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<v Speaker 1>Are scrolling through your Instagram feeds and then you see

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<v Speaker 1>a post from upworthy and you know it's going to

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<v Speaker 1>be good, it's going to be positive, it's going to

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<v Speaker 1>be uplifting. Well, Now, Upworthy has a new book coming out,

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<v Speaker 1>and I'm pleased to have two of the people behind

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<v Speaker 1>Upworthy and the new book. We've got Gabriel Raylik and

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<v Speaker 1>Luci Hanell on the show today, And first of all, welcome,

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<v Speaker 1>And second of all, how lucky are you that you

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<v Speaker 1>get to make your living sharing fun and happy, uplifting

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<v Speaker 1>stories with people. That's awesome.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's a pretty good gig. No complaints on our part.

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<v Speaker 3>So thanks for having us.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, you guys are now branching out into the printed word,

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<v Speaker 1>And tell me a little bit about the book and

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<v Speaker 1>what you guys, how you chose the stories that are

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<v Speaker 1>going in the book.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, you know, this book came about you know, we,

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<v Speaker 2>Lucy and I built a really large following on Instagram

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<v Speaker 2>at upworthy. There's about five million folks who follow us

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<v Speaker 2>now and which is amazing. And one thing that we

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<v Speaker 2>started seeing happening on that channel was when we would

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<v Speaker 2>share a post, you know about you know, an act

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<v Speaker 2>of kindness, or decency that was going on. Other people

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<v Speaker 2>would be inspired to start sharing their own stories, and

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<v Speaker 2>we thought that was really neat, and Lucy and I

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<v Speaker 2>would kind of like screencap these comments and stories that

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<v Speaker 2>people were sharing, text them to each other and be like, oh,

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<v Speaker 2>did you read this? This is great? And it was

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<v Speaker 2>like the best part of our job. So we decided,

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<v Speaker 2>you know what, let's see how many of these stories

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<v Speaker 2>that we can get and get to know our audience

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<v Speaker 2>and the people who follow up were they well, And

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<v Speaker 2>so we started asking questions like, who's the kindest stranger

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<v Speaker 2>that you've ever met, who's a teacher that you'll never forget,

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<v Speaker 2>What's a small thing someone did for you that had

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<v Speaker 2>an outsized impact on your life. And we would just

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<v Speaker 2>get thousands and thousands and thousands of responses and we

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<v Speaker 2>read through them all or we decided that they deserved

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<v Speaker 2>kind of, you know, to be preserved forever because they

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<v Speaker 2>made us feel so good to read them, and we

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<v Speaker 2>thought a book would be the best way to kind

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<v Speaker 2>of pay homage to the gravitas and power that these

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<v Speaker 2>stories hold. So, you know, we reached out and we

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<v Speaker 2>interviewed hundreds of people in our audience and worked with

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<v Speaker 2>them hand in hand and with writers to turn them

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<v Speaker 2>into the stories that are featured in this book. And

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<v Speaker 2>that is what makes up good people, stories from the

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<v Speaker 2>best of humanity. And you know, we're really proud of it.

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<v Speaker 2>It's a good feeling read we Liza, What are you

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<v Speaker 2>some of your favorite stories that you remember that are

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<v Speaker 2>in the book that you were especially touched by.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, you know, there's so many, and I genuinely mean

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<v Speaker 3>that every single story in this book is wonderful in

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<v Speaker 3>its own way. I really enjoyed the ones that are

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<v Speaker 3>about a small thing, a seemingly innocuous thing that actually

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<v Speaker 3>had a huge impact on someone. There's a story that

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<v Speaker 3>comes to mind called good hair Day, which is about

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<v Speaker 3>a woman who had gone through radiation treatment for cancer

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<v Speaker 3>her hair and it had just started to grow back

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<v Speaker 3>and looked like this, like pixie cut. She was rocking,

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<v Speaker 3>and she felt very self conscious, and she was out

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<v Speaker 3>and about with her family and this group of girls

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<v Speaker 3>looked at her and said, cute haircut, something super simple.

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<v Speaker 3>But they had no idea that that actually meant a

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<v Speaker 3>great deal to this woman. She had been debating whether

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<v Speaker 3>or not she was going to wear a wig to

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<v Speaker 3>her son's wedding, and because of that moment, she was

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<v Speaker 3>able to say, you know what, I'm not going with

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<v Speaker 3>the wig, and she sent us a photo of her

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<v Speaker 3>looking radiant and gorgeous at this wedding, rocking her short haircut.

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<v Speaker 3>And it just goes to show you have no idea

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<v Speaker 3>what people are going through, and a tiny, small thing

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<v Speaker 3>can actually have a huge impact on someone.

