SoftPower/FulStories

This is the story of a life interrupted—by war in Somalia. It’s also the story of a life on hold, without opportunity for formal education—for years in refugee camps. It’s the story of opportunity elsewhere. It’s the story of welcome and finding one’s feet. It’s a success story. It’s a family story. It’s a story unfolding. Sahra Noor’s story is of how helping others most decidedly helps all of us....

This episode is less about soft power, and more about diplomacy and the incredible power of relationships--and how the time to cultivate those relationships is before something catastrophic happens. Robert Gerber was the first economic officer in the newly reopened U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan in 2005. Because of the situation, there was a lot of on-the-job learning. And--because the Civil Aviation...

Did you ever have to book a particularly complicated trip? Was it hard? Was it frustrating? Now imagine Carol Spahn's predicament. She returned from her service as Country Director in Malawi just 4 months before the Peace Corps' first-ever global evacuation due to COVID-19. She was part of a team that evacuated almost 7,000 volunteers from 64 countries in just 8 days--as borders were closi...

In 2003, President George W. Bush announced the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which the world would come to know as PEPFAR—arguably the most successful foreign assistance program in history. How did that happen? Journalist John Donnelly has covered global health and HIV and AIDS in particular for decades—and has had a front-row seat for much of that time. His brand-new book, 'Lif...

Usually, on SoftPower/FulStories , our storytellers find themselves overseas, in situations foreign and frequentlylife-changing. Their stories remind us about our common humanity and our need to engage with others worldwide. This week, however, hits a little closer to home. Wesley Warshawer does have stories about living in India or being a Fulbrighter in Korea, but his main journey—the one we wil...

When Hannah Peterson’s college friends were going off to jobs in business and finance, she chose a slightly different path. That is to say, she chose to go to work in a garbage dump—a literal garbage dump—in Nicaragua. And later, when she couldn’t find accurate stories about the lives of the people she was getting to know, she took it upon herself to write them. And, as USAID was being fed into a...

When Derek Lowstuter joined the Peace Corps, he found the transition from Colorado to Ethiopia very easy... at least as far as the altitude went. Everything else? Way different. Becoming part of a community there came loaded with lessons. By learning to accept help, or reach beyond community, he strengthened his own place within it. 'SoftPower/FulStories' uses first-person stories to explo...

Lisa Cazacu may have waited a long time to follow her Peace Corps dream, but once she started, there was zero hesitation. She jumped right into life in Romania. She was a regular at the nearby outdoor market, weaving her way through the towering mountains of cabbage, and only occasionally carrying a big bunch of bananas. 'SoftPower/FulStories' uses first-person stories to explore why U.S....

Karl Stoltz continues to bring people together, after nearly four decades as a public diplomacy expert. As Co-President of the Public Diplomacy Council of America, he pays close attention to the many soft power tools the United States uses to win hearts and minds (which used to be a priority). As a diplomat, starting with the U.S. Information Agency, he deployed these tools, not least in Moscow, w...

There's no doubt that Jason Carter is following in some big footsteps. His great-grandmother, for instance, joined the Peace Corps at age 66 and believed passionately in the importance of service. Or his grandfather, who wasn't content with merely being the President of the United States--he too built a decades-long legacy of service after he left the Oval Office. But there's also no d...

"When you learn, teach. When you get, give." - Maya Angelou Growing up in a Haitian-American family in Queens, NY, Jennifer Erie hoped the Peace Corps might send her to West Africa to learn more about her ancestors' origins. Instead, she ended up in South Africa, the first of many places — along with her time at USAID — where she found countless new people to champion, collaborate wi...

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water to create many ripples.” – Mother Teresa  A routine trip to northern Thailand changed the course of Peace Corps volunteer Paul Strasburg’s life, even if he didn’t know it at the time. A simple request to help build a school became a successful challenge that, years later, would bloom into an NGO now called Thousand Currents,...

"Do not get lost in a sea of despair." - John Lewis During her 18 years with USAID--mostly in Africa--Keisha Effiom worked in environments that most people will never fully understand, but was always deeply committed to the mission. And then it was gone. Not gradually. Not on her terms. Just gone. Yet, when USAID was immediately halted, the teams around the world were still in place. And...

