Special Edition: Ending 2025 with Good News

·22 min·2 clips

Brandon Harvey reveals the 10 most popular good news stories of 2025, from a lunch lady's custom cart to a coffee shop's radical generosity.

The episode begins with host Erica Mandy introducing the special edition focused on good news as 2025 ends, featuring guest Brandon Harvey, founder and CEO of Good Good Good and editor-in-chief of The Good Newspaper. Brandon explains that people are increasingly seeking out good news not just for inspiration but to see how they can make a difference in their own communities. He discusses the human negativity bias, where bad news sticks more easily, and emphasizes that reading good news helps realize we are not powerless over global problems. The list of top 10 stories was compiled by analyzing over a thousand Instagram posts and 600 website articles from Good Good Good, based on social media and click engagement. Story number 10 involves a lunch lady in Oregon who built a custom cafeteria cart for Julian, a first grader with dwarfism, to improve his lunchroom accessibility. Number nine is about an all-women tiny home neighborhood with rent starting at $450, intended as a nationwide blueprint for affordable housing. Number eight covers New York City's first free food vending machine, offering eggs, meat, and produce to people in need through a partnership with Change Food for Good. Number seven mentions IKEA donating trauma-informed tiny homes to homeless seniors in Texas, designed with natural light and safety in mind. Number six highlights a tech millionaire in Canada building a village of 99 tiny houses for homeless neighbors, noting the effectiveness of tiny housing solutions. After a mid-episode break for listener support and promotions, the countdown resumes with number five: Pope Francis donated his entire personal bank account to a juvenile prison in Rome to fund a pasta factory that employs inmates for reintegration. Number four describes a school district in Colorado Springs building a tiny home village on school property to address teacher shortages and affordable rent, with one village for educators and another for young adults. Number three discusses Los Angeles building a shipping container housing complex for homeless residents instead of a new jail, using bright orange accents and offering permanent and temporary housing. Number two features a Chicago man inventing backpack beds—insulated shelters that roll out from backpacks—aiming to give one to every person sleeping on the streets. Number one, the most clicked story, is about a Portland coffee shop offering free breakfast during a government shutdown, vowing to continue 'until everyone's benefits are reinstated or we go broke,' which raised over $350,000 from community donations. Brandon shares that the coffee shop story personally resonated with him as it's near his home, and he visited to see the community support firsthand. In closing, Brandon expresses hope for the new year as people focus on local community roles, and Erica emphasizes starting small to create ripple effects. The episode ends with resources for accessing more good news stories and a reminder of regular weekday episodes.

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A hopeful year-end countdown centers practical stories of people helping one another.

The Newsworthy ends 2025 with a year-end countdown built around people helping each other and looking for practical solutions. Brandon Harvey, founder and CEO of Good Good Good and editor-in-chief of The Good Newspaper, brings a clear shape to the special by walking through the…

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You get a year-end good-news countdown built around small acts, big ripple effects, and tiny-home neighborhoods for people experiencing homelessness.

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