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The Conspiracy of Goodness Podcast
Hosted by Dr. Lynda Ulrich, Goodness Exchange Co-Founder
The Conspiracy of Goodness Podcast is designed to give you more joy, less fear, and no end to the evidence that a bright future is possible. Each episode, we help you make sense of the world by introducing you to people tackling some of the world’s most difficult problems and show you why they still think the future is bright.
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Past Episodes
10,000 Volunteers Fighting the Waste Created by Fast Fashion with Jessica Schreiber (Episode #113)
What fascinates you? If you wonder how your unique skills and interests could combine to put bread on your table, and make the world a little better place, then our guest, Jessica Schreiber, will change your future. She took an observation in her internship, and turned it into an amazing nonprofit in New York City that has 800+ companies as clients, over 10,000 volunteers, and saves NYC tens of millions of dollars every year. It’s a story that any of us could use in our own journeys to discover what we are uniquely built to contribute!
Listen In10,000 Volunteers Fighting the Waste Created by Fast Fashion with Jessica Schreiber (Episode #113)
Identifying Three Helpful Qualities You Can Bring to Every Situation with Christopher Ancona (Episode #112)
Have you ever talked yourself out of doing something important? If so, then our guest today may make that impossible for you to do, next time. Christopher Ancona is an expert in helping others see the limitations they are putting on themselves. And when I discovered his work, I absolutely had to share it here on the Conspiracy of Goodness Podcast. His work made me think that each of us has some vast pool of potential just waiting to break open, if only we could shift our way of thinking in a few key areas.
Listen InIdentifying Three Helpful Qualities You Can Bring to Every Situation with Christopher Ancona (Episode #112)
5 min read
Collaborative Hub Breathes Life into Big Ideas for Entrepreneurs of Color with LoLo Smith and George Zarebski (Episode #111)
If you’ve ever wondered what it would take to start a business or a social enterprise that solves a problem for others, today’s interview with Lolo Smith and George Zarebski will send your mind and heart soaring. They are experts in helping others find the resources to start and succeed in creating businesses and endeavors that matter. Turns out, there is no shortage of assistance for people who have good ideas. It’s just that the entrepreneur ecosystem has become so fragmented that no one knows what’s available or who is just waiting to help them!
Listen InCollaborative Hub Breathes Life into Big Ideas for Entrepreneurs of Color with LoLo Smith and George Zarebski (Episode #111)
5 min read
10 Stories That Will Make You Feel Grateful Right Now with Michael Shields (Episode #110)
This episode will feel like "food for the soul" because it is chock full of quick insights and 10 recommendations for places to head to next if you want your hope in the future rekindled. My guest, Michael Shields, is also a podcaster, and like me, he speaks with amazing people every week who fill him with delight and wonder. So today, we are swapping stories about 10 of our guests (4-5 from each of us) who come to mind immediately when we think about ingenious ideas and helpful perspectives.
Listen In10 Stories That Will Make You Feel Grateful Right Now with Michael Shields (Episode #110)
5 min read
The Father-Daughter Business Fixing the Broken Chocolate Industry with Shawn and Lawren Askinosie (Episode #109)
If you or someone you know has aspirations to find more meaning and purpose in life, then today’s episode will serve as both inspiration and a bit of a roadmap. Our guests, Shawn Askinosie and his daughter Lawren, have each found their niche. In their working lives, their family business is reinventing one of the world's most important, and yet unsustainable, luxury items. And all the while they are enjoying wonderful personal lives of deep connection, travel, family and adventure.
Listen InThe Father-Daughter Business Fixing the Broken Chocolate Industry with Shawn and Lawren Askinosie (Episode #109)
5 min read
Are You the Hero, Artist, Prophet, or Nomad? Why Generational Archetypes Matter with Dr. Steven Shepard (Episode #108)
If you’ve ever felt stuck in a problem, and yet sensed that you were just one key insight away from a “Eureka moment,” then you will enjoy today's interview with Dr. Steve Shepard. In today’s episode, Dr. Shepard helps us see the differences between generations as a tremendous asset, instead of a source of friction. And in the end, we realize that someone who seems a planet away because of their age (young or old) may have just the insight we need to leap forward!
Listen InAre You the Hero, Artist, Prophet, or Nomad? Why Generational Archetypes Matter with Dr. Steven Shepard (Episode #108)
Misery or Mindfulness? Choosing Your Perspective Wisely with Dr. Srikumar Rao (Episode #107)
Turns out, we don’t have to solve any of our problems through struggle, trial, and error. No, there are pieces of wisdom out there that are as true today as they were 2,000 years ago. And today’s guest, Dr. Srikumar Rao, has done the work of gathering those pieces of insight and making them relevant to modern life. Dr. Rao is a sought-after speaker around the globe because the perspectives he shares have the power to help us make enormous leaps in our personal wisdom and use those leaps to rise above the chaos.
Listen InMisery or Mindfulness? Choosing Your Perspective Wisely with Dr. Srikumar Rao (Episode #107)
Let Your Work Run Itself By Declaring Your Big Promise with Mike Michalowicz (Episode #106)
If your head is sent spinning by a constant swirl of financial and business priorities, today’s guest will open a path to clarity and peace of mind for you. Mike Michalowicz’s “zone of genius” is in simplifying the most dizzying concepts. He is a master at using easy-to-remember stories and analogies that help his insights soak in for us all. In today’s episode, we talk about his recent book “Clockwork” and a few of the ah-ha moments can send your working life in fresh and fundamentally exciting new directions.
