THE HERO SERIES. Focusing on the good.

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How One Designer Gave Herself Superhero Strength

Use her approach yourself!

Yes, it’s true, I’ve been totally AWOL on this project since January of 2016. The truth is, I’ve been deeply involved with my other site, The Beautiful Voyager. Started a couple of months after The Hero Series, The Beautiful Voyager tackles stress, overthinking, and anxiety (without getting bummed out). 

I created the site because I didn’t want anyone to find themselves at the same dead end I did when I googled those words. Bevoya (for short, and for the url), is not a passive reading experience. There’s a lighthouse map of overthinkers around the world that you can check out (see if there’s a lighthouse near you!)  and the chance to sign up for your own free lighthouse. 

Bevoya is also the place where you’ll find access to a real-time conversation with other overthinkers. I’ve always wondered how to connect with other people like me. “Screw it,” I said to myself. “I’ll just try to make it.” The Talk section of Bevoya will let you know how to sign up for the Bevoya Slack channel.

And now we come back to the superhero Lan Pham. Lan is a fantastic designer who figured out a way to help herself feel better when she was experiencing artist’s block. Check out her heroic approach and much more over on The Beautiful Voyager!

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How to Write a Hero Series Post

I debated about calling this “Why You Should Write for the Hero Series,” but hoped I could convince you of that in the first line: it will make you feel good. It’s true. Writing about people taking positive action in the world creates an energy that makes change feel possible. Give it a try. Here’s how you do it:

Choose your hero. It could be a person, event, or idea. The key is that it truly fills you with awe. The last paragraph of the post should capture why you chose your hero in as specific a way as you can write.

Let me know via text, email (yes, it’s OK), FB post, Twitter DM, carrier pigeon that you’d like to write something. I will send you the url, username, and password to the tumblr account.

Click the pencil in the upper right corner of the screen.  

Choose the format of your post. If you want to link to a news story, choose “post.” If you just want to type something, like I am doing in this post, choose “text.”

Format your title to start with a number and then the specific hero name. Example: “#34: Barry Glassner's Paradoxically Calming Book, "Culture of Fear"

Write out the byline (who wrote it) “by YOU,”and link it whatever you want. Twitter? LinkedIn? Up to you.  Example: “#41 The Little Prince by Anamita Guha”

Write your post. Approx length 4-5 paragraphs. There’s no limit, but shorter usually works a little better.

It’s good to include photos. You do it by hitting “return” and seeing that little + come up. Then you choose the camera.

Finally, you choose your hashtags. They appear at the bottom of your story and may help other people to find what you wrote. I tend to like to pull out new elements, be funny, or add something I couldn’t fit in elsewhere, but it’s totally up to you. Here are Anamita’s from her last post.

Then you you have two choices. If you want feedback, you save as draft and send to me via carrier pigeon. Or you hit “post” and get it out into the world. It’s really that simple. 

Once you publish it, I’ll write it up on Facebook, Twitter, and, if I’m not too lazy, (it’s a pain to login on mobile) Instagram. 

Await the flood of good vibes you shall feel. 

(You want this to be you, right?)

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#41 The Little Prince

by Anamita Guha

As the year is quickly coming to a close, I cannot help but be introspective. 2015 has been quite the eventful year—I might even argue tumultuous. While I will spare you all the details, I will say that I felt like I pressed a ‘life reset’ button a few times. I am now completing 2015 with a new job, new home, new experiences, and a newfound happiness.

In January, I started to keep a “gratitude journal” of sorts. It was partially me documenting what I did every day of the year as well as scribing memories and remembering the people that brought me joy that specific day. I wrote this all in my purple Little Prince themed moleskine that was gifted to me last year from a very good friend.

