Tiny Spark

As aware citizens, it might feel good to check our privilege and that of others, but writer Phoebe Maltz Bovy says that privilege awareness has its problems.

Instead of feeling gratitude towards billionaire philanthropists, Stanford professor Rob Reich says we should scrutinize the power they wield.

Forty years after making his name with a famous psychological experiment about what makes good people do bad things, Philip Zimbardo has decided to flip the script. He tells us about his project that teaches people how to act heroically and describes his journey from studying evil to inspiring hope.

We explore the growing influence that private donors are exerting in national and local politics and why the power the wealthy are wielding today is likely to intensify in the years ahead. An interview with David Callahan, author of The Givers: Wealth, Power, and Philanthropy in a New Gilded Age.

At the nation's top universities and colleges, children of privilege are taking spots away from straight A students without the same connections, and the problem is only getting worse.

Whether you're a professional aid worker or just an engaged citizen, doing good for others requires that you to take time to be good to yourself, too. We speak to a veteran aid worker along with the author of a new book, The Idealist's Survival Kit.

Some were surprised to see Silicon Valley tech workers protest Trump's new immigration policies, but one civic tech leader tells us they are fighting for the fundamental values of openness and connection that made the internet itself great.

When you're eating out, tipping might seem like a good thing. But, on this Valentine's Day, we explore the many problems that America's tipping culture creates for restaurant workers.

Maaza Mengiste came to the US as a child, after her family fled Ethiopia's civil war. Even so, the New York based writer explains why she feels strongly about not calling herself a refugee, why activists need to take breaks from Twitter, and reflects on the stubborn endurance of art in times of upheaval.

Do you think a little more empathy would help in our increasingly divided and unequal world? Not so, says Yale professor Paul Bloom. In his book 'Against Empathy,' he argues that empathy is short-sighted, prejudiced and often makes the world a worse place. He offers more effective ways forward.