The Bridge

It's the time of year when high school and colleges are graduating millions of students, and John shares his experience giving a commencement speech after being asked by a class of seniors that he was a substitute teacher for a year earlier. Liu Yan brings up Steve Jobs and his famous commencement address at Stanford in 2005, which prompts Cimcie to compare notes between her late father Roger "The Immortal" Nichols, who died the same year as Jobs, from the same cancer and both of them both received the Technical Grammy Award the same year.

Prep schools for students seeking better test scores has become big business in China, and BeiBei shares how competitive these businesses are, and how they are undermining the traditional education landscape. John weighs in on the concept of common sense being applied to education, that there are no guarantees in life, based on test scores.

Just as she was ready to start connecting to The Bridge, BeiBei lost power, and had to go purchase more, which is a very foreign concept to John, who has many questions about it. The conversation goes to the challenge of energy systems that millions of people depend on, and then they discuss some of the latest Covid numbers as well as some of the best ways moving forward when it comes to governmental presence in progress.

BeiBei starts the show with commentary about how humans are much like worker bees, and that there is a new generation of "human bees" that are figuring out they don't want to be part of the rat race and trying to reach the top, which often gets further and further out of reach for many. John adds his thoughts about how important it is to "figure out the system" so you can make it work for you, instead of against you.

The concept was originally proposed in 1992 by Canada's International Centre for Ocean Development (ICOD) and the Ocean Institute of Canada (OIC) at the Earth Summit – UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Ocean Annie is back on The Bridge, with John, BeiBei and Cimcie, to talk about the importance of being a steward of the ocean, no matter where you live. Cimcie shares her stories of scuba-diving with her father, and Annie brings her underwater perspective to the many ways the ocean plays a role in our lives.

Violinist Rose Crelli has performed on stages from Costa Rica to South Korea, Italy, Switzerland, Canada, Austria, France and Germany. She's performed with Michael Bublé and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. But Rose's journey is beyond incredible, born in Wuhan, China and given up for adoption at just eight months old, she was brought into a family that lived in the Yukon Territory of Canada, and lived her formative years in a cabin devoid of modern amenities like indoor plumbing and electricity, to become an internationally known violinist and spokesperson for human rights.

Steering clear of the negative headlines, John shares a few stories from the Good News Network, including one of a young girl with autism that holds the Guinness Book of World Records for being able to do multiplication in her mind like no one else in the world.  Liu Yan comments on a recent story in China, wherein a shepherd was able to save the lives of six ultra-marathoners in a freak climate event. John admits that he was a couch potato, which is a rare occurrence, and watched five movies in a row, which leads to a conversation about movie binge watching and why we seem to watch the same old stuff over and over again.

John starts the show sharing his thoughts about his late friend (and one of the first guests on The Bridge) Hillary Raimo, who passed away in November of 2020. Hillary brought a great wealth of knowledge to the show, including the concept of "the beginners mind" which is a way of seeing the world anew. Then the conversation shifts to ten beliefs that most people think are true- and turn out to be totally false. John drops the needle on "Turn Back Time" by Cher, which shifts gears as Liu Yan shares a time in his life that he'd like to go back to, if he could rewind the years. Finally, the conversation turns to trust issues, that are shared by so many people, and how a little perspective shift can change everything.

Is it possible that internet celebs are losing their status among their followers? BeiBei shares a story where a video was to be filmed on a university campus, and the production company needed extras to be part the show-with no takers among the students. John agrees that celebrity is fleeting, having worked with some of the biggest names in entertainment. The conversation gets a bit more serious as they discuss how important it is to push away from things in life that make us feel hopeless, and begin focusing on that which keeps hope alive. Finally, BeiBei admits to trying to "fit in" at one time, buying skinny jeans as to be in fashion, only to find out that the jeans were fine-but her legs just aren't like those of a super model.

BeiBei and John have a serious discussion on the importance of expression, in a world that often condemns emotion, especially if you are in the media. John suggests that even though the headlines are enough to keep people afraid of each other, there are more than enough life lines to close the gap between people. BeiBei shares some of her customs when it comes to etiquette, that are often forgotten, but should be remembered.