Smart People Podcast

Stefan Molyneux – Philosopher, host of Freedomain Radio When you take a stance on something, you’re bound to have those on the other side that try to take you down.  In fact, many people believe, that if you aren’t making enemies, then you aren’t saying anything substantial.  Well, if you believe this to be true, then... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex Stone – Magician, writer, speaker I don’t know about you, but growing up I had this hilarious $10 magic set.  It came with some weird squishy ball, a few metal rings, some cards, a cape, and of course…. a wand.  Thinking back, I don’t know how my parents even sat through my poor attempt... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marty Cagan – Expert on all things product, founding partner of the Silicon Valley Product Group If you have ever thought about creating or inventing ANYTHING….seriously listen to this episode. How many ‘products’ do you think you use in a day?  Even if you just look at a small subset of your day, the list... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sydney Finkelstein – Steven Roth Professor of Management at Dartmouth, author, expert on strategy and leadership. Businesses fail all the time.  Such is the nature of the beast.  It’s survival of the fittest, healthy competition, may the best man win.  So you would think, when the cream rises to the top and a company takes... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brandon (BJ) Mendelson – Author of Social Media is Bullshit If you are one of the lucky few that has thousands upon thousands of twitter followers, congratulations….it means nothing.  Your company has 50,000 facebook likes? Sorry, but they only did it for the coupon you offered them.  You post the most amazing infographics on Pinterest?... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adcho...

Brian Orend, Ph. D. – philosopher, professor, author, speaker “War, huh – yeah, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing” – Edwin Starr (Lyrics to the song WAR) War is good for absolutely nothing. People die, civilizations are destroyed, earth is scorched, humanity is tarnished.  It should be avoided at all costs. Why can’t we all... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Peter Webster & Kyle Robertson: Founders of iCare There is a major social revolution taking place right now thanks to social media and mobile technology.  For the first time in history, it is easier to get one million people to donate $1 than it is to get one person to donate $1 Million.  On top... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Mollie Marti – lawyer, author, psychologist, professor It’s funny how, as a child, you are amazed at how much other people know.  Whether it be your older sibling, a neighbor, or your parents, the things they know are astounding.  But as we grow older, something funny happens.  We tend to focus our attention inward... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brian Dunning – Skeptoid podcast producer, professional myth-buster, author, entrepreneur. Did you know that 98% of all statistics are made up? Did you know I just made THAT statistic up? In an age of information overload, it’s very hard to sift through it all.  For every question, I can find you two very convincing answers, with... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fran Hawthorne – Author of Ethical Chic: The Inside Story of the Companies We Think We Love There’s a reason why the largest corporations also have the largest marketing budgets.  With all of the competition out there today, a company’s image is just as important as the products that it sells.  For example, hear the word Lexus... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Linda McQuaig – Prolific journalist, critic, and author of “Billionaires’ Ball: Gluttony and Hubris in an Age of Epic Inequality” Don’t forget to use our amazon link for all of your cyber Monday (and future) purchases.  Click here to go straight to amazon and get your shop on! How about a few fun facts, just to... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Richard Fine – CEO of Help Remedies/drug dealer (don’t worry, it’s legal). I had a long day at the office today and it left me with a raging headache.  I sauntered to the nearest pharmacy, stood in the painkiller aisle, looked at the plethora of choices, and you know what happened…my headache got worse.  What... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. James Serpell – Expert on human-animal interaction, author, Professor, Director of the Center for the Interaction of Animals and Society. If you own a dog, I can almost guarantee that at one point you have found yourself having an entire conversation with them.  You have sat down with your dog, just as if you... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark Malkoff – Filmmaker, adventurer, comedian We all know that guy.  The ideas guy.  The non-action guy.  The guy that say’s things like “Dude, I KNEW I should have bought Apple stock when it was at $60,” or “I can’t believe that business stole my idea,” or “as soon as work slows down I’m going... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Richard Davidson – Harvard educated professor, expert in emotions, author and long time friend of the Dalai Lama. Do you know how long “meditate daily” has been on my to-do list? Probably twice as long as “go to the dentist” has been on yours.  For me, the act of meditation represents everything that is... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ann Louise Gittleman – “The First Lady of Nutrition” Consider your typical day.  You cook in your microwave, you call people on your cell phone, you work all day on your laptop – wirelessly connected to the world of the interwebs, you read books on your kindle, you listen to the radio in the car,... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reggie Freeman – Fire Chief, Emergency Management, CEO & President of The Freeman Group, LLC Catastrophe is all around us.  Massive snow storms, excessive heat waves, floods, power outages and hurricanes are all part of life on earth.  Whether you call it climate change, the zombie apocalypse or the end of the Mayan calendar, it is... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arun Chaudhary – First ever official White House Videographer This podcast is recorded exactly 6 miles from the White House.  My day job office building is literally a pitching wedge away from the front steps of the President’s home.  And yet, every time I pass those huge white pillars and that rolling green lawn, I... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan Haidt – morality, emotion and politics: “Morality binds people together into teams that seek victory, not truth, and it closes hearts and minds.” Taking the moral high ground is considered noble.  Being morally sound is an admirable trait.  But who determines if your moral stance is correct? Ultimately you do…don’t you?   I mean, as this week’s guest points... Learn more about your ad cho...

Shannon Kaiser –  travel writer, inspirational author, motivational speaker Sometimes here at SPP, we judge a book by it’s cover…literally.  We will see the most recent NY Times Bestseller and we fawn over the author.  The more designations, recommendations,  and accolations (hey, it’s a word in  Urban Dictionary) a person has, the more insight they... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megap...

Dr. Brian Wansink –  Director of the Cornell Food & Brand Lab, marketing guru, author and MUCH more. The Boston Medical Center indicates that approximately 45 million Americans diet each year and spend $33 billion on weight-loss products in their pursuit of a trimmer, fitter body.  I’d be willing to bet, if you are reading... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Creativity is like a fire hose.  Once you turn it on it’s hard to control, it spews out haphazardly, and if you don’t have a firm grasp on it, it can whip you in just about any direction.  The power that it yields is immense; however, one small malfunction can completely stop the flow and... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For most of us, our high school textbooks were nothing more than a paper weight.  Maybe if we would have actually opened them, we wouldn’t need to rely on talking to smart people, but that’s neither here nor there.  The main reason we didn’t care what was inside those massive bound bundles of  boring (yay... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we cover some seriously heavy topics.  What plays a bigger role in who you are, your experiences or your genetics? Are emotions strictly a biological response to an event, easily defined by the chemical that they are related to?  Are we born as moral beings, or is even morality subject to circumstances? What... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s not the first time we’ve talked about it, and it won’t be the last.  The human brain is plain ol’ amazing.  For example, have you ever thought about where a memory is stored? Give it a real long ponder.  Somewhere in your 3 pound ball of spongy tissue, memories from decades past are filed... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices