unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc

In a world of constant, rapid digital transformation, one industry has struggled to evolve: construction. With all the gains made in efficiency and productivity, what’s holding the construction industry back?  Brian Potter is a senior fellow at the Institute for Progress and author of the book, The Origins of Efficiency which charts the history of production efficiency, examining the great leaps f...

Aaron Brown is an author and risk management professional, formerly the Chief Risk Officer at the hedge fund AQR. Aaron’s recent works are titled Wrong Number: How to Extract Truth From a Blizzard of Quantitative Disinformation and The Poker Face of Wall Street. Greg and Aaron discuss why quantitatively flawed studies still persist today. Aaron argues that the central problem is not just incompete...

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld is a professor of management and senior associate dean for leadership studies at the Yale School of Management. He is also the author, co-author, and editor of a number of books. His works include The Hero's Farewell: What Happens When CEOs Retire , Firing Back: How Great Leaders Rebound After Career Disasters , and, most recently, Trump's Ten Commandments: Strategic Lessons fro...

What insights on social psychology can be gleaned from ancient texts?  William Ian Miller is a professor of law at the University of Michigan and prolific author. His work is that of a polymath and covers everything from Icelandic sagas ( Bloodtaking and Peacemaking: Feud, Law, and Society in Saga Iceland ; ' Why is your axe bloody?': A Reading of Njals Saga ) to philosophical meditations on what...

Kyle Chayka is a staff writer for the New Yorker and also the author of the books Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture and The Longing for Less: What's Missing from Minimalism . Greg and Kyle discuss how algorithmic feeds shift culture from the “long tail” promise of niche discovery toward homogenization, rapid fads, and blockbuster dominance. Kyle argues platforms lower barriers to publi...

Christian B. Miller is the A.C. Reid Professor of Philosophy at Wake Forest University and the author of several books. His latest title is The Honesty Crisis: Preserving Our Most Treasured Virtue in an Increasingly Dishonest World .  Greg and Christian discuss what Christian calls ‘The Honesty Crisis.’ He defines honesty as a virtue involving both stable honest behavior (not lying, cheating, stea...

Nicolas Darveau-Garneau is the founder of Garneau Digital Advisors, is the former chief evangelist of Google, and is the author of the book Be a Sequoia, Not a Bonsai: The Seven Growth Secrets of the World’s Most Successful Companies . Greg and Nicolas discuss how AI systems are akin to powerful “genies,” but the real power and risk come from the “wishes” humans give them. With everyone having sim...

Peter Fleming is a professor of management at the University of Technology Sydney, and also the author of several books. His recent works are Dark Academia: How Universities Die , Sugar Daddy Capitalism: The Dark Side of the New Economy , and The Death of Homo Economicus: Work, Debt and the Myth of Endless Accumulation . Greg and Peter discuss doing critical theory inside business schools and how...

Matt Kaplan is the science correspondent at The Economist and also the author of a number of books. His latest work is I Told You So!: Scientists Who Were Ridiculed, Exiled, and Imprisoned for Being Right . Greg and Matt discuss how Matt chose science journalism over academia, the value of being a generalist, and how journalists can cross-pollinate ideas from others. They also discuss academic sil...

Dale Bredesen is the senior director of the Precision Brain Health Program at Pacific Neuroscience Institute and also the founding CEO of the Buck Institute. He also has authored a number of books, including, most recently, The Ageless Brain: How to Sharpen and Protect Your Mind for a Lifetime and The End of Alzheimer's: The First Program to Prevent and Reverse Cognitive Decline . Greg and Dale di...

Carissa Véliz is an Associate Professor in Philosophy at the Institute for Ethics in AI, a Fellow at Hertford College at the University of Oxford, and the author of multiple books, including, most recently, Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI . Greg and Carissa discuss Carissa’s newest work, where she links prediction to surveillance and argues tha...

Eric Ries is an author, podcaster, and founder of The Lean Startup. He hosts The Eric Ries Show and his notable books Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad... and How Great Companies Stay Great , The Lean Startup , Farther, Faster, and Far Less Drama , The Leader's Guide , and The Startup Way . Greg and Eric discuss why startups and corporations lose their mission through shifts from founder-to...

