Need Some Hope?

Link to the radio program, you can download it for free from iTunes or listen to it on the web

I frequently post links to the radio program This American Life on my blog. Why? Because they present radio pieces that strike a deep chord in me, sometimes sad, often hysterical, and at times, hopeful that individual actions can make a difference, large or small. I load podcasts of all stripes onto my iPod and listen to them on the subway.

This week's episode was entitled "Go Big" and explored stories of people who had blown up their notions of how things work and tried something completely different. The second and third story are forgettable but the intro and the first story talk about Geoffrey Canada, a long time hero of Central Harlem. It follows his reversal of personal philosophy around how to improve the lives of people in Harlem. He went from lifting a few out of poverty through intensive mentoring and supports to attempting to lift many, often unborn children, by applying cutting edge research on early childhood development and teaching parenting skills to the community.

In the public policy world, early childhood care and development has been shown to be a cost-effective way to address the achievement gap, high crime rates, the dropout crisis, high prison rates, and other chronic urban poverty ills. Geoffrey Canada's thesis is simple: teach poor people what wealthy and middle class people have know for years, investment in early learning is vital for raising a child. It also breaks down what appears to be a huge problem, the cycle of urban poverty, into small, teachable actions that are easy to understand and put into play.

The radio program does an excellent job of letting both Canada and a struggling young couple talk about the program and backs it up with interviews of researchers who actually know how to translate their work into everyday language.

In a time of great uncertainty and anger, who couldn't use a little hope to inspire you to believe that one person can really change the world?