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9 minutes
[ Creativity ]
When Everything Seems Dark, Here’s How to Find Some Light
By Sam Burns
The next time you or someone you love faces a heartbreaking turn of events, there is a recipe for the resilience it takes to come out the other side of a loss with a remarkable sense of progress. Here’s a story that gives us all the keys to unimagined possibilities!
7 minutes
[ Nature ]
Mushrooms are Saving Honeybee Colonies!
By Sam Burns
Mushrooms are saving the day for us yet again! Did you know that 70% of the fruits and vegetables we eat count on bees for pollination, and yet bee populations are plummeting? But the good news here is that some mushrooms have been found to have an ingenious property that allows them to defend the beehives!
13 minutes
[ Conservation & Sustainability ]
Old Cellphones: The Key to Stopping Climate Change
By Dr. Lynda
Deforestation causes more emissions than all of the cars and trucks on our planet combined, so what can we do to stop it? Could the unlikely hero in this story be the old cell phone tucked away in your junk drawer? It is! Read on and you’ll see problem-solving at its best!
10 minutes
[ Thought Leaders ]
Alaffia: Proof that Traditions are a Global Resource We Can All Enjoy!
By Sam Burns
Does economic prosperity always have to come at the cost of tradition? Or can tradition help us create an even better business model? Let us introduce you to Alaffia, a company that has found a way to harness centuries of knowledge to empower a new generation of skilled craftswomen.
17 minutes
[ Animals ]
Here’s What Killer Whales Have in Common with Your Grandmother!
By Dr. Lynda
Killer whales have more in common with your grandmother than you may think. It’s a fascinating story and an opportunity for all of us to easily make the world a little better place today! Turns out, some wise elders of the Pacific Northwest, grandmother killer whales, are at a tipping point for their survival, but we can influence that quickly. This is an amazing story and a chance to be change-makers!
20 minutes
[ Culture ]
Preserving Our Nights Skies: A Mission Beyond the Stars
When was the last time you gazed up at the stars of the night sky? Imagine if future generations didn’t have access to that wonder? Light pollution impacts 80% of humanity, and it can have serious impacts on our health and the planet. Here are the people working to save our dark skies and the easy ways you can make a positive impact too.
15 minutes
[ Happiness & Hope ]
Conspiracy of Goodness: A Movement That’s Changing our Future
By Dr. Lynda
Why don’t we know about the awe-inspiring people who are making the world a better place? There is already a movement underway of people working towards a better collective future and you’re already a part of it. This is the Conspiracy of Goodness, the movement all around us just waiting to be celebrated!
8 minutes
[ Creativity ]
Capturing the Scents of Our Loved Ones
By Sam Burns
Could we forever find comfort in our loved one’s smells? Artist and scientist Ani Liu is capturing their scents and creating perfumes (or small time capsules) out of them! See the impact this could have as she brings us through her lab!
20 minutes
[ Happiness & Hope ]
What We’ve Learned from 5 Years of Curating the Web
By Dr. Lynda
Want an antidote for the daily news, without completely abandoning ship? We’re celebrating 5 years of publishing “the rest of the story” here at Ever Widening Circles! So join us as we point you to some of the amazing topics we’ve discovered while curating the web for the insights and innovations being missed by most.
20 minutes
[ Thought Leaders ]
The Haitian Project: A Blueprint for Solving Big Problems
By Dr. Lynda
What if the concept that could change the way we all look at solving the world’s most vexing problems is coming out of a nation facing the large brunt of them? It looks like the solution is thinking differently about how we decide to start attacking a problem. And this school in Haiti gives us just a glimpse of all of the possibility and hope that can come!
25 minutes
[ Thought Leaders ]
How to Handle Everyone’s Favorite Person: The Critic
By Sam Burns
Whenever we decide to put ourselves and our work out into the world, there’s one guarantee: there will be critics. But there is a very solid way we can alter how much of an impact they have on us. In her brilliant and motivating talk, Brené Brown gives us a few tools to do just that!
7 minutes
[ Thought Leaders ]
So, What’s it like to Grow Older?
By Sam Burns
We have something that’s going to make you feel a whole lot better about growing older. These masters of aging gracefully and keeping your spirit lively have a few tips for us all!
20 minutes
[ Innovation ]
How an Engineer Created a Band that Broke the Charts
By Sam Burns
Is what you’re doing in life what you always thought you would be doing? Could you take what you know and create something new that could never have existed without you? Here’s the story of an engineer turned rock star, whose story is one we can all relate to!
