Advertise on podcast: Gravity

From Wonder Media Network comes The Accidental Activist, a new podcast hosted by acclaimed journalist and former CNN Anchor Isha Sesay. Join Isha as she sits down with an array of celebrities, entertainers, and creators to find out the motivating circumstances behind their passions, all while revealing the human condition that unites us all: a desire to make a difference in the world. Tune into today's episode with Dr. Lucy Kalanithi. Turning pain into purpose can often be the cornerstone of activism. Dr. Lucy Kalanithi exemplifies that in her work as a physician. In this episode, Lucy walks us through her unconventional journey into activism. She explains what it means to find joy in the midst of suffering, the importance of discovering your purpose, and why she’s fighting to make the healthcare system more human and more humane.

With a problem as big as the climate crisis, it can be hard to truly visualize its impact. We're excited to share the first episode of As She Rises, a new Wonder Media Network podcast that brings together poetry and stories of action to contextualize the elusive magnitude of climate change.

What is climate grief, and how do we respond to it? What happens when we think about the climate crisis in a cultural and historical context, beyond just its scientific aspects? And what if your power in this fight lies not in what you can do as an individual, but in your ability to be part of a collective? In this episode, host Lucy Kalanithi is joined by Mary Annaïse Heglar, climate justice writer and co-host of the podcast Hot Take.

What else can justice mean, other than retribution? How can the pursuit of justice better honor the needs of the person and community who were harmed? And what new possibilities for healing and repair might emerge through a reimagined process? In this episode, host Lucy Kalanithi is joined by Marlee Liss — speaker, author, sensuality coach and restorative justice advocate. (CW: sexual assault, suicidal ideation, justice system)

Meaning. We know it when we see it or feel it, but what exactly is meaning? Why do we put so much importance on it? And how do we create it? In this episode, host Lucy Kalanithi revisits audio recordings of her late husband, neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi — who wrote the #1 New York Times-bestselling memoir When Breath Becomes Air — to reflect on meaning and its underpinnings.

When we talk about illness, why does metaphor matter? What does it mean to think about cancer as a battle? What are the possibilities for other metaphors? And can the language we choose reframe the experience of illness itself? In this episode, host Lucy Kalanithi is joined by oncologist Shekinah Elmore and linguist Elena Semino.

What happens when we bust the myth of the ideal nuclear family? How can we – as a society – embrace new family structures in all their diversity? And what kinds of beautiful possibilities arise when we do? In this episode, host Lucy Kalanithi is joined by Andrew Solomon, writer, lecturer, winner of the National Book Award, and parent. Andrew’s works include the audiobook New Family Values.

When you’re facing hardship, how do you choose whether to accept or resist? How do you cope when you know that resisting won’t change things? And how do you learn to live with that voice in your head, the one that hisses, “this just isn’t fair”? In this episode, host Lucy Kalanithi is joined by progressive activist Ady Barkan, who is living with ALS, and his wife, English professor Rachael King. Ady founded the organization Be A Hero.

How do you walk the line between authenticity and oversharing? How do you write your own narrative? And when the truth is dark, or painful, or messy, how do you balance honesty with self-preservation? In this episode, host Lucy Kalanithi is joined by her twin sister Joanna Goddard, founder of the daily women’s lifestyle site Cup of Jo. (CW: depression)

Is loneliness something we each have to handle alone? Or is it so common that we could see it as a public health issue? Does being lonely mean you're uncool or unlovable? Or is it a natural signal, like hunger or thirst? In this episode, host Lucy Kalanithi is joined by Vivek Murthy, Surgeon General of the United States.

Welcome to Gravity, a new podcast from Wonder Media Network about what becomes possible when we look at hardships differently.