Former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan: Education Runs on Lies
“Education runs on lies. That’s probably not what you’d expect from a former Secretary of Education, but it’s the truth.” Arne Duncan exposes the lies and the broken system that have caused American kids to fall behind. He also shares what really works.
When Willpower Isn’t Enough: Psychologist Wendy Wood Reveals Keys to Success
The research is in, and it shows that a large part of being successful is understanding how to form the right habits. In fact, forming habits can be more important than willpower and self-control.
Wendy Wood, noted USC Psychology Professor, shares some of her research findings and simple strategies that enable many people to live successful, satisfying lives. She is the author of Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick.
The Age of DNA: Ginkgo Bioworks Co-Founder Jason Kelly
Steve Jobs once said that the biggest innovations in the 21st century would be at the intersection of biology and technology. Nature offers tantalizing examples of the magical properties of biology—self-assembly, self-repair, self-replication and more.
Jason Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Ginkgo Bioworks, shares his dream of harnessing nature by reading and writing DNA to program cells like we program computers.
Ginkgo is a synthetic biology company that programs cells for customers in the pharmaceutical, food, agriculture and energy industries.
Why We Laugh: The Many Shapes and Forms of Laughter with Neuroscientist Sophie Scott
Laughter, it turns out, is not primarily a response to humor. Neuroscientist Sophie Scott CBE shares why we laugh, how it works and the many sins it covers.
We explore how laughter bonds us, where it breaks us, and the ways we use it. We should all bring a greater sense of understanding and intention to our laughter. Sophie Scott is a neuroscientist and professor at UCL whose research focuses on the science of laughter.
Princeton’s Endowment Manager Andy Golden on Investing Today
The president of Princeton University Investment Company (PRINCO), which manages Princeton’s endowment, talks about investing in today’s world. Andy Golden shares how he selects partners, evaluates investments, and creates a winning environment. PRINCO recently earned nearly a 50% return in a single year.
Andy also explores the differences in long term and short term investing and how a ten year time horizon is short term for endowments. PRINCO is one of the highest performing endowments in the world.
How We Can Defeat The Next Pandemic and The Future of Medicine: Dr. Eric Topol
Dr. Eric Topol explains how we can prepare for the next pandemic, including having stockpiles of variant proof vaccines for the families that are most likely to cause pandemics besides coronavirus and influenza. He also shares recent breakthroughs in medicine which will improve accuracy and diagnosis.
Dr. Topol is the founder of Scripps Research.
Presidential Advisor David Gergen: Democracy in Peril and New Leadership
David Gergen, White House Advisor to four presidents, warns us about our failing democracy. He shares how our current government has moved from being able to work across the aisle to create win-win outcomes to creating a win-lose environment stoked by an environment of anger. He reminds us that Millennials and Gen Z are capable and available to step up to the plate if we would just let them, and gives us insights into what makes great leaders.
David Gergen has advised both Republican and Democratic presidents including Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. He is currently a senior political analyst at CNN and professor at Harvard. His newest book is Hearts Touched with Fire: How Great Leaders are Made.
Former Australian Prime Minister and China Scholar Kevin Rudd: War Between the US and China
Just as there was nothing inevitable about WW1 which came about because of flawed decisions by political and military leaders, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd worries that mutual non-comprehension and deep suspicion may lead the US and China into war. He believes that an armed conflict between China and the US is a real possibility. The Chinese Communist Party would see itself as fighting for its very survival in a war and a conventional war could easily escalate into one involving weapons of mass destruction, if Chinese forces begin to lose.
Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has studied and lived in China and has worked with China’s leaders, including Xi Jinping, for decades. His new book is The Avoidable War: The Dangers of a Catastrophic Conflict Between the US and Xi Jinping’s China.
The Revenge of Power: How Power is Shifting in the 21st Century with Moises Naim
Power is easier to get, harder to use and easier to lose. Moises Naim explores how power is changing across all sectors of society. Power has shifted from country leaders to public squares, large companies to start-ups, and large armies to insurgents. Being in charge isn’t what it used to be! But at the same time, power is also concentrating in some sectors. Autocrats are reinventing politics and gaining power using 21st century tools - populism, polarization and post-truths - and undermining democracies around the world.
Moises Naim is a Venezuelan journalist and former editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy magazine. He was Minister of Trade and Industry for Venezuela, director of Venezuela’s Central Bank, and executive director of the World Bank. He is the author of The End of Power and The Revenge of Power.
From Hawk to Dove, Negotiating Peace after War: Former Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos
President Santos received the Nobel Peace Prize for bringing Colombia's more than 50 year civil war to an end. His unique and humble leadership style allowed him to pivot from being a hawk to a dove on war, and this change is mirrored in his transition from climate change denier to climate change fighter. These 180 degree pivots are unprecedented for a world leader.
He describes the almost impossible challenges he faced ending a civil war with millions of victims, and delves into how he was ultimately able to broker peace. He led the war as a war hero and negotiated peace as president. His monumental accomplishments are inspired by the heartbreaking stories of victims.
Business Revolution: Tech, Talent, Purpose with Fortune Media CEO Alan Murray
Fortune Media CEO Alan Murray shares the dramatic changes in business today due to the tech revolution, which is disrupting so many businesses, and the purpose revolution which is causing companies to re-think what they should be doing.
He believes that fundamental changes in the ways businesses operate today are forcing them to pay more attention to people and the planet.
It used to be that 80% of the value of the Fortune 500 came from physical assets but now over 85% of the value is intangible assets including intellectual property, software, brand value and the human emotional connection that comes from brand value. Since intangibles, which is where the value lies today, are things that are much more closely tied to people - it's human ingenuity that creates the intellectual property, it's human emotion that creates the brand value and the brand connection - business leaders are paying much more attention to people. Alan shares how that is changing the purpose of corporations and the role of the CEO today.
He also talks about how business has changed due to the pandemic, remote work, Black Lives Matter, rising inequality, global warming and the Ukraine Russia war.
Unless businesses are responsive to their employees, their customers and their communities, Alan believes they will lose. The biggest changes, he says, are yet to come.
His new book is Tomorrow’s Capitalist.
World Famous Architect Robert A.M. Stern on Architecture and Design: What Makes His Buildings Special?
Robert A.M. Stern, who designs the most sought after buildings in the world, shares how he sees architecture and design, and what makes his buildings so special that they regularly set records for the highest price per square foot, even when they're not in the best neighborhoods.
He explains how his buildings are informed by the past but situated in the future, how he sees detail and ornament as the grace notes of architecture, and how he favors second glance architecture, as opposed to “screamers”. The new J.P. Morgan building going up in New York City, he says, is “a screamer on Park Avenue and [may] be the final death of that once noble and coherent boulevard.” He also shares what and why he wants “to connect” and how making a building is a symphony.
Justice, Punishment and Forgiveness: When Should Law Forgive?
Former Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow argues for greater forgiveness by the law and the justice system. Using examples from around the world, she shares how forgiveness can lower crime and reduce incarceration.
She warns about the highly punitive American justice system which forgives bankruptcy but not misdemeanors.
The very same kind of crime in the United States and in Sweden or in Finland, will produce in the United States perhaps a 20 years' sentence, and in one of those Scandinavian countries, maybe 5 to 10 years. The US is far more punitive, and Martha argues there is no evidence that that produces lower rates of crime. In fact, the US has higher rates of crime.
What‘s the right balance between forgiveness and punishment? It's not an easy question. A justice system needs to hold people accountable for their crimes and be fair, treating people the same, but when should the law forgive and allow for fresh beginnings? Martha Minow is the perfect person to ask. She’s written a book titled When Should Law Forgive?
An Urgent Warning on the Times Ahead with the Founder of the World's Largest Hedge Fund: Ray Dalio
Legendary investor Ray Dalio, who predicted the 2008 financial crisis, shares a similar urgent warning about what he sees ahead. He believes the times ahead will be radically different from what everyone today has experienced in their lifetimes, and he wants people to be prepared. Bill Gates said, “…super-provocative, super-important… A lot of facts line-up to create a scary picture that’s hard to refute.”
Based on his study of the rise and fall of superpowers and history’s most turbulent periods, Ray is issuing a warning about the confluence of three major events that last happened between 1930 and 1945.
He talks about debt creation, printing money, inflation, wealth disparity, populism and the rise of a great power to challenge the existing world order.
Ray Dalio founded and built Bridgewater Associates into the largest hedge fund in the world and shares how to protect assets during the tempestuous and inflationary period ahead.
His new book is Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail.
A British Minister on Why Being a Politician Is the Worst Job Imaginable, Brexit and a View of the US and the World: Rory Stewart
Rory Stewart provides an unconventional perspective on the US and the world, including the mistake of our all-in and all-out mentality, politics without detail and how politicians live in a perpetually paranoid universe and don’t accomplish much in their lives.
It doesn't matter whether you're talking about Afghanistan, climate change or populism in the US and Europe, Rory believes the fundamental problem is a problem of jargon and abstraction. Let's take Afghanistan. President Biden left Afghanistan, because instead of focusing on the fact that the US actually only had 2,500 soldiers on the ground, was doing very little fighting and had had no casualties for 18 months, he labeled it a "forever war". And by doing so, he convinced himself and 70% of the American people that we were still back in 2012 in this huge military operation which no longer existed. And the same basic problem underlies all our politics, which is that we are now in a world of politics without detail.
