Tiny Spark

In their new book, Outbreak Culture: The Ebola Crisis and the Next Epidemic, Dr. Pardis Sabeti and journalist Lara Salahi argue that epidemics don't just spread deadly diseases, they can also breed a toxic culture among those who are helping.

This Giving Season, we look at the growing phenomenon of online crowdfunding for medical bills. Who is winning on these platforms, and who is falling short? And what does the rise of sites like GoFundMe say about our fraying social safety net?

In the face of growing political polarization, spaces for thoughtful dialogue across ideologies have all but disappeared. Spaceship Media seeks to fill this void by bringing people together to talk about contentious issues. In this conversation, an NRA member and an anti-violence activist both discover that they are not as different as they think.

Stanford professor Rob Reich's new book Just Giving: Why Philanthropy Is Failing Democracy and How It Can Do Better investigates how charity can undermine democratic values, and explores the ways federal policies help to facilitate greater inequality.

Following the 2016 election, there was a spike in charitable giving, especially among female donors. We hear how women are wielding their financial and political muscle ahead of this year's midterm elections.

A viral video of an American missionary abusing local hotel staff in Uganda exposed the ongoing racism and colonialism that continues to infuse global aid and development. Through voices with deep experience in the sector, we hear how the white savior complex continues to harm those receiving and giving aid around the world, and think about ways to help it become a more equal space.

In his new book, Gay, Inc: The Nonprofitization of Queer Politics, Myrl Beam argues that as many of the largest queer nonprofits have accepted millions from wealthy donors and foundations, the LGBT movement has become less radical.

There is a profound lack of diversity in America's finest cultural institutions. We examine the scope of the problem, why it matters, and highlight innovative programs aimed at growing more diverse leadership across the nation's arts and cultural institutions.

From rural Wisconsin to the Bronx, there's a crisis in home healthcare. It may be one of America's fastest growing industries, but there aren't enough workers to meet this demand. We spend time with home care workers and their clients, and learn why it will be hard to age in the comfort of our own homes without wide-scale reform.

Global elites have been credited for using their power and privilege to 'change the world' whether through apps that purport to tackle poverty or by making large donations to charity. In his new book, Winners Take All, former New York Times correspondent Anand Giridharadas offers a searing indictment of the notion that America's wealthy are fixing our social problems

In an updated podcast, two years after being sexually assaulted by South Sudanese soldiers, an Italian aid worker remembers the attack, explains why she testified in court, and is relieved by recent news that they have been given jail terms. "I won. We won. Women won," she tells us.

As the leader of a second chance program for young people, YouthBuild USA's John Valverde describes what it means to live out his own second chance.

Many artists are asked to donate their work to charity auctions. The nonprofit raises money for a good cause, the buyer gets a beautiful piece of work, but what does the artist gain?

Nearly a decade after being violently assaulted while working for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Sri Lanka, Shannon Mouillesseaux has tough words for her former employer.

Want to give to the homeless this holiday season? Three insights into the benefits and the harm of giving money directly to people on the street.

Nonprofits, tech companies and even NFL players have raised millions to help after recent natural disasters. But giving may be the easy part. Having an impact is harder.

In an increasingly unequal world, where money and power are closely linked, sociology professor Linsey McGoey says philanthropy is part of the problem.

We discuss fifteen successful social change campaigns that have had major impact, from South Africa's anti-apartheid campaign to the legislative success of marriage equality in the US. We learn what made them successful and why lasting social change requires patience and audacity.

Human smuggling has grown into a multibillion dollar industry. We explore the complex relationships between migrants, refugees, and the myriad players involved in smuggling them across borders.

There are over 900 hate groups operating across the US right now. Ryan Lenz monitors them, and former skinhead Angela King works to deradicalize those who want to leave them. They discuss their work and why they do it.

As aware citizens, it might feel good to check our privilege and that of others, but writer Phoebe Maltz Bovy says that privilege awareness has its problems.

