Cal Newport visits Google to discuss his book “So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love.” Following your passion may not be good advice. Preexisting passions are rare and have little to do with how most people end up loving their work, but giving into the cliche can also be dangerous, leading to anxiety and chronic job hopping. After making his case against passion, Newport sets out on a quest to discover the reality of how people end up loving what ...
Nov 17, 2023•43 min•Ep. 395
Ashlee Vance visits Google to discuss his latest book “When the Heavens Went on Sale: The Misfits and Geniuses Racing to Put Space Within Reach.” With the launch of SpaceX’s Falcon 1 rocket in 2008, Silicon Valley began to realize that the universe itself was open for business. Now, Ashlee Vance tells the remarkable, unfolding story of this frenzied intergalactic land grab by following four pioneering companies—Astra, Firefly, Planet Labs, and Rocket Lab—as they build new space systems and attem...
Nov 14, 2023•49 min•Ep. 394
John Cleese visits Google to discuss his book “So, Anyway…”, a chronicle of his early life and career. John Cleese’s huge comedic influence has stretched across generations; his sharp irreverent eye and the unique brand of physical comedy he perfected now seem written into comedy’s DNA. In this memoir, Cleese recalls his humble beginnings in a sleepy English town, his early comedic days at Cambridge University with future Monty Python partner Graham Chapman, and the founding of the landmark come...
Nov 10, 2023•59 min•Ep. 393
Neil Mullarkey visits Google to discuss his book “In the Moment: Build Your Confidence, Communication and Creativity at Work” There are moments throughout our lives when our confidence and creativity can make all the difference. Every meeting, presentation and conversation is an opportunity to embrace your confidence and show your creative flair. With insights on collaboration, risk-taking and organization, this book arms you with a complete repertoire of powerful communication tricks and strate...
Nov 07, 2023•57 min•Ep. 392
Ogi Ogas visits Google to discuss his book “A Billion Wicked Thoughts.” What really turns us on? Throughout human history, people haven't been honest—with themselves or with each other. What they say they like is often quite different from what they look for when nobody is watching. But how can we learn the truth? Ogas and co-author Sai Gaddam have studied the secret sexual behavior of more than a hundred million people around the world. Their method? They observed what people do within the anon...
Nov 03, 2023•51 min•Ep. 391
Cecil Baldwin visits Google to discuss the creation and development of the hit science fiction podcast "Welcome to Night Vale". "Welcome to Night Vale" is a twice-monthly podcast in the style of a community radio show for the small desert town of Night Vale, featuring local weather, news, announcements from the Sheriff's Secret Police, mysterious lights in the night sky, a faceless old woman who secretly lives in your home, dark hooded figures with unknowable powers, and eldritch beings beyond m...
Oct 31, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 390
Anna Kendrick visits Google to discuss her book “Scrappy Little Nobody.” Even before she made a name for herself on the silver screen starring in films like “Pitch Perfect,” “Up in the Air,” and “Twilight”, Anna Kendrick was unusually small, weird, and just a little defiant. At the ripe age of thirteen, she had already resolved to keep the crazy inside her head where it belonged. Forever. But here’s the thing about crazy: It. Wants. Out. In “Scrappy Little Nobody,” she invites readers inside her...
Oct 27, 2023•49 min•Ep. 389
Shellye Archambeau visits Google to discuss her book “Unapologetically Ambitious: Take Risks, Break Barriers, and Create Success on Your Own Terms.” The book is an empowering leadership guide from one of Silicon Valley's first female African American CEOs that offers a blueprint for how to achieve your personal and professional goals. Shellye Archambeau recounts how she overcame the challenges she faced as a young black woman, wife, and mother, managing her personal and professional responsibili...
Oct 24, 2023•48 min•Ep. 388
Morra Aarons-Mele visits Google to discuss her book “The Anxious Achiever: Turn Your Biggest Fears into Your Leadership Superpower.” Anxiety is normal. The way we hide it is not. Although so much has been done to promote diversity and wellness at work, there’s a giant hole in the understanding of how mental health plays into not just our daily grind, but the very trajectory of success. We’re all in desperate need for better models of leadership - especially in a society that tells us that mental...
Oct 17, 2023•47 min•Ep. 387
Jamie Jones visits Google to discuss the evolution, ecology, and adaptation of the human species. Rationality has taken a hit recently. Recent work in psychology and economics has challenged the notion that the human brain is designed to make rational decisions. However, this observation raises a paradox. By almost any measure, Homo sapiens is a spectacularly successful species. From humble origins approximately two million years ago, humans have grown to a population that exceeds seven billion ...
