SoftPower/FulStories

Note: This is the second of a two-part episode. We strongly recommend you start with Part 1.John Limbert was among 66 Americans taken hostage in the U.S. Embassy in November 1979, and among 52 who were held 444 days--an historical event that riveted America and the world. Episode 1 took us to the eve of the Iranian revolution. Here, Limbert shares his account of his time as a hostage and some well-earned thoughts on what is happening in Iran right now.

"For lust of knowing what should not be known, We make the golden journey to Samarkand." - James Elroy FleckerThroughout his life, Ambassador John Limbert kept returning to Iran. As a student, as a Peace Corps volunteer, as a husband. He could not seem to stay away. But then, as a U.S. diplomat in Tehran — for a harrowing 444 days — he could not leave. This episode takes us to the verge of the Iran hostage crisis. For all his knowledge and experience, including later serving as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, his is a voice we should be listening to.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

As a young American girl living in Colombia, with little understanding of what it meant to be from the United States, Andrea Cristancho had a firsthand brush with grassroots U.S. soft power — and it may have changed her life. One thing is certain: When, years later, the roles were reversed, and she was the American helping to implement development programs overseas, the impact was every bit as profound.In 2025, she was among a group of 10 individuals who received the William R. Rivkin Award for Constructive Dissent from the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA).'SoftPower/FulStories' uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing. But forget politics, policy, or punditry; this is all about the stories.

As a young Peace Corps volunteer in Romania, Sean Cotter saw the reverence given to poets and philosophers and suspected he had found his people. But in the beginning, he couldn't even understand a child's spoken words. Flash forward to the present, where Sean, as the world's preeminent translator of Romanian literature into English, now helps shine a light on a place — and a people — he has loved for a very long time.'SoftPower/FulStories' uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing. But forget politics, policy, or punditry; this is all about the stories.

"I am interested in what it takes to be the happy endings that our elders have been waiting for." --Kao Kalia YangAward-winning author Kao Kalia Yang's voice has always been there, even though it wasn't always obvious. But even when she held it in, even when others couldn't hear it, it was there. And before she became a singular speaker (and soft, powerful storyteller), that voice found its home on the page. From her childhood in a refugee camp, to finding her way in the United States, to becoming the most decorated Hmong American writer, to life as a person of color in Minnesota, Kalia's stories are unforgettable."Powerful Stories" is the Minnesota offshoot of SoftPower/FulStories, which uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.Episode artwork inspired by SEO KIM, from her cover of Kao Kalia Yang's "Home on the Page."

Note: This is the second of a two-part episode. We strongly recommend you start with Part 1.Paul E. White's stories cannot be contained in a single episode. In fact, this is the second of a two-part episode in which neither progresses past his very first assignment, in Laos in the 1960s. From there, he went on to become a legend in the USAID ranks--and it's easy to see why. In this episode, we meet Paul as a newly minted USAID refugee relief and rehabilitation officer, continuing to do development work with the Hmong in the middle of a hot war zone.

Paul E. White's stories cannot be contained in a single episode. In fact, this is the first of a two-part episode in which neither progresses past his very first assignment, in Laos in the 1960s. From there, he went on to become a legend in the USAID ranks--and it's easy to see why. In this episode, we meet Paul as a brand new International Voluntary Services teacher doing development work in the middle of a hot war zone.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

This is an episode about answering the call--whether it comes from a widowed father, a Maasai student, or a couple of guys named John F. Kennedy and Sargent Shriver. Diane Raleigh not only answered the call but also found herself needed in each situation. Again and again, stepping up for those in need. Answer the call, step up, repeat.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

"You can't help people from a distance." - Sergio Viera de MelloWhen it comes to overseas experiences, Keith Mines has seen a lot, from a remarkable set of vantage points: from LDS missionary work to active-duty assignments as a soldier to various leadership roles as a diplomat, and finally serving at the United States Institute of Peace. Through it all, he never stopped fighting for the little guy, and he never stopped showing up--which, when all is said and done, truly is the secret of success.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

If you are a six-foot-six white guy in Liberia, you are going to stick out--and Glenn Ivers did stand out. But, if you add to that infectious enthusiasm, humor, and maybe throw in a new soccer pitch, you might become unforgettable. That describes Glenn, then and now.'SoftPower/FulStories' uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing. But forget politics, policy, or punditry; this is all about the stories.

