Social Issues - Most Popular

For Love or Money

By Alana Conner Snibbe

Innovative plays are good for all theaters, but lucrative for only a few.

Kent Thiry - From Demoralization to Living Community

DaVita is the largest independent provider in the United States of dialysis services to people with chronic kidney failure. In 2000, DaVita was being investigated by the SEC and sued by shareholders. In this audio lecture recorded at Bridging the Gap, the Stanford 2005 Net Impact conference, Kent Thiry explains how building community and shared values bumped DaVita's market capitalization to $3 billion and turned it into a leader in its field.

Robert Langer - The Promise of Biomedical Engineering

Robert Langer has been referred to as "a medical pioneer in the guise of an engineer" who has revolutionized the delivery of drugs and the engineering of human tissue. In this audio interview with Globeshakers host Tim Zak, Langer reveals his tenacious nature and talks about what it takes to persevere in the face of public criticism.

Will Rogers - Environmental Conservation

An area the size of Connecticut is being developed every year. That's how fast nature is being lost to concrete in the world today. In this audio lecture recorded at Bridging the Gap, the Stanford 2005 Net Impact conference, Will Rogers discusses strategies for sustainable land use in a context where the boundaries that separate land conservation from public health, housing, economic development, transit, energy-use policies, and urban design are rapidly blurring.

Rick Lowe - Urban Villages: Art As Social Innovation

Rick Lowe has given new meaning to the phrase "artist-in-residence." This Heinz Award winner and former Loeb fellow at the Harvard School of Design is the founder of Project Row Houses, an organization that merges art and architecture with social activism. In an audio interview with Globeshakers host Tim Zak, Lowe describes how this experiment in "social sculpture" is redefining the role of art and artists in society.

Corporate Environmental Footprint - Bridging the Gap Conference

As the world awakens to the challenges of global warming and water shortages, corporations slowly recognize the reduction of their environmental footprint as a significant component of corporate social responsibility. This panel discussion explores some of the leading corporate initiatives toward environmental sustainability.

Global Issues

Al Gore - Fostering Enviornmental Sustainability

The industrialized world is on a collision course with nature, says environmental sustainability hero and Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore. In this audio lecture, he presents the realities of global warming with alarming clarity and conclusiveness and passionately urges a Stanford Business School audience to take action.

Ticia Gerber - Leadership in Global Health Technology

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Ticia Gerber sits at the center of one of the world's important current debates: How do we keep people healthy without having it cost an arm and a leg? At eHealth Initiative and LIGHT, Gerber is working across three continents to bridge the public, private, and social sectors. She talks with Globeshakers host Tim Zak in an audio interview about the role of technology in the future of healthcare and what it means to create a dialogue between the developed and developing world.

Dr. Paul Farmer - Partners In Health

Recipient of the 9th Annual Heinz Award for the Human Condition, Paul Farmer is a medical doctor and a professor of anthropology at Harvard's medical school. He shuttles between Harvard and Haiti, where he maintains a practice at Clinique Bon Saveur, a charity hospital he founded. Farmer talks in this audio interview with Globeshakers host Tim Zak about the challenges and rewards of providing healthcare to the poorest of the poor, and the evolving, innovative models for getting drugs to those who need them most.

International Coffee Markets - Bridging the Gap Panel

Over 125 million people rely on coffee for their livelihood. What are Starbucks, the Fair Trade certification, and other nonprofit initiatives doing to help them out of the coffee crisis? This panel discussion describes the mechanics of the global coffee crisis and explores strategies to address sustainability issues on the economic, social, and environmental levels.