Backstage w/ Matt Stone

Seventy-three days until summer, 34 degrees overnight (still freezing), but by Monday it’s hitting the 70s and 80s for good—so get ready for Matt complaining about the heat. After sharing trivia about King Henry I getting reprimanded for long hair (1105), LaSalle claiming Louisiana for France (1682), and Jumbo the circus elephant arriving in the U.S. (1882), he dives into yesterday’s 7:30 AM netwo...

Seventy-six days until summer, beautiful sunny day, though Wednesday night’s dropping below freezing one last time before hitting the 80s next week. After sharing trivia about Brigham Young marrying his 27th and last wife (1868—quite a responsibility) and Jimmy Dewar inventing the Twinkie (1930), Matt reflects on last week’s trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma—his first time in the state. He flew down to work...

Eighty-three days until summer, heading into the 70s today (upper 80s in Oklahoma where he’s flying tomorrow), and Matt’s making it quick before a client meeting. After sharing trivia about Washington proclaiming the boundary of the new capital city (1791) and Jeopardy’s TV debut (1964—didn’t realize it was that old), he reflects on a weekend that was productive but exhausting. Saturday hit the gy...

Title: Being the Best Dance Partner (So the Other Person Shines) Subtitle: On service over self-interest, curating stories that help people, and why good feedback makes you better Description: Eighty-six days until summer, high of 67 today (19 Celsius for everyone else), and Matt’s squeezing out as much spring as possible. After sharing trivia about the urinal patent (1866), the corkscrew patent (...

Eighty-seven days until summer, 73 degrees today (23 Celsius for the global crowd), and Matt’s feeling it. After sharing trivia about the UN Security Council’s first meeting in NYC (1946) and Jonas Salk announcing the polio vaccine (1953—though we’re apparently bringing back measles now), he touches on the absurdity of TSA chaos for his Tulsa trip next week before diving into what’s really on his...

Eighty-eight days until summer (a lucky number), and Matt’s cruising through March with his first live LinkedIn show launching in less than an hour— What’s the Point? with co-host Kait LeDonne. After sharing trivia about the first public pancake-making demonstration in NYC (1882—who knew?) and the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire (1911), he reflects on last night’s mergers and acquisitions...

Thirty-two degrees when he woke up, heading to a ‘toasty’ 47 later, and Matt’s back after missing Monday—just off to the races. After sharing trivia about the NYC subway groundbreaking in 1900 (you can feel those 126 years) and someone surviving an 18,000-foot fall from a plane in 1944 (no parachute?), he dives into evolution and what’s changing with the show. The five-day-a-week frequency is gett...

First day of spring (though at 41 degrees you wouldn’t know it), and Matt’s reflecting on cherry blossoms in Japan—his first season in 1999 when he finally got the mysticism of that dramatic pink against dark bark. But here’s the thing: everyone builds them up all year, then they arrive and they’re over in a second. Like Christmas when you’re a kid. The moments we live for are merely moments—the r...

One day until spring, and New York is celebrating with freezing temperatures—aspirational at best. After sharing trivia about a $245,000 Citibank heist in 1831 (millions in today’s money), the first televised Academy Awards (1953), and Nicolae Ceaușescu becoming head of Romania’s Communist Party (1965—before his brutal fall), Matt dives into what’s on his mind today. He’s planning a new live show...

Two days until spring, and Matt’s back after missing more days—the sheer volume of activity is almost unmanageable, but it’s all good. After sharing trivia about the first telephone call between London and the continent (1891) and Gandhi’s six-year sentence for civil disobedience (1922), he dives into what happens when things finally align. The energy shift is incredible. New clients rolling in, s...

Four days until spring, rainy and cold, and Matt’s back after missing Thursday and Friday last week—conflicts got in the way, and sometimes it just doesn’t happen. After sharing trivia about The Scarlet Letter being published (1850) and Barnum and Bailey Circus debuting in NYC (1881), he dives into what’s been on his mind: the feeling of not doing enough . Not “I’m not enough,” but “there’s just s...

Nine days until spring, mid-70s in NYC, and Matt’s headed to Times Square to record with a client—his diamond for the day, the rest is gravy. (Yes, diamonds and gravy don’t mix, but roll with it.) After sharing trivia about the first public baseball game in Springfield, Massachusetts (1892) and Levi Strauss selling bell-bottom jeans in 1969 (were those really cool?), he dives into what’s shifted s...

Ten days until spring, 72 degrees, and Matt’s running late because the morning was a barn burner of activity and connection—something has really shifted. After dropping trivia about the first U.S. paper currency (1862) and Alexander Graham Bell’s first telephone call (”Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you”), he dives into what changed. Last week brought an epic battle in his spirit—that force...

Eleven days until spring, 70 degrees, and Matt took a longer walk along the Hudson with the sun in his eyes—naturally waking up the brain without as much coffee. He missed Friday’s episode because Friday was a mindset battle day, the kind where you’re crossing the Rubicon to a place you’ve never gone before. Uncomfortable, scary, but necessary. He emerged this weekend with newfound confidence and...

Fourteen days until spring—exactly two weeks—and heavy rain is washing away the snow piles (and the unsavory animal byproducts left behind). After sharing trivia about the Boston Massacre (1770) and the hula hoop patent (1963—seriously, a patent for a circle?), Matt dives into day two of executing his new business development plan. Yesterday he knocked out all targets and then some, and having a c...

Fifteen days until spring, and Matt’s new barometer is a melting snow pig outside a Cuban restaurant—the ears are almost gone now. After sharing FDR’s “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself” quote from 1933 (apropos while reading about the lead-up to the Great Depression) and the wild fact that a nuclear power plant started operating in Antarctica in 1962, he dives into what happened yeste...

Sixteen days until spring, and Matt’s feeling pretty good after his morning walk around the neighborhood—less urgent need for coffee when you wake up the brain first. After sharing some U.S. history trivia (first foreign aid bill in 1812, Missouri Compromise in 1820), he gets into what’s on his mind: a client who agreed to work together, set a date, then went silent. Matt blocked off his morning,...

Welcome to March 2nd—somehow it feels like December was two minutes ago, but here we are with 17 days until spring. Matt’s two days into a new tradition (which is, as he jokes, a very long time): morning walks before doing anything else. Just 10-20 minutes outside, slowly sipping coffee instead of chugging it, feeling more awake from a little sunlight and movement. After years in Tokyo where 10,00...

Twenty days until spring, snow still in the forecast, and Matt’s counting down relentlessly without apology. After some trivia about the first Mardi Gras in New Orleans (1827) and 16-year-old Tiger Woods teeing off in 1992 (a reminder of how fast time moves), he shares what finally clicked this week. After a brutal anxiety-filled night during the blizzard — the kind that takes you from a 9 out of...

Three weeks until spring, the snow is struggling to hold on, and Matt’s reflecting on Michael Jackson’s Thriller hitting #1 on this day in 1983—a time when everybody listened to the same thing and had a common reference point. But today’s real topic hits closer to home: he’s been doing intermittent fasting for a week, and the scale hasn’t budged. Not even a little. Between cortisol from stress, 12...

It’s Wednesday, February 25th, snow piles are blocking half of Hoboken, and Matt’s about to deliver a global masterclass that didn’t exist a few weeks ago. After some trivia about George Washington’s first cabinet meeting (1793) and the first railroad tunnel under the Hudson River (1908), he shares what happened when he realized his old presentation materials wouldn’t work for his new venture. He...

Three weeks until spring, snow piles everywhere, and Matt’s running late because he just had a powerful meeting with a colleague he meets weekly. Midway through their conversation, the colleague told a story Matt had heard months ago—but this time, because they’ve built real depth, Matt heard it completely differently. He dove deeper instead of stopping him, and the story revealed new meaning. Tha...

New Jersey just declared its first state of emergency for a blizzard in 30 years, snow is driving sideways, and Matt’s grateful for power, food, and the plow operators working nonstop. After some Tootsie Roll trivia (debuted 1896), he gets real: he’s in that familiar phase where the new venture has started, but self-doubt hits hard—especially at 3 AM. Living with near-term financial uncertainty hi...

It’s raining again, the last ounces of snow are clinging on for dear life, and Matt missed yesterday’s episode because the day got completely out of hand. After some space-themed trivia—Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake premiered in 1877, John Glenn orbited Earth in 1962, and the USSR launched the Mir Space Station in 1986—he settles into what’s really on his mind as we knock on March’s door: the emotional...

It’s raining in the Northeast for the first time this season, and while Matt’s wife is less than thrilled, the Oregonian in him finds it oddly comforting. After dropping some trivia about the Statue of Liberty’s design patent (1879) and the first coiled postage stamps (1908), he dives into an idea that’s been brewing: the Studio Creator Experience. Picture this — business owners gathering at a NYC...