Latest Interviews
Showing 466–480 of 742 transcripts.
Clear all filters- Milken Institute1h 5m
Shaping Skylines and the World: Steve Wynn and Steven Roth
Steven Wynn, a major casino owner and conference benefactor, delivered a broad-ranging discourse at a high-cost event to discuss the urgent need for government efficiency and private-sector-driven solutions to looming mass unemployment. Addressing a diverse array of topics including healthcare reform, education policy, and labor market trends, Wynn advocated for regulatory deregulation, tax incentives for job creation, and a cultural shift in the workplace that prioritizes employee self-esteem over traditional management hierarchies. The session concluded with Wynn expressing optimism about the current administration's capacity for compromise while detailing his personal business philosophy that links corporate profitability directly to the psychological well-being and retention of frontline staff.
- Milken Institute1h 1m
Leverage: How Philanthropies Use New Tools to Create Change
Melissa Stevens, Marlo Gottfurcht Longstreet, Thomas Meredith, Brian Sheth, Todd Wagner
A panel of experts from Vista Equity Partners, Charity Network, and The Nature Conservancy convened to argue that traditional philanthropic models are insufficient for addressing systemic global crises, calling for a shift toward disruptive, data-driven strategies. The group advocated for consolidating redundant organizations, adopting market-competitive executive compensation, and leveraging digital technologies to replace inefficient fundraising with measurable outcomes. By prioritizing high-impact scientific research, genetic accessibility, and corporate integration of social purpose, the sector aims to solve "wicked problems" through collaboration between governments, private companies, and evolved investors.
- Milken Institute54 min
When Ordinary Becomes Extraordinary: Olympic and Paralympic Heroes
Gene Sykes, Janet Evans, Allyson Felix, Apolo Ohno, Sarah Reinertsen
Four elite athletes and LA 2024 Bid Committee CEO Gene Sykes explored the psychological resilience, evolving training methodologies, and unique pressures that define Olympic competition. The panelists detailed how modern data-driven recovery techniques and mental conditioning allow mature athletes to overcome doubt and extend their careers, while contrasting these approaches with the raw ambition that fueled their youth. Sykes further outlined Los Angeles's strategy for the 2024 Games, emphasizing a low-cost, transit-centric infrastructure model that leverages existing facilities to create a compact, legacy-rich event.
- Milken Institute1h 2m
Start-up Nations: Creating Laboratories for Developing Economies
Glenn Yago, Clare Akamanzi, Jeremy Bentley, Richard Blum, Eli Groner, Angela Homsi, Karen Ross
A structural inversion where emerging markets now surpass the "Old World" in GDP share has created a critical need to deploy trillions in idle global capital toward addressing climate adaptation and Sustainable Development Goals. Panelists identified that despite available financing, the primary barrier is a lack of scalable "applied innovation" and viable business models to serve deep rural areas, prompting a strategic pivot toward government-led frameworks in Rwanda, Israel, and California. These nations are successfully leveraging public-private partnerships, financial innovation centers, and educational initiatives to transform niche technologies into bankable projects that bridge the gap between capital availability and last-mile implementation.
- Milken Institute1h 2m
The Evolution of Hedge Fund Management
Julie Lauer Wurster, Mark Baumgartner, Scott Ferguson, Samantha Greenberg, Richard Schimel
Following a wave of hedge fund closures driven by surging infrastructure costs, the industry is undergoing rapid consolidation that forces emerging managers to either secure massive seed capital or join established platforms like Citadel to survive. This environment has created a buyer's market for talent, enabling larger firms to recruit top analysts with structured career paths and sophisticated technology, while successful startups increasingly rely on institutional-grade operations to deliver top-quartile performance. As a result, the sector is trending toward a model where the top managers command an expanding share of total assets, compelling smaller funds to adapt through hybrid approaches or risk obsolescence.
- Milken Institute1h 5m
Space Travel: From Mars to the Stars
Michael Milken, Buzz Aldrin, Daniel Goldin, Mae Jemison, Yuri Milner
Panelists including Buzz Aldrin, Dan Goldin, and May Yi outline a strategic roadmap for human expansion from the Moon to the stars, featuring Aldrin's 2039 Mars colonization plan and Breakthrough Starshot's billion-dollar interstellar probe initiative. The discussion emphasizes a collaborative framework where private sector funding drives high-risk exploration while governments support infrastructure, aiming to solve technical hurdles like relativistic sail integrity and biological survival for deep space travel. Ultimately, the experts argue that pursuing audacious goals like interstellar flight is essential to galvanize global innovation, ensuring the long-term survival of the human species by expanding beyond Earth's carrying capacity.
- Milken Institute1h 1m
A Conversation with Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso
Taro Aso, John Micklethwait, Kyle Theodore, Mark Allen, Alfredo
Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso detailed a comprehensive strategy to shift the nation from a deflationary recession to robust growth by prioritizing wise spending, corporate governance reforms, and the mobilization of dormant household savings. He outlined specific fiscal incentives for SMEs and R&D while addressing critical demographic challenges through labor participation, automation, and targeted visa programs rather than mass immigration. In the geopolitical arena, Aso emphasized the urgent threat posed by North Korea and affirmed Japan's continued commitment to the TPP framework while coordinating with the US to secure multilateral trade benefits.