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<v Speaker 1>What about you, Gabriel, Is there anything that stands out? Oh,

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<v Speaker 1>you're muted, You're you're muted.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm sorry about that. Yeah, nothing stands out, just total silence. No,

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, look, they all work together. Every story builds

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<v Speaker 2>on the last to kind of create a wonderful you know,

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<v Speaker 2>breadth and depth of the human experience that speaks to

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<v Speaker 2>just what it means to be alive. And I really

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<v Speaker 2>that's the power behind it. And so many stick out

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<v Speaker 2>to me. There's you know, one about a guy who

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<v Speaker 2>takes a different route and when a stranger suggests it

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<v Speaker 2>to him in a diner in Texas and he's returning

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<v Speaker 2>back from being on leave in the military and he's

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<v Speaker 2>going through a hard time and this simple act of

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<v Speaker 2>driving down a different road, you know, leads him to

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<v Speaker 2>have a completely different outlook on his life and leads

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<v Speaker 2>to a well of support and good memories that he

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<v Speaker 2>really needed at that time and in difficult times. I

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<v Speaker 2>would follow in the future, And so I find myself

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<v Speaker 2>thinking about that one a lot. It's actually called a

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<v Speaker 2>curly Fries and it closes out the book. It's one

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<v Speaker 2>of my favorites.

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<v Speaker 1>How many stories are in the book overall.

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<v Speaker 3>From one hundred and one wow, short stories plus comments,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, taken directly from the comment section and sort

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<v Speaker 3>of interest first throughout.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh, that's very cool. So this is the kind of

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<v Speaker 1>book that you can pick up, you can put down.

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<v Speaker 1>You don't have to read it in order. You could

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<v Speaker 1>just kind of go through at your pace, or if

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<v Speaker 1>you're having a rotten day, you could pick it up,

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<v Speaker 1>open it up and get something out of that. I

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<v Speaker 1>love what you guys do. I so appreciate what you

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<v Speaker 1>guys do, because, like I said, the Internet is a cesspool, right,

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<v Speaker 1>and part of it is self inflicted.

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<v Speaker 3>Right.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm on X you know, I'm on Instagram. Instagram is

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<v Speaker 1>actually the best of all of them to me. But

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<v Speaker 1>seeing what you're doing and reminding people that even when

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<v Speaker 1>we're reading all of these terrible things that politicians are doing.

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<v Speaker 1>Seeing these small acts of kindness and the impact that

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<v Speaker 1>they can have can really change your perspective and remind

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<v Speaker 1>you that no matter how bad the big bad is,

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<v Speaker 1>the small things and the people in this country are

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<v Speaker 1>really the best of everything. And that's what I'm kind

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<v Speaker 1>of taking away from it. I put a link on

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<v Speaker 1>the blog so people could buy the book. I feel

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<v Speaker 1>like this, if you're the to buy a book for Christmas.

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<v Speaker 1>I do buy books for Christmas. I was telling them

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<v Speaker 1>that I sent out Larry Read's book on Character often,

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<v Speaker 1>but now I'm going to have to add the Upworthy

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<v Speaker 1>book because you never know who's going to need a

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<v Speaker 1>great little story that day. I do have to ask

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<v Speaker 1>you this, out of thousands of people, how did you

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<v Speaker 1>what was it about these stories that made you say

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<v Speaker 1>that needs to go on the book? When you're talking

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<v Speaker 1>to thousands of stories that you were sifting.

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<v Speaker 2>Through, you know, the truth is there's probably enough material

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<v Speaker 2>in people that we talked to to fill a dozen books,

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<v Speaker 2>and so it was hard to decide, Okay, like these

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<v Speaker 2>are the ones that make it. But the common thread

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<v Speaker 2>I think with and this is true with any good stories,

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<v Speaker 2>it's stuff that we wanted to hear more about when

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<v Speaker 2>we first had someone reach out with like, hey, this

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<v Speaker 2>is something that I want to talk about, and that

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<v Speaker 2>we wanted to share it with other people and thought

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<v Speaker 2>that folks could benefit from it either because it's a

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<v Speaker 2>life lesson or because it's a reminder of you know,

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<v Speaker 2>profound goodness or a simple thing. But that's what ties

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<v Speaker 2>it together. It's all stuff that deserves to be heard

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<v Speaker 2>and can be uplifting, you know, upworthy. It's where the

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<v Speaker 2>name comes from.

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<v Speaker 1>The book is called Upworthy, and I put a link

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<v Speaker 1>on the blog today so you can just zip right

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<v Speaker 1>over and buy it for all your friends. Gabriel Rayleik

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<v Speaker 1>and Lucia Nell, thank you so much for making time

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<v Speaker 1>for us today.

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<v Speaker 3>Thank you so much, Mandy all.

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<v Speaker 1>Right, thanks guys. Yeah, if you're looking for the perfect

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<v Speaker 1>gift for this hour puss in your life, this might

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<v Speaker 1>be it.