Polarization isn't about loving your party — it's about hating the other side. Dr. Dominic Packer and experts explore how we collapse into tribal identity when community groups vanish and social media replaces real connection. How do we rebuild trust? 🎧 www.storiesofimpact.org/polarization...

Stories of Impact won the Social Change category in the 2026 Podcast of the Year Awards! Seven seasons exploring the art and science of human flourishing—from Rwanda to Brazil, from climate justice to wildlife intelligence. Grateful for every story shared! 🎧 storiesofimpact.org

Americans are emotionally divided but won't back political violence, says Dr. Westwood. The real danger? Tolerating anti-democratic moves from politicians we otherwise support. What would it take for you to vote across party lines to protect democracy? www.storiesofimpact.org/dr-sean-west...

Why do we disagree so fiercely about abortion, healthcare, or police violence? Dr. Kurt Gray shows our political divides come down to harm and who we believe is vulnerable. The path forward is not more facts. It's sharing personal stories and listening. 🎧 storiesofimpact.libsyn.com/dr-kurt-gray...

What makes life truly good? This episode explores the Global Human Flourishing Study — a sweeping look at well-being across 22 countries and 200,000+ people. From meaning and money to faith and relationships, the findings challenge what we think we know. 🎧 Listen now: pod.link/1519411454

Our episode Brazilian Resistance & Renewal Through Playing Together with Kurt Shaw & Rita da Silva won Gold at the AVA Digital Awards (Educational Podcast). Honored to lift up the power of rhythm, art, and community. 🎧 www.storiesofimpact.org/kurt-shaw-an... #StoriesOfImpact #AVADigitalAwards

What can science teach us about the sacred? Psychologist Dr. Kenneth Pargament spent his career studying how spirituality shapes resilience, meaning & healing. This episode doesn’t flatten faith into data—it opens the door to deeper understanding. 🎧 Listen: www.storiesofimpact.org/science-reli...

When truth is blurred and public trust erodes, what can still bring us together? Dr. Filippo Trevisan believes real, engaged listening may be our most powerful civic act. We explore how empathy + collective responsibility can reshape democracy. 🎧 Listen here: www.storiesofimpact.org/listening-as...

How do elephants think about one another and about us. Dr. Joshua Plotnik a comparative psychologist at Hunter College shares what he has learned from decades with elephants in Thailand and beyond and how their intelligence can help humans and elephants coexist. Listen: pod.link/1519411454

What does citizenship look like in a post-truth world? Dr. David O’Brien joins Stories of Impact to explore how digital technology is reshaping civic life and what it means to protect privacy and uphold democratic values in a networked age. 🎧 Listen now: www.storiesofimpact.org/upholding-de...

What holds a society together and what tears it apart? Oxford economist Dr. Colin Mayer shares how institutions like business, government, and media can either serve the common good or fuel mistrust and division. 🎧 Listen now: www.storiesofimpact.org/the-politics...

What do laughter, play, and primates have to do with human flourishing? Dr. Erica Cartmill, Dr. Colin Allen and Dr. Heidy Lyn explore the neuroscience of joy, the power of animal empathy, and how moments of silliness help build trust in humans and across species. 🎧 Listen now: pod.link/1519411454

Is shouting a civic virtue? In a world of deepfakes and fractured trust, philosopher Baroness Onora O’Neill makes the case for listening — and why our democracy depends on it. 🎧 Listen in: www.storiesofimpact.org/the-ethics-o...

Dr. Jane Goodall taught us that observation is activism, and that hope is a discipline. We revisit our conversation with the woman who changed science — and helped us see the world with more care. 🎧 www.storiesofimpact.org/changing-the... @janegoodall.org

Another win & it means a lot! Our episode From Gangs to Growth just received a 2025 Davey Gold Award for Society & Culture. This honor belongs to the courageous young people of Medellín and the leaders walking beside them. 🎧 Revisit the award-winning story: www.storiesofimpact.org/from-gangs-t...

What makes a society flourish? Economist Sir Paul Collier says it starts with a shift from me to we. This conversation explores how shared identity, trust and collective purpose can rebuild community in an age of division and AI. 🎧 Listen now: www.storiesofimpact.org/building-com...