I kept this notebook with me at all times and would frequently read the renowned quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s novella to ground myself: “Voici mon secret. Il est très simple: on ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.”, which translates to “And now here is my secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

That’s why my hero today—and for the entire year, really—is Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince. The book is commonly described as a children’s book for adults, as it expresses a wide range of emotions from loneliness and despair to triumph and fantasy from a period of war. More importantly, it carries a profound message that I feel like my generation of #millennials often forget: there is inevitable beauty around you all the time, you just have to feel it.

So thank you Saint-Exupéry and the Little Prince for helping shape how I documented almost 365 days of memories and positivity. And most importantly, for reminding me to see the world in a different way.

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#40: Marie Wilcox

by Anika Streitfeld Luskin

What struck me about this story is the way in which Marie has embraced being the last member of her tribe who speaks its language. I was moved by her calling to embark on the dictionary project - with a focus and passion that calls to mind the writer's impulse to put something on paper, but is infused with something else too: humility, and steadiness, the diligence of this unexpected but determined archivist.

I love the way Marie uses her computer - "pecking" at the old keyboard - and the way her daughter and grandson have taken up this project along with her. It feels, from this glimpse, as if they are invested in the dictionary as a legacy, but perhaps just as much that they are deeply devoted to their soft-spoken, exacting matriarch. Her daughter is so patient; her grandson so earnest in his attempts to converse with her in Wukchumni, that their love for her feels palpable.

A therapist friend recently told me that she often says to her clients, "you didn't make this shit up, but it's your responsibility to deal with it." And I had a similar feeling about Marie's situation - that she certainly didn't ask to be the last speaker of her native language, but that she has taken seriously this opportunity to preserve it, and perhaps too, the legends and traditions it carries with it. This seems like a noble attempt to hold onto the past; part activism, part tribute, part love story.

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#39: Vincent Price

As a longtime fan of Vincent Price, it’s hard for me to know what others bring to the table in terms of Priceian knowledge. I bet everyone knows his classic horror films, has heard his cackling iconic laugh from the end of Thriller, or perhaps remembers him from Edward Scissorhands.  

There’s so much more to Price than that.

Vincent Price was an artist and a humanist. He once described his circle of artist friends: 

We may all be a peculiar lot...often broke, often dissatisfied because we're not doing more and better work...but we know how to have a ball that makes the rest of the world seem square.

I found this photo of artist Vincent at work on http://iheartvincentprice.tumblr.com/. This is a place for people who see the Vincent Price I do -- the man who embraced his own quirks, who allowed himself to express his difference, who was unashamed to be set apart from the crowd. I love the writeup on the first page: “How to Be like Vincey.”  

Vincent Price was a cook. He published numerous cookbooks and hosted a food show called Cooking Pricewise. 

Vincent Price was a vocal supporter of the queer community in a time when it wasn’t fashionable to do so. He was an honorary board member of PFLAG and outspoken against Anita Bryant’s anti-gay campaign in the ‘70′s. 

Married three times to women, Vincent Price spoke with his daughter Victoria when she came out about his own bisexuality:

You know, I know just how you feel because I have had these deep, loving relationships with men in my life and all my wives were a little jealous.

She went on,

In a funny way, and I think I’m going to cry, he understood me at 22 better than I understood myself then. Of course, he was in his 70s and lived a hell of a lot longer than I had. He understood that at the end of the day it’s about who and what and how we love. 

Thank you, Vincent Price, for exploring your quirky interests without apology and using your love of art to express yourself in the world. Thank you for leaving us all a fantastic museum of your incredible art collection. Thank you for making Halloween fun and weird in the best way. 

Thank you for being threaded into the most surprising places, and popping out when I least expect it.

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#38: Mindy Kaling

by Anamita Guha 

It seems to be an unspoken understanding that all women in technology have each other’s back, you know #womenintech and #gendergap. There are so few of us that we have to be on each other’s side, except when we aren’t.

The other day I had to present my plan for the upcoming quarter to the CEO. Right before the presentation, one of my very few female coworkers looked at me with a straight face and asked, “Have you gained weight?” While I don’t completely know the motive behind her question, one can assume it was done to push a fragile button right before the big meeting.

