Why We Wrote This

Susan Murabana’s mission is to give all Kenyans equal access to the skies, and to inspire the next generation of scientists. She and her husband have reached about 200,000 school kids with their Travelling Telescope program. A tale of dream-building and love. Hosted by Dave Scott

Global Gardens is in more than a dozen elementary schools in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Yes, it helps kids grow gardens. But sowing seeds is also a path to learning how to cooperate, manage conflict, and nurture critical thinking skills. It's a program about peace, science, and hope. Hosted by Dave Scott.

Megan Cohen struggled with addiction and homelessness for nearly a decade. But then, aided by small acts of kindness by strangers, she turned her life around. Today, at age 28, she leads The Grace Project, which brings food and medical supplies – and hope – to people who are experiencing homelessness and dealing with addiction in Philadelphia. Hosted by Dave Scott.

Margaret Jankowski has given away more than 3,300 secondhand sewing machines. But The Sewing Machine Project is also a vehicle for teaching empathy, generosity, and how to repair lives. And she has learned to trust that a good idea has power, and is often shaped in ways she could never have imagined. Hosted by Dave Scott.

In preparing its students for the future of flying, the Chicago organization Tuskegee NEXT – named for the esteemed Black military airmen – also represents a small part of a growing effort to supply a new wave of qualified pilots as many in an aging workforce reach retirement age. In an industry where 3.4 percent of pilots are Black, many realize that inclusion efforts are key considerations in fi...

The Monitor’s London correspondent Shafi Musaddique was 10 years old at the time of 9/11. He, like Monitor editor Husna Haq, experienced the shift as “a flick of a switch,” he says. As the world reflects on 20 years of loss and conflict since the 9/11 attacks, Ms. Haq and Mr. Musaddique reflect on how Western views of Islam and Muslims shaped their view of faith, country, and self. Produced by Ash...

While millions of women lost or left their jobs in the pandemic, college student Jennifer Ashley Ciballos and her sister Jaelynn, a high school senior, faced a different problem: They had to start working to keep their multigenerational household afloat. For more than a year, they’ve juggled their studies with long hours at low-wage jobs to pay the rent and other bills. Their story shows the lengt...

Leslie Stevenson had been resisting burnout for years. Though she loves being a teacher, the daily grind of blurred boundaries, after-hours demands, and lack of community support had made it harder and harder to stay on. The pivot to remote and hybrid learning only made things worse for her. Now, as the US prepares for its first post-pandemic school year, she’s wondering: Is the work still worth i...

When Mariza Rocha lost her job as a utility porter at The STRAT Hotel in March 2020, she turned to her union. Through the organization, she was able to get unemployment benefits and food assistance. And when she was diagnosed with COVID-19, the union fought for compensation for her and others like her. Now she’s convinced she wouldn’t have survived the pandemic without that community help. In this...

The pandemic is not Yarleny Roa-Dugan’s first trial by fire. But it's the hardest she’s faced by far. A nurse and mother of two, she's come up against everything that parents and frontline workers have been having to deal with. And when members of her own family were diagnosed with COVID-19, she had to care for them while running the household on her own. Despite all that, she’s determined not jus...

Christine Hudman Pardy had made it. After decades of touring on and off Broadway, she was performing in a nightly show she loved, for a company that paid well and let her go home to her kids. Then the pandemic hit. Her show closed for good – and so did her husband’s. After more than a year without work, she’s asking herself: What’s next? When the odds seem to be against you, how do you keep on dre...

The numbers were grim: 2.3 million women pushed out of the workforce between March 2020 and March 2021. A generation’s worth of progress in women’s workforce participation lost, by some accounts. Women of color hit especially hard. Now, as the U.S. recovers from the pandemic, it’s time to look not only at what we’ve lost, but also at what we’ve learned. Can we rethink how and when we work to bette...

Through job loss, burnout, and the pressures of caregiving, women are fighting to win back what they’ve lost to COVID-19. This podcast follows six women from Las Vegas, one of the hardest hit economies in the U.S. Their stories capture what the pandemic has cost – and what it truly takes to move forward. Hosted by Jessica Mendoza and Samantha Laine Perfas.

