Latest Interviews
Showing 1711–1725 of 2,502 transcripts.
Clear all filters- Milken Institute26 min
Inclusive Capitalism Fireside Chats: A Conversation With John Rogers and Blair Smith
Jared Rogers, chairman of Ariel Investments and a descendant of Tulsa's historic Black business legacy, addresses the two-decade collapse of Chicago's Black corporate sector by leveraging his thirty-year tenure on major corporate boards to enforce accountability and diversity. To reverse this erasure, he spearheads strategic initiatives like Project Black, a private equity fund for scalable Black enterprises, alongside educational programs in the stock market and university endowments designed to cultivate the next generation of financial leaders. These efforts, supported by a sustained post-2020 shift in institutional commitment, aim to reconstruct the high-value economic ecosystem that once defined the city's Black business community.
- The Diary Of A CEO1h 49m
Jay Shetty: The 3 Simple Things A Happy Life Needs | E119
In his talk "Origins, Mindset, and the Mechanics of Happiness," former monk and speaker Jay Shetty deconstructs his childhood conditioning to explain how early trauma shapes adult relationship patterns and self-validation habits. He outlines practical frameworks for emotional well-being, including the "75% Relationship Rule" to prevent relational insecurity and a three-pillar approach to happiness that balances daily flow with deeper purpose. Shetty concludes by urging audiences to reject restrictive societal labels in favor of intentional decision-making regarding their feelings, work, love, and service to others.
- All-In Podcast1h 25m
E67: Revisiting Rogan, Canadian truckers' protest, fusion breakthrough, $MSFT's savvy move & more
Rogan, Phil Hellmuth, Biden, Friedberg, Wyden, Heinrich, Haines, Chamath Palihapitiya, David Sacks
In a panel discussion featuring Joe Rogan, Chamath Palihapitiya, and David Sacks, the hosts analyze the selective cancellation of Rogan by Spotify alongside the political implications of the Canadian Freedom Convoy and the erosion of civil liberties through warrantless CIA surveillance. The conversation further details significant advancements in nuclear fusion technology, such as JET's energy output record, while contrasting these long-term energy solutions with immediate macroeconomic pressures like rising inflation and declining consumer sentiment. Ultimately, the group argues that current government mandates and media narratives are disproportionately targeting heterodox voices and working-class concerns, warning of a widening schism between political elites and the general public.
- Lex Fridman2h 17m
John Abramson: Big Pharma | Lex Fridman Podcast #263
In this comprehensive critique, physician and author John Abramson argues that the U.S. pharmaceutical industry prioritizes shareholder profits over patient health, citing $38 billion in fines and a lack of criminal accountability for data manipulation as evidence of systemic failure. He proposes structural reforms including mandatory access to raw clinical trial data, strict regulation of direct-to-consumer advertising, and a lifetime ban on the "revolving door" between regulatory agencies and Big Pharma. While acknowledging the benefits of vaccines and mRNA technology, Abramson concludes that the current biomedical model misallocates resources by ignoring lifestyle determinants and urges the medical community to restore scientific integrity against corporate influence.
- Y Combinator18 min
How To Change The World? Get The Small Things Right – Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel
Dalton Caldwell, Michael Seibel
This discussion dissects common founder failures arising from willful ignorance of historical precedents and a misalignment between technical efficiency and complex human incentives. It argues that successful market disruption requires deep architectural understanding of all constituent motivations rather than relying on superficial logic or single-source expert validation. Using Brex as a case study, the event outlines a strategy where entrepreneurs synthesize diverse perspectives on past attempts to navigate systemic barriers and validate genuine demand.
- Milken Institute1h 48m
Silver Linings Playbook: New Momentum for Outcomes-Driven Government
Matt Horton, Ben McAdams, Jennifer Park, Nancy Augustine, William Glasgall, Michael Grossman, Michael Hammett, Grace Simrall, Ryan Smith, Jen Tolentino
The National Academy of Public Administration launched its Center for Intergovernmental Partnerships in September 2024 to address systemic fragmentation across federal, state, and local agencies amid an $800 billion annual transfer landscape facing a potential fiscal cliff. This initiative spearheads three strategic projects targeting pandemic compliance, workforce shortages, and "No Wrong Door" service models while promoting outcomes-based financing and data-driven municipal innovations like Louisville's broadband expansion and Durham's driver's license reform. Panelists emphasize normalizing innovation failure to replicate these successful solutions and leveraging American Rescue Plan funds to build long-term evidence capacity rather than relying on temporary revenue replacement.
- Milken Institute1h 6m
Creating Community Wealth and New Revenue: Public Assets Workshop
Matt Horton, Ben McAdams, Dina Blaes, Jason Foster, Shayne Kavanagh, Joe Minicozzi, Dan Tangherlini, Natalie Cohen
The Milken Institute Center for Regional Economics convened a public finance forum where panelists including former Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams and Urban Planner Joe Minicozzi argued for "Urban Wealth Funds" to transform underutilized public assets into revenue generators that reduce reliance on regressive tax bases. While the session highlighted a Salt Lake County study revealing $12 billion in potential transit-corridor value, speakers like Dina Blaze and Dan Tangerlini emphasized that equitable implementation requires overcoming political barriers and establishing community equity endowments to prevent resident displacement. Experts concluded that local governments must adopt proactive asset valuation and flexible governance structures to legally function as corporate-like entities that capture public wealth for direct community reinvestment.