Listen InLet Your Work Run Itself By Declaring Your Big Promise with Mike Michalowicz (Episode #106)
Don’t Look for Connection in Nature, Listen for It with Liz McKenzie (Episode #105)
If there are times when a moment of delightful joy or wonder would save the day for you, then our guest today has a message that will be a gift that keeps on giving. Liz McKenzie is an expert in giving us all access to the quiet, small wonders - usually just steps away - in a window sill, balcony, our own backyard, or a nearby park. No vacations are necessary to “get out into nature” and feel its calming warmth. It’s all around us all the time, and listening for it might be the greatest joy of all.
Listen InDon’t Look for Connection in Nature, Listen for It with Liz McKenzie (Episode #105)
5 min read
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.
Listen InAfter Adopting 123 Kids, Former Buddhist Monk Transforms Education with Gen-la Lobsang Phuntsok (Episode #104)
5 min read
Streets are for People, Not Cars? Bringing Joy & Humanity to Your Neighborhood with Blaine Merker (Episode #103)
If you wish your neighborhood brought more opportunities for delight and connection close to home, you will love our conversation with guest, Blaine Merker. His work with one of the most important Urban Design companies in the world is aiming at unique, inspiring “street cultures” in the future for us all. Blaine has some amazing stories of how our streets are being transformed from places for our cars, to places for people! If ever the future felt bright, this episode will fill you with a sense of possibility.
Listen InStreets are for People, Not Cars? Bringing Joy & Humanity to Your Neighborhood with Blaine Merker (Episode #103)
5 min read
“Do You Know What I Like Most About You?” And Other Ways to Make Life Happier with Dr. Hal Urban (Episode #102)
If you’ve committed to spending more time on things that add to your quality of life, then our guest today will bring delight to your everyday experiences. Dr. Hal Urban has traveled over two million miles talking about how small shifts in our positive character traits can help us celebrate the life we are living. He has written eight books on the power of positivity, but with a unique twist on how we can take control of our happiness.
Listen In“Do You Know What I Like Most About You?” And Other Ways to Make Life Happier with Dr. Hal Urban (Episode #102)
5 min read
From Unemployment to World Traveler: Turn Setbacks into Opportunities with Doug Barnard (Episode #101)
Ever dream of traveling the world? Is it possible to visit places less traveled with almost nothing more than a radiant smile? It is! Our guest today—YouTuber Doug Barnard—has attracted a global following of almost 500,000, at age 26. People in places like Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, and Alexandria, Egypt are recognizing him, and often embracing him on the street. Best of all, his popularity is not due to outrageous behavior, but rather his sense of celebration of every person he meets. His energy is contagious.
Listen InFrom Unemployment to World Traveler: Turn Setbacks into Opportunities with Doug Barnard (Episode #101)
5 min read
Lessons Learned from 8 Years of Publishing Good News with Liesl Ulrich-Verderber (Episode #100)
If you want to hear a rare, fresh take on the present and future - a conversation full of progress and wonder - then join Liesl Ulrich-Verderber and I as we share what we’ve learned through 8 years of curating the internet for “good news.” The remarkable stories of newsworthy insight and innovation are out there, but going uncelebrated. Liesl will be changing that soon as she bursts onto the scene with a young, exciting, and brilliant voice, amplifying a “Conspiracy of Goodness” happening right now, across the world.
Listen InLessons Learned from 8 Years of Publishing Good News with Liesl Ulrich-Verderber (Episode #100)
5 min read
Take a Walk with a Doctor: Understanding Yourself Through Nature with Jonathan Reisman M.D. (Episode #99)
The best medicines for overwhelm these days are joy and wonder. Both, when you can get it! And today’s guest, Dr. Jonathan Reisman, brings us exactly that. He is a pediatrician and ER physician with a penchant for adventure travel, nature and food, and connecting ideas that no one ever thought to combine. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Slate, and Discover Magazine and now he has a book that is one of the best “bedside reads” you might ever come across: The Unseen Body: A Doctor's Journey Through the Hidden Wonders of Human Anatomy.
Listen InTake a Walk with a Doctor: Understanding Yourself Through Nature with Jonathan Reisman M.D. (Episode #99)
5 min read
Don’t Wait to Live: Turning Pain into a Teacher with Stefanie Schaffer (Episode #98)
Making an amazing hand out of the cards you’ve been dealt can seem impossible. But today’s guest - Stefanie Schaffer - has mastered the process and shares insights we can all put in practice tomorrow.
The “bad hand” she was dealt, was very bad: losing both her legs in a tour boat accident while on a family vacation at age 22. But, in just 4 years, she has recovered from one setback after another, and managed her responses with so much clarity that she has recently found herself modeling for Kim Kardashian’s company, traveling, writing a book, and finding perspectives that are useful through every chapter of her recovery.
Listen InDon’t Wait to Live: Turning Pain into a Teacher with Stefanie Schaffer (Episode #98)
5 min read
The Wonderful Things You Miss When You Fixate on the End Goal with Michael Schauch (Episode #97)
There’s a skill you can develop for discovering the brilliant hidden possibilities when your plans are dashed. In today’s episode, Michael Schauch (a mountaineer, entrepreneur and award winning author) pulls back the curtain on all our goal-setting to reveal the depth and beauty of human connection that can be waiting for us too, when we realize we are in a unique moment of transition.
Listen InThe Wonderful Things You Miss When You Fixate on the End Goal with Michael Schauch (Episode #97)
5 min read
Kinder Corporations, Better World with Cole Baker-Bagwell (Episode #96)
Accomplished business strategist Cole Baker-Bagwell is a master of perspective, and is here with us today to share some of the most amazing insights she has about kindness, and how we can choose to be kind more often!
Listen InKinder Corporations, Better World with Cole Baker-Bagwell (Episode #96)
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