Rather than merely write checks to charities they don’t really know well, a group of concerned women formed a “giving circle” which identifies social needs and then seeks out worthy recipients. To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in associatio…

A Kansas therapist and author, John Heider, describes how his life has been profoundly affected by studying a renowned 2,500 year old wisdom text from China that teaches the art of inner balance. To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in associat…

Ida Wells published the first major study of lynching. A close associate of Frederick Douglass, she helped to found the NAACP and advocated the right to vote for women and black Americans. Her amazing life story is finally gaining recognition, nearly 90 years after her death. To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmed…

Born to enslaved parents, Ida B. Wells emerged as a powerful investigative journalist. She overcame death threats and published widely in her quest to document domestic terrorism against African Americans. To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, i…

After John Wood trekked through Nepal and saw under-educated children, he quit his job as a Microsoft executive and founded Room to Read, a nonprofit that went on to establish over 16,000 libraries aimed at spreading literacy in poorer nations. To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are …

As environmental visionaries see it, the future of energy is not in greenhouse gas-emitting fuels like oil and coal—whose supply is running out—but in sustainable, non-global warming sources like wind and sun and waves from the ocean and in the enormous storehouse of heat that naturally occurs deep underground. To see additional resources and our o…

Nearly half of criminals released from prison are arrested again within three years. Through that revolving door, they return to a correctional system that is often overcrowded and ridden with violence. Robin Casarjian, a counselor working in prisons, helps to transform houses of correction into houses of healing. She encourages inmates to identify…

We learn how the Reconstruction amendments to the US Constitution, which briefly protected the rights of the freed people, were undone in the following years by the spread of Jim Crow segergation, as upheld by a conservative Supreme Court. To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are heard…

Are we still living with the racial divide left over from the Civil War? Has it resurfaced today in the rise of white nationalism, election denial and the surge of anti-immigrant sentiment? To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association wi…

The remarkable survival story of Bob Massie, an Episcopal minister who somehow walked through one life-threatening illness after another, and whose many challenges deepened his appreciation for life—and for the suffering of others. To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are heard on NPR …

British religious historian and best-selling author Karen Armstrong explains why she thinks the West gets it wrong about Islam, and she discusses the Charter of Compassion campaign that she launched worldwide. To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are heard on NPR and PRX member-station…

Having lost almost everything in the Madoff scam, best-selling author John Robbins tells how, in “an age of less,” he had to step back, reassess what’s important and build a new, more fulfilling life. To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in ass…

How the daughter of two holocaust survivors ventured into formal dialogues with children of Nazi-era Germans and what they learned from each other in a new era. To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.…

The stress of having a seriously ill loved one being treated in a hospital in a strange city is lessened by a compassionate army of volunteers in Boston who open their homes to provide lodging and a sympathetic ear. To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are heard on NPR and PRX member-s…

The surprising power of imagining positive outcomes in life is explored by NY Times best-selling author David Allen who finds that when people vividly picture the solutions to problems, it can reset their nervous system and remove self-imposed obstacles. To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind spe…

It’s been said that we’ve learned how to speak but not necessarily how to communicate. Rarely are we taught the art of deep listening or how to respond to someone without accusation or blame or the ability to articulate our own needs without putting others on the defensive. To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia…

In this documentary we explore how federal courts enforced fugitive slave laws. Historians, actors and legal scholars re-create the famous case of a young escaped slave who was sent back by a Boston judge, provoking America’s largest abolitionist protest. To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind sp…

In the second half of our documentary on the history of Alcoholics Anonymous, we examine the AA recovery principles that have promoted sobriety for millions of recovering alcoholics and have created a template to help people worldwide who struggle with many forms of addiction. To view additional resources for this episode please visit our website a…

Herbal remedies: Do they work? Are they safe? In The Medicine Garden, a special series drawn from our archives, you’ll take a fascinating tour of this relatively low-cost form of health care. It’s an approach to healing that has become enormously popular among Americans dissatisfied with conventional medicine.…

In this episode, we hear from physician Ralph Snyderman, MD, a proponent of preventive medicine, who believes that our health care system should place greater emphasis on preventive practices (such as healthy diet and stress management), because it is more humane to avoid disease than to cope with it, and because it is a far cheaper mode of health …

Have we entered an age of unrelenting chaos? As we grope for a “new normal”, has humanity reached a kind of turning point? In this timely audio documentary, you’ll hear inspiring stories of survivors. We also listen to health care providers, clergy and others who offer specific guidance to help people navigate these choppy waters. They conclude tha…

Take a trip to a pristine spot in Maine for an afternoon spent with Palestinian and Israeli youth as they come together to play, connect, and discuss the imperiled region they struggle in eleven months out of the year. Despite the hardened conditions in which they were raised, the teenagers here reveal an innocence and delightful hopefulness that m…

As we grope for a “new normal”, has humanity reached a kind of turning point? It feels that way — in the wake of the Covid pandemic, intensifying impacts of climate change, the war in Ukraine, mounting threats to our democracy, repeated mass shootings and so much more. In this second part of our documentary, we learn about the simple self-care tech…

After war, our veterans face a new battle: emotional and spiritual conflict that is normal to human beings who’ve experienced intense brutality. In this documentary, we examine the effects of military violence and how people begin the journey of healing from it. We hear deeply moving stories of veterans who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam. …

The Prisoners Literature Project, an all-volunteer service based in Berkeley, California, packages and ships books to people who are incarcerated, as a humanitarian gesture and one that helps inmates prepare for re-entry into society.Por David Freudberg