This podcast was recorded at the historic St. Georges Cathedral, where Tutu long presided as Archbishop, during the Academy of Achievement's 2009 Summit in Cape Town, South Africa.

As a young law graduate of Tamil descent, Navanethem Pillay was subject to the racial discrimination of South Africa's apartheid regime. When no other firm would hire her, she became the first woman in Natal Province to open her own law practice. For the next 28 years, she defended civil rights activists, torture victims, battered women and political prisoners, including Nelson Mandela. Under apartheid, she was barred from even entering a judge's chambers. In 1995, she became the first...

As a young law graduate of Tamil descent, Navanethem Pillay was subject to the racial discrimination of South Africa's apartheid regime. When no other firm would hire her, she became the first woman in Natal Province to open her own law practice. For the next 28 years, she defended civil rights activists, torture victims, battered women and political prisoners, including Nelson Mandela. Under apartheid, she was barred from even entering a judge's chambers. In 1995, she became the first...

Albie Sachs began a lifetime of human rights activism as a 17-year-old law student at the University of Cape Town, when he first took part in a civil disobedience campaign against apartheid. As a young attorney, he defended others charged under racist statutes and repressive security laws. After two spells of solitary confinement without trial, he fled the country. He spent the next 22 years in exile in the United Kingdom and Mozambique. In 1988, a car bomb planted by South African agents...

Albie Sachs began a lifetime of human rights activism as a 17-year-old law student at the University of Cape Town, when he first took part in a civil disobedience campaign against apartheid. As a young attorney, he defended others charged under racist statutes and repressive security laws. After two spells of solitary confinement without trial, he fled the country. He spent the next 22 years in exile in the United Kingdom and Mozambique. In 1988, a car bomb planted by South African agents...

Born and raised in South Africa, Nadine Gordimer published her first short story in a children's magazine in 1937 at the age of 16. She left college without a degree and continued publishing short fiction in South African journals. She drew attention outside her country in 1951, when her stories began appearing in The New Yorker magazine. She published her first novel, The Lying Days in 1953. In her short stories and novels such as Burger's Daughter and July's People, she explored the...

Born and raised in South Africa, Nadine Gordimer published her first short story in a children's magazine in 1937 at the age of 16. She left college without a degree and continued publishing short fiction in South African journals. She drew attention outside her country in 1951, when her stories began appearing in The New Yorker magazine. She published her first novel, The Lying Days in 1953. In her short stories and novels such as Burger's Daughter and July's People, she explored the...

The poet and playwright Wole Soyinka is a towering figure in world literature. He has won international acclaim for his verse, as well as for novels such as The Interpreters. His work in the theater ranges from the early comedy The Lion and the Jewel to the poetic tragedy Death and the King's Horseman. Born in Nigeria, he returned from graduate studies in England just as his country attained its independence from Britain. Many of his plays, including Kongi's Harvest and...

In 2009, Antonio Villaraigosa was elected to a second term as Mayor of Los Angeles. The first Latino to lead the city in over 130 years, he was first elected in 2005, with support from every community in this most diverse of cities, second largest in the nation. As mayor, he has focused on education, transportation, public safety and economic development, and has emerged as a dynamic national spokesman for urban America. His life might have turned out very differently. A high school...

In 2009, Antonio Villaraigosa was elected to a second term as Mayor of Los Angeles. The first Latino to lead the city in over 130 years, he was first elected in 2005, with support from every community in this most diverse of cities, second largest in the nation. As mayor, he has focused on education, transportation, public safety and economic development, and has emerged as a dynamic national spokesman for urban America. His life might have turned out very differently. A high school...

In an era of global economic turmoil, policymakers and ordinary citizens around the world are turning to the writings of Professor Joseph Stiglitz. Virtually alone among economic oracles, Stiglitz predicted as early as 2006 that the bubble in U.S. home prices would lead to a credit crisis and global recession. Stiglitz has held professorships at Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, Oxford and is now University Professor at Columbia. He served in President Clinton’s cabinet and as Chief Economist...

In an era of global economic turmoil, policymakers and ordinary citizens around the world are turning to the writings of Professor Joseph Stiglitz. Virtually alone among economic oracles, Stiglitz predicted as early as 2006 that the bubble in U.S. home prices would lead to a credit crisis and global recession. Stiglitz has held professorships at Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, Oxford and is now University Professor at Columbia. He served in President Clinton’s cabinet and as Chief Economist...

