This month we have met a number of inspiring people who are involved in the mega-issues that involve all of us, like climate change, healthcare, education, poverty. They are working to affect change, or at least raise the level of conversation. They're personable, too, and curious about how public radio may complement their pursuits.

We spoke with a college president whose innovative leadership has helped broaden the curriculum and resources at her school, from global-oriented education programs to new learning and teaching technologies. She is also a former National Kellogg Fellow, an expert in public health, and a poet. We spoke to her about how her experience nurturing a community of learners might translate to connecting with a community of public radio listeners, who we know are curious and passionate about the world.

Before another one of our prospective hosts traveled to Africa recently on a research trip for his next book, he sat down with us to talk about his ideas. He's an award-winning novelist who is in Nigeria right now, speaking with people living with AIDS, working to develop characters and weave real voices into his fictional work about the disease. He keeps the daunting enormity of his subject matter in check by anticipating smaller tasks, like how to ask an older person he has just met about his or her sex life. An excellent listener and engaging speaker, he is eager to learn how to use the intimate medium of radio to bring these people to a larger audience.

One of our other contacts shifted gears a few years ago to produce a film with a powerful message. The documentary he produced has reinvigorated the grassroots notion that everyone can make a difference. Where global awareness matches creative energy, you find visionaries such as this Academy Award winning producer.

One common denominator for these idealist/pragmatists is this: they talk with people. It will be exciting to figure out how we might bring these conversations to the radio.