Talks at Google
The Talks at Google podcast - where great minds meet. Talks at Google brings the world’s most influential thinkers, creators, makers, and doers all to one place. Every episode is taken from a video that can be seen at YouTube.com/TalksAtGoogle. DISCLAIMER: The views or opinions expressed by the guest speakers are solely their own and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Google, Inc. The comments on this channel belong only to the person who posted them. We do, however, reserve the right to remove off-topic or inappropriate comments. Also, the materials presented in the episodes are licensed to Google by the speaker(s). Google does not endorse any products or technology presented by the guest speakers.
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Ep444 - Samuel T. Wilkinson | Purpose
05/07/2024
Ep444 - Samuel T. Wilkinson | Purpose
Samuel T. Wilkinson visits Google to discuss his book “Purpose: What Evolution and Human Nature Imply about the Meaning of Our Existence.” By using principles from a variety of scientific disciplines, Samuel provides a framework for human evolution that reveals an overarching purpose to our existence. Generations have been taught that evolution implies there is no overarching purpose to our existence, that life has no fundamental meaning. We are merely the accumulation of tens of thousands of intricate molecular accidents. Some scientists take this logic one step further, suggesting that evolution is intrinsically atheistic and goes against the concept of the divine. But is this true? By integrating emerging principles from a variety of scientific disciplines—ranging from evolutionary biology to psychology—Yale Professor Samuel Wilkinson provides a framework of evolution that implies not only that there is an overarching purpose to our existence, but what this purpose is. Nature seems to have endowed us with competing dispositions, what Wilkinson calls the dual potential of human nature. We are pulled in different directions: selfishness and altruism, aggression and cooperation, lust and love. When we couple this with the observation that we possess a measure of free will, all this strongly implies there is a universal purpose to our existence. This purpose may be to choose between the good and evil impulses that nature has created within us. Our life is a test. This is a theory that has been espoused by so many of the world’s religions. From a certain framework, these aspects of human nature—including how evolution shaped us—are evidence for the existence of the divine, not against it. Visit to watch the video.
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Ep443 - Amy Larkin | Environmental Debt: The Hidden Costs of a Changing Global Economy
05/03/2024
Ep443 - Amy Larkin | Environmental Debt: The Hidden Costs of a Changing Global Economy
Amy Larkin visits Google to discuss her book, "Environmental Debt." For decades, politicians and business leaders alike told the American public that today's challenge was growing the economy, and that environmental protection could be left to future generations. Now in the wake of billions of dollars in costs associated with coastal devastation from hurricanes, rampant wildfires across the West, and groundwater contamination from drilling, it's becoming increasingly clear that yesterday's carefree attitude about the environment has morphed into a financial crisis of epic proportions. Amy Larkin has been at the forefront of the fight for the environment for years, and in "Environmental Debt" she argues that the costs of global warming, extreme weather, pollution and other forms of environmental debt are wreaking havoc on the global economy. Synthesizing complex ideas, she pulls back the curtain on some of the biggest cultural touchstones of the environmental debate, revealing how, for instance, despite coal's relative fame as a 'cheap' energy source, ordinary Americans pay $350 billion a year for coal's damage in business-related expenses, polluted watersheds, and in healthcare costs. And the problem stretches far beyond our borders: deforestation from twenty years ago in Thailand caused catastrophic flooding in 2011, and cost Toyota 3.4 percent of its annual production while causing tens of thousands of workers to lose jobs in three different countries. Provocative and hard-hitting, "Environmental Debt" sweeps aside the false choices of today's environmental debate, and shows how to revitalize the economy through nature's bounty. Originally published in August of 2013. Visit / to watch the video.
