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It’s only fitting that this 1977 #1 Country Hit is sung by Johnny Paycheck. The David Allen Coe written song inspired a 1981 film of the same name. The narrator of the song has realized that he should leave his job, but he hasn’t quite worked up the nerve to quit. Many people have found themselves in similar situations, clinging onto their job security despite knowing they’re in the wrong role or...

Love him or hate him, Drake’s 2013 hit, Started from the Bottom, is unforgettable. It resonates, not only because of its musical simplicity, but also because it celebrates the rise from scrappy beginnings to success. It’s the epitome of “The American Dream.” Most of us will not realize the kind of success that Drake has, but that doesn’t mean we can’t start from the bottom and reach heights we did...

Ridley Scott’s 2007 film, American Gangster, told the story of Harlem drug lord, Frank Lucas. Frank, played by Denzel Washington, confronts Nicky Barnes about the quality of the product he’s distributing in this scene. Nicky isn’t exactly receptive to this feedback. His focus is on short-term profits while Frank takes a longer-term view of the business and customer perception of the brand. Quality...

During the first season of The Bear, Sydney talks to Marcus about his vision for making donuts for the restaurant, The Original Beef. Sydney, too, has visions for how to improve the restaurant, among them having online takeout orders to increase revenue. Both find themselves distracted from the nuts and bolts of running a restaurant by their desires to make dramatic improvements. Beth Karawan know...

There are cult classics and then there are cult classics that simply become classics. First airing In 1993, Chris Carter’s The X-Files falls into the latter category. With a mix of sci-fi and paranormal phenomena, The X-Files pioneered the true-believer vs. skeptic formula while exploring the unknown. Although evidence of aliens may still be elusive, there are many other unknowns we’re all explori...

Not every song is a hit. This Elvis cut titled, “There’s a Story in Your Voice,” was not. No, not that Elvis. Elvis Costello is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame despite modest commercial success. His range, both in performing and writing, spans rock, jazz, R&B, country, Tin Pan Alley, and even classical music. This duet with Lucinda Williams, off the 2004 album, The Delivery Man, exp...

Despite barely touching the top 40 charts in the US, I’m willing to bet you’ve heard this debut single of the British duo, the Ting Tings. Over the past decade and a half, it’s been used in TV episodes, fashion shows, movies, viral TikTok videos, and commercials. It evokes the feeling of invisibility when your name is forgotten or mispronounced. While Afshan Kinder and I set out to have a conversa...

Being memorable as a business doesn’t mean you need an Oscar-winning song associated with you. But it certainly doesn’t hurt. It’s hard not to think of Dick Van Dyke as a chimney sweep when you hear him singing along with Julie Andrews in the 1964 musical, Mary Poppins. Van Dyke sets an awfully high bar for a memorable home services experience but my guest today, Vance Morris, says that not only c...

The 1942 film, Casablanca, is one of the most loved films in history. Humphrey Bogart’s character, Rick is a cynical American expat and club owner, while Claude Rains is the corrupt Captain Louis Renault. Cooperation is not what either had in mind in this scene, but when the police arrive after Rick shoots Major Strasser dead, Louis decides to be of service to Rick by telling the arriving policeme...

While Detroit claimed “Hitsville, USA” at Motown Records, Memphis claimed “Soulsville, USA” at Stax Records. Stax was a scrappy startup that set up shop in an old movie theater and blended emerging R&B styles into the “Memphis Sound” of soul music. And the story of Stax Records can’t be told without Otis Redding. “Security” was the last of four successful singles off his first album, Pain in M...

Have you ever misheard something in a song or maybe a movie only to later learn what was actually being said? While Pooh and Eeyore aren’t typically hard of hearing, they certainly mistook Owl’s intent in this scene from the 2011 animated film, Winnie the Pooh. Today, you can watch this film with captions and in doing so, it’s very obvious that Owl says “issue” rather than “achoo” because you can...

Mad Men was a study in identities – of characters and of brands. Don Draper, played by John Hamm, is a master of fabrications and storytelling. He understands what motivates Americans of the time even if he doesn’t understand himself. The show explores the brand strategy behind some of the most iconic brands and in this scene, he even discusses a still prevalent strategy of driving sales – the cou...

Kanye West’s 2007 hit, Stronger, paraphrased Friedrich Nietzsche’s maxim, “What does not kill me makes me stronger.” The idea is that the trials, tribulations, and challenges we face in life help us grow. It’s a rallying cry used by many in the face of difficult circumstances. A closer reading within context, however, opens the door to different interpretations. Regardless of how you interpret Nie...

