Linen Suit & Plastic Tie

Why isn't Kevin a sneakerhead? Gorav raises this question as he ponders buying a pair of sneakers. To answer this question, we first visit the stories that designer clothing tells and how those stories make us feel. Then we get sidetracked, as we try to journey into a little history lesson about suits. In a bizarre sequence of events, Gorav sets out on his self-instigated debate on whether he shou...

What does storytelling have to do with Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, and what risks and opportunities do these stories create? While we do not explore investments or financial advice on this podcast, we are surely interested in understanding the storytelling involved in such assets. This week, we talk to Stephen Cole, an angel investor in Bitcoin. Stephen shares with us the role of storytelling pl...

Yes, you know who Batman is, but did you know how Batman's (and Joker's) stories became the dark, serious cultural icons today? We kick off the second half of Season Two with the Executive Producer of EVERY Batman/Joker movie you've ever heard of. Michael Uslan spent 10 years of his life to convince Hollywood to produce the Batman that we know and love--from Batman (1989), The Dark Knight trilogy,...

Why are we good at preparing a story but bad at practicing it? How do you establish your physical presence when speaking in a remote meeting? How do you keep your audience engaged? This week, we talk to Mark Dannenberg, an actor and storytelling coach about the acting techniques we can all borrow to apply to our storytelling. From Shakespeare and musical theater to standup comedy and TV, Mark has...

What is an NFT, and how can NFTs bring changes to TV, film, and animation? This week, we talk with Sarah Cole, Co-Creator of the star-studded NFT show Stoner Cats, about the origin and future of this unconventional animated show. Before making the bold jump from studio to NFT content creation, Sarah has worked as an Editor for animated features across well-known studio such as Sony Pictures (Spide...

What is it like to take over a company from its founder? What is the best approach to interviewing? What was it like to work with Adam Neumann? This week, we chat with David Siegel, CEO of Meetup and author of Decide & Conquer: 44 Decisions That Make or Break All Leaders. Through his career stories and his book, David shares with us how he led Meetup's culture of resilience to evolve and used it t...

Why are we so drawn towards fictions when they're not "real"? What does your name mean, and what legacy does it carry? What should representation in fictions look like? This week, we chat with Kirthana Ramisetti, author of the much-anticipated novel Dava Shastri's Last Day, a Good Morning America and Lilly's Library Book Club Pick. Kirthana shares with us the stories behind creating Dava, the unco...

Do you judge a book by its cover? How do you avoid "proposing at first sight"? Why does our audience most often not care about what we do, and how do we effectively communicate with them anyways? What do data-oriented and technical-oriented people's unique advantages to storytelling? This week, we chat with Neil Hoyne, he who strategizes measurements at Google. Having graduated from UCLA Anderson...

Thinking can be cool, but how do you induce real, cool thinking? What makes for a good partnership that leads to phenomenal storytelling? What is the creator economy, and how will that shape storytelling? For Episode TWO of Season TWO, we talk with TWO guests who make an exciting podcasting / content creation DUO: Kinsey Grant, host of the Thinking is Cool podcast, and Josh Kaplan, CEO of Smooth O...

What is behavioral economics? What is “the voltage effect”? How do you know if your business/policy idea will scale? We kick off Season Two with Professor John List, one of the most renowned behavioral economists out there, to chat about storytelling in his impactful work, his new book The Voltage Effect, and how we’ve been approaching scalability the wrong way. If you’ve lived in the United State...

Welcome back to LSPTPod Season Two! With an informative and fulfilling Season One in the books, we are continuing on our journey to become better storytellers by learning from a wide range of expert, unconventional storytellers. We believe that storytelling is the essential skill that makes us human, and we invite you continue this journey with us. Follow us on Instagram @LSPTPod and LinkedIn.

What is Kevin's story? What is Gorav's? What is Linen Suit & Plastic Tie's story? What should we (and you) take away from Season One? What's a word that describes every one of our expert storytellers? As we conclude this wonderful Season One of LSPTPod, we look back and forward to the amazing show that you are building with us. Thank you for an amazing Season One, and here's to an exciting Sea...

On Nov. 4th, 2020, Gorav Menon and Kevin Liu embarked on their storytelling journey with the first episode of Linen Suit & Plastic Tie. On Nov. 4th, 2021, we celebrate our 1-year anniversary of this journey with the expert storyteller who started it all with us, Dr. Tara Prescott-Johnson. How have we changed? What have we learned? How is this podcast impacting our lives? If you were a ghost an...

