Fix The News

Meet Bryan Walsh, an editorial director at Vox, where he leads Future Perfect – an ambitious solutions journalism project that focuses on the policies and technologies that will make the future a better place. As a former foreign correspondent and climate writer for Time and the author of End Times: A Brief Guide to the End of the World, Bryan has spent more than two decades tracking humanity’s gravest threats. Today he is focused on highlighting the under-reported progress that shows we still have room to bend the story in a better direction.

Topics discussed: the good news hiding behind everyday conveniences; George Washington’s candles as perspective; why the report card for humanity is “incomplete”; negativity bias, doomscrolling, and the allure of bad headlines; local crime statistics versus national fear of rising violence; how American political psychodrama dominates the global news feed; what AI overviews and chatbots are doing to online media traffic; the economics of journalism after print advertising and social media; Future Perfect’s origin story and focusing on what matters most; philanthropy, foreign aid cuts, and momentum in development gains; why solutions journalism can feel like eating your vegetables; the narrative deficit and hero deficit in progress reporting; pandemic vaccines as an under-appreciated scientific and moral triumph; hope as a life preserver rather than a prediction and creating a media ecosystem that rewards depth, nuance, and solutions.

 Find Out More:

Future Perfect – Vox Media

Are you interested in how ⁠80,000 Hours⁠ can help you use your career to make a difference? Check out their podcast on Apple,Spotify or where ever you listen to your podcasts.

This podcast is hosted by Angus Hervey and Amy Davoren-Rose from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Fix The News⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Audio Producer/Director Anthony Badolato, Hear That? If you love this episode, please share, leave a review. You can get in touch with the team via email [email protected]

This week's headlines include: big news for HIV, tuberculosis and Leishmaniasis; China continues emissions decline; surprising drop in youth crime; long-awaited victory for Indigenous communities in Bolivia; more fish in the US and a stair-climbing wheelchair. NewsFix is brought to you by Fix The News. Hosted by Anthony Badolato, Hear That! If you want to get in touch with the team, email [email protected]

Meet Enric Sala, a marine ecologist, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence and founder of Pristine Seas – an organisation that has helped create 31 Marine Protected Areas, safeguarding nearly 7 million square kilometres of ocean. From his five-year Pacific expedition using a three-person submersible to his film Ocean with David Attenborough and his work with governments and coastal communities to drive the 30x30 goal – Enric is someone who intimately understands the scale of the crisis and still has proof that restoration is possible.

Other topics: the Ocean Decade’s slow progress; High Seas Treaty benefits and blind spots; why 96% of catch comes from inside coastal waters; the spillover benefits of Marine Protected Areas; community-driven reserves in Greece and Turkey; a five-year Pacific expedition with a new sub; the Port State Measures Agreement in practice; China’s distant-water fleets and accountability; combining science and National Geographic storytelling; how protection boosts local incomes; community-driven reserves in Greece and Turkey; exploring ‘pristine ocean’ that no human has gone to; financing and defending parks through politics; succession planning after a cancer scare;educating future stewards across the Pacific; Revive Our Ocean as a tool for communities; focused action as an antidote to despair; and bottom-trawling footage as a visceral wake-up call.

Find Out More:

Pristine Seas

Revive Our Ocean

Ocean⁠, the film.

Enric Sala- Website + Books,

This podcast is hosted by Angus Hervey and Amy Davoren-Rose from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Fix The News⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Audio Producer/Director Anthony Badolato, Hear That! If you love this episode, please leave a comment or review. You can get in touch with the team: [email protected]

Meet Krystal Birungi, Carolina Morgado, Nice Leng’ete and Bhavreen Kandhari – four incredible women who are working on the frontlines of science, conservation, human rights, and environmental advocacy. Krystal is an entomologist with Target Malaria in Uganda developing gene-drive mosquitoes; Carolina is the executive director of Rewilding Chile; Nice leads community-based campaigns to end female genital mutilation in Kenya; Bhavreen co-founded Warrior Moms in India to force accountability on air pollution.