Richard Leakey won fame as a paleoanthropologist while still in his early twenties, with sensational discoveries of the fossil remains of our most ancient ancestors, but his subsequent career as an author, conservationist, government official and political activist of unyielding courage has been even more extraordinary. For nearly 30 years, he directed the National Museum of Kenya, creating a world-class center for the study of human origins. As Director of Kenya's National Wildlife Service,...

Richard Leakey won fame as a paleoanthropologist while still in his early twenties, with sensational discoveries of the fossil remains of our most ancient ancestors, but his subsequent career as an author, conservationist, government official and political activist of unyielding courage has been even more extraordinary. For nearly 30 years, he directed the National Museum of Kenya, creating a world-class center for the study of human origins. As Director of Kenya's National Wildlife Service,...

Richard Leakey won fame as a paleoanthropologist while still in his early twenties, with sensational discoveries of the fossil remains of our most ancient ancestors, but his subsequent career as an author, conservationist, government official and political activist of unyielding courage has been even more extraordinary. For nearly 30 years, he directed the National Museum of Kenya, creating a world-class center for the study of human origins. As Director of Kenya's National Wildlife Service,...

Richard Leakey won fame as a paleoanthropologist while still in his early twenties, with sensational discoveries of the fossil remains of our most ancient ancestors, but his subsequent career as an author, conservationist, government official and political activist of unyielding courage has been even more extraordinary. For nearly 30 years, he directed the National Museum of Kenya, creating a world-class center for the study of human origins. As Director of Kenya's National Wildlife Service,...

Twice a week, millions of readers of The New York Times turn to Nicholas Kristof's column for firsthand insights into breaking news from around the world. His travels as a reporter have taken him to 140 countries, including multiple visits to hot spots such as Iraq, Iran and North Korea. In the course of his travels he has survived wars, plane crashes, malaria, and in Indonesia, a mob carrying human heads on pikes. He first joined the Times as an economics correspondent and has since served...

Twice a week, millions of readers of The New York Times turn to Nicholas Kristof's column for firsthand insights into breaking news from around the world. His travels as a reporter have taken him to 140 countries, including multiple visits to hot spots such as Iraq, Iran and North Korea. In the course of his travels he has survived wars, plane crashes, malaria, and in Indonesia, a mob carrying human heads on pikes. He first joined the Times as an economics correspondent and has since served...

At the 2008 International Achievement Summit in Hawaii, three distinguished public servants address the problems and opportunities facing the modern metropolis. Richard M. Daley is now serving his sixth term as mayor of Chicago. He has earned a national reputation for his innovative, community-based programs to address education, public safety and neighborhood development; he was one of the first mayors of a major American city to take direct control over his city's school system. Antonio R....

At the 2008 International Achievement Summit in Hawaii, three distinguished public servants address the problems and opportunities facing the modern metropolis. Richard M. Daley is now serving his sixth term as mayor of Chicago. He has earned a national reputation for his innovative, community-based programs to address education, public safety and neighborhood development; he was one of the first mayors of a major American city to take direct control over his city's school system. Antonio R....

At the 2008 International Achievement Summit in Hawaii, three distinguished public servants address the problems and opportunities facing the modern metropolis. Richard M. Daley is now serving his sixth term as mayor of Chicago. He has earned a national reputation for his innovative, community-based programs to address education, public safety and neighborhood development; he was one of the first mayors of a major American city to take direct control over his city's school system. Antonio R....

At the 2008 International Achievement Summit in Hawaii, three distinguished public servants address the problems and opportunities facing the modern metropolis. Richard M. Daley is now serving his sixth term as mayor of Chicago. He has earned a national reputation for his innovative, community-based programs to address education, public safety and neighborhood development; he was one of the first mayors of a major American city to take direct control over his city's school system. Antonio R....

At the 2008 International Achievement Summit in Hawaii, three distinguished public servants address the problems and opportunities facing the modern metropolis. Richard M. Daley is now serving his sixth term as mayor of Chicago. He has earned a national reputation for his innovative, community-based programs to address education, public safety and neighborhood development; he was one of the first mayors of a major American city to take direct control over his city's school system. Antonio R....

"There is no such thing as an average human being. If you have a normal brain, you are superior. There's almost nothing that you can't do." When Benjamin Carson was in fifth grade, he was considered the "dummy" of his class. His classmates and teachers took it for granted that Ben would take an entire quiz without getting a single question right. He had a temper so violent that he would attack other children, even his mother, at the slightest provocation. "I was most likely to end up in jail,...