Musings On Wellbeing – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Welcome to the new season of Musings. As you've likely noticed from the artwork, Musings is taking a new direction — we're broadening our horizons to consider the idea of "wellbeing" as a whole. What does it mean to be truly "well," physically, mentally, and emotionally? 

In this first episode, Charlie Bresler swaps his host chair for the guest chair, and long-time friend and colleague Stacey Black is asking the questions. 

Stacey and Charlie discuss the new direction for Musings — the idea of pursuing wellbeing as a whole — and how what Charlie has termed "effective hedonism" plays into his sense of wellness. Also self-confidence, self-efficacy, ideals, pleasure, and conscience all can have roles to play in our ultimate sense of wellbeing.

Stacey and Charlie also discuss Charlie’s new project, EH Walkers, and how it's a great example of marrying personal pleasure with your values to truly get the most wellbeing bang for your buck. 

Musing on Wellbeing is sponsored by EH Walkers. Discover more and join EH Walkers at www.ehwalkers.org.

How important is hope and a feeling of agency over your own life?

I think we’d say those are crucial to anyone. But if you’re born into a consistent cycle of poverty, if your family and community have struggled for generations, hope and agency can seem as fantastical as unicorns.

Welcome to part 2 of Charlie Bresler’s discussion with Shameran Abed, Executive Director of BRAC International, and Scott MacMillan, Director of Learning and Effectiveness and author of Hope Over Fate.

In part 1, the show delved into BRAC’s history and the evolving vision of its founder, Sir Fazle Hasan Abed. In this new segment, Charlie and his guests look into the necessity of hope and agency in breaking the cycle of poverty.

BRAC takes this notion very seriously. BRAC supplies funding, but also skills training, health care, education, and microloans for entrepreneurial efforts. 

Listen to the conversation to find out how BRAC is truly moving the needle on extreme poverty, then go to BRAC’s website, bracusa.org, to learn more and to give. You can also order a copy of Scott’s book, Hope Over Fate: Fazle Hasan Abed and the Science of Ending Global Poverty: bracusa.org/hope-over-fate.

Musings About Ourselves and Other Strangers is the podcast for the non-profit organization The Life You Can Save and is hosted by co-founder Charlie Bresler. Please check out other episodes as well as our website for ideas on how you too can extend your impact for good in the world: www.thelifeyoucansave.org.

Most of us in the west have our first pair of shoes long before we can actually walk. Not true for Caroline Teti, who had her first pair of shoes at 12, when it was time to go to high school.

From a very early age, Caroline understood the importance of education for finding a way out of the limitations that come from poverty — fewer choices, poorer health, less ability to contribute to her community. Her family and the people in her village all encouraged Caroline to pursue a formal education. And she did. 

Caroline took advantage of every opportunity that came her way, working hard to get a Bachelor’s degree and teaching credentials, then a Master’s degree, all while caring for her family. And she uses that education to help raise others out of the kind of poverty she experienced.

Now the Director of Recipients Advocacy at GiveDirectly Global, Caroline previously spent years in the public sector working on reproductive health, education, water, sanitation, and other problems that impact people living in extreme poverty. 

We hope you’ll enjoy Charlie’s conversation with this absolutely inspiring woman. To find out more about Caroline Teti and GiveDirectly, visit the GiveDirectly website at www.givedirectly.org.

Musings About Ourselves and Other Strangers is the podcast for the non-profit organization The Life You Can Save, and is hosted by co-founder Charlie Bresler. Please check out other episodes as well as our website for ideas on how you too can extend your impact for good in the world. 

One of its first three employees, journalist Dylan Matthews is a senior correspondent and head writer for Future Perfect at Vox. For those unfamiliar, Future Perfect tells stories about people and organizations “finding the best ways to do good.”

Dylan came across Peter Singer’s book The Life You Can Save at a formative age, helping cement his interests around global health, anti-poverty efforts, philanthropy, and economic policy.

In this episode, Dylan and Charlie muse about difficulties in maintaining the distinctions between truth and falsehoods in this age of social media, the necessity of transparency when dealing with societal problems, and the evolutions of the modern American political parties — all through the lens of the obligations and functions of journalism. It’s a fascinating discussion we hope you’ll share!

