What It Takes®

Only four women have ever received the Nobel Prize in Physics. This episode features two of them! Andrea Ghez unlocked a secret of the universe when she figured out how to prove the existence of a super-massive black hole in the center of our galaxy.  Donna Strickland devised a way of producing far more intense and precise lasers. Those lasers have changed manufacturing, cancer treatments, and eye surgeries, and promise to offer insights into the fundamental principles of physics. Both Ghez and Strickland talk here about their lives and about becoming world-class scientists at a time when women were under-represented, under-appreciated, and often unrecognized for their achievements.  (c ) American Academy of Achievement 2022

Explore the life of Edward Teller, a Hungarian math prodigy pivotal in developing the hydrogen bomb and Reagan's Star Wars initiative. Delve into Teller's reflections on early years, his influence on the nuclear arms race, and the ethical implications of the atomic bomb. Witness the personal relationships and scientific rivalries of the Manhattan Project era, and ponder Teller's controversial legacy and the uncertain future of nuclear war.

The Tuskegee Airmen were some of the bravest and best pilots to ever fly for the United States Armed Forces.  One of the last surviving members of the pioneering African-American fighting force, is Lieutenant Colonel James Harvey. He faced tremendous discrimination during his career, but he became the very first winner of the Top Gun competition. The success of the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II led to the desegregation of the military. And that opened a path for fighter pilot Charles Q. Brown, the current Chief of Staff for the U.S Air Force, and the first African-American to lead any branch of the military.  Both men share their extraordinary stories, and talk about how they persevered against the odds. (c ) American Academy of Achievement 2022

During March Madness, can you think of anything more satisfying to do between games than listen to an interview with legendary UCLA coach John Wooden?!  Wooden led his team to more NCAA championships than any other coach in history, and he did it with a quiet, old-fashioned approach that challenged notions of what it takes to win. Even if you're not a sports fan, you can find lessons and inspiration from Coach Wooden's leadership. In this episode, which originally posted in 2016, Wooden talks about his fatherly love for the players, his famous pyramid of success, and the difference between reputation and character.  He also explains why basketball is the greatest spectator sport there is. (c ) American Academy of Achievement 2016-2022

Last week, a shocking photograph was seen around the world. It showed a Ukrainian mother and her two children - lying dead on the street - killed by Russian mortar fire. The picture was taken by Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Lynsey Addario. Addario has covered wars and humanitarian crises in 70 countries, including Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and now Ukraine.  She has been kidnapped twice and has been badly injured on the job, but she is determined to open our eyes to the state of the world and the human toll of violence, no matter the risk. This episode originally posted in 2018, but is just as timely today.  Lynsey Addario is a lively storyteller who brings emotion and humor to every tale, whether she’s describing growing up the child of hairdressers, the harrowing details of her kidnapping in Libya, or the heartbreaking work of documenting women who die in childbirth.(c ) American Academy of Achievement 2018-2022

Andrew Young has worn many hats: pastor, congressman, ambassador & mayor, but his first role in public service was as Martin Luther King Jr’s strategist and negotiator. He was at King’s side for many of the biggest battles of the civil rights movement, and he helped draft and secure the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In this encore episode (originally published in 2016), Young shares his unique, personal stories about that turbulent period in our country’s history - from the center of the storm. He pays tribute to the women who were the often unacknowledged backbone of the civil rights struggle. And he recounts his fascinating life story, from his youngest days growing up in New Orleans, where his father taught him to fight racism with brains and heart, to his spiritual revelation at the top of a mountain.  Our next episode will feature a brand new interview with Andrew Young, as he turns 90 years old, and reflects on the state of democracy, race & politics in America. (c ) American Academy of Achievement 2016-2022 

In the fall of 1955, Rosa Parks refused to stand for a white passenger on the bus, Martin Luther King Jr. was chosen to lead the boycott that followed, and a lawyer named Frank Johnson was appointed to be the first and only federal judge for the middle district of Alabama (also the youngest federal judge in the nation). These three people didn't know each other, and yet, their paths converged in Montgomery, at the crossroads of history. In this episode, you'll hear rare audio of Ms. Parks describing the day of her arrest, and you'll learn the lesser known story of Judge Johnson, a principled and stubborn Southerner from northern Alabama, who issued many of the court decisions decimating segregation throughout the south. The episode was originally published in July, 2017. This encore edition, for Black History Month, includes new audio from a recently-conducted interview with Civil Rights Movement leader, Andrew Young. (c ) American Academy of Achievement 2017-2022

Every time the Olympics roll around, we’re regaled with inspiring stories of the athletes. Well, it’s hard to imagine a more inspiring story than this one, from long ago. Tenley Albright was the very first American woman to win the Olympic gold medal in figure skating, and the first to win the World Championship. That was in 1956. It was a remarkable feat, made all the more so, because Tenley Albright was a polio survivor.  After those Olympics, she entered Harvard Medical School - one of only 5 women - and spent the next decades as a surgeon, a researcher, and a professor. At 86, she is still running a center she founded at MIT to devise creative solutions to public health issues.  She talks here about how her recovery from polio contributed to her success as a skater, and how the lessons of skating prepared her for a life in medicine.  She also tells some wonderful stories from the Winter Olympics, and shares her gentle insights about motivation and competition.  (c ) American Academy of Achievement 2022 

E.O. Wilson was sometimes called "the father of biodiversity," sometimes "a modern-day Darwin," and sometimes simply "Ant Man." His recent death was an enormous loss to the world of biology and environmentalism.  You'll hear him tell wonderful stories here, including one about how a childhood disability gave him a great advantage in his work. You'll also get to know two major figures in a related field: ethnobotany. Richard Schultes created the field with his groundbreaking studies in the Amazon, back in the 1940’s & 50’s. He studied the plants that the indigenous populations used for healing, in an effort to identify new molecules that could be used in modern medicine. Along the way, he discovered over 2,000 plants previously unknown to science. One of Schultes' proteges was Wade Davis, who furthered the work of ethnobotany, and today is a best-selling author of books about indigenous cultures around the world.(c ) American Academy of Achievement 2022

Sidney Poitier changed America’s view of black men. And he changed Hollywood. The star of “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” “The Defiant Ones,” and “In The Heat of the Night” became, in 1964, the first African-American to win an Academy Award (for “Lillies of the Field”). He was a leading man and box office sensation throughout the 1950’s and 60’s, portraying a huge array of characters with a dignity, courage and humanity that was radical for its time. Sidney Poitier died on Thursday, January 6th, at the age of 94.  In his honor, we are reposting this episode from 2016. In it, Poitier talks about his remarkable life, and he describes how his childhood on a tiny island in the Bahamas made all the difference in his view of himself, and in the choices he made throughout his career as an actor.(c ) American Academy of Achievement 2016-2022