My son, Gabe, and I met in Berlin earlier this month to spend a week in the city. It was a powerful trip in no small part because of the transformational DNA in the core of the city, all pertinent to my work on Grand Challenges. Berlin’s transformation over the past several decades is nothing […]
My mother, Diana Weaver Kahan, was a poet. Her birthday was yesterday. She would have been 90. Instead, she lives in eternity. She was not a published poet but a lover of poetry who read to me regularly and occasionally wrote her own. I am particularly fond of this poem she wrote in 2004: Because
Because I have Children Read More »
Desperate for some beach time, we all piled into the car last week after New Year’s and headed to eastern Maryland, where the Chesapeake Bay is prominent. We came to Downs Park, which has a tiny beach. There, the dogs played. Divya is sporting her hot pink sweatshirt because the weather is crisp, and she
Taking the Canines to the Beach Read More »
Grand Challenge: Transform U.S. Education > Idea: Remove traditional grade levels entirely, replacing them with mastery-based systems that let students progress based on demonstrated understanding rather than age or time spent. Grand Challenge: Repair US healthcare > Idea: monetize preventative care as a subscription service, incentivizing healthcare providers to keep populations healthy rather than treating
2025 Grand Challenges Read More »
Elizabeth Lotardo launched the LinkedIn Learning course ‘Leading Yourself’ in 2017. In 2020, as the world moved into remote work and many employees yearned for deeper meaning, she updated the course, which took off. In 2024, her movement captured over 1M learners on LinkedIn Learning and launched a bestselling book by the same title. It’s
Former ANA CEO Marla Weston, PhD, RN, FAAN, discusses Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation™ (HNHN) on my Grand Challenge podcast. Marla led the HNHN Grand Challenge to measurably improve the health of America’s nurses. This initiative engages diverse stakeholders and has overcome significant challenges. In this episode of my podcast, she emphasizes defining the problem, allowing
Marla Weston on my Podcast Read More »
You wouldn’t think these two would fight, but occasionally, they get into it with each other. In this picture, they are playing in our front yard. They are best buddies! Divya is the little black one on the left, and Kaya is the German Shepherd on the right. Isn’t it interesting how we save our
Last Friday, I went to my first hockey game. I would not have been there without an invitation from my sister-in-law, Ivy. This photo shows me rinkside behind the goalie. Before the game started, Ivy took me to the rink to watch the players warm up. We were directly behind the goal and saw all
The first major conversation on my new podcast, Seth Kahan on Grand Challenges, is Patrick Kennedy. Kennedy is a former U.S. Congressman and leading mental health advocate. Known for his commitment to mental health and addiction issues, he founded The Kennedy Forum, which promotes equitable mental health care. Kennedy played a pivotal role in
Patrick Kennedy on My Podcast Read More »
Grand Challenges represent society’s wicked problems—complex, persistent, and difficult to solve due to incomplete, contradictory, and ever-changing demands. Yet, addressing them is essential for humanity and life on Earth to survive and thrive. That’s why I have started my new podcast, Seth Kahan on Grand Challenges. My work is dedicated to confronting these monumental issues.
