Full Spectrum with Molly Kawahata

https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts211/v4/76/81/81/7681812c-7cda-2c39-d201-617918684209/mza_13306738205484014203.jpg/600x600bb.jpg

Systemic Impact Strategies

12 episodes

1 month ago

I’ve spent the last two months talking with innovators who’ve done wild things—from surviving homelessness to becoming a world-renowned hope researcher, to convincing a sitting President to get roasted on a comedy show to save a landmark policy. This week, I’ve pulled the most powerful strategies from our recent episodes into one mixtape. The common thread? The most effective ways to create change often defy logic. This episode is a toolkit for moments when the usual path doesn’t work, coveri...

All content for Full Spectrum with Molly Kawahata is the property of Systemic Impact Strategies and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

Episodes (12/12)

Full Spectrum with Molly Kawahata

HACKING HUMAN NATURE [SEASON 1 RECAP]—How Hope Rewires Your Brain, the Myth of Rationality, the Secret to Motivation (It's Not Willpower), the Joke That Disarmed a Nation

1 month ago

54 minutes

Full Spectrum with Molly Kawahata

THE TECH EXEC REDESIGNING THE SYSTEM–Inside the War for Your Attention at YouTube, Snapchat & TikTok, the Science of Visualization, Hacking Anxiety, What's Coming with AI

What if anxiety isn’t the enemy – we’ve just been using it wrong? Sometimes the tools we build for others are the ones we needed to invent for ourselves. — I’ve always struggled with anxiety. My brain can turn an unresolved text message into a full-blown crisis. But what I never realized is that if our minds can rehearse disaster, we can also train them to rehearse something different. That insight is at the heart of my conversation with James Veraldi. James didn’t just help build TikTok, You...

2 months ago

1 hour 7 minutes

Full Spectrum with Molly Kawahata

The between series: The rescue operation I didn’t know was mine—a story about cosmic humiliation, climbing, tinder ghosts, and the surprising way humor saves us

In this episode, I answer the question: What’s the most dramatic way to ruin your own life for 24 hours? This is the story about becoming the world's most expensive inconvenience. Welcome to The Between Series—a series where I take you into moments from my life that shaped the themes we explore in the main episodes. For anyone who’s ever: Hit "reply all" on something you shouldn’t have.Been that person in a group text.Woken up in cold sweat remembering something dumb you did in 2012In this ep...

3 months ago

14 minutes

Full Spectrum with Molly Kawahata

BRAD JENKINS—The Man Who Convinced Obama Into Getting Roasted: Inside the Viral Stunt That Saved Healthcare in America, Why Comedy is the Ultimate Weapon

I remember the day at the Obama White House when healthcare.gov crashed—and millions of Americans were locked out of coverage that could literally save their lives. This is the inside story of how, in a moment of sheer desperation, the Obama White House turned to a viral comedy sketch to save the Affordable Care Act—and how Brad Jenkins made it happen. Brad was the architect behind one of the boldest Hail Marys in modern political history. A former campaign strategist turned culture whisperer...

3 months ago

1 hour 31 minutes

Full Spectrum with Molly Kawahata

The between series: when I couldn't find the black between stars—a story about Yosemite, awe, and what happens when you hand someone a feeling they might not catch

"Awe doesn’t always translate. But what do we lose when we stop trying to share it?" Welcome to The Between Series —a series where I take you into moments from my life that shaped the themes we explore in the main episodes. These are the in-between chapters that echo through everything you hear on the show. The landscape of the High Sierra has rearranged the scale of my life more times than I can count. It been a throughline throughout my life, a place I’ve returned to again and again, ...

4 months ago

12 minutes

Full Spectrum with Molly Kawahata

DR. KIM NOLAN—“The Moment I Chose to Stay” (A Buddhist Chaplain’s Journey Through the Veil), the Biological Power of Awe, How to Hack “Timelessness”

We think of awe as rare. A sunset. A mountain peak. A fleeting high. But what if we’ve got it backwards? Awe isn’t just something that happens to you—it’s a biological lever hiding in plain sight. One that can decrease stress hormones, stretch time, and rewire attention. In this conversation, Dr. Kim Nolan—Buddhist chaplain, psychologist, and one of the most grounded people I’ve ever known—shows us how to spot the extraordinary buried in the ordinary. We talk about: ✅ How awe can redu...

