A tsunami story illustrating how consciousness and perspective can transform

Adjusting to exile and finding direction after the 1979 revolution

Admission to Harvard at age 16 and early social adjustment challenges

Adopting others' perspectives as essential to democracy and relationships

Advice for younger generations on confidence, opportunity, and positive thinking

Advice on how to end a relationship with honesty and respect

Annie Glenn's lifelong partnership with John and her experience during the space program

Anthropology as a tool for understanding culture and human values

Arguing Bowers v. Hardwick and the eventual overruling in Lawrence v. Texas

Arguing for public access to criminal trials in Richmond Newspapers v. Virginia

Arguing the first phase of Bush v. Gore and preparing David Boies for the second

Arriving at Harvard on scholarship and working to make ends meet

Backgrounds and personalities of the Mercury 7 astronauts

Balancing children's technology use and screen time with outdoor activities

Balancing love of nature with the desire to fit in socially

Balancing personal fulfillment with a lifelong mission for Iran's freedom

Balancing tradition and modernization while maintaining a unique leadership role

Challenges of phone use and setting an example for children

Childhood as formative ground for self-understanding and adult storytelling

Childhood emotional reserve and learning openness through parenthood and play

Childhood experience of pressure and public expectation as Crown Prince

Childhood experiences as an immigrant and passion for immigration rights

Childhood experiences in nature and the sense of responsibility they created

Childhood experiences with nature loss and the drive to make people care

Childhood in New Concord, Ohio, and the values that shaped Glenn

Childhood memory of catching a snake to impress a neighbor girl

Children's deep connection to nature and growing passion for basketball

Children's natural curiosity as a model for asking meaningful questions

Clerking for Justice Potter Stewart and the "know it when I see it" obscenity quip

Collective leadership and building democratic institutions for Iran's future

Comparing personalities and temperaments with father's isolated leadership style

Compassion as a path to understanding hidden pain in others

Competition and rivalry among the Mercury 7 astronauts for the first spaceflight

Constitutional basis for LGBTQ rights and the irrelevance of choice to dignity

Daughter Grayson's birth and their close relationship over the years

Decline in character formation and social skills education in schools

Declining trust and its effects on social fabric and politics

Development of the Ninth Amendment as a foundation for unenumerated rights

Distinguishing the soul, moral center, and the experience of tenderness

Drawing on moral traditions and philosophical frameworks for life orientation

Early childhood neglect and its lasting psychological effects

Early constitutional scholarship on LGBTQ equality and the roots of advocacy

Early impressions of notable former students and mentees

Early interest in art and medicine before pursuing law

Early language transition after immigrating to San Francisco

Early moral instincts about fairness and justice

Early oyster survival experiments leading to the Billion Oyster Project launch

Early performances with connections to Casals, Bernstein, and President Kennedy

Eisenhower's ambivalence and the creation of NASA and the Mercury 7 program

Emotional restraint and personal sacrifices made in service to a cause

Empowering students with real responsibility in New York Harbor restoration

Evolution of Jewish identity and belief in a greater power

Evolving sense of moral purpose and identity as a teacher and illuminator

Exploring Our Common Nature and humanity's connection to the environment

Factors contributing to rising isolation and distrust in American society

Family's connection to Colombia and its influence on a love of nature

Father's background, rise to power, and role as Shah of Iran

Father's concealed American flag in a Japanese concentration camp and its meaning

Father's influence and the meaning of heroism in Glenn's life

Father's internment in a Japanese concentration camp as an enemy alien

Father's lack of transparency with the Iranian public as a lasting regret

Father's matter-of-fact approach to life, death, and raising animals on the farm

Father's modernization legacy and vision for Iran's development

Father's organic beef cattle operation and the Virginia Lean brand

Father's parenting style contrasted with his own upbringing in the palace

Father's partial ownership and management of a Colombian ranch until the mid-1990s

