Hi there, welcome to GRANITE GOODNESS.
My name is Andy DeMeo.
At Granite Goodness, we interview New Hampshire people making the world a better place and share stories of progress and positivity in the Granite State.
I created Granite Goodness because I believe:
That my ancestors worked very hard to give me the opportunities I have had in life. I feel that we owe it to those who came before us, and those who will come after us, to do our best at making the world a better place. Also, making the world better is fun.
That being aware of positivity and progress leaves people more inspired to create their own. Optimism, kindness, and the will to solve complex problems are infectious qualities. I think we need more of it.
This is not an original idea of mine, and other organizations full of people smarter than me have been working on these issues for a long time. They are the ones who inspired me to start Granite Goodness, where I focus exclusively on stories of progress and positivity oriented around New Hampshire, the unique and very special place that I have lived my entire life.
Here are some quotations and links from my heroes, who explain this stuff better than I can:
Angus Hervey, Fix the News:
“When we only tell the stories of doom, we fail to see the stories of possibility.”
“If we want to change the story of humanity this century, we have to start changing the stories we tell ourselves.”
“We live in a time marked by pessimism. Battered daily by negative headlines and facing a post-COVID world whose problems seem manifold and everlasting, it’s easy to assume we are heading for disaster. It may be that the story of chaos and collapse will prove to be true. If so, the information and analysis undergirding that view are readily available. We need little help making those arguments.
But what if it’s not true? The ideas and evidence for the opposite outcome, largely unheard, exist in equal measure.”
Angus Hervey gave a fantastic Ted talk in 2023 that summarizes the rationale for positive journalism well. Check it out!
I am also a regular reader and supporter of the website Our World in Data, who have a fantastic article about why an optimistic view of the world is rational, and necessary:
“An accurate understanding of how global health and poverty are improving leaves no space for cynicism. Those who are optimistic about the future can base their view on the knowledge that it is possible to change the world for the better, because they know that we did.”
These are all exceptional people telling exceptional stories.
However, their focus is on the world— I’m more interested in something a little more local : )
New Hampshire is my home, and it is an extraordinary place. I have lived my entire life here. My hometown is Londonderry, but I’ve lived in Manchester, Bedford, Durham, Newmarket, Meredith, Keene, Dover, Portsmouth, and Rollinsford. Today I live in the Mt. Washington Valley on a farm with my wife Jess and a little dog named Rooster.
GRANITE GOODNESS is my love letter to New Hampshire, the people that have lived any part of their story here, and anyone else orienting toward optimism and community over fear and loneliness.
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If you’d like to be a guest on the show, have any suggestions for guests, or would like to contact me, you can reach out at hello@granitegoodness.com or on social media.
-Andy
