What Does It Profit Podcast

In this episode, we're going to a difficult place.  How do we as a society express-- or dare we say-- determine the value of a human life?  The question itself forces us to make an important distinction between economic value and moral value. And to help us sort through this, we couldn't think of anyone better than the Special Master of the 9/11 Victim's Compensation Fund-- Ken Feinberg. He is arg...

We start our second season with one of the most notorious narco money men in US history, Jorge Valdes. We hear the story of how a 10-year old Cuban refugee becomes the youngest person to work at the Federal Reserve Bank in Miami and who then goes on in the '70s and '80s to run the international operations of the Medellin drug cartel. Jorge is one of only a handful of the leadership from that era w...

In this special bonus episode, we revisit an issue we explored in the first episode of the season and talk with Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams about her work to engage with Chevron at its 2020 annual shareholder meeting, using her activist shareholder voice to urge for Chevron shareholders to be able to call special meetings to discuss significant issues affecting shareholder value.  In this c...

Welcome to those who have just found us... and welcome back to our loyal WDIP listeners.  This three minute trailer takes a tour through some of what we learned in Season 1 on our quest to explore the moral and social value of business.  Season 2 promises introductions to voices you might never imagine on a business show.  Think of it as Business Talk 2.0-- listen with your conscience.  Join us fo...

In this episode, we rewind the clock to pre-COVID days and take an "audio" vacation to the Amalfi Coast of Italy.  We talk with culinary entrepreneur Chiara Lima of the famed Mamma Agata Cooking School in Ravello. Family businesses can be found all over the world, and here in Italy the "happy hands" of the entire family are involved. Buon Natale... Saluti!

In this episode, we talk with CSR and sustainability legend, John Elkington.  John takes us beyond his "people, planet, and profit" to the "U-bend" and on to the green swans that bring us regenerative capitalism.  John is one of the world's leading futurists and is here with us to share his hopeful vision for the future.

In this episode, we talk with Lisa Mensah, President and CEO of the Opportunity Finance Network about "finance justice."  We talk about how the struggle for justice in our country has much to do with money.  We talk about the work of CDFIs (Community Develop Financial Institutions) and the role that they play in fostering economic justice in some of our nation's most challenged and disinvested com...

In this episode, we talk with Cat Berman, CEO and co-founder of CNote , a specialty investment firm that seeks to turn idle savings into resources for change. Cat left her role at Charles Schwab to use her finance and investment skills to bring high-quality financial products to underserved markets.  Cat discusses the transformative power of finance and the multiplier affect of strategic investmen...

In this episode, we talk with former BlackRock executive, Morris Pearl, about his crusade to enlist his fellow millionaires to support the idea that even the rich see it in their interest to pay more taxes. Capitalist to the core, Pearl warns critics not to conflate paying taxes and civic duty with the naughty scare-word: socialism.

In this episode, we talk with business ethicist Kirk O. Hanson about corporate misbehavior. He and co-author Marc Epstein posit a theory that not only are there bad apples, but there are also bad barrels-- and some industries are just ripe with bad orchards.  In their book, Rotten: Why Corporate Misconduct Continues and What to Do about It , they tell the tales that end up inspiring corporate scan...

In this episode, we talk with one of the world's leading lawyers for whistleblowers, Mary Inman of Constantine Cannon . Mary tells us the story behind the famous whistleblowers at Theranos and Boeing and offers insight on the often-heroic sacrifices of those who see it as their duty to the common good to stand up for better behavior in business.  Mary challenges us to rethink how we view whistlebl...

In this episode, we talk with UCLA corporate law historian Adam Winkler about that other civil rights movement-- the corporate civil rights movement. Its seems like an apt conversation to have on a business show amidst these dynamic times and this generation's civil rights movement.  Move over Pete Seeger , Beyonce , and Z-Ro and make room for Roy Zimmerman . Corporations as people... corporations...

In this episode, our guests talk corporate politics—but not the back-biting, ladder-climbing politics kind. We talk with Dan Ekstein, a leading corporate political strategist and muse about Levi's and Patagonia's call to political action. We also talk with Gabe Rissman, co-Founder of yourstake.org—a data management company that works with investment advisors to help them identify the ESG metrics o...

In this episode, we talk with shareholder activism pioneer, Bruce Herbert of Newground Social Investment . Bruce recently brought together an A-list celebrity team from Alec Baldwin, Roger Waters, and Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams to make the case that there are Chevron shareholders who believe it is both in the company's interest and the interest of the common good to honor its obligations o...

In this episode, we talk with the Father of the Conscious Capitalism Movement, Raj Sisodia.  We explore the idea that business has the capacity to be the engine for tremendous positive change on both a personal and societal level. He also reminds us that business, if not practiced in a conscious way, can also be the source of marginalization and exploitation.  We are inspired by his stories of how...

In this episode, we talk with Fahmi Quadir, known as the assassin of Wall Street to some, but a hero to us.  Fahmi is one of the world's leading short-selling hedge fund managers who looks to use a short investing strategy to achieve alpha... and to focus the world on companies whose demise makes the world a better place.  In our conversation, we hear about two of her iconic trades-- one in pharma...

What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?    Spoiler alert: Nothing.   This bible verse has endured as a reminder that we can't put our price tag on what matters most.  Yet, time and again, businesses have put profits above all. Can we align growing returns with the greater good? Former investment banker turned business ethicist Dawn Carpenter believes we can -- and that...