Big Questions with Cal Fussman

Cal talks with Rob Lawless about the changes in travel since Cal went around the world back in the 80s. Whereas Cal used magazine work to get his journey off the ground and then was passed around the world by the people he met, Rob now uses the Internet to keep his trip going. Rob has a goal of talking with 10,000 people for an hour. He makes Instagram posts after each meeting, and pushes the journey along through tech partnerships with companies that overlap with his mission. He sets up conversations with four people each day via the Internet. Now 27, Rob will be 37 when he meets the 10,000th person and completes his mission. Cal is now one of those friends. This conversation looks at the differences between travel back when there were no cell-phones and personal computers and now where contacts can be made and new friends can be located months in advance through the Internet. The ultimate takeaway here is that travel is always doable, you just have to figure out how it can work for YOU.

Aston Martin's president tells Cal about the circuitous journey that took her from jumping rope as a girl in Louisville, to the tennis team at Notre Dame, to law school, to working three jobs to make ends meet at age 27, all the way to the top of the iconic British car company. And then she made Cal feel like James Bond when she put him behind the wheel of an Aston Martin. Takeaways: -Work ethic goes a long way -Risk taking that defined Schwab's career -Finding the right mentors -Getting the most out of being in the right place at the right time -Making it all fun

The Grammy Award-winning saxophone player gets to the essence of the way we can all get the most out of our lives through the art of being awake. From the time he was a boy who'd contracted polio and found the saxophone to improve the strength of his lungs, David Sanborn has been making a series of connections that evolved into an extraordinary life and career. There are many takeaways in the art of awareness, including paying attention to the moment of your calling to overcoming addiction, along with the constant drive to get the most out of your passion – which has led him to create the Sanborn Sessions. A sample can be found on Facebook @DavidSanbornOfficial.

Cal meets the best-selling author at an entrepreneurial conference in Colorado called two12 and becomes highly curious as to how Ryan can be a writer and ALSO an expert at marketing books, as well as positioning companies. Generally, when a person has one of those talents or skills, he or she is lacking in the other area. Cal finds out exactly how Ryan became The Full House in a conversation that will benefit anyone trying to create a piece of art or a business. There are many takeaways in this episode, especially for people who are coming up with ideas for a new business, or taking their business through obstacles. Ryan is, after all, the author of The Obstacle Is The Way. And some of the advice he offered to the entrepreneurs at two12 can be scooped up right here on Big Questions.

When Cal asks the conservative talk show host about the roots of his new book, Addicted to Outrage, Glenn goes back to his childhood to explain the events that made him who he is. Beck reflects upon his mother's suicide when he was 15 as the moment that turned him toward alcohol to deaden his pain. His inability to even mention his mother or her death in the home of his father and stepmother led him toward the microphone to release the emotions and thoughts that were bottled up inside him. His career behind the mic took him to CNN, FOX and the groundbreaking move to start his own subscription Internet TV network back in 2011. When Beck came to grips with the fact that some of the rhetoric that made him famous was also dividing the nation, he takes a clear look at himself and begins his book with a phrase that would normally be heard in an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting: "Hello, My Name is Glenn, and I Am Addicted to Outrage." "I know it is tough to even think about being part of the problem," he continues, "but the truth is, we all are." The takeaways in this episode are numerous and revolve around the power of a safe discussion that everyone can benefit from – whether it's about a personal problem or a national one. The empathy Glenn exhibits in this conversation will give those who love him a deeper reason to, and nudge anyone who disagrees with him to listen to his voice in a completely new way.

