3 Takeaways™

Everyone knows where the last generation of great technology companies came from. The more interesting question is where the next generation will. Mehran Gul spent years studying the world's most successful innovation hubs to understand why some places repeatedly create breakthrough companies while others never quite do. He shares surprising insights about China's rise, Silicon Valley&ap...

Dr. Robert Cialdini, author of Influence - 5 million copies sold, and one of the most important books Warren Buffett says he's ever read - has spent decades studying why people say yes.  He reveals the psychological forces shaping our decisions, why tiny changes can dramatically influence outcomes, and how the most effective communicators get people to yes without anyone feeling pushed.  Once...

Most people think healthcare is broken by accident. Mark Cuban says it isn't. In part two of our conversation, he explains the hidden companies who really control healthcare, where AI is headed, and the biggest opportunities most people are missing. He also shares the advice he gives young people, the three “superpowers” he believes matter more than talent, network, or money, and the one ques...

The NBA thought it was selling basketball. Mark Cuban thought it was selling something else. That insight shaped how he has built companies, evaluated opportunities, and challenged entire industries. The lesson starts with basketball. It ends somewhere much bigger.  He also shares the skill he values most in entrepreneurs, and how AI is changing the way ambitious people learn.

What if those brief conversations - with a barista, a neighbor, or someone sitting next to us - matter far more than we realize? Gillian Sandstrom, a University of Sussex psychologist and author of Once Upon a Stranger, explores why we're so reluctant to talk to people we don't know, what happens when we do, and how seemingly small interactions can add up to a richer, happier, and more c...

The wind stops blowing. The sun goes down. What happens next? Former U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz explains why the transition to clean energy may be far more complicated than most people realize. In one of the most clear-eyed conversations about our energy future, Moniz pulls back the curtain on what it will actually take to build energy that is clean, reliable, and affordable - and why s...

We think of North Korea as a communist dictatorship. But Jonathan Cheng, the Wall Street Journal’s China Bureau Chief and former Korea Bureau Chief, says that misses the real story. He argues North Korea functions more like a religion -  complete with rituals, worship, and a ruling family treated like immortals. Once you hear it, you can’t unsee it. His new book is Korean Messiah. 

When people think about war, they picture missiles and mushroom clouds. But what if the greatest threats today are the ones most people never see coming? Christine Wormuth, former U.S. Secretary of the Army and current leader of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, explains why some of today’s biggest dangers are quieter, harder to detect, and easier to unleash than most people realize.

Most people see the world as the U.S. vs. China. But the real power shift is happening elsewhere. Richard Fontaine, CEO of the Center for a New American Security and a former senior advisor at the National Security Council and the U.S. State Department, shows which countries are quietly shaping the next world order - and why the biggest power shifts are happening far from the spotlight.

Inflation, interest rates, AI, tariffs, the dollar… Most people treat them as separate stories but actually, they’re not. Former Council of Economic Advisers Chair Jason Furman explains how these forces are all connected - and why most people are missing the bigger picture. What’s really driving inflation, why the dollar’s power may be slipping, and why the biggest risk isn’t what most people are...

“We trained a whole country.” It sounds like an exaggeration. It’s not - according to Patrick McGee, author of Apple in China. So what actually happened in China?

Dr. Tom Mihaljevic, CEO of Cleveland Clinic and a leading heart surgeon, explains how medicine is already changing in ways most people don’t see. He has spent his career performing complex heart surgeries and now leads one of the world’s top hospitals. A conversation about what’s changing in care and what it means for patients right now.

Iran briefly showed it could choke off a waterway carrying nearly a fifth of the world’s oil. That’s the visible threat. The real risk may be something else entirely. Former Deputy National Security Advisor and U.S. Special Representative to Iran Elliott Abrams breaks down where Iran's strategy backfired, whether those in power in Tehran can hold on, and why the most dangerous consequence cou...

We’re entering a world where life itself could become programmable. What if creating new forms of life becomes as simple as writing code?  Geneticist Adrian Woolfson explains how close we are — and why the consequences could be extraordinary. -------------------------- Exciting news! We’ve been nominated for a Webby Award—one of the top honors in podcasts.   If you enjoy the show, you can vote for...

Is the war with Iran actually a turning point for the Middle East? Dan Kurtzer - former U.S. Ambassador to Israel and Egypt, advisor to presidents, peace negotiator and Princeton professor - has seen these moments up close, when expectations surge - and the outcome looks nothing like the promise. His unfiltered take on Iran - and what actually changes after a war like this. -----------------------...

Love him or hate him, Elon Musk has upended entire industries - from cars to rockets - by doing things differently. Jon McNeill, former president of Tesla, reveals the thinking behind Tesla and SpaceX that drives radical innovation - and shows how anyone can apply it. He also offers a rare glimpse into how Elon Musk operates close up.  -------------------------- Exciting news! We’ve been nominated...

A few paragraphs from Washington once stopped oil tankers in their tracks halfway around the world - no navy, no missiles.  Eddie Fishman, who helped design and implement U.S. sanctions and economic warfare policies, explains how these quiet battles shape global power.  If countries can inflict real damage without firing a shot, what does power look like in this new kind of war - and how vulnerabl...

Scientists are finding tiny fragments of plastic inside the human body - including the brain. Dr. Matthew Campen of the University of New Mexico explains how they get there - and why the biggest source may surprise you.

The government feels louder and faster than ever: executive actions, constant disruption, everything happening at once.  But Yuval Levin of the American Enterprise Institute argues that all this motion may be masking something deeper. He explains why durable change comes from laws passed by Congress - not one-off deals- and why the shift from rule-making to deal-making could shape the future in un...

The rules of quantum physics aren’t just strange - they’re usable. Particles can exist in multiple states at once. Observation can reshape reality.  Now, scientists are turning those quirks into machines that could solve problems today’s computers simply can’t touch. Princeton Engineering Dean Andrew Houck breaks down what quantum computing really is, what it can (and can’t yet) do, and why it cou...

The Constitution isn’t just a statement of ideals. It’s a framework for power - built to divide authority so that no single institution can fully control the law. But that design has a consequence: it slows decisions and complicates action. Is that inefficiency a weakness - or the very mechanism that protects liberty? Drawing on his experience at the center of federal rule-making, Harvard Law Scho...

We all love the thrill of winning - the house, the promotion, the deal. But as Nobel laureate Richard Thaler explains, some of our biggest “wins” are actually the moments we set ourselves up to lose. Thaler breaks down why we overbid, overpay, and talk ourselves into choices we regret. And he shares simple tricks to help you catch yourself before you make a mistake you can’t undo.

The American Dream promises that hard work leads to a better life. But for many children today, that promise depends less on effort and more on where they grow up. Raj Chetty, a Harvard professor and the founder of Opportunity Insights, has spent years following millions of lives to understand what truly drives economic mobility. His findings challenge long-held assumptions about opportunity in Am...

Federal Judge Jed Rakoff has spent decades inside the justice system - as a prosecutor, a defense attorney, and now a judge. In this conversation, he challenges how we think justice works and explains why outcomes often have little to do with guilt or innocence.

We think laughter is a response to something funny. A joke. A punchline. A light moment. But listen closely to real conversations, and laughter shows up in places that are far more important than we realize - and often when nothing is funny at all. Neuroscientist Sophie Scott CBE reveals what laughter really signals, how it works, and why it quietly shapes our relationships, our hierarchies, and o...