Today is the July edition of Incentives & Instincts, a recurring series in which Justin speaks with economist and friend Bryce Ward about some of the broader challenges facing our society. Today’s topic is gratitude, inspired by an experience Bryce had during a speaking engagement a few weeks ago.In this conversation, Bryce outlines economic progress, particularly in Montana, despite how bad the economy can seem. The two get into the differences between zero-sum and positive-sum thinking, and the necessity of human-to-human interaction when cultivating civic virtue.

This week’s guests are Ria Overholt and Steve Gaskill who talk with Justin about Missoula Villages, a neighbor-powered network that brings older citizens together through events, activities and a help exchange. Networks like Missoula Villages are springing up across the country and fill an important unmet need for support and community.In this conversation, Ria explains the concept behind Missoula Villages, which in large part aims to keep people connected as they age. Steve talks about the science behind social connections and the benefit of having a community for tackling seemingly small tasks when they start to become bigger, like changing a lightbulb or doing yard work.

This week’s guest is Bridger Pierce, president of Warm Springs Productions. Warm Springs is a full service production house focused on television series. Warm Springs commenced operations in 2008 and has produced content for the History Channel, National Geographic, the Discovery Channel and many other prominent outlets.Bridger talks about growing up in Manhattan, Montana and working for a stint in D.C. He explains Warm Springs’s start in hunting shows to its expansion into creating content for major outlets and dabbling in religious and history-based productions. And, he talks about working with talents like Kevin Costner and Dennis Quaid, and how the key to building trust is finding a topic the stars are passionate about.