Talks at Google

Master Certified life coach Kara Loewentheil visits Google to discuss her book "Take Back Your Brain: How A Sexist Society Gets in Your Head – and How to Get It Out," Her book weaves cognitive psychology and feminist theory with practical thought-work exercises to awaken new possibilities for all. Kara Lowentheil is a founder of The School of New Feminist Thought, and host of the internationally top-ranked podcast "UnF*ck Your Brain: Feminist Self-Help for Everyone", which has 50+ million downloads. A graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School, Kara transitioned from being an Ivy League lawyer to a life coach. Eight years after she stepped down as director of a think tank at Columbia Law School, she created multiple-seven-figure businesses, taught millions of women how to identify the ways that sexist socialization impacts their brains, and helped women all over the world rewire their thought patterns to liberate themselves from the inside out. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Author Robert Frank visits Google to discuss his book "The Economic Naturalist: In Search of Explanations for Everyday Enigmas". Why do the keypads on drive-up cash machines have Braille dots? Why are round-trip fares from Orlando to Kansas City higher than those from Kansas City to Orlando? For decades, Robert Frank has been asking his economics students to pose and answer questions like these as a way of learning how economic principles operate in the real world - which they do everywhere, all the time. Once you learn to think like an economist, all kinds of puzzling observations start to make sense. Drive-up ATM keypads have Braille dots because it's cheaper to make the same machine for both drive-up and walk-up locations. Travelers from Kansas City to Orlando pay less because they are usually price-sensitive tourists with many choices of destination, whereas travelers originating from Orlando typically choose Kansas City for specific family or business reasons. The Economic Naturalist employs basic economic principles to answer scores of intriguing questions from everyday life, and along the way, introduces key ideas such as the cost-benefit principle, the "no cash on the table" principle, and the law of one price. This is as delightful and painless a way to learn fundamental economics as there is! Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Stephanie Harrison visits Google to discuss her book "New Happy: Getting Happiness Right in a World That's Got It Wrong" where she draws upon hundreds of studies to offer a life-changing guide to finding happiness. Through an inspiring blend of art and science, "New Happy" could forever change the way you see yourself and the world. Stephanie Harrison is the creator of the New Happy philosophy. Her work has been featured in publications such as CNBC, Fast Company, Forbes, and the Harvard Business Review. She is the founder of "The New Happy," a company helping individuals, companies, and communities apply this philosophy in their lives. The New Happy's art, newsletter, podcast, and programs reach millions of people around the world every month. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Teach For America founder and CEO Wendy Kopp visits Google for a conversation with former Google vice president Sheryl Sandberg. From her dorm room at Princeton University, twenty-one-year-old college senior Wendy Kopp decided to launch a movement to improve public education in America. In this Talk, she shares the remarkable story of Teach For America, a non-profit organization that sends outstanding college graduates to teach for two years in the most under-resourced urban and rural public schools in America. The astonishing success of the program has proven it possible for children in low-income areas to attain the same level of academic achievement as children in more privileged areas and more privileged schools. Originally published in October 2006. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Emma Roberts and Liz Garcia visit Google to discuss Prime Video's new film "Space Cadet," premiering July 4th, 2024. Played by Emma Roberts, Tiffany "Rex" Simpson has always dreamed of going to space, but life isn't going quite as planned. Determined to turn things around, she aims high and with the embellishing touch of her supportive best friend, her "doctored" application lands her in NASA's ultra-competitive astronaut training program. In over her head, Rex relies on her quick wits, moxie and determination to get to the top of her class. NASA's program directors certainly take notice, but can this Florida girl get through training and into the cosmos before she blows her cover? Written and directed by Liz Garcia, Space Cadet is a comedy about the power of being yourself, following your dreams and shooting for the stars. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Monique Maddy visits Google to discuss her memoir, "Learning to Love Africa." From the remote mountains of Liberia to the epicenter of New York City, Monique Maddy's life has been an extraordinary journey from an idyllic community to the chaos of city living. But Learning to Love Africa is far more than an exile's dream of return. Sent to the west at the age of six by her father, Maddy has spent her entire life struggling to reclaim her father's dream of progress in his beloved homeland. In haunting passages that describe her schooling first in England and then in America, we see Maddy's gradual transformation from country girl to savvy intellectual. But her first attempt to return to the continent of her birth, under the auspices of the United Nations, leads only to embittered frustration when it becomes clear to her that the bureaucracy of the international organization will do little to actually improve the lives of Africans -- and will often make their already difficult existence even more miserable. Disillusioned, Maddy returns to the United States to attend Harvard Business School where she hatches a bold plan to start a telecommunications company in Africa. Rallying her fellow Harvard students, Maddy sets off to the continent of her birth once again. Learning to Love Africa tells the story of her battle against the corruption of African politics and economic life on one hand and the complacency of her Harvard intern team on the other. Unbowed by the obstacles in her way, Maddy tells a rousing tale of what it takes to build a business where the political framework for capitalism doesn't exist, and how to persevere in bringing Africa into the twenty-first century. Originally published in March of 2006. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Levy Rozman aka GothamChess, the creator behind the most subscribed-to chess channel on YouTube, discusses his New York Times bestseller "How to Win at Chess: The Ultimate Guide for Beginners and Beyond." Filled with practical and easy-to-follow tips for improving your game, the book includes over 500 instructional gameplay illustrations to help you better visualize the board. Levy Rozman, more popularly known as GothamChess, is an online chess streamer who earned the title of International Master in 2018. A former scholastic chess coach, he is passionate about chess accessibility, and has donated tens of thousands of dollars in scholarship funds for chess programs in education. He currently boasts the biggest chess channel on YouTube, where he focuses on creating fun and educational content. His channel has nearly 5M subscribers and 85M total monthly views. This phenomenal growth aided in Levy's transition from making straightforward tactics videos in his apartment to running live commentary at chess and chess-boxing events. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video."

