Latest Interviews
Showing 16–30 of 37 transcripts.
Clear all filters- Milken Institute1h 3m
Words That Work: A Workshop With Frank Luntz
Frank Luntz, Frank Fenwick, Heather, Ken Gilroy, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, James, Martin
Political consultant Frank Luntz argues that escalating polarization has transformed American discourse into aggressive monologues, prompting a strategic pivot toward specific linguistic shifts designed to rebuild trust and bridge ideological divides. He details a revised political lexicon that replaces divisive terminology like "capitalism" and "privilege" with inclusive concepts such as "economic freedom" and "responsibility," while urging leaders to abandon negative social media tactics in favor of future-oriented, collaborative messaging. The session concludes with a recognition that the next generation seeks shared prosperity over binary ideological battles, warning that failure to adopt these de-escalation strategies risks permanently delegitimizing political opposition.
- Milken Institute51 min
Sir Richard Branson and Michael Milken in Conversation with Kevin O'Leary
Sir Richard Branson, Michael Milken, Kevin O'Leary, Richard Branson
Speakers Richard and Michael analyze a sharp decline in Western faith in free enterprise driven by student debt, stagnant real estate returns, and wealth inequality, while contrasting this with optimism in emerging markets like Vietnam and China. They argue that successful entrepreneurship now relies on balancing visionary leadership with operational management to navigate deregulation, tax competitiveness, and global capital flows, noting that SMEs have become the primary engines of job creation. Furthermore, the discussion outlines solutions for systemic challenges, including a universal carbon tax to address climate change and for-profit space exploration to ensure both environmental sustainability and human survival.
- Milken Institute17 min
The Stories We Tell Feat. Jay Shetty
Challenging the triviality of current social media usage, the presentation outlines a strategy to leverage mobile penetration for distributing life-changing wisdom through emotionally resonant storytelling. By transforming passive consumption into active participation, campaigns by National Geographic and mental health initiatives achieved massive global reach, turning viral moments into offline community support and mentorship networks. The proposed framework prioritizes understanding audience pain, integrating entertainment to enhance retention, and enabling co-creation to facilitate implicit learning.
- Milken Institute27 min
CDC Director Robert Redfield: 'Opioid Epidemic is the public health crisis of our time'
This event details a strategic review of an organization facing significant funding uncertainties and access barriers while pivoting toward social justice, independent scientific research, and multi-year capital market transitions. Key figures addressed the contradiction between current resource limitations and plans to expand operations through federal partnerships over a projected three-year timeline to better manage global crises. Despite ambiguous historical anchors and disjointed narrative segments, the discussion concluded with a commitment to advancing systemic reforms and developing spiritual leadership capabilities among students.
- Milken Institute55 min
Opening Remarks and Keynote
Diane Helfrey, Michael Klowden, Dan Schnur, Toni Atkins, John Chiang
Hosted by the Milken Institute and Sacramento Bee director Dan Schnur, this conference convened key figures such as State Treasurer John Chung and Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins to launch a sustained dialogue on California's critical challenges in housing, workforce development, and climate finance. The event highlighted the urgent need for cross-sector collaboration to bridge the "missing middle" housing gap, address a projected 2030 labor shortage, and mobilize a record $1.75 billion JPMorgan Chase investment alongside a new state Green Bond Pledge. Attendees acknowledged a deep public trust deficit that can only be resolved by uniting public, private, and nonprofit leaders to implement innovative financing mechanisms and streamline legislative priorities for the state's future.
- Milken Institute10 min
The Results Are In: Predictive Technology and Your DNA Map
Led by geneticist Christopher Mason, a global team at the Milken Conference initiated a "metropoleome" project by collecting and sequencing phone swabs from 96 participants to map the genetic diversity and antimicrobial resistance of public surfaces. The resulting analysis of over 2,000 species and 560 resistance markers revealed that microbial profiles on mobile devices correlate strongly with lifestyle factors such as smoking, household size, and ancestry. With the full dataset of 1,000 samples scheduled for release within two weeks, the study establishes a vital global baseline for tracking antibiotic resistance genes and inferring dietary habits through mobile metagenomics.
- Milken Institute58 min
Frank Luntz: Words That Work, 2018
Frank Luntz presented his "Words That Work 2018" framework at the Milken Institute, using real-time polling to demonstrate how James Comey's credibility collapsed due to factual errors while Stormy Daniels gained trust through specific narrative agency and personal autonomy. Luntz highlighted that extreme political polarization has eroded shared reality and eliminated ticket-splitters, creating a crisis where reputation is now strictly partisan and truth-telling cannot restore cross-aisle trust. The analysis concluded with strategic linguistic recommendations for leaders, such as adopting the "why-therefore-so" formula, replacing "diversity" with "inclusion," and prioritizing active listening to bridge the widening divide between Democrats and Republicans.
- Milken Institute1h 0m
A Conversation With Jane Goodall
Jane Goodall, Brian Sheth, Melissa Stevens
Jane Goodall and Brian Sheth discuss the convergence of private equity capital and global conservation through Goodall's Jane Goodall Institute and Sheth's leadership of Global Wildlife Conservation. They detail the expansion of Goodall's Roots & Shoots program to 150,000 youth groups and the institute's use of satellite technology to protect chimpanzee populations in Gombe and the Republic of Congo. The dialogue concludes with a strategic emphasis on integrating scientific rigor into policy-making and leveraging financial markets to sustain long-term environmental resilience.
