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Musings about Ourselves and Other Strangers

Charlie Bresler
  • 4.7 (13)
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Musings about Ourselves and Other Strangers Podcast

If you've ever been surprised by your own thoughts, well, you're not alone. From the time we're born to the time we die, we spend our lives meeting strangers — including the one within. We also spend our lives learning about many of those strangers, and turning them into colleagues, friends, and family. In Musings about Ourselves and Other Strangers, host Charlie Bresler talks with fascinating people on their musings about family, community, work, helping others, and getting to know the stranger inside ourselves. Where do we fit in the world we all inhabit together? Join us as our musing leads us to some unexpected places. Charlie Bresler is the co-founder of The Life You Can Save and former President of a large international retail company. Here he investigates ideas that he has been “musing” on since he obtained his Ph.D. in clinical and social psychology way back in 1984.

  1. Episode 22: Musings with Vincent van der Holst

    SEP 20

    Episode 22: Musings with Vincent van der Holst

    Musings host Charlie Bresler wrote a piece called “You Don’t Have to Be Brave to Save Lives,” (www.thelifeyoucansave.org/you-dont-have-to-be-brave-to-save-lives) about how us ordinary humans can do good from the comfort of our living rooms. Someone should probably send that URL to Vincent “Vin” van der Holst.  Founder of BOAS, a company that both saves denim from landfills and donates profits to charitable organizations, Vin is already doing the hard work to help save lives. But in June of 2024, he decided to do more: on June 7, he undertook to break a world record and cycle at least 130 kilometers (about 81 miles) no-handed. Every kilometer he rode brought more money to the Against Malaria Foundation.  Did he make it? Listen and find out! In this conversation, Vin and Charlie discuss philanthropy and sustainability, but also the impacts of mental health on our behavior and choices in life. What drives us to do the things we do, believe the things we believe, act according to our beliefs or in contradiction to them? To learn more about Vin’s world record attempt, read the article on The Life You Can Save website: donorbox.org/tlycs-us-against-malaria-foundation/fundraiser/vincent-van-der-holst-1. Also, check out BOAS and buy their products to help reduce our impact on our natural environment and donate to worthy causes: boas.co And donate to help prevent the spread of malaria through the Against Malaria Foundation, either via The Life You Can Save (www.thelifeyoucansave.org/best-charities/against-malaria-foundation) or directly on their website (www.againstmalaria.com). Connect with Vincent: Instagram - @vintagedenim LinkedIn - @invincentvanderholst Website -  boas.co Musings About Ourselves and Other Strangers is the podcast for the non-profit organization The Life You Can Save and is hosted by co-founder Charlie Bresler. Please check out other episodes as well as our website for ideas on how you too can extend your impact for good in the world: www.thelifeyoucansave.org.

    43 min
  2. Episode 21: Musings with Annabelle Chauncy

    AUG 15

    Episode 21: Musings with Annabelle Chauncy

    In 2008, Australian entrepreneurs Annabelle Chauncy and David Everett founded School for Life. The mission statement tells it all, really: “To educate poverty out of existence.” The co-founders met in Kenya where they were working as volunteers, and they saw in real time how education changes lives for the better, for individuals and their communities. They returned to Australia determined to build a school in rural Uganda. In partnership with Rotary, they raised over a half-million Australian dollars, and in 2011, Katuuso Primary and Vocational School opened its doors for the first time. Since that day, Annabelle and her team have continued helping developing communities transform, making these communities more successful and sustainable by making education more accessible. In this fascinating conversation, host Charlie Bresler and Annabelle Chauncy muse over a wide range of topics, including the importance of education, how families and communities influence the adults we become, how parents — and parenting — impact our lives and perspectives, and how we can stay positive and motivated in the face of overwhelming obstacles.  Learn more about Annabelle and The School for Life on their website, www.schoolforlife.org.au. You can donate there or at The Life You Can Save (www.thelifeyoucansave.org).  Musings About Ourselves and Other Strangers is the podcast for the non-profit organization The Life You Can Save and is hosted by co-founder Charlie Bresler. Please check out other episodes as well as our website for ideas on how you too can extend your impact for good in the world: www.thelifeyoucansave.org.

    44 min
  3. Episode 20: Musings with Dr. Wendy Harrison

    JUL 18

    Episode 20: Musings with Dr. Wendy Harrison

    Born on a dairy farm in West Sussex, Dr. Wendy Harrison has been around animals and agriculture her entire life. In fact, she stated her desire to be a vet at the ripe old age of six. While doing post-doc research and study at the University of Georgia, Dr. Harrison took a volunteer position at the non-profit Heifer International. She describes having a “Eureka moment” during this time, when she fully realized the linkage between animals and humans and how the health of all are “woven together.” One key part of her research has been in the attempt to end schistosomiasis, a waterborne parasite that can cause organ failure and cancer in its host. Because so many diseases such as this occur in neglected areas among marginalized populations, the diseases — and their victims — have been largely ignored by Western society.  To help combat parasitic diseases, Dr. Harrison joined up with the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI) in 2009. She became CEO of Unlimit Health (formerly SCI Foundation) in 2019. In this interview, Charlie Bresler hosts Dr. Harrison and Matias Nestore, Senior Associate in Research and Evaluation at The Life You Can Save, in a conversation about tropical diseases, mass treatment and prevention interventions, and how health systems can be strengthened through collaboration. To support Unlimit Health’s work, you can donate via The Life You Can Save website or directly at unlimithealth.org. Links: unlimithealth.org Heifer International - ​​www.heifer.org Unlimit Health Ending Parasitic Diseases Together - Strategy 2023-2028 A Road Map for Neglected Tropical Diseases 2021-2030 from World Health Organization

    39 min
  4. Episode 19: Musings with Felix Brooks-church

    JUN 20

    Episode 19: Musings with Felix Brooks-church

    Starvation isn’t only a deficit of calories, it’s also a deficit of nutrients. Children especially suffer when the food they do get doesn’t meet all their nutritional needs. Felix Brooks-church has some big ideas to end the “hidden hunger” of micronutrient deficiency, and in 2013, he and David Dodson co-founded the non-profit organization Sanku to help close the gap.  One of Felix’s biggest ideas is the dosifier. In many places in Africa, a starchy flour is the staple food people consume. A dosifier adds critical nutrients to the flour, providing key vitamins and minerals the flour alone lacks.  Coupled with smart technology from Vodafone, Sanku is able to reach millions, and the organization is on track to assist more than 30 million people in getting the nutrients they need by 2026.  We hope you’ll enjoy this encouraging conversation. After you’ve listened, please consider making a donation to Sanku either via thelifeyoucansave.org or directly at projecthealthychildren.org. Musings About Ourselves and Other Strangers is the podcast for the non-profit organization The Life You Can Save and is hosted by co-founder Charlie Bresler. Please check out other episodes at thelifeyoucansave.org/musings/.

    50 min
  5. Episode 18: Musings with Joshua Ross and Adam McCurdie of Humanitix

    MAY 3

    Episode 18: Musings with Joshua Ross and Adam McCurdie of Humanitix

    What do concert tickets and philanthropy have in common? Generally, not much, but a couple of friends of The Life You Can Save are working very hard to change that. Tech entrepreneurs Joshua Ross and Adam McCurdie could have made a fortune building their ticketing platform start up, but a trip to war-torn Sri Lanka fueled their desires to do work that was truly meaningful. It took a few years to get all the pieces aligned, but in 2016, Humanitix launched with a mission to be "The home of tickets for good, not greed." And in less than a decade, they've transformed more than $10 million (Australian) dollars to healthcare, housing, education, and more — including a donation of $4M AUD to The Life You Can Save! In this episode, Charlie talks with co-founders Josh and Adam about the history of Humanitix, the good it's done so far, and their mission to do even more in the years to come. Find more about Humanitix and founders Josh and Adam at their website, humanitix.com/us. Musings About Ourselves and Other Strangers is the podcast for the non-profit organization The Life You Can Save and is hosted by co-founder Charlie Bresler. Please check out other episodes as well as our website for ideas on how you too can extend your impact for good in the world: www.thelifeyoucansave.org.