Unfortunately growing up in a society that places such significant value on body image, it is pretty safe to assume that most women and girls, especially girls, are sensitive about how they look. This universal insecurity toward not having toned arms, a cinched waist, or a thigh gap, can be attributed to multiple sources: those in the limelight, the media, those in the limelight written about by the media, etc. For example, most recently, my newsfeed was overwhelmed with coverage of Emilia Clarke, who was dubbed the sexiest woman alive in 2015 by Esquire. Women and girls around the world can’t help to think, “Why not me?”

That’s why my hero today is Mindy Kaling. In an effort to combat people’s curiosity of her weight, Mindy wrote an entire chapter in her latest book about her weight and body image. She provided a raw perspective on her lifelong struggle to meet the societal pressure to be thin.  A perspective that helped me realize that if writers and the general public stopped talking about weight, amongst other physical things, so critically, there would be so much more body acceptance for women and girls--especially girls--in this world. So thank you, Mindy, for allowing me to channel my inner-comedian and respond to my coworker by joking about, “why, thank you, I've had 4 meals today and may have gained weight at this moment.” In saying those words, I denied her the ability to tap into an insecurity. Thank you for always reminding me to flaunt it. Most importantly, thank you for being so honest and real about your journey to body acceptance that helped me get one step closer to mine.

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#37: Ralph Nader's newly opened Tort Law Museum

Not the sexiest of heroes, you say? A man who has made some questionable political choices? While that may be, due to my history, there is no way that I can let news of Ralph Nader’s Tort Law Museum opening pass without commemorating it here. 

As the daughter of a trial attorney who fought for plaintiff’s rights, Nader has always meant a lot to me. I know, I know, there were his ineffectual and divisive Presidential campaigns in 2000 and 2004, which led to the widely debated Nader effect. When George W Bush won the 2004 election, like others, I was pretty pissed at my childhood hero.  

Time has passed, and some of those wounds have healed (mostly). It certainly helps that Nader has gone back to doing what he does best: showing how important our legal system is in protecting consumers from corporate shortcuts and wrongdoing. That’s the goal of Nader’s ambitious new museum in Winstead, Connecticut. Here’s a good synopsis from John Culhane in Politico:

AMTL is meant, at least in part, to counter the narrative of the so-called “tort reformers.” Nader is puzzled and infuriated by their one-two punch, which has staggered the civil justice system by reducing the number of cases brought, and slashing the recovery of the plaintiffs who remain. Given the deterrent effect baked into tort law, these high barriers to litigation bleed off the incentive to make products, safety protocols and medical practice better.

Lest that sound dry, well, it’s not—great care was taken to make it eye-catching and interesting. From the same article:

Part of the reason for the museum’s success is the visual pop it achieves with outsized, dramatic illustrations of the cases. This dynamism isn’t surprising considering how Eisterhold Associates, the firm responsible for the National Civil Rights Museum and the Jurassic Park exhibit at Universal Studios, designed the AMTL.

It makes me leap for joy to see Nader try to set the record straight on the importance of giving the little guy his day in court against big corporations. After all, I am my father’s daughter—here’s a quote from his law firm Arthur, O’Neil, Mertz, Michel, & Brown: 

Rod's fundamental belief, which drove many of his accomplishments as a plaintiffs' attorney, was that it was a privilege and responsibility to stand up for those who could not stand up for themselves.

I love you Dad.

Thank you Ralph Nader, for continuing your decades-long fight against corporate greed that endangers peoples’ lives and safety. Thank you for opening a museum so that people can learn the truth about how moneyed interests have turned important consumer lawsuits—like the McDonald’s hot coffee case—into propaganda. Thank you for inspiring trial attorneys around the country, and for standing up for them. And thank you for giving spark and a sense of purpose to my Dad as he tackled his work each day.

