Grey Matter with Michael Krasny

We met with former White House Climate Advisor to President Obama, Molly Kawahata, to hear her innovative perspectives on how to make a real difference in society and for the planet. She is principally focused on how we mobilize productive human psychology to motivate broad systemic change. Her insights are fascinating, born of her own personal struggles, that society writ large has been brainwash...

We met with one of the foremost novelists of our time and Pulitzer Prize winner, Jennifer Egan, to discuss the medium of fiction, the novel, her process, her works and the role of the novelist in democracy writ large. In an age where AI has begun to encroach on seemingly sacrosanct domains of human endeavor like creative writing, Egan gives us hope that writing from human imagination will forever...

We met with one of the premier thinkers and teachers of our time, Jack Kornfield, to discuss how we can reclaim our humanity in isolated times, and find an inner state of well-being in the face of our greatest hardships. His sage perspectives on difficult questions were immediately centering and comforting. We touched on advice for living - cultivating compassion, awe and wonder; distinguishing em...

Humor is not just fun and games. For Brian Copeland, award-winning actor, comedian, author, playwright and talk show host, it started as his best defense from bullying on the playground growing up as an African American kid in one of the most racially redlined suburbs in America. Brian went on to wield humor in artful ways throughout his career to tackle some of the thorniest topics of our times i...

At the time of this writing, the White House just announced its intent to end the COVID-19 pandemic "state-of-emergency" designation in the months ahead. Is this a political move or one informed by science? We met with Pandefense Advisory CEO, Larry Brilliant, to learn the latest of what we do and do not know about the real threats of COVID-19 and related outbreaks. What is the history of vaccines...

We spoke with metabolic neuroendocrinologist Robert Lustig to discuss his views about the obesity crisis in our country. A powerful mind with a keen eye for digging deep into issues to explore their root causes, Lustig lays bare his critique of powerful forces at work that he believes negatively impact human health and longevity. His position is that added sugar is not a food and meets the criteri...

We met with space medicine expert Vienna Tran to learn about the health challenges of manned exploration of space. This may seem like an esoteric subject for those who feel like we have more challenges facing us on earth than we can deal with, but Vienna makes a compelling case that conquering the extremes of off-earth existence equips us to better deal with our terrestrial challenges. "A dollar i...

Buffalo Bills starting safety Damar Hamlin's cardiac arrest from a routine tackle of Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins (and strike to the chest) on January 2, 2023 highlights that there is much left to know about cardiac health. To help us climb the learning curve of how we keep our tick-tocker ticking, we met with renown cardiologist Kent Gershengorn to help us decode the latest scienc...

We rang in the New Year with renowned restaurateur Narsai David to discuss food, wine, and recall some of his favorite food memories and explore his latest culinary discoveries and innovations. As one who helped birth the California fresh food revolution, his suggestions and recommendations bring deliciousness within reach. His guidance for a Narsai-kind of fantasy meal is approachable for the nov...

We met with Stanford Graduate School of Business Professor and expert on Power, Jeffrey Pfeffer, to discuss his latest influential work, 7 Rules of Power. While many might malign an ambition to acquire and wield power, Pfeffer lays bare the pragmatic truth that change happens only with the adept identification of the levers of power, and the artful accumulation and use of power to affect the chang...

We met with Dr. Louann Brizendine to dive into the under-appreciated "forces within" that drive our behavior, our relationships, and so much of our lives. The founder of the Women's Mood and Hormone Clinic at UCSF, Brizendine wrote several definitive books on the subject, including The Female Brain, The Male Brain, and The Upgrade - How the Female Brain Gets Stronger and Better in Midlife and Beyo...

We met with Angela Glover Blackwell, Founder in Residence at PolicyLink , host of the Radical Imagination Podcast and Professor of Practice at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley , to reflect on a career dedicated to building a more equitable society. Blackwell believes that authentically rooting oneself in close proximity to the experience of the most vulnerable populations allows...

