Linen Suit & Plastic Tie

At this point, you've probably heard so much about ChatGPT and language model AI, but can it actually help write a book? How is an AI-written novel really created? Amid all the craze and myths of the recent "AI boom", we chat with Stephen Marche, a novelist who was tasked to create an "AI-generated novel," Death of an Author, (with Pushkin) to really understand the capabili...

How do you create master classes with some of the most influential people in the world? How do "golden moments" shape our lives and stories? How do we decide what to leave out of a story vs. what to keep in? This week, we chat with Davis Carter, former Director of Content at MasterClass. Davis has worked as Director of Content at MasterClass, where he oversaw more than 20 projects including classe...

Why is the American agriculture story relevant to you (yes, you)? Is comic book a genre or a medium? Why should you care about where your food comes from? How does the story of an herbal root connect the United States and China? This week, we chat with graphic novelist Craig Thompson about his latest autobiographical comic book series Ginseng Roots . Kevin stumbled upon an issue in the series and...

How do a channel's advertisement and content creation fuel each other to strengthen its story? How does the late night / day time / prime time distinction affect content styles on cable? What is cable TV's legacy to entertainment and storytelling? This week, we finish up our conversation with Doug Herzog, delving into more questions we have about cable as a storytelling medium. Following h...

What are the stories of MTV and Comedy Central? How has The Daily Show changed through different eras (Craig Kilborn, Jon Stewart, Trevor Noah)? What will become of late night TV? This week, we welcome to our show Doug Herzog, former President of Viacom. Following his illustrious career of bringing MTV and Comedy Central to their respective primes, Doug now co-host the Basic! podcast, where he doc...

How do American Sign Language and improv comedy make you a better family physician? This week, we sit down and chat with Dr. G (Deborah Gilboa)! Dr. G is a family physician, keynote speaker on stress and resilience, and ASL interpreter. She shares with us her fascinating life journey between theater, ASL interpretation, improv comedy with Steve Carrell and Stephen Colbert in their early days, and...

How does Christie's lead charity auctioneer utilize storytelling in her work? How did a young woman who looked nothing like an auctioneer become Christie's top charity auctioneer? How do you claim your confidence? This week, we chat with Lydia Fenet, Christie’s Ambassador who has led auctions to raise over half a billion dollars total for nonprofits globally, to talk about her fascinating career a...

For our 50th episode, we welcome back a dear friend and unlock a new character for our show. Together, we reflect on the stories we created since we first met, as well as our notion of being "cool". To our listeners, expert storytellers, and friends, thank you for being a part of this milestone. --- The following music was used for this media project: Music: Hyperfun by Kevin MacLeod Free download...

How do you produce a children's TV show in post-Soviet Russia? What's the secret to Sesame Street's international success? This we, we chat with Natasha Lance Rogoff, producer of the Russian Sesame Street (Ulitsa Sezam), about her unexpected crazy true story detailed in her book Muppets in Moscow. Natasha Lance Rogoff is an is an award-winning filmmaker, journalist and the TV producer/director who...

How do you make a sci-fi or a rom-com? Why do genres and formulas of a story work? How do comedians tell a story? This week, we chat with Mark Chavez, a comedian who made a sci-fi and a rom-com with his co-hosts and made a podcast about the process. Mark Chavez is co-host of CBC's Let's Make a Sci-Fi (Let's Make a Rom-Com) podcast, and part of the comedy duo the Pajama Men.

"What if we did nothing and got nothing out of it?" For this Storytime, we welcome back productivity expert Dr. Sahar Yousef and talk about NOTHING - for all our obsession with productivity, achievements, and outcomes, what if "doing nothing" is exactly what's missing from our lives? This episode is about nothing, for nothing, celebrating nothing. It's re-shaping our perspectives on life (seriousl...

What stories is the city of Los Angeles brewing? Why do we need better friendship stories? We welcome back good friend of the show Kirthana Ramisetti and talk about the storytelling choices in her new novel, Advika and the Hollywood Wives. Kirthana Ramisetti is author of Dava Shastri’s Last Day, a novel selected a Good Morning America Book Club selection, and is currently in development as a telev...