25 minutes
[ Thought Leaders ]
Building Futures One Plié at a Time
By Sam Burns
In a place where violence reigns, girls are finding refuge in a surprising way—and it’s all thanks to one amazing woman.
5 minutes
[ Creativity ]
Transforming Pollution into a Powerful Platform for Change
Can pollution from your tailpipe be turned into something positive? Air-Ink has found a way to turn the smog that would normally end up in our lungs into inks that artists are using to raise awareness. This innovation points to new possibilities for our future—take a look.
13 minutes
[ Sports ]
What Does Impossible Mean?
In the quest to achieve the highest jump on record, athletes are pushing the limits of the human body and redefining the word “impossible”. But what do record-breaking jumps like this say about what is possible for any one of us to accomplish?
9 minutes
[ Happiness & Hope ]
Helping Kids Find Community Even Without a Home
How do we give millions of kids stability and community in the face of homelessness? Girl Scout Troop 6000 has found a way to start in New York City’s Shelter system.
13 minutes
[ Art ]
Shadow Dancing Taking Us to New Worlds!
The dance troupe Pilobolus is known for their mind-bending work and their incredible experiments in shadow and performance will completely transform your sense of reality!
9 minutes
[ Innovation ]
The Toilet is Saving Our Lives!
By Sam Burns
Did you know that this innovation stops deadly diseases from finding you with every flush? Billions of people still don’t have access to one. So we’d like to take a moment to celebrate the humble toilet and see how some truly amazing thought leaders are bringing them to everyone around the globe!
24 minutes
[ Culture ]
So… Why Are People Riding Bulls?
By Sam Burns
Bull riding is one of the most dangerous sports in the world. So why do people partake in it? Turns out, there are some metaphors that might help us master our own pursuits!
9 minutes
[ Science ]
Entering the Empire of Cephalopods!
By Sam Burns
Most of our personal ah-ha moments come from occasions when we actually understand ourselves a little better. Turns out, some of the world’s most unique animals—cephalopods—can help us with that, all while expanding our sense of wonder about Mother Nature’s wild design book!
11 minutes
[ Nature ]
Meeting the Salween River
By Sam Burns
On this Saturday Around the World, we’re traveling through the beautiful Salween River in China and seeing the efforts put into place to protect it.
12 minutes
[ Thought Leaders ]
Libraries on the Front Lines of Homelessness
Public libraries are finding novel and wonderful new roles in our communities despite the evolving digital world. Here is one that has it all: it makes the best of elements that were in plain sight and the model can apply to all kinds of problem-solving.
7 minutes
[ Animals ]
Single Mothers are Saving Africa’s Endangered Wildlife
By Dr. Lynda
The best thought leaders among us are quick to accept the risk of abandoning assumptions. Their courage often brings out the best in others, and here’s an amazing example of that alchemy!
11 minutes
[ Art ]
Trolls We Can All Come to Love!
By Dr. Lynda
What if we slowed our impulse to create new “stuff”, and instead, focused on using what we already have in excess? Take trash for example. Is there endless potential in the things we are discarding? Here’s is someone who is pointing to possibility in a wondrous way!
10 minutes
[ Design ]
Sadie McCallum Shows Us Why Invention is for Everybody
Meet Sadie McCallum, a young inventor who is taking the unique problems she faces with Cerebral Palsy and building innovative solutions to help others!
5 minutes
[ Culture ]
Meet the Hindu Bagpipers Bringing Cultures Together
It’s easy to look back and see that some of the best innovators in history brought together two things that no one had ever thought to combine. For the best kind of ingenious fun with that concept, take a look at The Shree Muktajeevan Swamibapa Pipe Band: a worldwide organization of Hindu bagpipers who blend Indian and Scottish music in a brilliant cultural mashup!
7 minutes
[ Innovation ]
This Prosthetic Arm Doesn’t Look Human — And That’s Awesome
By Sam Burns
This prosthesis is not only the cheapest bionic arm you can find on the market, it’s also one of the coolest. The Hero Arm is 3D printed for anyone age 9 and above, customizable, and inspiring a new wave of research!
13 minutes
[ Thought Leaders ]
How to Catch the Winds of Luck
What if you could have more luck without just wishing for it? Here’s a Stanford Professor, with decades of research, pointing to 3 simple ways to start increasing the odds of finding more “good luck” in your life!
