Conspiracy of Goodness Podcast

Our guests today, Abby Wren and Wade Holland, are pushing back the edges of what’s “acceptable” and thereby opening up a whole new landscape for people who’d like to celebrate their uniqueness more. If your inner light is being dimmed (even a little) by the pressure to fit in or some life circumstance feels like a limitation, you will love this episode. Chapters 00:00 – Intro & Welcome 03:05 –...

In our rush to solve problems, we often overlook simple logic that holds the key to enormous progress. When it comes to turning the desert wastelands of our planet (that human activity created) back into their once lush, productive forests and grasslands, Ecologist Roger Savory has one of those transformational observations that the world could be embracing. Chapters 0:00 – Intro & Welcome 3:0...

Our guest today, Jill Donahue, has a story that is a shining example of how it is possible to respond to tragedy in a positive way that opens a life of purpose for us. Jill’s personal experience with the downside of the Pharmaceutical industry inspired in her an unwavering commitment to better patient outcomes. To that end, she’s become a sought-after speaker about how we all can find noble intent...

Katherina Audley is a National Geographic Explorer and whale researcher who has found a way to build community and restore the natural world in unique ways. She has helped a small village in Mexico come together to support the rare ecosystems that surround them, building a prosperous future for everyone—and their community’s decisions are affecting things 200 miles away, and beyond! Chapters 00:00...

Do you remember your childhood dreams, when you aimed to be something audacious? When she was a child watching cartoons, Dr. Keneiloe Molopyane declared that she would one day be the first South African, black, female archeologist—and now she is! Her story can inspire us in many directions. Not only is she working in the famous Cradle of Humankind , she has also earned the distinction of being a N...

I’ve often questioned whether I would interview an author who has written yet another book in the “Spirituality” genre—that is, until I met Pierre Pradervand, an 86-year-old author of 23 books. Pierre still puts in 14-hour days to help people find love and kindness outside the chaos of the world’s spiritual “influencers,” and he compares going to the internet with heartfelt questions on spirituali...

Do you love someone or work with someone (or maybe it’s you) who just doesn't feel like they fit in? It turns out that as many as 20% of us are “neurodivergent,” meaning that our brain pathways do not function like everyone else’s. Our guests, Mariah and Byron Edgington, are on a mission to help us see the missed potential and the joy that we can share when we look at neurodiversity as a gift....

If the cookies, crackers, soda, or candy are speaking to you seductively when you walk through the checkout line, there is a reason for that. Turns out that mood swings, headaches, brain fog, depression, and exhaustion are also related to that irresistible tug, and it all comes down to the way sugar is hijacking our future, often hourly, every single day. Our guest, Dr. Andrea Grayson, has a fresh...

There is an amazing brand of young “influencers” who are diving, whole-heartedly, into their unique opportunity to make the world a better place, and today we are fortunate to have one of them as our guest. Connor Ryan, who was named one of the “ 20 Most Influential People in the Outdoor Industry ” by Outside Magazine, is a proud Lakota tribe member and passionate professional skier, and he is bri...

📺 Watch this episode on YouTube Proud Hunkpapa Lakota and passionate skier—in 2022 named one of the “ 20 Most Influential People in the Outdoor Industry ” by Outside Magazine—Connor was born and raised in the homelands of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute peoples, who have become some of his biggest inspirations and closest relatives, at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. Skiing is his dan...

Suppose that in 2024 you found there was one simple thing that could improve by just 1% each day, which would allow you to make leaps in personal progress, it would be foolish not to consider it. Right? Well, this episode will help you to find that one thing that affects almost everything else. Today, we talk to social innovator, journalist, and CEO Liesl Ulrich-Verderber about how easy and powerf...

📺 Watch the full episode on YouTube! You know how it can sometimes feel like time is relentlessly speeding by? Well it turns out, we can control that feeling, and even slow things down to the “savoring pace,” if we learn a little about how our brains work. John K. Coyle is an expert in how we perceive time, and his insights can help us live far richer lives, hour by hour. “When life gives you cho...