- Milken Institute59 min
Lessons in Leadership: Women Breaking Barriers and Battling Bias
Yomi Abiola, Richard Ditizio, Asli Bayram, Jackie Cooper, Lynne Franks, Assia Grazioli-Venier, Brenda Trenowden
This panel of business leaders and activists argues that achieving global gender equality requires structural reforms beyond individual mentorship, citing the "elephant and giraffe" parable and Norway's 40% board quota as evidence that systemic bias must be dismantled through enforceable mandates and diverse executive empowerment. Key speakers including Asya and Brenda Trenodin outlined strategies such as replacing passive mentorship with active sponsorship, utilizing AI to neutralize gendered hiring language, and investing in mixed-gender leadership to normalize female presence in high-stakes corporate and venture capital environments. While acknowledging slow progress highlighted by the World Economic Forum's 2186 equality projection, the group emphasized that accelerating this timeline demands measurable KPIs, top-down accountability, and a shift in corporate culture from tolerance to active inclusion.
- Milken Institute52 min
Al Gore: Leading the Charge for Environmental Action
Al Gore, S Iswaran, Michael Klowden
A comprehensive analysis frames the climate crisis as a solvable sustainability revolution driven by AI, IoT expansion, and renewable economics that now outperform fossil fuels. Despite accelerating temperature anomalies, extreme weather events, and ecosystem collapse threatening global stability, the speaker highlights record-breaking decarbonization trends and a $22 trillion financial risk assessment that compels market-led action. Ultimately, the transition is portrayed as inevitable due to technological capability and investment momentum, even as political fluctuations and lagging mitigation efforts continue to exacerbate immediate atmospheric and humanitarian risks.
- Milken Institute1h 3m
Jobs of 2037: Preparing for the Future
Michael Milken, Josephine Teo, Joseph C. Tsai, Igor Tulchinsky, Jaime Augusto Zóbel de Ayala, Michael Clouden
The Milken Institute Global Conference Asia Summit addressed the strategic imperative of balancing automation with human connection to prepare for a global population projected to reach one billion more by 2037. Speakers from Singapore, the Philippines, and China highlighted successful models where targeted education, industry transformation maps, and ecosystem-driven logistics have offset workforce shrinkage and created millions of new roles. The consensus emphasizes that governments and corporations must foster facilitative environments and robust social safety nets to ensure technological advancement translates into shared economic prosperity rather than widespread displacement.
- Milken Institute59 min
Meaningful Lives: Individual Talks by Shaka Senghor, Arianna Huffington, and Deepak Chopra
Shaka Senghor, Arianna Huffington, Deepak Chopra, Conrad Kiechel
Speakers Shaka Senghor, Arianna Huffington, and Deepak Chopra convened to explore the intersection of personal trauma, technological burnout, and spiritual consciousness as essential pathways to building meaningful lives. Senghor detailed his transformation from a violent criminal to an MIT fellow, while Huffington advocated for redefining success through well-being and digital detachment to counter societal stress. Complementing these perspectives, Chopra explained how integrating reptilian, limbic, and cortical brain functions fosters collective intention, offering a unified framework for overcoming existential challenges and fostering a sustainable future.
- Milken Institute1h 3m
Say This, Not This: The Words to Use and the Words to Lose
The presentation analyzes the critical impact of communication styles on political trust and corporate branding, highlighting how figures like Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio leverage authentic, unscripted delivery to resonate with voters amidst record-low congressional approval ratings. In the corporate sector, the speaker argues that phrases emphasizing tangible benefits and transparency, such as "no fine print" and "living wage," outperform traditional buzzwords in rebuilding consumer confidence while specific visual and psychological strategies enhance demographic engagement. Ultimately, the event advocates for a shift toward raw, human-centric interaction over polished staging, asserting that physical proximity and linguistic sincerity are essential for overcoming national cynicism and fostering genuine connection.
- Milken Institute1h 2m
The Words (and Images) That Work in 2014
This presentation analyzes the collapse of American optimism and the resulting public demand for accountability across business, education, and politics. The speaker highlights that trust in institutions has eroded due to a disconnect between expectations and reality, arguing that terms like "performance," "imagine," and "accountability" resonate far more effectively than traditional corporate or political buzzwords. By shifting communication strategies from self-centered metrics to universal, results-oriented narratives, the session urges leaders to leverage existing public trust in business and science to rebuild hope and drive tangible societal change.
- Milken Institute7 min
2013GC Cyber Illusionist
Marco, self-described as a cyber illusionist, leverages magic to prototype future technologies by presenting "illusion glasses" that simulate augmented reality concepts independent of Google's Project Glass. He grounds his digital demonstrations in the esoteric symbolism of a standard 52-card deck, meticulously mapping suits to seasons, cards to lunar phases, and spot counts to the days of the year. After discussing the mathematical odds of skilled card handling, the performance culminated in a tangible trick revealing a real card to distinguish physical reality from simulated elements.