Now, What’s Next?

Host Sonari Glinton finds out how changing climates and unpredictable weather will continue to impact coffee crops, create shipping delays, and raise the price of a cup of joe, and what some are doing to help create resilience in the face of these challenges. 

We meet Luiz Araripe, a Brazilian coffee exporter who’s been in the business for over 40 years. He describes how recent droughts and frost have devastated many f...

Host Sonari Glinton finds out why some pet owners struggled to find canned food, what’s in pet food to begin with, and why competition for key ingredients may be forcing that to change.

Along the way we meet David Saltz, who went to great lengths to track down the only food his finicky cat, Tiger, will eat. Dana Brooks, President of the Pet Food Institute, explains the supply chain challenges pet food makers are facing...

Host Sonari Glinton finds out why the trucking industry is short tens of thousands of drivers, and how the pandemic exacerbated the problem. We learn about the ways the industry is changing to recruit new drivers - and keep the ones it has - and how innovative thinking and technology could lead to an industry-wide overhaul.

In this episode we meet Christopher Johns, a British trucker who’s been driving for 15 years, and kno...

Host Sonari Glinton explores the great kettlebell shortage of 2020, as closed gyms led to unprecedented demand for home exercise equipment. We learn how manufacturing overseas made kettlebells difficult to get, and how bringing the manufacturing to the U.S. and supply chain diversification provided ways to meet the demand, but were far from simple solutions.

In this episode we meet Jennifer Lau, co-owner of FitSquad who exp...

Host Sonari Glinton explores why we’ve all been warned to start holiday shopping early. We discover how toymakers are navigating shipping delays, what’s causing those delays, and why local, independent shops have an important role to play in alleviating supply chain shortages.

On this episode of our supply chain season, we meet Nora O’Leary, President of Manhattan Toy, who’s had to make some tough decisions this year. ...

Host Sonari Glinton delves into the workings of the just-in-time inventory model and how it let down millions of frontline workers at the start of the pandemic. We find out how relationships along the supply chain are deeply critical, and how new technology is provoking a rethink in healthcare manufacturing.

In the episode we meet Dr. Andy Artenstein, an infectious disease specialist and Chief Physician at Baystate Health i...

In March 2021, the Ever Given cargo ship got stuck in the Suez Canal and opened the world's eyes to the vulnerability of a system we rely on each and every day. In this episode we meet Jan Unander, a Swedish importer who had goods aboard the Ever Given and almost lost his business because of the delays. Jake Slinn, the owner of JS Global Cargo and Freight Disposal, takes us to the Port of Felixstowe to illuminate how much ...

The pandemic pushed parents, particularly working mothers, past a breaking point. As the U.S. begins to recover from the economic and social setbacks stemming from so many women leaving the workforce to care for their kids, we look at the history and future of childcare. Host Sonari Glinton talks with three working mothers who have lived through the ups and downs of childcare. Sonia McDaniel is an essential hospital worker...

Willie Wright is 63 and lives alone in Cleveland, Ohio while his daughter Lauren lives over 500 miles away in North Carolina. We listen as they talk about the future and how they’ll manage as Willie gets older. Then we meet Iris Yafuso Toguchi, who relies on Kupuna Care, a Hawaiian state program for caregivers, to keep her mother, Irene, at home. Registered nurse Rudy Sukna has spent 20 years working at one of the lar...

Host Sonari Glinton talks to Celeste Headlee, journalist and author of Do Nothing, about burnout, and how that led her to reorient her life and approach to work. Next, we meet Jomar Reyes, who worked at Danish digital marketing agency IIH Nordic as they transitioned to a 4-day work week. Finally, Jennifer Scott is a bike courier and labor activist in Toronto and her work schedule makes 9-5 look like a dream. Jennifer expla...

Host Sonari Glinton checks in with college student Jacob Sarasohn. When his art school classes went virtual, Jacob decided to put college on hold and become an Emergency Medical Technician. We find out how that experience changed him and if he’ll go back to college. At Georgetown University, we meet Bushra Shaikh and her professor, Elizabeth Grimm, who found ways to make their Zoom class meaningful and effective. Tech CEO ...

Malls were originally designed to be the centerpiece of a community. For a long time, they were. Between the boom in online shopping and over-retailing, many malls were struggling even before the pandemic. Now, experts predict every 1-of-4 malls in the U.S. may close over the next five years. For this episode, we travel around the world to figure out why we go to the mall, how to build them more sustainably and how failing...

In this first episode of our new season, we meet Shelli Taylor, who became the CEO of Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas just weeks after the pandemic temporarily closed all their locations. Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director and Co-Head of the Toronto International Film Festival, talks about diversity in Hollywood, and how the past year is shifting the films and filmmakers we celebrate. Then we meet Vicky Ding, who runs a film sales...

The pandemic has created a huge mental health crisis. We’re all feeling the strain and many of us are admitting, for the first time, that we need help. It’s ok to not be ok. In the last episode of our season, we look at how this pandemic forces us to examine our own mental health, and helps us erase the stigma around asking for help.

Host Sonari Glinton hears how COVID-19 exposed how broken our mental healthcare system alre...

Education was one of the pandemic’s first casualties. When schools closed overnight, students and teachers switched to virtual classrooms—a massive social experiment that hasn’t been easy on anyone. But it also revealed opportunities to rethink the ways in which we teach, and what is most valuable in education.

Host Sonari Glinton speaks with students and teachers to find out how their lives have changed when it comes to sc...

Before the pandemic, about half of all Americans dined out at least twice a week. The pandemic has pushed hundreds of thousands of restaurants into bankruptcy—and the rest are struggling to stay afloat. In order to keep the lights on, many have shifted their business models, and are embracing innovations and experimentation.

Host Sonari Glinton checks in with his friend Steve Lombardo in Chicago, who manages the Gibsons Res...

Thanks to the pandemic, some 40% of Americans no longer head into the office to get work done. For many, the shift to remote work could be permanent, and yet millions of others do not have that luxury. This trend exacerbates the fault line between those who can, and those who can’t. But as much as experts tout “the end of the office”, a few with years of remote work experience argue that there’s a shelf life to this new wa...

Barren airports, anchored cruise ships, vacant hotels—it’s impossible to run a tourism business when international borders close and most of the world shelters in place. There is no doubt the pandemic has pushed the travel industry into a corner: one estimate suggests the industry will lose a trillion dollars in 2020 alone. How do you come back from that? For the time being, it feels like travelling for pleasure is a thing...