Project Spiral

Yes, we know it's March, but this is the first episode of 2026 so for us it's still Happy New Year! Meet Annika, a career coach who helps numerous individuals find their strengths and refine their outlook, all the while cultivating hope in their career. We've been chatting about hope for a while, but it's pretty cool to sit down with someone who is a professional hope-builder. Anni...

Spiraling down, spiraling up, sometimes just spiraling in general, this year has been a whirlwind. This episode, Abigail & Tim reflect on the lessons learned this year: an unsuccessful Scottish independence referendum, organizing to free political prisoners, providing food to the homeless in opposition to a local government and one of the trickiest ones - continuing to hope even within a warmi...

She's an Activist, Land Hero, NatGeo Explorer, Human Rights Champio and Founder of the Green Hope Foundation. Aaaaand maybe most impressive at all: she's this week's guest on Project Spiral. We've tackled climate before on this show, but never quite like this. Kehkashan knows how it is to have a brilliant idea at a young age to change the world, what it’s like to feel isolated, and...

What is a Vaquita (hint: look up a picture, you won’t regret it), and can it hold the key catalyze real environmental change? Tune in today to hear Aidan Bodeo-Lomicky describe his life-long fight for animal rights and the work of his new organization, Animal Counsel. Is the best way to promote environmental causes through working as a scientist or as a lawyer? And if right now environmental prote...

What do ancient Scottish leaders, mint plants, and optimism have in common? Meet Aileen McKay, a self described "English editor, tutor, creative, writer, facilitator, and optimist” based in Edinburgh, Scotland. In this episode, we discuss how feminism inspires Aileen's advocacy for Scottish independence - even through the failed independence referendum in 2014. How can we advocate for cha...

Sam Bliss doesn’t just wish for markets based on gift-giving and free food - he actively tries to make that a reality.  Sam works with Food Not Cops, a chapter of Food Not Bombs based in Burlington, VT. For more than 6 years, Sam and his colleagues prepare and distribute food to the broader community, including the unhoused population but also to others in the community.  We discuss how anarchism...

"That's cute that you care,"  “Just wait until you’re a bit older, then you’ll see how the world actually works.” “Don’t you think you’re being a bit unrealistic?”  Everyone who's dared to hope that change is possible have met people who throw wet blankets over fresh ideas. And often that's enough to kill hope when its struggling to survive. So what can we do about it?  In...

Shall we take a trip to the Museum of Almost Realities?  April Soetarman makes art that lets us see the multitude of choices (or sometimes lack of choices), in our own lives and the world around us. Based in Queens, New York, April uses public facing art, interactive creative pieces, board games, and more to get people to pause and think about their agency in different ways.  We discuss how to fin...

The courts won't save us now.. So what do we do now? Trump’s second term mission is to overwhelm the judicial system in order to do what he wants - including the recent detention of Mahmoud Khalil - so much so that knowing how to even start resisting can feel impossible.  Connor Thompson offers some ideas. As a lawyer from the famed Civil Rights battleground of Little Rock, Arkansas, Connor o...

Climate change can feel like the hardest thing to have hope in right now. But who better to discuss than someone who is literally getting her PhD on hope!  Meet Anna-Zoë Herr, a Berlin-based researcher who studies the role of hope in ecological crises and survival.  She also works with the Berlin-based NGO Talking Hope, focusing on research and designing communication and engagement strategies. No...

We're back to kickoff our new theme: how to find Hope! And who better to join us today than the brilliant Nada Hamida?? Nada, a Dallas-based architect, didn't dare to hope for a return to her native Syria… until December 2024. In this episode, we talk about how Nada uses architecture to inspire hope.  Nada designs buildings carefully, understanding how each element will affect how people...

We’re 5 years into our 2033 Project, and a lot has changed… maybe even the name of the 2033 Project! Join us as we reflect on how the show, and we, have changed over the years and fluctuated our expectations in work, politics, personal lives, and more. We set our new theme for the year, “how to find hope in a future that may not exist” in a time where the practice of hope can honestly seem futile....

