Big Questions with Cal Fussman

As Cal reflects on how to improve healthcare, he goes into his archives and pulls out a conversation he had with the social media guru. It provides the perfect background on how to achieve. Gary Vee shows Cal how the early patterns of success in selling baseball cards and touting wine led to his communications company, VaynerX. Once you've figured out how to find and tell stories about the future,...

Cal goes into his archives to pluck out a story that he loves from the billionaire oil man and business mogul who loved to make money simply to give it away. Though Pickens passed on a couple of years ago, the story of how he turned $500 a week into billions will inspire anyone at a crossroads in life. Cal hopes to use the thinking behind it to impact as many people as possible as he tries to resh...

When Cal heard that Duke men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski would be retiring at the end of the coming basketball season, he went back to re-listen to a conversation he had with the iconic coach ten years ago. Like a rare bottle of wine, age brought new depth to the talk for Cal -- especially when he reached the part where Coach K describes the last few months he spent with competitor and clos...

Cal goes to his personal archives to pull up some thoughts from the body builder, movie star and former governor of California. This includes an epiphany on how the line "I'll be back" came about in The Terminator. Arnold also talks about the self-improvement regimen than made him who he came to be. And Cal looks to shape these thoughts on his own journey to improve health care. Listeners can use...

Cal talks with his dad, Herbert Fussman, about their experience battling through Herb's case of COVID not long after he'd fractured his pelvis. The battle was fought at Herb's home. After one doctor started a sentence with the words: "Either you're going to be dead in four days or . . . " there were nights when Herb coughed for eight hours straight. With steady steps forward, though, some great ad...

Cal talks with Mirthell and Rita Onyx about how they overcame frustrations in their working life by following a desire to spend time with their four children, creating YouTube programming as a family that has now been seen by three billion people and made millions. Rita and Mirthell give Cal many ideas on how to take the platform he's designing to reshape healthcare to the masses, and they show ev...

While Cal has interviewed many of the icons of the last 75 years, there are a few people he always wanted to meet. One of them is the author of his favorite book, One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The Colombian won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982 and passed away in 2014. Cal was recently introduced to Marquez's son, Rodrigo Garcia, the award-winning filmmaker. Turned ou...

Cal gets some tips from the all-star coach, Roger Love, on how to get the most out of your voice. Roger got started with musical legends like The Jackson Five, Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys and Luther Vandross – and he still works with musicians. But over time, he branched out to assist folks like the motivational speaker Tony Robbins and the model and television star Tyra Banks. Roger shows how...

Cal finally catches up to The Mysterious Blonde almost 50 years after she appeared in the film American Graffiti. Suzanne Somers tells Cal about her complicated path to self-worth. It starts with standing up for herself in a contract dispute once she made it big on the sitcom Three's Company. Which leads to her being released from the show. Which results in her becoming a Vegas headliner. And then...

Cal hears the story of a man who leveraged 15 empty seconds on an automotive assembly line to create businesses that have made many, many, many millions. The formula that Joe Chura, CEO of Dealer Inspire, has developed can be applied by anybody, and Cal is going to use it on his quest to reshape healthcare. Listen up, and change your life.

With 1,200 election victories that arc from the House of Representatives to the Presidency of The United States, Phillip Stutts has seen how elections are won by both parties. He says the formula is always the same, and he defines it in his book: The Undefeated Marketing System: How to Grow Your Business and Build Your Audience Using the Secret Formula That Elects Presidents. It's also, Phillip sh...

As we begin to see the light at the end of the COVID tunnel, Cal converses with the legendary singer/songwriter of American Pie and Vincent about the blessings of freedom and connectivity. Along the way, as they talk about music, Don tells Cal about the feeling that goes through him when a great song gets off the ground.   "Most music you hear lays there. It's nothing. You don't want to hear it ag...

