Latest Interviews
Showing 106–120 of 525 transcripts.
Clear all filters- Milken Institute25 min
A Conversation with GoldenTree Asset Management Founder Steven Tananbaum | Global Conference 2025
Steven Tananbaum, Ilana Weinstein, Stephen Tannenbaum
GoldenTree Asset Management, a $60 billion employee-owned firm founded by Stephen Tannenbaum, distinguishes itself through a disciplined credit strategy that has maintained top-quartile returns across 25 years despite an industry where 90% of assets are concentrated in just 10% of firms. The firm's longevity and lean 320-person structure are sustained by a promote-from-within culture that rigorously screens for critical thinking and resilience while rewarding capital actually in the ground rather than theoretical gains. As demand for alternative credit expands, GoldenTree leverages its specialized teams and transparent partnership model to project continued growth while adhering to a mindset that treats every fiscal year as a fresh competitive challenge.
- Milken Institute14 min
A Conversation with US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon | Global Conference 2025
Appointee Linda McMahon, drawing on her business leadership background, has launched federal investigations into universities over civil rights compliance while initiating a strategic plan to dismantle the Department of Education by shifting authority to states and families. This agenda includes increasing charter school funding, integrating artificial intelligence into curricula, and prioritizing workforce development to reduce reliance on four-year degrees. Although the full elimination of the department requires congressional approval, the current administration has already cut major data collection budgets and redirected resources toward parental choice and local control.
- Milken Institute51 min
Author Talk: Jonathan Haidt, "The Anxious Generation" | Global Conference 2025
Jonathan Haidt, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Conrad Kieschel
At the Milken Institute Global Conference, social psychologists Jonathan Haidt and California First Lady Jennifer Siebel Newsom addressed the youth mental health crisis by identifying the 2012 shift to smartphones as the primary driver of surging depression, anxiety, and social skill atrophy among teenagers. They advocated for four specific policy norms—delaying smartphone access until high school, mandating phone-free schools, raising the age of internet adulthood to 16, and promoting unsupervised free play—to counter the addictive designs of tech giants and facilitate proper neurodevelopment. The session concluded with a call for collective community action and a "mother's rebellion" to enforce these boundaries, aiming to restore physical interaction and resilience for future generations.
- Milken Institute1h 1m
Author Susan Morrison, "Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live" | Global Conference 2025
Susan Morrison, Lorne, Laraine Newman
Susan Morrison's biography *Saturday Night* chronicles Lorne Michaels' decade-long evolution of *Saturday Night Live* from a conservative variety show into a global franchise that balances alternative comedy with broad national appeal. The narrative highlights how Michaels' management philosophy evolved from personal trauma-induced non-confrontation to a "sports franchise" model, emphasizing operational flexibility, mentorship strategies like *Weekend Update* for new talent, and a strict hierarchy to manage host egos during the high-pressure final dress rehearsal. This deep dive into Michaels' "friendship economy" and adaptive leadership explains the show's thirty-plus year longevity and its successful international licensing, which requires navigating diverse cultural standards while maintaining the show's core identity.
- Milken Institute23 min
It Starts with a Teacher: A Conversation with Armando Christian Pérez (Pitbull) | Global Conference
Armando Christian Pérez, Richard Ditizio
Cuban-American entertainer Armando "Pitbull" Perez co-founded the SLAM Academy to operate a rapidly expanding network of charter schools that have achieved a 100% graduation rate while receiving federal recognition for replicating their model across the United States. Drawing on personal experiences with failure and family resilience, Perez prioritizes tangible educational outcomes over celebrity status to support at-risk youth and break generational barriers in education. By advocating for a "slow but sure" strategic approach, he continues to seek long-term partners committed to sustaining this initiative and fostering the American Dream for future generations.
- Milken Institute58 min
AI and Digital Transformation's Impact on Investing | Global Conference 2025
David Steinberg, Jim Breyer, Dipanjan "DJ" Deb, Greg Emerson, Dennis Gada, Jodie Wallis, Shanali Basak
A panel of industry leaders including Jodi, Dennis, DJ, Greg, and Jim established a consensus that organizations must adopt a hybrid "build, buy, and partner" strategy, favoring external foundational models while retaining in-house development for specific strategic assets. The discussion highlighted acute shortages of top-tier mathematical talent and warned of critical risks ranging from quantum decryption threats to deepfake fraud, necessitating robust, materiality-based governance frameworks. Looking forward, experts predicted AI will act as a catalyst for enterprise transformation and private equity value creation, though they cautioned that true value lies in revenue growth rather than mere productivity gains or marketing hype.
- Milken Institute49 min
Author Talk: Kevin Kwan, "Lies and Weddings" | Global Conference 2025
Kevin Kwan, Curtis S. Chin, Chris Tucker, Tiana, John Panatti
Author Kevin Kwan returns to the Milken Institute Global Conference to discuss his latest novel, *Lies in Weddings*, which uses a family drama format to critique intergenerational wealth inequality and racial stereotypes. Kwan outlines the stalled progress of the *Crazy Rich Asians* film sequels while detailing the active development of an HBO Max series, a Broadway musical, and new film adaptations of his other works. He concludes by advocating for underrepresented creators to own production infrastructure to sustain diverse storytelling and shares insights on his upcoming film projects and new literary directions.
- Milken Institute21 min
Part 1: A Conversation with The Carlyle Group's David M. Rubenstein | Global Conference 2025
David M. Rubenstein, Melissa Stevens
Jefferson Exchange co-founder Jeffrey Rubenstein addresses the critical threats facing U.S. philanthropy, including politicized historical preservation, potential tax policy changes, and declining civic literacy. He advocates for redefining the sector by honoring the percentage of wealth given rather than absolute sums, promoting in-person historical engagement to counter a crisis where nearly all states fail citizenship tests. Furthermore, Rubenstein highlights the strategic value of soft power assets like pandas while emphasizing that the upcoming 250th anniversary should prioritize deep constitutional understanding over superficial celebration.
