I'm Shankar Vedantam, the host of a podcast called My Unsung Hero.

Each week we share a short story about an act of kindness that changed someone's life.

She cared enough to say something to me, something that probably wasn't easy to say, but

it was something that changed the direction of my life.

So thank you, Holly.

My Unsung Hero.

Listen and renew your faith in humanity.

Hello, smarty listeners.

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devices.

Hey, smarty pants.

I borrowed my friend's spaceship, and I'm about to take a ride to the very first planet

that human beings discovered.

And by discovered, I mean, the first planet humans couldn't just see staring up at the

night sky with their own two eyes.

Any guesses what that planet is?

Nope, not Mercury or Venus.

I'm headed in the opposite direction.

...