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
How Much is a Celebrity Worth? Nonprofits Pay For Star Power
Politico reporter Ken Vogel discovered that the Clinton Foundation has collected as much as $11.7 million in speaker fees from nonprofits. Some argue that celebrity appearances create buzz and more d…
00:19:03 |
Mon 29 Jun 2015
Your Letters: An Ethical Dilemma and Business vs Philanthropy
A listener poses a moral dilemma regarding aid work; another weighs in on whether the business mindset can improve philanthropy.
00:03:39 |
Tue 16 Jun 2015
Does $400M Gift to Harvard Support a Worthy Cause?
Billionaire John Paulson recently gave $400 million to Harvard University. Critics say the money could have done more good elsewhere. Should large donations be scrutinized and debated? Or should we a…
00:17:19 |
Thu 11 Jun 2015
Effort to Chart Global Deaths Draws Backlash
How do you figure out exactly what people suffer and die from in every part of the world? Christopher Murray decided to try. His resulting Global Burden of Disease initiative ended up causing contr…
00:24:29 |
Thu 04 Jun 2015
Tracking the Aid Money: Mission Impossible
Billions of aid dollars were devoted to reconstructing post-earthquake Haiti and fighting Ebola in West Africa. Economist Vijaya Ramachandran and journalist Amy Maxmen tried to track that spending. T…
00:20:51 |
Fri 22 May 2015
A Global Detour Before College
Graduation season is here, but not all high school seniors are taking the direct route to college. In recent years, some 350 seniors have chosen to put higher education on hold for Global Citizen Yea…
00:18:39 |
Wed 13 May 2015
Promo: A Global Detour Before College
Abby Falik says high school graduates should immerse themselves in year-long apprenticeships abroad before going to college; Falik's Global Citizen Year is their ticket.
00:01:00 |
Wed 06 May 2015
Not If, When: Planning for the Next Nepal
Nepal continues to mourn the thousands who died after a massive earthquake. A global relief effort is now underway to assist more than a million people in need food assistance and other forms of reli…
00:16:06 |
Thu 30 Apr 2015
Promo: Preventing Disasters
Seismologist Brian Tucker says we need to do more than help the victims of natural disasters; we need to prepare vulnerable communities before disaster strikes.
00:01:00 |
Thu 30 Apr 2015
Promo: Philanthropy & The Business Mindset
The Center for Effective Philanthropy's Phil Buchanan says nonprofits should push back when the business world says it has the answers to our big social problems.
00:01:00 |
Wed 22 Apr 2015
Why Philanthropy Should Push Back Against the Business Mindset
“Folks sometimes forget that philanthropy is addressing the very problems that have defied market solutions or in some cases are the result of market failure," says Phil Buchanan, President of the Ce…
00:15:52 |
Wed 22 Apr 2015
Spring Cleaning? Before You Donate It…
A small percentage of the second-hand clothes we donate to charity actually end up on the store shelves of our local Salvation Army or Goodwill, according to our guest Andrew Brooks. Eventually the …
00:14:34 |
Thu 02 Apr 2015
Journalist Questions Her Paycheck After Aid Scandal
Emily Troutman photographs and writes about people living in poverty across the globe. She's a freelancer and to help pay the bills, Troutman sometimes took lucrative commissions - up to a thousand …
00:17:46 |
Wed 11 Mar 2015
Charities: Flattering Results, Poor Data
Nonprofit advisor Caroline Fiennes has a lot to say about how we assess charities. She used to run one herself. In those days, Fiennes tried figuring out whether her organization was achieving its go…
00:13:35 |
Mon 23 Feb 2015
HIV Disclosure: Privacy, Pressure and Public Health
Adia Benton spent two years looking at HIV support groups in West Africa. What she saw unsettled her. "It calls into question what international programs like this do to people," she tells us. Bento…
00:18:40 |
Thu 05 Feb 2015
Teaching the Next Generation of Global Innovators
Carrboro High School in Carrboro North Carolina is an unlikely meeting place for leaders from the world of international aid and development. But over the years, global studies teacher Matt Cone has …
00:15:25 |
Tue 20 Jan 2015
Ebola: One Doctor in a Firefight
“It's confounding for doctors, for me, when you see that your idea of how a patient is doing is completely wrong, and deadly wrong,” says physician Joel Selanikio about his time treating Ebola patien…
00:08:27 |
Tue 06 Jan 2015
The Bright Continent: Rethinking Modern Africa
Dayo Olopade discusses her new book The Bright Continent: Breaking Rules and Making Change in Modern Africa. The Nigerian-American journalist spent two years traveling across 17 nations in Sub-Sahara…
00:16:43 |
Wed 03 Dec 2014
Promo: The Bright Continent
Nigerian-American journalist Dayo Olopade discusses her new book, The Bright Continent: Breaking Rules and Making Change in Modern Africa.
00:01:00 |
Thu 20 Nov 2014
Essmart: Helping The Poor and Charging a Fee
Diana Jue and Jackie Stenson wanted to figure out a way to bring high-quality products to the world's poor. So, they founded Essmart, a for-profit company that uses India's network of ubiquitous mom-…
00:09:08 |
Thu 06 Nov 2014
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