Rotary Voices

Rotary Voices


Latest Episodes

The Liberation of Julie Mulligan
April 22, 2025

16 years have passed since John Mulligan received a phone call from northern Nigeria to his home in Drayton Valley, a small town nestled between two rivers in central Alberta. “John. I’ve been kidnapped.” The caller was his wife, Rotarian Julie Mulligan.

The Final Push: A Polio Survivor's Story
April 02, 2025

In September of 2023, the Gates Foundation partnered with the Moth – an award-winning storytelling nonprofit organization – to host an event in New York City during the UN General Assembly. The event, Don’t Stop Now: Stories from the Final Push to End Pol

Where No TikToker Has Gone Before
March 21, 2025

Rotarian and astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti dreamed of space travel since she was a kid. Now, she’s sharing the cosmic awe with her fellow earthlings. This story⁠⁠ by senior staff writer Diana Schoberg appeared in the December 2024 issue of ⁠⁠Rotary mag

Chicago Chefs Cook Makes Impact Through Food
March 05, 2025

For Supper with Sylvia, veteran journalist Sylvia Perez teams up with Rotary Voices, speaking with chefs Tony Priolo and Sarah Stegner about their extraordinary humanitarian missions at home and abroad.

The Backyard Bird Chronicles with Amy Tan
February 11, 2025

An accomplished writer of fiction (The Joy Luck Club and five other novels), memoirs, and children’s books, Tan came late to serious birding. That interest coincided with her dedication to learning how to draw. In The Backyard Bird Chronicles, readers fol

The Downtown Ducks with Richard Repp
January 21, 2025

In 2008, a loan officer in Spokane, Washington garnered international attention after helping a mama mallard and her ducklings down from a ledge outside his office building. Richard Repp, a lawyer and local Rotarian, concocted a plan that would not only p

Espresso in a War Zone
January 07, 2025

Adventure or misadventure, NPR's Scott Simon finds enlightenment in a life of travels. Simon narrates his story that originally ran in the December 2024 issue of Rotary magazine.

Reasons to be Cheerful with David Byrne
December 09, 2024

NPR’s Scott Simon sat down with David Byrne five years after the legendary musician, artist and former Talking Heads frontman launched a nonprofit online magazine called Reasons to be Cheerful. The magazine offers good news in a market otherwise dominated

Grammy-Winning Rotary Ambassador Gaby Moreno
November 27, 2024

Chicago news anchor Sylvia Perez sits down with Gaby Moreno, a Grammy award-winning singer, songwriter, and producer to discuss her upbringing, career, and experience seeing Rotary’s impact up close. Rotary recently named Moreno as one of its first Rotary

Still Standing: Part 2
November 11, 2024

Last episode, Hannah Shaw took us through Hatay Province in southeastern Turkey, which sustained severe damages in the 2023 earthquakes. In part two, the journey continues, as Rotary magazine editor JP Swenson takes us to the city of Adıyaman, where local