Listener Reviews

This is a very timely episode with Paul Barker, who was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Iran for five years and understands and appreciates this ancient culture. It's fascinating that his best student there in the days of the Shah became one of the revolutionaries who overthrew the shah and wound up being a captor of a former Peace Corps Volunteer in the 444 days following the taking of hostages in 1979 . Paul Barker emphasizes the importance of understanding the people and culture of the countries targeted by military powers and laments the fact that those negotiating for a peace pact before the war on Iran were in the real estate business and couldn’t even understand what the Iranians were offering. It’s clear from this podcast that overthrowing the democratically elected leader of a country to put in someone who will do the bidding of our country is more likely to foment a revolution than to lead to long-lasting peace.

Thank you Christopher for always having a podcast that speaks to whichever country our government is meddling in at the time. Being reminded of how gracious and hospitable the Iranian poeple are makes the bombing of them and their schools even more tragic. Equally sad is how much more of our tax dollars go towards weaponry and military might than towards diplomacy. Is it because our leaders don't have the patience for learning about other cultures? Diplomacy takes time, skill, and an intellectual curiosity for those different from oneself. Values nowhere in evidence in our current US leadership.

Another timely interview on what principled diplomacy is, as well as an informed appreciation of the Persian culture--generosity and poetry rarely highlighted in today's news cycle. His comment on the consequences of the US sending two real estate agents to negotiate peace when there is nothing about diplomacy or Middle Eastern culture would be comic if it weren't so dangerous. Paul's service through the Peace Corps, CARE, Save the Children, and Mercy Cops is a testament to the impact of the Peace Corps experience.

This episode provoked both admiration and frustration in me. John "Dink" Dinkelman, after serving 37 years in diplomacy , was laid off in a mass firing of 1300 civil service employees and diplomats of the American Foreign Service Association in 2025, and from this podcast, I see that he is an admirable man. The frustration I feel comes from the administration's withdrawing peace-keeping people while waging wars that may mean the kids at Aunt Deb's Thanksgiving table may be killed or injured--or kill or injure -- in war. The firing was called an RIF: Reduction in Force. It's frustrating that military force is the only area in which there's never a reduction unless we count a reduction in lives. But I feel hope as long as people like "Dink" Dinkelman exist and persist and people like him and Chris Wurst tell their stories.

Claire's story is most timely and a needed reminder of the human cost we’ve let fade from view. Ukrainians have endured four relentless years of war, yet global attention has swung almost entirely to the Middle East. Claire—a young woman from Texas—was transformed by the resilience, grief, and stubborn hope she witnessed in Ukraine. The people she met didn’t just shape her reporting; they reshaped her sense of purpose, pushing her toward work grounded in empathy, truth‑telling, and standing with those whose suffering slips out of the headlines. Their struggle deserves to stay in our line of sight.

Somehow I missed this episode when it first aired, but it's one of the best! Marian Rivman from the Bronx was sent not to one of the 7000 islands in the Philippines but to an inland spot where she had the test of endurance described by host and producer Chris Wurst until a murder that made the New York Times prompted her father to make a call that led to a transfer. But through it all, she showed a sprit of openness and friendship that led to the rich experiences that got her in quite a few rooms "where it happened." With frankness, warmth and humor she describes how soft power changed her life.

What particularly resonated with me about Kate Byrnes' experience as a diplomat is how American popular culture resonated with those in other countries where the textbooks depicted American history in what she considered a distorted way, and singing together became a way of connecting and sharing cultures. Those of us who've served in the Peace Corps and International Voluntary Services have shared that experience as well as her realization that we have everything to gain when we connect with people in other countries in peaceful, life-affirming ways and too much to lose when we don't.

With diplomacy unraveling in Ukraine and Iran, her clarity about what real service looks like cuts through the noise.Amb. Byrnes followed her father into the Foreign Service and spent 32 years on the front lines of U.S. diplomacy, earning the Presidential Rank Award for her leadership. Her insights remind us why steady, principled engagement still matters—something every RPCV understands instinctively.For those of us who care about America’s role in the world, and the people who uphold it quietly and courageously, this interview is essential listening.

