Big Questions with Cal Fussman

Patrick tells Cal how the phrase came about after he noticed so many young people trying to fit as much into their lives as possible after 9/11 and the tech bubble meltdown in the stock market in the early years of the century. The conversation moves on to consider how society will react after the coronavirus pandemic subsides. You can't hear a conversation like this anywhere else.  

The world is going to be a different place after the coronavirus epidemic. Cal talks with the geopolitical futurist about changes that we will likely see. Jamie has been appointed to the World Health Organization expert advisory committee on developing global standards for the oversight of human genome editing. He's served in the U.S. National Security Council, the State Department, the Senate For...

Cal sits with the National Poetry Slam champion and multi-platinum award winning song writer to talk about the process of creative writing. With much of the world on lockdown, it's a good time to reboot, and writing a poem could be a great way to start. The creative process is revealed in a way that will get you to think about your own – whether it's to write a note to a loved one or to refigure a...

Cal sits down for a bowl of pasta while on lockdown in Los Angeles with Chris Schembra who's on lockdown in New York. Chris is an award-winning Broadway producer who is most proud of starting a series of pasta dinners to bring people together and show them the power of gratitude. Chris has the secret sauce to connection because he's brought more than 400,000 people together over the last five year...

Cal talks with the founder and co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul franchise, which has sold half a billion books over the years -- Mark Victor Hansen. Mark and his wife, Crystal Dwyer Hansen, have a book coming out in April called ASK, which is a significant topic in the midst of the coronavirus. Hundreds of thousands of people are going to have their business lives interrupted, and Cal a...

As news of the coronavirus spreads, Cal looks for a way to put it all in perspective with Michael O'Brien, an executive coach who teaches us how to neutralize bad moments and keep them from spiraling into bad days. That coaching career came about after Michael was riding a bicycle one morning 19 years ago, and was hit straight on by an SUV moving at 40 miles an hour. Many, many operations followed...

Cal reaches out to Harvard grad, science writer and great-grandmother of 12 to get advice on how to respond to the coronavirus. Aunt Mitzi has interviewed hundreds of experts in healthcare over her career and has connections throughout Asia. She's completely up to date on the crisis, and she counsels listeners of Big Questions as if they're her own great-grandkids. Great advice on washing hands, s...

Cal and his old pal talk about unique ways to think about self-improvement that call us to step aside and try something new to add to our existing skill levels. The conversation questions whether you can get more out of yourself by spending 10,000 hours doing different things as opposed to mastering one thing over the same time period. The back and forth will make everyone wonder about how they ca...

As this week's heavyweight championship fight between undefeated Deontay Wilder and undefeated Tyson Fury approaches, Cal sits down with his old pal to try to figure out the outcome. As they get into the intricacies of the bout, they find out they disagree, which precipitates a friendly wager. This episode gives you a good look at the unique backstories of the fighters, and also examines why so ma...

Gary Smith has been called the best magazine writer to ever live – in part because he's won more National Magazine Awards than anyone else. Gary also gave an award-winning toast at Cal's wedding. Little did Cal know back then that after Gary retired from Sports Illustrated, he'd take his magnificent interviewing and writing skills to an entirely new place. Matrimony. Gary crafts the most unique an...

A decade ago, Scott Budnick was a producer on the highest-grossing R-rated comedy ever, The Hangover. Now, he's an executive producer of Just Mercy, which is about as serious as a movie can get. It's the true story of an African-American Harvard Law School graduate, Bryan Stevenson, who goes to Alabama to defend inmates on death row and takes the case of a man who's been wrongfully convicted. It's...

Cal looks back on what he learned from the NBA legend over several conversations before Kobe's unfortunate passing. Then replays the talk he had with Kobe that got this podcast off the ground back in 2017. It's an unusual look at how curiosity and storytelling shaped the NBA legend. Also, an example of how the foundation of excellence translates across all fields. Kobe was devoting his life after...

The Japanese guru and best-selling author shows Cal how to unclutter his life – from determining which items to discard and which ones to keep . . . all the way down to the proper way to fold socks. Cal learns to focus on removing anything in his life that doesn't spark joy. And this podcast will do the same for you. Marie's takeaways are a great way to see 2020 clearly.

