Best Jamil Simon Podcasts (2024)

1
From war reporter to peace journalist in Uganda 27:21

3h ago27:21

27:21

Gloria Laker Aciro was a teenager when war upended her family’s life in Northern Uganda. The Lord's Resistance Army, led by the infamous Joseph Kony, were known for their brutality, and for kidnapping children and making them child soldiers or child brides. As a young displaced person, Aciro became a journalist so the world would know about the suf…

1
Elevating nonviolent narratives in Hollywood 30:51

15d ago30:51

30:51

Close your eyes and think of the word “war” or “gun violence.” What’s the first image that comes up? Maybe it’s news footage of the wars in Gaza or Ukraine. Or maybe it’s a scene from a movie like Hotel Rwanda or Bridge on the River Kwai, or a shoutout in any number of crime and cop dramas. Scripted storytelling, with its ability to get up close an…

1
Can the UN 'save us from hell'? 30:27

1M ago30:27

30:27

“The United Nations was not created in order to deliver us to heaven, but in order to save us from hell.” - Dag Hammarskjöld. “To Save Us From Hell” is a new weekly news and analysis podcast about the UN. Mark Leon Goldberg, a veteran global affairs journalist and editor of the news outlets UN Dispatch and Global Dispatches, and Anjali Dayal, a pol…

1
Democracy Works: Youth activism gets pragmatic 34:20

2M ago34:20

34:20

On February 14, 2018, a former student opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, with an assault rifle he’d purchased legally. Hiding in a janitor’s closet, David Hogg recorded his classmates on his phone. "I interviewed my classmates so that if we didn't make it out of there, hopefully our voices would carry on,” Ho…

1
A Father's Perspective on Grief, Growth and Gratitude: a Conversation with Amiel Handelsman 50:14

2M ago50:14

50:14

Amiel Handelsman opens up about his personal experience of loss and grief and how he found healing power in his discovery of positive psychology. Amiel discusses the importance of acknowledging and expressing grief, particularly for men and removing the taboos. He shares his experience of losing his first child in the hospital after a preterm live …

1
How do you measure peace? 27:38

2M ago27:38

27:38

How do you measure peace in a country? Do you look at the rates of violent crime? Assess the justice system? What about freedom of the press, the health of the economy, or general happiness? Today's guest, Steve Killelea, is the founder and Executive Chairman of the Institute for Economics and Peace, an internationally renowned think tank. Each yea…

1
We Should all be Daydreamers: Nik Venios on Human Creativity and the Gift of Resilience 55:21

2M ago55:21

55:21

Nik Venios, founder of The Ideas Agency, shares his journey of resilience and creativity. When Nik lost his mother to breast cancer at age eight it made him an outlier. The transformational impact of her death wasn’t all negative, he says. It provided him the the ability to always look at problems from a range of perspectives. Nik discusses his ear…

1
Teaching Peace Journalism in Lebanon 33:56

3M ago33:56

33:56

Vanessa Bassil is the founder and president of the Media Association for Peace, and has personally trained journalists and journalism students in Lebanon and other countries in the Middle East. She is currently in graduate school at the University of Bonn in Germany, working towards a PhD in Peace Journalism. Peace Journalism, the guiding practice …

1
Making Peace “Possible” with William Ury 47:20

3M ago47:20

47:20

William Ury is one of the world’s most influential peacebuilders and experts on negotiation. He advised Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos in the lead up to that country's historic 2016 peace agreement with the FARC, and played a key role in de-escalating nuclear tensions between the U.S. and North Korea in 2017. Getting to Yes, which Ury co-wr…

1
A Remarkable Little Boy and the Universal Bond of Grief with Heather Straughter 47:26

3M ago47:26

47:26

Heather shares her experience of losing Jake, her four-year-old son, after a still undiagnosed illness that caused constant seizures. Heather emphasizes the importance of breaking the taboo on grief and finding the light in difficult situations. She and her husband Brian started Jake's Help From Heaven, a nonprofit organization to provide support f…

