Smart People Podcast

Marc Ostrofsky: Author of Word of Mouse: 101+ Trends in How We Buy, Sell, Live, Learn, Work and Play, and NY Times best seller Get Rich Click!: The Ultimate Guide to Making Money on the Internet, entrepreneur, online business mogul, venture capitalist. Some people just have the itch, the drive, the absolute need to create... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Adam Grant – Author of Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success, youngest tenured professor at Wharton, one of BusinessWeek’s favorite professors, and one of the world’s 40 best business professors under 40. According to Professor Adam Grant, at work we all fall into one of the following 3 categories: Takers, Givers, and... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jay Baer – Author of Youtility: Why Smart Marketing is About Help Not Hype (NY Times Bestseller), marketing consultant, entrepreneur (started 5 multi-million dollar businesses from scratch!), named one of America’s top 3 social media consultants. After speaking with Jay this week, we quickly realized how much the world of connecting and marketing has come. Now... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dorie Clark – Author of Reinventing You: Define Your Brand, Imagine Your Future, former presidential campaign spokeswoman, professor at Duke University WHERE was this book 10 years ago and why didn’t anyone give me this advice. Our guest this week, Dorie Clark, hits home with a powerful episode about becoming the person you want to... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steve Blank – Author of The Startup Owner’s Manual and The Four Steps to the Epiphany, serial entrepreneur, professor. This week we talk to a true pioneer in an industry filled with innovators. Our guest, Steve Blank, created the “Lean Startup” model that helped facilitate the launch of over 10,000 companies. This model states that startup... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Louie Schwartzberg – Director, producer, cinematographer. Movingart.com Well, we did it. We made it to 100. We joined the century club. We want you to know, that we couldn’t have done it without you. 100 episodes is something that we never envisioned – hell, I didn’t think I would want to sit in the same... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nicco Mele: Author of The End of Big: How the Internet Makes David the New Goliath, entrepreneur, angel investor, and consultant to Fortune 1000 companies. At first glance, you might look at the title of this post, or the author we have on and think, “We get it! The Internet makes us connected. Welcome to the... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tony Schwartz – President & CEO of TheEnergyProject.com, Author of, Be Excellent at Anything: The Four Keys To Transforming the Way We Work and Live If you have listened to the show for any length of time, you probably know about the origins of Smart People Podcast. Jon and I had been in the corporate world... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lauren Sandler: Journalist, author of One and Only: The Freedom of Having an Only Child and the Joy of Being One Roach wouldn’t willingly admit it in the interview, and perhaps this is presumptuous, but I think we all have a negative bias towards only children…unless, of course, you are one. I’m not saying it’s a huge... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christine Clapp – Presentation and communications expert, founder of Spoken With Authority The ability to communicate through language is what separates man from ape (and all other mammals for that matter). The spoken word is a defining trait of homo sapiens, and as such, is our main method of communication. It shouldn’t surprise anyone then, that... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Kadavy: Author of Design for Hackers: Reverse-Engineering Beauty, design guru. If you know anything about the show, you know that Jon loves his weird stuff. So leave it to him to find a guy who focuses on design. What does that even mean? I was pretty sure this conversation wouldn’t apply to my life... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maren and Jamie Showkeir – Authors of Yoga Wisdom at Work: Finding Sanity Off the Mat and On the Job, Yoga Instructor As you might know by now, Jon and I like to focus on how terrible work is – perhaps it’s because misery likes company. We get emails from many of you out in... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Susan Schorn – Author of Smile at Strangers: And Other Lessons in the Art of Living Fearlessly, writer, teacher, martial arts instructor, and dual black belt. “If you’re going for a groin strike, you want to attack from the bottom up, rather than from the front, to inflict maximum damage.” This may be my favorite... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Smokler – Literary enthusiast, speaker, author of Practical Classics: 50 Reasons to Reread 50 books you Haven’t Touched Since High School. When you hear the name Holden Caulfield, does it trigger any memories? Perhaps you get a nervous, jittery sensation that runs down your spine as you reminisce about an old book report gone... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Moss – Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter; author of #1 NY Times Bestseller, Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us Look, we know you don’t need a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter to tell you that junk food is bad for you, soda makes you fat, and the Western diet is causing an epidemic of... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Roman Krznaric: How to Find Fulfilling Work; founding faculty member of The School of Life in London. ONE MILLION DOWNLOADS AND COUNTING! That’s right – in case you didn’t see it on Facebook or twitter (@smartpeoplepod), Smart People Podcast (SPP) just passed the one million downloads threshold on Friday. We then proceeded to pop some bubbly,... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonah Berger – Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School, author of Contagious: Why Things Catch On. Do you remember the first time you heard the song “Friday” by Rebecca Black? I do – I f’ing hated it. I also remember the first time someone told me to listen to “Gangnam Style” and “Thrift... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Paul Ruggieri – Author of Confessions of a Surgeon “Now I want you to count back from ten. 10…9…8…..” And that’s all you remember. Sure you might be a little sore, groggy or confused – but for the most part, you felt nothing. However, during that time, your mass is removed, your knee is... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Shenk – Bestselling author of 6 books, including his most recent, The Genius in All of Us: New Insights into Genetics, Talent, and IQ. Tune in to this weeks episode to learn how to unleash your inner genius, conquer your genetic shortcomings, and be the best at anything. But trust us, it ain’t easy.... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joe Peta – Author of Trading Bases: A Story About Wall Street, Gambling, and Baseball I’m not even going to butter you up this time, trust me – you would rather just dive in. You’ll understand once I give you a little background on our guest for this weeks episode, Joe Peta. A few years... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Daniel Pink – AMAZING! One of the most watched TED Talks of all time. Author of five provocative bestselling books about the changing world of work, including his most recent, To Sell is Human. Good to have you back! If you haven’t noticed, Smart People Podcast has been getting some real recognition these days! We... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marlene Zuk – author of Paleofantasy, professor of ecology Unless you’ve been living in a cave (best….pun….ever), you are probably well aware of the new fad diet, the paleo diet. The quick and dirty of the diet is you can eat anything that was available to our cave dwelling ancestors. So chow down on all... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Venkatesh Rao: Author of Tempo: timing, tactics and strategy in narrative-driven decision-making & independent researcher. How many decisions do you think you make in a day? What about an hour? Well, if you want to do the math – go ahead, because all I know is you make about 1,400 decisions a MINUTE. With that many... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dan Carlin – Host of the Hardcore History and Common Sense podcasts, Political Commentator New media is coming for us. Well, if you are reading this, it already came for you – so congratulations on being ahead of the curve. New media is supposed to be the “democratization” of the creation, production, distribution and consumption of media by... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stefan Molyneux – Philosopher, host of Freedomain Radio When you take a stance on something, you’re bound to have those on the other side that try to take you down. In fact, many people believe, that if you aren’t making enemies, then you aren’t saying anything substantial. Well, if you believe this to be true, then... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex Stone – Magician, writer, speaker I don’t know about you, but growing up I had this hilarious $10 magic set. It came with some weird squishy ball, a few metal rings, some cards, a cape, and of course…. a wand. Thinking back, I don’t know how my parents even sat through my poor attempt... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marty Cagan – Expert on all things product, founding partner of the Silicon Valley Product Group If you have ever thought about creating or inventing ANYTHING….seriously listen to this episode. How many ‘products’ do you think you use in a day? Even if you just look at a small subset of your day, the list... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sydney Finkelstein – Steven Roth Professor of Management at Dartmouth, author, expert on strategy and leadership. Businesses fail all the time. Such is the nature of the beast. It’s survival of the fittest, healthy competition, may the best man win. So you would think, when the cream rises to the top and a company takes... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brandon (BJ) Mendelson – Author of Social Media is Bullshit If you are one of the lucky few that has thousands upon thousands of twitter followers, congratulations….it means nothing. Your company has 50,000 facebook likes? Sorry, but they only did it for the coupon you offered them. You post the most amazing infographics on Pinterest?... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brian Orend, Ph.D. – philosopher, professor, author, speaker “War, huh – yeah, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing” – Edwin Starr (Lyrics to the song WAR) War is good for absolutely nothing. People die, civilizations are destroyed, earth is scorched, humanity is tarnished. It should be avoided at all costs. Why can’t we all... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Peter Webster & Kyle Robertson: Founders of iCare There is a major social revolution taking place right now thanks to social media and mobile technology. For the first time in history, it is easier to get one million people to donate $1 than it is to get one person to donate $1 Million. On top... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Mollie Marti – lawyer, author, psychologist, professor It’s funny how, as a child, you are amazed at how much other people know. Whether it be your older sibling, a neighbor, or your parents, the things they know are astounding. But as we grow older, something funny happens. We tend to focus our attention inward... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brian Dunning – Skeptoid podcast producer, professional myth-buster, author, entrepreneur. Did you know that 98% of all statistics are made up? Did you know I just made THAT statistic up? In an age of information overload, it’s very hard to sift through it all. For every question, I can find you two very convincing answers, with... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fran Hawthorne – Author of Ethical Chic: The Inside Story of the Companies We Think We Love There’s a reason why the largest corporations also have the largest marketing budgets. With all of the competition out there today, a company’s image is just as important as the products that it sells. For example, hear the word Lexus... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Linda McQuaig – Prolific journalist, critic, and author of “Billionaires’ Ball: Gluttony and Hubris in an Age of Epic Inequality” Don’t forget to use our amazon link for all of your cyber Monday (and future) purchases. Click here to go straight to amazon and get your shop on! How about a few fun facts, just to... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Richard Fine – CEO of Help Remedies/drug dealer (don’t worry, it’s legal). I had a long day at the office today and it left me with a raging headache. I sauntered to the nearest pharmacy, stood in the painkiller aisle, looked at the plethora of choices, and you know what happened…my headache got worse. What... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. James Serpell – Expert on human-animal interaction, author, Professor, Director of the Center for the Interaction of Animals and Society. If you own a dog, I can almost guarantee that at one point you have found yourself having an entire conversation with them. You have sat down with your dog, just as if you... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark Malkoff – Filmmaker, adventurer, comedian We all know that guy. The ideas guy. The non-action guy. The guy that say’s things like “Dude, I KNEW I should have bought Apple stock when it was at $60,” or “I can’t believe that business stole my idea,” or “as soon as work slows down I’m going... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Richard Davidson – Harvard educated professor, expert in emotions, author and long time friend of the Dalai Lama. Do you know how long “meditate daily” has been on my to-do list? Probably twice as long as “go to the dentist” has been on yours. For me, the act of meditation represents everything that is... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ann Louise Gittleman – “The First Lady of Nutrition” Consider your typical day. You cook in your microwave, you call people on your cell phone, you work all day on your laptop – wirelessly connected to the world of the interwebs, you read books on your kindle, you listen to the radio in the car,... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reggie Freeman – Fire Chief, Emergency Management, CEO & President of The Freeman Group, LLC Catastrophe is all around us. Massive snow storms, excessive heat waves, floods, power outages and hurricanes are all part of life on earth. Whether you call it climate change, the zombie apocalypse or the end of the Mayan calendar, it is... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arun Chaudhary – First ever official White House Videographer This podcast is recorded exactly 6 miles from the White House. My day job office building is literally a pitching wedge away from the front steps of the President’s home. And yet, every time I pass those huge white pillars and that rolling green lawn, I... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan Haidt – morality, emotion and politics: “Morality binds people together into teams that seek victory, not truth, and it closes hearts and minds.” Taking the moral high ground is considered noble. Being morally sound is an admirable trait. But who determines if your moral stance is correct? Ultimately you do…don’t you? I mean, as this week’s guest points... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shannon Kaiser – travel writer, inspirational author, motivational speaker Sometimes here at SPP, we judge a book by it’s cover…literally. We will see the most recent NY Times Bestseller and we fawn over the author. The more designations, recommendations, and accolations (hey, it’s a word in Urban Dictionary) a person has, the more insight they... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Brian Wansink – Director of the Cornell Food & Brand Lab, marketing guru, author and MUCH more. The Boston Medical Center indicates that approximately 45 million Americans diet each year and spend $33 billion on weight-loss products in their pursuit of a trimmer, fitter body. I’d be willing to bet, if you are reading... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Creativity is like a fire hose. Once you turn it on it’s hard to control, it spews out haphazardly, and if you don’t have a firm grasp on it, it can whip you in just about any direction. The power that it yields is immense; however, one small malfunction can completely stop the flow and... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For most of us, our high school textbooks were nothing more than a paper weight. Maybe if we would have actually opened them, we wouldn’t need to rely on talking to smart people, but that’s neither here nor there. The main reason we didn’t care what was inside those massive bound bundles of boring (yay... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we cover some seriously heavy topics. What plays a bigger role in who you are, your experiences or your genetics? Are emotions strictly a biological response to an event, easily defined by the chemical that they are related to? Are we born as moral beings, or is even morality subject to circumstances? What... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s not the first time we’ve talked about it, and it won’t be the last. The human brain is plain ol’ amazing. For example, have you ever thought about where a memory is stored? Give it a real long ponder. Somewhere in your 3 pound ball of spongy tissue, memories from decades past are filed... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2. Don’t wait until you know who you are to get started. 3. Write the book you want to read. 4. Use your hands These are just 3 of the 10 pieces of wisdom that this week’s guest, Austin Kleon, wants to pass along. But wait…where is #1? Ahhh, good question. The first piece of... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices