SoftPower/FulStories

Christopher Wurst
  • 5.0 (35)
  • Places & Travel
  • Updated Weekly

Epic weekly tales from every corner of the globe. Forget politics, academia, or the office, these are "soft, powerful stories" told by those who lived them. Is what happens in Kinshasa really important in Kansas? Should an Idahoan care about the problems of an Indonesian? (The answer is yes, but...) SP/FS gives the human story center stage. People can debate the virtues of global soft power, but no one--from Osaka to Omaha to Ouagadougou--can deny the magic of these encounters. Each episode begins and ends in the United States—with a foreign adventure in between.

  1. 1d ago ·  Bonus

    SP/FS Classic: Reverend Jennifer Butler

    (This episode originally aired on October 31, 2025.) In case you missed it: Rev. Jen Butler served as CEO of Faith in Public Life from 2005 to 2022. Highlights of her work as CEO include mobilizing a multi-state faith strategy to secure passage of the Affordable Care Act and defeating Republican efforts in 2017 to gut the bill. Faith in Democracy recently launched a new initiative titled “Leadership Accelerator Hungary 2026,” hoping to promote democracy through faith in the country. 'SoftPower/FulStories' uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing. But forget politics, policy, or punditry; this is all about the stories.

    SP/FS Classic: Reverend Jennifer Butler

  2. 6d ago

    #48 - Elizabeth Kennedy Trudeau

    The key to good diplomacy, according to Elizabeth Kennedy Trudeau, is showing up. And, as a very good diplomat, she always showed up. To places beautiful and places troubled. Places dangerous and places divided. Places important to the United States. The other key to good diplomacy is how you show up. And that leads us to this week's episode... SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

    #48 - Elizabeth Kennedy Trudeau

  3. Jul 15 ·  Bonus

    SP/FS Classic: Aaron Williams

    (This episode originally aired on November 21, 2025.) In case you missed it: July 18th, 2026 marks Nelson Mandela’s 108th birthday and International Nelson Mandela Day. Aaron Williams headed USAID in South Africa, where he worked directly with Nelson Mandela and his administration as the country underwent democratic transformation. Williams served as the Peace Corps Director from 2009 to 2012. He is currently a Senior Advisor at RTI International. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is on the board of directors of the Ron Brown Scholarship program and Child Fund International; he is also on the board for George Washington University’s Elliot School. Rediscover his episode of Softower/FulStories, celebrating how a lifetime of public service can transform the world around you. 'SoftPower/FulStories' uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing. But forget politics, policy, or punditry; this is all about the stories.

    SP/FS Classic: Aaron Williams

  4. Jul 13 ·  Bonus

    SP/FS Bonus: Peace Corps Story Slam (with the Museum of the Peace Corps Experience)

    Sit back and enjoy this SP/FS collaboration with the Museum of the Peace Corps Experience, where we recreate a Peace Corps story slam, originally performed at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in 2025. Featured storytellers: Will Dreyer, Katie Hamann, Jody Olsen, Jim Rupert, Corey Quinlan Taylor, Ursula Wright, and BJ Whetstine--and featuring Museum Director Zack Klim (with a huge assist from Meleia Rose). For more information on the museum's great work, visit museumofthepeacecorpsexperience.org 'SoftPower/FulStories' uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing. But forget politics, policy, or punditry; this is all about the stories.

    SP/FS Bonus: Peace Corps Story Slam (with the Museum of the Peace Corps Experience)

  5. Jul 10

    #47 - Baktash Ahadi

    Forget the idea of going "full circle," I feel like the life and career of Baktash Ahadi is doing laps. As an Afghan refugee, finding his way in the United States, the massive reverberations from 9/11 hit Baktash from all sides, and started him on a journey of service and empathy that led him to the Peace Corps, back to Afghanistan as a civilian interpretor with U.S. special operations, an instructor at the Foreign Service Institute, training outgoing U.S. diplomats on their way to Afghanistan, and finally as a filmmaker, using his remarkable life experiences to help frame stories of shared humanity. And, as of a month or so ago, you can also count him as a two-time Emmy Award winner. All this, and I feel like he's still just getting started. 'SoftPower/FulStories' uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing. But forget politics, policy, or punditry; this is all about the stories.

    #47 - Baktash Ahadi

  6. Jul 6 ·  Bonus

    SP/FS Classic: Betsy Small

    (This episode originally aired on September 12, 2025.) In case you missed it: Betsy Small grew up aware of both her privileged place in the world and her family's rapid rise from poverty and persecution. Both left a mark, resulting in decades of empathy and action--at home and in some of the most vulnerable places in the world. Following the release of Betsy’s podcast episode, her book, 'Before Before: A Story of Discovery and Loss in Sierra Leone,' became a Forward INDIE finalist and received a Nautilus Silver Medal in the category of World Cultures Transformational Growth and Development. 'SoftPower/FulStories' uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing. But forget politics, policy, or punditry; this is all about the stories.

    SP/FS Classic: Betsy Small

  7. Jul 1

    #46 - USAID Eulogy by Dr. Sara Sullivan

    Dateline: 1 July 2026 July 1, 2025, marked the inglorious (and highly dubious) end of USAID. To mark its passing, we asked Sara Sullivan, a USAID alumna who has been speaking out from the very beginning of the end, to "The Average American," to deliver a eulogy on behalf of the agency. As usual, she did not mince words. SoftPower/FulStories uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing.

    #46 - USAID Eulogy by Dr. Sara Sullivan

  8. Jun 26

    #45 - Nicholas Enrich

    On February 3, 2025, Elon Musk posted this on X: "We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper. Could gone [sic] to some great parties. Did that instead." It's safe to say that no one needed Musk's savage imagery. It's also worth pointing out that by now--a year later--the barely-trained, Musk-led forces at the Trump Administration's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have directly cost the jobs of over a quarter of a million people worldwide and have, according to several published models, led to nearly 800,000 deaths worldwide, including more than half a million children. We may never know exact numbers, but we do know that these harrowing figures were the result of a toxic mix of cruelty, arrogance, incompetence, ego, and ignorance. We know this, in part, because Nick Enrich, USAID's then-Acting Assistant Administrator of Global Health, had a front-row seat to the devastation and refused to stay quiet about what he saw. His book--'Into the Wood Chipper: A Whistleblower's Account of How the Trump Administration Shredded USAID'--defies belief, but serves as an invaluable document and bears witness to a still unfolding atrocity. 'SoftPower/FulStories' uses first-person stories to explore why U.S. engagement in the world matters. Through conversations with diplomats, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, authors and artists, influencers, businesspeople, and more, SP/FS highlights how soft power and foreign aid and assistance strengthen America's security, prosperity, and global standing. But forget politics, policy, or punditry; this is all about the stories.

    #45 - Nicholas Enrich
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About

Epic weekly tales from every corner of the globe. Forget politics, academia, or the office, these are "soft, powerful stories" told by those who lived them. Is what happens in Kinshasa really important in Kansas? Should an Idahoan care about the problems of an Indonesian? (The answer is yes, but...) SP/FS gives the human story center stage. People can debate the virtues of global soft power, but no one--from Osaka to Omaha to Ouagadougou--can deny the magic of these encounters. Each episode begins and ends in the United States—with a foreign adventure in between.

Information

  • Creator
    Christopher Wurst
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    75
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Christopher Wurst
  • Show Website
    SoftPower/FulStories

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