Oct 13, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 385
Kristy Hamilton visits Google to discuss her book “Nature's Wild Ideas: How the Natural World is Inspiring Scientific Innovation”. The book is a deep-dive into nature and the many groundbreaking human inventions inspired by the wild. When astronomers wanted a telescope that could capture X-rays from celestial bodies, they looked to the lobster. When doctors wanted a medication that could stabilize Type II diabetic patients, they found their muse in a lizard. When scientists wanted to drastically...
Oct 03, 2023•51 min•Ep. 386
Award-winning writer, stand-up comedian and TV and radio presenter Viv Groskop visits Google to discuss her book “Happy High Status: How to Be Effortlessly Confident.” Everyone wants to be able to face challenging situations without feeling daunted, intimidated or stressed. But no-one wants to be labeled over-confident, arrogant or smarmy, or to get caught up in their own hype. So how can you feel authentically confident - without the cringe, and without pretending to be something you're not? “H...
Sep 26, 2023•59 min•Ep. 384
Dr. Nathalie Cabrol visits Google to discuss the science and technology of exploring Saturn’s moon, Titan. Titan is the largest moon in the Saturn system. It is 50% larger than the Earth's moon, has an atmosphere, and is presumed to have seas filled with methane and other hydrocarbons. In order for humanity to explore Titan in the future, we need exploration systems that are radically different from those currently used in space. In particular, we need to develop robots that can accumulate knowl...
Sep 22, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 383
Comedic actor, producer, and writer Rainn Wilson visits Google to discuss his book “Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution.” The book is a deep-dive into the problem-solving benefits that spirituality gives us to create solutions for an increasingly challenging world. The trauma that our species has experienced in recent years is not going away anytime soon. Existing political and economic systems are not enough to bring the change that the world needs. In this book, Rainn Wilson explores...
Sep 19, 2023•59 min•Ep. 382
Dr. Robert Califf visits Google to share his views on the nascent field of technology-enabled healthcare. One of the most prominent and influential physician-scientists in the US, Robert is the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, where he is responsible for protecting public health by assuring the safety and effectiveness of drugs and medical devices. Described as “the most qualified commissioner in the FDA's History”, Dr. Califf is a cardiologist and professor of medicine at Duke ...
Sep 15, 2023•55 min•Ep. 381
Actor, producer and director Idris Elba visits Google to discuss the creative influence that Africa and its diaspora has across the tech, entertainment and business worlds. The only child of African immigrants to the UK, Idris Elba is one of a handful of British actors who can claim to be a Hollywood leading man. In 2002, he rose to fame playing the role of Stringer Bell in HBO’s “The Wire”, which is still considered to be one of the finest TV dramas ever made. He went on to big-screen success a...
Sep 12, 2023•45 min•Ep. 380
Behaviorist dog trainer Rob Peladeau visits Google to discuss effective strategies for training your dog. Rob has been training dogs for almost twenty years, specializing in behavior modification and rehabilitation of aggressive and reactive dogs, as well as problem solving for unwanted behaviors. Rob and his company NextGen K9 specialize in helping dogs that struggle to cope with the urban environment we live in. Many unwanted traits become apparent when dogs are not given the right stimulus th...
Sep 08, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 379
Author and research scientist Lewis Dartnell visits Google to discuss his book “Being Human: How our Biology Shaped World History.” The book explores how our biology has shaped our relationships, our societies, our economies and our wars, and how it continues to challenge and define our progress. Powerful yet dextrous, instinctive yet thoughtful, humans are expert communicators and innovators. Our exceptional abilities have created the civilization we know today. But we're also deeply flawed. Ou...
Sep 05, 2023•56 min•Ep. 378
Psychotherapist Barry Michels visits Google to discuss his book “The Tools,” which he co-authored with psychiatrist Phil Stutz. The book presents a uniquely effective set of four tools that bring about dynamic change in the present and impart a greater understanding of the depth and complexity of the human condition. “The Tools” addresses the most common complaint patients have about psychotherapy: the interminable wait for change to begin. Barry Michels, an LA-based therapist, was frustrated by...
Sep 01, 2023•57 min•Ep. 377
Psychologist, author and mindfulness performance expert George Mumford visits Google to discuss his book “Unlocked: Embrace Your Greatness, Find the Flow, Discover Success”. We all strive to find flow, when our skills, expertise, and mindset are aligned and we can perform at the highest level. George Mumford calls this being “unlocked”—a state anyone can achieve at any time. As a psychologist trained in the field of mindfulness and personal development expert, Mumford has decades of experience h...
