Stories of Impact

04/08/2026

New Episode! "Dr. David Sloan Wilson: What Makes Human Cooperation Possible"

Stories of Impact brings back some of our favorite conversations this season. Today we revisit an episode from our first season, aired during the Covid-19 pandemic. Dr. David Sloan Wilson is a biological sciences researcher at Binghamton University, and he explains what actually makes teamwork dream work, how cultures engender or discourage cooperation, and how to get people from different backgrounds to cooperate during times of crisis.

Learn more about David Sloan Wilson and the Evolution Institute.
Mentioned in this episode:

Elinor Ostrom
Michelle Gelfand’s Tight and Loose Cultures
Robert Putnuam’s Bowling Alone
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Supported by the​ Templeton World Charity Foundation

Stories of Impact brings back some of our favorite conversations this season. Today we revisit an episode from our first season, aired during the Covid-19 pandemic.…

21/07/2026

New Episode! "Dr. Emiliana Simon-Thomas: What Can Heal Widespread Loneliness"

Stories of Impact brings back some of our favorite conversations this season. In our last episode, we heard about the positive effects of coming together and sharing a meal. But for millions of Americans, that rarely happens. In fact, some 20 million people in the US today say they don’t have any friends. So how do we solve this loneliness epidemic? Today, we revisit a conversation with Dr. Emiliana Simon-Thomas, who studies just that.

Dr. Emiliana Simon-Thomas is the Science Director at UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center, which tracks cutting edge research studies that focus on how important our relationships, our tendency towards generosity and cooperation, and our sense of mattering or contribution to our communities are to our health and wellbeing over the course of our lives. She wants to understand the science of loneliness.

Read the transcript of this episode
Subscribe to Stories of Impact wherever you listen to podcasts

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Share your comments, questions and suggestions at [email protected]
Supported by Templeton World Charity Foundation

Stories of Impact brings back some of our favorite conversations this season. In our last episode, we heard about the positive effects of coming together and sharin…

15/07/2026

We’re honored that our conversation with anthropologists Kurt Shaw and Rita da Silva, “Brazilian Resistance and Renewal Through Playing Together,” has been named a Platinum Winner, the highest honor, at the 2026 dotCOMM Awards, an international competition celebrating excellence in digital communication and storytelling.

It means a great deal to see this episode recognized in particular. Kurt and Rita have spent years working alongside marginalized communities in Brazil, listening closely to what becomes possible when people meet across difference.

Their work invites us to consider play not as an escape from serious challenges, but as a powerful form of connection. Through drumming and dance, martial arts, food, and ritual, fear and division begin to give way to trust, belonging, and renewal.

What might shift in your own community if difference felt less like a threat and more like an invitation?

Thank you to everyone who helps bring this show to life, and to everyone who listens to and shares these conversations with us. We’re deeply grateful.

🎧 Listen to the episode: https://www.storiesofimpact.org/kurt-shaw-and-rita-da-silva-brazilian-resistance-and-renewal-through-playing-together/

07/07/2026

Can Friday night dinner reduce loneliness? OneTable studied 120,000 DIY Shabbat dinners to find out.

The findings surprised researchers. Friday gatherings reduced loneliness more than Tuesday gatherings. Gatherings without food worked better than with food. Meal quality didn't matter. Candles didn't matter. Going with close friends didn't matter.
No silver bullet — the whole Shabbat package matters, not individual ingredients.

What did work? Friday nights sparked warmer feelings about all humanity. They created space for hard conversations about Jewish identity, antisemitism, Israel-Palestine — topics that surfaced at Shabbat but not other gatherings. This authenticity sometimes decreased connection to other Jews, because real discussions surface disagreements.

The lesson: we can't flourish alone. The table equalizes. Breaking bread is sacred, whether you understand the tradition or simply feel the power of intentional gathering.

And OneTable now serves older adults facing the same loneliness as Gen Z.

What meal could you share this week with intention?

🎧 Listen: https://www.storiesofimpact.org/dr-adam-cohen-aliza-kline-and-dr-arielle-levites-gathering-at-the-table-for-connection-and-belon/

07/07/2026

New Episode! "Dr. Adam Cohen, Aliza Kline and Dr. Arielle Levites: Gathering at the Table for Connection and Belonging"

Today we’re back in conversation with Dr. Adam Cohen, social psychologist and psychologist of religion at Arizona State University, who shares another research project that explores the way religious ritual connects participants more deeply not only with faith, but with community — this time, not through the practice of abstaining from food, but from breaking bread together.

Dr. Arielle Levites, Managing Director of the Collaborative for Applied Studies in Jewish Education and a Research Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at George Washington University had the same idea — that observing Shabbat wasn’t just a nice idea, it was a practice with measurable impact.

So the team designed a study, enlisting the participation of Aliza Kline, founding President and then-CEO of OneTable, an organization designed to help young Jews develop independence and confidence in observing the ritual of Shabbat dinner in their homes.

The question they wanted to answer? Does Shabbat dinner as a spiritual practice increase social connectedness?

