Big Questions with Cal Fussman

After watching the latest Mission Impossible movie, Cal remembers an interview he did with Tom for Esquire Magazine. A snippet from that interview was turned into a video, and it's played on this week's episode. You get a glimpse of Tom's difficult childhood, and see how the solutions he found were seeds to take control of his career and live out the passions of his youth. There's a lesson in this...

Anyone who's ever had a medical problem knows how good it feels to talk to somebody who's successfully gone through the same treatment. Patient Partner gives everybody the chance to have someone to lean on. Mentors are all vetted. It's highly confidential. Great friendships are formed. And it's free! This is a service that shouldn't be passed up. Simply listening to this episode will give you good...

The author of Energize: Make The Most Out Of Every Moment, shows Cal how to get energy from the way you approach your job, exercise, food, sunlight, the design of the bedroom, and many other factors that we might overlook. Simply listening to this conversation will lift your energy level.

Last year, the editor in chief of Entrepreneur Magazine released a book that is an action plan for embracing change and future proofing your career. This book takes on exponential meaning with the emergence of artificial intelligence. Jason, one of the world's great optimists, allays fears that the public has about A.I. by pointing out panicked reactions to great innovations in the past that we no...

When Cal first met the comedian, he was starting out as Irish Dave. Now, the author of  Do You Talk Funny ? is packing comedy clubs under his legal name, David Nihill, and identifying with Mexicans. It's a long story that will make you laugh. The bottom line is: Everybody would love to be funnier. On this episode, Dave will show you how.

Cal catches up with the Stanford lecturer who's spent a lifetime showing people how to think faster and speak better in public. It all started when Matt embarrassed himself by ripping his pants doing a karate speech in high school. He has since developed decades of tips to help you whether you're making a business presentation or giving a wedding toast. Listen up. This episode is a burst of confid...

When Cal found out that Amy had read 30,000 personal stories written by people about finding happiness, he figured she would have detected some patterns. She sure has. The publisher and editor-in-chief of Chicken Soup for the Soul gives Cal 10 tips that will make your day happier. Guaranteed to make you smile!

More than 6,000 Americans and friends of America have been rescued in dangerous spots in Afghanistan, Ukraine and Sudan over the last two years by Bryan and Project Dynamo – a non-profit organization funded by private donations. Bryan has gotten Americans out of jails and some terrible spots in ways that would normally appear in spy thrillers. In this episode, we hear the story of twin American ba...

Michael has sold more than a million copies of his book: The Coaching Habit. And now he's releasing one called: How To Work With (Almost) Anyone. Both topics come up in Cal's freewheeling conversation with the Rhodes Scholar which reminds Cal of the back-and-forth at Larry King's breakfast table.

We all have childhood dreams. Many of them elude us as we age and take more practical roads in life. This episode focuses on Mario Garcia's decision in his early fifties to go all in on his childhood dream: making a movie. It's called: The Throwback, and stars Will Sasso from Curb Your Enthusiasm. Mario wrote the script, fundraised, directed the film, and produced it. It got a standing ovation whe...

That's a nice and soft way to title an episode with the author who wrote the book STFU. That's short for: Shut The F--- Up. The Power Of Keeping Your Mouth Shut In An Endlessly Noisy World. Dan gives tips on how to listen more and get the most out of conversations. He explains that people who have the most meaningful conversations tend to be happier. And if you know someone who can't stop talking,...

This podcast has implications for all who work. It's important to know how "workquakes" ​ ​ are coming into our lives more and more frequently, pushing us to change jobs and even ​ ​ head for new professions. Feiler, author of the book: The Search, Meaningful Work In A Post-Career World, tells us how we can expect a "workquake" every two and a half years, and what this is doing to the very definit...

After being advised to immerse himself in artificial intelligence, Cal asks ChatGPT for help in finding just the right gift for his upcoming wedding anniversary. This episode is a comical gift for everybody, as it demonstrates how AI can be used in nearly every facet of life. Enjoy it!  

Cal talks with one of the stars on the sitcom Modern Family, who along with actor Eric Stonestreet, portrayed gay family life in a humorous way that made us smile and laugh, and gathered the appreciation of much of the American public. Same-sex marriage laws were granted around the country during the course of the show. Cal talks with Jesse about being gay, the show, the changes it inspired, and t...

It turns out that there is one area in America where nearly everyone is in agreement: there is a mental health emergency. There are many reasons for this. They can be related to substance abuse, lack of meaningful connections, depression, financial stress, abuse, traumatic experiences, pressures and anxieties attached to body image and the internet along with a lack of access to mental healthcare....

Nobody loves great quotes more than Cal. So it's no wonder Cal was smitten by Kevin's latest book: Excellent Advice For Living, Wisdom I Wish I'd Known Earlier. The book and this conversation with the founding editor of Wired magazine delivers thoughtful advice on all areas of life. Like this: "When a child asks an endless string of "Why" questions, the smartest reply is: "I don't know, what do yo...

Gary grew up in Wisconsin and never saw salt water until he was 21 years old. He's been making up for it ever since, at one point traveling around the globe for nine years and becoming one of the world's most celebrated photographers and travel bloggers. Now he's got an awesome podcast called Everything Everywhere Daily. His talk with Cal rekindles the love for travel that Cal had when he went aro...

Imagine waking up one day as a teenager with golf ball-sized glands under your neck, under your armpits and your groin; your tongue swollen, your heart racing and your eyes puffed and nearly shut. That was the case for Stephen Cabral. For a couple of years, physicians couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. The experience sent him on a path to learn about himself, heal himself, become a board...

Ryan has been a natural leader ever since he was seven years old and he was plucked out of a bunch of kids on a football team to be quarterback. He starred in high school, then moved on to college and arena league football. But his gift for guiding a team downfield has been amplified by his podcast – where he gets the most out of CEOs, coaches, entrepreneurs and others in conversations about leade...

Cal discovers that some of his key attributes – curiosity, creating comfortability and connecting – equally apply to negotiations. And that maybe he has talents for an area in life that he often avoided. Mori is the author of the book: Being Yourself, How To Harness The Power of Connection To Negotiate Fearlessly. She is also a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of B...

Cal is introduced to an app that pairs photos with new contacts, and immediately senses that the young founder of the company that built the app would be an ideal guide into the new landscape of technology. His name is Anjun Rai. His company is called ​ ​ HelloWoofy.com. If you'd like to know where tech is going, c'mon along. . . . You can see the visuals of some of Arjun's tips by going to calfus...

Cal talks with a man who many people see as the ideal banking coach to understand the recent turmoil in the banking industry. Paul McCaffery is a Managing Director at Keefe, Bruyette and Woods, where he has spent more than 20 years advising in the financial sector. He explains how a perfect storm can come together when government policies, banking decisions and the speed of technology enables depo...

Cal tells the harrowing story of two college wrestlers who walked straight into a Grizzly bear near Yellowstone Park last year. Then asks: What would you do if you were in a similar situation? ​​

As technology connects us more and more, we tend to find ourselves more and more disconnected as humans. The numbers back this up. We're working alone in remote locations. We're seeing one another attacked on the internet over political beliefs. We're spending less time with the people we love than we did years ago. Fifteen percent of males in America say they have no friends, and women who don't...

Phillip Stutts, a political marketing guru who has helped engineer more than 1,500 election wins including three presidencies, had 650-million stem cells injected into his esophagus to combat Achalasia. This disorder destroys the nerves and muscles in the esophagus which normally push food down toward the stomach -- and makes it difficult to eat. Phillip's experience gives us a look at the medical...