Grey Matter with Michael Krasny

Why are some of us drawn to scary stories? "Because we want to believe that we are strong enough to survive being scared." In peeking into that dark side, we cultivate empathy. Few have had a bigger role in constructing imaginary worlds than renowned concept artist Iain McCaig. His work is truly the stuff of legend. We found his zest for illustration, telling stories, the creative process and livi...

We met with Norman Solomon, co-founder of RootsAction.org and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, to shed light on what we are NOT told about our military involvement around the globe. One cannot fathom the human toll of 4.5 million lives lost directly and indirectly from US military action since 9/11. Solomon implicates corporate media and Hollywood in obfuscating the real hu...

We talked to Geraldo Rivera about a range of topics, including much that is in the news and on Fox News, where he was for twenty-three years until recently. Leadership there is soon to change from Rupert Murdoch to his son Lachlan. What does Geraldo think about that shift and what are his thoughts on the so-called "fair and balanced" news network? We talked to him about his career and his politics...

In the same week that NASA announced Mark McInerney as its new Director of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) Research - known to the rest of us as UFOs - we met with Harvard Professor of Science Avi Loeb, dubbed one of the 25 most influential people on the topic of Space. We discuss his recent expedition to the ocean near Papua New Guinea where their team collected and analyzed material from...

We met with Sean Walsh, premier political analysts and former advisor to Presidents George H.W. Bush and Ronald Regan, to glean his perspectives on the GOP, its future, pressing political issues, and what is unfolding in the run up to the 2024 elections. A classical conservative and a leading thinker, Walsh shined piercing light on the challenges for both parties and the country as a whole. Geopol...

We met with tech journalist and commentator Andy Ihnatko for a big picture assessment on technology's influence on society. Ihnatko is riveted by this moment - when the precedents of our society's origins and founding documents failed to envision the questions and ethical quandaries posed by Artificial Intelligence. We must balance the opposing forces. Privacy, accuracy and data usage are challeng...

In troubling times, the voice of articulate optimists can lift the spirit and light a way forward. To this end, we met with feminist, movie maker, artist, thinker and founder of the Webby Awards, Tiffany Shlain. As one who made her own documentary film, "The Tribe," on Barbie and Jewish Identity 18 years ago, we began with her reflections on the recently released Barbie movie. We transitioned into...

When we think of reconnecting to ourselves and to our society, the answers may lie in the simplest of things. To that end, we met with food revolutionary and founder of Chez Panisse - Alice Waters, to return to our roots. At the start of her journey, Waters embarked on an improbable quest to reconnect us to ourselves through delicious food and the organic and regenerative husbandry of the earth. M...

The migration to eCommerce took a massive leap forward during the COVID pandemic. Few benefited as much as Amazon and Walmart. To get a handle on this phenomenon, we met with Jason Del Rey who chronicled the rise, challenges and impact of these two behemoths on global retail. Drawing from the reporting for his recent book, Winner Sells All: Amazon, Walmart and the Battle for our Wallets, Jason Del...

At the time of our recording, Trump had just received his third indictment for his role in the January 6th insurrection. To give us some greater perspective on the state of politics in our fragile democracy, we turned to Stanford political science professor Bruce Cain who is one of our nation's great political analysts. Cain reflected on Trump's many self-made challenges, the options before the Re...

We met with business magnate and patriotic philanthropist, David Rubenstein, to discuss his new PBS series - Iconic America. This entertaining and informative eight-part series is an exploration of our glorious and inglorious history as symbolized by eight key American icons. For students of history, our conversation illuminates some of the key stories revealed in the series, as well as some of th...

We met with social psychologist and business school professor Brian Lowery to explore the foundations of the self - nothing short of what makes us who we are. Lowery argues that our social communities construct us, but that there isn't a single "genuine self." Rather, we are the composite of all the masks we wear. This paradox reveals a deep tension between the structure we seek because we like to...