"If we don't fight hard enough for the things we stand for, at some point we have to recognize that we don't really stand for them." --Paul WellstoneHer name in Ojibwe is Anisiiwiikwe, which means "woman made of stone," an apt description of Ashley Fairbanks. And though her skills and experiences are varied — ranging from art and design work to writing, to political campaigns, to climate work, to community activism, and beyond —everything is rooted in positively activating others. Recently, with her founding of "Stand With Minnesota" —a community-driven, web-based platform designed to support immigrants and refugees, particularly with aid in response to ICE's Operation Metro Surge — this woman made of stone has helped those in need to the tune of $20 million... and counting."Powerful Stories" is the Minnesota offshoot of SoftPower/FulStories, which uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

"Come as a visitor, not as a spy." -Zambian proverb"Eliza" is better known as Beth Jere, who is cheered in her old Zambian village and the surrounding areas for good reason. She was the first American her village ever knew, and she stayed on--helping locally at first, then regionally. Wherever she found herself, she was on the front lines of the greatest lifesaving effort ever by the United States. An episode of clear contrasts: past success vs. current missteps...SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

As a young man, Mike Tidwell traveled halfway across the globe to teach rural Africans a potential new livelihood. As with most Peace Corps volunteers, he found himself on the receiving end of the most prominent lessons. Decades later, after great success as a journalist, an author, and a climate activist, he still yearns to teach people about the environment. Only now, he works closer to home. Much, much closer. As in, his own backyard...SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

This special bonus episode of SP/FS features Troy University professor Michael Slobodchikoff, an expert on US-Russia relations. He pays particular attention to Russia's soft power efforts. In this fascinating conversation, he shares the history and distinct differences between US and Russian soft power. Our conversation goes from the Soviet Union to the modern day, and how Russia's most significant achievement may actually be the US pressing pause on its own soft power efforts. (Updated to include the implications of the US war in Iran.)SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

Raised in a Ghanian-American family, Katherine Ntihmoah's parents instilled within her the idea that her only limits would be self-imposed. She took that to heart and has been expanding her limits throughout her life--with Americorps, the U.S. State Department as a diplomat, and now at Indiana University's prestigious Hamilton-Lugar School of Global and International Studies, where she seeks to break down the limitations of the next generation of global leaders."Powerful Stories" is the Minnesota offshoot of SoftPower/FulStories, which uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

"No human is more human than another human" -General Romeo Dallaire.John Berry's long overseas career, spanning the Peace Corps, USAID, and the United Nations, took him to nearly 100 countries, with positive benefits for countless people. But there's one country that looms over all the others. The one with the people he couldn't save. And the real ghosts of Rwanda follow him to this day.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." - James BaldwinKa Vang was born in Laos and raised in Minnesota, in a world shaped by memory, migration, and the quiet weight of what is carried across generations. As a Hmong-American storyteller and journalist, she exposes her culture and her experiences so they may be seen. It is telling, then, that the current situation in Minnesota finds her hoping to become invisible, at least to those sowing hatred and chaos in the streets."Powerful Stories" is the Minnesota offshoot of SoftPower/FulStories, which uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

Less than 24 hours after he graduated from college, Paul Barker was on a plane, en route to Iran, where he would spend the next five years as a Peace Corps volunteer, immersed in Iranian culture and history. And though he followed that with three decades of international work, he remained--remains!--in the thrall of Iran. And he understands, more so than almost anyone, the scope of the cataclysm unfolding there. (Recorded on March 12, 2026.)SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

John Dinkelman--or "Dink" as he is known to countless current and former U.S. Foreign Service Officers--is something of a legend. He spent nearly four decades serving his country as a diplomat--and now he serves those same diplomats as the President of the American Foreign Service Association (or AFSA). And, if there's a more caring and compassionate steward, I have not yet met them.In difficult times, true leadership is priceless.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

As a child, growing up in South Minneapolis, Medaria Arradondo--or, "Rondo"-- was aware that the adults in his neighborhood were watching. They had the kids' backs, but their expectations were very high. Flash forward. After more than three decades with the Minneapolis Police Department, including as its Chief during the tumultuous period following the murder of George Floyd, Rondo's perspective has shifted in a subtle but powerful way. What motivates him now is that our children are watching. And, in order to do the right thing when it matters most, the seeds must be planted now."Powerful Stories" is the Minnesota offshoot of SoftPower/FulStories, which uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

