Latest Interviews
Showing 8011–8025 of 9,635 transcripts.
Clear all filters- Milken Institute59 min
Using Music to Make the World a Better Place
Doug Herzog, Hugh Evans, Michael Lang, Harvey Mason, Jr., French Montana, Diane Warren
Moderated by Doug Herzog, a panel of music industry leaders including Global Citizen founder Hugh Evans and Woodstock co-creator Michael Lang examined music's historical and modern capacity to drive political change. The discussion highlighted specific successes where artistic advocacy secured over $35 billion in aid commitments and forced corporate pledges, while also addressing the financial precarity of songwriters in the streaming era. Participants concluded that future social impact requires a strategic synergy between pop culture and public policy, urging artists to leverage their platforms for direct political engagement rather than relying solely on lyrical messaging.
- Milken Institute1h 1m
Common Sense From Uncommon Investors
Michael Milken, Mark Attanasio, John Danhakl, Emanuel J. Friedman, George G. Hicks, Mitchell Julis
On May 1, 2018, moderator Michael Milken led a panel of five prominent investors, including Mitch Jewett of Canyon Partners and John Donahue of KKR, to discuss generating alpha through specialized expertise in distressed assets and private equity. The participants detailed their strategies for navigating complex restructurings like Caesars Entertainment and analyzing market inefficiencies caused by regulatory constraints and ETF dominance. This exchange highlighted how these firms leverage global reach and capital flexibility to achieve outsized returns while the panelists debated the timing of a banking sector recovery and the enduring value of alternative lending structures.
- Y Combinator48 min
Advice for Students and Recent Graduates on Finding Jobs – Liz Wessel of WayUp
WayUp co-founders and former Google associate product marketing manager and his partner Joel Flegelman launched their job platform after validating a user base of tens of thousands during their senior year at the University of Pennsylvania. Leveraging insights from mentor Roloff Botha and a strategic stint at Google, the duo differentiated the service from general job boards by utilizing rich, 360-degree candidate profiles to achieve a one-in-three hire rate. Today, the company operates under a distinct management philosophy that prioritizes personality alignment and skill-based hiring to help students navigate the transition into their careers.
- Milken Institute1h 4m
How to Be a Man in 2018
Richard Sandler, Michael Ian Black, Joanne Lipman, Kevin O'Leary, Alex Rodriguez
Moderated by Richard Sandler, a panel of business leaders and activists including Kevin O'Leary, Joanne Lipman, Michael Ian Black, and Alex Rodriguez argued that gender inequality is a detrimental business practice that harms productivity and financial returns. The discussion integrated diverse perspectives on systemic bias, with O'Leary citing performance data showing female-led companies outperform male-led counterparts, while panelists emphasized the need for men to embrace vulnerability and allyship to drive cultural change. Concluding that economic incentives and shared responsibility are the most effective drivers of progress, the group warned that avoiding cross-gender mentorship due to fear undermines organizational success and social equity.
- Lex Fridman58 min
Christof Koch: Consciousness | Lex Fridman Podcast #2
Neuroscientist Christoph Koch argues that while intelligent artificial intelligence may eventually pass the Turing test, true consciousness requires neuromorphic hardware that mimics the brain's causal power rather than mere algorithmic simulation. He supports this distinction by identifying the claustrum as a key binding structure for unified experience and introducing measurement techniques that can accurately distinguish conscious from unconscious states. Koch further contends that future advanced AI systems must be engineered with capacities for empathy and suffering to ensure moral alignment, suggesting that consciousness is essential for ethical behavior even if it is not strictly necessary for functional intelligence.
- Y Combinator1h 19m
Simon Benjamin on Architectures for Quantum Computing
Simon Benjamin, John Preskill, Craig Cannon
Driven by experimental progress surpassing the 99% fault-tolerance threshold, Oxford University's ion trap systems now achieve 99.9% gate fidelity, enabling the first viable implementations of quantum error correction. The research team proposes a modular networking architecture that links high-fidelity units via optical fibers and entanglement purification to scale toward useful applications like molecular simulation while avoiding the engineering bottlenecks of monolithic designs. By addressing hardware limitations through this approach, the project aims to demonstrate a fully linked two-module system within a year, bridging the gap between current quantum supremacy demonstrations and future large-scale computational utility.
- Goldman Sachs26 min
Eric Schmidt: The Artificial Intelligence Revolution
Goldman Sachs accelerates its cloud migration to leverage superior cybersecurity and specialized hardware for AI workloads, while the broader industry shifts toward data-driven deep learning that prioritizes scale over algorithmic provability. This transition enables "savant systems" in fields like healthcare and finance to automate trial-and-error processes, supported by a global talent market increasingly dominated by computer science graduates. Although these technologies promise to democratize expert-level capabilities through on-device and cloud computing, their adoption faces monetization hurdles and ongoing geopolitical competition, particularly from China.
