Kind World: A Podcast About How a Single Act of Kindness Can Change Our Lives

Kind World is a podcast of encouraging stories to remind us the world isn’t as dark as it may appear and we talked to the hosts about the process of bringing these wonderful stories to life.

📺 What the News Is – And Isn’t – Telling You

There’s a saying that “no news is good news.” I’m not sure where it comes from, but if I had to guess, our anonymous idiom writer was someone who watched too much TV.  Networks constantly report on what’s wrong with the world: murder, fraud, war, among other things. TV news is so negative that it has a scientific effect on its audience; it’s called Mean World Syndrome. In essence, the more TV you watch, the worse off you perceive the world to be. But I have good news that doesn’t fit in with the idiom. There’s a podcast directly countering Mean World Syndrome, and it’s appropriately titled Kind World.

Every week, hosts, producers, and reporters Yasmin Amer and Andrea Asuaje bring you a story of something good. In an interview with Yasmin and Andrea, they told me that the show began because a former producer at WBUR  “wanted to tell more stories about human connections.” Six years later and they’ve kept their promise, telling stories like two ex-felons teaching culinary classes to other felons, a 45-year old high school coach rebuilding his small town, and a stranger donating his kidneys because of a local news article.

👩🏽‍💻 Experienced Journalists and a New Project

Before working on Kind World, both Yasmin and Andrea worked on very different stories than they do now. Yasmin says that she “worked in daily news for 8 years before coming to Kind World – first at CNN and then with our local WBUR Morning Edition team.” In both those jobs she noticed herself preferring a certain kind of story. “Not about famous politicians, celebs, or whatnot,” but stories about, “everyday people making big changes in their communities.”

Andrea’s path to Kind World is similar. She worked in daily newspapers for 5 years, and since the beginning of her career, “[she] treasured the stories [she] could write about ordinary people doing extraordinary things.” Now at WBUR, Andrea’s proud to have a show that, “showcases the good in the world, no matter how small or quiet the kindness may be.”

🗒A Long Pre-Show Checklist

When I asked how they decide which stories to feature on the show, Yasmin was quick to distinguish, “we look for stories about people first and foremost – not organizations – who have gone out of their way to do something kind and meaningful for someone else.” Andrea says that “in a more technical aspect, we search anywhere and everywhere for stories. We sift through Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Instagram — any social media feeds for potential stories.”

While finding a story may be difficult, the next step can be worse. According to Yasmin, “people who do extraordinarily kind things don’t always want to share what they’ve done. A lot of stories about kindness can also oftentimes emerge from really dark moments, so people don’t always want to talk about the worst things that have happened to them.”

But recording Kind World presents a new type of challenge to Yasmin and Andrea. Because they are experienced daily reporters, Andrea says that “it’s been tough to adjust to working on stories for such a long time.” Each story can take up to 6 months to record, which Andrea admits that, “it sounds like a luxury, but it can be excruciating to finalize and part with a story in the end.”

⏩ What Comes Next: An Even Kinder World

Looking toward the future of the show, our duo has plenty to be excited about. Andrea told me, “It is so great to know that more people are listening to our show, especially as we expanded and changed our format.” Yasmin says now that they can cover more stories and interviews she hopes, “more listeners feel inspired to share their own stories of profound kindness.”

Piggybacking off their recent success, Andrea hopes that “as the show continues to grow that we’ll have the chance to tell more multi-part stories or perhaps more international stories.  I also hope to increase and diversify the ‘good news beat’ by showcasing more stories of people in marginalized communities making a difference in the world.”

So if you want a little optimism, or just looking for some good news, Give Kind World a try and let us know what you think by reviewing it on Podchaser

Chasing Pods is a Podchaser blog series dedicated to letting our readers know about podcasts they may not have heard of or provide a sneak peek into the making of their favorite podcast. We talk to podcast creators about their journey into podcasting, the creation of their shows, the ups and downs of the work, and what they’re looking forward to for their podcast

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