1
Tales of Tibetan resilience and resistance in exile 35:53

4M ago35:53

35:53

When India-based reporter Amy Yee got a call from her editor to cover a press conference with the Dalai Lama, she stopped what she was doing and booked the next flight. She was headed for Dharamsala, where the Buddhist leader and thousands of Tibetan refugees make their home. It was March 2008, and the Dalai Lama was responding to violence in Tibet…

1
Find a Way to Do the Favor: Golf Pro Mike Bennett on Big Dreams, Resilience, and Helping Others 47:03

3M ago47:03

47:03

Mike knew he wanted to be a professional golfer when he was five years old. He talks to us about how he made his big dream come true as a golf pro. We explore how he and his business partner, Andy Plummer, created the Stack & Tilt System of golf instruction through intense study and data analysis long before artificial intelligence was a thing. Mik…

1
Decoding dehumanization in the brain 36:54

4M ago36:54

36:54

“Humans are not rational beings with emotions. In fact, we're just the opposite. We're emotionally based beings who can only think rationally when we feel that our identities, as we see them, are understood and valued by others.” Those words from neuroscientist Bob Deutch triggered a lightbulb moment in the mind of Tim Phillips, a veteran peacebuil…

1
Understanding intergenerational trauma in Israel/Palestine 32:53

4M ago32:53

32:53

Intergenerational trauma, also called historical trauma, is defined as cumulative emotional and psychological wounding over the lifespan and across generations, emanating from massive group trauma experiences. The brutal October 7th attacks by Hamas inside of Israel, and the IDF’s seemingly relentless assault on Gaza have captured the world’s atten…

1
Trailer 2:13

5M ago2:13

2:13

In the news media, war gets more headlines than peace, conflict more airtime than reconciliation. And in our polarized world, reporting on conflict in a way that frames conflicts as us vs. them, good vs. evil often serves to dig us in deeper. On Making Peace Visible, we speak with journalists and peacebuilders who help us understand the human side …

1
From Gray to Open Skies: Travel Expert Lindsey Epperly on Growing as a Leader through Vulnerability 42:39

4M ago42:39

42:39

Just in time for Spring Break and with a special nod to National Optimism Month, we're thrilled to bring you this inspirational interview with Travel Expert, Lindsey Epperly, the CEO of JetSet World Travel. Lindsey shares some of her most difficult challenges as an entrepreneur in the travel industry during a global pandemic. She also talks to us o…

1
In search of good conflict 32:17

5M ago32:17

32:17

After over two decades as a journalist, including ten years covering terrorism and disasters for TIME Magazine, Amanda Ripley thought she understood conflict. But when momentum started to build around the candidacy of Donald Trump, she questioned what she thought she knew. Ripley interviewed psychologists, mediators, and people who had made it out …

1
Reporting from Iran with a bias towards peace 36:07

5M ago36:07

36:07

We want to learn more about our listeners. Take this 3-minute survey to help us improve the show! Reza Sayah is an Iranian-American journalist, currently based in Tehran. He’s reported on major events around the world including the Ukrainian Revolution of 2004, the Second Iraq War, and the Egyptian Revolution. Reza has spent much of his career work…

1
Refugees and immigration: what’s missing from the narrative 32:33

6M ago32:33

32:33

As of May 2023, there were an estimated 110 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Many are escaping wars, gang violence or repressive regimes, others are fleeing climate change impacts. Some are leaving collapsed economies where they can’t feed their families. How journalists cover refugees…

1
Telling murder stories differently 22:17

6M ago22:17

22:17

On Making Peace Visible, we are always questioning the mantra, if it bleeds, it leads. Boston’s Charles Stuart murder case is a classic example of what can go horribly wrong when you follow that mantra. Charles Stuart was a father-to-be from the suburbs of Boston. Shortly after attending a birthing class in the city with his wife, Carol, Charles St…

1
Why we make this show: An interview with Jamil Simon 32:29

7M ago32:29

32:29

In this episode we’re featuring a recent interview with our host, documentary filmmaker and lifelong peace activist Jamil Simon on This is My Silver Lining, a podcast about ordinary people doing extraordinary things, with an emphasis on life’s unexpected twists. Jamil has certainly had plenty of those. In 1990 he took a job in Tunisia designing com…

1
All the peace we cannot see 36:31

7M ago36:31

36:31

Making Peace Visible is a show about how the media covers peace and conflict. One of the major reasons we make it is because peace gets so little coverage in the news media. When we do hear news about peace, it's usually focused on signing an agreement. When that’s done, the cameras, and the world's attention move on. But that handshake moment is j…

1
Democracy Works: Between Democracy and Autocracy 31:40

8M ago31:40

31:40

Between democracy and autocracy is an anocracy, defined by political scientists as a country that has elements of both forms of government — usually one that’s on the way up to becoming a full democracy or on the way down to full autocracy. This messy middle is the state when civil wars are most likely to start, and the one that requires the most d…

1
Patience and Presence: Sabrina Mallick Peterson on Entrepreneurship and Life’s Priorities 53:09

8M ago53:09

53:09

The daughter of immigrant parents, Sabrina was the consummate high achiever growing up. An Ivy Leaguer with her sights on law school, she did a summer internship at a prestigious firm that changed her plans. She took a role as a fixed income analyst on Wall Street. She was young and curious; she was great at her job. By all measures, Sabrina was a …

1
Unmasking American myths about war and the military 36:01

8M ago36:01

36:01

In the United States, about one sixth of the federal budget goes to defense. This year the country spent more on the military than any year since 2001 – over $816 billion. Why does spending continue to rise in the wake of US withdrawal from Afghanistan? Why are many Americans so passive in the face of the massive expenditures for defense that crowd…

1
Storytelling with equal-opportunity empathy 34:01

8M ago34:01

34:01

Trey Kay knows both sides of America's partisan divide intimately. He was born and raised in a conservative family in Charleston, West Virginia. As a young man he moved to New York City, where he later became a producer on the arts and culture program Studio 360, at WNYC. These days, Trey splits his time between New York and West Virginia to make U…

1
In Modi's India, journalists must toe the line or risk jail time 36:42

9M ago36:42

36:42

Western media has often referred to India as the world’s largest democracy. But during the last decade, the world has witnessed the decline of many democratic institutions in India. In a recent Time Magazine article our guest Suchitra Vijayan questions whether India can still be called a democracy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government ha…

1
Learning to Walk in the Shoes of Another: a Prayer for Peace with Documentary Filmmaker and Podcaster Jamil Simon 41:08

9M ago41:08

41:08

Jamil Simon is a documentary filmmaker, development worker, peace activist and lifelong adventurer. Over the course of multiple capacity building projects across sub saharan Africa, the Middle East, and beyond, Jamil gained insights into the deep challenges associated with building and maintaining lasting peace in several conflict-ravaged areas. He…

1
How do we design for peace? 25:10

10M ago25:10

25:10

On Making Peace Visible we usually focus on stories -- narratives about peace and conflict that are told in the news, on social media, and shared in our collective zeitgeist. We’ve seen examples of how storytelling can both stoke the fire of war and encourage peaceful dialogue. In this episode, we look at a different, but related way of creating sp…

1
How a Tough Girl Meditates: Meredith Tapper on the Lessons She Never Expected to Learn from Boxing 57:45

10M ago57:45

57:45

For Meredith Tapper, boxing is as much about patience and persistence as it is about landing the perfect punch. Meredith is a 38-year-old lawyer from Winnipeg, Manitoba who works on Wall Street. She’s a big thinker driven by intellectual challenge who gets things done. She is also a risk taker who won't hesitate to take a solo trip to Southeast Asi…

