According to Bob Dixson, a sense of “ownership” saved Greensburg when a massive tornado leveled 95% of the town, killing eleven people. Imagine emerging from the rubble in the middle of the Kansas plains with one question… where do we go from here?

After the storm, the community came together under a big FEMA tent to cry, hug each other, and envision the future. They decided to forgo the government’s cookie-cutter plan for rebuilding. Instead, they created a blueprint to establish Greensburg as America’s “greenest” town, powered by renewable energy with smart infrastructure for water conservation, and the most LEED-certified buildings per capita in the US. They started with the community art space, because as Bob said, they had lost everything, and a little beauty goes a long way.

Bob Dixson never planned to be the mayor of Greensburg. He was enjoying his recent retirement from the postal service when the tornado tore the roof off his lifelong family home. But as he and his wife huddled in the basement, they thought only of their neighbors and how they could help the community survive. That sense of service is what made Bob the mayor of a small Midwest town facing the near impossible task of recreating itself.

Join us for a powerful story of resilience, small town values, good ol’ Midwest pragmatism, and above all, hope.

Find episode transcript and links for Bob Dixson and Greensburg at HopeIsMyMiddleName.com

If you liked this episode, listen next to Doug Naselroad: Building Instruments to Recover from Floods and Addiction in Appalachia, Hope Is My Middle Name season 2, episode 8.

Hosted and executive produced by Kate Tucker, Hope Is My Middle Name is a podcast by Consensus Digital Media in collaboration with Reasonable Volume.

If you like the show, please follow us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and leave us a 5-star rating and review. It makes a big difference in helping us reach more people with more HOPE.

Thanks for listening!

Ken Falke loves jumping out of airplanes. As a 21-year veteran bomb disposal specialist in the U.S. Navy, he’s a high risk, high pressure kind of guy. But when a jump went bad at age 27, he found himself out of commission and staring down a discharge. At that moment, Ken faced a decision he says all trauma survivors must make – he chose to be a victor, not a victim.

What seemed like the end, held in it the seed of a transformative mission Ken would launch with his wife in 2010 to help veterans, first responders and their families trade PTSD for Posttraumatic Growth. Through Boulder Crest Foundation’s Warrior PATHH program, survivors learn to reframe their trauma and become experts in their own healing. Boulder Crest programs are free for the over 100,000 people they’ve served, they use zero meds, and Warrior PATHH is 5-7 times more effective than traditional approaches to PTSD.

Hear why Ken Falke is determined to transform mental healthcare across America, and how his experience in military special ops makes him the perfect man for the job.

Find episode transcript, links for Ken Falke and Boulder Crest at HopeIsMyMiddleName.com

Listen next to Jon Turner: Veteran on a Life-Giving Mission, Hope Is My Middle Name season 1, episode 2.

Hosted and executive produced by Kate Tucker, Hope Is My Middle Name is a podcast by Consensus Digital Media in collaboration with Reasonable Volume.

If you like the show, please follow us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and leave us a 5-star rating and review. It makes a big difference in helping us reach more people with more HOPE.

Thanks for listening!

Sometimes it just takes a moment to change someone’s life. That’s what Maria Rush understands as a nurse advocating for mothers and babies in Cleveland, Ohio. Maria has a superhero-sized calling, born from a near-death experience during childbirth at the age of fifteen. She’s dedicated her life to saving mothers and their babies just like the nurse who took a moment to see what Maria truly needed on that delivery room table, and to speak life-giving, literally life-saving words.

America has one of the highest mortality rates for mothers and babies among developed nations. The infant mortality rate more than doubles for Black babies, and Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy related cause than White women. These statistics are on the mind of Maria Rush every morning as she goes to work for the Nurse-Family Partnership, a nation-wide program that helps first-time moms have healthy pregnancies and healthy babies, become knowledgeable and nurturing parents, achieve education and employment goals and provide their children with the best possible start in life.

Join us for a powerful conversation on motherhood, breaking generational cycles, and the importance of community in caring for our children and families.