Ann Cooper visits Google to discuss her book "Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our Children". Remember how simple school lunches used to be? You'd have something from every major food group, run around the playground for a while, and you looked and felt fine. But today it's not so simple. Schools are actually feeding the American crisis of childhood obesity and malnutrition. Most cafeterias serve a veritable buffet of processed, fried, and sugary foods, and although many schools have attempted to improve, they are still not measuring up: 78 percent of the school lunch programs in America do not meet the USDA's nutritional guidelines. Chef Ann Cooper has emerged as one of the nation's most influential and most respected advocates for changing how our kids eat. Ann has worked to transform cafeterias into culinary classrooms. In her book Lunch Lessons, she spells out how parents and school employees can help instill healthy habits in children. She explains the basics of good childhood nutrition and suggests dozens of tasty, home-tested recipes for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. Yet learning about nutrition and changing the way you run your home will not cure the plague of obesity and poor health for this generation of children. Only parental activism can spark widespread change. With inspirational examples and analysis, Lunch Lessons is more than just a recipe book—it gives readers the tools to transform the way children everywhere interact with food. Originally published in April of 2007. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Annie Eaton, CEO of the extended-reality focused company Futurus, visits Google to discuss her book "The Extended Reality Blueprint," The book dives into the discovery and product development process through an immersive technology lens. "The Extended Reality Blueprint" focuses on design for non-gaming or gaming adjacent applications in extended reality, or XR, including augmented and virtual reality. Annie Eaton is a leading producer of immersive content in the extended reality space. Many of Annie's clients come to her with the same questions, often not knowing where to begin as they seek to implement extended reality solutions into their business. Readers will walk through the XR production process and learn how to apply this technology directly within your organizations in a meaningful and effective way. Join leading businesses like Delta Air Lines, Mars Wrigley, Georgia-Pacific, and JLG Industries, and learn how top companies are leveraging XR for greater market share, engagement, and profit. "The Extended Reality Blueprint" delivers a concrete, actionable process for bringing extended reality into your organization and embracing this crucial technology to remain current. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Author Don Tapscott visits Google to discuss his book "Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything". In just the last few years, traditional collaboration in a meeting room, a conference call, even a convention center has been superseded by online collaborations on an astronomical scale. Today, apps, jetliners, operating systems, mutual funds, and many other products are being created by teams numbering in the thousands or even millions. While some leaders fear the growth of these massive online communities, author Don Tapscott's book "Wikinomics" proves this fear is folly. Smart firms can harness collective capability and genius to spur innovation, growth, and success. A guide to one of the most profound changes of our time, "Wikinomics" challenges our most deeply-rooted assumptions about business and will prove indispensable to anyone who wants to understand competitiveness in the twenty-first century. Based on a $9 million research project led by Tapscott, "Wikinomics" shows how masses of people can participate in the economy like never before. They are creating TV news stories, sequencing the human genome, remixing their favorite music, designing software, finding cures for diseases, editing school texts, inventing new cosmetics, or even building motorcycles. An important look into the future, "Wikinomics" will be your road map for doing business in the twenty-first century. Originally published in February of 2007. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Leading consultant and former Columbia University professor Eric Siegel visits Google to discuss his book "The AI Playbook: Mastering the Rare Art of Machine Learning Deployment." The book explains how machine learning works and how to successfully operationalize it. The greatest tools are often the hardest to use. Machine learning is the world's most important general-purpose technology – but it's notoriously difficult to launch. Outside Big Tech and a handful of other leading companies, machine learning initiatives routinely fail to deploy, never realizing value. What's missing? A specialized business practice suitable for wide adoption. In "The AI Playbook", bestselling author Eric Siegel presents the gold-standard, six-step practice for ushering machine learning projects from conception to deployment. He illustrates the practice with stories of success and of failure, including revealing case studies from UPS, FICO, and prominent dot-coms. This disciplined approach serves both sides: It empowers business professionals and it establishes a sorely needed strategic framework for data professionals. Beyond detailing the practice, this book also painlessly upskills business professionals. It delivers a vital yet friendly dose of semi-technical background knowledge that all stakeholders need in order to lead or participate in machine learning projects. This puts business and data professionals on the same page so that they can collaborate deeply, jointly establishing precisely what machine learning is called upon to predict, how well it predicts, and how its predictions are acted upon to improve operations. These essentials make or break each initiative – getting them right paves the way for machine learning's value-driven deployment. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Lawrence Lessig visits Google's New York office to discuss his book "Free Culture." Lawrence Lessig could be called a cultural environmentalist. One of America's most original and influential public intellectuals, his focus is the social dimension of creativity, or how creative work builds on the past and how society encourages or inhibits that building with laws and technologies. In his two previous books, CODE and THE FUTURE OF IDEAS, Lessig concentrated on the destruction of much of the original promise of the Internet. In FREE CULTURE, he widens his focus to consider the diminishment of the larger public domain of ideas. In this powerful wake-up call he shows how short-sighted interests blind to the long-term damage they're inflicting are poisoning the ecosystem that fosters innovation. All creative works—books, movies, records, software, and so on—are a compromise between what can be imagined and what is possible. For more than two hundred years, laws in America have sought a balance between rewarding creativity and allowing the borrowing from which new creativity springs. The original term of copyright set by the First Congress in 1790 was 14 years, renewable once. Now it is closer to two hundred. Lessig shows us that while new technologies always lead to new laws, never before have the big cultural monopolists used the fear created by new technologies, specifically the Internet, to shrink the public domain of ideas, even as the same corporations use the same technologies to control more and more what we can and can't do with culture. As more and more culture becomes digitized, more and more becomes controllable, even as laws are being toughened at the behest of the big media groups. What's at stake is our freedom—freedom to create, freedom to build, and ultimately, freedom to imagine. Originally published in March of 2007. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Everybody look around, there's reason to rejoice! "The Wiz," the Tony Award®-winning Best Musical that took the world by storm in 1975 is back. Based on L. Frank Baum's children's book, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," "The Wiz" returns home to the stage with an all-new adaptation. This beloved Broadway musical sets Dorothy's adventures in the Land of Oz to a dazzling, lively mixture of rock, gospel and soul music. Dorothy, a restless Kansas farm girl eager to see the world, is transported by a tornado to a magical world of Munchkins, witches and a yellow brick road. On her way to the Emerald City to meet the Wizard of Oz, who she believes can help her get back home to Kansas, she encounters the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion — friends who help her battle the Wicked Witch of the West and eventually learn that there is "no place like home." Director Schele Williams and cast members Nichelle Lewis, Avery Wilson, Phillip Johnson Richardson & Kyle Ramar Freeman make up the panel. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Fred Kofman visits Google to discuss his book "Conscious Business". Consciousness is the main source of organizational greatness. Conscious business means finding your passion and expressing your essential values through your work. A conscious business seeks to promote the intelligent pursuit of happiness in all its stakeholders. It produces sustainable, exceptional performance through the solidarity of its community and the dignity of each member. It also fosters personal fulfillment in the individuals, mutual respect in the community, and success in the organization. This book is the definitive resource for achieving what really matters in the workplace and beyond. Fred Kofman is an executive coach and advisor on leadership and culture. He is founder and president of the Conscious Business Center. In 2018, Fred accepted a position as Vice President at Google in charge of advising the CEO's office on leadership and culture. Previously, he was Vice President of executive development at LinkedIn. Originally published in March of 2007. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Andy Cohen visits Google to discuss his book "Design for a Radically Changing World." The book brings to light the impact of design on our everyday lives and offers innovative ways that design can help address some of the world's most pressing issues and urgent crises. From rethinking the future of work and the integration of live/work/play in our daily lives, to addressing climate change and revitalizing our urban cores, design can bring people together, elevate the human experience, and provide hope for the future. Reflecting on decades of design experience and offering unique case studies, Andy's book uncovers the design solutions impacting our lives and offers actionable advice for business leaders, designers, and all people to embrace the power of design to create a better world for all. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Mindfulness-based psychotherapy is the most popular new treatment approach in the last decade—and for good reason. Studies demonstrate that mindfulness practices can be effective tools to help resolve anxiety, depression, addictive habits, stress-related medical disorders, and even interpersonal conflict. Mindfulness is not, however, a one-size-fits-all remedy. Practices must be tailored to particular problems. This talk will outline how mindfulness practices work to alleviate psychological distress and how anyone can creatively adapt them to work with the difficulty of the moment. Dr. Ronald Siegel is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School, where he has taught for over 30 years. He is a long time student of mindfulness meditation and serves on the Board of Directors and faculty of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy. He teaches internationally about mindfulness and its application to psychotherapy and other fields and has worked for many years in community mental health with inner city families. Originally published in August of 2015. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