What if care was never a soft skill, but the deepest form of intelligence? Dr. Alison Gopnik makes the case that caregiving is core to what makes us human - biologically, emotionally, politically. This episode explores care as connection, courage & a quiet kind of wisdom. Listen: pod.link/1519411454

Grateful, proud, and moved! Our episode: Kurt Shaw and Rita da Silva: Brazilian Resistance and Renewal Through Playing Together, has been honored with a Platinum MarCom Award. This recognition belongs to every young person dreaming of a better future. www.storiesofimpact.org/kurt-shaw-an...

What does it mean to be a responsible citizen in the digital age? Vint Cerf, Nuala O’Connor, and Michael Wear explore how AI, algorithms, and online life are reshaping civic responsibility—and how we can respond with integrity. 🎧 Listen: www.storiesofimpact.org/citizenship-...

What helps us solve problems together? Psychologist Dr. Bahar Köymen studies how children reason, argue & collaborate & what that reveals about the roots of human cooperation. This episode invites us to rethink disagreement, intelligence &the social side of thinking. 🎧 Listen: pod.link/1519411454

Honored to share that Stories of Impact received a 2025 W3 Silver Award for the episode From Gangs to Growth — recognized for excellence in science and technology storytelling. 🎧 Listen: www.storiesofimpact.org/from-gangs-t...

We were honored to share her voice. Now, we honor her legacy. Dr. Jane Goodall changed how we see animals, the environment, and ourselves. She showed the world that compassion & activism go hand in hand and that every one of us can make a difference. Listen: www.storiesofimpact.org/changing-the...

What sustains people through crisis? Dr. Joseph Bulbulia explores how spirituality, belonging, and a sense of worth shape our ability to face life's hardest moments — and why feeling valuable matters just as much as feeling safe. 🎧 www.storiesofimpact.org/spirituality... #StoriesOfImpact

Why do some groups thrive while others unravel? Evolutionary biologist Dr. David Sloan Wilson breaks down the science of cooperation — and how trust, culture, and group dynamics shape our ability to face crisis. 🎧 www.storiesofimpact.org/the-core-pri... #StoriesOfImpact #HumanFlourishing

What does it mean to stay human in a digital world? Oxford scholars Dr. Andrew Briggs and Dr. Dominic Burbidge offer 7 civic principles for the digital age — from protecting privacy to treating listening as a public good. 🎧 www.storiesofimpact.org/an-agenda-fo... #DigitalEthics #StoriesOfImpact

What if autistic communication isn’t broken — just different? This episode explores how connection thrives within the autistic community, and why the real challenge is cross-neurotype misunderstanding — not a lack of empathy. 🎧 Listen: www.storiesofimpact.org/social-cogni...

What happens when education leads with empathy? Nicole Bruskewitz and Henry May of CoSchool are transforming Colombia’s schools through character, healing, and connection. 🎧 Listen: pod.link/1519411454 #StoriesOfImpact #CharacterEducation #Peacebuilding #SEL

What if the key to human evolution isn’t dominance—but friendliness? In this replay episode, Dr. Brian Hare explores what dogs, bonobos & other animals reveal about cooperation, intelligence & what makes us human. 🎧 Listen: www.storiesofimpact.org/animal-cogni... #StoriesOfImpact #AnimalIntelligence

A conversation on AI, gratitude, and building a global gift economy. This episode features Dr. Sarah Schnitker and Dr. Glen Moriarty on emotional support without transaction, and how humans still crave human connection. 🎧 pod.link/1519411454

What if the key to understanding alien intelligence is already swimming in our oceans? Astrophysicist Laurance Doyle and biologist Fred Sharpe explore what whale song reveals about nonhuman minds — and the language of life beyond Earth. 🎧 Listen: www.storiesofimpact.org/whale-song-a...

What if flourishing didn’t mean leaving your community? Researchers studied Thanda, a youth program in rural South Africa grounded in joy, character, and hope. What they found: a place where children are deeply known and raised by a village. 🎧 Listen: pod.link/1519411454 #YouthDevelopment

Bees might hold the secret to better AI. Researchers model the honeybee brain, only 1M neurons — to help build safer, more efficient autonomous robots. What we learn from bees could reshape the future. 🎧 www.storiesofimpact.org/the-honeybee... #AI #Honeybees #Neuroscience #StoriesOfImpact

We’re honored to share that Stories of Impact won a 2025 dotCOMM Gold Award for From Gangs to Growth — a powerful look at Medellín’s youth and hope against the odds. 🎧 www.storiesofimpact.org/from-gangs-t... #StoriesOfImpact #YouthEmpowerment #dotCOMMAwards

