Attribution with Bob McKinnon

Darryl McDaniels is one of the founding members of the legendary hip hop group Run DMC. He is also the author of two memoirs, a line of comic books and a recent children's book, Darryl's Dream. This was an fascinating conversation that touched on many of the struggles that Darryl has faced during his incredible journey.  This episode contains descriptions of suicidal ideation, alcoholism and depre...

The Reverend Dr. Esau McCaulley is an assistant professor of New Testament at Wheaton College and author of Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope. He is also a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times, where I came across his essay titled:  "I Grew Up Poor. How Am I Supposed to Raise My Middle-Class Kids?"  This was a moving and provocative...

Alissa Quart is Executive director of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project. She is the author of five books of nonfiction, including Squeezed: Why Our Families Can't Afford America, and the forthcoming Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream  Alissa also writes for the Guardian, the Washington Post, and the New York Times among others.  It was a great conversation about the s...

Leidy Klotz is a professor of the University of Virginia who studies how we transform things from how they are to how we want them to be. He has written for The Washington Post, Fast Company, The Globe and Mail, and The Behavioral Scientist. We discussed his latest book, Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less and its many implications both on our personal happiness and as a tool for social change....

This Bonus Episode of Attribution, 'A Tale of Two Teachers', was originally broadcast as a WLIW-FM special program and a part of Chasing the Dream: Poverty, Justice and Opportunity in America, a public media reporting initiative from The WNET Group.   Bob McKinnon, host of the podcast Attribution, talks with two married Long Island teachers. They share their extraordinary experiences teaching in d...

Maria Konnikova is a New York Times best-selling author, journalist, and professional poker player. Her latest book, The Biggest Bluff , is now out in paperback.  It was a fun and fascinating conversation exploring the balance of skill and chance in life. Among the many stories shared was how a chance encounter with a single line in a story she wrote led to my own forthcoming children's book, Thre...

Natasha Trethewey is a two-time U.S. Poet Laureate and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for her book of poems, Native Guard. Her latest book is Memorial Drive; A Daughter's Memoir. It was a moving and deeply personal conversation. We talked about the debt we both owe to our mothers and how we examine and reconcile our complicated personal and national histories. Links to learn more about: Natasha Tret...

Richard Reeves is a senior fellow at the Brooking Institution whose research focuses on the middle class, inequality and social mobility. His latest book is Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Middle Class Is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That Is a Problem, and What to Do about It. Our conversation really challenges us all to reconsider our own American Dream story and more importantly...

Aaron Sanchez is an award-winning chef, TV personality, author and philanthropist. He is chef/owner of Johnny Sánchez in New Orleans, and a judge on FOX's hit culinary competition series MasterChef and MasterChef Junior. For the many "famous" roles he plays, it was our discussion about the more essential ones of being fathers, sons, grandsons and friends that rang most true. Links to learn more ab...

Nick Kristof is a self-described "Oregon farm boy turned New York Times columnist."   We discussed his latest book, Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope . Written with his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, it explores why some people, including many childhood friends from his #6 school bus, have dramatically different life outcomes than others. It was a deeply honest and personal conversation about our frien...

Paul Solman is the business, economics and occasional art correspondent for the PBS NewsHour. Paul is also co-founder of the American Exchange Project. Our conversation was recorded as part of an event held by the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at City College, where I also teach. It was a fascinating discussion about the historical challenges in achieving and reporting on eco...

Musician/producer/songwriter, Jonnie "Most" Davis had his first number one hit at the age of 24. Since then he's worked with artists such as Roger Daltry, Mary J. Blige, Biggie Smalls, Outkast, Usher, American Authors, and Pink. All toll he has 25 Gold and Platinum records to his credit. But in this conversation, you'll hear that he doesn't define success by the Billboard charts and that the peopl...

In this wide ranging conversation, the author and entrepreneur Bobby Jones talks about business, culture, sports - and the role each plays in making the world a bit better. In sharing his own journey growing up in Washington DC, Bobby talks about the importance of just "showing up for each other", seeing examples of successful people who look like you in your neighborhoods and asking ourselves to...

Rachel Botsman is a leading expert and author on trust in the modern world. As the first Trust Fellow at Oxford University's Saïd Business School, she aims to challenge and change the way people think about trust and related topics such as power, influence, truth and beliefs. In her conversation with Bob, they talk about the underappreciated but fundamental role trust plays in where we end up in l...

Rachel Ruttan's research is ripe with counterintuitive findings, such as, how past experience overcoming a struggle can actually make us less compassionate to people currently experiencing the same challenge. Or how the pursuit of money can make us feel worse about ourselves. Going behind her fascinating research, listen to how Rachel's own journey out of poverty informs her work. Rachel Ruttan is...

To give you a taste of Shai Davidai's work, here is a sampling of how the media has featured his research: "How much of a role does luck play in our success or failure?"  The Guardian ; "To tackle inequality, remember the advantages you've had"; The New York Times; and "Why is my life so hard?" from Freakonomics radio. In this conversation, we'll cover a lot of ground from his fascinating and prol...

Why do some people make it, while others don't? How do the facts of our lives differ from our perception of it? And how does our psychology shape how we view ourselves and others?  Attribution is, where people from all walks of life, reflect on who and what has contributed to where they ended up. Our hope is after each episode, you feel a little more inspired, grateful, or supported, than when you...