Latest Interviews

Jim Hackett: President and CEO of Ford Motor Company

Jim Hackett, David

Ford CEO Jim Hackett outlines the company's strategic pivot toward a "propulsion portfolio" of electric and hybrid vehicles, leveraging a global alliance with Volkswagen to fund over $100 billion in capital commitments for autonomous technology. Hackett emphasizes an "S-curve shift" in the industry, arguing that survival requires abandoning internal combustion virtues while maintaining consumer vehicle ownership through software-defined ecosystems. Rooted in his leadership philosophy of integrity and clear point of view, Hackett predicts that Ford will achieve carbon neutrality within 12 years by blending technologies rather than mandating an immediate, total transition to electrification.

Rebecca Minkoff: Fashion Designer

Rebecca Minkoff, Dena Powell

Rebecca Minkoff transformed a $4-per-hour internship into a global lifestyle brand by pioneering the "Morning After" handbag and surviving the economic recession through strategic price adjustments that fueled 546% growth. Beyond product innovation, she established the Female Founders Collective to support over 5,000 women-owned businesses while leveraging RFID technology to revolutionize retail experiences and committing to zero-waste production models. The company now focuses on systemic industry change by targeting diverse representation, expanding into home and beauty sectors, and creating an educational platform to close the gender pay gap.

Stacey Cunningham: President of the NYSE Group

Stacey Cunningham, Susie Scherr

Susie Scherr, the first woman to serve as NYSE president, traces her career from a 1994 trading floor intern to a 2020 leader who leveraged the ICE acquisition to modernize the 220-year-old exchange. Under her guidance, the NYSE has evolved to accommodate delayed IPOs by capturing 75% of technology proceeds in recent years while validating direct listing models for established firms. Her leadership now focuses on reducing regulatory barriers to encourage earlier public market participation and drawing new boundaries for diversity in senior financial roles.

Andre Iguodala: NBA Champion

Andre Iguodala, Nicole Pullen-Ross

Andrew Iguodala reflects on a career defined by strategic sacrifices, including accepting a reduced salary to join the Golden State Warriors and transitioning to a sixth-man role under Steve Kerr to prioritize team success. He advocates for systemic changes in college athletics to compensate African-American student-athletes and emphasizes the psychological discipline instilled by his mother and early mentors to dismantle racial stereotypes. Iguodala further details his post-retirement focus on financial literacy and mental resilience, urging athletes to prepare for life after basketball by diversifying skills and managing wealth proactively.

Ash Carter: Former US Secretary of Defense

Ash Carter, Sharmeen Mosavar-Rahmani

Former U.S. Secretary of Defense James "Ash" Carter discusses the unprecedented operational scale of the Pentagon, which rivals global corporations in budget and personnel, while emphasizing the critical need for a permanent leader to provide direction. Carter outlines a complex strategy for managing the United States' sustained competitive relationship with China, arguing that traditional containment or free trade models are insufficient and requiring a new playbook centered on multilateral rules rather than bilateral coercion. He further details his tenure's focus on combating ISIS as an existential threat and highlights the volatile risk of unintentional conflict with Iran due to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' operational autonomy and regional instability.

George F. Will: Author of "The Conservative Sensibility"

George F. Will, Jake Stewart

George Will's new book, *The Conservative Sensibility*, argues that American conservatism has fundamentally shifted by prioritizing individual liberty over majority rule, a stance he applies to criticize the Republican Party's current uncritical support for Donald Trump's expansive executive power. Will contrasts the Madisonian system of checks and balances with Woodrow Wilson's advocacy for concentrated authority, contending that Congress has abdicated its legislative responsibilities to the executive branch through vague statutes while failing to defend true capitalism against what he terms a misleading socialist narrative. Having effectively severed ties with the GOP over its alignment with the current administration, the veteran columnist champions judicial review as essential for protecting minority rights and defends the virtues of market societies against both modern socialist misconceptions and government economic planning.

Jason Rezaian: Author of "Prisoner"

Jason Rezaian, Andrew Williams

On July 22, 2014, Washington Post columnist Jason Rezaian was arrested in Tehran and falsely accused of being a CIA operative, subjecting him to seven months of solitary confinement in a sensory-deprived cell at Evin Prison. Rezaian argues that his eventual release resulted from sustained global public attention and political will rather than the legal system alone, while criticizing the U.S. for failing to leverage Iran's vast economic potential and for neglecting the six remaining Americans currently detained there. He further contends that American soft power and press freedom must remain a guiding global standard despite domestic challenges, urging renewed diplomatic engagement with Iran instead of isolation.

