The Curious Autodidact

Kavita Ramdas is a powerful speaker, and was at the time of the talk the President and CEO of the Global Fund for Women who appears on the KQED radio show Forum. Listen and you will be impressed by her intelligent comments about women globally. During her tenure at the Global Fund for Women the fund’s assets have increased from $6 million to $21 million and their grant making has risen to $8 million a year to over 160 countries. The fund was founded with the belief that “…women’s human rights and dignity were essential to the advancement of global agendas for social, economic, and political change.” They believed that by “putting resources into the hands of grassroots women leaders, women would change the world ” (from their website).

Another Forum program that is worth a listen features Dr. Nadine Burke, who runs The Bayview Child Health Center, a clinic in San Francisco. She talks about the correlation between traumatic situations—known as Adverse Childhood Experiences and chronic health problems ranging from depression and obesity, to cancer and heart disease, in later life. Her work was featured in the New Yorker’s March 21, 2011 issue and her passion about her work is to be deeply admired.

For something totally different tune into Bob Edwards segment with Robin Nagle talking about her work as an anthropologist for the New York City Department of Sanitation since 2006. She hopes to create a Museum of Sanitation to bring to the public more awareness of all we throw in the trash and try to keep “out of sight out of mind.” She has said “garbage is very scary to us culturally, and it is also… one of the single most fascinating things you could ever study.” Her talk about trash will give you a new perspective on what you pitch and what can be seen from space. If this short interview makes you want to know more read Alex Carp‘s interview with her here.