    1h 3m
  6. Episode 17: Musings with Peter Singer

    MAR 18

    Episode 17: Musings with Peter Singer

    When  the book The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty was first published in 2009, it completely changed (and re-ignited) the conversation around poverty, ethics, and philanthropy. Clearly it affected Musings host Charlie Bresler, who, after reading the book, ultimately approached its author about starting a non-profit based around philanthropy. According to its author, Peter Singer, those with money are behaving unethically — even immorally — if they don’t take steps to end the poverty and suffering of others. Singer’s parents were Austrian Jews who immigrated to Australian to escape the Nazis. Tragically, three of his four grandparents died at the hands of the Nazi regime, and in this episode, Peter and Charlie discuss how this history may or may not have impacted his world view.  It’s a fascinating conversation around why we give or don’t. As you might imagine, the reasons are complex, rooted in human psychology, tinged with fear and cognitive dissonance, and seasoned with a lack of cultural pressure, thanks to an idea called the “diffusion of responsibility.” We hope you’ll enjoy this episode and share it widely. And remember, you can request a free copy of The Life You Can Save from our website: www.thelifeyoucansave.org/the-book. More about Peter Singer: Raised in Australia, Peter Singer was awarded a scholarship to attend Oxford, where he received a Bachelor of Philosophy and later a Master’s. He was a Radcliffe lecturer at Oxford, a visiting professor at NYU, and spent most of his career as a professor in Melbourne. In 1999 he moved to Princeton to teach, and in 2011 to London to lecture at the New College of the Humanities.  Musings About Ourselves and Other Strangers is the podcast for the non-profit organization The Life You Can Save, and is hosted by co-founder Charlie Bresler. Please check out other episodes as well as our website for ideas on how you too can extend your impact for good in the world.

    1h 2m
  7. Episode 16: Musings with Caroline Teti

    MAR 4

    Episode 16: Musings with Caroline Teti

    Most of us in the west have our first pair of shoes long before we can actually walk. Not true for Caroline Teti, who had her first pair of shoes at 12, when it was time to go to high school. From a very early age, Caroline understood the importance of education for finding a way out of the limitations that come from poverty — fewer choices, poorer health, less ability to contribute to her community. Her family and the people in her village all encouraged Caroline to pursue a formal education. And she did.  Caroline took advantage of every opportunity that came her way, working hard to get a Bachelor’s degree and teaching credentials, then a Master’s degree, all while caring for her family. And she uses that education to help raise others out of the kind of poverty she experienced. Now the Director of Recipients Advocacy at GiveDirectly Global, Caroline previously spent years in the public sector working on reproductive health, education, water, sanitation, and other problems that impact people living in extreme poverty.  We hope you’ll enjoy Charlie’s conversation with this absolutely inspiring woman. To find out more about Caroline Teti and GiveDirectly, visit the GiveDirectly website at www.givedirectly.org. Musings About Ourselves and Other Strangers is the podcast for the non-profit organization The Life You Can Save, and is hosted by co-founder Charlie Bresler. Please check out other episodes as well as our website for ideas on how you too can extend your impact for good in the world.

    44 min
  8. Episode 15: Musings with Dylan Matthews

    FEB 12

    Episode 15: Musings with Dylan Matthews

    One of its first three employees, journalist Dylan Matthews is a senior correspondent and head writer for Future Perfect at Vox. For those unfamiliar, Future Perfect tells stories about people and organizations “finding the best ways to do good.” Dylan came across Peter Singer’s book The Life You Can Save at a formative age, helping cement his interests around global health, anti-poverty efforts, philanthropy, and economic policy. In this episode, Dylan and Charlie muse about difficulties in maintaining the distinctions between truth and falsehoods in this age of social media, the necessity of transparency when dealing with societal problems, and the evolutions of the modern American political parties — all through the lens of the obligations and functions of journalism. It’s a fascinating discussion we hope you’ll share! To learn more about Dylan Matthews and Future Perfect and to find his writings, follow him on Vox: www.vox.com/authors/dylan-matthews.  Musings on Ourselves and Other Strangers is the podcast for the non-profit organization The Life You Can Save, and is hosted by co-founder Charlie Bresler. Please check out other episodes as well as our website for ideas on how you too can extend your impact for good in the world.

    47 min
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4.7
out of 5
13 Ratings

About

If you've ever been surprised by your own thoughts, well, you're not alone. From the time we're born to the time we die, we spend our lives meeting strangers — including the one within. We also spend our lives learning about many of those strangers, and turning them into colleagues, friends, and family. In Musings about Ourselves and Other Strangers, host Charlie Bresler talks with fascinating people on their musings about family, community, work, helping others, and getting to know the stranger inside ourselves. Where do we fit in the world we all inhabit together? Join us as our musing leads us to some unexpected places. Charlie Bresler is the co-founder of The Life You Can Save and former President of a large international retail company. Here he investigates ideas that he has been “musing” on since he obtained his Ph.D. in clinical and social psychology way back in 1984.

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