The Compassionate Achiever Podcast

The 'Compassionate Achiever' walks into Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. We spend this episode walking through “the neighborhood” using the newly released documentary about Mister Rogers (“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”) as our guide for visiting topics ranging from prejudice to today’s #MeToo movement.

Video gaming, compassion and “unschooling.” This episode looks at the connection between video games and compassion from the perspective of kids…specifically from the perspectives of Cade (14), Quinn (12) and Cole Kukk (11). Is there a link between video games and violence? Are there video games where compassion is the key for ‘leveling up’? While we address these questions and more, we also get introduced to the concept of “unschooling” and its importance to successful learning.

Safe spaces, trigger warnings, and disinviting speakers. Should we have 'safe spaces' in universities and should teachers at all levels of learning provide ’trigger warnings’? To have or not have safe spaces...what is the compassionate answer? The articles discussed in this episode are: (1) https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/27/books/review/splintering-william-egginton-coddling-greg-lukianoff-jonathan-haidt.html and (2) https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-topic-on-campus-civil-discourse-101-1534325402?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=9.

The Great American Read. PBS is hosting a nation wide read-a-thon this year via “The Great American Read” (https://www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/home/) and the podcast team covered a few of the 100 titles through not only the lens of compassion but also a debate about whether the list is based more on a popularity contest rather than excellent writing. We were joined by a reading expert, Debbie Parker, with the hope of inspiring not only reading but voting for your favorite books.

Do you want to know something you probably don’t know but should? Over 95% of medical devices (from birth control and heart devices to knee and shoulder replacements) in the United States are not tested or regulated before they are implanted in Americans. An American first grader goes through more testing than over 95% of American medical devices and it is having serious health consequences across the country. The podcast crew is joined by a leader (and compassionate achiever) in America’s effort to regulate medical devices, Angie Firmalino of ASHESnonprofit (https://www.ashesnonprofit.com). This episode was inspired by the Netflix documentary, The Bleeding Edge. See http://www.medicaldeviceproblems.com for more information about problems with medical devices.

Does compassion matter in artificial intelligence? The podcast team addresses this question using the AMC television show HUMANS and newspaper articles from both The New York Times and Wall Street Journal.

Travel and compassion. Can the two words go together without any sense of irony? This episode is about the role that compassion (or the lack of it) plays in traveling. We were inspired to do this show by a Wall Street Journal article on airplane evacuations (https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-dangerous-decision-air-passengers-keep-making-1533132796?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1) and a New York Times piece on Airbnb (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/03/opinion/airbnb-is-the-new-nato.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region).

Team player? Do you know the difference between coordinating and collaborating? The podcast crew tackles the idea of whether “you can be too much of a team player” and explores why knowing the differences between coordination and collaboration are important when managing teams. This episode was inspired by a recent Wall Street Journal article: https://www.wsj.com/articles/you-could-be-too-much-of-a-team-player-1532352464?mod=hp_lead_pos11.

Where’s the compassion in healthcare? The short answer is nurses! Our focus for this episode is healthcare and what can be done about the lack of compassion seemingly rising in the field. We also have a surprise nursing guest join us. We start the episode, however, discussing 6 very different books (fiction and nonfiction) that have compassion as a central component of their theme…we wanted to help you fill your summertime reading list.

How do you spell ‘spies' in the United Kingdom? K-I-D-S. This episode explores the United Kingdom's use of children as spies (this is for real) and specifically asks if using kids in such a role is compassionate and effective. For those of you interested in reading more about this topic, here is The New York Times article that inspired us to do this episode: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/20/world/europe/uk-undercover-child-spies.html.