We ALL have racing thoughts and narratives about ourselves that we can't shut down - our "identity-based beliefs". How do we use that to our advantage? What is "stress" physiologically speaking? Is "video fatigue" real, and why are Botox sales through the roof since COVID? This week, we unpack it all with Dr. Sahar Yousef. Dr. Sahar Yousef is a cognitive neuroscientist as well as faculty at UC Ber...

Why do we need a new story & a better story? What story do people tell over and over across different cultures and times? Why can NFT sound like such an intriguing idea? This is Part 2 of our conversation with John Bucher, a Mythologist and professional storyteller, where we discuss the stories we keep retelling and the stories we need for the future. John is Creative Director for the Joseph Campb...

It's so important to tell stories that are true, but why are some stories "more than true"? This is Part 1 of our conversation with John Bucher, a Mythologist and professional storyteller, where we discuss what storytelling is at a high level then deep dive into its significance, starting from the oldest stories we have. John is Creative Director for the Joseph Campbell Foundation and is also an a...

But actually, have you ever listened to yourself talk? What do podcasters and cartoonists have in common? Why do podcasters' voices drop? Can storytelling be used for evil.. cough... con(fidence) men... cough; This week, we talk to Avery Trufelman, Producer/Host for award-winning podcasts about the interesting things we have noticed about our own voices as we listen to them, among other things. Av...

What goes into creating scores for films and theater plays? Remember IMAX theaters and that epic countdown before the movie starts? Why is music NOT the universal language? Come find out about all of these things with Greg Pliska! 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 Natio...

What is Product Marketing? Why is storytelling crucial to it? How has remote working changed storytelling and the way we communicate? This week, we do a deep dive into all these things Carolina Arguelles Navas, Group Product Marketing Manager at Snap Inc. Through Carolina's lens, we look into how we can better connect with others while in front of our cameras, understand why and how to "listen", a...

Just what is the F in FinFluencer? This week, we talk to Austin Hankwitz, a personal finance & investment influencer on TikTok. Having kicked off his influencer career in Feb. 2020, Austin now has almost half a million followers on TikTok. Through Austin's lens, we get to learn what storytelling means within TikTok's unique platform and format, his goals and vision as an investment influencer, why...

The LSPTPod is excited to host our first live podcast with UCLA Anderson’s MSBA program & Snapchat Sr. Financial Analyst, Sarah Nooravi! With 30K+ LinkedIn followers, Sarah has many titles, including Sr. Financial Analyst at Snap, LinkedIn Top Voice in Analytics & Data Science, a Women in Big Data leader, Teacher, Mentor, and many more. We learn about her career journey, her insights on data story...

You probably know about Marvel, DC, and their rivalry, but do you know how they came to be? This week, we talk to Reed Tucker. Reed is a journalist at the New York Post and author of Slugfest: Inside the Epic, 50-Year Battle Between Marvel and DC. A true expert & authority on the Marvel-DC rivalry, Reed reveals to us the origins and creeds of Marvel's and DC's comic book stories, how their respect...

This week's expert storyteller is Alex Segura, Co-President of Archie Comics. Alex is a comic book veteran - we learn about how a comic is built, the comic book industry, the Archie brand, the Riverdale reboot, and the neo-noir elements of Taylor Swift? Alex Segura is the author of the acclaimed Pete Fernandez Mystery series and Star Wars' Poe Dameron: Free Fall. Alex has also written a number of...

You have seen many ads and marketing campaigns on social media platforms, but how much do you know about the thoughts and efforts behind them? This week, we are talking with Eric Toda. Having worked at Facebook when it was still up and coming, Eric has helped shape social marketing to what it is today since its very beginning. After leading digital and social marketing at Nike, Snap, Airbnb, Stitc...

How do superheroes stories from the comic book become animated TV series? This week, we find that out with Kevin Burke. Kevin Burke is an Emmy-nominated Writer and Producer for numerous animated TV series, including Spider-Man, Ultimate Spider-Man, Rocket & Groot, Transformers, Star Wars Resistance, Stretch Armstrong & The Flex Fighters, My Little Pony, and more. Kevin introduces us to macro vs. m...