Rory also shares an ally’s perspective on the US, what Europeans see as a joke, and the 50% likelihood that China will make an aggressive move to reincorporate Taiwan.
Rory Stewart is a British diplomat, politician, author and explorer who has walked solo across Afghanistan. He has served across the UK government as Secretary of State for International Development, Minister of the Environment, Minister of State for Justice, and as Chair of the House Commons Defense Select Committee.
Political Commentator George Will: Insights on American Government Today, and Where the Democratic and Republican Parties Have Both Gone Wrong
We sit down with George Will and discuss what conservatism means today and where the Republican and Democratic Parties have both gone wrong - the Republican Party with Donald Trump and the Democratic Party by being “dominated by a tail that wags the bigger dog.” Progressives, he says, are at most a third of the Democratic Party, but they are 90% of Joe Biden's agenda now and they are “in the saddle riding poor Joe Biden.”
He shares how Joe Biden squandered one of the great opportunities of modern politics and how the Democratic Party is disobeying Thomas Jefferson's admonition to not undertake large departures on slender majorities. As for the Republican Party, he talks about Donald Trump’s effect on the Party, how the Party has strayed from its roots and what it means to be a Republican today.
He also worries that from Elizabeth Warren on the left to Ted Cruz on the right, the political class is united by a constant powerful imperative for deficit spending.
George Will is a political commentator, columnist and author of 16 books. He has won a Pulitzer Prize and is a regular contributor to the Washington Post.
Reporting from War Zones with CNN Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward: How What's Reported Differs From the Situation On the Ground
This week we talk with Clarissa Ward, CNN’s Chief International Correspondent, who has been reporting from Ukraine, and who has covered hot zones and wars in Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Syria and Afghanistan and been based in Baghdad, Beirut, Beijing and Moscow. She shares the remaking of the world from the front lines and how the situation on the ground differs from what’s reported.
She provides a deeply personal and inside scoop on the news. Find out why TV doesn’t provide a full picture of reality and what she’s learned from her extensive time covering conflicts and wars.
She also talks about a reporter’s responsibility in being a vessel, the mental health toll of reporting from war zones and the surprising advantages to being a woman reporting from the Middle East.
Clarissa is known for her courage, compassion and riveting reporting. She speaks seven languages and has received multiple awards, including Peabody, Murrow and nine Emmy awards.
The Secret Life of Words - What Our Words Say About Us and What We Can Learn From Other’s Words: Jamie Pennebaker
Ever wondered if we could predict people’s actions through their words? Renowned social psychologist and linguist Dr Jamie Pennebaker shares how words can give away our secrets, feelings and inner state of mind from Putin’s language which predicted his invasion of Ukraine to poets whose use of the word “I” can predict a higher risk of suicide.
Dr. Pennebaker’s groundbreaking research in computational linguistics analyzing and counting the frequency of words, shows that our most forgettable words, such as pronouns I, me and my, can be the most revealing.
He explains what the words Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and Joe Biden use (and even the ones they don’t use) reveal about their inner feelings and the “tell” that predicted Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
He also talks about how American Presidents have become more likeable and less analytical, the differences in men’s and women's words, and how writing about traumatic experiences can help people heal and improve their physical health.
David Novak, Former CEO OF Yum! Brands on Motivating a Work Force, Staying Humble and Taking Charge of Your Career
From humble beginnings growing up as a trailer park nomad, David rose to be the CEO of Yum! Brands (Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC) where his successful techniques as a leader helped double the number of restaurants and increased market capitalization over 8 times. He has been recognized as one of the best performing CEO’s by Barron’s, Fortune and Harvard Business Review.
This week we talked about his people first approach, the essential traits leaders need, the importance of mindset and why purposeful recognition is the strongest motivational tool for leaders in any field. He explains how sometimes we have to say no in order to get what we want, as well as describes why people cried when he gifted them a rubber chicken!
David continues to campaign to create more leaders by creating the student leadership program Lead4Change.
Former MI6 Chief Sir Alex Younger: Putin's Miscalculations Invading Ukraine, Why Putin May Become More Desperate and Dangerous, Realities of a Spy and the Importance of Trust and Alliances
Former MI6 Chief Sir Alex Younger – with his years of experience as a spy - shares how Putin miscalculated with his invasion of Ukraine, why he can’t back down and what the long term impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the US exit from Afghanistan may be on Xi Jinping’s plans for Taiwan. He also provides insights on threats in our globalized world and reveals what it takes to be a successful spy, how to out-think the opposition and how spies, while professionally cynical, are romantics at heart.
“My career has showed me what well-motivated individuals, brave individuals can do, and that's been an enormous privilege.”