Jason Alexander is best known for his portrayal of the culturally iconic character of George Costanza on television’s Seinfeld. In this episode of The Thread you’ll meet the real Jason Alexander, a thoughtful, articulate man who couldn't be more different than the insecure, muddle-headed Costanza. The one trait they share is the ability to make us laugh about life’s all-too frequent absurdities. However, unlike the fictional Costanza, Jason Alexander is intentionally funny. He has a deep understanding of the importance of humor as a crucial tool for surviving, and even thriving, in the face of those absurdities – something he traces back to his Jewish heritage. Alexander has a gift for storytelling; without the need of a script he speaks wisely from both his head and his heart.

Katie Couric’s unique combination of warmth, intelligence and empathy earned her the title of “America’s Sweetheart.” In this episode of “The Thread,” the trailblazing journalist -- the first woman to ever anchor a nightly network newscast – reflects on the life lessons that have anchored her during her five-decade career in broadcasting. She poignantly describes how the heartbreaking loss of her husband to colon cancer led her to become a champion for early detection of the disease. By unashamedly sharing her own procedure on national television, Katie Couric was the first public figure to address the stigma surrounding colonoscopies – almost certainly saving many thousands of lives by sharing her painful and deeply personal story.

Darren Walker’s journey from his birth in a Louisiana charity hospital to becoming president of the nation’s fourth largest private philanthropy, the Ford Foundation, is a profoundly inspirational story that could not have been written even a generation ago. In this episode of The Thread, he takes us along on his life’s extraordinary path which he modestly describes as “lucky.” Walker describes how he earned a law degree before entering the private sector and rising quickly in the ranks of investment banking. But after less than a decade in corporate finance, he walked away from his high-paying position to volunteer at a school in Harlem. It was there he discovered the calling that would define his life from that point forward: philanthropy. Walker believes his work has a moral responsibility to provide “dignity and justice.” And on a very personal level, he emotionally talks about the death of his husband and how he learned to deal with grief.