Business and poetry usually don't mix. But vulnerability has the power to bring teams together.Poet IN-Q has found an unlikely audience in business. A slam poetry veteran and accomplished songwriter, companies invite IN-Q to help strengthen their cultures. He works with teams to connect on a deeper level, using poetry to share something human. As he'll tell ... Show More
Mar 3
Revisited: How to Turn Stress Into Creativity With Grammy-Winner Jacob Collier
Team Simon here! As we take a short hiatus, A Bit of Optimism will return with brand-new episodes on March 24, 2026. Until then, we’re revisiting some of the conversations you loved and we still think about long after the microphones turned off. This week, we’re rewinding to Simo ... Show More
58m 33s
Feb 16
28 Years on the Force: Chief Angela Averiett on What It Really Takes to Change Police Culture
It’s often true that the most challenging conversations are often the ones most worth having. Conversations that bring up strong feelings, different experiences, and questions without easy answers. Policing, and how we can make it better, is one of those conversations.San Leandro ... Show More
1h 5m
Apr 2025
Re-release: How to enrich your everyday life with poetry (w/ Sarah Kay)
Roses are red, violets are blue, has poetry ever been intimidating for you? For many people, this art form can feel unapproachable, but poet and educator Sarah Kay, suggests that people who don’t like poetry just maybe haven’t found a poem that really speaks to them. Sarah propos ... Show More
31m 28s
Feb 2025
Dana Gioia: Why Poetry Matters | How I Write
Dana Gioia is a poet, former Chairman of the NEA, and one of America's most insightful writers on the craft of poetry and prose. This is the deepest conversation I've ever had about writing. Dana breaks down the writing process from his first drafts to revision, and shares practi ... Show More
3h 10m
Nov 2024
How to Speak So Everyone Listens to You: The Power of Storytelling | Ep60
What does it take to speak in a way that captivates, inspires, and truly connects? Adam Roa, a magnetic stage poet whose words seem to reach straight into your soul, shares how he turned vulnerability into his superpower. He talks about his journey from feeling emotionally shut d ... Show More
52m 56s
Apr 2025
Let Yourself Rage With Poet Laureate Ada Limón
<p>As U.S. poet laureate, Ada Limón has had a far-reaching impact. She has visited readers and writers across the country, installed poems at majestic sites in national parks, and she even wrote a poem that’s engraved inside a NASA spacecraft on its way to Jupiter.</p><p>Today on ... Show More
34m 35s
Dec 2024
612: Lawrence Yeo - Dissolving Envy, Practicing Curiosity, Writing to Think, Establishing Values, Building Confidence, Being Ambitious, Moving People to Tears, & The Power of Consistency
<p>Go to www.LearningLeader.com for full show notes and to listen to all episodes of The Learning Leader Show with Ryan Hawk</p> <p><strong>Lawrence Yeo</strong> is a <span style= "font-weight: 400;">storytelling teacher and the founder and writer at MoreToThat.com.</span> <span ... Show More
1h 3m
Jan 2025
Andrew Smith, "Class and the Uses of Poetry: Symbolic Enclosures" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024)
Sociologists have had surprisingly little to say about poetry as a topic while sometimes also making grandiose claims that sociology is/should be like poetry. These are the prompts which begin Andrew Smith’s Class and the Uses of Poetry: Symbolic Enclosures (2024, Palgrave Macmil ... Show More
1h 9m