Kelly talks to Sandra Steinbrecher, a Chicago documentary photographer whose new book captures the transformation of the Morton Salt factory into The Salt Shed, a premier music venue in Chicago. “We protect our past so we are connected to what came before us and so we understand what lies in front of us – today […]
Kelly meets up with writer, teacher and philanthropist Randy Fertel to talk about this new book “Winging It: Improv’s Power and Peril in the Time of Trump.” “Improv seeks to widen our mental bubble.”  “Improvisation is the discourse of paradigm shifts.”  “Innovation always begins with disruption, a pushback against the dominant culture.” 
Live from The Second City in collaboration with the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, Kelly interviews Alison Fragale, the Mary Farley Ames Lee Distinguished Scholar of Organizational Behavior at the Kenen-Flagler Business School at the University of North Caroline Chapel Hill. She has an incredible new book, it’s called “Likeable Badass: How Women Get the Success They […]
Kelly talks Yes, And with Dr. Frederik Pferdt, Google’s first Chief Innovation Evangelist. He founded Google’s Innovation Lab, where he trained tens of thousands of Googlers to develop cutting-edge ideas and taught groundbreaking classes on innovation and creativity at Stanford University for more than a decade. His new book is called “What’s Next is Now: How […]
Kelly sits down with Robert Wolcott, adjunct professor of innovation at the Booth School of Business and adjunct professor of executive education at the Kellogg School of Management and Kaihan Krippendorff CEO of Outthinker Networks to talk about their new book: “Proximity: How Coming Breakthroughs in Just-in-Time Transform Business, Society and Daily Life.”  “People want […]
Kelly talks to Emmy award-winning former broadcaster Jessica Chen who is now the CEO of Soulcast Media and the author of “Smart Not Loud: How To Get Noticed At Work For All The Right Reasons.” “Growing up, I was never taught the importance of making myself visible.”  “Filler words sabotage our message.”  “Acknowledging isn’t agreeing, it’s just showing we’re listening.”
Kelly catches up with Stephanie Harrison, former leaning executive with Thrive. Her company, The New Happy, has revolutionized the way that people understand and pursue happiness. Her new book is called “New Happy: Getting Happiness Right in a World That’s Got It Wrong.”  “Old Happy has put us all on autopilot.”  “There is no ‘me’ without […]
Kelly explores the history of play and games with Kelly Clancy, a neuroscientist and physicist who has held research positions at MIT, University of California – Berkley, University College London and the AI company DeepMind. She has a new book, it’s called “Playing with Reality: How Games Have Shaped Our World.”   “Play is practice for the unexpected.”  […]
Kelly connects with Matt Beane, University of California professor, to discuss his new book: “The Skill Code: How to Save Human Ability in an Age of Intelligent Machines.”  “If it’s going to flourish, the future of skill needs the very technologies we’re concerned about.”  “We learn best when we get healthy challenge: too much, and we burn […]
Kelly welcomes Jo Boaler back to the podcast. Jo is the Nomellini & Olivier Professor of Education at Stanford University. She is the author of nineteen books and numerous research articles. Her latest book is called “Math-Ish: Finding Creativity, Diversity, and Meaning in Mathematics.”  “Mathematics can be a secret weapon.”  “People with a growth mindset view mistakes as […]
Kelly connects with Jessica Calarco, a Sociologist and Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. to discuss her latest book “Holding it Together: How Women Became America’s Social Safety Net. “ “Care flows through networks, and we all exist in networks of care.”  “Learned helplessness manifests inequality.”  “The problem, of course, is that when women prove they can hold […]
Kelly talks to Harvard Professor Todd Rogers about his book “Writing for Busy Readers: Communicate More Effectively in the Real World”  that he co-wrote with Jessica Lasky-Fink.  “Modern writers need extra help breaking through all the distractions.”  “Use fewer words.”  “Studies show that all-caps text does not enhance readers’ understanding.” 
Kelly welcomes back Yale professor Emma Seppala to the podcast to discuss her new book: “Sovereign: Reclaim Your Freedom, Energy, and Power in a Time of Distraction, Uncertainty and Chaos.” “Regardless of race, nationality, religion, gender, or social status, at our core we’re the same: sovereign.”  “Many of us have a toxic relationship with ourselves.”  “It […]
Kelly welcomes back fan-favorite Kim Scott to the podcast to discuss how she decided to reframe and significantly rewrite her book “Just Work” to turn it into “Radical Respect.” “Collaboration is essential to any great human accomplishment.”  “Words matter. You are not the word dictator.”  “Self-righteous shaming is an act of vengeance, not repair.” 