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#36: Lenore Skenazy, author of “Free Range Kids”

It’s not always easy to be a parent in the United States if you believe that your kids can handle some unsupervised time. As I wrote in my last post, we fear for our children’s safety (despite them being incredibly safe). Many parents think their children should never be unsupervised; some think leaving a child alone should actually be illegal. Unfortunately, parents who buck this trend and let their children go to the park or walk home alone face criticism and even arrest.

That’s why my hero today is Lenore Skenazy, author of the influential book and blog Free Range Kids, the motto of which is “Children have the right to some unsupervised time, and parents have the right to give it to them without getting arrested.” Skenazy came up with the idea for Free Range Kids after she wrote a 2008 piece in the New York Sun about letting her 9-year-­old son ride the New York subway alone (if this sounds crazy to you, note that NYC is one of the safest big American cities and that Japanese kids often start riding the subway alone at 6). 

The national outrage her column caused—she appeared under the headline “World’€™s Worst Mom?” in many media outlets—inspired her to stand up for other parents like her, and try to ground helicopter parents.

Her blog offers great reminders that children have incredible abilities, and thrive when left alone. It offers a treasure trove of reassuring crime stats. It admittedly tries to shock some sense into people by publicizing the truly scary and ridiculous ways parents are punished by overprotective authorities. But most of all it is a loud voice of reason calling on parents to believe in their children, and raise them to believe in themselves.

And I think she’s helping. There is a rising call against overparenting, from many sources. When a couple in Maryland recently let their 10 and 6-year-old kids walk home alone from a park and were charged by Child Protective Services, mainstream news outlets seemed more sympathetic than when Lenore did the same thing in 2008. And a few days ago when I let my very capable five-year­-old walk half a block ahead of me on the sidewalk and turn the corner by herself, a nearby adult smiled at me and said “Free range kid!”

Thank you, Lenore Skenazy, for helping us raise brave, resilient kids, and for your tireless support of parents who let reason triumph over fear.

Contributed by Michael Arthur Skrzypek

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#35: The Love Story of Paul and Julia Child

The fight for women’s reproductive health has me thinking about the ways men support women. Protecting healthcare for women of all ages and income levels is going to take the work of men and women together. In trying to focus on the good, I’ve been trying think of stories that help me feel the support of men for women. The story that comes up again and again is Paul and Julia’s.

For those of you who haven’t read Julia Child’s utterly charming memoir, My Life in France, here’s a thumbnail sketch of their story. Julia and Paul met in Sri Lanka, where they both worked for the Office of Strategic Services, the US spy agency that was the predecessor of the CIA. Julia was in her 30s - not to mention 6′2″ - and was entering what was then seen as spinster territory. That didn’t deter Paul; they married in 1945. Ironically, after returning to the US, Julia enrolled in a cooking school in LA, and it was a disaster: "I was willing to put up with that awful cooking to get Julia," remarked Paul. 

Paul, an artist and poet, got a job in Paris to promote American arts through the State Department. It’s there that he introduces Julia to the food she will spend her life recreating: fine French cuisine. I love this description of their time in Europe from a fellow Julia & Paul fan: 

They lived in boring little towns and cramped urban apartments that reeked of fish. The only constant? Each other. Oh, and laughter! Lots and lots of laughter.

By the time Paul and Julia move back to the US, they were down on their luck but strong in their relationship. Julia’s cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, was rejected by several publishers, and Paul’s career was on the decline. But he was incredibly supportive of Julia’s plan to teach cooking classes and continue with her vision. He remodeled their kitchen—of special concern was raising the counters—to better suit needs. 

Finally, their mutual commitment to her work paid off—she got her show on WGBH, helped teach America to cook, and become the person we all know about. Paul’s support was unflagging. “Whatever it is, I will do it,” he told Julia. He eventually played the role of manager, photographer, recipe-tester, proofreader, and illustrator. He was at her side on every book tour. 

This article by Ruth Reichl shows how rare Paul’s support of Julia’s career was in the 1960′s:

Women all over America were feeling oppressed—and with good reason. I cannot count the women of my mother’s generation who paid heavily for their success. Their husbands resented it; their children did too. But Paul Child was a supremely confident man. 

So when my heart starts to sink with thoughts of the continuous (and largely male-driven) attack against women’s health, I try to remember that there are men like Paul Child who work to support women and challenge male dominance. And that we now live in a time where many men are going public in their support of Planned Parenthood.  

This helps to fill my heart back up. 

Thank you, Julia and Paul Child, for sharing your love story with the world. For being unconventional. For seeking adventure. For being funny. And for continuing to evolve and learn your entire lifetimes.

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#34: Barry Glassner's Paradoxically Calming Book, "Culture of Fear"

At one point in my life, I, like many Americans, believed there was danger everywhere. Kidnapping, murder, and death were all around us. We had to remain vigilant. The stress this caused was necessary in order to remain safe. Fearing strangers, not letting your kids out of your sight, and generally distrusting peoples’ motives —all reasonable responses to legitimate fears.

Then I read sociologist Barry Glassner’s book, Culture of Fear. 

Despite its title, this book has been one of the most calming influences on my life. Though I first read it almost 15 years ago, its influence hasn’t diminished. It’s actually increased, because I’ve gotten better at seeing the world the way Glassner does. And I’m much happier as a result. 

Glassner’s insight was that the things Americans report being most of afraid of—crime, kidnapping, airplane crashes—are statistically unlikely to happen. In other words, Americans have a lot of unnecessary fear, and his book explores why. 

His conclusion is something that now feels like an obvious truth: the feeling of danger many of us live with is not a natural response to a dangerous world. It comes from seeing near-constant media coverage of horrific but isolated events. He uses data to show that by focusing on the larger picture — that is, reality — we actually live in an incredibly safe time.

This was true in 2000, when the book came out, and it’s true now. Crime rates continue to fall. Our children are actually incredibly safe (being a parent, learning this was an immense relief). There’s even evidence that the entire world is getting safer. You’d never believe these statements from looking at the headlines, but that’s exactly Glassner’s point — constant attention to the news actually warps your sense of reality. Reading Culture of Fear taught me to filter out the relentless negativity of the news and look for the bigger patterns of what’s really going on. 

I think of Barry Glassner as the Godfather of The Hero Series.

Thank you, Barry Glassner, for writing Culture of Fear and showing me that I don’t have to live with so much fear. Thank you for teaching me how to fend off media crisis alerts and keep things in perspective. And thank you, most of all, for inspiring us all to focus on the good. 

Contributed by Michael Arthur Skrzypek

[Series note: This is a big turning point for the Hero Series. All of the posts to this point have been from me. I’m thrilled to bring on a new perspective. I’m looking forward to getting more. — MA]

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#33: The "Women in Product" Slack Group

It’s only been 5 days since Merci Grace, Product Management Lead at Slack, officially announced the creation of the Women in Product Slack group with this Medium post, but it already feels important. [if you’re not familiar with what Product means, travel on down to the bottom of this post.] 

Nothing like it has existed before, and the initial response shows that its time has certainly come—in under a week, the group has grown to 215 members across the world. Joining this community has been surprisingly wonderful for me, and I’m certainly not alone. A quick look at Its Slack channel turns up many appreciative comments: “Wow, what an awesome group!”; “I hadn’t thought of that. Thank you!! This group is great”; “This “Women in Product” community rocks!”

Last night was the first gathering of the SF Women in Product. It was organized by Ali Brandt, and it had the same positive energy as the Slack channel. Everyone was excited and happy to meet each other, comparing diverse experiences and roles. It felt as though we had all been wandering through forests, hacking alone on our own paths, when suddenly we hit a clearing and found each other.

