Stephen Macedo and Frances Lee are both professors of politics at Princeton. Together they wrote "In Covid's Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us" (Princeton University Press), named one of the best books of 2025 by The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, and The Economist, and featured on The New York Times' "The Daily" and PBS NewsHour. The book asks a question few want to spend time with: how did…
Project D.R.E.W. brings together veterans and songwriters to turn their stories of service into songs. The nonprofit was founded by Marilyn Zeidner, Mike Winnen and Brian Ferguson in honor of Captain Drew Ferguson, an Army Green Beret and Special Forces team leader who carried a guitar with him on deployment. Frank sits down with Marilyn, Mike and Brian to talk about what happens when a veteran…
Lindy Wood is the founder of Westonwood Ranch, a 10-acre working farm in the Florida Panhandle. When her son Weston was diagnosed with autism fifteen years ago, she realized a terrifying "services cliff" awaited him—and millions of others—the moment they transitioned into adulthood. Rather than letting her son fall, Lindy built an extraordinary hands-on community where teens and young adults with…
Luke Mickelson is the founder of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a nonprofit dedicated to building and delivering beds to children who don't have one. What started as a family project in an Idaho garage has grown into a global organization with nearly 400 chapters and more than 300,000 beds delivered to date. In this episode, we discuss: The moment Luke discovered that kids in his own town were sleeping…
Bill Gurley is a venture capitalist known for early investments in Uber, Grubhub, Zillow and many others. Gurley joins us to discuss "Running Down a Dream," his new book — which is full of career advice that is as surprising as it is useful. In this episode, we discuss: The Power of Mentorship: Why Bill feels a moral urge to share what he's learned with the world. The "Safe" Path Trap: Why the…
She's the mom of a child with a rare condition, and she wouldn't take "no" for an answer from doctors. He walked 500 miles for his granddaughter, who has the same condition. Together, they're helping a foundation develop a gene therapy treatment faster and cheaper than the big pharma giants. Today, we speak with Nicole Johnson, founder of the FOXG1 Research Foundation, and Tom Horton, former CEO…
Walter Martin spent decades making and playing music, most famously with the indie rock bands Jonathan Fire*Eater and The Walkmen. Recently, he's started a new crazy good turn, helping people like you and me rediscover the joy of music through his Walter Martin Radio Hour show and Substack. In this episode, we discuss: How a single instrument (like the organ) can change how you hear a song. Why…
Frank Blake sits down with Goodwill Industries CEO Steve Preston and truck driver Michael West to discuss the organization's "second chance" mission. From running adult high schools in prisons to providing career paths for those overcoming addiction and incarceration, this is the story of how a 125-year-old mission is still changing lives today. In this episode, we discuss: The surprising scale of…
Crazy Good Turns received more than 500 nominations from listeners like you seeking to recognize organizations that are helping others. In this show, we reveal five winners selected to receive a $10,000 grant. They are: The Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation: Founded by a man who was wrongly imprisoned for sixteen years. Since being exonerated, he's used his own money to free others who've been falsely…
Grey Bull Rescue helps innocent Americans who are stranded, imprisoned, or otherwise trapped in dangerous situations around the globe. BRYAN STERN founded Grey Bull in August 2021, during the fall of Afghanistan. Since that time, Grey Bull has helped rescue more than 8,000 Americans in 800 different missions. Stern's own story begins decades earlier. As a young Army intelligence officer, he was at…
