The Utopian

As new cases of COVID-19 continue to rise, researchers around the globe are working to create new treatments and vaccines that will put an end to the pandemic. We speak with Neal Browning, a Seattle resident who is one of a handful of test subjects given a vaccine. This pioneering vaccine trial ran by the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute may one day make the coronavirus a thing of the past. Follow Neal's journey: https://twitter.com/NealBrowning

Are we inherently good or bad? In this episode, we meet with political psychologist Dr. Peter DeScioli to better understand the parts of human behavior that we ourselves are not fully conscious of.

With so many Americans deeply entrenched in debt, the American economy has one more obstacle to overcome. We speak with socially responsible entrepreneur, Nami Baral, and what she is doing to tackle this catastrophic public debt crisis. Check out Nami's initiative here: https://www.joinharvest.com/

The ongoing pandemic has revealed the extent to which access to reliable news could be the difference between life and death for some. Unfortunately, those trained to release this information — the reporters who staff the country's thousands of local news outlets — are on the brink of both financial and existential ruin. Nora Benavidez and Viktorya Vilk, advocates at PEN America, explain the threats facing America's newsrooms and how their further erosion harms us all. Read the report on the state of local news: https://pen.org/local-news/

As our politicians continue debating the reality of climate change, we are already facing its impact in many parts of the world. We meet with Dr. Christopher Jones, a lead developer at the Cool Climate Network and an environmental policy expert, to discuss our role in stopping this inevitable crisis once and for all.