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Ep442 - Simran Kaur | Girls That Invest: Your Guide to Financial Independence
04/30/2024
Ep442 - Simran Kaur | Girls That Invest: Your Guide to Financial Independence
Globally recognized investor Simran Kaur visits Google to discuss her book “Girls That Invest: Your Guide to Financial Independence through Shares and Stocks.” The book is a step-by-step guide to financial independence from the creator of the investing education podcast, Girls That Invest. With only 15 to 25 percent of women investing, Simran founded Girls That Invest, a multi-million dollar media company that has amassed over six million podcast downloads and has become the world’s #1 investing podcast for women. As a Forbes 30 under 30, Global Cartier Women in Business Fellow and finalist for Young New Zealander of the Year, Simran’s work has been featured on TEDx US, Forbes, Vogue, Business Insider, and a billboard in Times Square where she rang the NASDAQ opening bell for International Day of the Girl. Her mission is simple: Putting money into the hands of women. Simran spoke at the UK Houses of Parliament for International Women's Day in March 2023. Her best-selling book, Girls That Invest, has topped charts in the USA, Canada, UK and New Zealand and her podcast is listened to in over 150 countries, demonstrating the need for more investing education tailored to help tackle the wealth gap women are facing. Visit to watch the video.
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Ep441 - Sarah Miller Caldicott | Innovate Like Edison
04/26/2024
Ep441 - Sarah Miller Caldicott | Innovate Like Edison
Sarah Miller Caldicott, the great grand-niece of Thomas Edison, visits Google to discuss her book "Innovate Like Edison: The Five Step System for Breakthrough Business Success." Thomas Edison is counted among the greatest innovators in American history. Edison's focus on practical accomplishment set the stage for America's global leadership in innovation. Now, for the first time ever, "Innovate Like Edison" translates the best practices of this supreme American inventor into contemporary terms to help today's leaders harness their own innovative potential. With her unique insight and expertise, Caldicott introduces a carefully researched, easy-to-apply system of five success secrets inspired by the creative methods of Edison himself. Presented in a step-by-step fashion, "Innovate Like Edison" provides the tools and strategies you need to compete and win in the business world and in everyday life. Whether you're an amateur or an executive, "Innovate Like Edison" is a powerful tool that will enable you to revamp and revitalize your own creative genius and thrive in today's culture of innovation. Originally published in February, 2008. Visit to watch the video.
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Ep440 - Bob Sutton & Huggy Rao | The Friction Project
04/23/2024
Ep440 - Bob Sutton & Huggy Rao | The Friction Project
Professors Bob Sutton and Huggy Rao visit Google to discuss their book “The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and the Wrong Things Harder.” This book is a useful guide to eliminating the forces that make it harder, more complicated, or downright impossible to get things done in organizations. Every organization is plagued by destructive friction. Yet some forms of friction are incredibly useful, and leaders who attempt to improve workplace efficiency often make things even worse. Drawing from seven years of hands-on research, Sutton and Rao teach readers how to become “friction fixers.” Sutton and Rao unpack how skilled friction fixers think and act like trustees of each others’ time. They provide friction forensics to help readers identify where to avert and repair bad organizational friction and where to maintain and inject good friction. The heart of the book digs into the causes and solutions for five of the most common and damaging friction troubles: oblivious leaders, addition sickness, broken connections, jargon monoxide, and fast & frenzied people and teams. Sound familiar? Sutton and Rao are here to help. They wrap things up with lessons for leading your own friction project, including linking little things to big things; the power of civility, caring, and love for propelling designs and repairs; and embracing the mess that is an inevitable part of the process. Visit to watch the video.
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Ep439 - Sara Mednick | Take a Nap! Change Your Life.
04/19/2024
Ep439 - Sara Mednick | Take a Nap! Change Your Life.
