Blue Sky

Rob Watson talks about how he emerged from a challenged school system in New York, graduated from Harvard College, served in the Peace Corps, and later earned two master’s degrees.  He explains what drives him to work so hard — and with so much hope — to achieve equity in opportunities for public school by teaching master’s candidates at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and by supporting innovative collaborative action programs around the country, including in his hometown of Poughkeepsie. Learn More About Rob: https://edredesign.org/home  https://www.linkedin.com/in/robwatsonjr/  https://www.gse.harvard.edu/  https://www.pkchildrenscabinet.com/ 

David Novak has had a remarkably successful career and one that was defined by his boundless enthusiasm and contagious sense of optimism.  He describes in this episode that he’s never come across a leader who wasn’t an optimist and reflects on why he thinks this is the case.  He also discusses the inspiring work he’s been doing since leaving his job at the top of Yum! Brands, where he was widely considered to be one of the top CEO’s in the world. Learn More About David: https://howleaderslead.com/  https://www.yum.com/wps/portal/yumbrands/Yumbrands https://davidnovakleadership.com/

Jeff Korzenik, the chief economist at a major US bank, explains how predicting a labor shortage in the US led him to discover the growing movement around “second chance” hiring of people with criminal records.  His passion for this work led him to write “Untapped Talent,” a book that explains to companies the benefits of this type of hiring and offers a blueprint of how best to do it.  Jeff describes how second chance hiring can transform lives and communities. Check out Jeff’s book, “Untapped Talent” here.

In this episode, Bert describes how he and his brother grew from a challenging upbringing to create Life is Good, the original positive outlook brand.  He explains why he believes that optimism is a superpower and suggests that in all of history, there’s never been a successful pessimist. Browse Life is Good here! : https://www.lifeisgood.com/

Dr. Benton discusses how she came to choose to work with young people and their families and why she’s never been more optimistic about the future of child and adolescent mental healthcare in this country.  She shares her thoughts about the pros and cons of social media, the impact of the pandemic on young people and the value of outdoor activities for a children’s psyches. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences is described here.

Tané Hunter and Dr. Angus (Gus) Hervey are the co-founders of Future Crunch, an Australia-based organization that provides intelligent, optimistic thinking about the future.  In their conversation with Bill, Tané and Gus cover such topics as the future of green energy, the pros and cons of AI and ChatGPT, and what they see as some of the most inspiring but under-reported stories from around the world. Find Future Crunch’s newsletter at this link, and browse their full site! https://futurecrun.ch/subscribe

Marcy shares her view that we need to stay hopeful and optimistic about our ability to impact the rate and effects of climate change.  She explains why climate doom is the new climate denial and describes how she thinks we should educate young people about the climate and their future. Links: Sign up for The Climate Optimist at https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/c-change/climateoptimist/ And find the “Rewiring America” calculator here: https://www.rewiringamerica.org/app/ira-calculator

David Gardner discusses a wide range of topics, from the relationship between optimism and entrepreneurship to developing an investment strategy with an eye towards your own positive vision for the future, to David’s outsized love for, of all things, board games!    Links: Check out The Motley Fool at www.fool.com Steven Pinker’s TED Talk referenced in the interview is linked here.

Hosted by Bill Burke, founder of The Optimism Institute, this weekly podcast will feature inspiring leaders, authors, researchers, and big thinkers who are taking on some of our world’s toughest challenges with an infectious sense of optimism.   Blue Sky takes its name from the meditation reminder that there’s always blue sky above, sometimes you just have to get your head above the clouds to see it.