Shows
Project SpiralApril Soetarman: Hope in Weird Side ProjectsShall we take a trip to the Museum of Almost Realities? April Soetarman makes art that lets us see the multitude of choices (or sometimes lack of choices), in our own lives and the world around us. Based in Queens, New York, April uses public facing art, interactive creative pieces, board games, and more to get people to pause and think about their agency in different ways. We discuss how to find the hope and motivation to create art in this upside-world. How do you balance marketing with creation? How do you catch someone's attention? An...2025-04-301h 11
Project SpiralConnor Thompson: Hope in Collective ActionThe courts won't save us now.. So what do we do now? Trump’s second term mission is to overwhelm the judicial system in order to do what he wants - including the recent detention of Mahmoud Khalil - so much so that knowing how to even start resisting can feel impossible. Connor Thompson offers some ideas. As a lawyer from the famed Civil Rights battleground of Little Rock, Arkansas, Connor offers invaluable support to protesters on the ground in support of Black lives and the arbitrary detention of migrants. We discuss other roles that play...2025-04-221h 06
Project SpiralAnna-Zoë Herr: Hope in a Heated WorldClimate change can feel like the hardest thing to have hope in right now. But who better to discuss than someone who is literally getting her PhD on hope! Meet Anna-Zoë Herr, a Berlin-based researcher who studies the role of hope in ecological crises and survival. She also works with the Berlin-based NGO Talking Hope, focusing on research and designing communication and engagement strategies. Now you see what we mean - she's the perfect person to talk to!!In this episode, we discuss what hope can look like even in a world that tilts a dir...2025-02-211h 06
Project SpiralHow to ReName 2033We’re 5 years into our 2033 Project, and a lot has changed… maybe even the name of the 2033 Project!Join us as we reflect on how the show, and we, have changed over the years and fluctuated our expectations in work, politics, personal lives, and more. We set our new theme for the year, “how to find hope in a future that may not exist” in a time where the practice of hope can honestly seem futile. Also, stay tuned to hear Tim discussing (riveting) town elevations and how Abbie is finally excepted by the Tween community...2024-12-2040 min
Project SpiralPart 2 - Tenzin Chophel: Why you Shouldn't Listen to your Guidance CounselorAnd weeeee're back with part 2 with Tenzin!We continue our conversation with Tenzin, starting from when he decided to leave nursing, sparking a series of changes that involves sword-fighting in the woods, dropping out of grad school and even...chandeliers.In this episode, we break apart the idea that one has to have a single career, and explore what it could mean to develop an entirely new expertise every decade. Plus, Abbie wonders if she'll ever be as wise as Oprah, and Timmy takes a visit to a town Abbie would rather not se...2024-10-0857 min
Project SpiralPart 1 - Tenzin Chophel: Why you Shouldn't Listen to your Guidance CounselorWe know we're not the only ones in the middle of a career pivot. Who better to chat with us on the subject than Tenzin? We’ve each known great and maybe not so-great influences on our life when we were kids. In Tenzin’s case, it was a guidance counselor who discouraged him from becoming an artist, ultimately leading him to be a nurse working in the ICU during the worst of COVID. What happens next?? You'll have to listen to find out. In this two-part series, we explore how it's totally ok - and ul...2024-09-1337 minProject SpiralTimon Lee: How to Fuse Your IdentityWhat if you are doesn't fall neatly into any box? Part of what makes Timon an incredible person and therapist is he holds so many aspects of his identity that society too often does not see as going together, namely being queer and Christian. Timon walks through his process of going through social work school to become a Marriage and Family Therapist, his unorthodox journey to getting there that provides him unique relationships and, perspective, and what he hopes to accomplish in helping others navigate their own dialectical tensions and identities that on the surface might seem at odds...2024-04-0344 minProject SpiralRivka Schafer: How to Keep Fighting for the ClimateWhen you think about the current climate crisis, do you feel like curling up in utter despair? You're not alone. That's why we were so excited to sit down with Rivka Schafer, a Gen Z climate activist with a message of hope and action that's grounded in so much practicality. Rivka is a queer, gender non-conforming Orthodox Jew who is passionate about art, nature, and activism. As a climate activist with the Jewish Youth Climate Movement and LGBTQ+ rights advocate, Rivka definitely inspired us, and we know you'll walk away from this episode with renewed energy for climate activism (s...2023-02-1045 minProject SpiralNate Stauffer: How to Serve Students BetterIt’s no secret that plenty of American students fall through the cracks in the system. How can we create a foundation of trust and respect in our schools? Is there a more effective way to approach discipline? In our complicated, often lonely world of social media, how can students better connect with each other and with teachers? These are the questions we discuss on this week’s episode with Nate Stauffer, educator and storyteller. Tim & Abbie agree -- we all wish we could have had a teacher like Nate, who is actively working to improve education, even if it’s...2021-07-121h 01Project SpiralHow to Celebrate (?) 2021Dear 2021... if you continue to be anything like your first few days, it’s going to be an interesting year! Hear Abbie and Tim look back on our past year of interviewing young speakers doing world-changing work and then discuss how we can all best move forward from here. How do you progress when the answers aren't clear and inspiration isn't flowing? Today we explore our struggle of embracing the very point of our podcast - process - and how you can be involved in shaping our project. Also, tune in to hear Abbie's ongoing existential crisis and Tim lea...2021-01-1523 minProject SpiralJoey Phoenix: How to Embrace Your ProcessYes, goals are important, but how can we shift our focus to embracing process? Maybe some people (*ahem* Abbie) find this more difficult than others. Listen to our conversation with Joey Phoenix (they/them) as they describe how they support their community using writing, digital outreach, and even faerie troupes. We delve into questions of identity, hope, and productivity. Plus, Abbie digresses into a tangent about cuneiform and Tim admits neither of us have any friends.2020-12-1745 minProject SpiralCarolina Lozada: How to Invest in your PassionAs our world continues to get more uncertain, people like Carolina Lozada give us the steady hope we need. She works in Microfinance, a banking field that provides loans to low-income families and individuals. On this week's episode, Carolina discusses how Microfinance works and why it's essential in jumpstarting local economies. We talk about what it means to be a young person with fresh ideas in an established field like finance. Spoiler alert: young people have a lot to offer. Plus, hear all about how badly Abbie wants a dog and Tim wants a leather couch. 2020-10-0156 minProject SpiralAntoine Béland: Me vs. We LeadersSo, ok, we get it, you want to change the the world. But...Is it best to go at it alone or as part of a team? What does real, meaningful leadership mean in 2020 as you're trying to take an idea from theory to reality. This conversation with Antoine will leave you with new perspectives about the individual versus the collective and goal setting while maintaining flexibility. Plus, it turns out Tim has lost a gift from Antoine, and Abbie graces the radio waves with her singing not once, but twice. 2020-05-2946 min
Project SpiralIntroduction: Can we change the world in 13 years?In our first episode Abbie & Tim discuss how a midnight conversation in a medieval Swiss town turned into a podcast. The show will feature inspiring young leaders in the middle of their process, and explore how we have the potential to create great change in our societies.2020-02-1917 min