Instead of feeling gratitude towards billionaire philanthropists, Stanford professor Rob Reich says we should scrutinize the power they wield.

Forty years after making his name with a famous psychological experiment about what makes good people do bad things, Philip Zimbardo has decided to flip the script. He tells us about his project that teaches people how to act heroically and describes his journey from studying evil to inspiring hope.

We explore the growing influence that private donors are exerting in national and local politics and why the power the wealthy are wielding today is likely to intensify in the years ahead. An interview with David Callahan, author of The Givers: Wealth, Power, and Philanthropy in a New Gilded Age.

At the nation's top universities and colleges, children of privilege are taking spots away from straight A students without the same connections, and the problem is only getting worse.

Whether you're a professional aid worker or just an engaged citizen, doing good for others requires that you to take time to be good to yourself, too. We speak to a veteran aid worker along with the author of a new book, The Idealist's Survival Kit.

Some were surprised to see Silicon Valley tech workers protest Trump's new immigration policies, but one civic tech leader tells us they are fighting for the fundamental values of openness and connection that made the internet itself great.

When you're eating out, tipping might seem like a good thing. But, on this Valentine's Day, we explore the many problems that America's tipping culture creates for restaurant workers.

Maaza Mengiste came to the US as a child, after her family fled Ethiopia's civil war. Even so, the New York based writer explains why she feels strongly about not calling herself a refugee, why activists need to take breaks from Twitter, and reflects on the stubborn endurance of art in times of upheaval.

Do you think a little more empathy would help in our increasingly divided and unequal world? Not so, says Yale professor Paul Bloom. In his book 'Against Empathy,' he argues that empathy is short-sighted, prejudiced and often makes the world a worse place. He offers more effective ways forward.

Chuck Collins inherited a half million dollar trust fund from his parents but decided to give it all away, allowing him to "unflinchingly look at the growing income and wealth inequalities that have opened up over the last 30 years." This one-percenter shares his concerns about the rise of the mega donor, the limits of philanthropy to create social change, and explains why we ought to support to the only institution that's ever offered wide swaths of the population a shot at the American dream.

Silicon Valley is celebrated as a bastion of innovation. But it now suffers from one of the greatest income gaps in the country. Nonprofits are struggling to meet the demands caused by rising inequality. We explore the disconnect between the immense wealth in the valley, and why so many residents and nonprofits remain cash-strapped and in need.

A new kind of cruise gives travelers the chance to experience the culture of the Dominican Republic while volunteering in activities like planting trees, building water filters and teaching English. We speak to travel agent Julie Schear, who says she gained a lot from the cruise but journalist Jacob Kushner discovers the volunteers were not helping locals as much as they had hoped.

Midnight Basketball was a popular program to get young men from high crime areas off the streets and into gyms. But did the program live up to its promise? Author and sociologist Douglas Hartmann describes the underside of Midnight Basketball and what it says about race, criminal justice, and how it became a form of policing and containment for young African American men.

This month the charity GiveDirectly will start giving thousands of Kenyans about a month's salary, every month, for a decade or more --- with no strings attached. GiveDirectly co-founder Paul Niehaus discusses the sustainability of this project, why he chooses to give cash to poor people abroad rather than in the US, and the role of humility in aid work.

One year after the Flint water crisis, we look at how philanthropy responded, how it can better serve its communities, and what it needs to know about Flint in the decades ahead. Isaiah Oliver of the Community Foundation of Greater Flint joins us.

In the early 2000s, prominent philanthropists saw a big problem in America: a broken school system. They set out to fix it by funding in a charter school movement on a massive scale. Megan Tompkins-Stange has looked at the initiative and has uncovered myriad concerns and problems. She discusses this and her new book Policy Patrons: Philanthropy, Education Reform and the Politics of Influence.

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is proposing free tuition at in-state public colleges and universities. But many of these schools already serve a number of wealthy students, and many low-income students of color attend small, private institutions that won't benefit from Clinton's plan. We explore the important role of private colleges in educating the nation's poor with Trinity Washington University president Patricia McGuire and former Vassar College president Catharine Hill.

