Big Questions with Cal Fussman

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...

While doing a storytelling workshop, Cal meets Shirzad Chamine, the chairman of CTI, the largest coach and training company in the world. CTI has trained execs and managers at most of the Fortune 500 companies, as well as faculty at Yale and Stanford Business Schools. Cal is immediately enthralled with the way Shirzad uses positive energy to lift the workshop. He inquires and learns that Shirzad h...

Cal sees a report that the President has just joined the live-streaming video platform Twitch and senses that it's time to air the podcast he did with a man who advised him to jump into the future of video games. Scott Novis, formerly Vice President and General Manager of Disney Interactive, founded a company called GameTruck to bring video game parties to millions of kids. Scott tells Cal he shou...

Cal heard about the growth hacker who's worked with Taylor Swift, Rihanna and Michael Strahan, and also built a 7-figure social media following for himself in one month. And he figured it might be a good thing to get a glimpse of this world. But this podcast didn't turn out quite like Cal figured, as Brendan posed questions that made Cal think about what he actually wanted to do with those followe...

Cal heard about the growth hacker who's worked with Taylor Swift, Rihanna and Michael Strahan, and also built a 7-figure social media following for himself in one month. And he figured it might be a good thing to get a glimpse of this world. But this podcast didn't turn out quite like Cal figured, as Brendan posed questions that made Cal think about what he actually wanted to do with those followe...

Cal learns what can be accomplished when the right two people come together as he gets to the essence of his sponsor: Sportiqe. Matt Altman and Jason Franklin, two guys who grew up thousands of miles apart, trace the backstory of their clothing company with moments that touch back on Tupac Shakur, Jay-Z, the great Chicago Bulls teams with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Phil Jackson, and much m...

Tim Campos doubled productivity for Facebook while he was Chief Information Officer between 2010 and 2016. Now, Tim tries to do the same for Cal by introducing him to his latest project: Woven. Woven is a state-of-the-art digital calendar that we can all use to get the most out of our time while studying the analytics behind how we're using our most precious resource. Tim's company in the testing...

The CEO of CatalystCreativ was the spark for a huge change in Cal's business and life — and this conversation gets to finding the essence in yourself and using it to be your best. It also applies to companies. Amanda has worked on projects with WeWork, Coca Cola, The Raiders and The Nature Conservancy, and designed a strategy that transforms businesses through meaningful engagement with customers...

Cal learns he can be way more persuasive than he ever thought when he sits at The Big Table in the office of Jason Harris, the CEO of Mekanism. Jason's company has been named the small agency of the year by Ad Age. It has famously linked up with the White House under President Obama to create the "It's On Us" campaign to raise awareness of sexual assault on college campuses. And Jason's got a book...

The lead singer of O.A.R. clues Cal in to the business philosophies that have kept Of A Revolution thriving for nearly a quarter of a century. Any stereotype of dreamy artists is swiftly put to rest as Marc explains the constant vigilance all the band members throw into their work to keep the seats filled and their loyal fans coming back year after year after year. These lessons are applicable not...

Cal gets tips on getting all those dings, notifications and technological distractions out of his life from a man who has spent much of his career making people yearn for more technology. Many takeaways in this conversation with the author of the upcoming book, Indistractable , are about controlling your attention and leading a clearer and more focused life. It's just the advice Cal needs now that...

Cal poses the question after hearing the wondrous story of Dr. Sabrina Kay – who came to the U.S. from South Korea while in college without speaking English, started out as a janitor and began an entrepreneurial journey that took her to the cover of Fortune Magazine.   By the time she'd reached her 30s, Sabrina had amassed enough wealth so that neither she – nor any of her family members – ever ne...

Cal looks back on the most amazing thing he's ever seen in his life, August 7, 1974, when a French street performer named Philippe Petit secretly rigged a wire between the twin towers of the World Trade Center and walked on it 1,300 feet above the ground. There are many lessons to be learned from Philippe's feat, which took place 45 years ago, and Cal has mined for them through at least a dozen vi...