Sara Mednick visits Google to discuss her book, "Take a Nap! Change Your Life." Imagine a product that increases alertness, boosts creativity, reduces stress, improves perception, stamina, motor skills, and accuracy, helps you make better decisions, keeps you looking younger, aids in weight loss, reduces the risk of heart attack, elevates your mood, and strengthens memory. Now imagine that this product is nontoxic, has no dangerous side effects, and, best of all, is absolutely free. This miracle drug is, in fact, nothing more than the nap: the right nap at the right time. Sara Mednik’s book Take a Nap! details a scientifically-based breakthrough program that shows how we can fight the fatigue epidemic through a custom-designed nap. The book explains the five stages of the sleep cycle, particularly Stage Two, or Slow Wave Sleep, and REM, and the benefits each one provides; how to assess your tiredness and set up a personal sleep profile; and how to neutralize the voice in your head that tells you napping is a sign of laziness. Using the unique Nap Wheel on the cover and interior graphs and charts, it shows us exactly when our optimal napping time is, and exactly how long we should try to sleep—even how it’s possible to design a nap to inspire creativity one day, and the next day design one to help us with our memory. There are tips on how to create the right nap environment, a 16-step technique for falling asleep, a six-week napping workbook, and more. Originally published in November of 2007. Visit to watch the video.
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Ep438 - Stefanie Faye | Neuro-Mechanics of Mindset: How our Past Affects the Present
04/16/2024
Ep438 - Stefanie Faye | Neuro-Mechanics of Mindset: How our Past Affects the Present
Neuroscience specialist Stefanie Faye visits Google to discuss neurophysiology and its connection to mental health, drawing from her book Biomechanics of Human Communication: Neurophysiology, Regulation, and Systems Thinking. Stefanie Faye is a neuroscience specialist with expertise in optimizing learning, performance, attentional control, cognitive flexibility, and emotional regulation using biofeedback, neurotechnology, cognitive training and frameworks that integrate childhood experiences and family systems. Her graduate degree from New York University focused on neuroplasticity, empathy and emotion regulation. She has worked as a counselor, cognitive trainer, reading therapist, research analyst, coordinator of learning programs, and has analyzed many physiological aspects of nervous system states and brain functioning including electric conductance of the skin, facial electromyography, heart rate variability and quantitative electro-encephalography. She integrates all of this with her experience training in monasteries with meditation masters from Vietnam, India and West Africa. Visit to watch the video.
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Ep437 - Tammy Smith | Leadership and Inclusiveness in the Military
04/12/2024
Ep437 - Tammy Smith | Leadership and Inclusiveness in the Military
Major General Tammy Smith discusses her background as a member of the LGBTQ+ community in the US military, her experience as the highest ranking and first out-and-proud Major General, and what her leadership means to the LGBTQ+ community at large. Tammy Smith is a recently retired Army Major General. At the conclusion of her 35 year career, she was serving at the Pentagon as the Military Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of the Army, the US military’s largest service branch with over one million personnel in the Active, National Guard and Reserve force. Upon her promotion to Brigadier General in 2012, mere months after the repeal of Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell, Smith gained unexpected visibility as the US military’s first openly LGBTQ+ General Flag officer. Rather than downplaying the significance of this unanticipated status, Tammy leveraged her role by promoting inclusion and diversity in the Army and Department of Defense, contributing to a culture of acceptance and trust in a post-Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell military. Originally published in July of 2021. Visit to watch the video.
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Ep436 - Charan Ranganath | Why We Remember
04/09/2024
Ep436 - Charan Ranganath | Why We Remember
Professor of psychology and neuroscience Charan Ranganath visits Google to discuss his book "Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory's Power to Hold on to What Matters." The book reveals the powerful role memory plays in nearly every aspect of our lives, from recalling faces and names, to learning, decision-making, trauma, and healing. A new understanding of memory is emerging from the latest scientific research. Memory is not quite the repository of the past that we can tap into as we wish. It is actually a highly transformative power, active at all times, that shapes our present in often secretive and sometimes destructive ways. We are in many ways creatures of memory and only when we understand the mechanisms of memory can we truly understand ourselves and our motivations, and use our knowledge of those mechanisms to our advantage while avoiding their pitfalls. Why We Remember teaches the principles behind memory storage and retrieval, and explains how our memories are always changing. It reveals how these processes affect what we think we know about ourselves and how we make decisions. Memory is designed to be selective, meaningful, and malleable. When we understand how memory works, we can cut through the clutter and remember the things we want to remember. We can not only remember more—we can remember better. Visit to watch the video.
