Thecuriousmanspodcast

In this episode I speak with former federal prosecutor, senior Justice Department official, prominent legal analyst, CNN and SiriusXM guest host Elliot Williams about his book, Five Bullets: The Story of Bernie Goetz, New York's Explosive '80s, and the Subway Vigilante Trial That Divided the Nation. A case that was a flashpoint and a nucleus for many powerful figures in New York that still shape t...

In this episode, host Matt Crawford speaks with award-winning journalist Matthew Davis about his book A Biography of a Mountain: The Making and Meaning of Mount Rushmore . Davis traces the mountain's transformation from sacred land to national monument, examining the artistic ambition, political motivations, labor history, and cultural conflicts embedded in Mount Rushmore's creation. The conversat...

My guest today is Dean Foster , a leading expert in cross-cultural communication and the author of Doing Business Beyond Borders Successfully . Dean has spent decades helping organizations, leaders, and teams navigate cultural differences with clarity, respect, and real-world results. In this conversation, we explore why cultural misunderstandings happen, how they can quietly derail global success...

In this episode, host Matt Crawford sits down with children's author Amy Pollack for a joyful conversation about writing for young readers, nurturing a love of books, and helping children explore big ideas through stories made just for them. Amy shares how she thinks about her audience, the role of educators and mentors in shaping lifelong readers, and how parents can use stories as a bridge for m...

In this interview I speak with former Reuter's reporter Jeremy Clift about his two science-fiction novels, Born In Space and Space Vault.  We discuss how his career in journalism started, how his international reporting influenced his world view and what led him to foray into science-fiction writing. Born In Space and Space Vault, the first in the series delves into the not-so-distant future and t...

Today on TheCuriousMansPodcast I sit down with author Dennis Feece to discuss his new book, The Phantom Grasp: A T.B Stone Mystery. T.B is back at it again and as usual Feece delivers. With a great mystery to solve, good food and drink this book pulls you in just as much as the previous in the trilogy. Come join old friends, hop in the Spider and hold on!

Today on TheCuriousMansPodcast, we're joined by award-winning author and historian Ann Bausum , whose powerful new work, White Lies , examines one of the most consequential misinformation campaigns in American history: the rewriting of the Civil War. Bausum unpacks how the South — with help from surprising allies in the North — transformed defeat into mythology, recasting slavery, secession, and r...

Isit down with David Eliot, author of Artificially Intelligent: The Very Human Story of AI , to explore the human drama behind the rise of artificial intelligence. They discuss the myths that shaped the field, the innovators who steered it, the promises and pitfalls of today's systems, and what AI is revealing about human creativity and identity. A deep and accessible look at the future of intelli...

In this podcast I sit down with Lisa Endo Cooper and Bremond Berry MacDougal who founded their own publishing house Quite Literally Books.    Quite Literally Books is a small, woman-owned independent press on a mission to bring forgotten bestsellers by American women authors back to life.  

Today on the show, we're joined by Brian Potter — engineer, researcher, and author of the groundbreaking new book The Origins of Efficiency . In this conversation, Brian unpacks why certain industries evolve toward extraordinary efficiency while others stagnate, and what history can teach us about building better systems today. From 19th-century factories to modern construction sites, Brian reveal...

This week I'm joined by  Robbie Bach , former Chief Xbox Officer at Microsoft and author of  The Wilkes Insurrection and its follow up The Blockchain Syndicate. The Wilkes Insurrection is a high-intensity thriller rooted in real-world technology and geopolitical tension. We discuss how fiction can reveal the current climate in a way that may surprise most. It also should make us ask the tough ques...

In this episode, host  Matt Crawford  sits down with  Dr. James Bellingham , leading ocean engineer and Executive Director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Assured Autonomy, to discuss his groundbreaking new book  How Are Marine Robots Shaping Our Future? We explore how robotics and AI are transforming ocean science, climate research, national security, global economics, and even the way humanit...

In this episode, host  Matt Crawford  sits down with leadership expert, coach, and author  George  Pesansky  to explore his powerful new book  Superperformance: 8 Strategies to Reach Your Full Potential for Yourself, Your Team, and Your Organization. Drawing from decades of experience guiding leaders and organizations toward peak effectiveness,  George  outlines how everyday people can unlock extr...