This story is replete with heroes when it comes to expanding women’s roles in tech, and in business in general. The women in the group are incredible! The breadth of their skills, knowledge, and backgrounds is so impressive. At last night’s meetup, one woman started her career studying psychology and ended up in human-computer interaction design. Another was debating taking a break from the startup she’s working on to study design (she's already comfortable with her coding). There was the former lit major who used to work in book publishing, then saw the writing on the wall—pun intended—and did what it took to transition into tech. This smart group of leaders will do even more now that they’re connecting with each other.

And of course special attention should go to the hero who made it happen, Merci Grace. “After searching for my community I realized that I would have to start it.” Such a simple statement, but one that shows resolve, hard work, and vision. She continues to see it through and give it shape. There are now 36 Women in Product Slack channels. Whoa. 

Finally, a big nod to Slack. The product that allows for this kind of space for people to find each other is clearly filling a human need for community.

Thank you Merci Grace, Women in Product, and Slack. I look forward to seeing all of the greatness that comes out of this group!

_______________________________________________________________________

* Product = what is being built. A product manager’s job is to figure out how that thing will be built. Because products vary greatly, and team dynamics vary greatly, the role of product manager tends to vary from company to company. Some PM’s are engineers. Some are more design-oriented, working through the users experience of the product. And some are stronger managers, helping to guide bigger teams towards solutions.

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#32: Lady Gaga's "Til It Happens to You"

When I first saw it, like Chicago Tribune reporter Heidi Stevens, I wasn’t sure what I thought of Lady Gaga’s campus rape PSA, Til It Happens to You. The video, made by Thirteen director Catherine Hardwicke, is stylized, graphic, and upsetting. Under a big, 80s-style ballad, we see dramatic black-and-white reenactments of rape situations, including two girls being drugged and raped by a guy, alone in his room. This is not the sort of video I’d normally hold up as a good example of how to fight back against news-related anxiety or stress.

While the video is painful to watch, it’s cathartic at the end. It speaks to the power that can come from connecting with others. The women and men who walk down the hallway are together, and Lady Gaga’s voice sounds strong.

It’s good to see a pop star take on a topic like this. Even if you question her reasons for making this video—it’s obviously provocative and attention-grabbing—it’s an important issue to publicize. I’m glad that someone with her level of exposure is speaking out about it. And let’s face it, there are a lot less helpful ways to try to get attention as a pop star. 

The video helps further the conversation about a sensitive but all too common topic, and, hopefully, it will help people. Thank you for making Til It Happens to You, Lady Gaga.     

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#31: Politician Shirley Chisholm: Unbought and Unbossed

Embarrassingly, my first introduction to Shirley Chisholm was the 2014 stamp that she appeared on for Black History Month. (Now that I know more about her, I can definitely say that the stamp does not do her justice — it makes her look like James Brown.) 

I looked Chisholm up on Wikipedia to understand her impact and learned the basics: first black Congresswoman (1969-1983). Ran for president in 1972, a campaign oft-mentioned when Obama ran thirty years later.

The campaign she ran was seen as mostly symbolic, but she spoke out on important issues in ways that still ring true today. Her 1970 autobiography, Unbought and Unbossed, cited these astonishing statistics of women who died in pregnancy:

Illegal abortion is the cause of 25 percent of the white women’s deaths, 49 percent of the black women’s, and 65 percent of the Puerto Ricans’. 90 percent of the “therapeutic” abortions in New York City — the safe and legal ones during the regime of criminalization — are performed on white women. 

She goes on to say:

Such statistics convinced me that my instinctive feeling was right. A black woman legislator, far from avoiding the abortion question, was compelled to face it and deal with it.

For the rest of her career, Chisholm worked to help ensure safe reproductive healthcare for all women. Though her leadership encompassed many realms, this is one area where her voice rang particularly clear:

Thank you, Shirley Chisholm, for not fearing what others would think of you and doing what you thought was right. For fighting for people who couldn’t fight for themselves. And for being a leader for so many who came after you. Your strength is a great example for us all, even now, a decade after your death.

[heroseries]

#30: They Might Be Giants: Evolutionary Defenders

I was listening to They Might Be Giants’ There’s Only One Everything with my daughter and husband. I felt a wave of warm well-being rush over me. The song is from a “kid’s” album that the Giants, John Flansburgh and John Linnell, made about math. The curiosity shown in the immensely catchy, musically interesting songs appeal to people of all ages.  Michael (#22) called the album, “The Pixar movie of music--kids and adults love them the same. That’s REALLY hard to do.” 

There is so much to celebrate about TMBG. Of course there is their great early work, which I loved. But there’s more than just clever, off-beat pop to celebrate and two things stand out for me. One is their Here Comes Science album, another of their kids’ albums, which came out in 2009. It asserts in such a positive way that, in the words of its first track, “Science is Real.” I love the idea that parents across the country can use this as a fun way to introduce their kids to scientific curiosity. 

The second is Dial-a-song. From 1986 to 2003, TMBG’s massive imagination could not be contained by performance and record output. They had so many songs in their heads they wanted to get out that they started recording them on an answering machine in Brooklyn. They advertised the number in fliers and newspapers. They would record new songs almost every day, and thousands of people called in and got to hear early versions of songs that might end up on albums, or just little bits of songs that stay just as they are. Flansburgh and Linnell brought back Dial-a-Song earlier this year. Check out the latest. 

John and John, thank you so much for staying with me from teenage years to motherhood. Thank you for giving me the feeling I had when I listened to There’s Only One Everything. For your willingness to try different formats and do what it takes to keep your music out there. For your stance on science and evolution. For sharing your curiosity about the world with the rest of us. Finally, thank you (so much) for making albums my daughter likes that don’t drive me insane.

[heroseries]

#29: Comedian Larry Wilmore

.

When I put up Viktor Frankl (#28) on FB, I heard from one of the funniest people I know, whose path I get to crisscross when lucky. He mentioned that he’s a fan of Frankl’s work too. One reason: Frankl’s perspective that humor is an important tool for survival.  

When I watch news, it’s usually John Oliver. But I’m starting to add Larry Wilmore into the mix more regularly after hearing these interviews on Fresh Air. When the ads first went up for The Larry Wilmore show, I recognized him as the “Senior Black Correspondent” from the Daily Show. But this Feb 2015 interview filled in a lot of blanks about Wilmore’s background as a writer and actor (1980′s: police officer on Facts of Life; 1990′s: writer on a Rick Dees talk show, In Living Color, Fresh Prince, Jamie Foxx Show. In the 2000′s, he created The Bernie Mac show, which I need to check out, as he sounds especially proud of it as a groundbreaking work. It won an Emmy and Peabody. After that, he was a writer on the Office, where he appeared in a couple of episodes).      

I have many favorite moments from the first Wilmore interview, as well as this second one in Aug 2015. Here are a few of them: 

ON RACE: 

GROSS: What was it like for you to be one of only two black students in your high school class?

WILMORE: Well, it’s funny because I never went to a predominantly black school, so I always felt like - my phrase is, I feel like I’m at a family reunion and I’m not in the family, you know?

ON RELIGION:

GROSS: What did religion mean in your life or your family’s life?

WILMORE: It was really important to me. I thought about being a priest at one point to be honest with you when I was really young. And then I heard about the whole no-sex thing and I was like…

GROSS: (Laughter).

WILMORE: I don’t think that’s going to work out.

ON BEING A FEMINIST:

WILMORE: And I didn’t even know how much of a feminist I was. And I realized oh, my god, I was raised by a single mom who had to raise six kids. I have three sisters. Larry, you’ve been a feminist your whole life, you really didn’t know it until you’ve been presented with these issues. And it was the Cosby issue that made me realize how much I really cared about women’s issues and how much I realize it’s important for me to be an advocate for issues that aren’t necessarily my own - to be an ally for issues.