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Ep435 - Mary Roach | Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law
04/05/2024
Ep435 - Mary Roach | Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law
Mary Roach visits Google to discuss her book "Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law." What’s to be done about a jaywalking moose? A bear caught breaking and entering? A murderous tree? Three hundred years ago, animals that broke the law would be assigned legal representation and put on trial. These days, the answers are best found not in jurisprudence but in science: the curious science of human-wildlife conflict, a discipline at the crossroads of human behavior and wildlife biology. Mary Roach is the author of six New York Times bestsellers, including "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers"; "Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal", and "Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void." Her books have been published in 21 languages, and her second book, "Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife", was a New York Times Notable Book. Mary has written for National Geographic, Wired, The New York Times Magazine, and the Journal of Clinical Anatomy, among others. Visit to watch the video.
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Ep434 - Abby Wambach | International Women's History Month
04/02/2024
Ep434 - Abby Wambach | International Women's History Month
Olympic gold medalist, activist, author, and podcast host Abby Wambach visits Google to discuss her journey, career and International Women's Day. Abby Wambach is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, FIFA World Cup Champion, and six-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award. She was the United States’ leading scorer in the 2007 and 2011 Women’s World Cup tournaments and the 2004 and 2012 Olympics. She is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller "Wolfpack", and the forthcoming children's book "The Wolfpack Way". Abby is also the host of “Abby’s Places” on ESPN+, in which she showcases what makes her beloved sport of soccer a worldwide sensation. Abby also co-hosts the award-winning, critically acclaimed “We Can Do Hard Things” podcast with her wife Glennon Doyle and her sister Amanda Doyle. She is a co-founder and part-owner of Angel City FC, the first majority-female-owned soccer team in history, and is a member of the Board of Directors for the all-women-led nonprofit organization Together Rising. Visit to watch the video.
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Ep433 - Sarah Lux-Lee | Building Belonging for a More Diverse & Inclusive Workplace
03/29/2024
Ep433 - Sarah Lux-Lee | Building Belonging for a More Diverse & Inclusive Workplace
Sarah Lux-Lee visits Google to discuss Mindr and strategies for building belonging in the workplace through impactful employee communities, a culture of mentorship, and meaningful virtual connections. Mindr is a workforce development organization that builds belonging in the world's leading workplaces. Their custom technology platform, events and strategic consulting services foster strong and impactful communities, including women’s initiatives, Black professional networks, working parent circles, Pride communities, and groups recognizing other diversity dimensions and shared experiences. Mindr has elevated underrepresented voices at Google, Facebook, Citibank, NASA, the United Nations, and many other leading organizations. Visit to watch the video.
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Ep432 - Kanchan Koya | Food and Spices as Medicine
03/26/2024
Ep432 - Kanchan Koya | Food and Spices as Medicine
Chef, nutrition coach and former molecular biologist Kanchan Koya visits Google to discuss her cookbook “Spice Spice Baby” and her podcast “Radical Vitality”, where she uses science-backed evidence to encourage the use of food, spices and holistic lifestyle changes as our best preventative medicine. Kanchan Koya is a chef, author, podcast host and nutrition coach, specializing in championing the science-backed benefits of ancient spices to help people live a more vibrant, healthy and joyful life. After a stint in the Biopharma industry, Kanchan decided to leverage her expertise in science and love of food to create Spice Spice Baby, a platform dedicated to highlighting food as medicine and the benefits of spices from a science perspective. Kanchan is also the host and co-producer of the podcast “Radical Vitality,” offering tangible tips and tools for increased wellness and vitality while also integrating cutting-edge science with ancient wisdom. Visit to watch the video.
