This is Hidden Brain. I'm Shankar Vedantam.

This week we're busy working on some new episodes for the show,

so in the meantime, please enjoy the story from October 2017.

It's one of our favorites.

There's a popular inspirational quote, often attributed to Mahatma Gandhi

that's made its way onto t-shirts, mugs, and posters. Be the change you wish

to see in the world. It's a noble idea. But the truth is, few of us follow it. Life gets in the way.

We compromise. We put aside our idealism as youthful naivete. But what would happen if we didn't do this,

if we stood fully by our principles? Plenty of people have tried. Julia Butterfly Hill spent

two years in a redwood tree she named Luna to keep it safe from loggers.

To some people, I'm just a dirty tree-hugging hippie,

but I just, I can't imagine being able to take a chainsaw to something like this.

And then there was Lavoie Finnecum, an Arizona rancher who defied the federal government

and kept grazing his cattle on federal land after he was asked to remove them.

This fight I'm making America, it's not about cows and it's not about grass.

It's about the freedom of our land.

This grazing right is my personal property right. I own it.

Julia Butterfly Hill saved the tree after she and her supporters negotiated an agreement with the timber company.

LaVoy Finnequin was killed by Oregon State Police during a standoff on a federal wildlife refuge.

Both said they had no choice but to

take their drastic actions. It was a matter of principle. But the truth is, in daily life,

we often veer away from people like this. They can be exhausting, grading. They stick to their

...