KQED's Perspectives

Heather Pierce found herself, aided and abetted by social media, in one of those not-my-better-self moments at IKEA.

When a distracted motorist caused a serious crash with motorcyclist Richard Levitt, 40 years of martial arts and yoga saved his life.

In the early 1980s, Ron Shaich bought a small, struggling Boston bakery chain called Au Bon Pain, and built it out to 250 locations nationwide. Ron then saw an opportunity to build something even bigger: Panera Bread. It was the start of "fast casual" – a new kind of eating experience, between fast food and restaurant dining. Today, Panera Bread has over 2,000 stores, and $5 billion in annual sales. Plus, for our postscript "How You Built That," how Tyson Walters got so tired of his St. Bernard shedding everywhere that he created the Shed Defender, a zip-up body suit for dogs that captures loose hair.

Birds in the wild are great, but it’s the cadre of city birds in Amy Kennedy’s neighborhood that really have her affection.

Katia Bouali wears the hijab to assert her modesty, but it doesn’t cover her determination to live a consequential life.

Jane Wurwand moved to Los Angeles with a suitcase and a beauty school diploma. She started what would become Dermalogica, an international beauty empire that set the standard for skin care. PLUS in our postscript "How You Built That," we check back with Nick Gilson for an update on his company, Gilson Snowboards, a snowboard & ski company based in Pennsylvania. (Original broadcast date: October 24, 2016)

After selling their first small business and shuttering their second, former college roommates Niraj Shah and Steve Conine thought about getting "normal" jobs. But in the early 2000s, they stumbled across an unexpected trend: people were buying furniture online to get a wider selection. Within a few years, Niraj and Steve launched 250 different websites, selling everything from barstools to birdhouses. Eventually, they consolidated these sites into one giant brand: Wayfair. The company now carries more than 10 million items for home and last year brought in more than $4 billion in sales. Plus, for our postscript "How You Built That," how Carin Luna-Ostaseski fell in love with scotch and became the first American woman to create a Scotch whisky company.

Carol Arnold struggles to cope with her daily dread that the world is falling apart.

Andrew Lewis says that when reality is too horrific, the only way too survive may be to laugh at it.

Everyone likes a good laugh, but Richard Friedlander says figuring out what makes something funny is tough.

Until a classmate stood with her, Jacqui Martin thought she was the only student who couldn’t read.

The autism community promotes awareness and Matt Carey knows exactly what that means.

Daymond John grew up during the 1980s in the heart of hip hop culture: Hollis, Queens. In his early 20s, he was working at Red Lobster and trying to figure out how to start a business. Eventually, he stumbled on the idea of making clothes for fans of rap music. In 1992, he started FUBU (For Us By Us) and began selling hats outside of a local mall. Three years later, FUBU was bringing in $350 million in sales. Today, he's a judge on Shark Tank, and a motivational speaker and author. Plus, for our postscript "How You Built That", how Len Testa created an app that uses real-time data to help people avoid long lines at theme parks.

Marilyn Englander revisits the scene of the North Bay wildfires and finds hope and despair.

Youth Radio’s Finley Davis used to give catcallers the silent treatment on her way to school. No more.