Topics discussed: growing up with endemic malaria and the arrival of the Global Fund; proof-of-concept gene-drive trials in Italy and timelines to 2030; resistance to insecticides and drugs; elimination as a realistic regional goal; Chile’s Route of Parks as connected protected areas; park creation as local economic engine; carbon storage in temperate rainforests and kelp systems; Chile’s Cape Froward as a new national park; conservation grounded in community livelihoods and guide certification; outlawing FGM in Kenya in 2011 and the limits of law alone; elders’ councils and alternative rites of passage; mother-to-girl and father-to-son forums; measurable outcomes from community ceremonies and schooling; Delhi school closures during severe smog; COVID as a natural experiment in pollution control; formal complaints versus performative fixes; collective action by parents; clean air as a right, not a luxury.

02:08 Krystal Birungi - The scientist using gene drive to fight malaria

10:27 Carolina Morgado - Rewilding landscapes and communities in Chile

19:42 Nice Leng’ete - Creating an alternative rite of passage for girls in Africa

28:12 Bhavreen Kandhari - The warrior mum fighting for clean air

Find out more:

• Krystal Birungi, Entomologist – Target Malaria
• Carolina Morgado, Director – Rewilding Chile
• Nice Leng’ete – Nice Place Foundation
• Bhavreen Kandhari – Warrior Moms India

This podcast is hosted by Angus Hervey and Amy Davoren-Rosefrom ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Fix The News⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Audio sweeting by Anthony Badolato from HearThat? If you have a guest suggestion, feedback or interested in sponsorship, please reach out [email protected]

This week's headlines include: deforestation in the Amazon takes another plunge; Mexico reduces poverty; Nigeria boosts child health; no more corporal punishment in Czechia and the world is surprisingly becoming less grumpy.

NewsFix is brought to you by ⁠Fix The News⁠. Hosted by Anthony Badolato, ⁠Hear That! ⁠ If you want to get in touch with the team, email [email protected]

Welcome to our first edition of NewsFix - your weekly dose of good news! On today's episode: global air-pollutiondeaths fall as the 'clean-air' era begins, hidden progress on youth literacy, why we're celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, a new atlas to map the human body, how AI is helping farmers in India, species extinction is losing speed and some big news for the humble zipper.

NewsFix is brought to you by the team at Fix The News and hosted by Anthony Badolato from Hear That. If you want to find out more about what's gone right in the world this week, subscribe to our newsletter.

Meet David Fajgenbaum, a physician scientist who is saving lives by repurposing existing medications to treat different diseases through his organisation Every Cure. This conversation will challenge the way you look medicine and unlock the possibility that some of the solutions we’re looking for, are hiding in plain sight, on the shelves of your local pharmacy. From the near-death experience that changed the course of David’s life to how he’s harnessing the power of AI for good, this episode is a total game changer. Topics discussed: how a repurposed drug saved David’s life, living life in ‘overtime,’ what it’s like to swim upstream against the medical system, the AI advantage in fast-tracking drug matches to our 18,000 known diseases, how Viagra is saving sick kids, the economics of repurposing existing drugs and what we can expect from the future of medicine.

 Find out more:

You can check out David’s recent TED talk or his book ChasingMy Cure. You can also support Every Cure and if you want to let his team know about a repurposed drug that’s worked foryou, click here.

Are you interested in how 80,000 Hours can help you use your career to make a difference? Check out their free resources here.

This podcast is hosted by Angus Hervey and Amy Davoren-Rosefrom Fix The News and sound design by Anthony Badolato from Hear That!