This podcast poignantly illustrates what it's like to be a law-abiding citizen married to an immigrant whose efforts to get legal status have been to no avail, causing anguish in the family and in the community because of ICE's excesses. "Jane" comes across as very intelligent, well-educated, and caring as she describes their harrowing experience.

I'm glad we didn't have to wait a full week for Part 2 of Mark Ward's story! One remarkable aspect of his humanitarian work was being able to eavesdrop on two former presidents, George HW Bush and Bill Clinton, traveling as they worked together in the early aughts to help tsunami victims and sharing stories about the campaign strategies they had against each other! Mark Ward relates this with humor and other shared experiences with poignancy. He expresses the belief that the US benefits from a more stable world, one we can help create through humane involvement with other parts of the world.

I laughed when I heard that his majoring in African History and applying to the Peace Corps to go to some African country led to the PC inviting him to train for South Korea! (We RPCVs know all about that phenomenon.) I laughed more nervously when I heard that he managed to get to Kenya and was immediately made the headmaster of a girls' school where they only funding came from the girls themselves. By the end of Part 1 of this podcast, I was full of admiration for Mark Ward and sorry that everything changed after September 11th, 2001, making it impossible for him to continue to take his family to the countries where he served. I'm looking forward to Part 2!

As a former board member of Partnering for Peace and an RPCV, I appreciated Christine's role as a go-between her community and Rotary to bring clean water to an isolated community and her writing career, where she shared her experiences with a broader audience. Best known for her memoir The Color of the Elephant, drawn from her service in Zambia, Herbert writes with a rare blend of courage, vulnerability, and sharp cultural insight. Her other books expand on those themes, exploring resilience and cross‑cultural understanding through a wider lens, yet all carry her signature honesty. Her Fulstories conversation is a powerful reminder of how Peace Corps service continues to shape lives long after volunteers return home.

Christine Herbert joined the Peace Corps and served in Zambia after what we call 9-11 and around the time the US attacked, invaded, and occupied Iraq, and the world is better for it! She relates her stories with enthusiasm and humor.

This episode, SoftPower/FulStories, a podcast that beautifully illustrates the importance of peaceful US engagement with the rest of the world, lets us hear the voices of some people in Minneapolis at this time when "US engagement" hasn't been so peaceful, and the people there have braved below-zero weather to stand up for those whose rights and lives are being threatened. As one of the voices said, lots of people in other cities, including SF, where I live, are coming out in support of them and fund-raising for the agencies that protect human rights--even if we are doing it in more temperate weather.

If our country has been awakened by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech saying the world order is in rupture, not transition, the US needs to do something humane about that sharp break and use soft power, not coercion, to establish alliances in the manner Christ Thomas did in Sierra Leone, Pakistan, and Vietnam. Interested in Chris Thomas’ statement that soon 85 percent of the world’s children will live in Africa and Asia, I looked this up and see that United Nations' data for 2026 confirms that close to 90% of the world's 1.8 billion young people already reside in less developed regions than the US. I just finished reading Ian Ewan’s novel "What We Can Know," which takes place in the future (2119), when Nigeria is the world’s dominant superpower. Chris Thomas’ voice of compassion, openness, and appreciation of other cultures is one to listen to.

While working with Plan International in Sierra Leone for several years, I always admired the Peace Corps Volunteers upcountry who showed a kind of grit and grace that stays with you for life. Chris's journey reflects that same lineage. He learned from villagers who lived with dignity amid hardship, absorbed their lessons about community and perseverance, and then carried those values into a global career—most notably through his work with the World Bank and other international institutions. What makes his story compelling is how seamlessly he connects the wisdom of rural Sierra Leone with the demands of international development, paying forward what he gained in those early years and honoring the people who shaped him.