- Goldman Sachs45 min
Mary Barra on Driving Into the Future
GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra is steering General Motors from a post-bankruptcy restructuring into a profitable leader focused on the strategic goals of zero crashes, zero emissions, and zero congestion. Under her leadership, the automaker prioritized product safety by adopting aerospace standards and launched a "speak up for safety" initiative following the 2014 ignition switch crisis, while simultaneously advancing autonomous vehicle technology through its subsidiary Cruise Automation. Beyond corporate strategy, Barra champions STEM education and female workforce retention through programs like "Take Two" and the Detroit Children's Fund to ensure diverse representation and community economic revitalization.
- Goldman Sachs21 min
Diana B. Henriques: “A First-Class Catastrophe”: Lessons Learned from Black Monday
Diana B. Henriques, Sharmin Mosavaramani
This analysis juxtaposes the 1987 Black Monday crash, driven by opaque portfolio insurance strategies and fragmented regulation, with modern market vulnerabilities amplified by trillion-dollar asset managers and enduring regulatory silos. It further examines the psychological profile of Bernie Madoff, highlighting his pathological fear of failure and the spontaneous nature of his fraud's collapse, while detailing the HBO film "Wizard of Lies" production that secured Robert De Niro's casting through authentic in-prison dynamics. Together, these case studies illustrate how historical market failures and individual pathologies continue to inform contemporary debates on financial transparency and systemic risk.
- Milken Institute1h 0m
Avoiding War With North Korea
Nicholas Kristof, Jean Lee, Yasuhide Nakayama, John Park, Bill Richardson
Moderated by Nicholas Kristof at the Milken Conference, experts Jean Lee, Yasuhide Nakayama, John Park, and Governor Bill Richardson analyzed the shifting geopolitical landscape of the Korean Peninsula following the Panmunjom Declaration. While Park and Richardson acknowledged tangible momentum such as the dismantling of the Punggye-ri test facility, Lee and Richardson warned that full denuclearization by 2021 remains unlikely due to Kim Jong-un's strategic use of nuclear capabilities for regime survival and internal legitimacy. The panel ultimately characterized the current diplomatic efforts as a fragile "action-for-action" process where South Korea and Japan face risks of marginalization, with prospects for a permanent freeze on nuclear programs rather than immediate total disarmament.
- 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 Institute1h 0m
Strategy and Leadership in an Age of Disruption
Adam Lashinsky, Jorge Paulo Lemann, Jim McCaughan, Tim Sloan, Julie Sweet, Seth Caller, Jatrice Martel-Gator, Major Ken Tarr, Seema Shah
Leaders from Accenture, Wells Fargo, and 3G Capital discussed how accelerating disruption forces major corporations to shift from control-based leadership to innovation-focused cultures, with artificial intelligence becoming a ubiquitous utility rather than a niche experiment. Panelists detailed specific strategies for this transition, including Wells Fargo's restructuring into unified customer-centric models, Accenture's rapid sprints that delivered complex solutions in weeks, and 3G Capital's internal units dedicated to self-disruption. To sustain these advancements, the group emphasized that ethical AI adoption and proactive workforce reskilling are critical, noting that successful organizations are reinvesting automation savings into talent development while addressing diversity gaps to prevent systemic flaws.
- Milken Institute1h 3m
Lord of the Rings: A Conversation With Five-Time Super Bowl Champion Tom Brady
Tom Brady reaffirmed his commitment to playing through the 2018-2019 season by prioritizing longevity through his TB12 Method, a wellness protocol focused on pliability and injury prevention that aims to extend his career into his mid-40s. During a comprehensive discussion on team dynamics and personal philosophy, he clarified that he had no input on the Super Bowl LII roster decisions while emphasizing his reliance on family for motivation and his distinct approach to leadership. The conversation also covered his skepticism of new NFL rules, his assessment of Bill Belichick's genius, and his belief that the league must balance entertainment value with player safety to sustain industry growth.
- Milken Institute58 min
Big Tech and Antitrust: Rethinking Competition Policy for the Digital Era
David Faber, Tyler Cowen, Makan Delrahim, Sally Hubbard, Luigi Zingales
Justice Department official Makan Delrahim, panelists Luigi Zingales, Sally Hubbard, and Tyler Cowen debated the implications of the AT&T/Time Warner and T-Mobile/Sprint mergers while critiquing Big Tech's "platform privilege" and data monopolies. Critics argued that digital services function as monopolies through advertising control and product replication, challenging Delrahim's assertion that these firms have primarily benefited consumers through innovation and low prices. The discussion concluded by exploring regulatory remedies ranging from data portability and interoperability to potential common carrier status should antitrust enforcement fail to restore competition.
- The Economist10 min
El Salvador's violent gang members are finding God in prison
Following his deportation from the U.S. to El Salvador in 1996, former 18th Street gang member Wilfredo Gómez founded a Christian prison ministry that expanded to house over 900 inmates within a violent, overcrowded system. While the program offered temporary sanctuary and social mobility through a segregated religious zone, its long-term success remains limited as societal stigma and a lack of employment opportunities prevent most converts from maintaining their faith outside prison. Ultimately, the initiative highlights a critical gap between individual rehabilitation within the jail and the structural barriers preventing former gang members from achieving permanent reintegration into Salvadoran society.