The Optimist View
Our weekend edition long form journalism explores in-depth solutions to global issues.
The Optimist View: Chaos as a catalyst for breakthroughs in medicine
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." - Marcel Proust BY: Amelia Buckley Among other threadbare patches in the social fabric, the pandemic has exposed the shortfalls in public health funding that have plagued many countries for years. Read More...
The Optimist View: Reflections on activism from Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons
“If we merge mercy with might, and might with right, then love becomes our legacy and change our children's birthright.” - Amanda Gorman BY: AMELIA BUCKLEY As we celebrated the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. this week, many Americans contemplated the profound impact of his Read More...
The Optimist View: The surge and success of citizen science
“Science and everyday life cannot and should not be separated.” – Rosalind Franklin By Amelia Buckley Several years ago, every member of my family unwrapped a bulky rain gauge on Christmas morning. A gift from my data-loving grandfather, the rain gauges were so that we could all take Read More...
The beauty of compassion: How to make the world a kinder place
“It is true that when we harm others, we harm ourselves; but it is just as true that when we help others, we also help ourselves.” - Desmond Tutu It has been a tough time to be an Optimist. The events in Washington DC this week come after a year that featured a global pandemic, economic Read More...
The Optimist View: Best of 2020
"Often when you think you're at the end of something, you're at the beginning of something else." - Fred Rogers While 2020 has felt like a long, strange “fever dream”, to quote one of our staff members, there were lots of positive solutions to be found. Whether it was advances in medicine, Read More...
Optimist View Special Feature: Uplifting Stories by Ione Butler
“If you want to improve your mood, a great place to start is by shifting the narrative.” - Ione Butler, Author Uplifting Stories As we all hunker down to await the end of this pandemic, connecting with our usual holiday cheer is tough. Quarantine fatigue is getting us down, but the Read More...
The Optimist View: A holiday solutions guide for the strangest year ever
The Norweigian city of Tromsø sits 200 miles north of the Arctic circle, yet for the large part, the residents don’t experience the sort of seasonal depression you might expect with so many months of darkness. A big part of this successful wintertime living is what psychologist Kari Leibowitz Read More...
The Optimist View: Harnessing your Optimism Through Challenging Times
As many entrepreneurs and small business owners are facing the painful impact of these extraordinary economic times, they are presented with a need to start over. As an entrepreneur myself, I’ve been there. It can be incredibly difficult - especially knowing how to get started. Starting Read More...
The Optimist View: Empowerment, skills training, and the fight to eradicate hunger
“Hunger is not an issue of charity. It is an issue of justice.” - Jacques Diou By Amelia Buckley Right now, 80 percent of food banks in the US are serving more people than they were at the same time last year. The pandemic has exacerbated the need for immediate food relief, but it has Read More...
The Optimist View: My Octopus Teacher Film Review
“What she taught me was to feel like you’re part of this place, not a visitor, that’s a huge difference.” - Craig Foster Living on the Western Cape of South Africa, powerful storms sent chilling water rushing into the bottom of Craig Foster’s family bungalow. Years later, facing Read More...