San Francisco restaurateur George Mardikian tells of his immigration from Eastern Europe to the United States, and he explains how he tries to repay the warm embrace Americans have given him.
Restaurant critic Jason Sheehan has a passion for barbecue with all the homemade fixings on the side. He believes barbecue unites us, comforts us and is the only thing he can’t get enough of.
As a person living with autism, Temple Grandin explains that she lives by concrete rules, not abstract beliefs. Without the ability to process abstract thought, she thinks in pictures and in sounds.
For Cecilia Muñoz, a childhood memory of anger has inspired a career in activism. She believes that early outrage fuels her work on behalf of Hispanic immigrants for the National Council of La Raza.
As a hospice volunteer, Mary Cook shares in the grief of others. But it was her own loss that taught her how to heal. She believes that recovering from grief requires not a battle, but surrender.
What kind of world are we leaving younger generations? Manhattan teenager Josh Rittenberg says all parents worry about their children’s futures. But he believes he and his peers will see a better world.
Dr. Anthony Fauci says he was destined to help people with HIV-AIDS. His work at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is fueled by his belief in personal responsibility to humankind.
A favorite team makes the World Series while a marriage ends in divorce. Surviving life’s ups and downs led Steve Porter to believe that the good times and bad ultimately balance out.
Although born and raised in England, writer Andrew Sullivan turns to America’s Declaration of Independence to find his beliefs rooted in the principles of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”