After Sheena Meade bounced a check, she was arrested, and her record followed her for years. Now she's fighting to help millions get their arrest and conviction records cleared.

Sixto Cancel experienced the failings of foster care firsthand. Now he advocates for its reform and the expansion of "kinship care" so that young people can have a say in who raises them.

To stop pirate fishing, oil spills, and more, we need to monitor the ocean. Tony Long aims to do just that by creating a live map of all human activity on the seas.

When we look to the future, we assume we'll be the same person we are today. But journalist Shankar Vedantam says that's not always true—our goals and beliefs will likely change throughout our lives.

With today's insatiable wants, it's easy to forget that we borrow the earth from future generations. Philosopher Roman Krznaric warns against short-term thinking and shows us how to be good ancestors.

Why is it so hard to plan for the future? Psychologist Hal Hershfield found that our brains perceive our future self as a separate person — with less urgent wants and needs than our present self.

Journalist Bina Venkataraman says some disasters are due to a short-sighted view of the future and a shallow memory of the past. She urges us to be smarter citizens and better ancestors.

Twenty years ago, Gene Luen Yang taught high school and wrote comics on the side. Now, he's the author of American Born Chinese and other bestsellers. He says comic books belong in every classroom.