Smart People Podcast

Safi is a physicist, a biotech entrepreneur, and an author... just to name a few! Safi has presented at approximately 130 banking conferences, investor events, and medical meetings around the world, as well as at leading academic institutions. He was a Miller Fellow in physics at UC Berkeley AND in 2011, he worked with President Obama’s council of science advisors (PCAST) on the future of national research.Safi's book, Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries is available now. Pick it up today!Learn more about Safi: https://www.bahcall.com.We discuss: Why did you leave you profession in Physics to "start over?" How do you marry the idea of learning new things, with your employers desire for you to be a specialist? What is the difference between focusing on culture versus structure? Sponsor:BetterHelp - Get 10% off your first month - https://betterhelp.com/smartDonate:Donate here to support the show! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath has a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Melbourne and an MEd in Mind, Brain, and Education from Harvard University. He has worked as a teacher, curriculum developer, brain researcher, and is currently an educational researcher at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education.Jared's new book, Stop Talking, Start Influencing: 12 Insights From Brain Science to Make Your Message Stick is available on March 12th. Check it out!To learn more about Jared and his work, visit: https://www.scienceoflearning.com.au.Check out Jared's amazing TEDx talk, "Your Brain, Your Life."We ask: What are our "dozens of mini-brains?" What exactly are they? Are we limiting our experience because of the mental maps we create? How do you identify a story to determine if it's serving us or not serving us? Recommended shows on Himalaya:Context with Brad HarrisDownload the Himalaya App! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dave Birss is a creative at heart and he's one of our favorite creatives to have on the show. Dave is the author of the bestselling book, A User Guide to the Creative Mind: Understanding Where Ideas Come From and Helping You Have More of Them. In addition to writing, Dave's credits are many. He runs RIGHT Thinking, which shows organizations a more effective way to generate more effective ideas. Dave was also the founder and editor of Open for Ideas; an online magazine that focused on creativity. Before that, he spent the majority of his career in the world of advertising, both as a copywriter and an art director.Dave's newest book, How to Get to Great Ideas: A system for smart, extraordinary thinking is phenomenal. You need to go get it and read it!To learn more about Dave, visit his website at: davebirss.comWe discuss: How do we embrace diversity more in the creative process? Why do we need to put a definition on creativity? How do we go about being creative and adding value to the world? This episode is sponsored by: Blinkist - To start a 7 day trial, head to blinkist.com/smart Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Annie McKee is is a best-selling author, PhD, speaker and advisor. She is a coach to executives in Fortune 500 companies and organizations all over the world. She is also a Senior Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania and teaches the PennCLO Executive Doctoral program and the MedEd Master’s program.Annie's book, How to Be Happy at Work: The Power of Purpose, Hope, and Friendship is a must read and is available now!To learn more about Annie, visit her website at: www.anniemckee.com.We discuss: Why does executive coaching exist? Why do so many executives need coaching? What are the "happiness traps?" How do they weigh on us at work? How can we offer "purpose" to everyone across all jobs? This episode is sponsored by: Blinkist - To start a 7 day trial, head to blinkist.com/smart Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sean McFate is an author, novelist, and foreign policy expert. To expand on his already awesome background, Sean is a professor of strategy at the National Defense University and Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. He is also an Advisor to Oxford University's Centre for Technology and Global Affairs.Sean's book, The New Rules of War: Victory in the Age of Durable Disorder is available now!To learn more about Sean, head over to: www.seanmcfate.com.We discuss: When it comes to the topic of war, why can't we all just get along? What or who is the biggest threat to our civilization? What is an example of someone yielding wealth and taking power for their individual gain? How is America doing when it comes to the 'future of war'? This episode is sponsored by:Blinkist - To start a 7 day trial, head to blinkist.com/smart Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cheryl Heller is a strategist and designer, who has had an amazing career. She is the Founding Chair of the first MFA program in Design for Social Innovation at the School of Visual Arts. She was awarded a Practitioner Fellowship in the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Program. This only scratches the surface!Cheryl's most recent book is The Intergalactic Design Guide: Harnessing the Creative Potential of Social Design.To learn more about Cheryl, head over to: heller.commonwise.design.We discuss: What is social design? How does social design help put structure to complexity? What is the most foundational aspect of social design? Links mentioned: https://workingnarratives.org/article/public-narrative http://marshallganz.usmblogs.com/files/2012/08/Public-Narrative-Worksheet-Fall-2013-.pdf This episode is sponsored by: Professor Dave Explains YouTube Channel - professordaveexplains.com Blinkist - To start a 7 day trial, head to blinkist.com/smart Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2018 is over and we sit down to reminisce about the year that has passed... and drink a little whiskey while doing it! We have a whiskey tasting (listen to the end of the episode!), answer some listener questions, and take some time to reflect. Enjoy!Don't worry! We return to your regularly scheduled interview next week.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we speak with Mark Manson. Mark is a New York Times bestselling author, a blogger, and internet entrepreneur. He often writes about what he considers to be life's most important topics: happiness, self-knowledge, habits, and relationships.Mark's book, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life is a must read!To learn more about Mark, check out his website: markmanson.net.We discuss: How did you make your transformation into the self-help genre? How do I figure out what I want to do with my life? Where is Mark now in his life (this was 2 years ago!)? What would you tell a 21 year old to figure out what will work for them? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we speak with Karen Wickre. Karen is a Silicon Valley veteran. She worked at Google for a decade and moved to Twitter as the Editorial Director. She is a member of the Board of Visitors for the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford University, and serves on the boards of the International Center for Journalists, the News Literacy Project, and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. She has also been a featured columnist for Wired.Karen’s new book is, Taking the Work Out of Networking: An Introvert’s Guide to Making Connections That Count.To learn more about Karen, follow her on Twitter @kvox.We discuss: As a former twitter executive, what are the best practices to grow a brand on social media? What were the early days of Google like? How do I network if I don’t really like being around strangers? What’s the point of making so many connections on places like LinkedIn? Is email dead? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we speak with Todd Rose. Todd is the co-founder of Populace, a social impact organization that focuses on our understanding of individuality. Todd dropped out of high school, obtained his GED, went to Weber State University. He received his Doctorate in Human Development from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.Todd's most recent book is, Dark Horse: Achieving Success Through the Pursuit of Fulfillment. To learn more about Todd, head over to toddrose.com.We discuss: What is a Dark Horse? Who are examples of Dark Horses? What shocked Todd when studying about success? Is there a common theme that Dark Horses displayed? This week's episode is brought to you by the Smart People Podcast Amazon Link. Support Smart People Podcast when doing your Amazon shopping: http://smartpeoplepodcast.com/amazon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices