Episode theme: hope
“To be sane is to have persistent hope for a better future. Not mere fanciful dreaming, it’s a long look at reality that acknowledges pain, suffering, or injustice, but choosing to bend toward hope. —Laura Joyce Davis
Episode 92: defiant
“There is such a radical joy of, “Yes, this is America and this is what we do: we protest injustice…”
In the first of five episodes featuring FIERCE: ESSAYS BY AND ABOUT DAUNTLESS WOMEN, award-winning author Meera Nair shares how she's found hope even as she's been living in "the epicenter of the epicenter," the place that for a time, got hit hardest by COVID-19.
Read more about Meera and find links to her published work here.
Trigger warning: In Meera's discussion of the essay she wrote for FIERCE, she mentions self-harm.
Episode 82: the achiever
“Opportunities hopes, plans, relationships started shattering before me. And the pieces, the shards they're reflecting back on me like a mirror showing me all the ways that this time is crucial.”
In the age of Malala and Greta Thunberg, young people are leading the charge on changing our world. Sanjna Selvarajan, today's Enneagram 3, is a great example. She's lived and traveled all over the world as a documentary filmmaker, photographer, writer, and podcaster--and she's still in college! Sanjna shares what it's been like to return home to Malaysia during this pandemic and examine her role as an activist and artist from afar, and why she has hope that things in the future can change.
Episode 72: a common memory
“On a reservation, the only non-natives you see are people who come to take your picture or give you charity; almost nobody comes to just build a relationship and get to know you.”
Presidential candidate Mark Charles shares why he thinks our country's struggles with racism have everything to do with our need to find a common memory of our history, and why eleven years of watching the sunrise on the Navaho Nation has given him hope for the future.
Episode transcript
Episode 55: Solve for X
“She says, instead of asking what kind of student we want our child to be, we need to think about our hopes for the kind of person they will become. And then, help them figure out who they want to be.”
On her kids' last day of school, Laura draws from Susan Wise Bauer's research, writing, and experience on how we can rethink the way we approach our K-12 education system as our world begins to open up and we try to imagine post-pandemic living.
Episode transcript
Episode 80: the loyal skeptic
“When we're forced to stop, we're forced to have an inventory, we're forced to be still with ourselves. That part of this has been very restorative for me.”
Enneagram sixes are more aware of how uncertain life is than most of us. In any given situation, they’ve probably thought through the worst case scenario--but that doesn’t mean that they’re never taken by surprise. In today's episode, Shea Gilbert talks about how this time of sheltering in place has reminded her of another time in her life when life felt uncertain, when she was diagnosed with cancer.
Episode 67: circling back
“The irony that a ‘developed country’ has such a high threshold for injustice is really thick.”
Laura circles back with Muoki Musau, whose perspective began this week of amplifying and celebrating Black voices. In the first conversation they've ever had--a conversation that begins and ends with laughter--they agree together to talk about racism in America, and Muoki shares his vision for a better way forward.
Episode transcript
Episode 43: help
“The morning hours are the best time to do things that require deliverables, things where we need to produce something. Afternoon is good for teamwork. Evenings are best for creative work. It’s how our brains are wired.”
Seven months ago, Patrick Vaughn got into a bike accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury. The healing process from that injury was a long, slow one, and in many ways mirrors the losses our world is experiencing right now. In today's episode, Laura shares what she learned from Patrick and his healing process that is helping her right now in this time of loss and recovery.
Episode 40: may day
“Maybe even as we’re putting out distress signals through our radio and telephone and online communications, what we really need is a knock on our door, an unexpected gift, a reminder that we’re not alone.”
To celebrate this week's challenge of dreaming and gratitude, Laura brings you a very special episode with your stories of what this time has been like for you, and how you're dreaming, grieving, and finding hope in the midst of the struggles.
Episode transcript
Episode 38: let’s celebrate
““Of all the things that can boost emotions, motivation, and perceptions during a workday, the single most important is making progress in meaningful work. The more frequently people experience progress, the more likely they are to be creatively productive in the long run.”
On this birthday episode, Laura continues this week's gratitude and dreaming challenge and shares how being grateful has given her small wins, which have gone a long way to helping her process the loss of the past week and have given her a sense of progress.
Episode transcript
Episode 78: story saturday (a beautiful place)
“I need to learn what I can about life. I'm not here to destroy. I'm here to love.”
Elmer Yazzie grew up on the Navaho reservation in New Mexico, and was the son of a translator for the "white missionary." In today's Story Saturday, he shares a nuanced view of his people's history, and a vision for the future that prioritizes community and courage.
Episode transcript
Episode 56: story Saturday (bent toward hope)
“I think there's part of me that's always kind of searching for this legitimacy.”
In this very special Story Saturday edition, Laura talks with award-winning author Kirin Khan, who began this time of sheltering in place in a firestorm of tragedy, but through it all has found her way to hope and grace.
Please note: this episode mentions suicide.
Episode transcript
Episode 41: giving when it hurts
“We need new rituals. We need to figure out--even now, in a time of scarcity--what it means to make this world a more just and generous place.”
On Giving Tuesday, a day that is all about being generous, Laura looks to recent research on scarcity and generosity for guidance during this time of both personal and global scarcity.
Episode transcript
Episode 35: permission to dream
“I want to propose a challenge: each day this week, write down one dream you have for your life. Just for this week, don’t put limits on it. Let the dream be crazy. Then, find one way to express your gratitude to someone in your life.”
As Laura continues to process the losses of the past week, a good friend challenges her to see this time as an opportunity to dream. In this episode, Laura invites listeners to join her in dreaming big about our lives now and beyond the pandemic.
Episode transcript
Episode 4: this just got real
“I thought, this is how David George became David George. By being grateful instead of afraid. By showing kindness to others even when it would be easy to be bitter.”
Laura gets news from several friends who are being tested for the virus, and reflects on what it means to live a generous life.
Episode transcript