The Penta Podcast Channel

This week on What's At Stake, Penta Partner Andrea Christianson is joined by two executives from Cognizant Technologies: Senior Vice President of Legal and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Tobi Young and Chief Technology Officer for AI Babak Hodjat . The group discusses AI in the context of the workforce and how it could help companies operate more dynamically. Additionally, they highlight how tool...

In celebration of International Women's Month and support of Penta's global DE&I efforts, join Senior Associate Lizzie Johnson as she speaks with Penta Managing Directors Ylan Mui from D.C., Louise Ford from London, and Deborah Giam from Singapore about their career experiences and advice for young women in the workforce. The group discusses how companies can support women (and all of their em...

This week on What's at Stake, hosts Penta Partner Bryan DeAngelis and Managing Director Ylan Mui are joined by Senior Vice President of Strategic Communications for the American Gaming Association Joe Maloney for a special March Madness episode on the American gaming industry. They discuss the contributions of the industry including its impact on  jobs, wages, and tax revenues, as well as how...

This week on What's at Stake, hosts Penta Partner Bryan DeAngelis and Managing Director Ylan Mui are joined by John Fagan and Brendan Walsh from Markets Policy Partners. In the wake of the March Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meeting, the group dissects the potential for upcoming rate cuts and implications for financial markets. Amidst election year tensions, they also explore the nuanced i...

This week on What's at Stake, hosts Penta Partner Bryan DeAngelis and Managing Director Ylan Mui are joined by Penta Senior Partner Kevin Madden for a special episode on President Biden's impassioned State of the Union address. They assess Biden's performance delivering a speech that spanned many different policy areas, including healthcare, the economy, and immigration—pivotal issues given this y...

In this week's episode of What's At Stake, hosts Bryan DeAngelis and Tucker Warren, partners from Penta's Washington, D.C. office, welcome special guest Eleanor Hawkins, reporter and author of the Axios Communicators newsletter. The discussion explores the origins and success of Axios Communicators, Eleanor's newsletter that offers insights on the latest communication trends impacting businesses,...

On this week's episode of What's At Stake, Penta Managing Partner Andy Whitehouse sits down with journalist and author Josie Cox to celebrate the launch of her new book, "Women Money Power." During their discussion, Josie recounts the journey of completing her new book, detailing the book's inspiration, research, and drafting process. Josie also shares some of her most fascinating findings, detail...

This week on What's At Stake, tune into another episode of our Artificially Intelligent Conversations series. Each month, Penta Partners Andrea Christianson and Chris Mehigan will dissect the AI latest news and developments from each side of the Atlantic, helping you understand how AI will affect stakeholder management, policy, and more. This week, they discuss the fascinating ways in which AI wil...

In this final joint episode of the Macrocast, host Ylan Mui, Managing Director at Penta, alongside co-hosts John Fagan and Brendan Walsh of Markets Policy Partners say their farewells. The Macrocast will no longer continue as a joint production. Instead, John and Brendan will be spearheading its relaunch under the Markets Policy Partners banner.  This episode is not a goodbye but rather a reu...

This week on What's at Stake, Bryan and Ylan are joined by Ben Ritz, director of the Center for Funding America's Future at the Progressive Policy Institute. Ben, Ylan, and Bryan have a great conversation on key fiscal policy priorities including the current state of U.S. government funding and America's national debt. Ben explains the current state of play and implications of the proposed Fiscal...

Join Ylan, John, and Brendan on the Macrocast this week as they discuss the unexpected inflation data and its ripple effects. They discuss January's inflation rates and how they will impact the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy leading up to election season. They also break down retail sales and discuss if the soft landing is likely amidst the tension between layoffs and resilience in various...

On this week's episode of What's at Stake, Penta Partner Bryan DeAngelis and Managing Director Ylan Mui explore the implications of the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act with expert insights from guests Michael Steel, senior vice president of Communications at Business Roundtable and Kasey Pittman, a director with Baker Tilly’s Washington national tax practice. They offer analysis o...

On today's episode of the Macrocast, Ylan, Brendan, and John examine the implications of extensive borrowing, as the U.S. debt approaches 106% of GDP. The group discusses the projections from the Congressional Budget Office, the impact of rising interest rates, and the scrutiny on the Treasury Department's past decisions. Ylan, John, and Brendan also discuss the impact of expiring tax cuts. Ylan,...

On this week's episode of What’s at Stake, Penta Partner Bryan DeAngelis sits down with Emily Vaughan, Senior Director of Client Services, Natalie Bahmanyar, Associate Director of Policy Insiders, and Sehare Hemani, Director of Research, to dissect the Washington Insights Review, Penta’s annual report based on hundreds of conversations with D.C. policymakers.  The group dives into the complex...

On today's episode of the Macrocast, Ylan, John, and Brendan are joined by Loren Smith, President of Skyline Policy Risk Group. The group delves into the addition of 353,000 jobs to the economy in January, which surpassed the expected 180,000 projected by market forecasters. They analyze the implications of this growth streak across various sectors and its potential impact on the Federal Reserve's...

On this week's edition of What's at Stake, Andy Whitehouse, host and senior partner of Penta's NYC office is joined by President of Penta Matt McDonald, D.C.-based Partner Stacy Kerr, and Brussels-based Partner Conall McDevitt to discuss Penta's presence in Davos in January. Andy, Matt, Stacy, and Conall took to the mountains for the 2024 World Economic Forum. During the episode, the group shared...

This week on the Macrocast, Ylan, John, and Brendan are joined by Nick Bunker, Director of North American Economic Research at Indeed to discuss the latest core PCE data. Nick discusses some of Indeed's proprietary labor market data, including its Job Postings Index , that shows that average wages are now outpacing inflation.  Nick brings his expertise to the conversation, discussing the Fed'...

Tune in for another exciting edition of the Macrocast! This week, Ylan, John, and Brendan dissect how geopolitical chess moves—like Russia's recent maneuvers and the Houthi conflicts—pose a threat to economic stability. The discussion includes commentary on stagflation and the Fed's delicate interest rate tightrope walk, considering how these decisions could affect the approaching 2024 election cy...

In today's installation of our 2024 election series, host and Penta Senior Partner Kevin Madden is joined by Penta Director Brendan Conley and special guest David Kochel, an inside participant in six presidential campaigns and current host of the HighBall Politics podcast. The group breaks down the results of the recent Iowa Republican caucus, examining the political undercurrents that contributed...

This week on What's At Stake, tune into the inaugural episode of our Artificially Intelligent Conversations series. Each month, Penta Partners Andrea Christianson and Chris Mehigan will dissect the AI latest news and developments from each side of the Atlantic, helping you understand how AI will affect stakeholder management, policy, and more. This week, they discussed two major reports released l...

In this week's Macrocast, Ylan, John, and Brendan unpack the global instability and domestic politics contributing to macroeconomic uncertainty. The group begins with a discussion of the oil markets, impacted most recently by U.S. strikes against Houthi rebels and geopolitics more broadly. Other factors, such as weak demand and rising U.S. reserves have put downward pressure on crude oil prices an...

On this week's What's At Stake, Penta Partner Bryan DeAngelis speaks with Penta Partners and campaign veterans Kevin Madden and Stacy Kerr about campaign communications in 2024, an unprecedented year of global elections. The guests offer insights into the shift from the intimate, hand-shaking days of retail politics to the fast-paced digital landscape that now dominates voter interaction. They dis...

In this week's Macrocast, Ylan, John, and Brendan host a conversation with special guest Michael Strain, the Director of Economic Policy Studies and the Arthur F. Burns Scholar in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). Their discussion begins by analyzing the addition of 216,000 jobs and a steadfast unemployment rate, examining how different economic indicators impact the Fe...

Just in time for those looking to read more as part of their New Year's resolution, we're re-releasing one of of our favorite episodes of What's at Stake: the case for reading business books. In the episode, Penta President Matt McDonald joins partner Andrea Christianson to share his reading recommendations for those interested in business, including young professionals, aspiring leaders, and expe...

On today's Macrocast episode, Ylan, John, Brendan, and John Dick of Civic Science chat about the latest inflation numbers from the core personal consumption expenditures price index, which rose less than expected in November. The group explained that the reaction to the news was broadly a "yawn" as the market remains focused on a soft landing. John Dick also talks through the latest Economic Senti...