Latest Interviews

Andrew Bolton: The Intersection of Fashion, Art And Technology - Talks at GS

Andrew Bolton

Following the Costume Institute's establishment as a self-funded department in 1959, the annual Met Gala organized by Anna Wintour has served as its critical financial engine, enabling major exhibitions like the *Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty* retrospective and the current *Manus Ex Machina* display. Curator Andrew Bolton utilizes these platforms to challenge historical barriers to fashion's recognition as art, highlighting the intersection of handmade and machine-made techniques while critiquing the industry's unsustainable, socially accelerated production cycles. Through a strategy that balances educational discourse with public appeal, the Institute aims to slow the fashion pace and foster deeper appreciation for design talent amidst the pressures of modern commercialization.

The music industry and the digital revolution

Nick Raphael, Willard Ardritz, Jacob Whitesides, Elliot

While traditional major labels have long dominated the market by financing artist development and retaining master rights, the industry is shifting toward a service-based model driven by technological disruption. Startups like Cobalt now enable thousands of songwriters to retain full ownership and access previously hidden revenue streams, challenging the status quo that relied on catalog sales to fund new acts. This evolving landscape empowers established independent artists with significant leverage, prompting major corporations to adapt from strict ownership models to partnerships focused on specific commercialization services.

Bjarke Ingels: Transforming the Skyline: Talks at GS

Bjarke Ingels

Bjarke Ingels, founder of the award-winning BIG firm, discusses his methodology of transforming strict project constraints into generative forces for high-profile projects like the World Trade Center and the Vancouver tower. He further details his approach to the year's Serpentine Summer Pavilion, which utilizes simple materials like fiberglass and aluminum to create a "gigantic shelf" that elevates ordinary elements into an extraordinary form. By treating architectural limitations as variables in a consistent logic, Ingels demonstrates how his firm achieves functional necessity and added value across radically different scales and contexts.

Discover Buenos Aires: slabs of meat, Malbec and polo

Buenos Aires presents a cultural landscape where street art, historical street polo played by rural gauchos, and the communal "asado" ritual define the social fabric alongside a thriving market economy born from the 2001 financial crisis. The city's unique identity is further expressed through politically charged Murga dance groups and a sophisticated nightlife scene of password-protected speakeasies that evolved during times of economic hardship. These diverse elements collectively offer a deep exploration of Argentine heritage, from government-designated notable bars to the world's largest street mural by artist Alfredo Segatore.

Which jobs help people the most? (part2c) @ Cambridge University

The presentation outlines four strategic pathways for maximizing social impact: direct work, research, advocacy, and earning to give, each offering distinct leverage points through global scaling or financial multiplication. High-impact outcomes rely on identifying pressing problems, selecting the most effective modality, and securing roles where individuals can achieve top-tier excellence after years of dedicated development. Real-world examples, such as researchers pivoting to think tanks and professionals transitioning from high-paying tech jobs to donate substantial incomes, illustrate how personal fit and strategic selection amplify the effectiveness of these efforts.

Discover Colombo: travel in the fastest-growing city in the world

Sonali Dharmavardana, Darshan Munitasa, Gabby White

Following the end of its civil war, Colombo is rapidly transforming into the world's fastest-growing city destination through a fusion of heritage preservation and modern creative industries. Key figures such as celebrity chef Darshan Muniasami, fashion designer Sonali Dharmavardana, and former cricketer Kumar Sangakkara are driving this renaissance by revitalizing culinary identity and showcasing the unique blend of colonial architecture with contemporary lifestyle in venues like the Ministry of Crab. Local experts and residents now urge immediate international engagement, positioning the current moment as a unique window for travelers to experience the city's authentic cultural depth before these rapid developments become fully mainstream.

Loyd Grossman - An American-British Gastronome on Global Food Trends: Talks at GS Session Highlights

Loyd Grossman, Lloyd

Television producer Lloyd Evans details the near-rejection of the *MasterChef* concept by a skeptical BBC executive and its subsequent success as a cornerstone of the UK's thirty-year food revolution. Evans analyzes current culinary trends, noting a shift from exclusive molecular gastronomy to the "one-item" restaurant model, foraging, and high-quality local produce, while offering a nuanced critique of the queuing culture that dominates trendy dining. Drawing on his career philosophy and observations of British identity, he argues that food remains an affordable alternative to travel and highlights the enduring appeal of accessible, high-quality dining experiences.

Q&A with YC at the Female Founders Conference 2016

Jessica Livingston, Kat Manalac, Carolynn Levy, Kirsty Nathoo

Y Combinator partners Jessica Levy and others outline a philosophy that prioritizes founder determination, execution capability, and deep problem ownership over specific stages or demographic profiles, welcoming teams from initial ideas to established companies. Through case studies of Gobble and Airbnb, the discussion illustrates how the accelerator invests in scrappy founders who can clearly articulate their value, while warning against hastening co-founder additions without organic validation. As the program scales to funding approximately 1,000 startups annually, the focus remains on acquiring users and overcoming the "trough of sorrow" to build resilient, domain-expert-led ventures.