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Ep431 - Rudrani Chettri | A World of Inclusion and Acceptance
03/22/2024
Ep431 - Rudrani Chettri | A World of Inclusion and Acceptance
Rudrani Chettri visits Google to discuss her journey as a champion for LGBTQ rights in India, and how her initiatives are helping shape a new generation. A transgender Delhi native, Rudrani Chettri has spent over 10 years spreading awareness and fighting for LGBTQ+ rights in India. She founded MITR Trust in 2005 with an aim to reduce the risks of HIV and other sexually-transmitted infections and in 2015, she founded BOLD, the first transgender modeling agency in India. Rudrani is a national consultant for organizations such as the National AIDS Control Program, HIV AIDS Alliance India, and Global fund for Tuberculosis and Malaria. Visit to watch the video.
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Ep430 - Chris Anderson | Infectious Generosity: The Ultimate Idea Worth Spreading
03/19/2024
Ep430 - Chris Anderson | Infectious Generosity: The Ultimate Idea Worth Spreading
Bestselling author, media pioneer, and curator of TED for over twenty years, Chris Anderson visits Google to discuss his book "Infectious Generosity: The Ultimate Idea Worth Spreading." The book explores one of humankind’s defining but overlooked impulses, and how we can super-charge its potential to build a hopeful future. Let’s face it: Recent years have been tough on optimists. Hopes that the Internet might bring people together have been crushed by the ills of social media. Is there a way back? As the head of TED, Chris Anderson has had a ringside view of the world’s boldest thinkers sharing their most uplifting ideas. Inspired by them, he believes that it’s within our grasp to turn outrage back into optimism. It all comes down to reimagining one of the most fundamental human virtues: generosity. What if generosity could become infectious generosity? Anderson’s book offers a playbook for how to embark on our own generous acts—whether gifts of money, time, talent, connection, or kindness—and to prime them to have self-replicating, even world-changing, impact. Visit / to watch the video.
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Ep429 - Julie Lythcott-Haims | Your Turn: How to Be an Adult
03/15/2024
Ep429 - Julie Lythcott-Haims | Your Turn: How to Be an Adult
Julie Lythcott-Haims visits Google to discuss her book "Your Turn: How to Be an Adult". In the twentieth century, psychologists came up with five markers of adulthood: finish your education, get a job, leave home, marry, and have children. But early adulthood for members of the Millennial and Gen Z generations looks a lot different. Those old markers are valid choices, but any one person’s choices along those lines do not make them more or less an adult. In “Your Turn,” Julie exposes her own veins, dropping any pretense of authority about her subject and instead leads with disarming vulnerability. The result: A remarkable, comprehensive, loving, useful guide to living a more authentic adulthood from a leading voice in parenting. It turns out that being an adult is not about any particular checklist; it is, instead, a process—one you can get progressively better at over time. Once you begin to practice it, being an adult becomes the most complicated yet also the most abundantly rewarding and natural thing. For anyone struggling with #adulting, “Your Turn” shares a path replete with actionable items that leads to joy and fulfillment. Originally published in May of 2021. Visit to watch the video.
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Ep428 - Danielle Brooks | The Color Purple
03/12/2024
Ep428 - Danielle Brooks | The Color Purple
Award-winning actress and singer Danielle Brooks visits Google to discuss her journey, career, and her Oscar nominated performance as Sofia in the highly acclaimed film “The Color Purple.” Danielle rose to prominence for her portrayal of “Taystee” on the popular Netflix series Orange Is The New Black, for which she was nominated for an NAACP Image Award. In 2019, Danielle released her four-track EP entitled Four. She co-wrote the four songs, including “Seasons,” which was featured in the series finale of Orange is the New Black. In 2022, she co-founded “Black Women on Broadway” and held its inaugural awards, which honors the legacy of Black Women’s contributions to theater. She currently stars in “The Color Purple,” the feature film adaption of the distinguished Broadway musical. Danielle reprises her iconic role of ‘Sofia,’ portraying another powerhouse, memorable performance that has garnered her Golden Globe, Critics Choice Award, SAG Award, BAFTA Film Award, and Academy Award nominations for “Best Supporting Actress.” Visit to watch the video.
