Blue Sky

Blayne Smith and Brandon Young are two US Army combat veterans who came together in civilian life to start their own company.  They’ve now published a new book, co-authors of Perseverance > Endurance: Lead with Resilience. Grow Through Adversity. Win Together., in which they describe invaluable lessons that they’ve learned from their training, the battlefield, and life since their time in the service. 

Chapters:

01:04 Introducin...

This episode explores the work of Echoing Green, an international non-profit that invests in social entrepreneurs and their dreams and ideas.  An accomplished leader and executive herself, Cheryl Dorsey explains how she first came to the organization and the great work they continue to do under her leadership. 

David McCullough got the idea for The American Exchange Project (AEP) after a cross-country trip showed him how diverse and accepting were the people he met.  Today, AEP creates opportunities for recent high school graduates to experience life in a different part of the US, building bridges of understanding and creating lifelong friendships.  It’s McCullough’s hope that these trips will someday be as common for high schoolers as th...

While studying acting in college, Erica Halverson decided that while she loved the theater, being on stage would not be for her.  Instead, she moved into different areas and now is teaching arts education at the University of Wisconsin.  She also hosts a terrific podcast, "Arts Educators Save the World,” on which artists are joined by teachers and mentors to reflect on the transformative impact that these people had on them. 

When Earl B. Hunter’s son was seven years old, he took him on three-month, multi-state camping.  It was a positive, life-changing experience for them both.  But Earl was struck by the fact that over the entire trip, they saw just one other black family.  As someone who was working in sales in the outdoor industry, Earl saw an opportunity and went on to found the for-profit company, Black Folks Camp Too. 

Sal Khan is one of the great innovators in education and in this Blue Sky episode, he discusses his book, Brave New Words: How AI Will Revolutionize Education (and Why That’s a Good Thing). He and his colleagues at Khan Academy are well on their way to creating powerful AI teaching assistant called Khanmigo.  At a time when many fear the onset of AI applications, Sal Khan presents an inspiring vision for the future of this technolo...

Leslie and Richard Strauss are a husband-and-wife team who oversee Spirit Series, an innovative educational program in which young students perform plays about timeless stories.  Through Spirit Series’ immersive and rigorous process, participants gain confidence in themselves and improve their teamwork, higher order thinking and focus in the classroom.  The program has served more than 60,000 students and research shows that it has...

Business school professor and author Amy Edmondson shares her views on how we can make our workplace more productive, enriching, and positive for everyone.  By creating an environment with “psychological safety,” Amy says that organizations allow people to do their best work by not fearing to make the “right kinds” of mistakes and/or speaking up when things go wrong. 

On this installment of “A Bit of Blue Sky,” host Bill Burke describes five books he recommends that will help listeners be more optimistic (and hopefully, fulfill their New Year’s resolution to do so)! 

Neal Foard is an accomplished marketing expert and storyteller. On this episode, Neal describes why, after helping build household name global brands like Budweiser, Lexus, and Sony, he has turned his attention to telling and teaching stories.  He’s inspired by what he describes as the kindness of everyday people and shares personal anecdotes and stories online, hoping others will engage in what he’s calling, “The Conspiracy of Kin...

In this Blue Sky episode, Zach Karabell describes how the roots of his optimistic worldview come from his deep understanding of history and the important societal trends that continue to move in a positive direction.  This conversation covers a lot of ground, including how Zachary views President Trump and the “chaos” and “hysteria” he expects will be created during his second term, the remarkable medical breakthroughs like mRNA va...