"A ship in harbor is safe. But that's not what ships are for." - John A. Shedd When George Clooney decides to embark on a humanitarian mission to the frontlines of a deadly war in Sudan, it would normally take months of meticulous coordination to keep an A-list celebrity safe in a conflict zone. Matt Brown--our storyteller this week--had three days. Which is crazy. Thankfully, as a r...

"People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel." - Maya Angelou Growing up, Maria Brewer knew what it felt like to be othered, to be treated as an outsider. The memories of those feelings never left, and she spent her diplomatic career--which included two ambassadorships--looking for inclusivity and ways to get to &...

(This episode originally aired on January 23, 2026.) In case you missed it: Hamse Warfa is the CEO of World Savvy, a non-profit organization that equips educators and students with the skills, perspectives, and global awareness needed to thrive in an interconnected world and drive positive change. In 2022, he became the first Somali-American presidential appointee in U.S. history, as a Senior Advi...

"People generally see what they look for and hear what they listen for." - Harper Lee Joe Lurie, the Executive Director Emeritus of the University of California, Berkeley's International House, has a story, a proverb, or an eyewitness account for seemingly every occasion. Here's one from Ukraine: "You don't really see the world if you only look through your own window.&q...

(This episode originally aired on October 31, 2025.) In case you missed it: Rev. Jen Butler served as CEO of Faith in Public Life from 2005 to 2022. Highlights of her work as CEO include mobilizing a multi-state faith strategy to secure passage of the Affordable Care Act and defeating Republican efforts in 2017 to gut the bill. Faith in Democracy recently launched a new initiative titled “Leadersh...

The key to good diplomacy, according to Elizabeth Kennedy Trudeau, is showing up. And, as a very good diplomat, she always showed up. To places beautiful and places troubled. Places dangerous and places divided. Places important to the United States. The other key to good diplomacy is how you show up. And that leads us to this week's episode... SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to...

(This episode originally aired on November 21, 2025.) In case you missed it: July 18th, 2026 marks Nelson Mandela’s 108th birthday and International Nelson Mandela Day. Aaron Williams headed USAID in South Africa, where he worked directly with Nelson Mandela and his administration as the country underwent democratic transformation. Williams served as the Peace Corps Director from 2009 to 2012. He...

Sit back and enjoy this SP/FS collaboration with the Museum of the Peace Corps Experience, where we recreate a Peace Corps story slam, originally performed at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in 2025. Featured storytellers: Will Dreyer, Katie Hamann, Jody Olsen, Jim Rupert, Corey Quinlan Taylor, Ursula Wright, and BJ Whetstine--and featuring Museum Director Zack Klim (with a huge assist...

Forget the idea of going "full circle," I feel like the life and career of Baktash Ahadi is doing laps. As an Afghan refugee, finding his way in the United States, the massive reverberations from 9/11 hit Baktash from all sides, and started him on a journey of service and empathy that led him to the Peace Corps, back to Afghanistan as a civilian interpretor with U.S. special operations, an instruc...

(This episode originally aired on September 12, 2025.) In case you missed it: Betsy Small grew up aware of both her privileged place in the world and her family's rapid rise from poverty and persecution. Both left a mark, resulting in decades of empathy and action--at home and in some of the most vulnerable places in the world. Following the release of Betsy’s podcast episode, her book, 'B...

Dateline: 1 July 2026 July 1, 2025, marked the inglorious (and highly dubious) end of USAID. To mark its passing, we asked Sara Sullivan, a USAID alumna who has been speaking out from the very beginning of the end, to "The Average American," to deliver a eulogy on behalf of the agency. As usual, she did not mince words. SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. e...

On February 3, 2025, Elon Musk posted this on X: "We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper. Could gone [ sic ] to some great parties. Did that instead." It's safe to say that no one needed Musk's savage imagery. It's also worth pointing out that by now--a year later--the barely-trained, Musk-led forces at the Trump Administration's Department of Government...