Claire St. Amant left her beloved Texas to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine, halfway across the world. When she was finished, she was ready to return to Texas. But what she learned in between--in the classroom of the Peace Corps--were the skills that propelled her success as a reporter, then a producer on the television show 48 Hours, then as a podcast host and producer for Final Days on Earth (a true crime program that has us hooked), and now as an author. This week: From Texas to Tysmenytsya and back to Texas.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

Even though her classmates may have recognized her as a future ambassador before she did herself, Kate Byrnes' swift ascent from the U.S. Information Agency to the Department of State to, yes, becoming a U.S. Ambassador, left little to doubt. A big part of her success was learning at a young age (a very young age, in her case) the value of showing up, being present, listening, and finding the ever-present opportunities that present themselves daily as diplomats interact with people around the globe.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

In the face of ICE's sweeping detention and deportation push, Minnesotans are responding not with panic or illegal action, but with a steady, deeply-rooted ethic of neighborliness--quietly organizing, opening their homes and houses of worship, showing up in public to bear witness, and drawing on the State's long traditions of civic engagement and moral seriousness, to insist that dignity, due process and basic human decency remain stronger than fear. And it is with every one of these sentiments that we introduce "Jane" from Minneapolis. She is a loving mother of three and an entrepreneur, juggling an equally full-time commitment to her community's needs. She is one of 1.5 million U.S. citizens who have no pathway through marriage to offer their spouses legal status or citizenship. All of this while her mixed-status family finds itself in a present-day occupation.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

Everybody assumed that Marian Rivman would grow out of her high school fascination with the Peace Corps. She did not. But her early experiences in the Peace Corps left a lot to be desired. Dangerous areas, bats, rats, and snakes, and even a dead body in her living room, were enough for her to question what she had gotten herself into. Enter the Diaz family. And Marian Rivman's life would never be the same.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

(Note: This is the second of a two-part episode. We strongly recommend you start with Part 1.)Mark Ward is a committed humanitarian who led teams to provide critical help after natural or man-made disasters. He saved lives and restored hope to communities affected by many disasters over two decades, including the 2004 tsunami and the Syrian Civil War. In (so-called) retirement, he returned to Afghanistan to lead a humanitarian organization. None other than George H.W. Bush dubbed him "Mr. Disaster." He is--in short--a guy whose stories cannot be contained in a single episode.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

Mark Ward is a committed humanitarian who led teams to provide critical help after natural or man-made disasters. He saved lives and restored hope to communities affected by many disasters over two decades, including the 2004 tsunami and the Syrian Civil War. In (so-called) retirement, he returned to Afghanistan to lead a humanitarian organization. None other than George H.W. Bush dubbed him "Mr. Disaster." He is--in short--a guy whose stories cannot be contained in a single episode.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

From the time of her childhood, Christine Herbert seemed destined to follow those Saturday morning TV commercials proclaiming "the toughest job you'll ever love." In her case, it meant rural Zambia and, far more than the snakes, "flat dogs," or baby owls, it was the people she came to treasure. And they, in turn, loved the muzungu who kept them all entertained.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

PLEASE LEND YOUR EARS: This inaugural episode of 'Powerful Stories" (PS1) features a chorus of Minnesota voices—frontline witnesses, supportive neighbors, community leaders—bearing witness to the unprecedented and antagonistic ICE surge in the Twin Cities. Their impressions are raw, immediate, and very personal. Together, they help form a portrait of a deep, diverse community refusing to fracture under pressure. To a person, this is a moment unlike any they have ever experienced. From my seat on the other side of the Atlantic, I wanted to see and hear through their eyes and ears, and to explore the sense I have that this Administration picked the wrong place to visit with retribution and heavy-handed cruelty. Minnesota voices: Jacques Harvieux, Bill Moseley, Lenny Russo, Brent Snyder, Jerry Thom, Dmitri Wurst, Aidan Zielske, Cathy (“Dubious Aunt Deb”) Zielske, Daniel Zielske, & thoseothers who know who they are.Ambient protest sounds recorded in Minneapolis on January 24 and January 31, 2026. Voices recorded between January 15– February 1, 2026Please share this with people you think should hear it, and don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly if you have stories you feel need to be told. 'Powerful Stories' is an offshoot of 'SoftPower/FulStories' (SP/FS), focusing on inspirational community leaders and stories within the United States. SP/FS uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing. But forget politics, policy, or punditry; this is all about the stories.

