Laughter is the Best Medicine.
While filming ‘Schindler’s List,’ weekly calls from Robin Williams helped Steven Spielberg ease the weight of directing such a heavy film.
Steven Spielberg is one of the world’s most artful directors and storytellers. While he was in post-production with “Jurassic Park,” he was also shooting the epic film “Schindler’s List.” Recreating such a horrific part of history, one that personally affected his own family, weighed heavily on Spielberg. Read Story
LAUGHTER
Overcoming Fear Sometimes Requires a Patient Friend.
How a flight attendant took the time to comfort a passenger who was having panic attacks.
Every day, there are 25,000 flights in America. Accidents are so rare that flying is much safer than car travel. But that doesn’t stop many people from feeling panicked when they are moving at 500 miles per hour, 33,000 feet above the ground. Not being at the controls makes us feel a bit helpless. That’s when the negative thoughts begin to swirl, and the cycle deepens until, even in a very safe place, we suddenly feel panic. Read Story
BE A FRIEND
The Calm in the Storm.
Being that one voice of encouragement in a community makes all the difference.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when the volunteers have moved on but the residents are still there, David parks his car beside an apartment building. The light is waning. The building is made of stone, one of the few on this side of New Orleans. He opens his trunk, drags out four grocery bags of food, closes the trunk with his elbow and enters the building. Read Story
ENCOURAGEMENT
Living Alone doesn’t Mean you Have to be Lonely.
How a community in Maine supports those who want to be left alone.
Dan has always lived in Maine. He grew up hunting and fishing in the woods. He doesn’t mind the cold. The bugs in the summer don’t bother him. And being self-sufficient year-round is the lifestyle he has chosen. Read Story
THE RIGHT HELPING HAND
Never Give Up.
Lessons learned from Preston Tucker, creator of one of the most innovative cars in American history.
Preston Tucker was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1999, quite an accomplishment for somebody who only built 51 cars. Read Story
NEVER GIVE UP
It’s Not Your Lifespan, it’s Your Wingspan.
How one girl’s 16 years of life impacts thousands.
Penny Doerge should have had a normal childhood, hanging out with friends and growing into adulthood before thinking about how she could change the world. Read Story
SPREAD YOUR WINGS
Don’t Let a Bad Day Trick You Into Believing You Have a Bad Life.
Allie Newman not only survived cancer but also helps hospitals better meet the needs of teenage cancer patients.
A cancer diagnosis can bring you to the very edge of the cliff. It did for Allie Newman. A bright, athletic 16-year-old one day and a cancer patient the next. Read Story
RESILIENCE
A Custom of Respect.
How the Japanese soccer team brings sportsmanship to the game.
Soccer is a passionate game. It’s one of the few sports where players are free to follow the flow as they play, being less constrained by a game plan and more dependent on their ability to communicate and create opportunities. Read Story
RESPECT
To Stay or Run?
The courageous story of a collegiate wrestler who fought a grizzly bear to save a friend. With thanks to the Cowboy State Daily.
There’s a saying in the West that when things get tough, you have to cowboy up. In Wyoming, the history of cowboys braving the elements to sustain ranches during subzero weather, and fixing things on their own in the harsh landscape, is ingrained in the people. Read Story
COURAGE
Photographs that Changed the World.
How the searing photographs of Walker Evans’ America during the Depression created a national change in attitude toward the poor.
Walker Evans was born into an affluent family. His father made sure he had access to the best schools, even paying for him to study in Paris. Walker was a curious and artistically minded young man. At first, his sensitive nature led him to be a writer, but he struggled to find words to describe what he saw, recalling, “I wanted so much to write that I couldn’t write a word.” Read Story
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Going the Distance.
Why top collegiate and professional athlete Dillon Shije will never stop running for his people.
Dillon Shije is soft-spoken and respectful in his conversations. He brushes off compliments on his college success with shy gratitude and moves deftly to give credit to tribal elders. Read Story
LEAD
Finding Our Way.
Using the natural elements around her, Kala Baybayan Tanaka navigates the ocean in a canoe for up to three weeks using nothing but observations of the natural elements around her.
Kala has deep ties to her Hawaiian roots. Her ancestors navigated the oceans for centuries using their knowledge of the stars, the sun, the currents and the wind. Today, she does the same. Read Story
FIND YOUR WAY
A Most Unlikely Friendship.
How the war in Ukraine brought two families together from opposite sides.
Every Thursday afternoon, the food pantry at the local high school opens up to provide fresh food bags for families who can’t stretch their budgets far enough to get their meals to last through the weekend. Nearly a hundred families rely on the extra food. Some are between jobs, some got hit hard with medical bills for a few months, and some are new to the neighborhood, placed there by refugee services. Read Story
FRIENDSHIP
How Far Would you go for a Friend?
The story of Dindim, the penguin who travels 5,000 miles every year to visit with its rescuer.
On a typical day, off the coast of a small Brazilian island, Joao Pereira de Souza was headed out fishing. He was disheartened to find that an oil spill had contaminated the waters. Staring out at the waves with their greasy sheen, he decided it was not a good day to fish. But walking the beach that day, he found a struggling penguin, covered in oil and starving. Read Story
REMEMBER YOUR FRIENDS
The Science of Happiness.
How a high school senior made sure an entire elementary school got Halloween.
Kate is a bright young woman with an intense focus on academics and a long-term goal of becoming a neuroscientist. Her path is charted very carefully, each day according to schedule. She meets after school with the Brain Club, a group she started that discusses neuroscience and trades academic papers like baseball cards. It’s the kind of group you would never imagine in high school: mature beyond their years and led by their own initiative. Read Story