Nandan Nilekani: Co-Founder of Infosys

Nandan Nilekani

Nandan Nilekani and his team pioneered Infosys's global scaling strategy before architecting the Aadhaar digital identity system to authenticate 1.2 billion citizens and drive massive financial inclusion. This infrastructure enabled the Unified Payments Interface, a public-bank-owned platform that now processes hundreds of millions of real-time transactions monthly while catalyzing a domestic services-led economic model. As India transitions toward a young, tech-enabled workforce, the event highlights how these foundational systems position the nation to achieve sustained GDP growth despite global manufacturing shifts.

Goldman Sachs at 150: Part 8 – Around the World (2000)

Goldman Sachs successfully navigated its transformation from a private partnership to a global public entity by adapting its culture to rapid expansion across BRICS nations while maintaining core partnership values under leaders like Hank Paulson and Lloyd Blankfein. The firm leveraged strategic foresight regarding global economic shifts, including a $100 million investment in the "10,000 women" initiative to close gender gaps and drive development in emerging markets. Looking ahead, the organization commits to evolving its structure and hiring practices to preserve excellence and adaptability within an increasingly integrated global financial marketplace.

Goldman Sachs at 150: Part 7 – Going Public (1999)

Hank Paulson

Facing a severe 1994 financial crisis and the strategic necessity of funding global expansion, Goldman Sachs leadership concluded that a public capital structure was essential to sustain a stable balance sheet and unlimited liability risk controls. On May 4, 1999, the firm executed the second-largest initial public offering in financial history at the time, raising capital primarily to distribute equity among existing partners and employees rather than diluting ownership to external investors. This transition, led by senior partners such as Henry Paulson and John Corzine, allowed the institution to scale operations into new markets while maintaining its unique biennial partnership elections and collaborative corporate ethos.

Goldman Sachs at 150: Part 3 – Recovery (1930)

Sidney Weinberg

Following the 1929 stock market crash, Sidney Weinberg rose from a janitor to lead Goldman Sachs through two decades of financial adversity, personally restoring client trust and building a network of high-profile corporate clients. Under his centralized control, Weinberg prioritized long-term relationships over immediate gains, orchestrating the landmark 1956 public offering for Ford Motor Company to cement the firm's status as a premier investment bank. His leadership legacy, characterized by "controlled ambition" and integrity, survived him after he stepped back from daily operations in 1963, leaving behind a client list and reputation that sustained the firm for decades.

Ian Bremmer: President and Founder of Eurasia Group

Ian Bremmer

Ian Bremmer's *Us Versus Them: The Failure of Globalism* diagnoses the rise of populism in advanced democracies as a structural result of economic inequality, automation, and information fragmentation rather than a singular political event. The analysis details how U.S. unilateralism is eroding alliances, specifically through trade tensions with China and security failures in the Middle East, while highlighting China's strategic pivot toward controlling semiconductor supply chains and exporting digital authoritarianism. Despite these geopolitical recessions and regional flashpoints in Mexico, Iran, and Europe, Bremmer concludes that global human capital and technological innovation may ultimately catalyze new solutions to these existential challenges.

Douglas Brinkley: Historian and Author of "American Moonshot"

Douglas Brinkley, Tim O'Neill, Doug Brinkley

The 1969 Apollo 11 lunar landing, driven by Cold War political competition and a 4.5% federal budget commitment, relied on rocket technology developed by former Nazi officer Wernher von Braun to defeat Soviet advances. While the mission served as a definitive triumph of American democracy that cost taxpayers $25 billion, it ultimately exposed the fragility of such singular national goals, as the program was immediately scaled back under President Nixon due to waning public interest and political friction. The event left a complex legacy where technical achievements coexist with the moral contradictions of von Braun's background and the reality that the organizational capacity for such massive undertakings has since diminished.

Tzi Ma: Actor

Tzi Ma, Derek Yee

Tai Ma, a Hong Kong-born actor who transitioned from cultural isolation in Staten Island to a prominent stage and film career, advocates for substantive Asian-American representation through his upcoming projects like *The Farewell* and the Netflix series *Wu Assassins*. He highlights a shifting industry landscape driven by the demographic spending power of the 23 million Asian-American consumers, noting increased opportunities for Asian-American women directors while criticizing the Writers Guild of America's lack of diversity. Beyond his own roles in major productions such as *Mulan*, Ma actively mentors emerging talent and employs a participatory casting approach to challenge script inconsistencies and foster authentic storytelling.

Mark Teixeira: Retired Major League Baseball Player

Mark Teixeira, Brian Levine

Former MLB switch-hitter Mark DeShera reflects on his journey from a contentious 2004 Red Sox draft to winning a 2009 World Series with the Yankees, where he led the league in home runs and RBIs while rejecting performance-enhancing drugs to preserve his personal legacy. Now a broadcaster and dedicated philanthropist, DeShera analyzes the modern game's reliance on analytics and payroll depth while championing his DREAM organization's 99% college matriculation rate for at-risk youth in the New York tri-state area. His career is defined by high-stakes competition, a commitment to integrity, and a philosophy that values education and long-term relationship building over short-term baseball gains.