Read the transcript of this episode
Learn more about the research
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Share your comments, questions and suggestions at [email protected]

Supported by Templeton World Charity Foundation

Today we’re back in conversation with Dr. Adam Cohen, social psychologist and psychologist of religion at Arizona State University, who shares another research proj…

30/06/2026

New Episode! "Dr. Athena Aktipis: How Cooperation Emerges in Crisis"

In today’s episode we speak to Athena Aktipis, co-director of the Human Generosity Project, about the current results of her study of cooperation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Professor Aktipis discusses the insights both past and current research offer about the extent and the limits of human generosity during catastrophic events.
This is the third episode in a special, five-part Covid-19 conversation series.
Learn more about Athena Aktipis and The Human Generosity Project
Mentioned in this episode:
A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit
Subscribe to​ ​Stories of Impact wherever you listen to podcasts.
More about this episode
Read the transcript of this episode
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube
Comments, questions and suggestions [email protected]
Supported by the​ Templeton World Charity Foundation

In today’s episode we speak to Athena Aktipis, co-director of the Human Generosity Project, about the current results of her study of cooperation during the COVID-1…

04/06/2026

Dr. Erez Yoeli studies cooperation and found something surprising: people don't consciously think "I'm protecting my reputation" when they wear masks or volunteer. Their psychology handles it automatically through feelings of rightness, awkwardness at non-compliance, or warmth from helping.

His recipe for cooperation: make behaviors observable, eliminate plausible deniability, create clear expectations. Don't ask people to stand "six feet apart" — ask if fingertips can touch.

During the pandemic, Dr. Yoeli watched his governor's announcement shift norms overnight. Gyms closed. Businesses complied. People stayed home. Not from personal fear — most healthy people weren't at high risk. But because leadership made it common knowledge: this protects our hospitals and vulnerable neighbors.

The scale was unprecedented. Millions coordinating voluntarily in ways never seen in prior pandemics. Entire countries spending months inside. Mind-blowing proof that humans can solve problems together.

How has your behavior changed when you knew others were watching?

🎧 Listen: https://www.storiesofimpact.org/dr-erez-yoeli-what-inspires-altruism-in-uncertain-times/

19/05/2026

During New Zealand's strict COVID lockdown, researchers discovered something unexpected. While depression didn't increase and nervousness rose only moderately, one feeling exploded: worthlessness—a nearly four-fold increase.

Dr. Joseph Bulbulia's research reveals a painful truth about isolation. The government provided financial security and health protection, and eliminated the immediate threat. But it couldn't give people what they needed most: a sense of worth and the ability to contribute to others.

Employment wasn't just about money. Social activities weren't just about connection. Both gave people something deeper—the feeling that they mattered, that they had something valuable to offer. Grandparents couldn't help their families. Workers couldn't contribute. Religious communities couldn't gather. The ability to be helpful to others was stripped away.

The surprising finding is neither business confidence nor neighborhood community buffered against worthlessness.

What did was social belonging—the deep sense that there are people who care about you and who you can count on: not abstract community pride, but real interpersonal connection.

This reveals something fundamental about cooperation: we don't just need services from others. We need to feel worthy of giving. A flourishing culture affords people the opportunity to have significance, to be important to someone else.

How do you create a sense of worth when normal life is suspended?

🎧 Listen to the episode:
https://www.storiesofimpact.org/dr-joseph-bulbulia/

12/05/2026

Stories of Impact has won at the 32nd Annual Communicator Awards in the Podcasts - Science & Technology category for "Brazilian Resistance and Renewal Through Playing Together" with Kurt Shaw and Rita da Silva. This is the same episode that won Gold at the Hermes Creative Awards earlier this year, and I'm proud that this work continues to be recognized.

Kurt and Rita are anthropologists whose research explores a question we don't sit with often enough: what happens when you stop fearing and fighting against diversity and start exploring and embracing difference? Their field is Brazil, in crowded city streets and verdant jungles. Their work takes place in marginalized communities, and their methodology is play through music, drumming, dance, martial arts, food, and ritual.

The episode explores how they found their answers through shared experiences in communities that hold wisdom most of us never encounter.

Thank you for listening to these conversations and for engaging with work that asks hard questions.

🎧 Listen: https://www.storiesofimpact.org/kurt-shaw-and-rita-da-silva-brazilian-resistance-and-renewal-through-playing-together/

Communicator Awards

05/05/2026

Can positive emotions actually strengthen your immune system during a pandemic? Dr. Barbara Fredrickson's research says yes, but not in the way you might think.

Her work reveals something counterintuitive: resilient people don't just feel positive emotions during crisis. They experience the full spectrum—sadness, anger, anxiety, AND gratitude, hope, and love. The difference? They don't get stuck in the negative.

Dr. Fredrickson explains "positivity resonance," those magic moments when we co-experience positive emotions with others, creating synchrony not just in behavior but in our biology. These connections fortify our immune systems against viruses. But here's the irony: we're cutting out social connection—a crucial health behavior—precisely when we need it most.

The pandemic forced us to relearn how to signal warmth and safety. Without handshakes, hugs, or visible smiles behind masks, we needed bigger gestures, more deliberate eye contact, words that replaced what our faces used to communicate. Phone calls, it turns out, created better connection than Zoom—our brains struggle with the disfluency of garbled visual cues.

Most surprising? Our interactions with strangers and acquaintances nourished communal virtues like compassion and solidarity. These same virtues predicted whether people follow public health measures.

The big takeaway? If we stop connecting with strangers, we risk eroding the very concern for others that keeps us all safe.

How do you stay connected in ways that feel authentic?

🎧 Listen to the episode: https://www.storiesofimpact.org/dr-barbara-fredrickson-how-positivity-strengthens-us-in-crisis/