What's unique about game as a storytelling medium? How can games succeed/fail at film / TV adaptations? Is playing games storytelling? This week, we sit down with Joshua Lu to talk about one of the most interactive and immersive form of storytelling. From competitive gaming, to product management, and now as an Investing Partner at a16z Games (Andreessen Horowitz), Josh has journeyed across many r...

How does storytelling affect the essence of products and brands? What does neuroscience have to do with Marketing? This week, we chat with Dr. Matt Johnson, a marketing professor, a neuroscientist, and author of Branding that Means Business: Building Enduring Bonds between Brands, Consumers & Markets . With a PhD in Cognitive Psychology and Neuroscience from Princeton University, Matt's jo...

What makes super villains' stories important? Can you grieve something that didn't actually happen? Are you still a hero if you've never won a single battle? Welcome back to Season Three! To kick off an outstanding season, we welcome back a good friend of our show, Dr. Andrea Letamendi, to chat about The Joker, Loki, WandaVision, and unpacking the "could've been"s during the pandemic. Dr. Drea Let...

For our final bonus episode of Season Two, we bring out an unreleased part of our conversation with musician Greg Pliska, where we talk about the different storytelling choices a musician has to make when scoring a movie/play. Greg is a composer, conductor and orchestrator whose diverse career  includes award-winning work in theater, film, TV, podcasts, etc. (CBS  Evening News and Face the Nation,...

In the spirit of holiday season, we'd like to take you on a rewind and listen back to our conversation with Dr. Sahar Yousef back in Season One, an important conversation about our stress and internal storytelling. We hope it will help us all understand and cope with our stress and internal voices better.  --- We ALL have racing thoughts and narratives about ourselves that we can't  shut...

What does "AI" really look like in businesses today? What is a Prediction Machine, and what is AI Economics? This week, we chat with Dr. Avi Goldfarb, author of Prediction Machines and Power and Prediction: The Disruptive Economics of Artificial Intelligence. Through a sequence of fascinating stories, Avi helps us demystify the stigma around artificial intelligence, and he helps us understand how...

What have happened to Gorav and Kevin in the past year? What was the original idea Gorav and Kevin had about starting a podcast? How would we describe each of our guests in one word? What changes have we made in Season Two, and what's coming in Season Three? As we celebrate LSPTPod's 2-Year anniversary, we sit down, look back, look around, then look forward to this journey we've been on with you,...

We dive deep into more of your random wine questions! Do you really need a decanter for wine? What are you supposed to do when you order a bottle of wine at a restaurant, and your server pours out a sip for you to taste it? Why do some wine labels never tell you what's in the bottle? For this bonus episode with wine journalist Erin Kirschenmann, we find answers to some of our (and probably your) b...

Storytelling and wine. Don't think they're related? Think again. This week, we chat with Erin Kirschenmann, Managing Editor at Wine Business Monthly and Kevin's wine tasting instructor (Yes, Kevin's now professionally certified in wine tasting). Erin shares with us plenty of stories about the history and culture of wine, why wine tasting is a thing, Prohibition's impact on the wine landscape in th...

Let's tackle the big question: what is love? Better yet, how do the things we love affect our stories and identities? Why do we love something, and what do we actually love about it? This week, we chat with Dr. Aaron Ahuvia, the world's leading academic expert on non-interpersonal love. Dr. Ahuvia is Professor of Marketing at the University of Michigan-Dearborn College of Business, who has pioneer...

How can we create happier memories for ourselves with the power of storytelling? How do we make sure to savor moments of joy and not take them for granted? How many things can we get done within your limited hours in a day, and how many more things could we get done if we learn the happiest way to manage our time? We continue our conversation with Dr. Cassie Holmes, award-winning Professor at UCLA...

What makes us happy, and what will make us happier? How can the story we tell ourselves about time affect our happiness level? In a world that easily makes us feel "time poor", how do we make the most of our limited time? This week, we chat with Dr. Cassie Holmes, award-winning Professor at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, researcher of time and happiness, and author of Happier Hour: How to B...

How did Steve Jobs transform Apple with storytelling, and how did he become a master storyteller? How does Twitter work as a storytelling platform, and how has storytelling turned Formula 1 into the fastest-growing sport in the U.S.? This week, we talk to Nathan Baugh, a storytelling influencer. From Batman to sports, Nathan chats with us about how storytelling transforms businesses and ideas, obv...