The Happy Pod: What makes people instinctively kind?

快乐小窝:是什么让人们本能地善良?

Global News Podcast

2026-01-31

26 分钟
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We meet a woman whose near death experience as a teenager inspired her to study why some people are willing to risk their lives for others. Dr Abigail Marsh was rescued by a stranger after a car accident and wanted to understand what drove him to help her. She says altruists, those who instinctively help without expecting anything in return, are more sensitive to the needs of other people -- but we can all learn to be kinder. Also: we hear from a man whose willingness to help others led him to donate a kidney. It went to a woman he'd become friends with after he supported her through a personal tragedy. We find out about an Australian scheme to help dads and their kids be healthier, which also showed the benefits of rough and tumble play. And it's inspired a project at a prison in Scotland that aims to make dads better role models by playing with their kids. It's hoped that helping them become better parents will make them less likely to reoffend. Plus, why a crying horse soft toy has been a surprise hit with young workers in China, and what its like to be a patient helping to develop new medical treatments by volunteering for a clinical trial. Our weekly collection of inspiring, uplifting and happy news from around the world. (Presenter: Jannat Jalil. Music composed by Iona Hampson) (Photo: Dr Abigail Marsh. Credit Georgetown University)
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  • I'm Janet Jalil, and in this edition,

  • lessons in kindness from a woman inspired by trying to understand why a stranger risked his life to save hers.

  • I do kind of think I know what he would say,

  • because it is so consistent in everybody that I've ever talked to,

  • which is it just seemed like the obvious thing to do.

  • I felt like I had the ability to help them, and so I did.

  • It's a message echoed by a man who donated a kidney to help someone he'd first met in tragic circumstances.

  • Given the gift of life, for me it's just a human thing to do.

  • People have said, I'm the hero, I don't see it that way.

  • I just see that anyone with a heart would give something to keep someone else alive.

  • Also, when you think about treatment in all sorts of things now, it's because of trials.

  • It's innovation and everything else.

  • There was no question.