition to teaching at Stanford University, has served three U.S. presidents, testified before the U.S. Congress more than 50 times, led the launch of Google's pathbreaking climate and clean energy work, oversaw a $1.2 billion annual clean energ...

During her upbringing in Mumbai, India, Jeroo Billimoria's parents taught her to take an active interest in the welfare of everyone in her community.  She was encouraged at the end of every day to ask herself, "How many people have I made smile and how many people have I helped?"  This attitude, combined with a humble leadership style and creative, entrepreneurial spirit has led Jeroo to create a...

Like most neuroscientists, until a little more than thirty years ago, Dr. Richard "Richie'' researched and studied things that go wrong with the brain.  But then, in 1992 he visited the Dalai Lama, who challenged him instead to work on understanding what happens to our brains when we practice kindness and compassion.  This conversation changed the trajectory of Richie's life and career and he will...

One of the biggest complaints people have about their job is the lack of feedback they receive, both positive and negative.  Amy Sandler and the team Radical Candor believe in the power of "caring personally and challenging directly," in valuing colleagues in a meaningful way and not being afraid to challenge them openly and honestly.  The Radical Candor company was founded following the success o...

Charles Kenny brings to this episode a great depth of knowledge of progress being made around the world and supports his optimistic views with compelling statistics and anecdotes.  As he covers subjects ranging from disease eradication to life expectancy and the cost of basic necessities, Charles explains with infectious enthusiasm why we should take time to appreciate the remarkable progress we c...

Virginia Gleason has spent her career working on improving law enforcement and public safety.  She comes to this work not out of a desire to put bad people behind bars or even simply to keep our streets safe, but rather as she says, "to impact the quality of people's lives and reduce suffering."  Virginia offers an optimistic take on the future of policing and public safety with an emphasis on imp...

After studying and working on public health issues, both in Lebanon and the United States, Teresa Chahine wanted to move from identifying and understanding societal problems to trying to fix them. While at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health she was exposed to the teaching of social entrepreneurship "across the river" at the university's business school.  Inspired by the promise of this re...

Growing up in New York with a particular interest in "the dark side" of human nature, Oren Segal has channeled that curiosity into a career spent providing resources, expertise and training which enables law enforcement, public officials and internet and technology companies to identify and counter emerging threats.  Oren approaches this challenging work with intense dedication and an inspiring se...

Dominique Wright describes a childhood of "humble beginnings," complete with a series of forced moves and an eviction.  But she says that the positive mindset instilled by her mom helped her persevere through these tough early years to graduate from the US Naval Academy and serve as an officer, earn a law degree, and work at the NFL Players Association and the league's business and legal affairs d...

The legendary Kevin Kelly shares his optimistic views on technology and our collective future.  As someone who was building online communities as early as the 1980's and helped create Wired magazine in 1993, Kevin has seen it all, and his fascinating insights and predictions on subjects including social media and artificial intelligence are based on years of hands-on experience.  He and Bill also...

Following his early years as a musician and chasing dreams of becoming "the next John Mayer," Tim Schurrer went on to a successful career building teams and powerful brands.  We know that one of the most common barriers to an optimistic outlook is dissatisfaction at work and in this episode, Tim describes his realization that great things happen when we shift our focus from climbing the ladder to...

John Valverde describes the impactful work of the organization he leads, YouthBuild USA, and also shares his own inspiring story of persevering through 16 years in prison to found two non-profits and now lead a third; YouthBuild USA.  John explains how he brings his own lived experience to his leadership role of an organization that helps young people at their own crossroads change the trajectory...