While relentless reports of conflict and crises often leave news consumers feeling overwhelmed, a new initiative is striving to show that extraordinary progress is happening quietly across the globe every week. According to Positive News, its flagship "What Went Right" series is expanding into a video podcast available on YouTube, Spotify, and other digital platforms.
Released every Saturday, the programme explores three significant stories of progress each week, ranging from scientific breakthroughs and climate solutions to community initiatives and social change, as reported by Positive News. Recent episodes have examined topics such as two retired teachers winning a landmark climate case against a mining giant in Australia, promising advances in Parkinson’s treatment, and the surprising role seabirds could play in protecting tropical islands from rising seas, according to the outlet.
Co-hosted by broadcaster and journalist Lucy Watson and Positive News chief digital editor Tom Pattinson—who first met as correspondents in China—the show brings decades of international reporting experience to the table. According to Positive News, the co-hosts' shared experiences and occasional disagreements help shape conversations that are both entertaining and informative.
Background
According to Positive News, the weekly video podcast follows the success of "The Purpose Pioneers," a limited series that won Best Culture & Lifestyle Podcast at the Publisher Podcast Awards in July 2026. Tom Pattinson stated via Positive News that while the world often hears about what is going wrong, extraordinary things happen weekly that deserve attention, whether through medical research, communities taking on powerful corporations, or new approaches to climate change. Lucy Watson added, as reported by Positive News, that the programme offers an opportunity to explore the other side of news where people find solutions and make progress.
Why it matters
According to Positive News, news avoidance has become one of the biggest challenges facing the media industry, with many turning away not from a lack of care, but because a relentless focus on what is broken leaves them feeling overwhelmed and powerless. The outlet noted that the new video podcast aims to offer another way forward through trustworthy, interesting journalism focused on progress and solutions, designed to help audiences feel better informed and perhaps more hopeful about the world's direction.