Karl Zinsmeister's personal podcast "Sweet Charity"
     
​(59 episodes  of 6-10 minutes each)
​

1  Lifting Robert Goddard Into Space
​Robert Goddard was one of the geniuses of the 20th century, and the man who more than anyone is responsible for the U.S. being today's leader in aeronautics and space. But he almost got lost to history. You'll be surprised to learn how philanthropists allowed his high-altitude dreams to come true.

2  Saving Negro Spirituals     
Ned McIlhenny, who ran his family Tabasco-sauce company in Louisiana, racked up some major accomplishments as a preserver of rare birds and plants. McIlhenny also helped save one of America's musical treasures:  the collection of Negro spirituals that existed at that time only in oral memory.

3  Don't Discount the Ice Bucket Challenge
Did the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge actually accomplish anything? A prominent researcher decided to set the record straight—on the same day he announced a major breakthrough in understanding the disease, and clinical trials for new treatments. Listen to find out more!

4  Saving the Whooping Crane
By transporting eggs, breeding new generations, and teaching birds how to migrate, philanthropists are bringing America's largest birds back from the brink of extinction.

5  Anyone Can Be a Philanthropist
Oseola McCarty's life had a raw beginning, but this humble washerwoman knew how to work and how to save, and had a generous heart that taught all Americans that anyone can give.

6  Taking on America's Drinking Problem
The temperance crusade against alcohol abuse is commonly viewed as a giant puritanical failure. The common view is wrong. Learn why.

7  ​The Self-Improving Holiday
Even on vacation, Americans are self-improvers. Here's a reason why.

8  Books for the Blind
For most of history, the enormous repository of human knowledge represented by books was out of reach for the blind. But a pair of donors changed that forever.

9  Giving Helps the Giver
We all know charity helps recipients. Did you know it also helps the donor?

10  Millions Go Back to College
A large army of donors have made colleges and universities America's second-favorite charitable cause. Alumni are only a minor part.

11  Anti-Slavery Donors Got Bullied, But Persevered
Within hours of founding a national charity to battle American slavery, the major donors became targets of a huge riot. They refused to back down.

12  Don't Cripple Vets With "Help"
We all know you can do more harm than good by handing things to people. You may not realize, though, that one group seriously at risk in this area today is veterans. Hear some shocking figures, and an encouraging philanthropic response, in this episode.

13  Science in the Living Room
Two eminent scientists got so disgusted with the bureaucracy, timidness, and herd mentality of publicly funded science they decided to go completely off the grid. That path led straight to Stockholm. Listen to how private funders are making science more flexible and productive.

14  Israel's Founding Funders
Sometimes donors create something bigger than a program or new institution. On the occasion you're about to hear described, they helped create a new nation.

15  Great Telescopes
We all learned in school about famous astronomical telescopes like Mount Wilson and Mount Palomar, and the powerful discoveries they have produced on how our universe works. What you may not have learned is that it was philanthropy that filled almost all of these great instruments with light. And the next barrier-breaking instruments are also arriving thanks to donors.

16  Philmont Scout Ranch
One of the pioneers of our oil and gas industry loved the mountain wilderness so much he have away a big chunk of it so American Boy Scouts could test themselves at high altitudes.

17  The Power of Small Givers
What can a shoeshiner teach us about philanthropy? Lots. Including that little gifts accumulate into big effects.

18  Tiffany Treasures
Guess  where the greatest trove of stained glass and other masterpieces created by America's superb craftsman Lewis Comfort Tiffany is located? No, it's not his hometown of New York. And there's a reason for that.

19  ArtPrize
If I told you that the art exhibition receiving the highest attendance—and most fervent popular response—in the world takes place every year in America’s 123rd largest city, what would you say? You ought to ask "Who's the clever philanthropist?”

20  Franklin Olin College of Engineering
An industrialist’s fortune was used to invent a remarkably different kind of school that is helping revive US industry. Its addition of strong creative, communicating, and business flavors to previous recipes for training engineers is influencing hundreds of other American colleges.

21  The Dinosaur Discoverer
The iconoclastic paleontologist Jack Horner has a perfect partnership with the independent-minded donors who have made his freewheeling discoveries possible.

22  To Create a Mockingbird
A true-life Christmas story about how some very personal philanthropy gave America one of its most beloved books.