It's not just because we host a podcast, but recently we can't stop thinking about the concept of "voice." Who has a voice to tell their own stories, and how do you get people to listen? How do you find your own voice -- and how to help ensure everyone gets a chance to be heard. That's why we're so excited to have Chi Cannon on this episode. Chi  believes prisoners’ v...

And weeeee're back with part 2 with Tenzin! We continue our conversation with Tenzin, starting from when he decided to leave nursing,  sparking a series of changes that involves sword-fighting in the woods, dropping out of grad school and even...chandeliers. In this episode, we break apart the idea that one has to have a single career, and explore what it could mean to develop an entirely new...

We know we're not the only ones in the middle of a career pivot. Who better to chat with us on the subject than Tenzin?  We’ve each known great and maybe not so-great influences on our life when we were kids. In Tenzin’s case, it was a guidance counselor who discouraged him from becoming an artist, ultimately leading him to be a nurse working in the ICU during the worst of COVID. What happens...

Can we save democracy in the United States? What if we focus on the local and bring people together to engage online in meaningful ways? Well, Johnathan thinks it’s possible, and that’s why he started MyBalbo. Many of us want to  stay politically active, but our reach seems limited - how do we go one step further to use technology & have conversations across divides and become substantively co...

Where do you imagine yourself in 4 years - owner of an arts space, an astrobiologist, or a ghost suspiciously similar to the ghost from Hamlet that forever haunts the world after being assassinated by an alien spacecraft?  Tune in this week for a special episode that features 2033 Podcast host Abigail as she explores her own inevitable career pivot. When you've had a specific dream your whole...

What if you are doesn't fall neatly into any box? Part of what makes Timon an incredible person and therapist is he holds so many aspects of his identity that society too often does not see as going together, namely being queer and Christian. Timon walks through his process of going through social work school to become a Marriage and Family Therapist, his unorthodox journey to getting there t...

Did you know a youth orchestra could change the future of an entire city? Daniela certainly could tell you a thing or two about that. She's no stranger to the idea that  younger generations face a hard fact: our careers will generally not be as linear as those of our parents and grandparents. How do we still shoot for success and allow for change?  In this episode, hear Danielle Ocampo Sánche...

With all the bad news in our inboxes, in our feeds, and in our lives, is there really any reason still to have hope that positive change can happen? During our second Generation gathering, an amazing array of inspiring guests sat down to discuss this very question.  Hear a wide range of practical ways these individuals have found ways to give back to their communities, rediscover dreams, create po...

Dean is a fighter - in all senses of the word.  He fights Muay Thai, he fights MMA and, he fights FOR victims of Agent Orange in Vietnam. On a solo trip, Dean learned about Agent Orange, a chemical herbicide used by US troops in the Vietnam War that has caused millions of cases of illnesses, including birth defects, over multiple generations. Upon meeting Agent Orange victims, Dean was inspired to...

When you think about the current climate crisis, do you feel like curling up in utter despair? You're not alone. That's why we were so excited to sit down with Rivka Schafer, a Gen Z climate activist with a message of hope and action that's grounded in so much practicality.  Rivka is a queer, gender non-conforming Orthodox Jew who is passionate about art, nature, and activism. As a...

We are excited to share our first live recording featuring 9 members of the 2033 community - recorded at our Generation retreat. We all know what it’s like when a good idea of ours gets squashed by someone else - usually someone older and with more influence. After continual frustration, how do we - as young people - fight against the very real feeling of being jaded. Gathered around a small couch...

Are you the sort of person who mentions museums in your dating profile, or have you avoided these institutions at all cost? Mariah has worked in museums her whole career, studying where objects and art originate (and yes - a lot are stolen) and figuring out how to make museums more representative of their communities. We try to make the case why museums -- if curated right -- are more important no...

Can art actually change someone's life? On today's episode, artist and social worker El Chen sits down with Tim & Abigail to discuss her unique journey in pursuit of meaningful creative endeavors - an adventure that has taken her from China to the United States, behind prison bars, and even within police ranks. Central to El's approach is embracing progress and imperfection - sp...