Mark Sommer is an author, independent journalist, award-winning radio host, and internationally syndicated columnist who has written several books and hundreds of articles on national and international issues for major U.S. and foreign newspapers. His monthly columns on world affairs are syndicated in 12 languages to 100 countries by the Inter Press Service in Rome. In the United States, his articles have appeared on the editorial pages of The Christian Science Monitor, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Newsday. He hosts the syndicated radio program, “A World of Possibilities,” which highlights innovative solutions to longstanding societal challenges and is produced from the studios of the Mainstream Media Project. A 1967 graduate of Cornell University, Mark served from 1991-1998 as a program consultant on peace and world order issues for the Compton Foundation.
Two Grains of Sand
Funded by Listener Support
The crunch is on. Nature and humanity are both running off the rails and governments stand seemingly helpless before the juggernaut. But all is not lost. Into the breach are stepping new players, inventing strategies to transform the way we do things on many levels at once. And they’re forging surprising alliances in the process. In this program we’ll hear about two initiatives that seek to move the needle on issues of increasing urgency, one by influencing governmental policies on climate change, the other by changing corporate practices in the global tea industry. LISTEN
Guests:
- Bill McKibben, founder, 350.org; environmental journalist; author, Deep Economy
- Tensie Whelan, President, Rainforest Alliance
- Michiel Leijnse, Global Brand Manager, Lipton Tea (division of Unilever)
A World of Possibilities is an award-winning one-hour weekly public affairs program. Each week, host Mark Sommer talks with social innovators, leading policy analysts and big-picture thinkers on key national and global issues. The program currently airs in 41 states and six Canadian provinces as well as several other countries. Podcasts and other downloads average 125,000 a month.
In 2006, the United Nations awarded A World of Possibilities a Silver Medal “for outstanding achievement in international radio programming that best reflects the global concerns of the United Nations.” The program has also won six awards from the New York Festivals.
A World of Possibilities segments are underwritten variously by many of the country’s largest foundations-Ford, Kellogg, Hewlett, Packard, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Merck Family Fund-as well as by listener contributions.
LENGTH: 55 minutes
COST: FREE
AVAILABLE: on CD, MP3, The Content Depot, via Podcast, as well as selected episodes available on MP2 at PRX
Congratulations to Mark Sommer, Gregg McVicar and the entire production team of A World Of Possibilities on yet another prestigious New York Festivals Award for Radio Broadcasting—this time a Silver World Medal in the category of Social Issues/Current Events for Orphans of Conflict: The Plight of Internally Displaced Persons. Winners will be honored at the 2008 NYF Radio Broadcasting Awards gala on June 19 at Tribeca Rooftop in New York City. Thanks for making our work easy!