We met with Nipun Mehta, the founder of ServiceSpace, to discuss gratitude and generosity. Revealing the how and why of, "giving like a rose that gives away its scent," we were ourselves transformed by the conversation. As a small sampling of the conversation's many gems, we touched on the hierarchy of generosity, and the ability to "throw a better party" when we replace transactions with relation...

Our conversation with celebrated author Isabel Allende in October of 2022 captured what we admire most about how Isabel walks in the world. At eighty years old, Isabel is vibrant and alive, living with purpose and impact. Through the zigs and zags of our conversation, it became clear that she found in her writing a path to self knowledge. From that self knowledge, she cultivated a deep gratitude t...

We met with Ron Elving, Senior Politics Editor and Correspondent for the Washington Desk at NPR News, on November 11, 2022 to reflect upon the 2022 midterm elections and the state of our democracy. Some of our conversation reflected the specifics of this last week with midterm results still trickling in, but most of what we discussed turned to broader questions of our times: the resilience of demo...

Michael Connelly's crime novels have sold over 80 million copies. Our conversation delved into his craft and his career to understand how he started writing and to what he attributes his continued success. We revealed how his work pays tribute to the noble work of those who seek justice even though they must venture into the darkness - a darkness that constantly threatens to bring them down and ho...

Leo Laporte, founder and owner of the TWiT Podcast Network, is an elder statesman of technology and terrestrial radio. In our conversation we wandered down memory lane, reflecting on the influences and turning points of Leo's career, his network and studio, and the industry as a whole. We peek into the future by understanding the past. The day before our recording, Elon Musk closed on the purchase...

Today we find out about the world of cryptocurrency and the crypto economy by speaking with a leading executive from one of the world's fastest crypto exchanges - the first to go public - sometimes described as the Amazon of assets - Coinbase. Emilie Choi is Coinbase President and COO. In our conversation we shed much light onto the rising phenomenon of decentralized finance in the budding era of...

Our conversation with Susan Jackson - president of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) - was a fascinating dive into a world that few of us know much about - tuna fishing and conservation. While seemingly esoteric, this episode describes the many facets of a system that strives to conserve shared resources - a particularly challenging task when dealing with sovereign nations...

Dr. Barbach is a celebrated and world-renowned psychologist, as well as an author and a pioneer in the research and the study of human sexuality, intimacy and relationships. We'll focus on the serious considerations that impact health and happiness. We discussed the hallowed ground of both physical and emotional intimacy between couples. This episode is relevant for anyone in a relationship or con...

Bill McKibben is a life-long environmentalist, activist, journalist, and author who has written extensively on the impact of global warming. In our conversation we review the significance of recent climate legislation, the technological alternatives to fossil fuels, and the ways and means currently at work to reclaim the climate - with special focus given to what the Baby Boomers can do.

We talk with Ken Burns, Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein about their new film, The U.S. and the Holocaust. The three-part, six-hour documentary series premiered on PBS September on 18-20, 2022, and examines America's response to one of history's greatest humanitarian crises. Ken Burns states "that he won't work on a more important film". As well as discussing their latest and important film, they ta...

Sarah Hill, CEO of Healium, believes that biometrically-responsive immersive media experiences served through virtual and augmented reality technology can help millions better cope with the mental stress of our times. Join us for a discussion on how. She has 25 years of experience building unique media franchises. She has five patents for biometrically-powered media. Her company's mental fitness p...

Andrew Fraknoi is an award-winning scientist and educator, known for his skill in interpreting astronomical discoveries and ideas in everyday language. He is the lead author of the most frequently used basic astronomy textbook in the country, Astronomy, and a budding author of science fiction stories based on good astronomy. Join us for a conversation in everyday language about our latest discover...

John Hamilton McWhorter V is an associate professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University with a specialty in creole languages, sociolects, and Black English. McWhorter is also a major pundit on social issues, and currently a columnist for the New York Times. Our conversation is as much about the use of the language we use to exchange ideas, as about the ideas themselves. Mc...