How did a teenage video game designer from London become a Nobel Prize-winning scientist behind one of the most consequential technology efforts in history? Sebastian Mallaby is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of the new book, The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, DeepMind, and the Quest for Superintelligence which provides an in-depth look into one of the greatest m...

Jo Marchant is a science journalist and podcast host, and also the author of several books. Her latest works include In Search of Now: The Science of the Present Moment and Cure: A Journey into the Science of Mind Over Body . Greg and Jo discuss the shared threads across her work: a long view of the history of thought and the mind–body relationship. Jo explains how physics and neuroscience challen...

Tom Rath is a researcher and #1 NYT bestselling author of 12 books. His latest works are How Full Is Your Bucket? And What's the Point? Turning Purpose Into Your Daily Superpower . Greg and Tom discuss the broader arc of Tom’s work, translating research on wellbeing, engagement, and strengths into practical tools. Tom describes shifting from self-improvement to “other-improvement,” using Dr. Marti...

Joanna Stalnaker is a professor of French at Columbia University and also the author of the books The Rest Is Silence: Enlightenment Philosophers Facing Death and The Unfinished Enlightenment: Description in the Age of the Encyclopedia . Greg and Joanna discuss how Enlightenment figures faced death amid disbelief or tempered religious belief. Joanna says scholars have emphasized 18th-century death...

Dan Edelstein is a professor of French, history, and political science at Stanford University. He’s also the author of several books on revolution and the Enlightenment, including The Revolution to Come: A History of an Idea from Thucydides to Lenin , Let There Be Enlightenment: The Religious and Mystical Sources of Rationality , Scripting Revolution: A Historical Approach to the Comparative Study...

How much is on us, as individuals, to fix the world’s great problems? Do initiatives like encouraging homeowners to switch to green energy really move the needle in the battle against climate change? After decades of these types of strategies, it turns out that needle hasn’t moved much.  Nick Chater is a professor of behavioral science at Warwick Business School and author. His latest book, co-aut...

N. Katherine Hayles is a professor of English at UCLA and Emeritus Professor of Literature at Duke University. She is also the author of a number of books on consciousness and AI. Her latest book is titled Bacteria to AI: Human Futures with Our Nonhuman Symbionts . Greg and Katherine discuss technics - recursive feedback loops in which humans and tools co-evolve. Katherine argues that cognitive te...

Iain McGilchrist is a former fellow at Oxford University and the author of a few books, including Ways of Attending: How our Divided Brain Constructs the World , The Matter With Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions and the Unmaking of the World , and The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World . Greg and Iain discuss Iain’s work on hemispheric differences in the...

Susan Wise Bauer is a prolific author, former instructor at the College of William and Mary, and classical education expert. Her books include, The History of the World series, The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had , Rethinking School: How to Take Charge of Your Child's Education , and most recently, The Great Shadow: A History of How Sickness Shapes What We Do,...

How can economic science help you decide which college to attend, or how many children to have, or even who to marry?  Pablo A. Peña is an associate instructional professor of economics at the University of Chicago and the author of Human Capital for Humans: An Accessible Introduction to the Economic Science of People . In the book, he applies economist Gary Becker’s human capital theory to everyd...

Steve H. Hanke is a Professor of Applied Economics and Founder and Co-Director of the Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise at Johns Hopkins University in the Whiting School of Engineering. He is also the author and co-author of several books on economics. His latest title is called Making Money Work: How to Rewrite the Rules of Our Financial System ....

What if reducing screen time or eating less processed food didn’t feel like deprivation, but rather it was the key to unlocking more joy and excitement in our lives?  Michaeleen Doucleff, PhD, is a correspondent for NPR’s Science Desk, where she reports on mental health, nutrition, psychology and neuroscience. She’s also the author of Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us About...

How has the new understanding of broken-windows theory helped to reinforce the importance of community ownership? How do built environments also transmit cultural messages? What does good workplace design actually look like? Leidy Klotz is a professor of engineering, architecture, and a behavioral scientist. He’s also the author of three books: Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less , Sustainabili...