Adam Curry was one of the VJs (video jockeys) of MTV back in the 1980s. In this position, he “interviewed” some of the most popular musicians of the time including Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney. Adam is an early adopter and pioneer because he embraced the web and podcasting long before other people. He [...]
Jon M. Chu is a film and television director, producer, and screenwriter. He may be best known for directing Crazy Rich Asians and In the Heights. If you want to get the most out of this episode, go watch them first. Not that Jon would keep score this way, but his films have grossed [...]
I think Mark Schulman is a rockstar-- literally a rockstar. But he modestly explains that he works in service to rockstars such as P!nk. The apocryphal story is that Mark saw Ringo Starr when Mark was three, and that set him on the path of professional music. He played cello as a kid and [...]
Erica Dhawan is a digital collaboration and communication maven. This means she helps people build connections and trust even if their interaction is via email, texts, and virtual meetings. Her latest book is called Digital Body Language: How to Build Trust and Communication No Matter the Distance. She has an MPA from Harvard Kennedy [...]
Cody Keenan was President Barack Obama’s director of speechwriting from 2013 to 2016. He has a degree in political science from Northwestern University. After graduation, he worked as an unpaid intern in Ted Kennedy’s office. Then he got a master’s in public policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. In 2008, he [...]
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 [...]