- Milken Institute1h 5m
MIc'd Up: Conversation with Robert Ballard, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Conversation with Katie Couric
Robert Ballard, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Katie Couric, Brian Sullivan, Buzz Aldrin
Oceanographer Robert Ballard contrasts the underfunded state of deep-sea exploration with NASA's space budget, highlighting discoveries of life origins at hydrothermal vents and the urgent need for sustainable aquaculture to address fishing depletion. Meanwhile, basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar reflects on his 50-year mentorship with John Wooden, detailing how their cross-racial friendship navigated civil rights challenges and shaped his conversion to Islam. Together, these perspectives underscore the importance of expanding human knowledge in both the unmapped depths of the ocean and the diverse landscapes of society.
- Milken Institute28 min
MIc'd Up | Part 1: A Conversation with Norman Lear and Ava DuVernay
Norman Lear, Ava DuVernay, Alex Witt
Hosted by Alex Witt, legendary television producer Norman Lear and filmmaker Ava DuVernay discussed the role of entertainment as a catalyst for radical justice and the enduring reality of systemic oppression. Lear detailed his strategy for centering Black life through sitcoms like *The Jeffersons* and his recent Latin American adaptation of *One Day at a Time*, while DuVernay explained her vision for Array as a long-term institution challenging Hollywood's distribution barriers with her upcoming film *A Wrinkle in Time*. The speakers concluded that true progress requires moving beyond symbolic milestones, such as the Obama presidency, to actively dismantle intersecting privileges and hold society accountable for equal opportunity.
- Milken Institute11 min
Lunch Program | Nasdaq Closing Bell Ceremony
Adina Friedman, Mike Cloughton
Marking the 20th anniversary of the Milken Institute Global Conference, Nasdaq President Adina Friedman and Institute Chairman Michael Milken convened over 4,000 global leaders in Los Angeles to advance themes of building meaningful lives and converting ideas into action. The ceremony highlighted the critical role of capital access in driving innovation across healthcare, technology, and job creation, while honoring Milken's influence on medicine and the Nasdaq's history of transforming startups into iconic enterprises like Apple and Tesla. This collaboration underscored the necessity of funding for entrepreneurial growth as experts from finance, government, and medicine gathered to craft solutions for a more productive world.
- Milken Institute35 min
MIc'd Up | Part 2: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Conversation with Katie Couric
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Katie Couric
In an upcoming podcast episode scheduled for May, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recounts his 1985 NBA championship victory over the Celtics, discusses his friendship with John Wooden, and details his 2009 leukemia diagnosis which has intensified his advocacy for social justice. He critically analyzes the Trump administration's tax and travel policies, attributes Hillary Clinton's 2016 loss to Electoral College mechanics, and argues that visual documentation of police brutality is shifting the national dialogue on race. The conversation, which also covers his religious conversion to Islam and the evolution of the NBA, was highlighted by President Obama awarding Abdul-Jabbar the Presidential Medal of Freedom for overcoming systemic biases in basketball.
- Milken Institute22 min
A Conversation with Jamie Dimon
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon argues that U.S. economic stagnation stems from bipartisan policy failures and structural issues like low labor participation and crumbling infrastructure, urging corporate leaders to prioritize national interests over parochial self-gain. He endorses the Trump administration's strategic focus on corporate tax reform, deregulation, and infrastructure investment as essential tools to reverse capital flight and stimulate job creation. While dismissing the prospect of seeking elected office, Dimon highlights JPMorgan Chase's rapid progress in diversity, noting that women and LGBT employees already comprise significant portions of its leadership pipeline.
- Milken Institute37 min
MIc'd Up | Part 2: A Conversation with Ernest Moniz
Ernest Moniz, Alan Schwartz, Alan M., David Sanger, Alan Magnuson
Former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz outlines the strategic logic behind the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal, emphasizing its unprecedented verification mechanisms and the administration's successful monofocus on nuclear containment despite broader regional tensions. Simultaneously, he details the Nuclear Threat Initiative's urgent efforts to secure high-enriched uranium and research reactors across the former Soviet bloc and Africa to prevent terrorist acquisition. These security measures are paired with a proposal to leverage the global energy transition, utilizing carbon capture and advanced storage technologies to create economic opportunities while reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
- Milken Institute26 min
MIc'd Up | Part 1: A Conversation with John S. Watson
John S. Watson, Brian Sullivan
Chevron CEO John Watson warns that California's aggressive regulatory framework has driven up energy costs, decimated manufacturing, and eroded the middle class, urging a return to free-market mechanisms to stabilize the industry. Despite these domestic headwinds, Watson outlines Chevron's aggressive global expansion strategy, which includes quadrupling Permian Basin output through capital generated by massive LNG investments in Australia and a joint venture with Exxon in Kazakhstan. While noting that OPEC's influence has waned in favor of shale producers and resilient Russian exports, the executive emphasizes that technological advancements are offsetting high exploration risks and driving wage growth in key U.S. energy hubs.
- Milken Institute31 min
MIc'd Up | Part 2: A Conversation with Elizabeth Blackburn
Salk Institute President Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn discusses the biological mechanisms of aging and telomere maintenance with host Jun Yun, framing the extended human lifespan as an opportunity to maximize health span rather than a inevitable decline. The dialogue details how specific lifestyle interventions—including brisk daily exercise, seven hours of sleep, and cognitive reframing of stress—directly influence telomere length to mitigate risks of chronic diseases like Alzheimer's and diabetes. By integrating molecular biology with health psychology, Blackburn argues that dynamic gene expression allows individuals to actively shape their cellular health and extend their years of vitality.