If the world has learned one thing in lockdown, it’s that staying isolated and confined to one place is hard. But for some people living with disabilities, a sense of social isolation predates the pandemic. Steven Spohn is a writer, philosopher, Twitch streamer, and the Chief Operations Officer of AbleGamers. His non-profit organization advocates for people with physical and mental disabilities in the gaming world, providing peer counseling and adaptive technology to help them play the games that they love and connect with worlds beyond their own.   Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Social Isolation is a Solvable Problem for People With Disabilities

Solvable showcases the world’s most innovative thinkers and their proposed solutions to the world’s most daunting problems. The interviews, hosted by Ronald Young Jr., will launch a dialogue that both acknowledges the complexity of the issues while inspiring hope that the problems are, in fact, solvable. iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries.

Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

News

The Happiness Lab’s Dr. Laurie Santos brings together other Pushkin hosts to mark the International Day of Happiness. Revisionist History’s Malcolm Gladwell talks about the benefits of the misery of running in a Canadian winter. Dr. Maya Shankar from A Slight Change of Plans talks about quieting her mental chatter. And Cautionary Tales host Tim Harford surprises everyone with the happiness lessons to be learned from a colonoscopy.
Hear more of The Happiness Lab HERE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pushkin Hosts Celebrate World Happiness Day

Melissa Gallardo’s childhood smelled like dark-roast coffee and lavender Fabulosa. As an adult, she found it difficult to find fragrances that made her feel at home, so she took it into her own hands and taught herself to make candles. It was a fun hobby side hustle until a 5,400 candle order almost sent her over the edge. 
 
Join Ben and Tanya as they chat with Melissa, founder of Bonita Fierce Candles, about taking her passion project from her side hustle to her full-time job. Discover how she started the company in her spare room while working 9-5 and finishing a graduate degree, built a relatable brand by focusing on her personal experience and how she landed her first big order. These are the Unshakeables.
 
The Unshakeables is brought to you by Chase for Business and Ruby Studio by iHeartMedia  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Burning Both Ends of the Candle: Bonita Fierce Candles

The digital revolution has been happening for a while now, but with 5G, it’s about to reach a whole new level. IT departments are about to rule the world. So in this paid partnership with T-Mobile for Business, Malcolm sits with leaders in the world of retail and healthcare to discuss how their industries are changing. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The IT Revolution

Back in the 1960s, a committee of seven Seattle residents met regularly to decide which patients with chronic kidney disease were “worthy” of life-saving dialysis.  Whoever wasn’t selected by the committee would likely die within months. An exposé of this so-called “God Squad” helped spark the formation of a new field: bioethics. In this prequel to playing god?, we’ll find out how this committee made life-and-death decisions, and why something like it is unlikely to happen again. 

Show Notes:
This episode features interviews with: 
Richard M. Mizelle, Jr., Associate Professor of History, University of Houston
Kate Butler, Assistant Professor of Nephrology, University of Washington School of Medicine
The God Squad was just one of many notable cases that led to the formation of the field of bioethics. The Hastings Center, a bioethics research institute, has compiled a timeline of many of the most famous cases and their impact. Check it out here. 
The Berman Institute has also collected oral histories– first hand accounts of the doctors, philosophers, lawyers and other scholars who were involved in many of these cases. You can explore that collection here. 
To learn more about the ethics issues raised in this episode, visit the Berman Institute’s episode guide. 
The Greenwall Foundation seeks to make bioethics integral to decisions in health care, policy, and research. Learn more at greenwall.org. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prequel: The God Squad

In this episode we head into the future to learn about a controversial technology that could change the face of reproduction. Researchers are developing a technology called in vitro gametogenesis (IVG), which can reprogram human cells–like a skin cell–to become eggs or sperm. With IVG we could reach a future where anyone could produce either eggs or sperm, in potentially limitless quantities. This could open up a whole world of new options for how humans reproduce. Startup companies are working to bring this science to the public in ways that bypass the usual research routes for new reproductive technologies. When would it be ethically acceptable to try IVG to make a baby? How can we ensure the technology will be used ethically, including how it should be regulated? 

Show Notes:
This episode features interviews with:
Amander Clark, Professor, Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology,  University of California, Los Angeles
I. Glenn Cohen, James A. Attwood and Leslie Williams Professor of Law, Deputy Dean and Faculty Director, Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology & Bioethics, Harvard Law School
In 2023, the National Academies held a meeting to discuss the scientific, ethical, and legal implications of IVG. You can watch this meeting and learn more about IVG here. 
To learn more about the ethics issues raised in this episode, visit the Berman Institute’s episode guide. 
The Greenwall Foundation seeks to make bioethics integral to decisions in health care, policy, and research. Learn more at greenwall.org. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Social Isolation is a Solvable Problem for People With Disabilities

Download our free app to listen on your phone