Cal finds there can be life after one's heart stops beating. Chip Conley tells him what it was like to flatline at age of 47, how he recovered and went on to sell his boutique hotel company, which put him in the surprising place where he could mentor Brian Chesky and a group of millennials who'd founded Airbnb. The combination of young minds and the wisdom of Chip's experience in hospitality made history. Airbnb has transformed travel across the planet, reinventing the hotel industry by allowing people to rent out their homes and apartments in 80,000 cities in 190 countries around the world. Conley has taken the lessons from this experience and set them in his newly-released book, Wisdom at Work: The Making of a Modern Elder. In this episode, he shows Cal the benefits that mentorship can have for both those with youth and age. The takeaways are life-changing, and needed now more than any other time in history. As the author Yuval Noah Harari writes in his most recent book: 21 Lessons for the 21st Century: "If you try to hold on to some stable identity, job, or worldview, you risk being left behind as the world flies by you with a whoosh. Given that life expectancy is likely to increase, you might subsequently have to spend many decades as a clueless fossil. To stay relevant — not just economically but above all socially — you will need the ability to constantly learn and to reinvent yourself..." Chip's experiences and his book show you how.

Cal reconnects with the man who had the World Trade Center fall on his head and finds the lessons he learned even more powerful over time. The two reflect upon the conversation they had shortly after Michael survived the deadliest attack on American soil. That conversation was turned into a noted Esquire Magazine story published in Michael's own words in the January 2002 issue. The takeaways in this episode are vast. Michael has lived through the type of experience that most of us will never know - and has come to understand life in ways that most of us were never forced to ponder. Yet, in the end, his voice is positive and reflective and offers insight to all of us on how to move forward from the most difficult of experiences.

As Cal tries to expand awareness of his podcast, he gets tips from the author of the just-released book entitled: Belong: Find Your People, Create Community and live a more Connected Life. Radha is the founder of Daybreaker – an early morning celebration that allows people all over the world to start the day by meeting others, dancing, doing yoga and listening to great speakers in a non-alcohol environment before going off to work. Cal was startled to learn that Radha has built her Daybreaker community from scratch to half a million people. And even more astounded to learn that 1 in every 4 Americans does not have a friend to confide in. Radha's book offers suggestions to all on the art of connection. Anyone with a business, podcast or blog who's interested in increasing her or his audience will get many takeaways from this episode. And those feeling a bit left out will get tips on how to fit into the right community. The conversation gives Cal the idea to try to double the number of subscribers to Big Questions by asking each listener to share a meaningful episode with a single friend who might appreciate it and benefit from it. Give it a shot -- and good karma will come your way.

Kevin tells Cal how mental illness pushed him to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco 18 years ago – and how he survived only because a sea lion kept him propped up on the water's surface. Kevin became one of only a few people to walk away from such a fall, and the chain of events that followed led him to find the love of his life, and his work helping all of us to understand mental illness. His fight contributed to the creation of a barrier on The Golden Gate Bridge that will stop others from committing suicide there in the future. TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE: Whatever your difficulties, never count yourself out. Never. Never. Never. Simply reaching out to somebody you notice in emotional pain might save his or her life. And how a 23-second hug can change your day. That's just for starters . . .

As the fifth anniversary of Diana Nyad's record-breaking swim between Cuba and Florida approaches, Diana explains to Cal what it took to make the 110-mile journey in 2013 at the age 64. (This episode contains explicit or triggering content.) The Youtube video that shows Diana taking her first shaky steps on land at Key West after swimming for roughly 53 consecutive hours in waters filled with sharks and poisonous jellyfish is a profound place to start. The takeaways in this episode get to the essence of the quote: "Success is the ability to move from one failure to another without loss of enthusiasm." Diana had tried to make the same swim four times before, beginning in 1978 at the age of 28. Her triumph on the fifth attempt highlights not only her dogged persistence, but a joyful appreciation for nature that gave her a lightness which enabled her to do at 64 what she couldn't at 28. The story of her sexual abuse as a teen, and the guilt and confusion that followed, ultimately leads to a lesson in how to find a way past emotional pain to freedom. The story of how she sang her way across the 110 miles gives us all a formula for fighting off drudgery with passion. We find out how age has turned Diana into a better athlete — just as it can for you. We also learn about the appreciation and gratitude Diana's held for her team that supported her every stroke of the way. This is useful to all of us as we look upon those who lift us in our own lives. All this is just for starters . . . TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE: Why age has made Diana a better athlete Coping with sexual abuse What is takes to plan a 110-Mile swim... 5 times!