Kathy Sullivan Explores

Society requires a certain degree of compliance from people to avoid a collapse into anarchy and chaos. However, it’s critical to go rogue every now and then and do the unexpected, especially when it means achieving a higher purpose. How do you become a constructive rogue? What are some of the ways you can reframe a situation to achieve your goals?   In this episode, I recount a moment in my life...

Margaret “Meg” Lowman is a scientist, educator, author, speaker, and nature lover, who is passionate about studying the complexities of trees. She describes herself as an “arbornaut”—one who explores tree canopies. She is the Founding Director of the Tree Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports forest research, exploration, and education in a sustainable manner. Meg is also the author...

Not many realize this, but having your life meticulously planned can be a source of comfort and reassurance. There’s a sense of security in having a map for your future and knowing what happens next. So, you can just imagine how confusing it was for me when the most recent phase of my life ended and I had to decide on what my next phase would entail. Luckily, I had a friend who went through the sa...

Tim Dunn is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer at Terra Alpha Investments, an employee and investor-owned investment management firm. Unlike traditional investment firms, Terra Alpha Investments finds companies with the potential to bring long-term, sustainable returns. Having worked almost 20 years in the professional investing space, Tim learned about the limits of our natural systems and...

Sometimes, we can unknowingly be an inspiration to other people. We can inspire them through our work, philosophies in life, or level of success. Most of the time, it can be difficult to believe that there are people who would look up to us, so we don’t notice it. Though we may go a while without realizing our impact on someone’s hopes and dreams, that moment of realization can be profoundly warm...

Nicole Stott is an astronaut and artist, as well as the Director of the Space for Art Foundation, a non-profit organization that creates large-scale space-themed art projects with children from hospitals, refugee centers, and schools worldwide. Their goal is to expand the youth’s interest in space and preservation of the planet. Nicole worked for NASA for over 27 years, serving as an astronaut fro...

Every one of us has someone we look up to—someone whose qualities and achievements we could only hope to replicate. We respect these people, so it’s difficult to tell them when they get something wrong. Now, imagine that exact situation except you’re live on TV with millions of people watching and listening to every word you say. That happened to me on April 12, 1981, when the Space Shuttle (STS-1...

James (Jim) Fallows has been a contributing writer at The Atlantic since 1979. He has extensive write-ups on topics pertaining to US politics, including international relations and war. He has earned many accolades, including a designation as Chief Speechwriter for President Jimmy Carter. Jim is the author of More Like Us: Making America Great Again , where he provides an argument against the past...

Teaching as a career means you get to meet hundreds to thousands of faces, eager to get a few steps closer to their dreams. Through no fault of your own, you may have trouble remembering every single one of those faces, let alone names. As a potential role model for your students, however, you may be one of the most influential people in their lives. This is why it’s critical to make sure you alwa...

Dawn Wright is the Chief Scientist of Esri, a platform that provides data solutions with geographic information systems (GIS). Esri believes a data’s full potential is locked behind location intelligence, and GIS is the best tool to bring that potential out. As Chief Scientist, Dawn strengthens the scientific foundation for all software and services provided by Esri. Dawn is also known as “Deepsea...

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. When people live their lives according to yours, it means you’ve made a name for yourself. However, there is a crucial difference between someone imitating you and blatantly attempting to con people using your name—I have firsthand experience of the latter. Twice. It was funny the first time, and then the FBI got involved.   In this episode, you’ll hear...

Adam Kahane holds the position of Director at Reos Partners, a multinational social enterprise that helps bridge the gaps between businesses, governments, and other organizations to solve complex challenges. He is a world-renowned facilitator, facilitating discussions and political talks with politicians, guerrillas, activists, executives, and trade unionists in over 50 countries. Adam is also the...

One of the best parts of life is witnessing unique events for the first time and remembering them forever. As an astronaut, I have seen many things I am sure I will never forget, even if I tried. However, one of the most exciting memories I have is of the time when I was part of a crew tasked to chase a speeding Blackbird. You don’t always get told to run after one of the fastest planes on Earth,...

Jan Eliot is the cartoonist behind the Stone Soup series, an internationally syndicated comic strip that ran for over 25 years and ended in July of 2020. The series portrays the life of a family headed by a single mother, Val Stone—who is not just as a character insertion of Jan, but also her way of representing single and working parents. Jan drew panel after panel based on her humorous experienc...

Living in a male-dominated society means you’ll likely work in a male-dominated field. That was the situation I was in at NASA, before the first women flew to space. Naturally, many of the decisions concerning what astronauts needed in space were made based on men. This made for an exciting story regarding what men thought were the basic needs of a woman in space.   In this episode, I share the st...

Jennifer Kingsley is the founder and project lead for Meet The North, a project that emphasized the lives of the people who call the Arctic their home. The project\'s focus was to allow the world to know the four million people living at the top of the world: their culture, their stories, and how climate change is affecting the way they live. The project ran from 2015 to 2018 and investigated the...

There is a difference between getting a title and earning it, that being the time and effort spent along the way. Recently, billionaires Jeff Bezos and Sir Richard Branson effectively went up to space, and some are calling them astronauts. It appears we’ve arrived at a point in time when people can simply buy their way into a rocketship. Understandably, NASA has had to revisit the definition of th...

Dayna Steele is a Hall of Fame rock radio personality, best-selling author, and host of the Rock Star Principles podcast. In this show, she introduces listeners to the rockstars of business and entertainment. Dayna is also the author of the book, Surviving Alzheimer\'s With Friends, Facebook, and a Really Big Glass of Wine: A caregiver\'s guide to love, humor, patience, confusion, anger, and wine,...

Socially accepted norms change with time. What was standard in the past may be taboo now. Likewise, the taboos of the past may be normalized today. What doesn’t change, however, is our concept of modesty—especially when changing clothes in front of other people. While some people are comfortable with this idea in a professional setting, others would rather walk out of the room. Regardless of their...

Cindy Van Dover is an oceanographer, explorer, and deep-sea biologist who has traversed the deepest parts of the ocean since 1985. She specializes in the ecology of deep-sea vent communities, especially vent invertebrates, food webs, and the taxonomy of newly discovered species. She is the first female pilot of the deep-diving submersible ALVIN and has commanded 48 dives. Cindy is also the author...

Every one of us has personal goals, but we all share similar ways to achieve them. Just like having different takes on everyday events, the tools we use to get to the finish line may not sit well with other people. The kind of attitude that is normal for us  - what we use as motivation - may come out as too aggressive or rude to someone else. This is why being a leader involves understanding the c...

Yvette McGree Brown is a Partner at Jones Day, a law practice that provides formidable legal talent with over 2,500 lawyers in 42 offices across five continents. She has 11 years of experience as a jurist, highlighted by her service as a Justice on the Ohio Supreme Court. She specializes in Business and Tort Litigation and Issues and Appeals. Yvette is also Jones Day’s Partner-in-Charge for the fi...

We all have our quirks and personal interests. Our likes and dislikes are what keeps us unique from the billions of other people on this planet. For the most part, this is fine. People will rarely bat an eye at something harmless or trivial such as enjoying foreign films and music. However, some particular interests and hobbies may not be someone’s cup of tea - especially when you’re five years ol...

Victor Vescovo is the Founder, Chief Executive, and Chief Submersible Pilot at Caladan Oceanic, a private marine research organization. Caladan Oceanic aims to explore the deepest parts of the oceans with the latest technology, and letting the world see just what is at the bottom of our oceans. He is also a Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Insight Equity, a private equity firm that makes control...

It’s one thing to pour over photos of Earth from space but having the opportunity to observe Earth with my own two eyes is something I will always cherish. I want you to know what it was like to witness this event.   In this episode, I share two stories about the most vivid memories I have about being in space and being able to see the Earth. I talk about going on a spacewalk and having to “do a h...