Hugh Howey is a very successful science-fiction author. He says he had two dreams: to write a novel and to sail around the world. To put it mildly, he has realized his dreams. His first published work, Wool, was a dystopian novella that he wrote while working as a bookstore clerk at Appalachian State University. [...]
Jodi Kantor is a reporter at the New York Times. She and Megan Twohey broke the story about the sexual abuse allegations of Harvey Weinstein in 2017. This story catalyzed the current use of the term “#MeToo” and ignited the #MeToo activist movement. She and the team, which includes Megan Twohey and Ronan Farrow, [...]
Dave is a programmer, entrepreneur, writer, and to some, a gadfly. The word “gadfly,” by the way, means “an annoying person, especially one who provoke others into action by criticism.” That’s Dave all right…and I mean that in a positive way. We first met when I was a software evangelist for the Macintosh Division, [...]
Today's remarkable guest is Haben Girma. Haben was born in Oakland, California to an immigrant Eritrean family. In her early childhood, she began to lose her eyesight and hearing. She graduated from Skyline High School in Oakland and went on to graduate magna cum laude from Lewis and Clark. After college, she obtained [...]
This episode's remarkable guest is Steve Blank. Steve attended the University of Michigan for one semester and then joined the military. After the Vietnam war, he moved to Silicon Valley and has been involved with tech companies, including Zilog and MIPS Computers, Convergent Technologies, Ardent, SuperMac Technologies, ESL, and Rocket Science Games. To put it mildly, he truly understands high-tech entrepreneurship because [...]
Ronnie Lott is one of the best players in the history of the NFL. After a successful college football career at USC, he was the first-round draft pick of the SF 49ers in 1981. Over his fourteen-year career, he played for the 49ers, Los Angeles Rams, New York Jets, and Kansas City Chiefs. In [...]
From 2016-2018 I was on the board of trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation. This organization oversees the thirteen Wikimedia properties including Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Wikibooks, Wikimedia Commons, and so on. It’s goal is to provide the infrastructure that makes free knowledge available to everyone. There are more than 200,000 Wikimedia editors and contributors. More than [...]
Dr. Jo Boaler is an evangelist. Evangelism comes from a Greek word meaning “bringing the good news.” The good news that she brings is that there is a better way to teach math. Jo started her career as a math teacher in secondary schools in London. Then she received a master’s and Ph.D. in [...]
Time Magazine named Martin Lindstrom one of the “World’s 100 Most Influential People” in 2009. Thinkers50, a ranking of the top business thinkers, has selected Lindstrom three times. Martin has written seven New York Times best-selling books, and The Wall Street Journal called his book Brand Sense, “one of the five best marketing books [...]
Jeff Hawkins founded two mobile computer companies: Palm and Handspring. If you’re not too young, you may have heard of their products: the PalmPilot and the Treo smartphone. Anton Chiang from Cupertino, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons More recently, Jeff founded the Redwood Neuroscience Institute, a scientific organization focused on understanding [...]
Rich Benoit is a remarkably funny guy. He creates content for a YouTube channel called Rich Rebuilds. This features his adventures rebuilding and repairing cars. His automotive saga took off in 2016. At the time Rich “needed” to own a Tesla, but Teslas were $100,000 new and $70,000 used. He was too cheap [...]
A massive update to one of my all-time favorite and formative books, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Dr. Robert Cialdini spurred a return visit to Remarkable People. At the time I recorded, he was the only return guest but then Dr. Jane Goodall snuck in for Earth Month. If you're into marketing, influencers, evangelism, [...]
This episode’s guest is Dr. Katy Milkman. She is a professor of operations, information, and decisions at Wharton. She is also the author of How to Change: The Science of Getting From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be. For those of you who are influence, persuasion, and social psychology fans, this [...]
This episode’s remarkable guest is Mark Manson. Be forewarned, there’s some profanity in this episode because, sometimes, only profanity can fully communicate what a person is saying. Mark is the author of two New York Times best-sellers: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life, and Everything [...]
This episode of remarkable people is particularly remarkable because it was unplanned. On April 14th, 2021, I did a Fireside Chat with Dr. Jane Goodall on a social audio platform. It turned out so well that we decided to make it into a podcast. Jane and I were both on phones as [...]
This episode’s remarkable guest is Paul Theroux--whose name I mispronounce throughout the interview. He is one of the best-known travel writers in the world. The Great Railway Bazaar, a book about his epic railway trip from the UK to Japan and back, is considered a classic in travel writing. You’ve probably also heard of [...]
I’m Guy Kawasaki, and this is Remarkable People. Today’s guest is Nikhil Kamath, the co-founder of India’s largest stock brokerage, Zerodha. For what it’s worth, he’s in his early thirties and a billionaire based on his stake in the company. His “made for movies” story is that he dropped out of high school to [...]
Today's remarkable guest is Brandi Chastain. She represents the highest level of achievement in sports. Her accomplishments are truly remarkable. Brandi won a gold medal in the 1996 Olympics for women's soccer and World Cup championships in 1991 and 1999. She was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame and the Bay Area [...]
Dr. Sheila Nazarian is a plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, California currently transforming lives on Netflix's Skin Decision. She was born in America and then returned to Iran with her family. When the Iranian Revolution occurred, she was smuggled out in a vegetable truck through Pakistan. She attended Columbia University in New York [...]
If you are a parent, you may have given your kids a toy from her company. This week's remarkable person is Melissa Bernstein, she is the Melissa in Melissa and Doug. So you’d naturally think that this is the story of how she started a remarkably successful toy company, and you’d be wrong. If [...]