Father's Peace Corps service and early family life in Colombia

Father's personality, emotional expression, and approach to parenting

Father's private personality versus his public image as Shah

Father's ranching passion, family farm history, and future of Brookview Farm

Father's reserved nature and limited personal expression as Shah

Father's skepticism about flying and Glenn's path to military combat

Father's vulnerability and difficult decisions during the final year of his reign

First meeting and collaboration with Barack Obama at Harvard Law School

Forgiveness, repair, and building stronger relationships through rupture

Founding the New York Harbor School and relocating to Governors Island

Friendship with Ted Williams and daring combat missions in the Korean War

Friendship, SAT scores, and the path to Harvard on scholarship

Gap year studying macaws in Bolivia and realizing the limits of solitary fieldwork

Glenn's age-related physical and mental challenges as an astronaut

Glenn's charisma and dominance at the Mercury 7 press conference

Glenn's Project Bullet transcontinental speed record and rise to fame

Glenn's recorded farewell messages to his family before launch

Glenn's return to space aboard the Space Shuttle in 1998

Grandmother's personality, dementia, and the Scott family farm in Virginia

Grief over the death of longtime friend Mark Shields

Grooming process and preparation for assuming the throne as Crown Prince

Hidden struggles beneath the surface of seemingly perfect lives

Historical pattern of the Supreme Court's reactionary decisions and record

Hopes for how children will remember their father and his love of nature

How arts, mathematics, and law converge around dignity and justice

How parenthood, relationships, and love of family shape perspective on death

Humpback whale sighting and fishing memories near Governors Island

Importance of question-asking skills in social and romantic interactions

Impressions of John Roberts as a student and later as Chief Justice

Inspiring the younger generation to move from hope to belief in democratic change

Involvement in Bush v. Gore and critique of the Supreme Court's reasoning

JFK and Glenn's Oval Office meeting during a period of mounting delays and anxiety

John Glenn's orbital flight plan, scientific tasks, and control disputes

John Glenn's selection for the first American orbital spaceflight and its risks

John Glenn's significance to the space race and American national security

Justice Stewart's "I know it when I see it" and the role of moral instinct in judging

Launching an electric coastal cargo shipping venture for New York City

Learning from public failures and reckoning with past mistakes

Lessons from a deep friendship with someone experiencing depression

Lessons learned about sitting with others in their suffering

Life magazine's exclusive deal with the Mercury 7 astronauts and their families

Life story as Crown Prince transformed by the 1979 Iranian Revolution

Lifelong bonds with students and the meaning of their later letters

Limited personal time and unresolved conversations with his father

Limited personal time with father and lessons in leadership

Living with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Mary Richardson Kennedy in Bedford

Meeting, falling in love with, and building a life with wife Emily

Memories of his late younger brother, Shurka

Mentors who shaped moral character through their way of being in the world

Mentorship and influence of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as an environmental advocate

Moral obligation to protect non-human species amid climate concerns

Mother's influence and her deep connection to the natural world

Motivations for writing a book about John Glenn's lesser-known life

Music as a universal language connecting diverse communities worldwide

Music as a universal language for experimentation and connection

Naming Friendship 7 and the Cold War context of Glenn's mission

National reaction to Glenn's successful orbital flight and its broader significance

National security implications of the space race during the Cold War

Navigating mixed cultural identity messages as a child of immigrant parents

New York Harbor water quality and why oysters cannot be eaten

Observing father's leadership style as Crown Prince in training

Official duties and personal interests as Crown Prince before the revolution

Ongoing personal struggles with ego, aloofness, and truly listening to others

Origins and growth of the Billion Oyster Project

Painting a mural depicting multiethnic humanity progressing toward justice

Parades and celebrations following Glenn's historic orbital flight

Parents' experiences during World War II in China and France

Parents' meeting in France and the serendipitous decision to stay in America

Parents' support for the gap year studying macaws in Bolivia

People who diminish others through lack of curiosity and self-absorption

Personal aspirations, travel, and environmental passions beyond political life

Personal connections shaping Supreme Court decisions on LGBTQ and reproductive rights

