Blue Sky

Updated: 30 Jul 2025 • 122 episodes
www.theoptimisminstitute.com

Hosted by Bill Burke, founder of The Optimism Institute, this weekly podcast will feature inspiring leaders, authors, researchers, and big thinkers who are taking on some of our world’s toughest challenges with an infectious sense of optimism. Blue Sky takes its name from the meditation reminder that there’s always blue sky above, sometimes you just have to get your head above the clouds to see it.

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Niren Chaudhary has led a remarkable life while overcoming intense personal tragedies.  He describes his success in running global business as stemming from a foundational belief in putting his employees first and leading them with love, gratitude, and respect.     Chapters: 01:36 Meet Niren Chaudhary  Niren Chaudhary,

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Heidi Johnson was in a great spot in life. She had a great family, good job, all she could reasonably ask for. But when her mother was killed in a shocking accident, that all changed.  After suffering from intense grief, Heidi’s life changed when she was asked to start a new initiative at her local children’s hospital.

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As a West Point graduate who had completed his required service, Tom Deierlein was well into a successful career in digital advertising when he was called up once again to serve in Operation Iraqi Freedom. There, while working to help struggling Iraqi families meet their basic needs, a sniper’s bullet would change his

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Many years ago, Jodie Jackson found herself in a deep depression.  As she worked to identify the causes her deteriorating mental health, she realized it had a lot to do with her excessive and indiscriminate consumption of news and information.  In the years since, she’s become a recognized expert on media literacy and

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In honor of this year’s 4th of July celebration, host Bill Burke discusses some bits of US history through the lens of this country’s remarkable sense of optimism.  He describes that despite our many setbacks and shortcomings, we remain a place of possibility and hope and encourages us all to keep working towards “a mo

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Nichole Argo describes the work she’s doing to bring communities together by assembling people with different viewpoints around one table to discuss their challenges and formulate solutions.  After great success in her hometown, she’s now pursuing similar models across the country, and she’s optimistic that combining a

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