1
Un-embedding Western narratives about Afghanistan 32:40

10M ago32:40

32:40

One way to cover war is to follow the road offered by the dominant army. In Afghanistan, that often meant journalists were embedded with U.S. or NATO troops, and saw the war and the world around it through their eyes. Guest Bette Dam is a Dutch journalist who covered the war in Afghanistan for 15 years. She began her coverage in 2006, embedded with…

1
Inside comms strategy at the world's largest peacebuilding NGO 32:00

11M ago32:00

32:00

We talk a lot on this show about the reasons why peace and conflict resolution aren’t more visible in the news media and our public conversation. Our past guests have presented a variety of explanations: TV news segments are too short to talk about much beyond dramatic events, like battles and coups. For-profit media doesn't cover peace efforts bec…

1
Spotlight Colombia: Moving forward with wounds still fresh 35:48

11M ago35:48

35:48

If you're interested in learning about how peace gets made and unmade and then remade, Colombia is an amazing laboratory. Guest Elizabeth Dickinson is a senior analyst with the Crisis Group in Colombia. Dickinson spends her days in discussion with communities most affected by the civil war, as well as former FARC members. She and her colleagues use…

1
Spotlight Colombia: After demilitarization, a new narrative 28:09

11M ago28:09

28:09

After the peace agreement their leaders signed with the Colombian government in September 2016, members of the FARC guerilla group began turning in their weapons to the UN. In exchange, rank-and-file members received amnesty for acts of violence they committed during the country’s long civil war. They could leave their jungle encampments and rejoin…

1
Spotlight Colombia: Behind the scenes of making peace 27:23

1y ago27:23

27:23

A main premise of our podcast is that peace efforts are invisible in the mainstream media, or certainly not visible enough. But one place that has grabbed at least some of the world’s attention, is the peace process in Colombia. In 2016, after repeated failed negotiations, the FARC guerilla organization finally signed a peace deal with the governme…

1
Journalism as a brave space to talk about race 28:48

1y ago28:48

28:48

“The one embedded bias that we definitely have when we get up every day to cover the news anew is that we're biased for democracy. Let's just admit that. So if you're biased for democracy, then you have to be biased for racial justice, because racial justice is embedded in the democratic promise.” - Deborah Douglas Some of the most polarized debate…

1
Art is Messy, So Just Start Writing: Children’s Author, Erin Dionne, on the Creative Process 54:56

1y ago54:56

54:56

When she was just seven years old Erin Dionne knew she wanted to be an author. She took all the right steps - she majored in English at Boston College, she earned a Masters in Fine Arts in Creative Writing at Emerson College in Boston, and set her sights on writing the great American novel. But a chance opportunity to take a class in children’s lit…

1
No Dead Ends, Only Obstacles: Restaurateur, Alex Wight, on Navigating the Challenges of Building a Successful Seasonal Business. . . on an Island! 45:26

1y ago45:26

45:26

Just off the coast of Portland, Maine, in the Casco Bay lies Great Diamond Island, the home of Crown Jewel, a unique dining hotspot where you are sure to make new friends and memories while you delight in the chef’s creative twists on seafood standards and truly smashing cocktails. A 20-minute ferry or water taxi ride will get you there, but you’ll…

1
When covering the Holy Land, hope is in the details 38:58

1y ago38:58

38:58

Our guest this episode, Daniel Estrin, is an international correspondent for NPR based in Jerusalem. There is a human element present throughout Daniel Estrin’s body of work that places listeners in the shoes of ordinary Palestinians and Israelis. Fluent in both Hebrew and Arabic and having lived in the region for over fifteen years, Daniel has a k…

1
Driving Dignity with Dollars: Bram Zeigler, Founder of Capitalists for Shared Income, on Putting Cash in Hands of Those Who Need it Most 46:58

1y ago46:58

46:58

For Bram Zeigler, an economist and unapologetic capitalist, changing the narrative on poverty starts with dignity and self-determination. In 2021, Bram founded Capitalists for Shared Income (C4si). Inspired by the work of Milton Friedman, who advocated for a negative income tax in the late 1960s, C4si offers an innovative approach to address povert…

