Capitalism has arguably accelerated many of the world’s problems, from climate change to economic exclusion. What role can—and should—it play in accelerating solutions? Halla Tómasdóttir of The B Team offers up a new spin on capitalism: one driven not only by short-term profit, but also by the wellbeing of people and the planet. She’s working within the profit-driven system, from the top down, on what she calls “radical collaboration” between the private sector, civil society, and governments. H...
Jun 24, 2021•39 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Garrett Bucks founded The Barnraisers Project, an organization that “equips people who’ve never thought of themselves as organizers with the tools to move their social networks from denial and defensiveness to action.” Like any meaningful anti-racism work, it requires participants—in this case white people—to sustain discomfort and be willing to stare down stark truths that are easier to turn away from. But he believes personal turmoil is necessary in order to achieve meaningful change. The way ...
Jun 17, 2021•49 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Step foot into Louisiana's bayous and you’ll smell the strong scent of azaleas even before you smell the cooking. Amidst the sweet fragrance of flowers and mouth-watering cuisine, an odious history of racial division sits in the foreground of these communities on the frontlines of climate change. For lawyer and activist Colette Pichon Battle, growing up in this cocktail of complexity and beauty has greatly informed her work to dismantle structural racism exacerbated by climate change. As founder...
Jun 10, 2021•38 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Getting the right medicine at the right time can mean the difference between life or death. Yet until COVID-19, there hasn’t been widespread recognition of the importance of creating easy and equitable access to life-saving medications. That’s where Priti Krishtel comes in. While the pandemic has arguably accelerated a movement around global access to medicines, she’s spent the last 20 years working to uncover how the patent system prevents life-saving drugs from getting into the hands of people...
Jun 03, 2021•41 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Yordanos Eyoel emigrated to the United States at age 13, in the aftermath of the Ethiopian Civil War—a war that started long before she was born. Yordanos saw firsthand the direct impact of an unstable government on her family's life, after her mother, a journalist, had to seek political asylum in America. Although she went from privilege to poverty seemingly overnight, the stability of the American political system outweighed the material luxuries her family left behind in their war-ravaged hom...
May 27, 2021•36 min•Season 1Ep. 6
What can we learn about resilience from street vendors? Just about everything, says Harish Hande of SELCO, an organization that delivers decentralized solar energy to the poor in India. Tackling both poverty and the energy crisis at once, Harish’s pioneering work relies on the belief that every individual offers their own expertise, and you don’t need a PhD to solve the world’s toughest problems. Harish says our obsession with pedigree causes us to overlook the expertise of individuals on the gr...
May 20, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Based in Nigeria, Dr. Christian Happi is a molecular biologist whose day job is combating infectious diseases. Alongside his life-saving scientific work, he’s on a mission to embolden young African scientists to take the narrative of Africa into their own hands. For far too long, says Happi, the West has failed to credit Africans for innovation and scientific breakthroughs—a legacy of the power dynamics of colonialism and anti-Black racism. Happi leads the African Center of Excellence for Genomi...
May 13, 2021•44 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Too often we rely on technical models to address racism—implicit bias training, examining data and statistics, crafting institutional statements. But the very systems that uphold racial inequity Esther Armah says, are actually propped up by emotion, not logic. Changing the brutal realities of systemic racism requires embarking on a mission of “emotional justice.” For some, an “intimate reckoning” in our closest relationships is necessary, she says. Armah believes that we must confront, in both t...
May 06, 2021•43 min•Season 1Ep. 3
If there’s one thing Alessandra Orofino won’t accept, it’s the status quo. She believes democracies can’t be healthy and thrive unless citizens roll up their sleeves and do the hard work of upholding democratic values. To that end, she co-founded Nossas, a Brazil-based activist organization that embraces fresh and unconventional ways to help people participate in the political life of their communities. Nossas took shape in 2011 when the discovery of off-shore oil ushered money into Rio de Janei...
Apr 29, 2021•38 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Rodney Foxworth says the racial “wealth gap” is a misnomer because it implies something that’s achievable to close. “Wealth chasm” is more on the nose since we’re talking about disparities created by centuries of oppression. Growing up in Baltimore, Rodney witnessed firsthand what many Black and brown communities face in America—systemic racism, over policing, economic dislocation. Now, as CEO of Common Future, he draws on that lived experience to create a network of organizations across the cou...
Apr 22, 2021•38 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Introducing Rethinking Possible, a podcast about social innovators tackling the world’s biggest problems. Hear voices from around the globe including infectious disease expert Christian Happi, activist and community organizer Alessandra Orofino, social entrepreneur and nonprofit executive Rodney Foxworth, and Esther Armah whose work focuses on racial healing. Today’s complex, entrenched, and intertwined problems like faltering democracy and racial inequality demand unconventional solutions.
Apr 09, 2021•2 min
