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Blue Sky

Blue Sky

Written by: Bill Burke
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Hosted by Bill Burke, founder of The Optimism Institute, this weekly podcast will feature inspiring leaders, authors, researchers, and big thinkers who are taking on some of our world's toughest challenges with an infectious sense of optimism. Blue Sky takes its name from the meditation reminder that there's always blue sky above, sometimes you just have to get your head above the clouds to see it.2025 Hygiene & Healthy Living Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Social Sciences
Episodes
  • A Potluck Prescription for Loneliness — Margaret Hathaway & Karl Schatz on Food, Stories, and Community

    A Potluck Prescription for Loneliness — Margaret Hathaway & Karl Schatz on Food, Stories, and Community
    Oct 7 2026

    Margaret Hathaway and Karl Schatz traded New York City for a goat farm in Maine. Then a pandemic-era cookbook project led them to create Community Plate, a series of story-sharing potluck suppers that bring strangers together over food. They've now hosted 51 suppers across Maine. In this conversation, they share what makes the gatherings work, from rectangular tables and real china to phone-free dinners and food-focused story prompts, and how anyone can start one in their own community. This optimistic couple is making a dent in the loneliness epidemic and would love to see more efforts like theirs take off in other parts of the country.

    In this episode:

    00:00 Introduction and Transition to Goat Farming
    04:34 From Cookbook to Community Building
    11:24 Anatomy of a Community Plate Supper
    21:04 Fostering Connection Without Pressure
    30:21 Expanding the Vision and Final Thoughts

    Learn more about Community Plate: https://www.communityplate.me/

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    42 mins
  • Mebane Rash: Journalism in the Business of Hope

    Mebane Rash: Journalism in the Business of Hope
    Sep 30 2026

    News can feel relentlessly negative, but as this week's guest points out, that's a choice about what gets covered, not a reflection of what's actually happening in our communities. Mebane Rash is the founder and CEO of EdNC, a nonprofit, paywall-free online newsroom that covers every public school and all 58 community colleges in North Carolina. She joins Bill to talk about building a newsroom on the principle of "do no harm," why her team aims to be the best in the world at listening, and how being in schools day in and day out makes it hard not to be optimistic.

    Mebane started EdNC in 2015 with three people and a mandate to "fail forward, fail fast." Today her 15-person team spends four days a week on the road in all 100 counties, and half of EdNC's readers now live outside North Carolina. When Hurricane Helene devastated the western part of the state, EdNC didn't just report on the damage; they used that same reporting to write grants and bring funding into the hardest-hit counties, earning the North Carolina Press Association's Public Service Award. She also shares what she saw in Singapore's classrooms, why she's never seen cell phones be a real problem in thousands of school visits, and how she thinks about AI as just the latest change teachers will figure out, as they always have.

    Chapters:

    00:00 A Journey into Public Policy Journalism
    03:58 Building a Modern Education Platform
    10:54 Listening as a Core Value
    20:09 Journalism During Times of Crisis
    30:04 Technology and Future Educational Models
    40:46 The Path Forward for EdNC

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    46 mins
  • Introships – Career Optimism for College Students, With Joe Fiveash

    Introships – Career Optimism for College Students, With Joe Fiveash
    Sep 23 2026
    Joe Fiveash, a longtime digital media executive with stops at the Weather Channel, IBM Watson, and Raycom Media, joins Bill Burke to talk about Introships, the nonprofit he now leads that helps college students figure out what career path is right for them before they chase a traditional internship. What started over a decade ago as a handful of Atlanta parents pooling their kids together for office rotations has grown into a structured program now serving students nationwide. Joe walks through how Introships works — combining personality and career aptitude testing, live presentations from professionals across dozens of industries, weekly group coaching, and one-on-one guidance — all designed to help students identify the intersection of what they're good at, what genuinely interests them, and what can support a living. He also discusses how the program intentionally opens doors for first-generation college students who don't have built-in industry connections, why human-to-human relationships still matter in an AI-driven hiring landscape, and why spending time with young people leaves him more optimistic about the future, not less. Chapters: [00:00] Intro to Joe Fiveash and his background in digital media [02:30] How Introships started — a group of Atlanta parents pooling their kids for office rotations [06:00] Why "intro-ships" come before internships — helping students explore before they commit [09:30] Joe's philosophy on work and career as a foundation for a fulfilling life [13:00] How the program works for students, and the three groups who participate [18:00] Addressing the internship access gap — leveling the playing field for first-generation students [21:30] How the program has grown — and why Joe is intentional about not scaling too fast [24:00] The four parts of the program: aptitude testing, live presentations, group coaching, and one-on-one debriefs [29:00] Why storytelling from real professionals matters more than databases and career quizzes [33:00] Reflections on working with young people — optimism, energy, and "not knowing what they don't know" [35:30] How AI is reshaping career interest — and why students are wary but employers see opportunity [39:00] The importance of mentorship and horizontal relationships in career growth [42:00] Building a growing alumni network — from 120 presenters to a broader career-support ecosystem [46:00] How to get involved — as a student, presenter, or donor
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    38 mins
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