Find episode transcript, links and more about Maria Rush at HopeIsMyMiddleName.com

Listen next to An American Dream to End Hunger with Ron Pringle on Hope Is My Middle Name season 2, episode 2.

Hosted and executive produced by Kate Tucker, Hope Is My Middle Name is a podcast by Consensus Digital Media in collaboration with Reasonable Volume.

If you like the show, please follow us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and leave us a 5-star rating and review. It makes a big difference in helping us reach more people with more HOPE.

Thank you, thank you for listening!

Why aren’t we paying teachers for their exponential impact? We all have teachers who have made a difference in our lives and we might be surprised to learn how little they are compensated. In fact, 62% of parents advise against a career in education due to this wage gap. Teacher morale is the lowest in our lifetime. Yet we know that education is so important when it comes to ensuring the health of our economy, our democracy, and our very existence on this planet.

That’s why former social studies teacher Nínive Calegari started the Teacher Salary Project. She’s on a mission to make teaching the prestigious, financially viable and professionally exciting job that it can and should be. With her Mexican-American heritage and intergenerational perspective, Nínive inspires us to do better when it comes to fostering our country’s greatest asset, our young people. Join us for a powerful conversation on what the future could be if we step up and support our teachers.

Find episode transcript, links and more about at Nínive Calegari at HopeIsMyMiddleName.com

Listen next to Building Bridges Across America: The American Exchange Project with David McCullough III on Hope Is My Middle Name season 4, episode 3.

Hosted and executive produced by Kate Tucker, Hope Is My Middle Name is a podcast by Consensus Digital Media in collaboration with Reasonable Volume.

If you like the show, please follow us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and leave us a 5-star rating.

Thanks for listening!

Do you think America is more divided than ever? Do you feel we’re more different than we are alike? What would happen if you took a free week-long trip to a community vastly different from your own? And then brought folks from that far off town to your neighborhood?

These are the questions we’re exploring on the new episode of Hope Is My Middle Name with the fabulous David McCullough III, co-founder and CEO of the American Exchange Project.

Through week-long summer youth exchanges, AEP invites high school seniors to experience life in communities far different from their own. These experiences foster connection, upend stereotypes, and restore a sense of ownership and pride of place as youth cross the threshold into independence.

It all started with a road trip David took in college, where he realized that Americans were less polarized than we might think, and that adventuring together could be an antidote to division. Fast forward just a few years after the launch of American Exchange Project and they’ve already sent over 1,000 students to 75 towns in 36 states.

David envisions the American Exchange Project as a civic coming of age ritual, something that will eventually become as intrinsic to the high school experience as the senior prom. And in Jonathan’s Haidt’s new book, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, he references AEP as an antidote to anxiety.

Join Kate Tucker as she sits down with David McCullough III for a powerful conversation on bringing people together across divides, establishing a civic coming of age ritual, and trading anxiety for adventure.

Find the video version of this podcast, along with episode transcript, links and more at HopeIsMyMiddleName.com

Listen next to Tim & Beth Reese: Building Small Town Resilience in West Virginia on Hope Is My Middle Name season 2, episode 3.

Hosted and executive produced by Kate Tucker, Hope Is My Middle Name is a podcast by Consensus Digital Media in collaboration with Reasonable Volume.

If you like the show, please follow us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and leave us a 5-star rating.

Thanks for listening!

From dyslexia to deep listening, De'Amon Harges transformed his life and the life of his Indianapolis neighborhood by practicing radical hospitality. As the “Original Roving Listener,” he would go door to door asking folks to tell him their stories. In listening, De'Amon discovered such a wealth of talent and opportunity on his street that he started a consulting company with his neighbors. Today, The Learning Tree advises organizations and municipalities across America in developing social capital through community-centered models of growth, like Asset Based Community Development.