Kelly sits down with philosophy professor Christopher Wong Michaelson and management professor Jennifer Tosti-Kharas to talk about their fantastic new book, “Is Your Work Worth It? How to Think About Meaningful Work.” “Sometimes it takes a catastrophe for us to pay attention.”  “Art and work have more in common than that they share the word […]
Kelly talks to Mary Murphy, professor of psychological and brain sciences at Indiana University and founding director of the Summer Institute on Diversity at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. Her new book is called “Cultures of Growth: How the New Science of Mindset Can Transform Individuals, Teams and Organizations.”  […]
Kelly connects with Stanford professor of psychiatry, Elias Aboujaoude, to talk about his provocative new book, “A Leader’s Destiny: Why Psychology, Personality, and Character Make All the Difference.”  “Coaches may be ‘treating’ people who should be receiving mental health care instead.”  “Much is lost by embracing a narrow leadership brand.”  “One does not go online to […]
Please enjoy this bonus podcast as Kelly interviews opera legend Renee Fleming live for the Chicago Humanities Festival as they discuss her new book “Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts for Health and Wellness.”  “We humans likely sang before we spoke.”  “I believe that the arts should be embedded in our health-care system.” “As a singer, […]
Kelly welcomes the prolific author Cass Sunstein back to the show to talk about his new book, “How to Become Famous: Lost Einsteins, Forgetting Superstars and How The Beatles Came to Be.” “Success and failure are exceedingly hard to predict.”  “Excessive familiarity is boring, and excessive novelty is incomprehensible.”  “Every successful artist succeeds in their […]
Kelly has a compelling conversation with Jerry Colonna, the Co-founder of Flatiron Partners, one of the most successful, early-stage investment programs; former partner with J.P. Morgan Partners (JPMP), the private equity arm of J.P. Morgan Chase. Jerry is the author of two books: REBOOT: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up and his latest book […]
Kelly speaks to journalist Tricia Romano who has published a vast oral history of the Village Voice newspaper called “The Freaks Came Out to Write: The Definitive History of The Village Voice, the Radical Paper that Changed American Culture.”  “The paper was called the Voice, and that’s what it was. It was like a loud, open mouth.” […]
Want a productivity hack that will change your life? Kelly connects with Marc Zao-Sanders, the co-founder and CEO of filtered.com to discuss his new book “Timeboxing: The Power of Doing One Thing at a Time.” “Timeboxing is the flexible friend of any and all other time management techniques.”  “Disconcertingly organized people weren’t born that way.”  “Time […]
Is your spouse a tightwad or a spendthrift? Kelly talks to Scott Rick, marketing professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, about his new book “Tightwads and Spendthrifts: Navigating the Money Minefield in Real Relationships.” “Too much dissimilarity is bad for a marriage.”  “Selecting great gifts requires careful listening.”   “For many of […]
Kelly connects with best-selling author Emily P. Freeman to talk about her new book, “How to Walk into a Room: The Art of Knowing When to Stay and When to Walk Away.” “We all walk through exits and endings throughout our lives.” “The mistake we make is to assume we’re all in the same room.”  “How we’re formed informs how […]
Kelly sits down at The Second City with Harvard business professor Michael Norton to discuss his new book “The Ritual Effect: From Habit to Ritual, Harness the Surprising Power of Everyday Actions.” “A ritual is not a habit.”  “Taken to the extreme, pre-performance rituals get in our way.”  “Rituals can be the practices that call […]
Kelly talks to Elaine Lin Hering, a former managing partner of Triad Consulting Group and a lecturer at Harvard Law School, specializing in dispute resolution, mediation, and negotiation. Her new book is called “Unlearning Silence: How to Speak Your Mind, Unleash Talent, and Live More Fully. “Silence is a survival strategy.”  “Getting people to share what […]
Kelly connects with Keith Boykin, a New York Times bestselling author, TV and Film producer, and former CNN political commentator. Keith served in the White House, cofounded the National Black Justice Coalition and taught at Columbia University. He is the author of seven books and his most recent is called “Why Does Everything Have to Be About Race? […]
Kelly goes deep with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Daniel de Vise about his new book, “The Blues Brothers: An Epic Friendship, the Rise of Improv, and the Making of an American Film Classic.”  “Belushi was a violent teddy bear, a cuddly monster, lovable and vulnerable and real.”  “Most Animal House actors followed the script: John improvised.”  “In truth, John […]
Kelly talks to tech entrepreneur Tobias Dengel about his new book “Sound of the Future: The Coming Age of Voice Technology.” “Speed is the ultimate weapon in business.”  “You cannot create the world’s best products if everyone in the room looks the same.”  “Your first task is to fall in love with the problem.
Kelly welcomes Cal Newport back to the podcast. Cal is a professor of computer science at Georgetown University where he is also a founding member of the Center for Digital Ethics. He is the author of many books, including “Deep Work.” His latest book is called “Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout.” “Slow productivity doesn’t ask that you extinguish […]
