FGCU's Roots of Compassion & Kindness Center will kick off the "Kindness Without Borders Initiative" this Friday during the inaugural K20 Kindness Summit. Research into the science of kindness in recent decades has moved the conversation from kindness being a "feel-good" sentiment into a rigorous field of study that shows significant physiological and psychological benefits for people who practice it. At the same time, there is a growing global kindness movement comprised of a network of organizations dedicated to highlighting these kinds of benefits, and encouraging ways to embed the practice of kindness into our everyday lives.

Today’s episode is something special. For the first time, we hear from an audiobook narrator. If you listen to audiobooks, you’ve probably heard the voice of Edoardo Ballerini. In the world of audiobooks, winning an Audie is like winning an Oscar, and Ballerini has won several of them, including Best Male Narrator, twice.He talks to us about how his background in acting helps his performances, how he began recording classic texts just for fun during the pandemic, and whether he has time to read for fun.

Governor Ron DeSantis, on Monday, signed into law Florida’s new congressional district map approved by the state legislature in last week’s special session. Just hours later, lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the new map were filed. FGCU Political Science Professor Sandra Pavelka, Ph.D., and UCF Political Science Professor Aubrey Jewett, Ph.D., weigh in on what this means for candidates and voters, and what’s next for the Florida legislature.

Florida Gulf Coast University professor, Dr. Jo Muller, has spent much of her career studying the history of hurricanes and tropical storms, from how frequently they occur to how damaging they are. For instance, she studies past tropical cyclone activity using geological evidence found in core samples taken from lagoons and bays behind barrier islands. She her team have created a comprehensive database of Atlantic tropical cyclones that impacted the continental United States since 1963, with a focus on how many people died as a direct result of storms, and what caused their deaths.

Dr. Karen Tang is the author of the new book It’s Not Hysteria: Everything You Need to Know About Your Reproductive Health (But Were Never Told). It’s a comprehensive guide to treatment options and common conditions, many of which are under-discussed and misunderstood.

Whether you’re an absolute newbie with no experience yet hoping to catch up, or if an educator or researcher, or industry professional or nonprofit leader, the Summer AI Academy is offering more than 30 sessions totaling more than 150 hours, with topics ranging from basic AI literacy and using image generation tools, to things like programming with AI and doing data analysis. They even have sessions aimed at certain industries like one called Hands-On AI Workshop for Construction Professionals. The Summer Academy kicks off on May 4.

Outside/In was launched by New Hampshire Public Radio as a podcast in 2015 as “A show where curiosity and the natural world collide.” WGCU recently added it to our radio schedule, so we learn about what they do and how they do it, we meet Nate Hegyi, he’s been Outside/In’s Host and Senior Producer for about four years. He was previously a reporter for the Mountain West News Bureau, based at KUER Public Radio in Salt Lake City, Utah covering federal land management agencies, indigenous issues, and the environment.

With a measles outbreak ongoing in Florida and historically low rates of vaccination, we hear from Dr. Nicole Iovine, infectious disease expert as well as chief hospital epidemiologist at University of Florida Health Shands Hospital. She’ll discuss how vaccines—and our immune systems—work to keep us healthy.

Florida’s climate is getting warmer and warmer each year. It's rapidly intensifying hurricanes, decreasing the number of safe, workable days in the state, and making flooding worse. Southwest Florida’s coastal positioning doesn’t help in the case of hurricanes and storm surge. These challenges call for solutions— including ones that use the resources we already have here on Earth. They’re called nature-based solutions.

Carly Chase began her career at Goldman Sachs but after a few years she felt discontented, so pivoted to a job at the NYC Economic Development Corporation and that introduced her to entrepreneurs and startups and that put her on the path she’s still on today. Ms. Chase has taught entrepreneurship as an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School and MIT – and she was an Entrepreneur in Residence at MIT’s Martin Trust Center for Entrepreneurship. And she's co-founder of Crabwalk, it’s an education and coaching company that builds career agility based on the principle that you don’t have to walk in a straight line to move forward in your career — and important concept in today's fast-changing job landscape.