“I don’t see things like anybody else,” says Jonathan Berk, a professor of finance at Stanford Graduate School of Business. “And so I can see things people don't see.” On this episode, Berk explores recent research that pushes against conventional wisdom, from questioning the utility of the debt-to-GDP ratio to asking whether regulation is actually in the best interests of the consumer. “If you disagree with me… You have to write down a convincing theoretical model and analyze [it].” Berk admits...
May 06, 2026•26 min•Season 3Ep. 51
“When people come to view attitudes and opinions towards, say, political policies or issues as relevant to their identities, they become more extreme in their attitudes,” says Christian Wheeler, the StrataCom Professor of Management and Professor of Marketing at Stanford Graduate School of Business. “I become more positive or negative towards an issue the moment it becomes relevant to who I view myself as being.” Wheeler’s research offers insight into our increasingly polarized politics. However...
Apr 22, 2026•25 min•Season 3Ep. 50
“Masculinity is my new frontier,” says Ashley Martin, an associate professor of organizational behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Martin, whose work examines why gender plays such a central role in how we perceive and make sense of others, has been looking at how traits associated with masculinity are simultaneously organizationally rewarded even as they’re personally harmful to men. “We spend a lot of time talking about gender inequality through the lens of women’s disadvantage,”...
Apr 08, 2026•27 min•Season 3Ep. 49
Steven Callander has spent years building a mathematical framework to answer the question of how people learn from experience. “Here in Silicon Valley, the expression that you learn from failure is very widespread and very intuitive. But the question is… what do you learn? How do you optimally learn from that experience?” In this episode, Callander, the Herbert Hoover Professor of Public and Private Management and Professor of Political Economy at Stanford Graduate School of Business, explains t...
Mar 25, 2026•26 min•Season 3Ep. 48
Seemingly unrelated activities — like taking a soccer penalty kick or crafting an online dating profile — involve an embedded economics. “Understanding and applying economic logic can be valuable in pretty much any job or any other endeavor in your life,” says Paul Oyer, a professor of economics at Stanford Graduate School of Business. On this episode, Oyer digs into the shared economic logic of online dating and the labor market, explains why pro athletes and sports fans think like economists, ...
Mar 11, 2026•25 min•Season 3Ep. 47
When should we leap instead of take the obvious next step? Why do we instinctively see gender everywhere? When do our opinions begin to feel less like ideas and more like our identity? If/Then , from Stanford Graduate School of Business, is back with a new season of sharp, surprising conversations that deepen our understanding of business and leadership. Each episode brings you into the room with a Stanford GSB faculty member as they discuss their research and how it challenges conventional wisd...
Mar 04, 2026•1 min•Season 3Ep. 46
This week on If/Then we’re sharing an episode of GSB at 100 , a limited audio series created especially for Stanford Graduate School of Business’s Centennial. GSB at 100 presents a scrapbook of memories, ideas, and breakthroughs as Stanford GSB celebrates its first century and looks around the corner to what the next 100 years may hold. On this episode of GSB at 100 , you’ll experience Centennial Day, hear Dean Sarah A. Soule honor the past, celebrate the present, and look to what the future may...
Dec 22, 2025•29 min•Season 2Ep. 45
This week on If/Then we’re sharing an episode of GSB at 100 , a limited audio series created especially for Stanford Graduate School of Business’s Centennial. GSB at 100 presents a scrapbook of memories, ideas, and breakthroughs as Stanford GSB celebrates its first century and looks around the corner to what the next 100 years may hold. On this episode of GSB at 100, you’ll step inside the classrooms where teaching sparks transformation. Learn more about the Stanford GSB Centennial See Privacy P...
Nov 26, 2025•29 min•Season 2Ep. 44
This week on [If/Then or View From The Top] we’re sharing an episode of GSB at 100 , a limited audio series created especially for Stanford Graduate School of Business’s Centennial. GSB at 100 presents a scrapbook of memories, ideas, and breakthroughs as Stanford GSB celebrates its first century and looks around the corner to what the next 100 years may hold. On this episode of GSB at 100 , you’ll hear from the dedicated and accomplished staff members who work behind the scenes to make Stanford ...
Nov 12, 2025•25 min•Season 2Ep. 43
This week on If/Then, we’re sharing an episode of What’s Your Problem? , a show from Pushkin Industries where entrepreneurs, engineers, and scientists talk about the future they’re trying to build—and the problems they must solve to get there. Hosted by former Planet Money co-host Jacob Goldstein, each conversation explores the challenges and breakthroughs shaping the next wave of innovation. In this episode, Goldstein speaks with Fei-Fei Li, Stanford computer scientist, former Chief Scientist o...
