Sincerely, Hueman: Stories of Kindness and Doing Good

Abigail Dillen is the President of Earthjustice. For half a century, EarthJustice has provided top-tier legal representation in cases aimed at protecting our environment and people’s health. In this episode, Abbie takes us back to the beginning of her career, when she began to recognize the reality of climate change. Abbie also talks about the ways our laws impact our environment and tells us why she believes the youth hold the key...

Single-use plastics are one of the major pollutants of our time. Growing up in Bali, Melati and Isabel Wijsen noticed that their environment was becoming increasingly saturated with plastic bags. At 12 and 10 years of age, they founded Bye Bye Plastic Bags, with a vision of ridding the world of plastic bags. In 2019, after six years of advocacy, they were able to reach their goal in Bali.

Now 21 years old, Melati shares lessons she...

Inspired by Greta Thunberg, Anuna de Wever mobilized thousands of people in her home country of Belgium to protest her government’s inaction on climate change. Then 17-years old, Anuna transformed into a leader and spearheaded the Fridays for Future movement in Belgium. In this episode, Anuna speaks to the importance of Western countries taking responsibility in the fight for our climate. She also tells us about her experience visi...

At least half of Earth's oxygen comes from the ocean. That is why protecting the health of the ocean is imperative to address climate change. Daniela, a then 19-year-old immigrant, founded Sustainable Ocean Alliance or SOA from her Georgetown University dorm room. Since then, SOA has become the largest network of young ocean leaders in the world with more than 5,000 members in over 165 countries.

In this episode, Daniela shares the...

Leah Namugerwa is a 17-year-old activist from Kampala, Uganda. In this episode, Leah tells us about her inspiration behind Fridays For Future Uganda and about the pushback she received as a climate activist. She also speaks about the Birthday Trees Project, where she encourages people to plant a tree to celebrate their birthday, as well as her petition to ban single-use plastics in Uganda.

If you want to connect with Leah ...

Mitzi Jonelle Tan is a climate activist from the Philippines. She is the international spokesperson of Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines (YACAP), part of the global Fridays For Future movement.

In this episode, Mitzi talks about her experience meeting indigenous leaders who are fighting to protect their land and how that inspired her to take action. She also speaks of the United Nations Summit COP26 and the importance ...

Without having any experience in filmmaking, Kasha Sequoia Slavner took half a year off school when she was 16 to travel the world and make the multi-award-winning documentary The Sunrise Storyteller. In this episode, Kasha talks about how she found her path as an activist, the overlooked contributors to the climate crisis including the military industry, and why we have to center indigenous voices in climate leadership.

Learn more...

Bullying is an issue that affects millions of children and teens around the world.  Almost one in three students globally is bullied in any given month, according to a 2019 UN study. In our season finale, we are sharing the compelling story of Aija Mayrock, an author and poet who has reached thousands of people around the world by speaking out about her visceral and deeply agonizing experience of being bullied, both off and on...

The stigma around periods contributes to what is now known as period poverty. Period poverty is a global issue affecting millions of women and girls who do not have access to menstrual hygiene resources. In India, nearly a quarter of teens drop out of school when they get their periods due to the  lack of handwashing or toilet facilities.

Breaking the stigma around periods is a key first step in alleviating period po...

Despite making up half of the total U.S. college educated workforce, only 1 in 4 STEM jobs in the U.S. are held by women. When it comes to minority women, these numbers go even lower. Black women make up only 2.5% of the science and engineering workforce, while Hispanic women represent 2.3% of science and engineering positions.

Anjali Chadha, whose family immigrated from India, was able to merge her interest and passion in...

Globally, 130 million girls are out of school. But, with this glaring statistic also comes a mountain of evidence showing that girls' education is the most powerful investment towards eradicating poverty. Educated women are more likely to invest in their families and send their children to school. That meant, educating a girl had a ripple effect that lasted across generations.

While working on a documentary film, Christina...

It’s estimated that as many as 40% of the 4.2 million homeless youth in the country identify as LGBTQ. This is a shocking statistic, especially when considering that only 7% of the overall population in the U.S. come from the LGBTQ community.

In this episode, we're sharing the story of Carl Siciliano, a pioneer in fighting for the rights of the LGBTQ homeless youth. Carl is the founder of the Ali Forney Center, the larges...

When we talk about education, we don’t really highlight how culture impacts it. Did you know that Hispanics have the highest high school and university dropout rate of any other population? Some dropout to work instead and support their families. But there are also cultural factors at play. For Hispanic women, in particular, the macho culture might reinforce the idea that they are supposed to become housewives and mothers instead o...

Despite the strides women have made in the comedy world, studies have shown women are stereotyped as less funny than men. Female comedians often get less stage time than their male counterparts. And only one female comedian—Amy Schumer—has ever made it to Forbes’s highest-paid comedians list. Lynn Harris, a feminist entrepreneur, journalist, author, and comedian started GOLD Comedy in 2016 with this in mind.

GOLD Comedy is...

Did you know that 1 in 5 children in the U.S. have learning disabilities like dyslexia? These disabilities have nothing to do with intelligence and yet, students often struggle in school because they fail to get the support they need. Gia Gambino grew up having dyslexia. By middle school, Gia had overcome many of her reading challenges. But, she still had a hard time recognizing her skills.

Gia worked hard on herself and s...

Season Finale: Today, over 1 billion people live without one of the most basic human needs: adequate shelter. By 2050 this number is projected to rise to 3 billion people — a 200% increase over three decades. In this episode, we are featuring Brett Hagler, a change maker who is addressing this problem through innovation. Brett Hagler is the co-founder and CEO of New Story, a nonprofit organization that pioneers solutions to end glo...

According to a 2019 survey by the Pew Research Center, 64 percent of Americans look up to people who have served in the military, regardless of political support for conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. However, as the new generation of members of the military is much smaller than it used to be, many Americans don’t know a veteran anymore. But, as you may know, serving your country comes in many forms — just like doctors, teachers, f...

When people have a troubled past, they often have a hard time shaking off negative stereotypes. For this reason, those coming out of prison, homelessness and foster care have some of the highest unemployment rates in our society. Before the pandemic, these ranged from 27 to 42 percent. And COVID-19 has only worsened these numbers, as we hit the highest unemployment rate since the great depression.

Our guest this week is Av...

According to the nonprofit organization Uganda 4 Her, around half of the girls in Uganda between the ages of 15 to 24 are illiterate. Meanwhile, 10% to 25% is how much a girl’s income will increase with every extra year of education. It’s also reported that an educated woman in Uganda will invest 90% of her income into her family.

It’s truly admirable when someone sees a huge problem, and takes steps to come up with a solu...