Can art dissolve the walls that divide us? Brazilian leaders Dr. Kurt Shaw and Dr. Rita da Silva are using film, music, and Afro-Indigenous wisdom to build empathy, dignity, and human connection. 🎧 Listen: pod.link/1519411454 #StoriesOfImpact #HumanFlourishing #ArtsEducation #Empathy

Can virtual reality help teenagers connect across differences? Dr. Eugene Ohu created an immersive experience for Nigerian students to see the world through someone else’s eyes. What happened next surprised even him. 🎧 Listen now: pod.link/1519411454

Dr. Agnes Kalibata grew up in a refugee camp — now she’s reshaping global agriculture. We’re revisiting this powerful conversation on food, equity, and human dignity. 🎧 www.storiesofimpact.org/food-agricul... #StoriesOfImpact #AgnesKalibata #HumanFlourishing #FoodSystems #Leadership

What if classrooms made space for complexity? In our latest episode, UK educators share how they help students reflect on identity, faith, and belonging - not just react. 🎧 pod.link/1519411454 #StoriesOfImpact #BigQuestions #HumanFlourishing #RE

We’re revisiting an episode that redefines what it means to think. Dr. Calvo, Dr. Reiss & Dr. Magnasco explore the minds of plants and octopuses - inviting us to expand how we understand sentience, intelligence, and connection. 🎧 www.storiesofimpact.org/diverse-inte... #StoriesOfImpact

What makes a question too big for the classroom? Dr. Berry Billingsley shares how blending science and religion invites deeper curiosity and why asking better questions shapes a richer kind of learning. 🎧 pod.link/1519411454 #StoriesOfImpact #Education #BigQuestions #HumanFlourishing

We’re revisiting one of our most mind-expanding episodes. Hear how Dr. Frans de Waal and Dr. Michael Levin explore cognition across apes, cells, and systems and what it means for our future. 🎧 Listen now: www.storiesofimpact.org/diverse-inte...

Remote work changed more than office hours. Dr. Nicholas Bloom shares how hybrid work reshaped equity, productivity, and innovation (and why it's not going away.) 🎧 pod.link/1519411454 #StoriesOfImpact #RemoteWork #HybridWork

Can humans and dolphins share a real dialogue? We’re revisiting our conversation with Dr. Denise Herzing, who has spent decades decoding dolphin communication—and what it might reveal about intelligence, connection, and curiosity. 🎧 Listen now: www.storiesofimpact.org/cracking-the...

Stories of Impact received a 2025 Communicator Award of Distinction for our science and tech series — honoring the voices and visions we’re grateful to share. Thank you for listening, for caring, and for walking alongside us. 🎧 pod.link/1519411454 #CommunicatorAwards #StoriesOfImpact

We’re divided — but why? Dr. Kurt Gray explores how moral psychology drives our political divisions — and how stories, not facts, may be the key to rebuilding trust. 🎧 pod.link/1519411454 #StoriesOfImpact #KurtGray #Polarization

What do bees, monkeys, and dolphins reveal about intelligence and connection? This episode revisits stories from the Wildlife Intelligence Project—offering a deeper look at nature’s wisdom and our shared place in it. 🎧 www.storiesofimpact.org/wildlife-int...

We’re a 2025 Gold Winner! 🏆 The Hermes Creative Awards recognized our episode on Medellín’s youth transforming their future through courage and community. 🎧 Listen now: www.storiesofimpact.org/from-gangs-t... #AwardWinningPodcast #StoriesofImpact

Can apes play jokes? Dr. Erica Cartmill’s work explores humor and teasing in great apes—and what it reveals about intelligence, emotion, and connection across species. 🎧 Listen now: pod.link/1519411454

Dr. Sean Westwood studies how political hatred takes root—and why Americans may still be more committed to democracy than we think. A powerful look at polarization, resilience, and the future of civic life. 🎧 pod.link/1519411454

Back to school, but reimagined. In this episode, Dr. Andrew Serazin reflects on the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute and how broadening our view of intelligence can transform science and society. 🎧 pod.link/1519411454

What happens when youth lead with empathy and truth? In this episode, young reporters in South Africa use radio to uplift communities through Ubuntu—changing the story from the inside out. 🎧 Listen now: pod.link/1519411454 #YouthVoices #Ubuntu #StoriesOfImpact