23  Lifting The Kidney Death Sentence
It was a grocery-store fortune that brought dialysis and kidney transplants to the public. For the 700,000 Americans currently alive despite kidney failure, that was a very big gift. 

24  ​Private Donors
Why many givers choose to be anonymous.

25  Presidential Homes
Mount Vernon, Montpelier, Monticello. Completely apart from the fact that they were homes of Presidents, these three historic properties have one crucial thing in common. Come find out what it is.

26  Lincoln Cottage
Without any public money, a group of donors took it upon themselves to revive a crucial site of American history—the cottage where Abraham Lincoln lived and labored for a quarter of his Presidency.

27  ​Animating Character
Sometimes a gift takes you to an unexpected place. Even into a cartoon world.

28  ​Making Americans
Immigrants to this country acculturate best when they have help.

29  ​The Getty Museums
Even flawed donors can make brilliant gifts. Here's a magnificent example.

30  Our Parks Bloom
We're in the midst of a huge renaissance of urban parks--which is in turn feeding the return to city life. Thank philanthropic invention.

31  The SPLC Calls Names
The Southern Poverty Law Center hasn't contributed anything to law or poverty for a generation. Instead it's become a political attack group and fundraising scam.

32  ​Inventing a New Kind of City
Henry Segerstrom used a high mix of philanthropy and business to turn lima-bean fields into an urban village.

33  ​School Success Even for the Most Disadvantaged
Philanthropically sparked charter schools have become lifelines for drowning families.

34  ​Land Trusts Preserve Nature by Nurturing Owners
Using respect and cooperation instead of confrontation has made nonprofit conservancies the fastest growing part of the conservation movement.

35  Donors Anonymous
There are efforts afoot to end unnamed giving. That would crimp charity and damage personal freedom.

36  Big Questions in Philanthropy and Politics
A recent forum of the Carnegie Corporation asked me about philanthropy and politics. Here are some of my responses.

37  Questions About Overseas Giving
Part two from a recent Carnegie Corporation forum—this installment answering questions about donations to foreign lands.

38  ​Eastman Shares His Musical Addiction
The founder of Kodak was one of America's greatest arts philanthropists.

39  Magical Fountains
When Pierre DuPont created one of the great public gardens in America, he—and then later his philanthropic successors—installed the most magical fountains of the age.

40  Arts Philanthropy in the North Woods, Part I:  
Is giving money to art elitist, even irresponsible, in a world with many pressing needs? 

41  Arts Philanthropy in the North Woods, Part II:
Is giving money to art elitist, even irresponsible, in a world with many pressing needs? 

42  ​Benjamin Rush, Hall of Fame Philanthropist
Meet a top doctor, turned political founder, turned charity pioneer.

43  A Joint Venture in Goodness
Evangelical Christians and faithful Jews team up to help the neediest overseas.

44  ​Reinventing Public Universities
Philanthropy can have a leading role in pulling state-run colleges away from bureaucracy and low standards.

45  Secret Codes & Philanthropy
America's world-leading expertise in code-making and code-breaking grows out of a charitable project, believe it or not.

46  Medical Progress and Private Money
Wherever the health sciences are progressing fastest today, it's often donated money that is pushing the frontier.

47  ​Private Schools for the Overseas Poor?
In the world's most destitute neighborhoods, it's a real thing.

48  Gem of a Donation
A great natural wonder and object of beauty is preserved by a generous couple.

49  ​George Eastman Makes Movies an Art
And fuels modern dance in the process.

50  Donors Not Angels
Philanthropy gets good out of even not-so-good people.

51  ​Radical School for a Red-hot Problem
A new charter boarding school in DC educates kids facing stiff odds.

52  Common Criticisms of Philanthropy, I
...and some answers. First of three related podcasts. 

53  Common Criticisms of Philanthropy, II
...and some answers. Second of three related podcasts. 

54  Common Criticisms of Philanthropy, III
...and some answers. Third of three related podcasts. 

55  Nation-changing Churches
Giving thanks for Boston's charitable houses of worship.

56  The World's Largest Musical Instrument
Voluntary givers created it, restored it, and are saving it for the future.

57  Backlash Against School Reform
Enemies of innovation have got the upper hand right now. Here's a Throwback Thursday reminder of why that's not good—and won't last.

58  U.S. Giving Viewed from Abroad
A speaking trip to Australia reminds me of how unusual American philanthropy is.

59  The Humanitarian Habits of Religious People
America's extraordinary generosity and historic faith are closely linked.