Global health volunteering is a growing, multibillion dollar industry. But is it effective? "It seems like an awful lot of resources to invest in something for which there's practically no evidence of its impact," says Lehigh Professor Judith Lasker. She discusses her new book Hoping to Help: The Promises and Pitfalls of Global Health Volunteering.

An African-American leader of one of the nation's largest foundations speaks about racial tensions, philanthropy's diversity problem, and why these times require philanthropists to be courageous. We talk with W.K. Kellogg Foundation CEO La June Montgomery Tabron.

Is philanthropy doing enough to address racism and inequity in the U.S.? We speak to Heinz Endowments President Grant Oliphant. He's among the few philanthropic leaders who has spoken up about the shooting deaths of two black men by white police and the sniper attacks of five Dallas police officers. He says it's a problem that philanthropy shies away from these contentious issues. "Our silence is damning," he tells us.

Criticism of wealthy donors who give to their alma maters instead of the poor; concerns about Bill Gates and Warren Buffett's effort to get billionaires to donate more than half their wealth to charity. We speak to the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy's Aaron Dorfman.

NPR investigative correspondent Laura Sullivan discusses why aid organizations are not completely transparent about how they spend donor dollars. "I think that the numbers aren't pretty, and I think they know that Americans would be frustrated by them," she tells us.

Alex Barnard spent eight years researching food waste, which included regular dives into dumpsters and foraging in trash bags of major retail chains across New York City. He chronicles his experience in the new book Freegans: Diving into the Wealth of Food Waste in America. We talk to Barnard about why we throw out so much edible food, why food pantries are a poor solution for hungry families, and why nonprofits that distribute leftovers may actually be perpetuating food waste.

The first ever World Humanitarian Summit is underway, but one of the world's most respected humanitarian organizations will not be there. Doctors Without Borders decided to pull out. The organization acknowledged that the gathering has "never been more needed," but also noted that shocking violations of international humanitarian law and refugee rights continue daily. They say the summit has become a "fig leaf of good intentions." We speak to Sandrine Tiller from Doctors Without Borders UK.

Rahama Wright was working as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mali when she saw firsthand the challenges women faced, trying to take care of themselves and their children. So in her early twenties, she founded a company to empower women in West Africa who picked shea fruit for a living. A decade on, Shea Yeleen now employs hundreds of women in Ghana, and its products are sold in more than 100 Whole Foods stores. Wright speaks with Tiny Spark about her personal journey and why she believes giving Africans business opportunities is often a more effective way to help than traditional forms of aid.

Charline Burton and her baby hid in a bathroom for two hours as terrorists struck a beach resort in Ivory Coast. We speak to the Belgian national about her near-death experience, how she managed to keep her baby quiet, and why she plans to remain in West Africa, continuing her work against conflict and violent extremism.

We speak to Pablo Eisenberg, a long-time observer and outspoken critic of American philanthropy. “The same people get the benefits, the same people serve on boards, and the foundations have the same priorities they had a hundred years ago,” he says. In fact, Eisenberg makes the case that philanthropy is fueling, rather than alleviating, income inequality.

In the wake of this week’s terrorist bombings in Brussels and heated anti-Muslim rhetoric in the U.S. presidential race, we read with interest Beenish Ahmed’s NPR essay, Learning — And Unlearning — To Be An 'Ambassador' For Islam. We invited Ahmed to speak more about her experience as a Muslim in America, trying to appear nonthreatening to an increasingly anxious American public.

When it comes to promises made by social movements, human rights scholar Rebecca Hamilton has heard it all. “Share this Facebook link and you can save the life of a child in Uganda. Wear this bracelet and you can bring peace to Darfur,” she recalls. “The problem is most of the time, it’s simply not true that doing a low-cost action can be very high value to somebody somewhere else.”