To learn more about Dylan Matthews and Future Perfect and to find his writings, follow him on Vox: www.vox.com/authors/dylan-matthews. 

Musings on Ourselves and Other Strangers is the podcast for the non-profit organization The Life You Can Save, and is hosted by co-founder Charlie Bresler. Please check out other episodes as well as our website for ideas on how you too can extend your impact for good in the world.

Will Rayward-Smith has spent his adult life learning about the effects of climate change. Fortunately, unlike many who feel overwhelmed by the climate crisis, Will has dived in to help bring about lasting change.

A specialist in decarbonization and transitioning to clean energy with a PhD in Clean Energy from Cambridge, Will understands the urgency of the issue. He founded SunSHIFT to replace diesel generators with mobile solar power in remote areas, with a goal of lowering carbon emissions. 

Now as a Partner in Energy and Sustainability at Deloitte, Will helps clients identify and take advantage of the opportunities provided by clean technology — to the benefit of us all.

In this episode, Will and Charlie muse on the necessity of understanding how climate change disproportionately affects poorer areas of the world and how finding clean-energy solutions ultimately improves quality of life for everyone.

Find out more about Will Rayward-Smith on his LinkedIn profile (www.linkedin.com/in/decarbonisation) and on the Deloitte website: www.deloitte.com/cbc/en/about/people/profiles.d57b94b6.html. 

Musings on Ourselves and Other Strangers is the podcast for the non-profit organization The Life You Can Save, and is hosted by co-founder Charlie Bresler. Please check out other episodes as well as our website for ideas on how you too can extend your impact for good in the world.

What drives us to do good things? And what dissuades us from doing those good things, even if we generally believe ourselves to be good people?

This has been the topic underlying Season One of the Musings podcast, and Charlie has had some truly fascinating conversations on that question.

In Season Two, Charlie plans to look at a different perspective on philanthropy and doing good: “Effective Hedonism.” He gives us a brief introduction to the term in this episode, and you can read his article in Time magazine for more information: time.com/6549552/effective-hedonist-essay/.

Join us in Season Two to hear more on the subject of Effective Hedonism, as well as other journeys into the human psyche and what drives us to do (or not do) the good acts we know will benefit others.

Musings on Ourselves and Other Strangers is the podcast for the non-profit organization The Life You Can Save, and is hosted by co-founder Charlie Bresler. Please check out other episodes as well as our website for ideas on how you too can extend your impact for good in the world.

The “mildly talented” (100% his term, not ours) actor, Nick D’Agosto tweeted enthusiastically about The Life You Can Save, and when the team saw the tweet, they jumped on it! They reached out and connected Nick and Charlie, and a friendship was formed.

Nick invited Charlie to appear on his (Nick’s) podcast, “God & Other Delicacies,” and now Charlie is returning the favor. If Nick sounds familiar, it’s because his voice graces the beginning and end of each of Charlie’s episodes (and some movies and TV shows, as well).

Born and raised in a middle- to upper-middle-class, largely white, neighborhood in Nebraska, Nick made the effort to have a broader world view, including studying poverty and race issues in the Dominican Republic for a semester when he was a student at Marquette University. As of this recording, Nick is back in grad school, pursuing an advanced degree in Divinity at Meadville Lombard Theological School, a Unitarian Universalist seminary.

In this episode, Nick and Charlie talk about how ending poverty is a value they share, how ending poverty is a central tenet to Christianity and ethical atheism alike, what influences shape us as we go through life, and why it’s so easy to fall short of our professed values.

Nick is a member at Antaeus Theatre Company in Los Angeles, volunteers at his UU church in Pasadena, and supports the charity "The Life You Can Save." He lives in Los Angeles, CA with his wife and young son. You can find out more about Nick on IMDb: Nicholas D’Agosto - IMDb. 

Musings on Ourselves and Other Strangers is the podcast for the non-profit organization The Life You Can Save, and is hosted by co-founder Charlie Bresler. Please check out other episodes as well as our website for ideas on how you too can extend your impact for good in the world. 