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Ep427 - Shanna Swan | Count Down: The Future of the Human Race
03/08/2024
Ep427 - Shanna Swan | Count Down: The Future of the Human Race
Dr. Shanna Swan visits Google to discuss her book "Count Down: How Our Modern World Is Threatening Sperm Counts, Altering Male and Female Reproductive Development, and Imperiling the Future of the Human Race". In 2017, Dr. Shanna Swan and her team of researchers completed a major study, finding that over the past four decades, sperm levels amongst men in Western countries have dropped by more than 50%. They came to this conclusion after examining 185 studies involving close to 45,000 healthy men. The result sent shockwaves around the globe—but the story didn’t end there. It turns out our sexual development is changing in broader ways, for both men and women and even other species, and that the modern world is on pace to become an infertile one. How and why could this happen? What is hijacking our fertility and our health? Shanna’s book unpacks these questions, revealing what Swan and other researchers have learned about how both lifestyle and chemical exposures are affecting our fertility, sexual development and general health as a species. Originally published in August of 2021. Visit to watch the video.
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Ep426 - Vivian Tu | Rich AF
03/05/2024
Ep426 - Vivian Tu | Rich AF
Vivian Tu visits Google to discuss her book "Rich AF: The Winning Money Mindset That Will Change Your Life." This book is a guide filled with the tools and knowledge to not only help you understand the financial landscape, but to build a financial strategy of your own. Vivian Tu is a former Wall Street trader-turned-educator, public speaker, host, entrepreneur, media powerhouse and the founder and CEO of the financial equity phenomenon, “Your Rich BFF.” In January 2021, she developed and launched the “Your Rich BFF” blog and social media handles as a passion project to destigmatize and make the rules of personal finance accessible and digestible to non-experts and marginalized communities. Her dedication to promoting financial literacy and ability to bridge the gap between finance and the mainstream have earned her cross-platform fame, having garnered nearly 6 million followers, as well as honors on both the Forbes’ ‘30 Under 30’’ and inaugural ‘Top Creators’ lists. Visit to watch the video.
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Ep425 - Iza Calzado | Recognizing the Hero in All of Us
03/01/2024
Ep425 - Iza Calzado | Recognizing the Hero in All of Us
Iza Calzado is an award-winning Filipina actress, television host, dancer and model best known for her role as Amihan in the fantasy drama television series Encantadia. She was a former homegrown artist of the GMA Network for ten years. Iza is also the co-founder of “She Talks Asia”, through which she has proven to be a powerful advocate for female empowerment, particularly in raising awareness of the importance of physical, emotional and mental well-being. Originally published in September of 2021. Visit to watch the video.
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Ep424 - Min Jin Lee | Musings and Writings
02/27/2024
Ep424 - Min Jin Lee | Musings and Writings
Bestselling author Min Jin Lee visits Google to provide a masterclass on writing. In addition, she speaks about representation in media, fiction, non-fiction and her views on the evolving Asian-American identity. In 2019, Apple ordered a television adaptation of Min’s New York Times bestselling book Pachinko. President Barack Obama selected Pachinko for his recommended reading list, calling it “a powerful story about resilience and compassion.” Lee’s debut novel Free Food for Millionaires was listed on the Top 10 Books of the Year for The Times of London, NPR’s “Fresh Air,” and USA Today, and was a national bestseller. Lee’s work has also appeared in The New Yorker, NPR’s Selected Shorts, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, Conde Nast Traveler, The Times of London, and The Wall Street Journal. Visit to watch the video."
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Ep423 - Lang Lang | The Chopin Album
02/23/2024
Ep423 - Lang Lang | The Chopin Album
Lang Lang visits Google to perform pieces from his new album, “The Chopin Album”. This album includes the second set of Chopin's Études, the Andante spianato & Grande Polonaise, and a selection of shorter works that he has long enjoyed performing, including three Nocturnes and the Waltz op. 64 no. 1, popularly known as the "Minute" Waltz. Chopin has accompanied Lang Lang throughout his career. One of the first pieces he learnt was the Grande Valse brillante in E-flat major, and it was Chopin's music that also carried him through a number of career-changing competitions. And it was with the Chopin Études that Lang Lang made his now-renowned Beijing Concert Hall recital at age 14 -- a performance that led to his studying with Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. Originally published in October of 2012. Visit to watch the video.
