Conscience and Resistance
At 20 Scott Russell Sanders was faced with whether to join the Vietnam conflict or find "a refuge from the pressures of a society obsessed with buying stuff, having fun, and waging war." Influenced by Thomas Merton's essay, "Rain and the Rhinoceros" to make a critical choice which you can read about here, he goes on to explain in this beautiful essay how he has found a life for himself beyond viol... posted on Aug 22 2019, 5,551 reads

Empowering the World One Bicycle at a Time
Knowledge@Wharton and Michale Useem interview Dave Neiswander, CEO of World Bicycle Relief on their unique business model. The desire to help in a world crisis and providing disaster relief has led to this non-profit that designs for purpose. They are creatively combining philanthropy with social enterprise to achieve results.They now provide their Buffalo bicycles, over 450,000 in 19 countries, ... posted on Aug 21 2019, 4,598 reads

It Could Be Worse
In this engaging TED talk, Michael Eselun, an oncology chaplain at UCLA, explores compassion through the lens of a common coping perspective used nearly universally when the going gets tough--"it could be worse."... posted on Aug 20 2019, 10,101 reads

The Power of MLK's Anger
Unlike many who struggle to channel their anger into positive action, Martin Luther King Jr. learned from an early age how he could transform this emotion into something greater. In this compelling article from NPR, King's complex relationship with anger and injustice is explored. "Looking at how King dealt with anger reveals its dual nature--how it can be a motivating force for change, while also... posted on Aug 18 2019, 4,112 reads

Biking with Butterflies
Imagine if you could see the world through the eyes of a butterfly. What would you notice? In this beautifully woven piece, Sara Dykman explores the life cycle of the monarch through recounting her 10,201-mile bicycle journey from Mexico to Canada and back, intimately acquainting herself with newly hatched caterpillars and milkweed-nibbling monarchs. "Though people would gasp each time I told them... posted on Aug 17 2019, 4,317 reads

One Breath Around the World
Guillaume Nery can hold his breath underwater for more than seven minutes, dive more than 126 meters without air and has run on ocean floors around the world. He is a professional freediver, meaning he dives without breathing apparatus. The sport of freediving is dangerous, but Guillaume Nery and Julie Gautier's film makes it seem peaceful and serene. The film shows non divers a new way of interac... posted on Aug 16 2019, 2,502 reads

Bearing Witness: The Animal Dialogues
"It was a fortuitous flip to the essay on pronghorns that persuaded me to pick up Craig Childs' The Animal Dialogues: Uncommon Encounters in the Wild. In each intimately wrought tale on antelopes, hawks, and red-spotted toads, I found a writer and translator more versed in the tongues of the non-human world than I will ever be. Childs honors the weight and magnitude of his encounters with creature... posted on Aug 15 2019, 5,521 reads

Wild Mumbai
"Every night for the past eleven years, Rajesh Sanap and Zeeshan Mirza have spent the post-dinner hours combing the woods behind their homes. Like restive sprites, the young men skirt ponds, bash through spiky hedgerows, upturn rocks, shake up leaf litter, and thread through dirt trails hairy with undergrowth. In the course of their nocturnal walkabouts, they've found about a dozen arachnids, incl... posted on Aug 14 2019, 2,379 reads

A Man Without Words: The Story of a Contemporary Miracle
"When I met this man he was twenty-seven years old. Because he didn't know there was sound, because he didn't know he was deaf, he didn't know there was hearing and deafness. He studied lips and mouths. He knew something was happening. He's a very smart man. He'd be staring at lips. He'd stare at your mouth and he'd stare at this person's lips and he thought he was stupid. He thought he was stupid... posted on Aug 13 2019, 3,133 reads

Bronnie Ware: Living Without Regrets
"Bronnie Ware is an author and speaker whose bestselling book, The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, is based on her time as a palliative care worker. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Bronnie outlines these five major life regrets with Tami Simon and discusses the experiences in end-of-life care that inspired them. Bronnie explains how most regrets arise from a lack of courage and why people ... posted on Aug 12 2019, 13,422 reads