Stories of Impact

Today’s episode features Templeton World Charity Foundation President Dr. Andrew Serazin and John Templeton Foundation President Heather Templeton Dill, as they discuss Sir John Templeton’s legacy while considering human flourishing at TWCF’s first-annual Global Scientific Conference on Human Flourishing. We also hear from conference participants Maritza Trejo, Regional Director for Education Programs for Glasswing International in Central America, and Dr. Duncan Astle, a Programme Leader at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge. Read the transcript of this episode Subscribe to Stories of Impact wherever you listen to podcasts Find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube Share your comments, questions and suggestions at info@storiesofimpact.org Supported by Templeton World Charity Foundation

We’re excited to report that the first-annual global Human Flourishing Conference was a tremendous success, with over 4,000 people attending sessions with luminaries like author Cheryl Strayed, social scientist Arthur Brooks, and more. We’re going to bring you a more in-depth exploration next week of the conference, including remarks from Templeton World Charity Foundation President Dr. Andrew Serazin, as President of the John Templeton Foundation, Heather Templeton Dill.  In the meantime, we’ll share the brief welcome message to the conference, delivered by Sir Richard Branson, before we return with a full-length special Human Flourishing Conference episode next week. Subscribe to Stories of Impact wherever you listen to podcasts Find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube Share your comments, questions and suggestions at info@storiesofimpact.org Supported by Templeton World Charity Foundation

Today’s episode features TWCF President Dr. Andrew Serazin and Dr. Brie Linkenhoker, founder of Worldview Studio, discussing another collective celebration and exploration of human flourishing — TWCF’s Global Scientific Conference on Human Flourishing. This first annual world-wide conference will take place on November 28 - 29, and will include dynamic dialogues with leading scientists, policymakers, practitioners, influencers, and advocates working on the scientific frontiers of human flourishing. It’s free for any attendee and open to the public. This virtual event will feature the latest scientific advances in understanding human flourishing across cultures, and showcase innovative new tools and strategies to promote greater flourishing around the world. We hope you’ll plan to attend! Read the transcript of this episode Subscribe to Stories of Impact wherever you listen to podcasts Find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube Share your comments, questions and suggestions at info@storiesofimpact.org Supported by Templeton World Charity Foundation

Today’s episode is all about the impact we can have when we make informed, ethical choices. It can be nearly impossible as a consumer to know where your clothes are coming from and to ensure that they were ethically and sustainably produced, from the spinner of the cloth to the dyer of the fabric to the person sewing the garment together. This is why Dr. Robert Handfield and Dr. MD Rejaul Hasan of North Carolina State University Poole College of Management are creating an Ethical Apparel Index, which will create transparency around apparel manufacturing for both consumers and investors. They’re hoping the EAI will promote human rights in the garment supply chain around the world. Read the transcript of this episode Subscribe to Stories of Impact wherever you listen to podcasts Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube Comments, questions and suggestions info@storiesofimpact.org Supported by Templeton World Charity Foundation

This week’s episode takes us to Kenya, where we meet Tom Osborn, community mobilizer, entrepreneur and research scientist, and Harvard psychology graduate. In his long list of accolades and successes, he is most recently co-founder and executive director of the Shamiri Institute. Shamiri’s innovative, interdisciplinary, youth-led caregiving model is increasing student levels of success and student mental health in schools in Kibera, the urban slums of Nairobi. Read the transcript of this episode Subscribe to Stories of Impact wherever you listen to podcasts Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube Comments, questions and suggestions info@storiesofimpact.org Supported by Templeton World Charity Foundation

What if we told you that by the end of this unusual episode, you could find yourself thinking completely differently about the role of video games in the lives of children and teens, and that you might actually look forward to playing video games yourself, as a way to become a healthier, happier, and more resilient human being? Today, we’ll meet a team of researchers and video game makers from the Games for Emotional and Mental Health (GEMH) Lab — Director Dr. Isabela Granic, Co-Director Dr. Hanneke Scholten, and Creative Director Ken Koontz — who will change your perspective on gaming. Ready? Mentioned in this episode: MindLight   Read the transcript of this episode Subscribe to Stories of Impact wherever you listen to podcasts Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube Comments, questions and suggestions info@storiesofimpact.org Supported by Templeton World Charity Foundation

Today we bring you the voices of more members of the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute (DISI) community — Dr. Amanda Seed, Dr. Cat Hobaiter, Dr. Dora Biro, Dr. Michael Muthukrishna, Dr. Kristin Andrews, and Dr. Tom Griffiths. They share some of their fascinating research that has been funded by Templeton World Charity Foundation grants. They talk about why they love what we affectionately call “adult summer science camp,” and why interdisciplinary conversations and collaborations about diverse intelligences are more important now than ever. Read the transcript of this episode Subscribe to Stories of Impact wherever you listen to podcasts Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube Comments, questions and suggestions info@storiesofimpact.org Supported by Templeton World Charity Foundation

Today’s episode is our version of a back to school episode celebrating one of the coolest schools on the planet — the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute (DISI). We’re back with four friends from Season 2 of the podcast to further explore Diverse Intelligences: Drs. Andrew Serazin, Erica Cartmill, Pranab Das, and Jacob Foster. These researchers tell us about their work to build a community of scientists who have come together every summer for the last five years to explore together different kinds of cognition, whether their specialty is plant, animal, human, or machine. Read the transcript of this episode Subscribe to Stories of Impact wherever you listen to podcasts Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube Comments, questions and suggestions info@storiesofimpact.org Supported by Templeton World Charity Foundation

Today is our 20th and final episode of the Luminaries of Human Flourishing season on the Stories of Impact podcast. All season, we’ve been in conversation with artists, politicians, technologists, environmentalists, doctors, faith leaders, educators, sociologists, and other luminaries. And today we circle back to the beginning, in conversation with President of Templeton World Charity Foundation, biomedical scientist Andrew Serazin, whose focus on human flourishing opened the door for us to create this special series. We’re going to take a summer break before we return in the fall with a new year of programming, but before we leave this season, we wanted Dr. Serazin to share more about the genesis of TWCF’s Human Flourishing Initiative, and where the foundation is heading next.  Here’s our friend, Dr. Andrew Serazin. Read the transcript of this episode Subscribe to Stories of Impact wherever you listen to podcasts Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube Comments, questions and suggestions info@storiesofimpact.org Supported by Templeton World Charity Foundation

This episode is an inspiring story about how bringing together vision, community, and cutting-edge science can make the impossible possible. It’s a story about American history, climate, globalization, and hope. It’s the story of the American Chestnut Foundation’s efforts to do something never before done: To restore a tree that is functionally extinct — the American Chestnut tree. You’ll hear from Rex Mann, retired from the U.S. Forest Service and now a chestnut evangelist, and ACF’s lead collaborating scientist, Dr. William A. Powell, professor at SUNY College of Environmental Science in Forestry. Read the transcript of this episode Subscribe to Stories of Impact wherever you listen to podcasts Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube Comments, questions and suggestions info@storiesofimpact.org Supported by Templeton World Charity Foundation