Dayo Olopade discusses her new book The Bright Continent: Breaking Rules and Making Change in Modern Africa. The Nigerian-American journalist spent two years traveling across 17 nations in Sub-Saharan Africa. She comes away with a promising view of the continent. "I invite the world to reimagine all of the challenges that you hear about in Africa as an opportunity to innovate."

Nigerian-American journalist Dayo Olopade discusses her new book, The Bright Continent: Breaking Rules and Making Change in Modern Africa.

Diana Jue and Jackie Stenson wanted to figure out a way to bring high-quality products to the world's poor. So, they founded Essmart, a for-profit company that uses India's network of ubiquitous mom-and-pop shops to reach rural consumers.

A veteran humanitarian aid worker offers candid insights into the lessons he's learned - and the personal dilemmas he's faced - during a long career trying to do good across the globe.

Promo: Lessons from an Aid Worker by Tiny Spark

I recently watched a new documentary about inventor Dean Kamen. He's the guy who invented the Segway, that impressive but only moderately successful people mover. Well, Kamen is back with a new invention called the Slingshot; a high tech solution that promises to turn even the dirtiest water into clean drinking water. Given the world's water crisis, you'd think there would be enormous potential for this sort of device. But in the film, Kamen's technology is repeatedly rejected by potential partners, which include the World Bank and United Nations, according to the film's director. Frustrated and out of options, Kamen ends up turning to Coca Cola; a decision that has been met with some criticism. Kamen is quick to defend his partnership with the company, which, he explains in the film, has bottling operations is 206 nations. "That's more than the number of countries that are admitted into the United Nations!" Kamen explains. "We realized if we could partner with them, they could be the link that takes our technology everywhere it needs to be."

We speak to Dean Karlan, Yale economist and co-author of the book More Than Good Intentions. Karlan advocates evidence-based aid and has devoted his career to figuring out which programs work and why.

What Works? The Case for Evidence Based Aid by Tiny Spark

The Soccket: A Follow-Up Investigation by Tiny Spark

This story was originally broadcast on PRI's The World. In the latest installment of our Tracking Charity series, I travel to Senegal to spend time with some community health workers who have been working for a decade without pay. Our story explores the ethics and complexities about payment for volunteers who live in poverty.