✨ Writers, Seekers, and Tender Truth-Tellers—This One’s for You.

This week on The Optimist Project, we’re joined by writer, poet, and spiritual curator Cole Arthur Riley, author of This Here Flesh and creator of the transcendent digital space Black Liturgies.

Cole’s wisdom invites us to consider optimism not as loud hope but as sacred stillness—a quiet, rooted stance that makes room for contradiction, wonder, and doubt. In this profound conversation, she speaks with reverence and clarity about the spiritual life as one of complexity: where skepticism meets faith, and silence becomes presence.

We explore the birth of Black Liturgies, the discipline of noticing beauty in the mundane, and the delicate dance between public witness and private becoming. Cole shares stories of her ancestors, the role of ritual, and what it means to create from a place of embodied truth.

✨ Cole reminds us that optimism doesn’t erase despair—it sits beside it, breathes through it, and dares to imagine a world where our questions are held, not silenced.

What questions allow you to embrace the unknown? What beauty are you making space to witness?

📩 We want to hear from you—DM us, send a voice note, or leave us a message and share your version of optimism.

📲 @optimistprojectpod // The Optimist Project Podcast

✨ Executive Producer: @yarashahidi // Yara Shahidi

✨ Executive Producer: @chocolatemommyluv // Keri Salter-Shahidi

🎙 Guest: @colearthurriley //Cole Arthur Riley

📖 Book & Online Community: @blackliturgies // black liturgies

📞 Voicemail: (323) 761-0837

🎧 Tap in—because optimism, like ritual, is an act of return.

🌈 Artists, Seekers, and Boundary-Breakers—This One’s For You.

This week on The Optimist Project, I’m joined by the brilliant and genre-defying artist, writer, and performer Alok Vaid-Menon, whose work invites us to embrace our full selves with tenderness, complexity, and courage.

In this luminous conversation, Alok redefines what it means to be optimistic—not as blind positivity, but as a sacred practice of embracing the unknown and choosing beauty, again and again.

We explore their early artistic influences (yes, including Avril Lavigne!), the transformative power of imagination, and how humor and honesty become tools for survival. Alok shares what it means to resist hate without becoming hardened, to find joy in the ordinary, and to stay rooted in community and friendship while navigating the spotlight.

✨ From stage fright to soul-deep reflections on authenticity, creativity, and the human condition—Alok reminds us that art isn’t just about performance. It’s about presence.

And in our Giving Flowers segment, they honor the people and practices that have helped them bloom.

How do you find joy in your everyday life? What does resistance look like when it's grounded in love?

📩 We want to hear from you—DM us, send a voice note, or drop us a message and share your light.

📲 @optimistprojectpod // The Optimist Project Podcast

✨ Executive Producer: @yarashahidi // Yara Shahidi

✨ Executive Producer: @chocolatemommyluv // Keri Salter-Shahidi

🎙 Guest: @alokvmenon // Alok Vaid-Menon

📞 Voicemail: (323) 761-0837

🎧 Tap in and join the conversation—because optimism is more than a mindset. It’s a movement.

✨ Food Lovers, Dreamers, and Anyone on a Journey Toward Self-Mastery—This One’s for You.

This week on The Optimist Project, we’re joined by classically trained chef, self-taught baker, and founder of Bad Ash Bakes, Ashley Cunningham.

Ashley’s story is one of fearless evolution—from teenage culinary prodigy to full-time entrepreneur with a deep spiritual practice and a next-level cookie game. In this intimate and inspiring conversation, she opens up about learning discipline through early responsibility, navigating tough kitchens with compassion, and facing fear head-on in pursuit of her dream.

We talk about the rituals that ground her, the power of silence and prayer, and how she creates space for joy, intention, and community through her bakery. Ashley’s brand of optimism is rooted in showing up, staying steady, and pushing past fear—not just for herself, but for the young Black women she hopes to inspire.

✨ Ashley drops gems on growth, grace, and building a legacy that tastes as good as it feels.

What does discipline mean to you? What space are you creating to welcome others?

📩 We want to hear from you—DM us, send a voice note, or leave us a message and share your version of optimism.

📲 @optimistprojectpod // The Optimist Project Podcast

✨ Executive Producer: @yarashahidi // Yara Shahidi

✨ Executive Producer: @chocolatemommyluv // Keri Salter-Shahidi

🎙 Guest: @sobadash_ // Ashley Cunningham

🍪 @badashbakes // Bad Ash Bakes // 247 E Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91101

📞 Voicemail: (323) 761-0837

🎧 Tap in—because optimism, like a good cookie, is best when shared.