Kathy Eldon's son, Dan Eldon, was a young photojournalist working for Reuters in Somalia when he was killed at just 22 years old while documenting a famine and its aftermath. Rather than let that loss define her, Kathy and her daughter Amy founded Creative Visions Foundation in 1998 to support artists, journalists, and storytellers using media to inspire positive change. The foundation has since incubated hundreds of projects — including the Oscar-winning documentary Navalny — and its work has reached more than 100 million people across five continents.

What if optimism about climate change isn't naive — but necessary? In this episode of Blue Sky, Anne Therese Gennari, TEDx speaker and author of The Climate Optimist Handbook, shares the breakdown that led to her breakthrough: how years as an "angry activist" left her burned out and disconnected, until a single emotional collapse revealed her real mission — teaching climate optimism as a daily practice, not a personality trait.

Anne Therese makes the case that fear-based climate messaging doesn't change behavior — it triggers the same fight-or-flight response as encountering a bear in the woods. Instead, she offers a different approach: trading shame and guilt for curiosity and invitation, and shifting from "minimizing our negative impact" to "maximizing our positive one." She and host Bill Burke also dig into the psychology of optimism, the surprising data on optimists' success and longevity, and what it's been like for her to raise two young children — including a daughter who hugs trees on sight — while holding onto hope for their future.

This conversation is a reminder that the future isn't fixed. It's being written today, one mindset shift at a time.

If even the letters "A-I" are enough to spike your anxiety, this episode is for you. In this conversation, host Bill Burke sits down with Dr. Mark Bloomfield—a Cambridge Judge Business School fellow who has spent over 15 years applying artificial intelligence to real business challenges, long before ChatGPT made it a household name.

Marc's career is a story of reinvention: a colorblind teenager whose dream of flying gave way to a PhD with Airbus, and eventually to advising boards at companies like Vodafone, Unilever, and Pfizer on their AI transformation. Along the way, he's developed a refreshingly grounded, optimistic philosophy about how everyday people can engage with AI—starting small, staying curious, and using these tools to amplify what makes us human rather than replace it.

From treating AI anxiety like a fear of flying, to his weekly "AI amnesty" walks, to raising AI-savvy kids ("water always finds a way—so train them to become a plumber"), Mark offers a practical, hopeful roadmap for a technology that isn't going anywhere.

Margo Walsh is an entrepreneur on a mission to prove that second chances are good for business. As founder of MaineWorks—a certified B-Corp—she has built a model that connects people with substance use disorder and/or criminal records to meaningful employment in the construction sector, tackling two of society's most persistent challenges at once.

MaineWorks doesn't just find jobs for people—it sets them up to succeed. Through the non-profit she co-founded with her sister, Margo ensures that returning workers have what they need to show up and thrive: like proper clothing, boots, transportation, and the basic building blocks of a fresh start.

What began in Maine has grown into a regional movement, expanding across New England and serving as a replicable blueprint for companies and communities across the country. Margo's work has earned widespread recognition and multiple awards—and in this episode, she shares what it was like to attend a State of the Union address as a senator's guest, a testament to the national impact of her vision.

This is a story about optimism in action—and what becomes possible when we invest in people others have written off.

What if one of the most powerful tools for restoring your mental health, sharpening your focus, and cultivating optimism has been outside your door all along? In this episode of Blue Sky, neuroscientist Marc Berman—pioneer of the field of environmental neuroscience and author of Nature and the Mind—shares groundbreaking research on how nature literally rewires the brain. From his path to coining "environmental neuroscience" to surprising findings about what even a simple walk in the park can do for your attention and mood, Marc reveals the science behind something we've always intuitively felt—that time in nature just makes us feel better. And now we know why. In a world of constant digital stimulation and screen fatigue, this episode offers both a scientific framework and a simple, hopeful prescription.

What if the relentlessly negative news cycle is giving us a distorted picture of reality? In this episode of Blue Sky, Charles Kenny from the Center for Global Development makes a compelling, data-driven case that the world is truly getting better — in ways most of us rarely hear about. More…

Kathryn Anne Edwards, a labor economist and co-host ofOptimist Economy, discusses economic optimism, career paths, and the impact of policy on the American economy. She shares her insights on the job market and AI, and explains how her work is motivated by a belief in the importance of investing in children and families to build a stronger economic future. She argues for strategic public spending and challenges common economic narratives.

Adam Mastroianni says he likes to "study how people perceive and misperceive their social worlds, from the person sitting across the table to the whole country buzzing around them." In this Blue Sky conversation, Dr. Mastroianni describes research he and a colleague conducted that demonstrates that human beings falsely assume that the world used to be better, and that we continue to decline in terms of moral standards and civil behavior. This cognitive "bug" he has detected can lead us to develop a more pessimistic view of the world and also leaves us more susceptible to believe in the message of autocrats who promise to take us back to a time when the world – and people – were somehow better than they are today. Adam's insights are fascinating, as are the techniques he uses in his research, and he explains his findings and observations with great wit and wisdom.

Once an ironman athlete and perfectionist, Risa August faced a devastating diagnosis that stripped away her former life. This is the story of how she found new purpose and adventure, transforming her approach to life, from rigid achievement to joyful discovery, even with her unexpected companion,“Bubba,”her brain tumor.

Dr. Kenneth (Ken) Harris is an experienced practitioner of holistic medicine and author of the book, Synchronicity. In this Blue Sky conversation, Ken describes the subtle but important difference he sees between coincidence and synchronicity and tells why he thinks it's important for all of us to connect actively with others, leaving ourselves open to the mysterious and positive connections that can be made between people. As someone who was once clinically dead following a heart attack and had an "out of body" experience, Ken describes his appreciation for life and how fleeting our time here is. His enthusiasm and positivity are infectious and the ideas and anecdotes he shares here are thought-provoking and uplifting.

When Eddie Ndopu was two years old, his mother was told he wouldn’t likely live past five. Now in his early thirties, Eddie is an internationally-known and Oxford-educated advocate for the rights of the disabled. In this interview, he shares how his optimistic single mother instilled in Eddie a love of learning and encouraged him to pursue a “life of the mind.” Today, Eddie is world-renowned and was hand-selected by the UN Secretary General to be one of 17 people selected as an SDG Advocate. Reflecting on his new memoir, Eddie describes how he wrote his book, typing with his “one good finger on an iPhone,” and why he hopes this book will inspire others to be more understanding and supportive of people living with disabilities.

In this very special episode of Blue Sky, Steve D. tells the remarkable story of his struggle against his son’s severe addiction to alcohol. (Steve is not using his full name here to protect his son’s anonymity.) While living what he would describe as a near perfect life –great marriage with his high school sweetheart, dream job, five great children –Steve discovers that his youngest child is struggling with an addiction that has driven him to the point of attempting to take his own life. Almost overnight, Steve’s world is turned upside down as he and his wife try to face their new reality and save their son. With striking honesty, Steve describes his family’s heartbreaking and terrifying challenges, and why he left his WallStreet job to study addiction and make helping others in this predicament his life’s work. Looking back now, the optimist in Steve describes his son’s struggles as “a gift,” and you’ll understand why when you hear his story.

A content note: this episode includes discussion of severe addiction and suicide.

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.