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Ep422 - Edward 'Ted' Miguel | Open Science: Assessing How to Do Good Better
02/20/2024
Ep422 - Edward 'Ted' Miguel | Open Science: Assessing How to Do Good Better
Global development leader, professor and author Edward ‘Ted’ Miguel visits Google to discuss how open science is transforming poverty reduction and global development. What really works in the fight to empower the world's poorest people? What's the science behind traditional development programs, cash grants, and tech transfer efforts? Ted shares his learnings from his years leading UC Berkeley's Center for Effective Global Action, or CEGA. Ted’s main research focus is African economic development, including work on the economic causes and consequences of violence; the impact of ethnic divisions on local collective action; interactions between health, education, environment, and productivity for the poor; and methods for transparency in social science research. He has conducted field work in Kenya, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and India. Visit to watch the video."
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Ep421 - Shelby Ivey Christie | A Legacy of Looks: The Role of Black Fashion in Music
02/16/2024
Ep421 - Shelby Ivey Christie | A Legacy of Looks: The Role of Black Fashion in Music
Shelby Ivey Christie visits Google to discuss the history of how the music industry has influenced Black fashion, how Black artists and costume designers influenced style for musical artists worldwide, and how Black fashion became and continues to be mainstream culture today. An ardent Fashion & Costume historian, Shelby Ivey Christie has a passion for articulating how Black History intersects and affects the cultural climate, economics, and most importantly, fashion. Her expertise has frequently been called upon to examine fashion through the lens of race, class & culture. Visit to watch the video.
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Ep420 - Mel B | Exploring Diverse Identities
02/13/2024
Ep420 - Mel B | Exploring Diverse Identities
Mel B visits Google to discuss her career journey, her memoir “Brutally Honest”, and her experiences as a person of mixed heritage. Melanie Brown is one-fifth of the most successful girl band on Earth, the Spice Girls. As ‘Scary Spice’, she became one of the most recognisable women in the world. She went on to carve out a global career as a television entertainer, theater performer, and movie actress. Since the Spice Girls split in 2000, Melanie went on to carve a new career as a host of television shows. Consistently voted ‘most popular’ judge on shows from America’s Got Talent to The X Factor UK, she embraced a whole new generation to become one of the most recognised faces on television. She has appeared in London’s West End and on Broadway in Rent and most recently as Roxie Hart in Chicago, winning massive acclaim from audiences. Mel B was awarded an MBE by the Queen for her services to survivors of domestic abuse. Visit to watch the video.
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Ep419 - Nikole Hannah-Jones | Modern Day Segregation
02/09/2024
Ep419 - Nikole Hannah-Jones | Modern Day Segregation
Nikole Hannah-Jones is an award-winning investigative reporter covering racial injustice for the New York Time Magazine. Nikole has spent the last five years investigating how official policy creates and maintains racial segregation in American public schools. In 2016, Nikole helped found the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting, a training and mentorship organization geared towards increasing the number of investigative reporters of color. She has also authored a book that discusses school segregation entitled, "The Problem We All Live With.” In 2020, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for her work on “The 1619 Project”. Originally published in May of 2017. Visit to watch the video.