The future of the car industry

Bhavish Aggarwal, Shantam, David Rust

Global ride-hailing platforms like India's Ola and the United States' Lyft are driving a fundamental shift in consumer behavior where smartphone access has replaced car ownership as the primary mode of urban transport. This disruption forces traditional automotive manufacturers, including Ford and General Motors, to pivot from hardware-centric models to software-driven mobility solutions and strategic partnerships to survive the transition toward shared, autonomous fleets. As a result, the industry's revenue dynamics are reconfiguring, compelling legacy players to innovate with self-driving technology or risk obsolescence in a market increasingly defined by processing power rather than horsepower.

What makes for a dream job? (part 1) @ Cambridge University

Benjamin Todd

Research by Kahneman and Deaton establishes that financial security only enhances emotional well-being up to a roughly $50,000 household income, after which engagement, meaning, and relationships become the primary drivers of fulfillment. Empirical evidence identifies "fulfilling challenges" characterized by autonomy and clear goals as the strongest predictors of career satisfaction, surpassing the allure of high-stress roles like actuaries or specific subject matter expertise. By synthesizing these findings into a strategy of developing competence to contribute to others, individuals leverage a "giving mindset" that fosters reciprocity and aligns personal success with the moral imperatives of global inequality and historical wisdom.

Christy Turlington Burns - Advancing Global Maternal Health: Talks at GS

Christy Turlington Burns

Established in 2010 by Christy Turlington-Burns following her own postpartum hemorrhage, the organization Every Mother Counts leverages the documentary *No Woman, No Cry* to address preventable maternal mortality driven by barriers in transportation, education, and medical supplies. While Turlington-Burns extends this advocacy to the United States through the CNN series *Giving Birth in America* to highlight domestic disparities in care access and Medicaid reimbursement, the initiative remains focused on a global statistic that 98% of maternal deaths are avoidable. Her approach combines personal experience with public health expertise to confront systemic failures in both developing nations and the U.S., where the country's maternal mortality ranking has notably declined despite high provider density.

Discover Miami: travel the bars and beaches with the locals

Regla, Elaine Lancaster, Raven, Roberto Ramos, Sharif Malnik

This presentation outlines how Cuban migration since 1959, alongside waves from Latin America, transformed Miami into a multicultural metropolis where the local population represents one-third of the city's total residents. The discussion highlights the region's economic prosperity and cultural evolution, citing landmarks like the Wynwood art district and the historic Little Havana enclave, while noting Miami's unique status as a global art hub established by the 2002 Basel festival. Finally, the narrative examines the city's physical geography and social fabric, detailing the man-made origins of Miami Beach, the revitalization of South Beach, and the enduring community figures such as runner Raven and iconic venues like The Forge.

Ken Thompson - Strengthening Trust in the Criminal Justice System: Talks at GS Session Highlights

Ken Thompson

The Brooklyn District Attorney's Office manages approximately 100,000 cases annually through initiatives like the "Begin Again" program, which resolves one million low-level warrants via mobile courts, and the Conviction Review Unit, which has exonerated 17 wrongfully convicted men. To address gun violence, the office operates a fast-track multi-judge court system to accelerate case resolution and collaborates with the NYPD on long-term investigations targeting the out-of-state smuggling of firearms that comprise 90% of recovered weapons. This dual approach aims to correct systemic inequities for the poor while simultaneously enhancing public safety through faster adjudications and targeted intercepts of illicit weapons.

What are the world's biggest problems? (part 2b) @ Cambridge University

A speaker outlines a strategic framework for maximizing social impact by selecting career paths based on the criteria of neglect, scale, and tractability. Using quantitative comparisons of domestic versus global poverty and analyzing failed interventions like Scared Straight programs, the presentation identifies high-impact fields such as global health, migration reform, and scientific research where resources are scarce and evidence of efficacy is strong. The analysis concludes that deliberate, data-driven selection of causes can multiply an individual's contribution compared to conventional choices, urging professionals to target under-served areas where specific actions yield measurable progress.

David Benioff - Behind the Scenes of HBO's 'Game of Thrones': Talks at GS Session Highlights

David Benioff, Stephen Friedman

Co-creators David Benioff and Dan Weiss transformed *Game of Thrones* into the world's largest television production by expanding George R.R. Martin's universe from six countries and thousands of extras while navigating the unprecedented challenge of original storytelling beyond published books. Despite initial pilot setbacks, the team secured unprecedented control from HBO to forge new narrative paths for Season Six and beyond, marking a shift toward a series they consider their most proud work. The collaboration remains defined by Martin's unique mentorship, which continues to influence the writers' approach to complex character dynamics and historical fidelity as the show prepares for its eighth and final season.