Talks at Google

Modern Love is a weekly New York Times column, created and edited by Daniel Jones since 2004. As it rose to popularity, it expanded into a podcast, a television show, and a book. In all its forms, Modern Love talks about relationships, feelings, betrayals, and revelations. Daniel Jones joins Google to talk about the anthology, "Modern Love, Revised and Updated: True Stories of Love, Loss, and Rede...

Award-winning author and historian Elizabeth L. Block joins Google to discuss her book, "Beyond Vanity: The History and Power of Hairdressing." She explores the diverse history of women's hair, from the cultural power of hair in 19th century America to the untold stories of business owners and trendsetters. Through her research, we see the places and spaces of hair that allow a new understanding o...

Mandy Len Catron is known for her wildly popular Modern Love essay in the New York Times, "To Fall in Love with Anyone, Do This." She popularized the 36 questions that are said to make people fall in love. Mandy's essay inspired her book of the same name. In the book, "To Fall in Love with Anyone, Do This," Mandy deconstructs her own personal canon of love stories through a series of candid and vu...

Doug Melville discusses his book, "Invisible Generals: Rediscovering Family Legacy, and a Quest to Honor America's First Black Generals." The book takes us on a journey from post-Civil War America to modern-day Europe and Asia, introducing readers to prominent yet hidden heroes, inspired by Doug's own story.  In 2011, Doug was thrilled to be invited to an advanced screening of George Lucas' "Red T...

Award-winning wine expert Karen MacNeil discusses her book, "The Wine Bible: 3rd Edition," which offers the ultimate education in wine with expanded content. Karen MacNeil is the only American to have won every major wine award given in the English language. TIME magazine has called her, "America's Missionary of the Vine." She is the author of the award-winning book, The Wine Bible, the only best...

Chances are, you've tried – and maybe succeeded – at the Rubik's Cube. Patented in 1975, the Rubik's Cube then made its international debut in 1980 at the New York Toy Fair, and quickly became the best-selling toy in history. But you may not know that Erno Rubik also patented many other successful toys and designs, including the Magic Snake and Rubik's Magic. His book "Cubed – The Puzzle of Us All...

Are you drowning in information overload? Do you disappear down a rabbit hole of social media just when you need to focus? Productivity expert Graham Allcott can help. Graham Allcott is the founder of Think Productive, author of 5 books, and the host of podcast "Beyond Busy." In this conversation, he talks about how to be a productivity ninja: how to work smarter, manage projects with confidence,...

When we let fear of other people's opinions take control, we play it safe and small because we're afraid of what will happen on the other side of critique. But what if the key to leading a high-performance life is to redirect our attention from the outside world to the world inside us? Dr. Michael Gervais discusses his book, The First Rule Of Mastery: Stop Worrying About What People Think Of You ....

We've all – hopefully – experienced what it's like to fall into a sense of flow. It's when everything happens easily. You have a natural sense of meaning and purpose without having to think or worry about it very much at all. But for some of us, that's harder to come by. That's where Arjuna Ardagh comes in. Arjuna is the founder of Awakening Coaching, where he's coached leaders for over 35 years a...

Ravi Bapna and Anindya Ghose visit Google to discuss their book "Thrive: Maximizing Well-Being in the Age of AI" - the book explores how AI can positively impact many aspects of our daily lives, from health and wellness to work, education, and home life. Artificial intelligence is a powerful general-purpose technology that is reshaping the modern economy, but misperceptions about AI stand in the w...

Erin Weed is the founder of Girls Fight Back, a women's safety education company. After teaching live self-defense seminars to over 1 million people worldwide, she sold Girls Fight Back in 2013. Since then, she has been working as a speaker, author, and communication strategist who helps people seek their purpose and speak their truth. Today, we'll hear her Talk at TEDxBoulder about how to connect...

Dr. Peter Attia visits Google to discuss his book "Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity." The book is a guide to living better and longer, and reveals a new approach to preventing chronic disease and extending long-term health.   For all its successes, mainstream medicine has failed to make much progress against the diseases of aging that kill most people: heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's d...

As the author of "The Rise of Superman" and co-founder of the Flow Genome Project, Steven Kotler is one of the world's leading experts on ultimate human performance. In this Talk, he provides a tour of the current research focusing on "flow states", or an optimal state of consciousness where we both feel our best and perform our best.  Researchers now know that flow sits at the heart of almost eve...