The professor gives Cal a tour of the sacred space at UCLA where the first Internet message was sent in 1969. There's no better tour guide. Leonard was there when it happened. The computer scientist talks about the development of the Internet in a way that humanizes it for Cal. He also touches on subjects like the lack of privacy, and what the Internet will mean to our future, making the podcast e...

Cal looks back on what he learned from Big Questions last year as a way to improve in 2020. Clips include takeaways from: Simon Sinek, author of Start With Why Larry King, the CNN talk show host who celebrated his 86th birthday after overcoming severe health problems Amy Morin, best-selling author of 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do The takeaways are a great way for everyone to think abou...

Cal looks at a favorite moment in 2019, and discovers much under the surface of a video that went viral. It's set at an event that Alex was speaking at thrown by Dutch Bros. Coffee for its baristas. Just before Alex spoke, one of the baristas, Amanda Sanchez, found out that a college grant had just been taken away from her. She was despondent, and got on line to ask Alex what to do. The conversati...

The best-selling author tells Cal how he transformed from writer of the New York Times bestsellers I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell and Assholes Finish First to a dad playing Candyland with his kids. That, in itself, is quite a story. But that's not all. He's also founded a publishing company called Scribe to help people write their books. This also has Cal very curious. Many takeaways on the state...

Cal looks back at some of the best nuggets of wisdom he's received from women on Big Questions over the last two years, and passes them on to you. A holiday gift for every day of the week. Here are the moments we're including in today's episode. You can share these gifts with the people you care about by sending them an AirrQuote link. Anyone can click on the link and instantly listen to that part...

Listeners of Big Questions who first heard Cal tell stories on Tim Ferriss's podcast often reach out to Cal and ask him to tell more stories. Cal's Santa Suit story goes back almost a quarter of a century and is timed perfectly to the season. There's plenty of laughs and merriment, along with a takeaway that if you wait out a string of bad luck, there will be prosperous days ahead.

Cal sits with his pal after a party thrown by the Friars Club commemorated a birthday that many thought Larry might not be around to celebrate. For many months, Larry battled a series of major illnesses that nearly took his life. But Larry's indomitable will kept him going. Now he's out of the hospital, and working again. A look back at an extraordinary evening becomes Cal's most memorable podcast...

Cal catches up with his pal, Gator Halpern, months after 200-mile-an-hour winds and a 25-foot tidal wave by the name of Hurricane Dorian whipped into The Bahamas and destroyed the coral farm Gator established to save the reefs that protect the shores. Part of the reason we're seeing this storm damage year after year is the weakening of our barrier reefs – which Gator is fighting to fend off. He's...

Cal sits with his old pal, Tom Junod, after they see a preview of the upcoming movie about the children's television host that stars Tom Hanks. A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood is based on the Esquire Magazine cover story that Junod wrote in 1998, and Junod's friendship with Mr. Rogers in the years that followed. While the film creates a tortured relationship between Junod and his dad to advanc...

Summit events have impacted countless lives through the power of connection – as they've grown from a gathering of 20 entrepreneurs back in 2008 into a community of 20,000 today.   Billion-dollar companies have gotten off the ground because of friendships made at Summit events. Academy-award winning films have been created out of bonds formed at Summit. The collaborative spirit became fully appare...

Cal sits with investment guru Charles Schwab on the stage at the Money 2020 conference in Las Vegas to discuss the philosophies behind his success and how all of us need to look at retirement in an age when we may live 20 years longer than we expected. Plenty of takeaways from the man who's gotten through a series of stock market bubbles while increasing the value of his company 21,000 percent ove...

Cal gets together with Dr. Reagan Anderson for a look at the difficulties of being a doctor in this day and age. This is a conversation that everyone in America needs to hear. On average, one doctor commits suicide in the United States every day – which is the highest suicide rate of any profession. Reagan served as a surgeon for the U.S. military in Iraq and is now a dermatologist with a clinic i...