Culture
WOUB Welcomes Netflix Star to Launch New Kindness Podcast Oct. 17
< < Back toNicole Phillips should have been on top of the world.
She was employed as a television news anchor, had three remarkable children, and an accomplished, committed husband – but she still felt like her life was passionless and pointless.
That all changed when she committed a random act of kindness toward another person – something that soon defined her personally and spiritually. Those acts of kindness, which she started to chronicle in a weekly syndicated newspaper column, not only served her personally, allowing her to beat depression, lose weight, and improve the rocky relationship with her mother, but also touched a countless number of people.
In 2015, Phillips was diagnosed with breast cancer. She “used kindness as chemotherapy,” which helped her work through difficulties confronting her. Phillips is now a published author, with her first book, Kindness is Contagious: 100 Stories to Remind You God is Good and So are Most People, having been published November 2016.
Phillips is now bringing her stories of human kindness to WOUB through “The Kindness Podcast,” which will be hosted weekly by the author.
“I had always wanted to do some type of podcast or radio show dealing with kindness; I always thought that it would be a good medium for it,” said Phillips, who said that the new podcast was born after WOUB’s Tom Hodson interviewed her earlier this year about her new book. “Tom (Hodson) asked if there was anything else that he could do for me, which is a very kind thing for a person to ask. I told him about my idea, and we ran with it.”
On the podcast, Phillips interviews various kindness “experts, advocates, and people with incredible kindness stories.”
“It’s amazing to talk to these people, because when I do, I begin to think ‘wow, maybe the world will be okay after all,’” said Phillips. “It’s inspiring just to talk to them.”
Phillips’ podcast debuts Thursday, Oct. 12 on woub.org/listen.
One of those kindness experts that Phillips speaks with is Netflix star Leon Logothetis, a man who was formerly a London-based broker but who left his secure employment to explore the nature of human kindness. His adventures are chronicled by Netflix’s The Kindness Diaries.
On Oct. 17, WOUB Public Media will celebrate Nicole’s podcast with a special appearance by Leon Logothetis in the Ohio University’s Baker University Center’s room 240. The event kicks off at 7:30 p.m., and attendance is free to the public. Both Phillips and Logothetis will speak. Logothesis will be on hand to sign copies of his book The Kindness Diaries: One Man’s Quest to Ignite Goodwill and Transform Lives Around the World, which are currently available at the Little Professor Book Center located at 65 South Court Street in Athens. Logothetis’ and Nicole’s books will also be for sale at the event.
The event is sponsored by Hyacinth Bean Florist, Donkey Coffee and Espresso, OhioHealth, David White Services, and the Athens County Visitor’s Bureau.
Leading up to the event Athenians are encouraged to highlight acts of kindness on social media with the hashtags #athensiskind and #findingkindness.
When asked about her personal definition of “kindness,” Phillips didn’t hesitate.
“Kindness is loving on the people around us – asking about the nature of kindness is a big question, but the answer is simple – you love on the person in front of you,” she said. “It can be your money, your time, your talents, even just your decision to not judge someone, to love them just the way they are.”