When Centauri whisks away Alex Rogan to defend the frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan Armada in 1984’s The Last Starfighter, he leaves behind his assistant, Beta, to act as a doppelgänger proxy for Alex while he’s away. Beta is a simuloid designed to take the form of a person and act as a stand in for that person. Proxies like Beta are the stuff of science fiction. But artificial intelligence adv...

In 1962, The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Elvis Presley topped multiple charts with Return to Sender, a song about a heartbroken man whose mail to the object of his love is always returned unopened. Over 60 years later, the concept of a handwritten apology sent via mail probably seems foreign when we have access to Snapchat, Whatsapp, and Messenger, among many other communication options. But January is...

Let’s hit rewind this week and take a quick listen to some moments from some of my favorite episodes from the past year. It’s awfully hard to pick favorites from over 50 guests I hosted in 2024. Each episode was wonderful in its own way. This episode features great moments from Kent Morita, Stacy Sherman, Sarah Hatter, Luke Jamieson, Sarah Caminiti, Lindsay Haun, Matt Beran, Amas Tenumah, Jarad Ha...

In 2011, Game of Thrones took the world by storm. Ned Stark, played by Sean Bean, is the head of House Stark, the ruling family of the North. In this scene, we first hear the phrase, “Winter is coming,” the motto of House of Stark. The phrase was used so often that it’s taken on a life of its own, even spawning many popular memes. Simply put, it’s a warning to be prepared for harsh and unpredictab...

The 1984 video for Magic by the Cars featured a wild cast of characters who rush to surround a backyard pool. Why? Lead singer Ric Ocasek walks on water while singing about how the feeling of being close with someone can be like magic. The entire crowd is fixated on Ocasek throughout the video, even after he leaves the water and walks around the pool’s perimeter. It’s the kind of attention that an...

In 1981, Billy Idol left his previous band, Generation X, and went solo. His first single was Dancing with Myself, a remix of a UK flop single he’d recorded with Generation X. But by changing the mix to accentuate the vocals and percussion, the new version was perfect for the newly launched MTV. He became one of the first rockstars popularized on the new channel. Dancing with Myself explored a lac...

Perhaps the most challenging part of being a founder of a company is dealing with growth. Anne Hathaway’s character, Jules, in the 2015 film, The Intern, grapples with the consequences of her company’s growth and the struggle to let go of certain aspects of the business. Finding the right fit for any job is a challenge – one we’ve recently explored on this show. But finding the right fit for leade...

Perhaps no person loved Thanksgiving more than John Madden. After serving 10 seasons as the head coach of the NFL’s Oakland Raiders, Madden began the part of his career that led him to be the most recognizable name in football. As the color commentator for NFL broadcasts for the next 30 years, Madden’s love of Thanksgiving popularized the “Turducken,” a deboned chicken stuffed into a deboned duck,...

Very few interviews will ever resemble the one Winston Zeddmore went through in the 1984 classic, Ghostbusters. Hired on the spot as the 4th Ghostbuster, Zeddmore, played by Ernie Hudson, was desperate and so were the Ghostbusters. Annie Potts, playing Janine Melnitz, performed perhaps the strangest and shortest first interview ever. Within a minute, Zeddmore was hired by Dan Aykroyd’s Ray Stantz...

Rock Hudson gives Elizabeth Taylor a foodie lesson in 1956’s Giant about the origin of barbeque. Barbacoa de Cabeza isn’t a dish that most would immediately think of as “barbeque” today, but the cooking technique is certainly replicated for many kinds of common barbeque. Spanish explorers learned that technique on the island of Hispaniola and brought it with them to mainland America. Today, whethe...

For many, the 1983 film, WarGames, was an introduction into the world of hacking. Mathew Broderick hacks into a military central computer to play a game not realizing the explosive consequences. The Cold War era fear of launching a nuclear arsenal to begin World War III was purposeful hyperbole at the time. But the supercomputer named WOPR that talked in natural language and learned as it went doe...

When Jenny tells Forest Gump to run, well, that’s what he does. But he didn’t just run. He became an All-American kick returner for Bear Bryant’s University of Alabama football team. Later in this 1994 film, Forest runs across the country at least 4 times, inspiring a following that runs with him over the course of over 3 years, 2 months, 14 days, and 16 hours. But despite his love of running, eve...