Journalism in the Business of Hope

News can feel relentlessly negative, but as this week’s guest points out, that’s a choice about what gets covered, not a reflection of what’s actually happening in our communities. Mebane Rash is the founder and CEO of EdNC, a nonprofit, paywall-free online newsroom that covers every public school and all 58 community colleges in North Carolina… More

Introships – Career Optimism for College Students, With Joe Fiveash

Joe Fiveash — a longtime digital media executive with stops at the Weather Channel, IBMWatson, and Raycom Media — joins Bill Burke to talk about Introships, the nonprofit he now leads that helps college students figure out what career path is right for them before they chase a traditional internship… More

“Can We Talk?”: Teaching High Schoolers the Art of Civil Dialogue

Educators John Holdridge and Lowell Libby join Bill Burke to talk about the Can We? Project-a Maine-based initiative launched in 2018 that teaches high school students the mindset and skills needed for constructive dialogue across political, social, and cultural divides. Through full-day retreats held in schools across Maine (and now New Hampshire), students learn to move past their first instinct to react and their second instinct to rationalize, and instead reach what one student memorably called her “third thought”-genuine understanding… More

Return on Goodwill: Sam Demma on Why Doing Good Comes Back to You

Sam Demma had his sights set on a professional soccer career from age five — training in Italy at 13, playing for one of Canada's top club teams by 17 — until three major knee injuries and a torn labrum ended that dream in his final year of high school. What came next is the subject of this conversation: how Demma rebuilt his sense of purpose, first through small volunteer garbage cleanups with a friend, then through public speaking, and eventually through writing… More