Aug 29, 2023•47 min•Ep. 376
Author Sam Gosling visits Google to discuss his book "Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You". Does what's on your desk reveal what's on your mind? Do those pictures on your walls tell true tales about you? And is your favorite outfit about to give you away? For the last ten years, psychologist Sam Gosling has been studying how people project (and protect) their inner selves. By exploring our private worlds, such as desks, bedrooms, even our clothes and our cars, he shows not only how we showcase...
Aug 25, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 375
Astrophysicist Sarafina El-Badry Nance visits Google to discuss her book “Starstruck: A Memoir of Astrophysics and Finding Light in the Dark.” The book is an inspirational and science-packed memoir that details how she carved out a place in the field of astrophysics, grounding herself in her passion and a lifelong love of the stars. As a child, Sarafina spent nearly every evening with her father gazing up at the flickering stars and pondering what secrets the night sky held. The daughter of an A...
Aug 22, 2023•49 min•Ep. 374
Russell Brand and Bob Roth visit Google to discuss transcendental meditation, commonly referred to as TM, and how it has greatly improved their lives. Comedian, actor, and best-selling author Russell Brand has been practicing Transcendental Meditation for nearly 10 years. He says the technique has been instrumental in fostering creativity, appreciating fatherhood, and maintaining his recovery from addiction. Bob Roth, a TM teacher, taught Russell to meditate and the two remain close friends. Bob...
Aug 18, 2023•54 min•Ep. 373
Songwriter and recording artist Jason Derulo visits Google to discuss his book “Sing Your Name Out Loud: 15 Rules for Living Your Dream.” The book tells the remarkable story of Jason’s come up, told through the fifteen rules he lives by—like working hardest at what comes easiest, taking calculated risks, sticking to a routine, and respecting the numbers—which he credits with turning his many far-fetched goals over the years into reality. In 2009, an 18-year-old son of Haitian immigrants burst on...
Aug 15, 2023•43 min•Ep. 372
Tim Urban has become one of the Internet’s most popular writers. With wry stick-figure illustrations and occasionally epic prose on everything from procrastination to artificial intelligence, Urban's blog, “Wait But Why”, has garnered millions of unique page views, thousands of patrons and famous fans like Elon Musk. Urban has previously written long form posts on “The Road to Superintelligence”, and his recent TED talk has more than 6 million views. Tim speaks about his blog “Wait but Why” and ...
Aug 11, 2023•53 min•Ep. 371
Dominique Roques visits Google to discuss his book “In Search of Perfumes: A Lifetime Journey to the Source of Nature's Scents.” The book contains a mix of history, travelog, and memoir from one of the perfume industry’s leading scouts of natural ingredients, as he tells the story of the precious plants needed to make our favorite fragrances. Do you know how many flowers it takes to produce a kilo of rose oil? One million roses, each handpicked. When it comes to nature, Dominique Roques is a uni...
Aug 08, 2023•44 min•Ep. 370
Jia Jiang visits Google to discuss his book “Rejection Proof.” Jia came to the United States with the dream of being the next Bill Gates. But despite early success in the corporate world, his first attempt to pursue his entrepreneurial dream ended in rejection. Jia was crushed, and spiraled into a period of deep self doubt. But he realized that his fear of rejection was a bigger obstacle than any single rejection would ever be, and he needed to find a way to cope with being told no without letti...
Aug 04, 2023•54 min•Ep. 369
Award-winning structural engineer Roma Agrawal visits Google to discuss her book “Nuts and Bolts: Seven Small Inventions That Changed the World in a Big Way.” The book takes readers on a deep dive into the seven most basic building blocks of engineering that have shaped the modern world. From the physics behind both Roman nails and modern skyscrapers, to rudimentary springs that inspired lithium batteries, Agrawal shows us how even the most sophisticated items are built on the foundations of the...
Aug 01, 2023•41 min•Ep. 368
Vanessa Van Edwards visits Google to discuss her book “Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People.” Do you feel awkward at networking events? Do you wonder what your date really thinks of you? Do you wish you could just decode people? To do this and more, you need to learn the science of people. As a human behavior hacker, Vanessa Van Edwards created a research lab to study the hidden forces that drive us. In her book “Captivate”, she shares shortcuts, systems, and secrets for taking charg...
Jul 28, 2023•49 min•Ep. 367
Tim Spector visits Google to discuss his book “Food for Life: The New Science of Eating Well”, an easy-to-follow guide on how to eat—for our health and the health of the planet. Tim’s book reveals a new approach to nutrition, encouraging us to forget misleading calorie counts and nutritional breakdowns. In “Food for Life”, he draws on over a decade of cutting-edge scientific research, along with his own personal insights, to deliver a new and comprehensive approach to what we should all know abo...
Jul 25, 2023•49 min•Ep. 366
