Full Disclosure with Roben Farzad

Highlights from recent episodes, including James Beard-recognized chef Sunny Baweja; radio-diehard Jeremy Hobson; and the art of going straight from b-school to owning your own company.

Jeremy Hobson, a voice synonymous with so much of NPR and Marketplace's Morning Report, is barnstorming the map with his new live call-in radio show, "The Middle." What's the thinking behind doubling down on terrestrial radio in 2023?

If you can't beat them, join them. But if you don't want to beat them or join them, why not just buy them? More MBAs are avoiding Wall Street and the corporate grind for entrepreneurship through acquisition ("ETA") -- perhaps the fastest track from b-school to owner/CEO. Guests: acquisitive recent Wharton exec. MBA Angela Romero and Bloomberg's Matthew Boyle.

Chef Sunny Baweja of Lehja, twice recognized by the James Beard Foundation, on his journey from humble beginnings in rural India to U.S. culinary stardom. Recorded before a live audience at the University of Richmond's Robins School.

In case you missed it ... highlights from recent episodes, including a media rabble-rouser on Disney's summer from hell; The Economist on China's slowdown; interviews from my book, Hotel Scarface; and a candid self-appraisal of where we want to take this show as it approaches 10 years on the air.

Veteran media executive and producer. Professor. Consultant. Evan Shapiro, a self-described "media-universe cartographer," dishes uncomfortable analysis on the disruption of Hollywood. That turmoil just reached a tipping point with cable-co Charter's feud with Disney, parent of ESPN. Everyone across media -- from streamers to TV agents to sports leagues -- is scrambling for answers ... and revenue...

China's economy is grappling with all sorts of challenges, from a property / banking bust to high youth unemployment and and aging population. Can Beijing plan its way out of this slide? What are the implications for emerging markets, which haven't excited investors in more than a decade? Guests: The Economist's Alice Fulwood and William Blair's Vivian Lin Thurston.

Nine years after Full Disclosure's debut, a creative self-audit -- featuring co-producers Claire Morgan and Case Graham ... and, back by popular demand, my little brother Ronnie Farzad.

Book meets pod! A special supercut of Hotel Scarface characters on Full Disclosure -- from Mollie, the "cocaine cowgirl," to the Miseducation of Nelson Aguilar; to salutatorian-turned-doper Owen Band; to Rick Morales, Jr. piecing together the life of his infamous father, Ricardo "Monkey" Morales.

Highlights from recent episodes, including Disney's summer from hell; Chef Keya on going national; Ben Smith on launching Semafor; and the former top editor of Money on leaving media to teach at an underserved high school.

Ben Smith on why he left his media column at The New York Times to launch news startup Semafor with the CEO of Bloomberg Media. His book is Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral.

Keya didn't even have an oven in India. But a decade and a half into her new life in Virginia, she's become a cake-pop mogul, Food Network champ and, now, the force behind Keya & Co., whose masala potato chips are a first foray into grocery-aisle stardom. She discussed personal tragedy, pivoting during Covid and the learning curve of taking her brand national.

The Walt Disney Co -- venerable multinational entertainment blue-chip -- is broken, what with ESPN in free fall, streaming losing billions, linear TV collapsing and management succession in doubt. Oh, and a huge talent strike. Could CEO Bob Iger have to break it all up? Guests: The Media Mix's Claire Atkinson; and Shipyard Entertainment's Neil J. Patel -- who in a past life managed strategic allia...

Investopedia's Caleb Silver joins us again to discuss markets and the economy at the midway point of 2023.

Craig Matters, formerly managing editor of Money and executive editor of Fortune, on leaving magazines to teach at an underserved public school.

In case you missed it: highlights from recent episodes, including our live show in Charlottesville with CBS Face the Nation's Margaret Brennan; Chef Jeremiah of Food Network and Rick Ross fame; indie bookseller Mitchell Kaplan fights back against Florida's anti-book movement; and Julia Lee on her memoir, Biting the Hand: Growing Up Asian in Black and White America.

The in-demand Miami chef discusses his journey, from culinary school to learning the ropes on the international Michelin-star circuit to Food Network, multimedia content-creation, mobile hospitality and becoming a personal chef to rapper Rick Ross. Now, brick-and-mortar...

Author Julia Lee on her memoir, Biting the Hand: Growing Up Asian in Black and White America; and Books & Books and the Miami Book Fair's Mitchell Kaplan on resisting the creeping book bans of the culture war.

Mike Chinoy, CNN's first Beijing bureau chief, on China 34 years after the Tiananmen Square crackdown. We discussed Taiwan, trade, Covid, the surveillance state and cracks in Xi Jinping's consolidation efforts at home and abroad. Chinoy's book is Assignment China: An Oral History of American Journalists in the People's Republic.

CBS Face the Nation's Margaret Brennan discusses politics, world affairs, the state of TV news and her career ascent. Taped for an audience at Charlottesville's historic Paramount Theater -- in celebration of WVTF Radio IQ's 50th anniversary.

Barry Ritholtz on work from home vs productivity; Mo News's Mosheh Oinounou on Big Media's digital fumbling; a Stanford dermatologist on AI and machine learning in the detection of skin cancer; the young woman who went from hunger and homelessness to running for Virginia's House of Delegates

Gaurav Gupta, venture capitalist with Lightspeed Venture Partners; and Dr. Roxana Daneshjou, a Stanford dermatologist studying artificial intelligence and machine learning in skin-cancer detection, on the promise -vs- hazards -vs- hype in the exploding field of AI.

Barry Ritholtz -- prolific writer/reader, Wall Street watcher, media creator, wealth manager -- on bank failures and human nature; Twitter under Elon Musk; remote work vs productivity; markets; The Fed, much more.

Mosheh Oinounou -- described as "Instagram's favorite news concierge" and "a one-man news brand" -- on the existential angst underlying the HR turmoil at Fox and CNN. Plus, a flashback to some of my 2020 interview with Soledad O'Brien, veteran of CNN and NBC News.

Virginia Public Radio + Richmond Times-Dispatch duo Michael Pope and Jeff Schapiro discuss Governor Glenn Youngkin, the abortion wedge, the purpling of central Virginia and much more. Plus, some of my 2018 interview with Adele McClure, who went from a childhood of poverty to VCU's student-body presidency to, now, candidacy for Virginia's House of Delegates.