1
Schoolhouse Rock Redux: Louise Dubé, Executive Director of iCivics, on Using Gaming to Reimagine Civics Education to Energize our Youngest Citizens 1:01:08

1y ago1:01:08

1:01:08

How do we teach students about civics and generate excitement around civic engagement in the 21st century? Like our ever-evolving American experiment, we try new tools. iCivics leverages a suite of interactive video games that put students at the center of the educational action. By the time Justice O’Connor retired from the Supreme Court, she had …

1
Covering civil resistance amidst rising authoritarianism 34:06

1y ago34:06

34:06

In the mainstream news, we might not hear much about a political movement in America, or in another country, unless it “turns violent.” Building an effective protest movement takes planning, a shared commitment and coordination, and most movements are explicitly nonviolent. In fact, it’s often people unaffiliated with movements who are responsible …

1
Angels, Mentors, Friends, and Fathers: Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Florida, Peggy Quince, on the Importance of the People Who Guide Us Along The Way 52:50

1y ago52:50

52:50

In this final installment of our series highlighting stories of the achievements and challenges faced by some of the most distinguished women judges in our history, we speak with former Chief Justice Peggy Quince of the Florida Supreme Court, who is featured in the ABA’s recently published Her Honor - Stories of Challenge and Triumph from Women Jud…

1
Peace messaging: Fighting crisis fatigue with hope 25:20

1y ago25:20

25:20

“Weapons and war do not keep us safe. Instead, we should put our money and time into programs that ensure real safety and security for everyone, like affordable health care, a just judicial system, and economic opportunities.” Americans were asked if they agree or disagree with the above statement in a 2022 poll conducted by the American Friends Se…

1
The Ultimate Myth - Fmr. Chief Justice of Canada’s Supreme Court, Beverley McLachlin, on How the Quest for Perfection Holds Us Back 59:46

1y ago59:46

59:46

Nestled in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies in southern Alberta lies the small town of Pincher Creek. With a population of just under 4,000, Pincher Creek has the distinction of being the “Wind Capital of Canada.” It is perhaps better known as the birthplace and hometown of the Right Honorable Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, the longest serv…

1
REPLAY: Enjoy the Wave You’re On: Kevin Sousa on Surf Therapy, Getting Present, and Getting Sober 51:19

1y ago51:19

51:19

Last Friday, This is My Silver Lining lost a dear friend. Kevin Sousa lost his battle with skin cancer, which had suddenly and aggressively metastasized to his brain. He passed away in his beloved Hermosa Beach, California, with his wife Patti by his side. Kevin was a kind soul with an unshakeable effervescence for life. By day, he worked as a psyc…

1
In the Afterglow: Jim Kuczo on Creating a Positive Legacy from the Tragic Loss of His Son, Kevin 47:11

1y ago47:11

47:11

This episode contains content related to suicide that may be triggering to some listeners. May is Mental Health Awareness Month. If you or someone you know is in distress, please dial 988 in the United States for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, a suicide prevention network of over 200+ crisis centers that provides 24/7 service to anyone in suicidal …

1
How news media shortchanges nonviolent resistance 32:28

1y ago32:28

32:28

The right to peaceful protest is considered fundamental in democracies around the world. Nonviolent protest movements, like the Gandhian movement for independence in India or The Civil Rights Movement in the United States are celebrated in history books. Yet if you go looking for coverage of nonviolent protest in the news media, most of the time yo…

1
Against the tide: tech for social cohesion 29:26

1+ y ago29:26

29:26

It’s no secret that digital technology, in particular social media, stokes division in society and sometimes provokes violent conflict. Toxic polarization prevents us from solving problems, from making decisions together, from being constructive in our approach. In In this episode, we’ll explore the dangers of social media, but we’ll also talk abou…

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Jamil Simon Podcasts

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