Even though I never lived in Minnesota as did Chris Wurst and Hamse Warfa, like thousands of people all over the world I am alarmed by what's happening in Minneapolis. Hearing Hamse Warfa describe the scene like one he experienced in a refugee camp in Rwanda is both chilling and apropos. His own story is one of great success, and he charmingly names the good experiences he had in the USA, transcending the obstacles of being a "Black person in America" --taking a plane for the first time, enjoying San Diego sun, and because of his wife's wishes moving to Minnesota because there were seasons there. He sounds like a man for all seasons, and I hope Minnesota and the rest of our nation will rise above this murderous "season" and those who propagate it.

An important story of a Somali refugee whose life story demolishes the hateful rhetoric aimed at his community and stands tall against the climate of fear surrounding ICE in Minneapolis. From refugee camps to becoming the highest‑ranking Somali‑American presidential appointee, Warfa’s journey is a masterclass in resilience, leadership, and what real American contribution looks like. Inspiring, timely, and impossible to ignore. Share this with all your friends and colleagues!

Alan J. “Dr. Alonzo” Wind’s joy and unbeatable spirit come through immediately when he relates an exchange with Isaac Asimov and later when he describes being on the radio waves as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador, where people welcomed that joy and spirit even with his “Gringo” Spanish. He was unstoppable then, and everything he relates in this podcast episode shows a man of compassion and wisdom as well. His comments on the Palestinians come from being "A Jew in Gaza," the title of his 2024 book, which continues: Humanitarian Heartbreak, Hubris, and Horror." (The podcast was so compelling that I looked him up.)

I was inspired and amazed by my parallel journey with Alonzo. Plan International was also one of my first jobs out of the Peace Corps and I worked for CARE and did some work with Esperanza based here in Phoenix. We both married ladies from Latin America and have written three books. His story is most timeley given the ongoing fighting in Gaza. When he was interviewed over 50,000 Palestinians--many women and children--were killed and now it's over 70,000, so our work as story tellers and advocates for Peace is not over.

So many important points are covered on the value of foreign service from a leader who has experienced a lifetime of contact with other countries. Thanks for another outstanding Softpower, full story! Jody's memoir makes for a captivating book.

I just posted on my Facebook page that I look forward to the Friday podcast of SoftPower/FulStories, which shows why the USA should be engaged with people in other countries in a peaceful way. Every episode is engaging, and the latest made me think of a fiend (Janet Thornburg), who like Jody Olsen (featured this week) served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tunisia (1969). It also made me think of my own experience teaching in Algeria (through International Voluntary Services), where I got to know and appreciate a different culture and know wonderful people like Djamila Abassi Tair, who was then a 15-year-old student at Lycee Bencheneb and is now a grandmother with whom I share life's highlights on Facebook. But Jodi Olsen's experiences and insights about her overseas experience as both a teacher and a PC director are truly impressive and unique. I listened to this episode while doing my PT exercises, which were much less of a bore because of all Jodi Olsen relates--even about a condom used as a water balloon?? (I'm going to listen again.) I see that her memoir A MILLION MILES: MY PEACE CORPS JOURNEY has been reviewed by Evelyn La Torre, who first told me about Chris Wurst's soft power stories. I love how we're all connected to one another and to the world.

How uplifting to hear the voice of Lewis Lucke, who from a very early age followed his passions! I think it was Emmanuel Kant who said in order to live contentedly we need someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for. Listening to what Ambassador Lucke relates of his experiences and what has propelled them strengthens the listener's hope!

Instead of having a decade party as I did when I turned 40, 50, 60, and 70, I felt more like quiet contemplation this year when I turned 80, so I decided to reflect on people and entities that had enhanced my life and 2025, when I turned 80, and thank those involved. Chris Wurst, the creator of SoftPower/fulStories, comes to mind. This podcast is a gift to every American who wants to feel connected to the rest of the world. It's an eloquent, compelling plea for international relations to create a better world, artfully produced with really great story-tellers. Thank you, Chris Wurst, and thank you, those of you who've told your stories in such a gripping, compassionate, and life-affirming way. I should add that this is for people of ALL ages! You don't have to wait until you're an octogenarian.