We Can Be podcast - The Heinz Endowments
Society & Culture
For most of recorded history, the rules of power were clear: Power was something to be seized and then guarded at any cost. This "old power" was owned by a tiny fraction of humankind, and beyond reach for the vast majority of people.
But the ubiquitous connectivity of our world today is allowing something altogether new to occur, and makes possible an extraordinarily different kind of power: people-centric, participatory-focused and spreading with lightning-fast speed.
“If you are able to harness this new power, you are likely to come out on top,” says Henry Timms, co-author, with Jeremy Heimans, of “New Power: How Power Works in Our Hyperconnected World — and How to Make It Work for You.”
As executive director of the historic 92nd Street Y cultural and community center in New York City, Henry is a passionate believer in the new power distribution that technology allows. The 92nd Street Y serves 300,000 visitors each year, and garners millions of online interactions. Partnering with the United Nations Foundation in 2012, Henry founded #GivingTuesday, a global day of giving fueled by social media and collaboration. To date, it has raised more than $300 million for organizations, charities and events, and made nearly 22 billion online impressions.
“We Can Be” host Grant Oliphant, president of The Heinz Endowments, asks what old power — large institutions, bureaucracies and top-down structures — gets wrong, and if it can peacefully co-exist with the new power paradigm that Henry espouses.
Henry’s answers may surprise you, and he is crystal-clear on what’s really at stake: “New power is becoming the essential skill of the 21st century,” he says. “Those that can harness the energy of the connected crowd and create opportunities for people to engage on their own terms will win.”
Henry dives into how the Parkland survivors, the Me Too movement, Local Motors and Black Lives Matter have gotten it right and why our most challenging task may be figuring out how — or if — we can ensure this new power is used for good. “Those on the side of the angels need to get mobilized,” Henry says. “And I mean quickly.”
On this episode of “We Can Be,” learn about this new power: how to get it, why it’s changing our hyper-connected world and why we should be hopeful about what it can do.
“We Can Be” is produced by the Endowments and Treehouse Media. Theme music is composed by John Dziuban, with incidental music by Josh Slifkin. "New Power" is published by Doubleday, and is also available from Random House Large Print and Penguin Random House Audio.
Community Kitchen Pittburgh founder Jen Flanagan is changing lives at intersection of food insecurity & living wage jobs (S05EP04)
Leah Penniman “Farming While Black” author, Soul Fire Farm cofounder & Heinz Award honoree (S05E03)
Fearless champion for cleaner air Dr. George Thurston NYU Grossman School of Medicine (S05E02)
Uplifting Black artists' beauty, depth & vision w/ Kilolo Luckett of art platform ALMA I LEWIS (S05E01)
Breaking down the hydrogen hub hype w/ Joanne Kilgour, exec. dir. Ohio River Valley Institute (We Can Be S04EP16)
Groundbreaking Post-9/11 veterans data w/ Dr. Daniel Perkins, founder Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness @ Penn State Uni.(S04EP15)
Black Urban Gardeners’ Raqueeb Bey is growing food, minds & leaders (S04EP14)
PBS NewsHour’s Jeffrey Brown: Yes, the arts are essential & here’s why (S4E13)
”Your dreams are possible” w/ Dr. Kathy Humphrey, trailblazing pres. of Carlow University (S4E12)
Grant Oliphant on gratitude, speaking truth to power & making room for everyone (We Can Be S4EP11)
Facing America‘s crisis of connection w/ Jenn Hoos Rothberg, Einhorn Collaborative Exec. Dir. (We Can Be S04EP10)
The New Climate War author Michael Mann & the fight to take back our planet (We Can Be S04EP09)
Appalachia‘s battle b/w wish & hope w/ energy industry researcher Sean O’Leary (We Can Be S04EP08)
Environmental Health News investigative reporter Kristina Marusic uncovers hard truths & arms public w/ facts (We Can Be S04EP07)
The true cost of military service w/ War Horse founder/journalist Thomas Brennan (We Can Be S04EP06)
Reinventing Social Change author Nell Edgington on embracing abundance, joy & power of “yet” (We Can Be S04EP05)
Dr. Barry Kerzin, personal physician to Dalai Lama & Altruism in Medicine Institute founder on power of compassion (We Can Be S04EP04)
Rebuilding Appalachia for a new energy economy w/ Coalfield Development CEO Brandon Dennison (We Can Be S04EP03)
How & why radical generosity works w/ GivingTuesday co-founder Asha Curran (We Can Be S04EP02)
“Diversity Explosion” author/demographer William Frey on where America is headed & why it's good for us (S04EP01)
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