Two weeks ago, Amy was on the ground in New York during the UN General Assembly and Climate Week. Attending various events, including the Clinton Global Initiative, Amy spoke with some incredible people who work on the frontlines of climate, healthcare, education and crisis response. Despite dwindling aid budgets and mounting challenges, these people are meeting this moment with big, bold ambition while quietly reshaping the future of development. From the ‘miracle drug’ for HIV to energy access for all and the rewilding project that will mend ecosystems across the heart of South America, this episode may expand what you think is possible. These are the people who are fighting for a better future every single day.

Here's who you’ll meet:

Carolyn Amole, Clinton Health Access Initiative

Erica Coe & Frank Aswani, Coalition for Mental Health Investment

Sandra Chukwudozie, Salpha Energy

David Harris, Christel House

Elpida Kokkota, Mexoxo

Geeta Mehta, SocialCapital Credits

Emily Benson & Melanie Joiner, Integrate Health

Tjada D'Oyen McKenna, Mercy Corps

Deli Saavedra & Mario Haberfeld, Jaguar Rivers Initiative

Timecodes:

03:58 - HIV 'Miracle Drug'

09:36 - More funding for mental health

16:38 - The shift from aid to self-sufficiency

17:44 - Making solar energy accessible to underserved communities in Nigeria

22:54 - Working Groups at the Clinton Global Initiative

24:17 - A comprehensive education model that alleviating poverty

28:03 - The group who are democratising access to education for women

32:53 - The social currency that banks good acts in communities

37:46 - Putting women at the centre of healthcare in Togo & Guinea

42:51 - Mercy Corps, the humanitarian organisation serving 38 million people

46:18 - Cross-continental conservation initiative restoring the heart of South America

52:45 - Final Thoughts

This podcast is hosted by Angus Hervey and Amy Davoren-Rose from Fix The News, with audio production by Anthony Badolato, ⁠Hear That? If you want to know more about this series or are interested in sharing it with your networks, send us an email: [email protected]

In our final episode of the series, we’ll uncover the surprising stories behind the science of the world’s first jab for malaria and how this ‘orphan’ vaccine became a lifesaving intervention that has already reached 5 million children. We look at what's next for the malaria vaccine, the threats of funding cuts to global health and answer the big question – is it working?

Here’s who you’ll meet:

Angus Hervey: Founder of Fix The News

Teresa Chirwa-Ndanga: Journalist & human rights activist, Malawi

Dr Joe Cohen: Project Lead, Malaria Vaccine at GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals

Dr Mehreen Datoo: Clinical research fellow-Malaria vaccine trials, Oxford University

John Bawa: Director, Malaria Vaccine Implementation, PATH.

Dr Scott Gordon: Head of Gavi's Malaria Program

 A Shot At History is produced by Fix The News. Series Producer, Amy Davoren-Rose, Fix The News. Associate Producer & Audio Director, Anthony Badolato, Hear That?

Rolling out a new vaccine across an entire continent takes an extraordinary chain of people - from the scientists in the labs, to delivery truck drivers and healthcare workers on motorbikes who stop at nothing to get this vaccine into far-flung villages. In this episode, we’ll show you what it takes to navigate the last mile challenges of transporting a cold-chain vaccine across the hottest continent on earth and the surprising heroes who are stepping up to champion the world’s first malaria vaccine.

Here’s who you’ll meet:

Angus Hervey: Founder of Fix The News

Teresa Chirwa-Ndanga: Journalist & human rights activist, Malawi

Zacharia Kafuko: Director of 1Day Africa

Amanda Clemens:  Social Mobilisation Coordinator, Ministry of Health, Sierra Leone

Kombra Network, Sierra Leone: Sallamatu Barrie – School Health club Champion, Reverend Christina Sutton and Dr Ramadan Jalloh.

 Special music credit: "Wok Dae Ya" by Speedo'o

A Shot At History is produced by Fix The News. SeriesProducer, Amy Davoren-Rose, Fix The News. Associate Producer & Audio Director, Anthony Badolato, Hear That?Producers for Sierra Leone, Marcus Costello and Jodie Bennet.

For more information about this production, email [email protected]