Gene Stone (author of “Forks Over Knives”) has spent the last decade writing about plant-based diets and their relationship to health, animal protection, and the environment. The former Peace Corps volunteer and journalist (Esquire, GQ, and Vogue) is a New York Times bestselling author who has written popular books including “Forks Over Knives,” “How Not to Die,” “The Secrets of People Who Never Get Sick,” “The Engine 2 Diet,” and “Eat for the Planet.” This episode, Gene shares his journey...

All over the world, mysterious signs have been popping up. They say messages like: “Don’t give up.” “You are worthy of love.” “Your mistakes don’t define you.” Today we’re introducing you to the woman behind these messages and the global movement: Amy Wolff. One weekend in 2017, Amy and her family anonymously staked in yards in their small town of Newberg, Oregon. They had just learned of suicide rates in their town and wanted to find a way to encourage community members. Little did they know...

At 22, Paige More (The Breasties) got a preventative double mastectomy before ever being diagnosed with cancer. At the time, she was working as a producer for Good Morning America and felt on top of the world, but she had just discovered she carried the BRCA 1 gene mutation that indicates a higher risk for developing breast, ovarian, and other types of cancer. While seeking resources, support, and guidance online, she was discouraged to find only stories of nightmare experiences and...

Photographer Aundre Larrow (@aundre) has worked with clients such as The North Face, Amex, Volcom, Lululemon, and the Warriors, and his work has been published in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. His work aims to show the fundamental value in each person and commonly captures the intersection of art and racial justice. He’s currently hosting an Instagram series called Equity Through Editing about how to edit photos to accurately portray skin tones. In this episode, Aundre...

Journalist and photographer KK Ottesen has photographed and interviewed the world’s most notable politicians and activists. She is a regular contributor to The Washington Post Magazine, and her work has appeared in many other international publications. Her new book, “Activist: Portraits of Courage” includes portraits of Stacey Abrams, John Lewis, Tarana Burke, Edward Snowden, Bernie Sanders, Cecile Richards, Al Sharpton, Gabrielle Giffords, Angela Davis, and many more. In her book, these...

Expert writing coach Allison Fallon says writing can help you unlock your purpose. Allison is the author of “The Power of Writing It Down” and founder of the writing coaching company Find Your Voice. In Allison’s newest book, she shares why writing down your story is one of the most powerful tools you have at our disposal to see your life with clarity and generate positive change. In the first half of this episode, Allison shares why it’s important to sit with the obstacles, blocks, and pain...

This teacher has turned to Instagram to combat misinformation. Sharon McMahon — who describes herself as “America’s (not boring) government teacher” — and her highly engaged Instagram community (self-described as Governerds) — just joined forces and raised enough money to forgive $50 million in medical debt — breaking records in just a matter of days. Sharon is a former high school government and law teacher on a mission to confront political misinformation and conspiracies. She uses her...

Activist Leah Thomas created a platform to address the ways environmentalism impacts not only the planet, but the people on it, too. She calls the platform Intersectional Environmentalism, a movement that addresses and incorporates lawyer and scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw’s feminist framework of intersectionality.The platform Leah co-founded is now home to resources, information, and action steps to dismantle systems of oppression in the environmental movement. In the first half of this episode,...

After working on Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton's presidential campaigns, Amanda Litman founded Run for Something, an organization dedicated to helping young and non-traditional candidates successfully run for office. Run for Something removes barriers to entry by providing assistance with behind-the-scenes mechanics, tactical and strategic support, advice, mentorship, training, and everything in between. Between 2017 and 2020, they’ve helped elect nearly 500 candidates in 46 states. In...

Is the world becoming more peaceful? Or less? How would we know if it was? In an effort to measure peace, entrepreneur and philanthropist Steve Killelea founded the Institute for Economics and Peace, a nonprofit global research institute that measures peace levels around the world. The Institute created the conceptual framework for “positive peace,” which describes the attitudes, structures and institutions that underpin and sustain peaceful societies. Hint: Peace includes more than just an...

This is the full-length, unedited version of our conversation with Jedidiah Jenkins. Jedidiah was one of our first-ever guests on the show when we launched Sounds Good five years ago. His episode remains one of our most popular episodes, so we thought it would be fun to release the full unedited conversation of our latest conversation together. Enjoy! Check out the previous episode in your feed for the shorter, edited version of this episode. Jedidiah Jenkins is a travel writer who lives...

Jedidiah Jenkins is a travel writer who lives with life with intention and purpose. He worked a dream job as a lawyer for the nonprofit Invisible Children before quitting to bike 10,000 miles from Oregon to Patagonia. He wrote a New York Times-bestselling book about his experience and has inspired thousands of people to engage their own lives with similar curiosity and passion. He is also the executive editor of Wilderness magazine. In this episode, Branden and Jedidiah talk about the nuance...

Dressember founder and CEO Blythe Hill is on a mission to use fashion to end human trafficking. What she started as a style challenge in 2009, she turned into a nonprofit with global reach. The challenge is simple: Every December, wear a dress (or tie) every day. It’s a great conversation starter, and it works to raise funds for trafficking prevention, intervention, and survivor protection. In the first half of the episode, Blythe tells the story of how she started Dressember and how it...

Echo chambers are a real problem in our news and media consumption. We follow, listen to, and read news from people who tell us what we already believe, so we run the risk of missing out on the truth or valuable perspectives. Our guest, Harleen Kaur, co-founded Ground News, a news comparison platform that promises to uncover your media blind spots by offering news for people from all political ideologies through their website, app, newsletters, and browser extension. In the first half of the...

Shane Claiborne is an outspoken critic of the death penalty. He’s a well-respected justice system reform activist and Christian faith leader, and he believes capital punishment needs to go for good in the United States — a country that’s in company with China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Egypt for countries with the highest execution rates. In the first half of today’s episode, Shane shares how he came to believe so passionately against the death penalty, lay out the most important facts,...

The nonprofit Kids Boost empowers kids to become philanthropists and social entrepreneurs. With $100 in start-up funding, kids work with a one-on-one coach to raise funds for a charity they love. On average, participants turn the initial $100 into $1,850 for deserving charities. In the first half of this episode, Kids Boost founder Kristen Williams tells the story of a 12-year-old named Jared, who inspired her to start Kids Boost, and how participants creatively raise money for the causes...

Miles Adcox (Onsite Workshops, Unspoken Podcast) is passionate about emotional wellness. His company offers life-changing personal growth workshops, leadership retreats, and emotional treatment. He lives his life by three concepts: Empathy over action, love over agenda, and grace over advice. He also co-hosts a podcast, Unspoken, with friend of the show Ruthie Lindsey. In the first half of this episode, Miles explains what is and isn’t self-care, how to balance negative and positive...

Danielle Coke (@ohhappydani) uses art to educate and inspire her Instagram followers about anti-racism and allyship. For many of us, this year has inspired big questions about how to meaningfully take action and make a difference in the realm of a lot of big problems — and especially systemic racism and racial injustice. These problems aren’t new, but this year has brought them to front of mind for many for the very first time. Dani’s work helps people understand racial justice work and how...

Katherine Gehl says reforming our voting system is the solution to political division and gridlock. Our current political system makes polarization and incivility commonplace and compromise nearly impossible, but ranked choice voting promises to make efficient cooperation possible. Katherine founded Democracy Found and The Institute for Political Innovation, organizations that work to catalyze political change in America. In the first half of this episode, Katherine describes how increased...

Terence Lester (Love Beyond Walls, Dignity Museum) is on the forefront of providing support for people experiencing homelessness — in Atlanta, Georgia and around the world. More than 500,000 people experience homelessness every single night — and their needs are made worse by COVID-19. It's a serious problem — in need of empathetic and creative solutions. In the first half of this episode, Branden sits down with Terence to discuss new solutions being created in response to coronavirus — and...

The podcast that leaves you feeling more hopeful is coming back! Sounds Good hosts hopeful conversations with optimists and world-changers about the headlines we can be hopeful about — and how you can get involved and make a difference. Every week, Good Good Good founder Branden Harvey sits down with the people driving positive change against the world's greatest problems. Each episode will leave you with a sense of hope about the good in the world — and a sense of direction on how we can...

Before she became Oprah’s “favorite guest of all time,” she was a woman with a forgotten dream and a profound desire to recreate our world for the better.

What does a gentler form of protest look like? Could it be uniquely effective? Sarah Corbett, TEDx speaker, author, and activist of 30 years has perfected the art of gentle protest.

From projects with Lin Manuel Miranda, to writing for Netflix’s BoJack Horseman — from illustrating a book about an aliebn, to getting a master’s degree from Yale, Jonny Sun is doing it all. Somehow he’s also maintaining a humble approach to infusing a sense of empathy, hope, and purpose into the internet.

Currently touring with Switchfoot and Colony House, Tyson Motsenbocker is a songwriter and guitarist living in San Diego, California.