Ronald Young Jr. is an emerging voice in the body positive movement, and he’s leading us to new places on this old topic. His insights on common sense and honesty are like piano wire stretched tight between two important pins, and his boundless good humor is a hammer striking an incredibly beautiful note of wisdom for us all to carry forward. If you or someone you love struggles with their weight,...

“Climate Optimism.” Now those are two words you don’t see together very often! In this episode, Anne Therese Gennari (mercifully) gives us a fresh perspective on how we can carry our concern about climate change. In her new book, The Climate Optimist’s Handbook, she moves our mental chatter from the gloom of anxiety and guilt, to the thrill of possibility and enthusiasm for all that is happening t...

Here’s something that rarely happens on the internet: a celebration of how technology can be used to amplify social connection, instead of amplifying social division. Yes, THIS interview is a celebration of a leap in human potential. Meena Palaniappan is the founder of a technology/communication platform—Atma Connect—that has reached 12 million people and is well-designed so that it is likely to c...

Renowned National Geographic Photographer Dewitt Jones shares with us a life-changing habit, available to us all: celebrate what’s right with the world. The perspectives he shares today can open up a radically improved landscape of possibilities for you and I. As a bonus, today’s video episode contains some of his most inspiring images: stunning views of the night sky, time lapses of water rushing...

Need a little reminder to summon up some courage, joy, hope or kindness? Artist Gary Hirsch has created 92,000+ hand-drawn robots on the back of dominos that are helping people worldwide get through challenging moments. Gary is also an expert in helping us use the art of “improvisation” to work through challenging moments that could use some fun and creativity. Maybe both areas of expertise are co...

Brandi Parker, has some uplifting and even “freeing” new ways for us to think about our lives as consumers (with less guilt and shame.) She’s helping us all—industry included—get clarity about who should be responsible for the things we need to “throw away.” Instead of consumers bearing the burden for the “end of life” for everything we buy, she is proposing that the brands we love should be respo...

The University of Maryland and its Do Good Institute is on the leading edge of a little-known, but titanic and positive shift. Turns out, student expectations are changing in a momentous way: Gen Z has aspirations that may make them the most positively impactful generation in history. Today we talk to the Do Good Institute’s Jenny Cox and Nathan Dietz about this shift and get some stories from thi...

If you had any doubt about the next generation coming up in colleges today, Kiarra Danielle Lucas will fill you with confidence in Gen Z. Today we all get a new perspective on how children can practice a kind of radical optimism, in the worst circumstances, and use it to build remarkable futures for themselves and others. Kiarra is an 18-year-old inspiration for anyone who thinks their circumstanc...

Kristina McKean has a story that demonstrates exactly why we should not wait to start building lives of meaning and purpose. Kristina found a way to take the skills of her working life and combine them with her lifelong passion for animal welfare. Now, she finds joy every day in her work and the impact it’s having on wildlife and a new generation of very young philanthropists through her work at T...

Sunni Brown is an intrepid and inspiring “creative” who is zooming through our world, project after project, sparking bursts of hidden potential everywhere she goes. She was named one of the “10 Most Creative People” on X (formerly Twitter), and she has been featured in every major U.S. publication: The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, TIME Magazine, and CBS Sunday Morning, the latter of which...

Daniel Kish has a natural ability that has amazed over 2 billion people on this planet. He is often referred to as “ The REAL Batman ” because he has no eyes and yet he “sees” the world with sound, much like bats and dolphins do. He has traveled the globe unaccompanied for 25 years teaching tens of thousands to live independent lives with this remarkable adaptation. In this rousing conversation, D...

Dr. Pamela Ayo Yetunde demonstrates why we are right to look for answers to our modern problems in timeless wisdom, some of it thousands of years old. She brings together her insights from the world’s greatest wisdom traditions, philosophies, and religions to help others find peace-of-mind, timeless truths, and clarity amid the often daunting chaos in our times. -- TIMESTAMPS -- 00:00 Intro &...

Does your neighborhood or community feel like one where everyone has each other’s back, or do you barely know anyone enough to say “hello?” Our guest today, Michael Wood-Lewis, is the co-founder of Front Porch Forum , a platform where 2/3rds of households in Vermont are choosing to come together with their neighbors. Whether it's finding lost pets, locating free building materials, volunteerin...