Oct 29, 2025•27 min•Season 2Ep. 42
This week on If/Then , we’re sharing an episode of GSB at 100 , a limited audio series created especially for Stanford Graduate School of Business’s Centennial. GSB at 100 presents a scrapbook of memories, ideas, and breakthroughs, as the GSB celebrates its first century and looks around the corner to what the next hundred years may hold. The first episode of the series begins where the GSB begins: in 1925, Herbert Hoover, a Stanford alum and future U.S. president, had an idea. “A graduate Schoo...
Sep 24, 2025•21 min•Season 2Ep. 41
This week on If/Then , we’re sharing an episode of View From The Top: The Podcast , an audio series featuring leaders from around the world in conversation with MBA students. Recorded live at the CEMEX Auditorium at Stanford Graduate School of Business, episodes feature insights on effective leadership, the values that guide it, and lessons learned along the way. Lisa Su, the chair and CEO of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), leads one of the world’s most influential technology companies, a pioneer ...
Aug 27, 2025•56 min•Season 2Ep. 40
As we celebrate the conclusion of the second season of the If/Then podcast, we present a bonus episode featuring Deborah H. Gruenfeld , the Joseph McDonald Professor and Professor of Organizational Behavior and a Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Stanford Graduate School of Business . Gruenfeld, who appeared on the first season of If/Then in an award-winning episode about hierarchies and the nature of power, returned to the studio to share her thoughts on the value of academic resear...
Aug 13, 2025•16 min•Season 2Ep. 39
This week on If/Then , we’re sharing an episode of The Future of Everything , a podcast hosted by Stanford School of Engineering professor and friend of the show Russ Altman. Everyone has goals — some are monumental, others modest — but every goal matters. Szu-chi Huang, an associate professor of marketing at Stanford Graduate School of Business, is an expert on sustaining enthusiasm for individuals, customers, and employees across global corporations and organizations. On this episode, Huang sh...
Jul 30, 2025•34 min•Season 2Ep. 38
This week on If/Then , we’re sharing an episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart , a podcast hosted by Stanford Graduate School of Business lecturer and friend of the show, Matt Abrahams. How do you communicate with others when you’re confused yourself? For fellow GSB lecturer Rob Siegel, leadership isn’t about avoiding uncertainty: it’s about embracing the clarity that ambiguity can bring. In his latest book, “ The Systems Leader: Mastering the Cross Pressures That Make or Break Today's Companies ,” S...
Jul 09, 2025•24 min•Season 2Ep. 37
Do you stick to the rules or do you roll through stop signs? Whether you’re “tight” or “loose” — how closely you adhere to social norms — has major implications for your life at home and at work. “To be effective, we want to be ambidextrous,” says Michele Gelfand , the John H. Scully Professor in Cross-Cultural Management and Professor of Organizational Behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business. “Even if we might lean tight or loose, we want to be able to create a context where we can hav...
Jun 25, 2025•30 min•Season 2Ep. 36
AI has the potential to reshape medicine. But translating its promise into solutions for providers and patients is a high-stakes challenge. “There’s a lot more problems than solutions available,” says Mohsen Bayati, the Carl and Marilynn Thoma Professor of Operations, Information & Technology at Stanford Graduate School of Business. “So it’s ripe for innovation.” From trust and privacy to hallucination and data quality, the complications are significant. Bayati says that safely and effective...
Jun 11, 2025•28 min•Season 2Ep. 35
“The way I think about trying to anticipate and shape the AI future requires us to take a step back and ask ourselves first, ‘What does this technology do? What does it enable?’” reflects Amir Goldberg, a professor of organizational behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business. “That’s very different from asking ourselves, ‘How is the technology implemented?’” From locating the origins of innovation to identifying hidden barriers blocking new ideas, Goldberg presents a framework for harnessi...
May 28, 2025•27 min•Season 2Ep. 34
Neil Malhotra , the Edith M. Cornell professor of political economy at Stanford Graduate School of Business, aims to identify the nature of our tumultuous political moment in his work. In this episode, Malhotra explores rising distrust, shifting political identities, and what these changes mean for individuals — and businesses. Plus, the billion-dollar question: “Is Trump creating a movement that is separate from himself or is it identified with himself?” Malhotra asks. “It remains to be seen.” ...
May 14, 2025•30 min•Season 2Ep. 33
Sridhar Narayanan , a professor of marketing at Stanford Graduate School of Business, studies how small businesses operate and why they’re so important, especially in the developing world. “Modernizing small businesses will have a profound impact on economies worldwide in many ways,” he says. In this episode of If/Then , Narayanan explains why so many retailers still rely on cash, how modernization can boost revenue, and what these patterns reveal about credit access, trust in institutions, and ...