Cy Kuckenbaker is an award-winning American filmmaker, video artist, and arts professor. He is also something of an expert on Lithuania and its tortured past. First as a Peace Corps volunteer, then as a Fulbright scholar, his immersion in the small Baltic country was profound. The lessons he's learned echo powerfully in the present.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

Chris Thomas remembers well where he came from and how he got to where he is. As a young Peace Corps volunteer in rural Sierra Leone, he quickly understood that the people who had so warmly welcomed him into the village were rapidly teaching him valuable lessons about life and community. It's fair to say that Chris has spent the rest of his life paying those lessons forward and helping to unleash human ingenuity all over the world.'SoftPower/FulStories' uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing. But forget politics, policy, or punditry; this is all about the stories.

Hamse Warfa's remarkable life has taken him from war-torn Somalia to currently-torn Minnesota. A small list of his stops between these two locations includes refugee camps in Kenya, Harvard, the Minnesota State Government, and the U.S. Department of State, as the highest-ranking Somali-American Presidential appointee ever. He did not regularly receive formal education until he entered high school in the United States, yet he now possesses a Bachelor's degree, and Masters of Science, and a PhD. Currently, he's the CEO of World Savvy, an educational non-profit. Oh, and he's the author of two (going on three) books and the co-founder of a blockchain technology company. He is, by any estimation, remarkable.Unlike many SP/FS programs, this one is particularly of the moment. I was born and raised in Minnesota; it is my hometown. What is happening there right now is as chilling as it is unprecedented. And, though I live away from there now, I spend every day feeling Minnesota--as, I hope, you do too.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

SP/FS is proud to share the new episode of Global Development Interrupted, a podcast and Substack page we follow enthusiastically. You may remember that GDI's founder and host, Leah Petit, was featured on SP/FS #18 (go find it if you haven't yet listened — she's great), talking about her long career in global health work. GDI shares the voices of people whose work was upended when USAID was dismantled and foreign aid was cut, revealing what the loss means for America and progress worldwide. Leah's experience, wit, and stellar guest choices make GDI a must-listen here at SP/FS HQ. Even when that guest is SP/FS creator Christopher Wurst...For more info, go to: https://globaldevinterrupted.substack.com/

He left the U.S. as Allan J. Wind, but by the time his Peace Corps stint in Ecuador ended, he had been rechristened as "Dr. Alonzo" - which is what his driver's license now says. From being an unlikely radio star, to a health minister's good luck charm, to a series of NGO roles worldwide, and eventually to Gaza in the midst of a war, Allen J. Alonzo Wind has had an incredible journey.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

Jody Olsen called her Peace Corps memoir 'A Million Miles' - and while the distance from her traditional Mormon upbringing in Utah and a rural Tunisian health clinic may not have been a literal million miles, it likely felt like even more. But those miles brought countless lessons, all of which she put to good use when, after decades of leadership roles within the Peace Corps, she became its 20th Director.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

Let's face it, 2025, things could have gone a whole lot better. But it was the birth year for SP/FS, and on this special bonus episode, virtually the entire SP/FS Class of '25 storytellers return with reflections on the year past and wishes for 2026. Join us for a special cup of kindness.Guest voices: Steve Herman, Pamela White, Jack & Sarah Seybold, Fred de Sam Lazaro, Warren Acuncius, Julia Irwin, Steve Callahan, Roland Merullo, Betsy Small, Keith Mines, Florence Reed, Mark D. Walker, Jon Cebra, Michael Varga, Noelle Ojo, Lewis Lucke, Denise Deneaux, Ben East, Evelyn LaTorre, Skip Waskin, Aunt Deb (aka Cathy Zielske), and Carl Henn.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

As a young boy, dreaming of becoming an archeologist, Lewis Lucke wanted to visit the Holy Lands to see if the Bible stories he'd read were true. Indeed, his career did lead him overseas, though as a diplomat with USAID--from West Africa to Central America, finally the Middle East, and eventually as a US ambassador. Along the way, he confirmed many times over there are many stories that you just can't make up.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

Another holiday meal means more time at the table with Aunt Deb (who was kind enough to share her own fruitcake recipe--drenched in attitude and bourbon). And yes, she came with questions. But our guests handled her with brilliance and finesse. Featuring long-time USAID veteran Julius Coles; returned Peace Corps volunteer E. Scott Osbourne; US military, State Department, and Institute of Peace veteran Keith Mines: former US diplomat and USAID alumna Noelle Ojo; and Jack and Sarah Seybold, who served as Peace Corps volunteers together in Brazil.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