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Ep418 - Michael D. Smith | Remaking Higher Education for a Digital World
02/06/2024
Ep418 - Michael D. Smith | Remaking Higher Education for a Digital World
Michael Smith visits Google to discuss his book “The Abundant University: Remaking Higher Education for a Digital World.” For too long, our system of higher education has been defined by scarcity: scarcity in enrollment, scarcity in instruction, and scarcity in credentials. In addition to failing students professionally, this system has exacerbated social injustice and socioeconomic stratification across the globe. In “The Abundant University”, Smith argues that the only way to create a financially and morally sustainable higher education system is by embracing digital technologies for enrolling, instructing, and credentialing students—the same technologies that we have seen create abundance in access to resources in industry after industry. “The Abundant University” explains how we got our current system, why it’s such an expensive, inefficient mess, and how a system based on exclusivity cannot foster inclusivity. Smith challenges the resistance to digital technologies that we have already seen among numerous institutions, citing the examples of faculty resistance toward digital learning platforms. While acknowledging the understandable self-preservation instinct of our current system of residential education, Smith makes a case for how technology can form greater educational opportunities and create changes that will benefit students, employers, and society as a whole. Visit to watch the video.
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Ep417 - Matt Parker | Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension
02/02/2024
Ep417 - Matt Parker | Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension
Math is boring, says the mathematician and comedian Matt Parker. Part of the problem may be the way the subject is taught, but it's also true that we all, to a greater or lesser extent, find math difficult and counterintuitive. This counterintuitiveness is actually part of the point, argues Parker: the extraordinary thing about math is that it allows us to access logic and ideas beyond what our brains can instinctively do―through its logical tools, we are able to reach beyond our innate abilities and grasp more and more abstract concepts. In his book, “Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension”, Parker sets out to convince his readers to revisit the very math that put them off the subject as schoolchildren. Starting with the foundations of math familiar from school, he takes us on a grand tour, from four dimensional shapes, knot theory, the mysteries of prime numbers, optimization algorithms, and the math behind barcodes and iPhone screens to the different kinds of infinity―and slightly beyond. Originally published in December of 2014. Visit to watch the video.
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Ep416 - Andrew Keen | The Cult of the Amateur
01/30/2024
Ep416 - Andrew Keen | The Cult of the Amateur
Andrew Keen visits Google to discuss his book “The Cult of the Amateur.” The book discusses the grave consequences of today’s new participatory internet and reveals how it threatens our values, economy, and ultimately the very innovation and creativity that forms the fabric of our societies. According to Keen, our most valued cultural institutions are being overtaken by an avalanche of amateur, user-generated free content. Keen claims that “cut-and-paste” online culture, in which intellectual property is freely swapped, downloaded, remashed, and aggregated, threatens over 200 years of copyright protection and intellectual property rights, preventing artists, authors, journalists, musicians, and producers from earning a decent living. In today’s self-broadcasting culture, where amateurism is celebrated and anyone with an opinion can publish a blog, post on YouTube, or change an entry on Wikipedia, the distinction between trained expert and uninformed amateur has become dangerously blurred. When anonymous bloggers and videographers can alter the public debate and manipulate public opinion, truth becomes a commodity to be bought, sold, packaged, and reinvented. The very anonymity that the Web 2.0 offers calls into question the reliability of the information we receive and creates an environment in which predators and identity thieves can roam free. Keen’s book urges us to consider the consequences of blindly supporting a culture that endorses plagiarism and piracy and that fundamentally weakens traditional media and creative institutions. Originally published in June of 2007. Visit to watch the video.
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Ep415 - Ray Jackendoff | The Peculiar Logic of Value
01/26/2024
Ep415 - Ray Jackendoff | The Peculiar Logic of Value
Ray Jackendoff visits Google to discuss "The Peculiar Logic of Value", which centers on how humans conceptualize systems of value. Jackendoff hypothesizes that value is conceptualized as an abstract property attributed to objects, persons, and actions. There are several distinct types of value - Affective value, or “does it feel good or bad?” Utility, or “is it good for me?”; Prowess, or “is someone good at doing something”; Normative value, or “is it good of someone to do something?”; Personal Normative value, or “is someone a good person?”; and Esteem, or “does someone have a good reputation?”. Each of these kinds of value plays a different role in the ecology of our value systems. Ray Jackendoff is a Professor of Philosophy and the Codirector of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University. He is the author of many books, including "Foundations of Language”. Originally published in August of 2007. Visit to watch the video.
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