Giving Back — Podcast

Revisiting Addiction Recovery with Jim Geckler

Jim Geckler joined 12 Geniuses back in Season One to bravely and candidly share his personal story of addiction and recovery. This week, Jim and Don catch up to discuss how the treatment field has changed over the last three years. In that time, virtual health care has quickly become instrumental in providing treatment services. They also talk about the effect that the pandemic has had on drug and alcohol abuse, and about how you can spot the signs that someone you care about might be suffering from addiction.

The Future of Food with Justin Sutherland

In this episode, Don MacPherson is joined by celebrity chef and restaurant owner Justin Sutherland. When Justin isn’t in front of a camera, he can be found in one of his several Minnesota restaurants making culinary works of art. He’s also heavily involved with the community, opening up a free food shelter to distribute food to those in need during the pandemic. Don and Justin discuss the future of food, including the concept of “food deserts” and how this contributes to food insecurity for disadvantaged Americans, how the food industry can help fight climate change and the impact of COVID-19 on the restaurant industry.

The Future of Cities with Penny Abeywardena

Host Don MacPherson is joined by New York City Commissioner for International Affairs, Penny Abeywardena. They explore the future of cities including the impact of COVID-19, combating inequality, and addressing climate change. They also discuss the idea of broadband as a utility and the great steps taken to educate schoolchildren from home.

Leadership Moment - A Giving Spirit

There is something beautiful about selflessness. With a simple gesture, a little kindness, or an act of generosity, we can make the world a better place. This is a four-minute story of someone who exemplified the spirit of giving and never cared that no one was watching.

Leadership Momentdon macphersonApril 29, 2020Leadership Moment, Kindness, Empathy, Wisdom, Cancer, Family, Giving Back, generosity

Leadership Moment - Shared Sacrifices

In 2008 and 2009, a software company was hammered by the Great Recession. Layoffs were imminent in order to stay in business. Instead, the owners chose to share the sacrifices across the organization, keep its team together, and weather the storm. The company recovered and thrived while protecting the families of its employees.

Leadership Moment - Extraordinary Acts of Heroism from Ordinary People

The last few weeks have rocked the world in ways that most of us have never experienced. We are self-quarantined, restaurants and shops are closed, school children have been sent home, events we have held sacred are canceled. Whatever normal was seems like a distant memory. Our souls are being tried.

Times of uncertainty have a way of unifying us. They also create extraordinary acts of heroism from ordinary people. Bill MacDonald and Richard Seale are two of those heroes. When Hurricane Sandy rocked their community in 2012, they decided to step up. This is their story.

Season One Review - Ryan Estis Interviews 12 Geniuses CEO Don MacPherson

That’s a wrap! 12 Geniuses Season One is now complete. Looking back at the growth of the podcast over the first season, it’s clear we learned quite a bit! In this special episode of 12 Geniuses, Ryan Estis and Don MacPherson sit down together to talk about what went well, what challenges arose, and some highlights from the first season. The two friends also chat about what is coming up next for 12 Geniuses in Season Two! Don shares some episode topics, exciting guests to look forward to, and ways you can get more 12 Geniuses content in the meantime.

Second Quarter Review - Laurie Ruettimann Interviews 12 Geniuses CEO Don MacPherson

How did your second quarter of 2019 end? Did you accomplish all that you wanted to get done? Did you meet the people you’d hoped you would? Did you go where you wanted to go? It’s helpful to do an inventory of what we have been paying attention to, where we went, what we learned, who we met, and what’s up next. That’s exactly what two friends do in this special episode of 12 Geniuses. Laurie Ruettimann, the host of the Let’s Fix Work podcast, spends some time talking with Don MacPherson about how Q2 of 2019 went for 12 Geniuses. They cover a wide range of topics from technology trends, travel, parenthood, and what the 12 Geniuses audience can expect on the podcast over the rest of 2019.

The Transgender Champion - An Interview with Team USA's Chris Mosier

Chris Mosier has been a life-long athlete, becoming an All-American Duathlete, and earning a spot on Team USA in 2015. Globally recognized as “The Man Who Changed the Olympics,” Chris became the first known transgender man to make a United States Men’s National Team and challenged the International Olympic Committee’s policies on transgender participation at the international level. In this interview, Chris shares his personal journey of transition, his quest to remain a competitive athlete, and his advocacy work educating and campaigning for LGBTQ+ equality. Chris also provides advice for individuals who are questioning their identities, or interested in becoming an ally. In this interview, Chris discusses:

A growing passion in athletics, becoming a duathlete and triathlete, competing at the national and international levels, discovering transgender identity, college athletics, coming out to his athletic and personal community, experiencing male privilege, representing his country, social justice achievements, making the decision to transition, understanding your identity, phases of transitioning, transitioning in the professional workplace, changing the Olympics, hormone therapy, trans athletics, advocating for trans rights both in athletics and in life, how to be open to people who are transgender, and children exploring gender identity.

People, Organizations, and resources mentioned:

Renée Richards, Northern Michigan University, Team USA, Martina Navratilova, All-American Athletes, National Center for Civil and Human Rights, GoAthletes, LGBTQ+ Community, Olympics, BBC, New York Magazine, International Olympic Committee (IOC), transathlete.com, Laverne Cox, Michael Jordan, Nike (Unlimited Courage Ad)

“If any person of any age has the courage to tell you who they are, whether they’re a family member or a friend, know that the life that they were living in secrecy, or not being able to be honest about who they were, is probably harder than the life that they’re going to face. So while there are very real challenges, discrimination, violence and harassment against the trans community and the queer community, not being able to be who you know you really are is incredibly painful.”

Chris Mosier on being an ally to members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Find Chris on social media @TheChrisMosier and at www.thechrismosier.com. For more information on Transgender athletics, go to www.transathlete.com.

The End of Retirement as We Know It - An Interview with Economist and Journalist Chris Farrell

Chris Farrell has worked as a journalist for national publishers and public radio for decades. Throughout his career, Chris has taken a hard look at how Baby Boomers have redefined work and how they are now redefining the concept of retirement. In this interview, Chris looks at what retirement has been historically, how it is evolving, and what organizations can do to continue to leverage the talent of their most experienced people. Chris also shares his thoughts on the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement that is becoming popular among younger, affluent workers. In this interview, Chris discusses:

Part I: Unretirement and the Future of Retirement

Traditional retirement and its evolution, the relationship between continued work and mental acuity, doing meaningful work, the importance of relationships at work, health benefits as the primary reason some employees stay with their organizations, the importance of building having a thriving network for older workers, advice for those considering a career change, the FIRE movement, retirement in Europe, workforce disruption, the 55-64 year-old entrepreneur, encore careers.

Part II: The Future of Work, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship

Disruption and the future of work, creation of new jobs, the increasing rate of technological developments, adapting skills for the future, training employees for a strong and valuable workforce, career changes later in life, how to remain relevant towards the end of your career, the 50+ entrepreneur, women and entrepreneurship, immigrant entrepreneurs.

Organizations, People and Resources mentioned: Unretirement (Book and Podcast), FIRE Movement, Purpose and a Paycheck, AARP, PBS Next Avenue, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Financial Times, Encore.org, Desk Set with Katherine Hepburn, Michael Mandel with the Progressive Policy Institute, Herman Miller, Toyota, Bloomberg Businessweek

Chris’ publications are available on amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/Chris-Farrell/e/B001HMRRYW?ref=dbs_p_pbk_r00_abau_000000

Unretirement Podcast online: https://www.apmpodcasts.org/unretirement/

12 Geniuses Podcast

Search for a Topic