De'Amon is a born storyteller and a practiced listener, and he shares unconventional tips on how to get over your fears and connect with pretty much anybody. Hear why De'Amon and his neighbors got a visit from the US Surgeon General, and how they’re now building a multimillion dollar center for radical hospitality to strengthen their community for generations.

In this episode we explore:

• Transforming dyslexia into a superpower
• Cultivating community, economy, and mutual delight
• How to practice deep listening
• Combatting the loneliness epidemic in America
• Walking with a neighbor to reduce anxiety
• Sharing our birth stories
• Storytelling to build trust and opportunity
• Asset Based Community Development
• Inviting institutions into the community
• The power of hosting a good party
• Identifying alternative currencies: social capital, talent, belonging, and trust
• Empowering community chaplains
• Neighborhood Economic Vitality Index
• Friendship as a reason to hope

Find the episode transcript, links to De'Amon’s work, and more at HopeIsMyMiddleName.com

Listen next to A Radical Take on Helping the Homeless with Alan Graham on Hope Is My Middle Name season 3, episode 2.

Hosted and executive produced by Kate Tucker, Hope Is My Middle Name is a podcast by Consensus Digital Media in collaboration with Reasonable Volume.

If you like the show, please follow us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and leave us a 5-star rating.

As always, thanks so much for listening!

Chief Scientist at the Nature Conservancy, climate researcher, “Science Mom,” and evangelical Christian, Katharine Hayhoe is not out to save the planet, she’s out to save us from the devastating impacts of climate change. As a scientist, Katharine knows that the earth will adapt to global warming, but the conditions, if left unchecked, will ultimately lead to our extinction. As a Christian, she views climate change as a failure to love, since its effects are already impacting those who have contributed the least to its cause. With Biblical mandates to care for God’s creation and love our neighbor as ourselves, Katharine is helping people of all backgrounds and faiths better understand, address, and combat climate change with compassion and hope. Join us for a joyful conversation on the power of science and faith joining forces to solve the climate crisis.

Discover videos, links, and more about Katharine Hayhoe in the show notes at HopeIsMyMiddleName.com and connect with Kate Tucker on Instagram @katetuckermusic

If you liked this episode, listen next to Bayou Dave: Cleaning Up Trash to Save the World, Hope Is My Middle Name season 2, episode 7.

If you like the show, please follow us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and leave us a 5-star rating and review.

As always, thank you so much for listening!

Hosted and executive produced by Kate Tucker, Hope Is My Middle Name is a podcast by Consensus Digital Media in collaboration with Reasonable Volume.

Welcome to Hope Is My Middle Name, the podcast where Kate Tucker interviews everyday Americans doing big daring things to make the world a little better. Hope can be complicated these days, and hearing their stories reminds us that we too can make a difference, wherever we are.

Join us for a new season of Hope Is My Middle Name, every Tuesday now through December.

New to Hope? Start with "John Christian Phifer: Finding Life in Death with Natural Burial" season 2, episode 1 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.

Connect with Kate on Instagram and Youtube, and subscribe to the Hope newsletter for behind-the-scenes stories of hope and the people who inspire us.

If you like what you hear, please follow Hope Is My Middle Name on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and leave us a rating and review! Your feedback makes a huge difference in helping us reach more people with more hope.

Hosted and executive produced by Kate Tucker, Hope Is My Middle Name is a podcast by Consensus Digital Media in collaboration with Reasonable Volume.

Special thanks to the following Hope guests, featured in this season 4 trailer, in order of appearance:

• Kevin Berthia - Listening to Understand the Mental Health Crisis
• Dr. Theresa Hamlin - forthcoming Hope Is My Middle Name season 4
• Doug Naselroad - Building Instruments to Recover from Floods and Addiction in Appalachia
• John Christian Phifer - Finding Life in Death with Natural Burial
• Jennifer Arnold - forthcoming Hope Is My Middle Name season 4
• Sergeant Kevin Briggs - Listening to Understand the Mental Health Crisis
• Maria Rush - forthcoming Hope Is My Middle Name season 4
• Sally Sears - Transforming a...