- Milken Institute1h 9m
Deep Dive: Deployment of High Demand Community Infrastructure Projects
Dan Carol, Bryan Borlik, Rachel Halfaker, Donnel Baird, Rob Day, Bill Lee, Patrick Meyers, Michelle Moore, Matt Petersen, David Guilford, Adam Fried, Robbie Jones
The Economic Development Administration awarded a grant to the Milken Institute and RCAP to launch a pre-development training accelerator designed to equip rural and underserved communities with the technical capacity to make infrastructure projects shovel-ready. A diverse panel of experts including representatives from the Trust for Public Lands, Groundswell, and Spring Lane Capital highlighted the critical need for zero-percent match requirements, community-paid participation stipends, and granular data targeting to overcome traditional grant-writing barriers. These initiatives aim to transform one-time federal funding into sustainable local wealth by pairing financial capital with technical assistance to scale projects ranging from broadband and green infrastructure to urban decarbonization.
- The Diary Of A CEO1h 34m
Calm App Founder: From $0 To $2 Billion By Making The World Meditate: Michael Acton Smith | E117
Michael Acton Smith, Stephen Bartlett
Michael Acton Smith, founder of the billion-dollar mindfulness app Calm, chronicles his journey from the commercial failures of Perplex City and Moshi Monsters to building a global solution for the mental health crisis. Driven by personal burnout and a realization that meditation could rewire the brain from fear-based reaction to strategic response, Smith transformed Calm into a revenue powerhouse through features like Sleep Stories and a pivot to annual subscription pricing. His narrative underscores a broader cultural shift toward valuing sleep, nutrition, and mental practice as foundational business skills, positioning the treatment of mental health as a prerequisite for solving larger global issues like climate change.
- Lex Fridman2h 59m
Georges St-Pierre, John Danaher & Gordon Ryan: The Greatest of All Time | Lex Fridman Podcast #260
Georges St-Pierre, John Danaher, Gordon Ryan, Lex Fridman
John McDonough, George St-Pierre, and Gordon Ryan discuss strategies for elite combat sports success, emphasizing the development of undervalued technical skills like leg locks and the strategic integration of strength training rather than reliance on brute force. The conversation explores the delicate balance between confidence and fear, the specific nutritional and physiological approaches required for peak performance, and the distinct tactical demands of MMA compared to pure grappling. Finally, the trio offers philosophical insights on evolutionary violence, speculates on hypothetical matchups between legendary fighters, and advises aspiring athletes to pursue mastery in specific innovative areas while maintaining a trusted support system.
- The Diary Of A CEO1h 35m
Fearne Cotton: THIS Is How To Build Confidence & Set Yourself Free | E116
Former BBC Radio 1 presenter Fern Cotton left mainstream media after a decade of high-pressure performance triggered severe anxiety and depression, leading her to build a new career founded on radical authenticity. Her recent work, including the podcast *Happy Place* and the book *Bigger Than Us*, focuses on replacing industry validation with self-compassion and systemic challenges regarding gender and ambition. Cotton now advocates for prioritizing internal connection over external success metrics as she expands her mission into festivals and digital experiences designed to reduce societal disconnection.
- Lex Fridman2h 45m
Yann LeCun: Dark Matter of Intelligence and Self-Supervised Learning | Lex Fridman Podcast #258
Yann LeCun proposes that self-supervised learning serves as the foundational mechanism for building world models, arguing that this approach mirrors human biological learning far more effectively than current data-hungry supervised methods. While progress in language has been substantial, the field faces significant technical hurdles in applying similar principles to high-dimensional vision, necessitating new architectures to handle uncertainty and causality. LeCun further contends that this paradigm shift is essential for achieving strong AI capable of solving complex scientific problems, though he warns that such capabilities may eventually require addressing the ethical implications of autonomous drives and the potential for machine suffering.
- Milken Institute30 min
Building Community Wealth: How Can We Meet the Moment
Margot Brandenburg, Natalie Foster, Shawn Wooden
Ford Foundation host Margo Brandenburg facilitated a dialogue with Natalie Foster and Connecticut Treasurer Sean Wooden on utilizing community wealth strategies to address the widening racial and economic divide. Foster highlighted the Child Tax Credit's success in reducing child poverty while Wooden detailed Connecticut's pioneering Baby Bonds program as a model for closing the generational wealth gap through state-level innovation. The conversation further examined how public sector expansions of guaranteed income, social bonds, and anti-monopoly policies are reshaping labor markets and providing essential financial buffers during economic volatility.
- Milken Institute30 min
Managing Through Change: Mayors Weigh In
Mary Ellen Wiederwohl, Michael Hancock, Quinton Lucas
Accelerator for America President Mary Ellen Reeder-Wohl facilitated a public finance forum with Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and Kansas City Mayor Quentin Lucas to discuss leveraging federal funds for systemic urban transformation. The mayors detailed strategies for redesigning major infrastructure corridors, such as Denver's Colfax Avenue and Kansas City's I-70, to prioritize equitable housing, transit, and business opportunities while preventing community displacement. By framing local projects as regional assets, both leaders emphasized a shared commitment to moving beyond reactive budget maintenance toward proactive solutions for inequality and economic resilience.
- Milken Institute36 min
Equity and ESG for Munis: Risks, Disclosure, and Adoption
Caitlin MacLean, Olivia Albrecht, Lourdes Germán, Gary Hall, Mark Kim, Zoila Jennings
The municipal ESG bond market currently lacks a consistent pricing premium despite $43 billion in outstanding labels, driven by challenges in quantifying social metrics and a reliance on self-verification by 61% of issuers. To address these data gaps and standardization issues, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is launching the Emma Labs analytics platform while seeking enhanced disclosures, and a new $4 million consortium is developing unified racial equity frameworks for municipal financing. Consequently, market participants are being urged to align with international standards and demand greater transparency from asset managers to harmonize taxonomies and improve access for smaller communities.