“Friends & Neighbors” began as a podcast in 2020, inspired by the wisdom of Fred Rogers, seeking to cultivate depth and simplicity in complex lives. Initial episodes explored guests’ personal insights and approaches to building community, managing possessions, and finding reflection. As COVID-19 raged and host Benjamin Wagner grappled with post-traumatic stress, conversations shifted towards mental health. Dialogues with authors, lawmakers, and advocates about trauma, authenticity, and healing illuminated the power of making the “mentionable manageable.” By creating a space for sharing stories and journeys, the podcast provides roadmaps for healing and strategies for healthier lives, embodying Rogers’ belief that “when we look for the helpers, we know there’s hope.”
Alberto Mendoza
Alberto Mendoza
As Executive Director of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Alberto Mendoza transformed the organization’s mission and drove record-breaking membership. In the second in our MTC Journeys series sponsored by the Media Transformation Challenge at the Poynter Institute, the Managing Director for the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford University shares his path from high school journalist to non-profit entrepreneur and goes deep into how personal and professional experiences informed the launch of Palabra, an innovative media platform designed to represent and advocate for NAHJ journalists, and how his MTC fellowship helped catalyze its success.
Wide Awake
Wide Awake
Last August, armed with a dozen new demos, I set out for FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, to begin recording my forthcoming LP, Constellations. The album, my tenth, drops October 14th. This week, the journey from iPhone demo to mastered album track for the first single, Wide Awake.
Human Kindness Foundation
Human Kindness Foundation
Since 1973, Bo and Sita Lozoff’s Human Kindness Foundation has given talks and distributed countless copies of their spiritual guidance to the incarcerated across America in order to encourage more kindness, simple living and service in the world. Fred Rogers was a fan, purchasing copies of books like “Deep & Simple” (the key message in Mister Rogers & Me) by the box load. As the organization approaches its fiftieth year, newly-appointed Executive Director, Erin Parish, shares her vision for the next fifty.
Michael Slackman
Michael Slackman
As Assistant Managing Editor for International at The New York Times, Michael Slackman oversees international reportage across the newsroom and bureaus around the globe. The three-time Pulitzer Prize-winner talks about growing up in the Bronx, getting shot at in Bahrain, defying Gadaffi in Libya, learning life lessons from a gold-toothed Muscovite, and how making a really good sandwich is an expression of love.
Neal Carruth
Neal Carruth
In the first in a series of episodes sponsored by the Media Transformation Challenge at the Poynter Institute, newly-installed Freakonomics Radio Network’s Executive Vice President Neal Carruth walks us step-by-step through his exceptional career and provides a deep dive into how his MTC experience helped him drive transformation at NPR, catalyzed personal and career growth, and provided immediate value in the early days of his new role.
Kirtan Smith
Kirtan Smith
Yoga instructor, Kirtan Smith, shares his experience growing up in a Hare Krishna ashram, how painful sports injuries led him to yoga, and how – even as he led others through this deep and sacred practice – he was hurting inside too.
Samantha Critchell
Samantha Critchell
Journalist Samantha Critchell shares how growing up in the garment business informed her career at Associated Press and beyond, and how that loving but sometimes unpredictable upbringing led to her profound objectivity.
Dennis Scott
Dennis Scott
Grammy-winning songwriter, producer and performer, Dennis Scott takes us on a wild ride from Queens to Nashville, tells us how he got artists from Amy Grant to Roberta Flack to reimagine Fred Rogers’ classics, and why America’s Favorite Neighbor belongs in the Songwriter’s Hall Of Fame.
Mike Joseph
Mike Joseph
Detoxicity podcast host, music exec, and wellness advocate, Mike Joseph, shares his often challenging and ultimately uplifting journey from Brooklyn to the Billboard Pride Power Player list.
Casey Shea
Casey Shea
Ride shotgun on Grand Canyon frontman Casey Shea’s rock n’ roll road trip from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Nashville, Tennessee, to New York City and Los Angeles, California.
Josh Horowitz
Josh Horowitz
Happy Sad Confused Host and MTV Movies Correspondent, Josh Horowitz, regales us with heartbreaking and hilarious tales from growing up on mean streets of the Upper West Side, to hanging out with Meryl Streep, rubbing knees with John Travolta, yelling at Chris Pratt, casting Johnny Depp, pestering Tom Cruise, and much, much more.
Kim Thai
Kim Thai
Following stints at The Houston Chronicle, MTV and Discovery Channel, Emmy Award-winning producer, social justice advocate, and mindfulness teacher, Kim Thai, founded GaneshSpace in order to create a community where she could be her authentic self in her own healing journey while helping others on theirs.