4 months ago

1 hour 25 minutes

Full Spectrum with Molly Kawahata

The between series: the 3am White House epiphany - a story about climate, burnout, and the uncomfortable truth that fear might not be what moves us after all

"Because really—why would anyone fight for a future they believe is already lost?” Welcome to The Between Series—a series where I take you into moments from my life that shaped the themes we explore in the main episodes, and share the meaning I’m still trying to make from them. These are the in-between chapters that echo through everything you hear on the show. In this episode, I share a turning point that reshaped how I think about climate strategy, public engagement, and the emotional root ...

4 months ago

12 minutes

Full Spectrum with Molly Kawahata

THE SILENT CLIMATE MAJORITY—How Behavioral Science Is Activating Millions, The NBA Pattern No One Can Explain, How to Hack Human Nature for Good

There’s a version of the story we’ve been told about climate: that it’s too late, that people don’t care, that politics will never catch up. But there’s another version. One where the real problem isn’t apathy—it’s activation. In this episode, I talk with Nathaniel Stinnett, the founder of the Environmental Voter Project—a behavioral science powerhouse that’s quietly turning millions of non-voting environmentalists into one of the most potent political forces in the country. No persuasi...

4 months ago

1 hour 12 minutes

Full Spectrum with Molly Kawahata

The between series: laughing on the way to the ER–a story about denial, Bipolar highs, and the cost of feeling invincible

A story about that moment of reckoning: when you finally ask yourself if the thing keeping you afloat is also the thing pulling you under. Welcome to The Between Series—a series where I take you into moments from my life that shaped the themes we explore in the main episodes, and share the meaning I’m still trying to make from them. These are the in-between chapters that echo through everything you hear on the show. In today’s story, I used to think the chaos was just part of me. Living with ...

4 months ago

14 minutes

Full Spectrum with Molly Kawahata

HOPE SCIENCE Pt 2—WHEN IT ALL FEELS HOPELESS: How to Flip Fear-Based Goals, the Obama Effect, How Hope Saved $61M—and Could Save Us All

I used to hate uncertainty. Whenever things felt hard, I’d assume they’d always be this hard. Like something in my brain just decided: this is how it is now. Forever. But one therapist, one sentence, one metaphor about tenuousness changed how I see it. This episode is about that shift—and how we can train ourselves to make it. Because hope isn’t about blind optimism. It’s about having a goal, believing you can get there, and finding a way forward—even if the path keeps changing. And if you kn...

4 months ago

43 minutes

Full Spectrum with Molly Kawahata

THE HOPE SCIENTIST Pt 1—Surviving Homelessness to Becoming the World’s Leading Hope Researcher: Dr. Chan Hellman on the Flaw in Optimism, Destroying Toxic Positivity, & the 3-Part Formula to Predict Success

I used to think the idea of hope was kind of cringe. Like, “Don’t worry, it’ll all work out”? Please. I couldn’t see past next week, let alone some imaginary better future. But through a series of events, I realized that hope had been the theme of my life all along. And the science of hope, which is backed by decades of research, changed everything for me. Hope is one of the most impactful tools I have ever found. And it has become my life's purpose and work to get it out to the world.&...

4 months ago

1 hour 1 minute

Full Spectrum with Molly Kawahata

Full Spectrum Trailer

Full Spectrum is the podcast focused on giving you actionable strategies for navigating uncertain times. Molly Kawahata has navigated the halls of the Obama White House, a Patagonia film, and bipolar II—and wondered one thing: what do you do when the stakes are high and nothing’s clear? Part memoir, part strategy session, part existential crisis with a mic—Molly dives into unfiltered convos with founders, scientists, creatives, and other wild humans to translate their experiences into real to...

7 months ago

1 minute