He calls his enterprise "Million Mile Walker," which is both a pun (his name, after all, is Mark Walker) and a description of a decades-long journey that has taken him all over the world, always searching for ways to improve the lives of people less fortunate than himself. SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

As a Peace Corps volunteer and then as a public health specialist, including with USAID, Leah Petit has seen firsthand the impact of global health programs. Not only in lives saved--full stop--but in global stability and security. And when she saw these programs being dismantled and former colleagues' motives questioned, she took action, starting 'Global Development Interrupted,' a podcast and Substack platform that documents the lives and work of those affected when US foreign assistance was cut, and, tragically, the suffering around the world that is becoming impossible to ignore. It is a project we strongly believe in.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

It makes sense that one of Denise Deneaux's early literary heroes was a woman who traveled the world with utter fearlessness. Because later, as a Peace Corps volunteer assigned to Chile during Pinochet’s repressive rule, she dealt with guns, danger, threats, and harassment--once sitting in a police station with her new baby on her lap. Her takeaways: tolerance, resilience, and greater empathy for people everywhere who are repressed. For this episode, Denise reads a letter to her mother that she hadn’t seen in more than 40 years.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

Peter Hessler knew from an early age that he wanted to be a writer. He was also vividly aware that he needed something to write about. It turned out that the thing was China, where he was sent as a Peace Corps volunteer. It became the subject of a trio of books and a series of New Yorker articles. He was among the first groups of Peace Corps volunteers allowed in China, and later recounted their departure. And he knows this much: It is better to be there than to be absent.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

Join us at the Thanksgiving table when Aunt Deb brings both her green jello mold (the celery is a must) and, of course, her dubious questions. Over four hearty courses, she has four barbed questions--for former USAID veteran Steve Callahan, returned Peace Corps volunteers Evelyn LaTorre and Sarah Quinn, and Foreign Service Officer Jon Cebra. Their responses (and some pumpkin pie) provide the perfect dessert.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

As a young man, Aaron Williams challenged the norms of his peers by aspiring to broaden his horizons as a Peace Corps volunteer. It was something they hadn't seen coming. But then, Aaron likely even surprised himself when, after two decades of work in the private sector and with USAID, he became the Peace Corps' 18th Director—something his college self certainly did not see coming.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

MaryAnn Shank is a writer and former teacher who, despite growing up surrounded by the birth of Silicon Valley, found her deepest inspiration among the women of Somalia, half a world away. She has been celebrating strong and passionate women ever since.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

This is less a bonus episode than it is a bookend. (We recommend you start with Episode #13.) Last time around, Skip Waskin barely survived his first-ever USAID assignment in then-Zaire. Flash forward, and he is now leading USAID's biggest mission in Afghanistan. There are perilous echoes to Zaire, but on a much larger stage with life and death consequences.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

Skip Waskin's long career at USAID involved leading some of the Agency's largest and most important missions, including Russia and Afghanistan. But these illustrious roles almost eluded him — because he almost didn't make it past his very first assignment, as an embassy intern and a beginner contractor in a country formerly known as Zaire. SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

Steve Herman had a notion — already as a child, discovering the magical "SW" button on his grandmother's radio — that broadcasting somehow lay in his future. He began his career early and settled into a long tenure as a foreign correspondent and bureau chief with the Voice of America (VOA), eventually landing a position in the White House. Here, he outlines the history of the storied US soft power juggernaut along with a wealth of firsthand stories.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

Reverend Jennifer Butler sensed as a young person that she might need to leave her community and her known world in order to find herself. She did. And then she did. And in finding herself, she has also found ways to help countless others.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

Nothing has come easy for Michael Varga. In the Peace Corps, he had the toughest assignment in an already difficult country. As a diplomat, he faced huge challenges. And now, in retirement, battling cancer, he is dealing with brutal obstacles. But as an artist--which he also is--he meets the world with unwavering wonder and kindness. In work, as in life, he remains an inspiration.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

Journalist Fred de Sam Lazaro created the Undertold Stories Project more than three decades ago, bringing stories from some of the most remote parts of the world into the living rooms of PBS NewsHour viewers and classrooms of journalism students. He has reported from more than 60 countries and numerous US communities, always seeking the small, "under-told" story that compellingly illustrates larger themes. Here, he shares some favorites, weighs in on US soft power, and gives a peek behind the curtain of his long-running project.SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.