Ever since Cal began to look into healthcare, people have been e-mailing him and asking him to compare the system in the U.S. to that of other countries around the world. Cal talks with Israeli actress and producer Noa Tishby to get a comparison. Tishby is the author of the just released book, Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country On Earth. This conversation explains why Pfizer...

Cal wonders if there are patterns from the aftermath of 9/11 and The Great Recession that could help us move forward from COVID. There are few people who were more deeply involved in those crises as GE's CEO at the time — Jeff Immelt. Jeff took the reins of GE only a few days before 9/11, was at the center of the struggle through The Great Recession, and now, after his departure from the company,...

When Cal reads how Samit transformed an immigrant who'd been on welfare into a business owner bringing in more than a million dollars a year, he becomes curious what Samit could do for him as he tries to reshape health care. Samit does not disappoint. He advises Cal to become Andrew Carnegie. Check out what the twelve truths that make up Samit's book, Future Proofing You, can do for your life.

Cal is inspired by the hero's journey of an 8-year-old boy who had 75 percent of his body burned by fire. Though the circumstances are horrible, his power of connection and positivity has taken Marius to an amazing place. Marius has had more than 40 surgeries through Shriner's Hospitals for Children. The fingers that he lost in the blaze have been replaced by his toes. His nose has been recreated....

The author of biographies on Leonardo Da Vinci, Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs talks to Cal about his latest work: Code Breaker, Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing and The Future of the Human Race. It's a conversation about a topic that will alter the world, and it gives Cal the power to move forward on his quest to reshape health care.

Cal catches up with his old pal and podcast host James Altucher to talk about the release of James' new book, which questions the concept that you need 10,000 hours to achieve mastery. Cal could use the advice, as he needs to learn as much about health care as quickly as possible in order to try to reshape it. The conversation ultimately turns into two pals catching up after a crazy year, and you'...

Cal catches up with his old pal and podcast host James Altucher to talk about the release of James' new book, which questions the concept that you need 10,000 hours to achieve mastery. Cal could use the advice, as he needs to learn as much about health care as quickly as possible in order to try to reshape it. The conversation ultimately turns into two pals catching up after a crazy year, and you'...

Cal talks with the entrepreneur who never felt comfortable around the phrase: "The sky's the limit." Instead, Naveen founded Moon Express. And Viome, a company that detects from your gut what you need to eat to be at your healthiest. Nobody appreciates curiosity more than Cal, but he's never gotten the most out of his as an entrepreneur. It's time. And you can, too. Just listen.

Cal asks The Science Guy why so many Americans don't seem to believe in science, and why so many wouldn't wear masks during COVID, even as more than 400,000 people died.   After spending his entire adult life explaining the marvel and practicality of science through a television show, books and his podcast, Bill looks at the opposing forces, and points to The Constitution's endorsement of science...

After winning the Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs a year ago just as COVID was beginning to spread around the world, Laurent had to make a decision. Return to his offensive line spot with the Chiefs and pursue another Super Bowl ring. Or go to the front lines of COVID as a doctor at a long-term care facility in his home of Montreal. He chose to go to the front lines. After learning what Lau...

After having breakfast with the iconic broadcaster almost every day for more than a decade, Cal has no choice but to produce Larry King's obituary. He uses Larry's own voice to explain how Larry became a master of communication and connection, and explains why the world will never see another like him.   Show Notes: Cal's favorite Larry King story. 00:11 Why Larry King is so important. 04:58 The d...

A day before the inauguration of the new president, Cal remembers a conversation he had with Joe Biden when he was Vice President during The Great Recession. Some of the questions and answers are just as relevant today. Cal believes that fixing health care will be the monument for this time, and he's ready to help out in any way he can. Time to get to work.

A few years back, with Cal 30 pounds overweight, Joe baited Cal into his company's obstacle races in order to transform Cal's life. Cal completed the 5-mile Sprint, then the 10-mile Super, then the 17-mile Beast, and was filmed doing it. The story behind his journey and Joe's quest to similarly transform 100 million people was crafted into a documentary called Spartan Exit Strategy, and is availab...