Impact in the 21st Century.
A podcast by Simbi Foundation
A show dedicated to sharing stories of positive impact, highlighting the inspiring people creating it, and learning how we can all live more impactful lives.
Episodes
Hear impactful stories from guests like free-solo climber Alex Honnold, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, social activist Ndileka Mandela, explorer Wade Davis, and so many more!
highlights
Enjoy some of our favourite podcast moments.
Get impactful.
Join the mailing list.
Meet the guests
From explorers to scientists to authors to founders, meet our exceptional guests who are working to create positive impact in the 21st Century.
Scroll to view and click to learn more.
Jane Goodall
Equipped with little more than a notebook, binoculars, and her fascination with wildlife, Jane Goodall braved a realm of unknowns to give the world a remarkable window into humankind’s closest living relatives. Through nearly 60 years of groundbreaking work, Dr. Jane Goodall has not only shown us the urgent need to protect chimpanzees from extinction; she has also redefined species conservation to include the needs of local people and the environment. In this episode of Impact in the 21st Century, hear about Jane’s childhood, how she revolutionised scientific understanding of chimpanzees, key learnings from her experience, and steps that you can take to feel more hopeful in your life.
Scott Harrison
Scott Harrison spent almost 10 years as a nightclub promoter in New York City before leaving to volunteer on a hospital ship off the coast of Liberia, West Africa as a volunteer photojournalist. Returning home to New York City two years later, he founded the non-profit organization charity: water in 2006. Turning his full attention to the global water crisis and the world’s 771 million people without clean water to drink, he created public installations and innovative online fundraising platforms to spread international awareness of the issue.
Joshua Dahn
Joshua Dahn is the Founder and Executive Director of Astra Nova – a non-profit, online school which seeks to provide students with more meaningful and formative learning experiences than the national curriculum. Born from a previous educational collaboration with Elon Musk, Astra Nova now aims to reach millions of students around the world through its unique Synthesis and Conundrums learning software.
Shalane Yuen
Shalane Yuen is the Executive Director of the Trevor Noah Foundation, which works to provide South African students with improved access to quality education.How does learning from your mistakes lead to growing your impact? How should NGOs be collaborating with communities? What is the founding story of the Trevor Noah Foundation? In this episode, hear Shalane and host Aaron Friedland discuss improving access to education for all in the 21st Century.
https://trevornoahfoundation.org/
Michael Tamblyn
Michael Tamblyn is the CEO of Kobo books, host of Kobo in Conversation podcast, and reading enthusiast. In this episode, hear Michael and host Aaron Friedland discuss the future of reading in the 21st Century.
https://www.michaeltamblyn.com/
Guy Kawasaki
Guy Kawasaki is an author, speaker, entrepreneur, and has worked as Chief Evangelist at both Apple and Canva. In this episode, hear Guy and host Aaron Friedland discuss democratizing design, education, and knowledge in the 21st Century.
Listen to Guy’s podcast, Remarkable People:
https://guykawasaki.com/remarkable-people/
Adrienne Gear
Adrienne Gear is an educator, speaker, literacy specialist, and author of Reading Power, Powerful Understanding, and more. How has teaching changed in the age of the internet? How can you inspire your students to become lifelong learners? In this episode, hear Adrienne Gear discuss brain pockets, writing her books, and how teaching needs to change in the 21st Century. Purchase Adrienne’s books:
https://www.readingpowergear.com/store
Wade Davis
Wade Davis is an anthropologist, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, bestselling author, photographer, ethnographer, and professor. Can we sustain human life on planet Earth? How can we learn more deeply? Why does anthropology matter in the 21st Century? In this episode, hear Wade Davis discuss his global exploration, jobs vs. work, the coca plant, and how to be creative in today’s world. Purchase Wade Davis’ books:
Meghan cox gurdon
Meghan Cox Gurdon is an author, essayist, book critic, and former foreign correspondent who has been the Wall Street Journal’s children’s book reviewer since 2005. Social media gives up quick dopamine fixes – can reading? How can we build reading habits in a fast-paced, technological world? Can reading aloud be beneficial? In this episode, hear Meghan Cox Gurdon discuss reading aloud, reading with screens vs. reading with paper books, and how to remove distractions in 21st Century.
Neil degrasse tyson
Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist, author, educator, host of Cosmos and StarTalk, and director of the Hayden Planetarium. What’s the most effective way to educate in the 21st Century? Is work-life balance overrated? Is the human brain smart enough to understand the secrets of the Universe? Should information come with a truth-measure? In this episode, hear Neil deGrasse Tyson discuss teaching in today’s content-saturated world, thoughts that keep him up at night, and his views on leaving an impact in the 21st Century.
https://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/conversation/index.php
Maryanne Wolf
Maryanne Wolf is an author, scholar, teacher, and advocate for children and literacy around the world. She is the Director of the newly created Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. How did reading change our own brains? What’s the state of literacy of North America today? Should Twitter ever be used in politics? Is technology overpowering our ability to read? In this episode, hear Maryanne Wolf discuss these, and more!
Ndileka Mandela
Ndileka Mandela is a social activist, author of I Am Ndileka: More Than My Surname, the eldest grandchild of Nelson Mandela, and the founder of the Thembekile Mandela Foundation, which seeks to continue the legacy of Nelson Mandela by promoting Health and Education Programmes in selected remote schools. In this episode, Ndileka Mandela speaks about growing up a Mandela, the burdens and privileges this name has brought to her life, and using her voice to promote gender equality and access to education for girls.
David Suzuki
David Suzuki is a climate activist, an award-winning geneticist, professor emeritus, CBC’s ‘The Nature of Things’ host, author, and founder of the David Suzuki Foundation, which seeks to protect nature’s diversity and the well-being of all life, now and for the future. In this episode, David Suzuki speaks about the rise of alternative facts, the internet and confirmation bias, elevating economies above climates, and the need for a return to an eco-centric worldview.
Alex Honnold
Alex Honnold is a professional free solo climber who climbed El Capitan without ropes. He’s also the founder of the Honnold Foundation, an organization dedicated to sharing the power of solar energy. In this episode, Alex speaks about his groundbreaking El Capitan free solo climb, Honnold Foundation’s impactful solar energy initiatives, and how to find focus in a world fixated with scrolling and social media.
Aaron Friedland
Aaron is a National Geographic Explorer, Ph.D. Candidate in Econometrics at the University of British Columbia, Executive Director of Simbi Foundation, and innovator of the BrightBox solution and the unique reading platform Simbi.
Aaron brings a critical, research-centric, and conversational approach to interviewing Impact in the 21st Century guests.
Apply to be a guest! Or suggest one!
Want to be a guest on Impact in the 21st Century? Or know of an impactful individual that you’d recommend? Let us know!
We respect your privacy and data