Masatoshi Ohno and Jérôme Guth visit Google to discuss how team sports fosters a sense of belonging, appreciation, and resilience. Masatoshi 'Mar' Ohno is a 3-time Japan Pro Surfing Association Grand Champion surfer who has made significant contributions to the Japanese surf industry. He holds the record for most consecutive wins in a single year, with 7 Golds in 2013. Mar has also been instrument...

Jump start your new year with a dynamic, action-oriented, inspirational conversation with Mike Steib, who is now CEO of XO Group, now known as The Knot Worldwide.  During his time at Google, Mike created the "Career Manifesto" Google doc for his team.  This doc quickly went viral, inspiring many Googlers and young professionals beyond Google's walls.  In this podcast, Mike brings the Career Manife...

The cast & creatives from the Tony Award winning musical "The Outsiders" join us to perform a song and discuss the beloved story that defined a generation, reimagined as a groundbreaking new musical. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1967, Ponyboy Curtis, his best friend Johnny Cade, and their greaser family of 'Outsiders' battle with their affluent rivals, the Socs. "The Outsiders" navigates the complexities o...

David DeSteno visits Google to discuss his book "Emotional Success: The Power of Gratitude, Compassion, and Pride." Grit, the ability to persevere against all odds, is often recognized as the key to success. But how can grit be cultivated and sustained? In this book, David DeSteno reveals that the most powerful tools we can draw upon to achieve our toughest goals are not willpower or self-denial,...

Award winning author of 12 cookbooks Rose Levy Beranbaum visits Google to discuss her hugely influential cookbook "The Cake Bible, 35th Anniversary Edition." This updated edition contains recipes for both classic and innovative cakes, plus complementary adornments of all types, instructions for making stunning decorations, and flavor variations for every craving and occasion. The original "Cake Bi...

Tony Hsieh visits Google to discuss his book "Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose." Back in 1999, Tony Hsieh sold LinkExchange, the company he co-founded, to Microsoft for $265 million. He then joined Zappos as an adviser and investor, and eventually became CEO. In 2009, Zappos was listed as one of Fortune magazine's top 25 companies to work for, and was acquired by Amazo...

Dr. Tony Nader visits Google to discuss his book "Consciousness Is All There Is: How Understanding and Experiencing Consciousness Will Transform Your Life."  Dr. Nader offers a direct path to peace for ourselves and our world that anyone can obtain—simply by delving into our own Consciousness. He provides the methods, tools, and guidance for connecting with our authentic inner nature and understan...

Alton Brown visits Google to discuss his book "Good Eats 3: The Later Years". The book offers foodies more than 200 recipes accompanied by hundreds of photographs, drawings, and stills from his hit Food Network show "Good Eats", as well as lots of science-of-food facts, cooking tips, food trivia, and behind-the-scenes glimpses. In chapters devoted to everything from pomegranates to pretzels, mince...

Joanna "JoJo" Levesque visits Google to discuss her book "Over the Influence: A Memoir." Signed to a major recording deal at just 12 years old, JoJo catapulted to the top of the pop-and-R&B-infused charts in the mid 2000s. JoJo was an undeniable superstar and pop culture fixture, appearing in major studio films, on Top 40 radio, magazine covers, and national TV. Then, out of the blue, everything c...

James Franco visits Google to discuss writing, directing, producing and starring in his film "The Disaster Artist." The movie is based on Greg Sestero's best-selling tell-all book about the making of Tommy Wiseau's cult-classic disasterpiece The Room, often referred to as "The Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made". In the film, Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero become friends after meeting each other in an ac...

Award-winning author Maggie Jackson joins us to discuss her latest book "Uncertain: The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure." In an era of terrifying unpredictability, the swift, sure answer often seems right. We race to address precarity and complexity with neat algorithms, crisp bullet points, or hurried tweets. Who has time to dally in the wilderness of being unsure? How could we find the clarity...

In "Sleep Smarter", Shawn Stevenson shares easy tips and tricks to discover the best sleep and best health of your life. When it comes to health, there is often one criminally overlooked element: sleep. Good sleep helps you lose weight, stave off disease, stay productive, and improve virtually every function of your mind and body. That's what Shawn Stevenson learned when a degenerative bone diseas...