How does a city confront a racist past? Tulsa, Oklahoma, is commemorating the centennial of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, one of the worst incidents of racist violence in U.S. history. Producers and hosts Jessica Mendoza and Samantha Laine Perfas share a teaser for their new podcast, “Tulsa Rising,” which explores how a community rebuilt in the face of hostility – and what it truly takes to repair...

Odessa Davis is used to helping families as a public school teacher and summer camp director in Maryland’s Montgomery County. But when the pandemic forced camps to close, she realized her own family was in need. Ms. Davis is one of many Americans who struggled to put food on the table for the first time during the past year, raising the question: how do we effectively combat hunger and support tho...

You have a superpower: The ability to imagine the future. But when we procrastinate, we get disconnected from that superpower. So how do we stop procrastinating, get unstuck from the present, and get connected to our future selves? Guests: Evolutionary anthropologist Dorsa Amir, procrastination expert Fuschia Sirois, and social psychologist Tim Wilson. Part 6 of 6. Hosted by Rebecca Asoulin and Eo...

JJJJJerome Ellis used to think his stutter was his fault. But he’s done blaming himself. This is the story of how he took his time back – and how disability, gender, and race all affect our access to time. Guests: cultural critic, academic, and activist Brittney Cooper, linguist Deborah Tannen, and composer, performer, and poet JJJJJerome Ellis. Part 5 of 6. Hosted by Rebecca Asoulin and Eoin O'Ca...

Have you ever been too glued to the clock? Ten-year-old Madeline was becoming a little obsessed with her alarm clock. So her mom took it away. But Madeline isn’t alone. We look at how the clock became king in the West – and how its rule is both tyrannical and liberating. Guests: Historian Alexis McCrossen, time and work expert Dawna Ballard, and clock enthusiast Madeline Hanes. Part 4 of 6. Hosted...

If you feel like you don’t have enough time, you’re not alone. We objectively have more free time than ever before, but we feel more pressed for time than ever. Why do we feel this way? And are there ways to get the most out of the time we do have? Part 3 of 6. Guests: Psychologist Ashley Whillans and sociologist Leah Ruppanner. Hosted by Rebecca Asoulin and Eoin O'Carroll. Visit csmonitor.com/tim...

Why the most exciting parts of being alive are creative moments. For the renowned physicist and writer Alan Lightman, dreaming up a fictional character or discovering a new equation leads to unparalleled exhilaration. In this interview, Dr. Lightman shares his definition of time, and discusses Albert Einstein's work, and the joys of creating. This is a bonus episode of “It’s About Time.” Hosted by...

Have you ever wanted to time travel? Modern physics shows that it's possible to manipulate time. But does that mean we can travel to the past? And what does this say about what time actually is? The last word often comes from physicists, but there are many definitions of time. Guests: sci-fi writer Ted Chiang (17:16), physicist Ron Mallet (9:02), and philosopher Heather Dyke (3:00). Part 2 of 6. H...

Why does time fly when you're having fun? But slow to a crawl when you're under stress? Experiencing the world more like a child could help us all slow down and make the most of our time. Guests: Psychologist Peter Tse and magician Debbie O'Carroll. Part 1 of 6. Hosted by Rebecca Asoulin and Eoin O'Carroll (yes, he's Debbie's son). Visit csmonitor.com/time for the full transcript, episode art, and...

Do you know what time is? No, not "what time is it?" But "what time is." In this six-part science series, "It's About Time," experts unravel the mysteries of time. Because understanding time more deeply can help you make the most of the time you have. Hosted by Rebecca Asoulin and science reporter Eoin O'Carroll. Visit csmonitor.com/time for episode transcripts, episode art, and links to research...

For many societies, 21 is a significant age. It’s a period of promise and potential, of leaving behind childhood to forge a way into the world. So what happens when a pandemic stalls that momentum? In this episode, we talk with Ryan Lenora Brown, the lead reporter in the Monitor’s new special global report “21 in ‘21.” She shares how the project came to be, the experiences of the 12 young adults t...

The false narrative that President Donald Trump won the 2020 election was powerful. It led to his supporters storming the Capitol, his second impeachment by the House of Representatives, and even to extremists discussing the possibility of infiltrating President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. In this episode, we take a close look at political conspiracy theories. Why are they so compelling? And h...