Arts & Culture

From artistic collaborations to creative problem solving, the arts have the power to lift us up and transform our future. These stories celebrate art, creativity, and culture in all its forms.

Image: A girl smelling a rose with deep satisfaction

Walk Through the City You Didn’t Know You Were Smelling Everyday!

Perfume has influenced our lives for more than 4000 years! But did you know many of the perfumes we know best today have their origins in the fields and flowers of one city in France? Let's travel to this city behind some of the most iconic smells in history to learn how perfume has shaped our cultures.

5 min read

Image: Japan's "Do-Nothing Guy" walking through Tokyo

Tokyo’s “Do-Nothing Guy” Shows Us the Power In Being Present for Others

Would you rent a guy to do absolutely nothing? In a society where productivity is praised, can someone make a living by just being around? Today we’re introducing Shoji Morimoto, Tokyo’s “Do-Nothing Guy”, who gets paid to simply show up. He’s enriching the lives of others without hardly saying a word, and his approach to making a career out of his seemingly useless talent is brilliant. Here’s why.

5 min read

Image: A young girl helping a young boy get up off the ground in the woods. Representative of the public's gravitation towards movies like Casablanca, where people end up selflessly helping each other.

Here’s Looking at You Kid! A Lesson from Casablanca

Oftentimes, the most compelling and transcendent media are those in which characters act in other-centered manners, overcoming their petty personal concerns for the sake of someone else or a greater cause. Take Casablanca, for example. One of the most well known films of all time does just this...

45 min listen

The Ultimate Triangle Pose: Connecting Yoga, Travel, and Girls’ Education with Jordan Ashley (Episode #121)

If you are wondering about your “purpose,” and you like to travel, then today’s guest will open a whole new landscape of possibilities for you. Jordan Ashley had two passions (yoga and travel) but over time, she began to feel like both were too self-involved. Then, the magic happened (travel with purpose) and she decided to connect her passions to her commitment to helping girls around the world who were being denied access to education. We can all learn from Jordan’s story and perhaps discover what we are uniquely built to contribute.

How Cecilia Chiang Changed Food in America

If you’ve ever enjoyed Chinese food in the United States, like potstickers and Peking duck, then we’d like to introduce you to Cecilia Chiang. She's the "Julia Child" of Chinese cuisine, and the story of how she changed the way Americans eat is as remarkable as her influence!

Image: Students in a classroom learning from their teacher. 1 in 7 of these students experience food insecurity, and their primary source of food is the school cafeteria.

Heroes of the Cafeteria, Keeping 9 Million Children from Going Hungry

School cafeterias are some of the busiest kitchens in America, and when 1 in 7 kids relies on school meals as their major source of nutrition, the job of cafeteria worker becomes even more important! It’s time we take a minute to thank those cafeteria workers and to get a glimpse into their world.

62 min listen

282 Lawyers Defend a Client Without a Voice: Planet Earth with Elspeth Jones (Episode #117)

Today's episode will give you hope and a sense that the tide is actually turning, if just thinking about the state of our planet makes you sad or fearful. Our guest—Elspeth Jones—is the warm, funny, brilliant Deputy CEO of an environmental law charity called ClientEarth whose main client is just what the name implies: their client is our planet! Turns out, there is a group of global lawyers whose only client is The Earth. And with a support team of experts in conservation, they are defending our planet and making real change legally binding.

5 min read

Image: Three Andean children standing next to an alpaca in Cusco, Peru, smiling.

How Indigenous Knowledge Helped Plant Over 3 Million Trees in the Andes

Over 30 years, the work of one man eventually brought together 25,000 families to make an immeasurable difference in the lives of his community for generations to come. Using Indigenous knowledge to save the planet saves lives, and that has never been easier. How, you ask?

Are Video Games Bad for You, Really?

On the quest to find out the effect that video games have on the brain, researchers may have stumbled into something that could change the nature of medicine. We're on the verge of prescribing video games, and these awesome creators walk us through it!

Image: People standing on a subway platform in NYC, a train rushing behind them. The place where Benny plays his trombone, after the accident where he lost all his memories.

If You Lost 29 Years of Memories, What Would Bring You Back to Life?

After a car accident, Benny couldn’t remember his name, that he had a son, or even where he was. But Benny had a trombone, and he did remember one thing: how to play it. With that, he brought his music to the street to bring joy to others.

5 min read

Image: Artist Andrew Meyers painting the portrait of George Wurtzel that's made of nails.

What if Art Was Meant to be Touched?

Ever wanted to touch the art in a museum? Artists like these fellows are encouraging all of us to! Here's a touching story about the power that tactile art can have across many communities.

89 min listen

After Adopting 123 Kids, Former Buddhist Monk Transforms Education with Gen-la Lobsang Phuntsok (Episode #104)

There is nothing quite as enlightening as listening to the insights of someone who has been to the edge and back. Today’s guest - Lobsang Phuntsok - had been to many edges of human existence. He was abandoned at birth, left under dry leaves by his 13 year old mother, but rescued to grow up as a Buddhist Monk. After an amazing journey of insight, he is now “Dad” to 123 children in an amazing family that is also a school and community that could fundamentally change the goals of education worldwide.

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