Resources:

God & Other Delicacies on Podbean: godsdelicateshow.podbean.com

Election on Rotten Tomatoes: ​​rottentomatoes.com/m/election 

Charlie’s episode on Nick’s podcast: godsdelicateshow.podbean.com/e/15-charlie-bresler/

It seems almost ridiculously simple: when donors give money directly to recipients, poverty goes down. 

Michael Faye, co-founder of GiveDirectly and Segovia, and CEO of Taptap Send, came to this “cash works” realization in the early 2000s. Michael was working on his PhD in Business Economics at Harvard University, evaluating ways to help bring about the end of extreme poverty. 

Once it became apparent that cash in the hands of recipients worked as well or better than any other intervention for relieving poverty, Michael shifted focus to finding ways to make it simple for donors to give and recipients to receive.

Many of us in the west balk at handing over cash without some middle organization vetting how the money is spent; we’ve heard too many stories of recipients using the money for drugs or alcohol or other wants we might find objectionable or frivolous. In fact, numerous randomized controlled studies demonstrate the opposite impact of direct cash transfers. Michael sys the data reflects the fact that the recipients generally use the money to feed their families, invest in businesses, upgrade their living conditions, and so on. 

In this episode, Michael and host Charlie Bresler talk about the ripple effects of financial stability in small communities, the notion of UBI (Universal Basic Income), the cultural challenges of convincing potential donors to give cash, and the technological challenges of getting cash in the hands of recipients.

Find out more about Michael Faye and learn about (and donate to!) GiveDirectly at givedirectly.org. 

Musings on Ourselves and Other Strangers is the podcast for the non-profit organization The Life You Can Save, and is hosted by co-founder Charlie Bresler. Please check out other episodes as well as our website for ideas on how you too can extend your impact for good in the world. 

“Money, although it won't make us happy in and of itself, is an incredibly powerful tool in our lives, when we use it in alignment with things that matter to us. Because whether we like it or not, money is needed and necessary to accomplish things that matter.”

John Hagensen, Managing Director at wealth management firm Creative Planning, probably handles the “tool” of money better than most. With a profound belief in the power money can have to improve lives of those in need, John is very committed to philanthropy and to encouraging high-net-worth folks to give as well.

John’s values are underpinned by a deep faith and humility — as a teenager, he took a trip abroad where he had an eye-opening experience into life for those with far less. He and his wife Brittany have practiced their values not only in their giving but also in their personal lives, adopting four of their seven children from very impoverished circumstances.

As far as his work in wealth management is concerned, John focuses on helping clients feel secure in their financial futures, so they’re not operating from a “scarcity mindset.” This frees many clients to consider giving or giving more without fear.

If you want to learn more about John and Creative Planning, you can find information on their website. You can also check out John’s two books, The Retirement Flight Plan and Unleash Your Investments, and listen to his podcast, Rethink Your Money. 

Musings on Ourselves and Other Strangers is the podcast for non-profit organization The Life You Can Save, and is hosted by co-founder Charlie Bresler. Please check out other episodes as well as our website for ideas on how you too can extend your impact for good in the world. 

The only thing more high-impact than tennis champion Marcus Daniell’s serve is his philanthropy and his mission to encourage other athletes to give.

An Olympic bronze medallist with five ATP titles, Marcus realized he had a unique opportunity to help the less-fortunate not only by donating but by using his platform to spread the word. In 2020, he co-founded High Impact Athletes to encourage other high-profile athletes to follow his example.

In this episode, Charlie and Marcus talk about treating all Earth’s creatures with respect, whether human, furry, feathered, or finned. In addition to human poverty, they touch on factory farming and climate change initiatives which can help make the world a place of less suffering for all.

Be sure you check out the website highimpactathletes.org, to find a running tally of human and animal lives improved, tonnes of CO2e mitigated, and money influenced towards non-profit giving.

High Impact Athletes works with “12 of the most effective charities in the world,” ensuring each donation goes as far and helps as many as it possibly can. And with a roster of more than 180 athletes representing 40 sports and 31 countries, HIA is doing a lot.

Be sure to subscribe to The High Impact Athletes Podcast wherever you listen to Musings!

Musings on Ourselves and Other Strangers is the podcast for the non-profit organization The Life You Can Save, and is hosted by co-founder Charlie Bresler. Please check out other episodes as well as our website for ideas on how you too can extend your impact for good in the world.