Apr 30, 2025•26 min•Season 2Ep. 32
Only a third of the global population is financially literate. Why? Because most of us don’t learn the basics of personal finance in school — or elsewhere. Treating financial literacy as an afterthought can have serious consequences, from personal calamities to economic crises, according to Annamaria Lusardi , a professor of finance and the director of the Initiative for Financial Decision-Making at Stanford Graduate School of Business. On this episode of If/Then , Lusardi makes the case for tre...
Apr 16, 2025•28 min•Season 2Ep. 31
Susan Athey , the Economics of Technology Professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business and founding director of the Golub Capital Social Impact Lab, studies the impact of technological innovations on workers, businesses, and society. Will the world’s economies successfully adapt to a future defined by artificial intelligence? On this episode, Athey shares what the stories of 22,000 laid-off workers in Sweden can tell us about who recovers from economic turmoil, how small design changes and ...
Apr 02, 2025•25 min•Season 2Ep. 30
Brian Lowery , the Walter Kenneth Kilpatrick Professor of Organizational Behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business and the author of Selfless: The Social Creation of You , argues that identity is about much more than external characteristics, family history, or the collection of experiences that compose the chronology of our lives. In fact, Lowery argues, our identities are constantly being formed, shifted, and even co-created — by the people around us. In this episode, Lowery breaks down...
Mar 19, 2025•26 min•Season 2Ep. 29
What’s one of the most powerful forces behind technological breakthroughs, business strategy, and job creation? The tax code. Rebecca Lester , an associate professor of accounting and one of three inaugural Botha-Chan Faculty Scholars at Stanford Graduate School of Business, studies how subtle tax incentives can trigger monumental business decisions, determining how companies invest, grow, and innovate. These incentives don’t just shape corporate strategy — they ripple across industries, economi...
Mar 05, 2025•25 min•Season 2Ep. 28
The pen may be mightier than the sword — but the dollar beats them both. Economic leverage has long shaped the world order, and today global powers use financial networks, trade policies, and sanctions as tools of persuasion — or coercion. In this episode, Matteo Maggiori , the Moghadam Family Professor of Finance at Stanford Graduate School of Business, outlines why he believes the U.S. dollar remains the world’s financial backbone, why China wants to create an alternative, and how global finan...
Feb 19, 2025•26 min•Season 2Ep. 27
“The ultimate price of a bad system falls on the public,” says Anat Admati , the George G.C. Parker Professor of Finance and Economics at Stanford Graduate School of Business and author of The Bankers’ New Clothes . “The Constitution did a lot to constrain the government, but the government has failed to constrain institutions in the private sector.” Simply put, Admati says the real problem isn’t just profit-hungry corporations, it’s the systems that let bad actors get away with it. From the opi...
Feb 12, 2025•25 min•Season 2Ep. 26
Is burnout simply the cost of doing business? What responsibility do employers have for the health and well-being of their workers? Jeffrey Pfeffer , the Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business and author of Dying for a Paycheck and 7 Rules of Power , says that the connection between workplace stress and negative health outcomes is as strong as the link between smoking and cancer — and may contribute to as many as 120,000 deaths annually in t...
Feb 05, 2025•27 min•Season 2Ep. 25
Can the workplace be as harmful as smoking? Is it possible for governments and corporations to rebuild trust once they’ve lost it? How are nations wielding financial power to shape global politics? On Season Two of If/Then , Stanford Graduate School of Business faculty tackle big questions about business, leadership, and society, providing innovative, research-based insights to help you navigate rapidly changing times. Join your host, senior editor Kevin Cool, for conversations that will challen...
Jan 15, 2025•2 min•Season 2Ep. 24
Jensen Huang, co-founder and CEO of NVIDIA, believes leadership is about more than making decisions—it’s about empowering others to reason through ambiguity and drive transformative change. In this bonus episode of If/Then , Huang sits down with Stanford GSB student Shantam Jain, MBA ’24, on Stanford GSB’s View From The Top podcast, to discuss his journey from an ambitious engineer to the leader of one of the most innovative companies in the world. Huang reflects on the lessons learned during pi...
Dec 27, 2024•58 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Behind every lesson lies a journey of discovery. In this special episode of If/Then , we step into the classrooms of Stanford Graduate School of Business to uncover the human stories driving extraordinary insights. Christian Wheeler, professor of marketing at Stanford GSB, challenges our fear of failure, reframing it as the sharp edge where growth truly happens. “Be comfortable being uncomfortable,” he says, urging leaders to embrace the anxiety of pushing limits to unlock their peak potential. ...
Dec 11, 2024•13 min•Season 1Ep. 22
