S1E21 - Narsai David - Delicious Freshness Within Reach
We rang in the New Year with renowned restaurateur Narsai David to discuss food, wine, and recall some of his favorite food memories and explore his latest culinary discoveries and innovations. As one who helped birth the California fresh food revolution, his suggestions and recommendations bring deliciousness within reach. His guidance for a Narsai-kind of fantasy meal is approachable for the novice, inspiring for the expert and easy on the pocketbook. I've interviewed a number of the world's great chefs, but personally, if I want or need advice when it comes to food or wine, I go to Narsai David - a chef, a restaurateur, a winemaker, a food columnist, as well as a longtime food and wine editor for KCBS Radio and a PBS television host of the nationally syndicated "Over Easy." He's a leading gourmet and culinary expert whose knowledge of food is vast, and his knowledge of wines would probably eclipse most wine sommeliers. He's also past president of the Pacific Coast Farmers Market Association, and the author of a book called “Monday Night at Narsai's.”
S1E20 - Jeffrey Pfeffer - Only Power Begets Change
We met with Stanford Graduate School of Business Professor and expert on Power, Jeffrey Pfeffer, to discuss his latest influential work, 7 Rules of Power. While many might malign an ambition to acquire and wield power, Pfeffer lays bare the pragmatic truth that change happens only with the adept identification of the levers of power, and the artful accumulation and use of power to affect the change we seek. He disabused any notion that power in and of itself is negative. Only how it is used can be criticized. As he quickly points out, “If you want power to be used for good, then more good people need to have power.” Our discussion is a brief primer of his life’s research into his treatise on the mechanics of power, and an invaluable guide for anyone hoping to affect change. Pfeffer’s pragmatic straight talk might be thought by some as astringent, but his sober understanding of how the world turns is a wakeup call for anyone who thinks it is sufficient to simply engage in “moral talk.” Because so many who are willing to use the strategies and tactics of power are not using it for good, join us to learn how to counteract the negative by becoming equally effective in your own ability to get things done and realize the desirable change we hope to see in the world.
S1E19 - Louann Brizendine - To Drive or be Driven?
We met with Dr. Louann Brizendine to dive into the under-appreciated “forces within” that drive our behavior, our relationships, and so much of our lives. The founder of the Women’s Mood and Hormone Clinic at UCSF, Brizendine wrote several definitive books on the subject, including The Female Brain, The Male Brain, and The Upgrade - How the Female Brain Gets Stronger and Better in Midlife and Beyond, where she reframes the post-menopausal experience as an opportunity to reclaim one’s authentic self. Nobel Prize winner Issac Bashevis Singer summarized the paradox we all experience best when asked if he believed in free will by responding, “I have no choice.” To what degree are we driven by our hormones? How much do they define our sexuality and our gender? What role does sleep, exercise, nutrition and even pollution play? How do we reclaim the driver’s seat while at the same time accepting ourselves and the infinite diversity of those around us? Join us as we uncover real subterranean forces actively at work to varying degrees in all of us.
S1E18 - Angela Glover Blackwell - Realizing the Promise of Equity
We met with Angela Glover Blackwell, Founder-in-Residence of PolicyLink, host of the Radical Imagination Podcast and Professor of Practice at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley, to reflect on a career dedicated to building a more equitable society. Blackwell believes that authentically rooting oneself in close proximity to the experience of the most vulnerable populations allows one to see how to improve circumstances for everyone. These are unprecedented times with unprecedented threats, but we also see unprecedented engagement and a novel brand of unprecedented “collective leadership” that fuels today’s powerful social movements and renewal. Join us to understand her passionate optimism, and hear her four key changes that would lead to meaningful progress towards a better world for all.
S1E17 - Nipun Mehta - A Deeper Thanksgiving
We met with Nipun Mehta, the founder of ServiceSpace, to discuss gratitude and generosity. Revealing the how and why of, “giving like a rose that gives away its scent,” we were ourselves transformed by the conversation. As a small sampling of the conversation’s many gems, we touched on the hierarchy of generosity, and the ability to “throw a better party” when we replace transactions with relationships. Nipun advocated for our own personal experimentation with generosity, knowing that if we listen closely, we may discover wonderful changes happening within ourselves. He explained how gratitude can be regenerative, and reminded us that it emerges from the recognition that we are nestled in so many gifts that we can never reciprocate. This knowledge invites us to pay forward what we can never pay back. Apparently the most valuable resource in navigating this path is to have noble friends who help us find the way through these and many other inspiring insights. We invite you to be our noble friends, and join us on this transformative journey through Thanksgiving and beyond.
S1E16 - Isabel Allende - Finding Purpose and Gratitude
Our conversation with celebrated author Isabel Allende in October of 2022 captured what we admire most about how Isabel walks in the world. At eighty years old, Isabel is vibrant and alive, living with purpose and impact. Through the zigs and zags of our conversation, it became clear that she found in her writing a path to self knowledge. From that self knowledge, she cultivated a deep gratitude that serves as the source of her happiness. If you love her work, our conversation provides context and background. If you are not familiar with her work, you’ll witness a person of conviction who spent her life peeling back the layers of herself to identify what matters most. Her example is provocative and inspirational. Join us for a conversation through literature, politics, philanthropy, feminism, ritual, marriage, grief, discovery, and story.
S1E14 - Michael Connelly - Fighting the Darkness
Michael Connelly’s crime novels have sold over 80 million copies. Our conversation delved into his craft and his career to understand how he started writing and to what he attributes his continued success. We revealed how his work pays tribute to the noble work of those who seek justice even though they must venture into the darkness – a darkness that constantly threatens to bring them down and hollow them out. His fiction is a window into this reality, as well as a challenge to our faith in human advancement or even our expectations and beliefs. Join us to learn how he puts this all together to delight and provoke his readers.
S1E13 - Leo Laporte - The Shifting Sands of Broadcast
Leo Laporte, founder and owner of the TWiT Podcast Network, is an elder statesman of technology and terrestrial radio. In our conversation we wandered down memory lane, reflecting on the influences and turning points of Leo’s career, his network and studio, and the industry as a whole. We peek into the future by understanding the past. The day before our recording, Elon Musk closed on the purchase of Twitter, and gave us the opportunity to learn of the checkered history between TWiT and Twitter at Twitter’s founding, and now again in Musk’s self-nomination as Chief TWiT - a title Laporte has carried since TWiT’s founding. We explore the broad evolutions of broadcast TV and radio, social media, podcasting and advanced technology. We dive into mentors and inspirations, laws versus norms, exciting emergent trends, best practices, using the act of listening to turn interviews into conversations, and more. Join the conversation that leaves us with “Laryngitis in Las Vegas.”
S1E12 - Emilie Choi - Global Finance without a Middleman
Today we find out about the world of cryptocurrency and the crypto economy by speaking with a leading executive from one of the world's fastest crypto exchanges - the first to go public - sometimes described as the Amazon of assets - Coinbase. Emilie Choi is Coinbase President and COO. In our conversation we shed much light onto the rising phenomenon of decentralized finance in the budding era of “Web3,” as it has been called - the successor to Web 2.0. We expand our financial literacy of this new and wild world of tokens, blockchain traceability, the merge, regulation, and speculation vs. underlying technological platforms of innovation. Join us.
S1E8 - Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, Sarah Botstein - The US and the Holocaust - Tackling The Difficult
We talk with Ken Burns, Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein about their new film, The U.S. and the Holocaust. The three-part, six-hour documentary series premiered on PBS September on 18-20, 2022, and examines America’s response to one of history’s greatest humanitarian crises. Ken Burns states “that he won’t work on a more important film”. As well as discussing their latest and important film, they talk about the magic of their team and working together, their professional callings, the craft of filmmaking, and “the how” of tackling difficult topics.
S1E5 - John McWhorter PhD - Linguist and NYT Columnist
John Hamilton McWhorter V is an associate professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University with a specialty in creole languages, sociolects, and Black English. McWhorter is also a major pundit on social issues, and currently a columnist for the New York Times. Our conversation is as much about the use of the language we use to exchange ideas, as about the ideas themselves.
S1E4 - Amber Mac - World-Renown Technology Leader - Living in our Digital Age
World-renowned innovator and commentator on everything tech, Amber shares her reflections across the board on living in our digital age drawing on her perspectives as a technology spokesperson, a media specialist, a concerned citizen, a woman, and a mother. Chock-full of practical recommendations, Amber’s insights span the spectrum of issues related to our living and thriving in this digital age.