Personal crisis leading to isolation and a journey toward emotional openness

Personal discovery of biodiversity through iNaturalist and E.O. Wilson's Half-Earth

Personal experiences with grief, loss, and reorienting to a new reality

Personal growth toward deeper connections with his children

Personal journey from emotional reserve toward deeper human connection

Playing at the Grand Canyon and connecting with the natural world through music

Political awareness, mathematics, and the decision to pursue law

Preserving Iranian national and cultural identity against the regime's anti-Iranian ideology

Public fascination with the Mercury 7 astronauts following their 1959 introduction

Questioning his identity as a musician until age 49

Racial equity as a motivation for founding the Harbor School

Raising children with an awareness of where food comes from

Reading Riverkeepers and the path to founding the New York Harbor School

Reflecting on 44 years of advocacy and the collective struggle for Iran's future

Reflecting on father's governance style and the pressure of succession

Reflecting on father's legacy and adapting to exile after the revolution

Reflecting on generational and cultural norms around male emotional openness

Reflections on fate, identity, and understanding human nature and cruelty

Reflections on father's death and current relationship with mother

Reflections on grandchildren, generational responsibility, and planetary humanism

Reflections on mortality, biodiversity loss, and the drive to document life

Reflections on the challenges and joys of fatherhood

Reflections on the dangers and rationale for human spaceflight

Reflections on the importance of family as a foundation for stability

Regulatory challenges and coalition building in oyster reef restoration

Rejecting lamentation and finding strength through resilience during years of exile

Role as UN Messenger of Peace and the meaning of peace as equilibrium

Securing early funding and launching the Billion Oyster Project

Shifting from seeking approval to admiration as a foundation for relationships

Showing empathy to someone with an incurable disease

Six visual models for understanding constitutional principles in The Invisible Constitution

Social media as a poor substitute for genuine human connection

Social skills as learnable tools for connection and human flourishing

Soviet Union's lead in the space race with the Gagarin mission

Staying in sync with the realities facing people inside Iran

Student-led oyster restoration to transform New York's relationship with its harbor

Surviving a Japanese-orchestrated plot to exterminate Shanghai's Jewish population

Technical challenges and heat shield concerns during Glenn's orbital flight

Ted Cruz's performance and personality in constitutional law class

Tension between career ambition and aspiring to a more generative life

The "Our Common Nature" project and humanity's connection to the environment

The case for rewilding lawns and nurturing human connection to nature

The Cold War context and early Soviet space race achievements

The concept of illuminators and their impact on others

The concept of the soul and its connection to human equality and goodness

The fight for marriage equality and the significance of Loving v. Virginia

The illusion of control and lessons from suffering and tragedy

The importance of social skills for hiring, marriage, and democracy

The moral dimension of looking at others with generous eyes

The moral significance of small everyday social gestures

The power of simply showing up for people in moments of need

The profound joy and meaning found in truly seeing another person

The question Pahlavi would ask his father about leadership and risk

The rapid unfolding of the 1979 Iranian Revolution and its root causes

The relationship between mathematical truth and moral knowledge

The role of life stories in understanding oneself and others

The role of music and its connection to mathematics and beauty

The role of younger Iranians and the need for international support in achieving change

The transformative power of truly seeing and recognizing another person

The value of pausing and truly listening in conversation

Three ecosystem services provided by oysters and reef restoration efforts

Transition from nonprofit to for-profit work and launching an electric coastal cargo shipping venture

Use of architecture and art in arguing Richmond Newspapers v. Virginia

Using ancestry and heritage as a conversational tool to foster connection

Using music to understand cultures, societies, and what makes people human

Visiting father's Japanese concentration camp and memories of the conditions

Visiting West Virginia and gaining a new perspective on the region

Visual thinking and spatial disorientation as contrasting cognitive traits

Western powers' decision to back the 1979 Iranian Revolution and its regional consequences

Wife's transition from iPhone photography to professional photographer

Wisdom as receptivity, curiosity, and being seen by others

Wishing for more direct guidance and communication from his father