We met with columnist, journalist, editor and author Pamela Paul for a conversation about her life of words. We spoke of her career at the New York Times, and surveyed the topics of her columns and eight books. At the outset, it seemed that our conversation would focus on writing. Paul has written extensively on numerous thought-provoking and controversial topics, and she is equally eloquent speak...

We met with photographer and podcaster Frederick Van Johnson to learn about the latest developments in photography and philosophize with him about the outsized role it plays in our evolving world. Van Johnson contends that photos like Jeff Widener's 1989 shot of Tank Man in Tiananmen Square have always had the power to communicate immense meaning in the glance of an eye. A photo can tell a story a...

We met with psychiatrist, professor emeritus and best selling author, Peter Kramer, to explore depression, antidepressants and his fiction and non-fiction body of work. His most recent novel is Death of the Great Man, a political who-done-it satire about the improbable clinical relationship between a narcissistic despot and his psychotherapist. Our conversation covered equal parts general psychiat...

We met with one of the preeminent figures of American journalism, James Fallows, to discuss equal parts world affairs and the craft of journalism. Fallows brings the perspective of a lengthy and illustrious career covering a vast array of domestic and international issues, including politics, technology, Asia, aviation and hometown America, to name a few. We touch on all of these to get his perspe...

We met with expert psychiatrist, Ira Steinman, to explore the little-understood world of schizophrenia. While this may seem like a niche topic, Steinman's insights into the condition reveal valuable lessons for all of us. Recounting cases from his 2009 book, Treating the Untreatable, and from his clinical practice, Steinman describes how he helps his patients discover from where their symptoms ari...

We met with renowned Middle East correspondent and journalism lecturer, Janine Zacharia to do a round up on Middle East current events. The scorecard is sobering. We are at an inflection point. While popular attention turns to Russia and China, press freedoms across the region continue to decline. The circulation of deliberately false information is a central cause. This fuels rampant political po...

It seems anxiety and depression surround us, and perhaps plague us personally. To help us understand the domain of the mind, we met with pre-eminent Stanford psychiatrist and hypnosis expert, David Spiegel to explore applications of psychotherapy and self-hypnosis. Our hour of conversation proved to be an invaluable primer for everyone, whether we are currently in care, know someone who is, or mig...

ChatGPT took the world, and our imaginations, by storm when it became the first consumer app to reach one million users in five days - the fastest in history. The opportunities and the threats are boundless, but we don't know what we don't know. We invited technology analyst Jeremiah Owyang to help us sift through the reality and the hype. Owyang minces no words when he asserts that AI will be the...

It seems that China is in the news every day. To dig in deeper on this issue, we met with Orville Schell - one of the world's foremost experts on China and US/Sino relations - to help us understand the Chinese perspective and to learn more about China's leader, Xi Jinping. We dove deep into China's radical successes, its challenges, its resilience, its leverage, its sense of grievance and victimiz...

When British novelist Robert Graves wrote "I Claudius" about the fourth Roman Emperor, he set the stage for our interview with Justine Ezarik, better known as iJustine, who is to me "The Empress of the Internet." She is a content creator for nearly two decades who has over a billion views on her YouTube channel, and even has young fans who were not yet born when their parents started watching her....

In this episode we journey with one of the pre-eminent film editors of the last half century, Walter Murch, through tales of his career as an editor and sound designer. His film credits are impressive, including an Oscar for Apocalypse Now, and numerous other iconic films including the Godfather franchise and American Graffiti. Murch's reflections shed light on how an editor makes sense of the foo...

Join us for a globetrotting "memory lane" walk-a-bout through naturalist Michael Ellis's countless national and international adventures. These recounted travels feature spectacular natural highlights, present challenging ethical quandaries, and inspire deep metaphorical reflection on our lives in general. Ellis' favorite international destinations are the Serengeti - birthplace of humanity, the g...

We met with Rick Hanson, best-selling author, Senior Fellow of UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center and founder of the Global Compassion Coalition, to review what neuroscience tells us about how to rewire our mental circuitry for greater physical and emotional wellbeing in the face of the inevitable negative in our lives. Hanson's latest book, Making Great Relationships, is the launch point f...