Tiny Spark
We investigate philanthropy, nonprofits and international aid. In-depth interviews and shoe leather reporting from across the globe. Send us your tips. www.tinyspark.org
- Update frequency
- every 15 days
- Average duration
- 21 minutes
- Episodes
- 156
- Years Active
- 2012 - 2021
‘Dirty Work’ Raises Moral Questions
Journalist and author Eyal Press’ book Dirty Work: Essential Jobs and the Hidden Toll of Inequality in America examines the morally troubling jobs that are done in our name, and shines a light on the…
How the Prison-Industrial Complex Undermines Immigrant Rights
As the federal government pours billions of dollars into private detention facilities, new research shows political donations from these for-profit companies are influencing policymakers to support l…
For This Art Curator, the Aesthetic is Political
‘There have been so many important critiques of the nude in art history,’ writer and art curator Macushla Robinson tells us, and she’s added her own critique in the form of an upcoming book project. …
Community First! Tiny Homes, Big Intentions
As the U.S. deals with a severe crisis with up to 600,000 people experiencing homelessness each night, we tour the Community First! village in Austin. This unique community was established to provide…
Stanford Professors Take On Silicon Valley
We speak to the authors of System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong, and How We Can Reboot. The trio of Stanford professors use a cross-disciplinary approach to critique technologists and the outsized…
Broadway’s Break: A Deep Breath For The Industry?
Broadway has returned after closing eighteen months ago. We speak to actors, writers and directors about what the break meant for their lives and work. One prepares to make his Broadway debut, anothe…
Tackling Erasures with a 'Radical Archive'
In light of troubling events in Afghanistan, we speak to collaborating artists Chitra Ganesh and Mariam Ghani on threats to the country's archives, the ‘radical archivists’ who have preserved them to…
Invisible by Default: What You Won't See on GoFundMe
For Nora Kenworthy, GoFundMe is “the research topic that I can't escape.” She recently studied 175,000 GoFundMe campaigns from the COVID era and discovered nearly half didn’t receive a single donatio…
The Women Forgotten in the Wars We Started
Are women and girls forgotten in crises and conflicts in Myanmar, Ethiopia and Afghanistan? We speak to women's rights activists about what drives them, and ask whether they feel women & girls are si…
'Missing and Maligned' No More, Muslims Push For Better Roles
The Pillars fund, run by young Muslim philanthropists, has teamed up with academics and Hollywood actors to gather data proving what they’ve long suspected: Muslims are poorly represented on screen. …
Let’s Talk About Sex, Sexism and Health Equity
We speak to Dr. Sophia Yen, entrepreneur and outspoken advocate for women’s reproductive health and empowerment. Dr. Yen founded a birth control startup to “just ship women birth control and keep shi…
The Wealth Defense Industry - or How Billionaires Hide Their Assets
Power and Consent: Reconsidering Oral History
Half a century ago, billionaire philanthropist Doris Duke funded universities to record Native American oral histories. Today, her foundation is supporting an effort to digitize the recordings and re…
The Culinary Artist Putting Liberation on the Menu
The People's Kitchen Collective uses food and art to address racial and social justice issues. Co-founder Jocelyn Jackson talks to us about their large-scale meals, which offer time and nourishment f…
Food Rescue Hero: Salvaging Food Waste to End Hunger
Food Rescue Hero gets volunteers to pick up excess food from restaurants and grocers and deliver it to people who need it. Founder and CEO Leah Lizarondo shares her journey creating a tech tool that …
'We Have Names': Meet the Women Fighting for Climate Justice
Climate scientist Ndoni Mcunu and climate activist Evelyn Acham celebrate the African scientists and activists fighting for the planet. We speak to the pair about the difficulty of this work, and lea…
Found in Translation Seeks Language Justice
Found in Translation, a Boston-based nonprofit, trains bilingual women as medical interpreters. In this podcast, founder Maria Vertkin and three graduates who speak Vietnamese, Cape Verdean Creole an…
Curator Says It’s Time to Tackle Art World’s Racist Culture
Independent art curator Kelli Morgan shares personal, painful experiences of institutional racism and says it’s time to call out the art world’s toxic white supremacist culture.
If Colonialism Is the Disease, Are Reparations the Cure?
Physician and anthropologist Eugene Richardson’s book ‘Epidemic Illusions: On the Coloniality of Global Public Health’ critiques practices that perpetuate inequality. In this podcast, he argues that …
Giving Circles: A Gift to Philanthropy
A diverse group of women discuss the power of giving circles as a way to build community, democratize philanthropy, and support local grassroots organizations.