- Milken Institute1h 0m
Strengthening Communities: Corporate Philanthropy, Social Capital, & Resilience | Global Conference
Melissa Stevens, Nicole Anderson, Lynette Bell, Mary Culler, C.D. Glin, Jean Oelwang
Representatives from PepsiCo, Truist, AT&T, Ford, and Virgin Unite convened at the Milken Institute's "Toward a Flourishing Future" conference to outline strategies for strengthening community resilience against a surge in global disasters and deepening social fractures. These leaders detailed a shift toward enterprise-wide mobilization that leverages corporate assets, data analytics, and long-term pre-competitive partnerships to address food insecurity, disaster recovery, and the digital divide. The panel emphasized that sustainable impact requires multi-year funding horizons, internal employee alignment, and the repositioning of trust as essential infrastructure for systemic change.
- Milken Institute27 min
Rebuilding Communities After Disaster with José Andrés & Jennifer Siebel Newsom | Global Conference
José Andrés, Jennifer Siebel Newsom
Following the Los Angeles fires, World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés bypassed bureaucratic hurdles to deploy local restaurants and volunteers, providing immediate nourishment and childcare while revitalizing the affected community's economy. Beyond immediate relief, the organization critiques federal policy gaps by advocating for universal school meals and a dedicated national food security advisor to address long-term hunger and rural instability. This response positions California's integrated disaster model as a blueprint for national resilience, emphasizing that food policy must be central to building a society capable of self-sufficiency.
- Milken Institute18 min
Better in Bed: Sleep Smarter Tonight with The Sleep Doctor | Global Conference 2025
Dr. Michael Breus, Rachel Goldstein, Dr. Michael Bruce
Dr. Michael Bruce clarifies the distinction between clinical sleep doctors and researchers while outlining diagnostic innovations like home sleep tests and non-CPAP therapies for sleep apnea and insomnia. He details behavioral protocols for nighttime waking, including the 4-7-8 breathing technique to lower heart rates for unconsciousness and the benefits of Non-Sleep Deep Rest as a sleep alternative. The discussion concludes by linking genetic chronotypes to daily scheduling and highlighting the specific hormonal balance required for successful intimacy, noting that current common habits often conflict with biological optimization.
- Milken Institute45 min
Credit Markets in Transition | Global Conference 2025
Michael Piwowar, Michael Buchanan, Peter Gleysteen, Deborah Orida, Michael Zawadzki, Mike Pivovar, Mike Buchanan
Panelists analyzed the current macroeconomic landscape characterized by tariff uncertainty and Federal Reserve rate cuts, while highlighting a $30 trillion private credit market reshaped by regulatory changes that drive capital from banks to non-competitive partners. Industry leaders identified investment opportunities in infrastructure, asset-backed finance, and investment-grade credit, noting that resilient fundamentals and low leverage support default rates under 50 basis points despite weakening investor sentiment. The discussion concluded with a strategic pivot toward multi-asset credit approaches and structural diversification to mitigate volatility risks and capitalize on market dislocations for tactical offense.
- Milken Institute57 min
Crypto's Wild Ride: The Great Debate | Global Conference 2025
Nicole Valentine, Sebastian Bea, Zoe Cruz, Dante Disparte, Mary-Catherine Lader, Caroline D. Pham, Ivan Soto-Wright
Industry leaders and regulators converge to redefine digital assets from speculative experiments into essential global infrastructure, with figures like Zoe Cruz and Dante Disparte highlighting stablecoins as the "digital dollar" for cross-border payments. Regulatory shifts led by CFTC Chair Caroline Pham establish a dual-track framework that separates fraudulent unbacked tokens from tokenized real-world assets to unlock a projected $2 to $5 trillion market by 2030. The consensus among panelists from Coinbase, MoonPay, and Uniswap foresees a 2025 pivot where automated financial protocols and Bitcoin as a strategic reserve become invisible yet ubiquitous utilities replacing legacy banking rails.
- Milken Institute1h 2m
The Road to the American Dream: Entrepreneurship and Innovation | Global Conference 2025
Rachel Goslins, Bing Chen, David Cohen, Shamina Singh, Anastasia Soare
At the Milken Center panel "The Road to the American Dream," entrepreneurs Bing Gordon, David Sze, Shamina, and Anastasia examined the fractured consensus on economic mobility while contrasting US entrepreneurial strengths with global barriers like credit access and the "missing middle." The speakers outlined strategies for inclusive growth, including Gold House's 50% capital allocation to women-led firms and Techstars' geographic decentralization, while debunking myths about Silicon Valley dominance and technical founding requirements. Despite facing headwinds such as high tariffs and rising costs, the panelists concluded that economic contractions currently offer unique opportunities for new entrants to leverage abundant talent and address unmet market needs.
- Milken Institute23 min
Time to Act: A Conversation with Noa Tishby | Global Conference 2025
New York Times bestselling authors Noah Tishby and Noah Argamani frame the May 2025 campus encampments as the culmination of a thirty-year ideological war driven by the American Muslim and Palestinian organization to delegitimize Israel through tactics resembling the anti-apartheid movement. Tishby characterizes the core conflict as a clash between Western liberal values and a jihadist ideology, arguing that anti-Zionism functions as a shape-shifting conspiracy theory indistinguishable from anti-Semitism. Despite widespread public opposition to the encampments, the speakers assert that normalizing such anti-democratic sentiment at the local level aims to eventually force a shift in federal policy, while urging allies to educate communities on the October 7th atrocities to counter this narrative.