Latest Interviews
Showing 1336–1350 of 3,249 interview transcripts.
Clear all filters- The Economist26 min
Peace from pieces: Syria after Assad
Jason Palmer, Christopher Lockwood, Tom Wainwright, Johnny Williams, Matthew Mercer
Following a rapid 12-day rebel offensive led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Bashar al-Assad fled Damascus to end five decades of rule, triggering a complex geopolitical shift as Russia and Iran withdraw support while Turkey and the US balance new power dynamics. Concurrently, Australia enacted the world's first blanket ban on social media for minors under 16, imposing heavy fines on non-compliant tech firms despite concerns over AI age-verification accuracy and uneven regulatory competition. In cultural developments, Dungeons & Dragons marked its 50th anniversary by evolving from a niche hobby into a mainstream phenomenon driven by the fifth edition, popular media crossovers, and a generation of creators who cite the game as a vital tool for social confidence and storytelling.
- Goldman Sachs24 min
Driving Innovation in the Aviation Industry: JetBlue Founder David Neeleman
David Neeleman, Catherine Kolimas
Aviation entrepreneur David Neeleman outlines his career founding five airlines, including Azul and Breeze Airways, by leveraging a "disruptor mindset" that builds structurally defensible business models for underserved markets. His latest venture, Azul in Brazil, has transformed logistics and lifted 9,000 people out of poverty, while Breeze focuses on 125 US cities with minimal competition using a low-cost technology-centric approach. Neeleman concludes by detailing his philosophy of converting service failures into loyalty and his broader mission-driven philanthropy aimed at eradicating poverty within the aviation sector.
- The Economist25 min
Ashes to Masses: Notre Dame’s stunning return
Jason Palmer, Sophie Petter, Ori Ogunbi, Anne Rowe
Following a five-year restoration funded by nearly €900 million in private donations, Notre Dame Cathedral is set to reopen in Paris with its historic spire and oak roof reconstructed using strict medieval techniques under the leadership of General Jean-Louis Georgelain. Meanwhile, Ghana prepares for a pivotal election where former President John Mahama challenges the incumbent amid a severe economic crisis characterized by 23% inflation and a sovereign debt default. In a related commemoration of World War II history, the legacy of John Kinsel, the last surviving Navajo Code Talker who died at age 107, highlights the critical role of the indigenous language in creating an unbreakable cipher during the Pacific campaign.
- Goldman Sachs31 min
Investing in Sports: Building A Better Fan Experience
Nicole Pullen Ross, Greg Carey, Stacy Sonnenberg, Gillian Zucker
The Los Angeles Clippers' transition to a private $2.4 billion Intuit Dome eliminates the financial disadvantages of shared venues by capturing exclusive revenue streams and implementing a "basketball mecca" design that integrates intimate atmospheres with modern luxuries. This project exemplifies a broader industry shift toward privately financed, multi-use entertainment complexes that utilize advanced frictionless entry systems and premium dining to maximize return on investment while adhering to strict debt-repayment models based on future earnings. As teams evolve into community stewards, these facilities aim to balance high-margin premium experiences with affordable pricing strategies to secure both immediate economic impact and long-term fan loyalty across diverse global markets.
- a16z31 min
How Gusto Used Customer Input to Scale Growth with Tomer London
Gusto, a nearly $10 billion payroll and HR platform founded by Tomer London and his Stanford classmates, initially targeted a hyper-specific niche of California-based, non-hourly businesses to validate its product through manual, high-effort outreach. The company strategically leveraged self-serve economics and unexpected adoption by accountants as a key distribution channel, scaling from a concierge onboarding phase for its first 16 clients to an automated platform serving over 300,000 U.S. firms. By maintaining strict unit economics and a weekly growth target of 15–20 percent without paid acquisition, Gusto established a sustainable product-led model that evolved into an all-in-one system for both employees and contractors.
- The Economist21 min
Michel shock: France’s government falls
Michel Barnier, Emmanuel Macron, Rosie Bloor, Jason Palmer, Sophie Petter, Henry Tricks, Rachel Lloyd, Jared Brown
Following a coalition of the left and far-right led by Marine Le Pen that successfully triggered a vote of no confidence, French President Emmanuel Macron has lost his third prime minister in a year, creating a constitutional deadlock that bars early elections until July 2025. In the corporate sector, while individual generative AI adoption remains high, widespread business implementation is stalled by regulatory uncertainty, legal liabilities, and a severe shortage of skilled specialists. Simultaneously, the UK gin industry faces a contraction threat as record duty hikes and rising costs dampen demand for spirits, driving a shift toward non-alcoholic alternatives despite a decade of explosive growth.
- Milken Institute20 min
A Conversation with CMS Director of Medicare Meena Seshamani | Future of Health Summit 2024
Meena Seshamani, Bertha Coombs
A multidisciplinary team comprising experts from drug pricing, pharmacy, and economics has implemented health care reforms focused on treating developmental issues, chronic illnesses, and behavioral health within the Medicare and Medicaid systems. These initiatives, which include updating risk adjustment methodologies and navigating the Inflation Reduction Act, aim to reduce prescription drug costs for seniors and integrate services to address over 400,000 additional conditions. With a target deadline of September 1st for international financial agreements, the organization plans to execute these changes over five to eight months while utilizing new communication platforms and patient feedback to ensure system stability.
- Goldman Sachs20 min
Should investors worry about market concentration?
David Kostin, Owen Lamont, Alison Nathan
Strategists David Kostin and Owen Lamont converge on the projection that U.S. equity markets face a decade of sub-10% returns driven by extreme concentration and elevated valuations, though they diverge on whether the top ten stocks' dominance itself constitutes the primary risk. Kostin warns that the current 36% market cap concentration creates a negative equity risk premium and recommends shifting to equal-weighted indices, while Lamont argues that future volatility will stem from AI-driven creative destruction and mean reversion rather than portfolio structure. Both analysts acknowledge that the sustainability of the "magnificent seven's" growth and potential AI bubbles remain critical variables that could accelerate a decline in market performance over the next ten years.
- The Economist24 min
Talk to EU later: Georgia’s fiery protests
Rosie Bloor, Jason Palmer, David Rennie, Anna Toklikishvili, Shailesh Chitnis, Moeka Iida
Escalating violence in Tbilisi has erupted following the ruling party's decision to pause EU accession talks and enforce a Russian-style foreign agent law, sparking a decentralized grassroots movement that challenges Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and President Salome Zurabichvili over election legitimacy. While Kremlin propaganda frames the unrest as a Western-backed color revolution, international observers warn that harsh state suppression could trigger a bloody revolution while the EU faces a geopolitical dilemma regarding how to respond to the government's authoritarian pivot.
- Sequoia Capital39 min
Using AI to Build “Self-Driving Money” ft Ramp CEO Eric Glyman
Eric Glyman, Ravi Gupta, Sonya Huang
Ramp CEO Eric Gleiman champions a "zero-touch automation" strategy that utilizes large language models to execute invisible financial tasks, allowing over 25,000 companies to automate expense reporting and achieve average annual savings of 5%. This approach replaces traditional chatbot interfaces with self-driving money systems that automatically classify vendors and complete reports, marking a shift from routine data entry to high-value strategic work for finance leaders. By prioritizing enduring customer pains over temporary tech trends, the company positions itself to disrupt legacy financial institutions through non-bank innovation that mimics the operational efficiency of "self-driving" transformations in other industries.
- The Economist20 min
Shock and thaw: Syria’s frozen war resumes
Jason Palmer, Greg Karlstrom, Avantika Chilkoti
On November 27, a rebel coalition led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham captured Aleppo and other northwestern territories by exploiting the diminished military capacity of Syrian allies Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah. Concurrently, journalist Avantika Chilkoti demonstrated the futility of attempting to erase digital footprints, highlighting how corporate data aggregation and limited legal jurisdictions prevent individuals from achieving true online anonymity. In financial markets, US stocks rallied following Donald Trump's re-election, with sectors like crypto, private prisons, and finance surging on deregulation expectations, though some industries like steel and oil subsequently corrected due to policy uncertainties.
- Milken Institute20 min
A Conversation with FDA Commissioner Robert Califf | Future of Health Summit 2024
Commissioner Califf reflects on his tenure managing the Abbott infant formula recall and reorganizing the FDA Food Program, emphasizing that the agency faces a healthcare delivery crisis rather than an innovation deficit despite the U.S. global leadership in scientific advancement. He advocates for shifting regulatory focus from pre-approval trials to post-market pragmatic studies and new frameworks for AI decision support to address systemic biases and monitor uncontrolled algorithmic drift in clinical environments. Califf concludes by defining essential traits for future leadership, prioritizing executive listening skills and a commitment to high-quality evidence generation while maintaining a strict separation between science-based product decisions and politically influenced policy mandates.
- The Economist26 min
Milei’s way: Argentina’s president, a year on
Milei, Celeste Caeiro, Rosie Bloor, Kinley Salmon, Marie Zegger, Lisa Honsinger, Anne Rowe
Argentina's President Javier Milei has halved default risk and slashed monthly inflation from 13% to 3% through radical fiscal contraction and the removal of central bank deficit financing, despite pushing poverty rates to 53%. Concurrently, a UN treaty involving 180 nations and major corporations like Coca-Cola aims to bind global plastic production to stricter recycling mandates and biodegradable alternatives, a move supported by startups like Notpla to address the 500 million tonnes of annual waste. The upcoming implementation of this treaty follows the 50th anniversary of Portugal's Carnation Revolution, a non-violent 1974 coup symbolized by worker Celeste Sairu that toppled a 40-year dictatorship.
- The Economist24 min
A losing battle: Sudan’s elusive peace deal
Rosie Blau, Tom Gardner, Ana Lankas, Jason Chow
The ongoing Sudanese civil war between the army and Rapid Support Forces has escalated into a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with RSF forces closing in on al-Fasher despite diplomatic efforts by negotiator El-Zadeen al-Safi that lack immediate traction due to deep mutual distrust and foreign military backing. Simultaneously in Brazil, former President Jair Bolsonaro faces formal accusations of orchestrating a coup and an assassination plot against President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, resulting in potential 28-year prison sentences that have galvanized the political left while right-wing candidates continue to rely on his electoral influence despite his legal bar from public office. In the commercial sphere, Chinese bubble tea chains are aggressively expanding into global markets like London and New York to escape saturated domestic competition, utilizing state-backed soft power strategies to target overseas Chinese diasporas despite facing cultural barriers in Western nations.
- The Economist21 min
Moment of truce: a ceasefire in the Middle East
Rosie Bloor, Greg Karlstrom, Anjani Trivedi, Sophie Pedder
A US and France-brokered 60-day ceasefire entered into force, mandating Hezbollah's withdrawal north of the Litani River and Israel's gradual troop pullback while facing skepticism over Lebanon's economic stability and military capacity. In Europe, the bankruptcy of battery maker Northvolt has exposed structural vulnerabilities in the region's EV supply chain, threatening to increase reliance on Chinese-dominated manufacturing and delay green energy targets. Concurrently, French media and public discourse are reshaping societal norms regarding aging, with cultural figures like Sylvie from *Emily in Paris* challenging traditional beauty standards to promote confidence and visibility for women over 60.