Finally, take a look at this list of some of his recent funny moments. Here’s a favorite: 

“Sharpton? Again?!” Wilmore asks incredulously. “Al, slow down man. You don’t have to respond to every black emergency. You’re not black Batman.”

“You’re literally stretching yourself thin,” he continues. “ Al, you need to eat food, not just airtime.”

Larry Wilmore, thanks for taking on the time slot that Colbert left behind. It’s not a job for the faint of heart. Thanks for creating the Keep It 100, and for making the people who come on your show stick to it. Thanks for fighting the expectations that networks have thrust on you for years, and staying funny. We can all learn a thing or two from you. 

[heroseries]

#28: Viktor Frankl

Rare video clip from 1972 on TED. The talk was entitled "Why Believe in Others."

Let’s just go for the big one, shall we? Why beat around the bush? 

(Sidenote: I’ve begun to think of heroes as having a certain amount of “reverse thinking” power. At one point, when I heard about Rupert Murdoch taking over National Geographic, affecting funding for climate change research for scientists because he’s a cc denier, I posted this on Twitter:  

My sense was: the bigger the dread, the greater the number of heroes it will take to knock out the negativity.)

Neurologist, psychiatrist and Auschwitz survivor Viktor Frankl is the sort of hero that many of us turn to when looking to make sense of the world. His seminal work, Man’s Search for Meaning, seems to have only gained in sales momentum in recent years. My family and I were Airbnb’ing a freaking timeshare in freaking Kauai, and at the side of a pool, an older man in his late 60s was sipping a piña colada, halfway through the book. It was at that moment that I knew Frankl had lasting power. 

Frankl’s gift is the ability to receive the darkest that the human soul can offer up and respond with inquiry and insight. His curiosity was a torch that stayed lit for the whole of his life. The video linked to above is a rare piece of footage from the 70s. If you are facing the terrible news of today, this is the video to watch. What Frankl says is a shared truth. It is as true now as ever:    

If we take man as he should be, we make him capable of becoming of what he can be. 

Viktor Frankl, it’s very hard to thank you for your contributions to our world. In trying to, I’m attempting to follow the path that you have opened up for us all. Thank you for staying curious, clear-eyed, and optimistic about human potential, knowing all that could go wrong. Thank you for making me believe too. Thank you for staying funny against the odds. I am better for having known you through your writing. Your work mattered. 

[heroseries]

#27: Boing Boing

"Nerdy curiosities from throughout the universe."

For Creating a Maker Space Since ‘88

Have been thinking about what piece of maker culture to hand to our new friend Ahmed Mohamed. What's the best introduction to the treasure trove that awaits him? 

By now you know about the horror show Ahmed experienced at his Texas school when he innocently brought in a clock he had built to show his teacher (while wearing a NASA shirt). This story is so powerful because it singularly distills how American fear mongering and ignorance is causing us to lag in science and technology. That it’s suppressing the emotional and intellectual growth of our kids. That it’s generally causing our country to suck.

At the same time, we have a very strong community of makers that is rushing in to support Ahmed. I loved the plan that anil  put together nearly instantaneously:

I think a safe place for Ahmed to start is Boing Boing. There are a couple of reasons for this: 1. If you are new to something, it’s nice to go to the source. Boing Boing is the granddaddy. 2. The spirit of Boing Boing could not be more positive. It’s a place of curiosity and creativity. It’s weathered storms, and stayed true to its roots. These people are doing what they do because they love it. 3. Ahmed will be exposed to new worlds in such a fun, curious way. 

Today’s hero is boingboing. It’s only getting better over time. It’s a comfortable old friend who always has new interesting things to say. In other words, the best kind of friend. Thank you, Mark Frauenfelder and Boing Boing staff, for your awesome spirit and curiosity. For keeping the torch lit. For being the opposite of what Ahmed experienced in his school. Thank you for being there.