Big Questions with Cal Fussman

Quite a few people have recently told Cal how the Thanksgiving table has somehow changed since we were locked in by the pandemic. But air travel has returned to a high level during this holiday season. Cal's conversation with Avery and Brian Baker reveals that the table has always been transforming over time. People who shape the holiday for decades pass on, leaving empty seats at the table. But B...

How do you know if your good idea is a good idea? What's the secret sauce behind turning a good idea into an innovative company? Why are roughly only 10 percent of startups successful? Furst, a beloved Professor and director of the Center for Deliberate Innovation at George Tech, has answers that we can all apply to the way we think about innovation. He's founded companies and his book, The Heart...

Cal's old pal has written a new book: The First Rule of Mastery: Stop Worry About What People Think of You. And he shows Cal how to stop wasting time doing just that. But that's not all. The psychologist for Super Bowl and Olympic champions tells Cal to triple down on visualizing a successful future, and teaches him exercises to achieve what he visualizes. Great anecdotes on self-awareness, clarit...

There were many company leaders tasked with holding together the people who worked for them during the pandemic. But who was there to support them? There's a lot of loneliness at the top. Cal talks with the son and father combo, Adam and Andy McGraw, about the company they started to help executives from different companies support each other through authentic connection. The company is called Cre...

When Cal finds himself dwelling on the past in a world filled with conflicts, he gets an unexpected phone call and advice from his friend, Dr. Shlain: Reduce the past to its essence, keep your feet in the present moment and put your mind 90 percent in the future – all at the same time. No need for psychedelics, here. It's as simple as: If you can see far, you can think far. This mind-bending tacti...

The Hamas attack on Israel was like nothing anyone in that country had ever seen and it took the world to a new and very tense place. Cal was set to talk with the comedian Paul Ollinger as news of the barbarity of the attack broke, and their conversation veered toward the few days in history that are never forgotten -- and the unexpected ways they can impact us going forward.

Philip Shucet, a Big Questions listener, took the equivalent of a selfie on ChatGPT when he asked the artificial intelligence model to tell him who he is. ChatGPT offered a very different description of Philip Shucet than he would of himself – even though Philip is apparently the only one in the world by that name. Philip tried to correct the errant information produced by ChatGPT, -- which didn't...

Last year, the author of Never Binge Again helped listeners of Big Questions enjoy Thanksgiving a little more by showing us how to eat less. This year he has a strategy to diminish sugar intake on Halloween. The average American consumes the equivalent of 144 teaspoons of sugar on October 31 st. Dr. Livingston helped his own mother turn Halloween into Hallowean. And he can do the same for all of u...

Cal speaks with the man who founded Paul Mitchell hair care products after borrowing $700 while living out of his car, which led to his founding of the tequila company Patron. This episode is all about the wisdom the soon to be 80-year-old accumulated along the way – which we can all put to great use. Please, get the most out of it.

Cal talks with Sarah Dusek about how she went from food stamps to creating and selling a $100-million company. Sarah gives step-by-step advice that can help anybody turn the right idea into a fortune. Use it well!

We're taught from birth to measure wealth in currency, but Joe Huff and Bridget Hilton have created one of the largest surveys on life experiences ever done. And their research shows that the number one regret of the dying isn't about money, it's about the experiences people wished they'd had – but never did. Bridget and Joe have written a book called Experiential Billionaire that includes tools t...

Cal replays the conversation with a man who was working on the 81 st floor of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 when the hijacked planes hit. Michael Wright describes how he survived when he reached the ground and one of the towers fell on his head. We should remember, so that we never forget. Please pass this episode on to anyone you know who might like to hear it. It will be relevant...

The world of sports is about being the best you can be. Award-winning sportswriter Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post has compiled wisdom from the courts and fields into a book titled The Right Call. We can bring so many of the tactics that elevate athletes and coaches into our own work and personal lives. This episode is a walking treasure trove . . .

After watching the latest Mission Impossible movie, Cal remembers an interview he did with Tom for Esquire Magazine. A snippet from that interview was turned into a video, and it's played on this week's episode. You get a glimpse of Tom's difficult childhood, and see how the solutions he found were seeds to take control of his career and live out the passions of his youth. There's a lesson in this...

Anyone who's ever had a medical problem knows how good it feels to talk to somebody who's successfully gone through the same treatment. Patient Partner gives everybody the chance to have someone to lean on. Mentors are all vetted. It's highly confidential. Great friendships are formed. And it's free! This is a service that shouldn't be passed up. Simply listening to this episode will give you good...

The author of Energize: Make The Most Out Of Every Moment, shows Cal how to get energy from the way you approach your job, exercise, food, sunlight, the design of the bedroom, and many other factors that we might overlook. Simply listening to this conversation will lift your energy level.

Last year, the editor in chief of Entrepreneur Magazine released a book that is an action plan for embracing change and future proofing your career. This book takes on exponential meaning with the emergence of artificial intelligence. Jason, one of the world's great optimists, allays fears that the public has about A.I. by pointing out panicked reactions to great innovations in the past that we no...

When Cal first met the comedian, he was starting out as Irish Dave. Now, the author of  Do You Talk Funny ? is packing comedy clubs under his legal name, David Nihill, and identifying with Mexicans. It's a long story that will make you laugh. The bottom line is: Everybody would love to be funnier. On this episode, Dave will show you how.

Cal catches up with the Stanford lecturer who's spent a lifetime showing people how to think faster and speak better in public. It all started when Matt embarrassed himself by ripping his pants doing a karate speech in high school. He has since developed decades of tips to help you whether you're making a business presentation or giving a wedding toast. Listen up. This episode is a burst of confid...

When Cal found out that Amy had read 30,000 personal stories written by people about finding happiness, he figured she would have detected some patterns. She sure has. The publisher and editor-in-chief of Chicken Soup for the Soul gives Cal 10 tips that will make your day happier. Guaranteed to make you smile!

More than 6,000 Americans and friends of America have been rescued in dangerous spots in Afghanistan, Ukraine and Sudan over the last two years by Bryan and Project Dynamo – a non-profit organization funded by private donations. Bryan has gotten Americans out of jails and some terrible spots in ways that would normally appear in spy thrillers. In this episode, we hear the story of twin American ba...

Michael has sold more than a million copies of his book: The Coaching Habit. And now he's releasing one called: How To Work With (Almost) Anyone. Both topics come up in Cal's freewheeling conversation with the Rhodes Scholar which reminds Cal of the back-and-forth at Larry King's breakfast table.

We all have childhood dreams. Many of them elude us as we age and take more practical roads in life. This episode focuses on Mario Garcia's decision in his early fifties to go all in on his childhood dream: making a movie. It's called: The Throwback, and stars Will Sasso from Curb Your Enthusiasm. Mario wrote the script, fundraised, directed the film, and produced it. It got a standing ovation whe...

That's a nice and soft way to title an episode with the author who wrote the book STFU. That's short for: Shut The F--- Up. The Power Of Keeping Your Mouth Shut In An Endlessly Noisy World. Dan gives tips on how to listen more and get the most out of conversations. He explains that people who have the most meaningful conversations tend to be happier. And if you know someone who can't stop talking,...

This podcast has implications for all who work. It's important to know how "workquakes" ​ ​ are coming into our lives more and more frequently, pushing us to change jobs and even ​ ​ head for new professions. Feiler, author of the book: The Search, Meaningful Work In A Post-Career World, tells us how we can expect a "workquake" every two and a half years, and what this is doing to the very definit...