In this episode, host Matt Crawford  speaks with writer and leadership collaborator  Martha  C. Lawrence  about her insightful book  Catch People Doing Things Right: How Ken Blanchard Changed the Way the World Leads. Drawing on decades of insight into the leadership principles of Ken Blanchard — the bestselling author of  The One Minute Manager  and one of the most influential thinkers in modern l...

In this episode, host  Matt Crawford  welcomes author, ecologist, and essayist  Bridget A. Lyons  to discuss her beautiful and thought-provoking book,  Entwined: Dispatches from the Intersection of Species. Blending science, philosophy, and lyrical storytelling, Lyons invites readers to reconsider what it means to be human in a world alive with other intelligences. Her work explores the profound c...

In this episode, I sit down with motivational psychology expert Dr. Bobby Hoffman  to explore the fascinating ideas behind his new book  The Paradox of Passion: How Rewards Covertly Control Motivation. Dr. Hoffman unpacks one of the most overlooked truths in human behavior — that the very rewards we use to inspire achievement often end up sabotaging our passion and autonomy. Drawing from decades o...

In this deeply moving episode, I sit down with author, advocate, and podcast host Kelly Cervantes  to discuss her acclaimed memoir  The Luckiest: A Memoir of Love, Loss, Motherhood, and the Pursuit of Self. Kelly  opens her heart about the journey through her daughter Adelaide's illness and passing, the complexities of caregiving, and what it means to rediscover identity and purpose in the afterma...

In this gripping episode, host  Matt Crawford  talks with journalist and author  Devon O'Neil  about his powerful new book  The Way Out: A True Story of Survival in the Heart of the Rockies. Blending the tension of a true survival thriller with the depth of a human drama, O'Neil chronicles an extraordinary real-life story of endurance, fear, and hope in one of the harshest landscapes on Earth. The...

What if the maps we trust most — the ones hanging in classrooms or glowing on our phones — are shaping not just how we  see  the world, but how we  think  about it? In this episode,  Matt Crawford  speaks with  William Rankin , historian of science, cartographer, and author of  Radical Cartography: How Changing Our Maps Can Change Our World.  Rankin reveals how every map tells a story — and how th...

In this episode, host  Matt Crawford  speaks with novelist  Rick Steinke  about his gripping and heartfelt novel  Vital Mission: A Jake Fortina Series Love Story.  Set against the backdrop of courage, service, and sacrifice,  Vital Mission explores what servie and heroism really mean and how novels can evoke feeling history sometime cant. Steinke shares how his military background and life experie...

What if the American Revolution wasn't just a national uprising — but a global turning point? Prize-winning historian Richard   Bell  joins Matt Crawford to discuss his groundbreaking new book,  The American Revolution and the Fate of the World.  In this episode,  Bell  reframes the Revolution as an event that reverberated far beyond the thirteen colonies — reshaping empires, inspiring new movemen...

They were told they could be anything — then handed a world on fire. Award-winning journalist  Charlie   Wells  joins Matt Crawford to discuss his new book  What Happened to Millennials: In Defense of a Generation , a deeply reported and provocative look at how the largest generation in history was shaped by economic crises, digital revolutions, and cultural change. Matt and  Charlie  explore how...

What happens when the person searching for truth is the one most haunted by it? In this episode, host  Matt Crawford  speaks with  Canadian author  Joel   Nedecky  about his powerful debut novel,  The Broken Detective.  This isn't your typical crime story — it's a meditation on guilt, redemption, and the fragile humanity behind every investigation. Nedecky 's novel follows a detective unraveling n...

In this episode, we're joined by  Anne   Hand , author of  Austrian Again: Reclaiming a Lost Legacy , a powerful exploration of identity, ancestry, and rediscovery. Through personal storytelling and historical reflection,  Anne  takes us on her journey to reconnect with her Austrian roots—uncovering forgotten family stories, confronting the silences of the past, and reclaiming a legacy nearly lost...

For decades, we've been told the dinosaurs were wiped out by a single catastrophic asteroid impact — a story that has become almost mythic in its simplicity. But what if that isn't the full truth? In this episode, host  Matt Crawford  speaks with  Professor Gerta Keller , one of the world's leading paleontologists and a bold voice challenging conventional science. Drawing on over 40 years of field...