New York Times Bestselling author Amanda Montell visits Google to discuss her book "The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality." "Magical thinking" can be broadly defined as the belief that one's internal thoughts can affect unrelated events in the external world - think of the conviction that one can manifest their way out of poverty, stave off cancer with positive vibes, or thwart the apocalypse by learning to can their own peaches. In all its forms, magical thinking works in service of restoring agency amid chaos, but Montell argues that in the modern information age, our brain's coping mechanisms have been overloaded, and our irrationality turned up to eleven. Montell's book delves into a cornucopia of the cognitive biases that run rampant in our brains, from how the "halo effect" cultivates the worship or hatred of larger-than-life celebrities, to how the "sunk cost fallacy" can keep us in detrimental relationships long after we've realized they're not serving us. As she illuminates these concepts with her signature brilliance and wit, Montell's prevailing message is one of hope, empathy, and ultimately forgiveness for our anxiety-addled human selves. If you have all but lost faith in our ability to reason, Montell aims to make some sense of the senseless. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Chef Melissa King is one of the most exciting talents in America's culinary scene — with a unique cooking style that combines the Bay Area's best ingredients with modern techniques and Asian flavors. King visits Google to share her thoughts on current events, the importance of her visibility as a queer Asian woman in the culinary industry, and meals to make. Chef King recently won Bravo's Top Chef All Stars: Los Angeles Season 17 and was also the winner of All Star's Fan Favorite. She previously placed as a finalist on Top Chef: Boston Season 12. As a proud Asian-American, queer woman, King has a passion for supporting the community — working with non-profit organizations and LGBTQ+ charities such as The Human Rights Campaign, The Trevor Project, Black Visions Collective, Asian Americans For Equality and more. She was honored as a Celebrity Grand Marshal for San Francisco Pride and has modeled for Levi's Strauss Co. in a global campaign advocating for the LGBTQ+ community. Originally published in June of 2020. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Triple board certified physician Dr. Romie Mushtaq visits Google to discuss her bestselling book, "The Busy Brain Cure: The Eight-Week Plan to Find Focus, Tame Anxiety, and Sleep Again." The book sheds light on the science of chronic stress and neuroinflammation for high-performing individuals who need a lasting cure for their busy brain, and is a culmination of 20-plus years of clinical research as a brain doctor and experience in corporate wellness as a Chief Wellness Officer. Dr. Romie is a triple board-certified physician, award-winning speaker, and nationally recognized wellness expert. She brings together over 2 decades of leadership in neurology, integrative medicine, and mindfulness and is on a mission to transform mental health and wellness in the workplace. Dr. Romie speaks and consults with Fortune 500 leaders, professional athletes, and global associations on performance, leadership, and mental health for individuals and teams. She entered neurology at a time when less than 5% of brain doctors were women and faced both career burnout and life-saving surgery. She spent the last decade researching the negative impact of stress and burnout on workplace cultures, team performance, and finding ways to help high-performing leaders. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Taylor Conroy is a disruptive social entrepreneur. Taylor has been a professional firefighter, a real estate entrepreneur, and a bodybuilder. He has studied with Zen monks in Japan, run with the bulls in Spain, explored every continent on earth including Antarctica, and surfed the longest wave in the world in Peru. He has also filmed documentaries in the red light district of Cambodia to combat sex trafficking, the Ecuadorian Amazon to catalyze microfinance, and the jungles of Uganda as an activist for human rights. He is the co-founder of Journey, an impact travel company bringing groups of people on international trips to build homes, renovate schools, coach women's collectives, and aid refugees, transforming both the communities they visit and the travelers they engage. Listen to this Talk to learn how to travel with more purpose, help communities in need and get connected with an international family of like-minded individuals. Originally published in November of 2016. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

benny blanco visits Google to discuss his cookbook "Open Wide: A Cookbook for Friends," where he teaches you everything you need to know about cooking, enjoying life, and throwing the greatest dinner party of all time. benny has contributed to the sale of hundreds of millions of albums worldwide through his work with artists including Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Katy Perry, The Weeknd, Maroon 5, Sia, and many more. As a solo artist, benny has released two platinum albums that have been streamed more than 11 billion times to date and have featured multiple multi-platinum hits. benny made his TV debut playing a fictionalized version of himself on the FXX series "Dave" with Lil Dicky, which has become the #1 comedy on FX and FXX. His longtime friendship with acclaimed chef Matty Matheson has spawned two massively viral online food series, "Matty & Benny Eat Out America" and "Stupid F*cking Cooking Show." Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

As part of our Pride at Google Speaker Series, actor and activist Wilson Cruz visits Google to discuss his involvement with LGBT advocacy throughout his career. It all began in 1995, when he starred in a groundbreaking drama, My So-Called Life. He also has appeared in Grey's Anatomy, He's Just Not That Into You, Noah's Arc, The West Wing, RENT, Party of Five and Ally McBeal. Wilson currently serves as a full-time GLAAD staff member and national spokesperson. Originally published in June of 2014. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

World-renowned physicist Claudia de Rham visits Google to discuss her book "The Beauty of Falling: A Life in Pursuit of Gravity." Claudia de Rham has been playing with gravity her entire life. As a diver, she experimented with her body's buoyancy in the Indian Ocean. As a pilot, she soared over Canadian waterfalls before beginning her daily scientific research. As an astronaut candidate, she dreamt of the experience of flying free from the Earth's pull. And as a physicist, she discovered new sides to gravity's irresistible personality by exploring the limits of Einstein's general theory of relativity. In The Beauty of Falling, she shares captivating stories about her quest to gain intimacy with gravity, to understand both its feeling and fundamental nature. Her life's pursuit led her away from her dream of becoming an astronaut to an exhilarating breakthrough at the very frontiers of gravitational physics. While many of us presume to know gravity quite well, the brightest scientists in history have yet to fully answer the simple question: what exactly is gravity? De Rham reveals how great minds—from Newton and Einstein to Stephen Hawking - led her to the edge of knowledge about this fundamental force. She found hints of a hidden side to gravity at the particle level where Einstein's theory breaks down, leading her to develop a new theory of "massive gravity." De Rham shares how her life's path turned from a precipitous fall to an exquisite flight toward the discovery of something entirely new about our surprising, gravity-driven universe. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Kevin Jennings visits Google to introduce listeners to the "queeroes" who led the fight for LGBTQ+ equality in America over the past century. Featuring both familiar stories as well as ones you may never have heard before, Kevin's Talk will fill in the gaps in the history textbook you read in high school so that you leave with a fuller appreciation for the courage and determination of those who paved the way for the freedoms we all-too-often take for granted today. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Guy Kawasaki, Chief Evangelist of Canva and Host of the Remarkable People podcast, visits Google to discuss his book "Think Remarkable: 9 Paths to Transform Your Life and Make a Difference." Ever wonder what sets people like Steve Wozniak, Mark Rober, and Jane Goodall apart? Why do some people seem to eat, sleep, and breathe "awesome?" In Think Remarkable, Guy Kawasaki shares invaluable knowledge from more than 40 years of working with game-changing organizations such as Apple, Canva, Google, Mercedes Benz, and Wikipedia, and delivers insights from a collection of amazing interviews that'll kick you into high gear and get you ready to start showing the world your best, most amazing self. The book shows readers how to lead a fulfilling life by drawing on insights from working closely with some of the world's most remarkable people. Guy Kawasaki is the chief evangelist of Canva and host of the Remarkable People podcast. He was the chief evangelist of Apple, trustee of the Wikimedia Foundation, Mercedes-Benz brand ambassador, and special assistant to the Motorola Division of Google. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Renowned long-distance backpacker Andrew Skurka visits Google to discuss the gear, supplies and skills necessary to make hiking fun instead of a chore. Described by National Geographic as "one of the best traveled and fastest hikers on the planet," and named "Adventurer of the Year" by Outside and "Person of the Year" by Backpacker magazine, Skurka recounts what he's learned from more than 30,000 miles of long-distance adventures, most recently a 4,700-mile 6-month loop around Alaska and Canada's Yukon. Whether you're a first-time backpacker, an occasional weekend warrior, or a seasoned long-distance trekker, you'll love this guide. Learn exactly what you need to carry – both on your back and between your ears – for all seasons and circumstances through a show-and-tell of clothing, footwear, backpacks, shelter and sleep systems, and more, as well as through detailed articles on foot care, campsite selection and hiking efficiency. Skurka's practical recommendations give you all the tools and techniques you'll need to succeed on the trail. Originally published in April of 2012. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Productivity expert, entrepreneur, creator, and bestselling author Ali Abdaal visits Google to discuss his book "Feel-Good Productivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You." We often think that productivity is all about hard work, and that the road to success is lined with endless frustration and toil. But what if there's another way? In this book, Ali reveals how the science of feel-good productivity can transform your life. He introduces the three hidden 'energizers' that underpin enjoyable productivity, the three 'blockers' we must overcome to beat procrastination, and the three 'sustainers' that prevent burnout and help us achieve lasting fulfillment. Ali Abdaal started his creator journey in 2017 and has since amassed a following of over 7 million people across various platforms and newsletters, and leads a company with over 15 employees. While working as a doctor in the UK's National Health Service, Ali started to document his journey towards living a healthier, happier, more productive life on his YouTube channel and other social media platforms. To date, Ali's evidence-based videos, podcasts and articles sharing insights into the human mind have reached hundreds of millions of people all around the world. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Sarah Williams Goldhagen visits Google to discuss how the environments we build profoundly shape our feelings, memories, and well-being, and argues that we must harness this knowledge to construct a world better suited to the human experience. Taking us on a fascinating journey through some of the world's best and worst landscapes, buildings, and cityscapes, Goldhagen draws from recent research in cognitive neuroscience and psychology to demonstrate how people's experiences of the places they build are central to their well-being, their physical health, their communal and social lives, and even their very sense of themselves. From this foundation, Goldhagen presents a powerful case that societies must use this knowledge to rethink what and how they build: the world needs better-designed, healthier environments that address the complex range of human individual and social needs. Originally published in June of 2017. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Jessica Stone, Grant Gustin, Isabelle McCalla, Gregg Edelman & Paul Alexander Nolan visit Google to perform a song and discuss the Tony-nominated Broadway show "Water for Elephants", which is based on the critically acclaimed bestselling novel that comes to vivid life on Broadway in a spectacle-filled new musical. After losing what matters most, a young veterinary student jumps off a moving train, unsure of where the road will take him. He then finds a new home with the remarkable crew of a traveling circus, and a life - and love - beyond his wildest dreams. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Chase Iron Eyes visits Google to discuss ongoing efforts to prevent oil pipelines from being built at Standing Rock, recent revelations of corporate infiltration of anti-pipeline protests, and attempts to keep arrested water protectors free from prison. Chase has used his career as an attorney to advocate for Native American civil rights. He has served as a staff attorney for the Lakota People's Law Project, an initiative founded in 2005 with the purpose of ending the unlawful practice of removing Lakota children from their families and placing them in foster care outside their communities. In the summer of 2016, he joined with other anti-pipeline protesters near Standing Rock to resist the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline. Originally published in October of 2017. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Writer, broadcaster, and researcher Dr. Aarathi Prasad visits Google to discuss her book "Silk: A World History." In a tale that spans continents and millennia, Aarathi weaves together the complex story of the queen of fabrics. Through the scientists who have studied silk, and the biology of the animals from which it has been drawn, she explores the global, natural, and cultural history of a unique material that has fascinated the world for thousands of years. Some four thousand years ago, humans began cultivating silkworms. With it came a growing obsession with unlocking silk's secrets to understand how the strongest biological material ever known could be harnessed. Explorers and scientists, including groundbreaking women who pushed the boundaries of societal expectations, dedicated their lives to investigate the anatomy of silk-producing animals. They endured unbelievable hardships to discover and collect new specimens, leading them to the moths of China, Indonesia, and India; the spiders of Argentina, Paraguay, and Madagascar; and the mollusks of the Mediterranean. Rich with the complex connections between human and nonhuman worlds, the book not only peers into the past but also reveals the fiber's impact today, inspiring new technologies across the fashion, military, and medical fields, and shows its untapped potential to pioneer a more sustainable future. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Gary Small, a leading medical expert on memory and brain fitness, visits Google to discuss his book iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind. Never before has one generation experienced such rapid change in the brain's underlying wiring system, and the full consequences of this evolution has yet to be fully explored until now. Gary explores the remarkable evolution of the human brain caused by today's constant technological presence. The book separates the digital natives from the digital immigrants, and suggests that the Internet—with its virtually limitless wealth of news and information—is radically altering the way young minds are developing and functioning. In this era of social media, Gary Small's iBrain is an important guide to understanding the astonishing impact of this new brain evolution on our society and our future, as well as a warning of its potential dangers—increased mental illness, social isolation, Internet addiction, and more. Originally published in November of 2008. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Samuel T. Wilkinson visits Google to discuss his book "Purpose: What Evolution and Human Nature Imply about the Meaning of Our Existence." By using principles from a variety of scientific disciplines, Samuel provides a framework for human evolution that reveals an overarching purpose to our existence. Generations have been taught that evolution implies there is no overarching purpose to our existence, that life has no fundamental meaning. We are merely the accumulation of tens of thousands of intricate molecular accidents. Some scientists take this logic one step further, suggesting that evolution is intrinsically atheistic and goes against the concept of the divine. But is this true? By integrating emerging principles from a variety of scientific disciplines—ranging from evolutionary biology to psychology—Yale Professor Samuel Wilkinson provides a framework of evolution that implies not only that there is an overarching purpose to our existence, but what this purpose is. Nature seems to have endowed us with competing dispositions, what Wilkinson calls the dual potential of human nature. We are pulled in different directions: selfishness and altruism, aggression and cooperation, lust and love. When we couple this with the observation that we possess a measure of free will, all this strongly implies there is a universal purpose to our existence. This purpose may be to choose between the good and evil impulses that nature has created within us. Our life is a test. This is a theory that has been espoused by so many of the world's religions. From a certain framework, these aspects of human nature—including how evolution shaped us—are evidence for the existence of the divine, not against it. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Amy Larkin visits Google to discuss her book, "Environmental Debt." For decades, politicians and business leaders alike told the American public that today's challenge was growing the economy, and that environmental protection could be left to future generations. Now in the wake of billions of dollars in costs associated with coastal devastation from hurricanes, rampant wildfires across the West, and groundwater contamination from drilling, it's becoming increasingly clear that yesterday's carefree attitude about the environment has morphed into a financial crisis of epic proportions. Amy Larkin has been at the forefront of the fight for the environment for years, and in "Environmental Debt" she argues that the costs of global warming, extreme weather, pollution and other forms of environmental debt are wreaking havoc on the global economy. Synthesizing complex ideas, she pulls back the curtain on some of the biggest cultural touchstones of the environmental debate, revealing how, for instance, despite coal's relative fame as a 'cheap' energy source, ordinary Americans pay $350 billion a year for coal's damage in business-related expenses, polluted watersheds, and in healthcare costs. And the problem stretches far beyond our borders: deforestation from twenty years ago in Thailand caused catastrophic flooding in 2011, and cost Toyota 3.4 percent of its annual production while causing tens of thousands of workers to lose jobs in three different countries. Provocative and hard-hitting, "Environmental Debt" sweeps aside the false choices of today's environmental debate, and shows how to revitalize the economy through nature's bounty. Originally published in August of 2013. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Globally recognized investor Simran Kaur visits Google to discuss her book "Girls That Invest: Your Guide to Financial Independence through Shares and Stocks." The book is a step-by-step guide to financial independence from the creator of the investing education podcast, Girls That Invest. With only 15 to 25 percent of women investing, Simran founded Girls That Invest, a multi-million dollar media company that has amassed over six million podcast downloads and has become the world's #1 investing podcast for women. As a Forbes 30 under 30, Global Cartier Women in Business Fellow and finalist for Young New Zealander of the Year, Simran's work has been featured on TEDx US, Forbes, Vogue, Business Insider, and a billboard in Times Square where she rang the NASDAQ opening bell for International Day of the Girl. Her mission is simple: Putting money into the hands of women. Simran spoke at the UK Houses of Parliament for International Women's Day in March 2023. Her best-selling book, Girls That Invest, has topped charts in the USA, Canada, UK and New Zealand and her podcast is listened to in over 150 countries, demonstrating the need for more investing education tailored to help tackle the wealth gap women are facing. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Sarah Miller Caldicott, the great grand-niece of Thomas Edison, visits Google to discuss her book "Innovate Like Edison: The Five Step System for Breakthrough Business Success." Thomas Edison is counted among the greatest innovators in American history. Edison's focus on practical accomplishment set the stage for America's global leadership in innovation. Now, for the first time ever, "Innovate Like Edison" translates the best practices of this supreme American inventor into contemporary terms to help today's leaders harness their own innovative potential. With her unique insight and expertise, Caldicott introduces a carefully researched, easy-to-apply system of five success secrets inspired by the creative methods of Edison himself. Presented in a step-by-step fashion, "Innovate Like Edison" provides the tools and strategies you need to compete and win in the business world and in everyday life. Whether you're an amateur or an executive, "Innovate Like Edison" is a powerful tool that will enable you to revamp and revitalize your own creative genius and thrive in today's culture of innovation. Originally published in February, 2008. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Professors Bob Sutton and Huggy Rao visit Google to discuss their book "The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and the Wrong Things Harder." This book is a useful guide to eliminating the forces that make it harder, more complicated, or downright impossible to get things done in organizations. Every organization is plagued by destructive friction. Yet some forms of friction are incredibly useful, and leaders who attempt to improve workplace efficiency often make things even worse. Drawing from seven years of hands-on research, Sutton and Rao teach readers how to become "friction fixers." Sutton and Rao unpack how skilled friction fixers think and act like trustees of each others' time. They provide friction forensics to help readers identify where to avert and repair bad organizational friction and where to maintain and inject good friction. The heart of the book digs into the causes and solutions for five of the most common and damaging friction troubles: oblivious leaders, addition sickness, broken connections, jargon monoxide, and fast & frenzied people and teams. Sound familiar? Sutton and Rao are here to help. They wrap things up with lessons for leading your own friction project, including linking little things to big things; the power of civility, caring, and love for propelling designs and repairs; and embracing the mess that is an inevitable part of the process. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Sara Mednick visits Google to discuss her book, "Take a Nap! Change Your Life." Imagine a product that increases alertness, boosts creativity, reduces stress, improves perception, stamina, motor skills, and accuracy, helps you make better decisions, keeps you looking younger, aids in weight loss, reduces the risk of heart attack, elevates your mood, and strengthens memory. Now imagine that this product is nontoxic, has no dangerous side effects, and, best of all, is absolutely free. This miracle drug is, in fact, nothing more than the nap: the right nap at the right time. Sara Mednik's book Take a Nap! details a scientifically-based breakthrough program that shows how we can fight the fatigue epidemic through a custom-designed nap. The book explains the five stages of the sleep cycle, particularly Stage Two, or Slow Wave Sleep, and REM, and the benefits each one provides; how to assess your tiredness and set up a personal sleep profile; and how to neutralize the voice in your head that tells you napping is a sign of laziness. Using the unique Nap Wheel on the cover and interior graphs and charts, it shows us exactly when our optimal napping time is, and exactly how long we should try to sleep—even how it's possible to design a nap to inspire creativity one day, and the next day design one to help us with our memory. There are tips on how to create the right nap environment, a 16-step technique for falling asleep, a six-week napping workbook, and more. Originally published in November of 2007. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Neuroscience specialist Stefanie Faye visits Google to discuss neurophysiology and its connection to mental health, drawing from her book Biomechanics of Human Communication: Neurophysiology, Regulation, and Systems Thinking. Stefanie Faye is a neuroscience specialist with expertise in optimizing learning, performance, attentional control, cognitive flexibility, and emotional regulation using biofeedback, neurotechnology, cognitive training and frameworks that integrate childhood experiences and family systems. Her graduate degree from New York University focused on neuroplasticity, empathy and emotion regulation. She has worked as a counselor, cognitive trainer, reading therapist, research analyst, coordinator of learning programs, and has analyzed many physiological aspects of nervous system states and brain functioning including electric conductance of the skin, facial electromyography, heart rate variability and quantitative electro-encephalography. She integrates all of this with her experience training in monasteries with meditation masters from Vietnam, India and West Africa. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Major General Tammy Smith discusses her background as a member of the LGBTQ+ community in the US military, her experience as the highest ranking and first out-and-proud Major General, and what her leadership means to the LGBTQ+ community at large. Tammy Smith is a recently retired Army Major General. At the conclusion of her 35 year career, she was serving at the Pentagon as the Military Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of the Army, the US military's largest service branch with over one million personnel in the Active, National Guard and Reserve force. Upon her promotion to Brigadier General in 2012, mere months after the repeal of Don't Ask/Don't Tell, Smith gained unexpected visibility as the US military's first openly LGBTQ+ General Flag officer. Rather than downplaying the significance of this unanticipated status, Tammy leveraged her role by promoting inclusion and diversity in the Army and Department of Defense, contributing to a culture of acceptance and trust in a post-Don't Ask/Don't Tell military. Originally published in July of 2021. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Professor of psychology and neuroscience Charan Ranganath visits Google to discuss his book "Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory's Power to Hold on to What Matters." The book reveals the powerful role memory plays in nearly every aspect of our lives, from recalling faces and names, to learning, decision-making, trauma, and healing. A new understanding of memory is emerging from the latest scientific research. Memory is not quite the repository of the past that we can tap into as we wish. It is actually a highly transformative power, active at all times, that shapes our present in often secretive and sometimes destructive ways. We are in many ways creatures of memory and only when we understand the mechanisms of memory can we truly understand ourselves and our motivations, and use our knowledge of those mechanisms to our advantage while avoiding their pitfalls. Why We Remember teaches the principles behind memory storage and retrieval, and explains how our memories are always changing. It reveals how these processes affect what we think we know about ourselves and how we make decisions. Memory is designed to be selective, meaningful, and malleable. When we understand how memory works, we can cut through the clutter and remember the things we want to remember. We can not only remember more—we can remember better. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Mary Roach visits Google to discuss her book "Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law." What's to be done about a jaywalking moose? A bear caught breaking and entering? A murderous tree? Three hundred years ago, animals that broke the law would be assigned legal representation and put on trial. These days, the answers are best found not in jurisprudence but in science: the curious science of human-wildlife conflict, a discipline at the crossroads of human behavior and wildlife biology. Mary Roach is the author of six New York Times bestsellers, including "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers"; "Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal", and "Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void." Her books have been published in 21 languages, and her second book, "Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife", was a New York Times Notable Book. Mary has written for National Geographic, Wired, The New York Times Magazine, and the Journal of Clinical Anatomy, among others. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Olympic gold medalist, activist, author, and podcast host Abby Wambach visits Google to discuss her journey, career and International Women's Day. Abby Wambach is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, FIFA World Cup Champion, and six-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award. She was the United States' leading scorer in the 2007 and 2011 Women's World Cup tournaments and the 2004 and 2012 Olympics. She is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller "Wolfpack", and the forthcoming children's book "The Wolfpack Way". Abby is also the host of "Abby's Places" on ESPN+, in which she showcases what makes her beloved sport of soccer a worldwide sensation. Abby also co-hosts the award-winning, critically acclaimed "We Can Do Hard Things" podcast with her wife Glennon Doyle and her sister Amanda Doyle. She is a co-founder and part-owner of Angel City FC, the first majority-female-owned soccer team in history, and is a member of the Board of Directors for the all-women-led nonprofit organization Together Rising. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Sarah Lux-Lee visits Google to discuss Mindr and strategies for building belonging in the workplace through impactful employee communities, a culture of mentorship, and meaningful virtual connections. Mindr is a workforce development organization that builds belonging in the world's leading workplaces. Their custom technology platform, events and strategic consulting services foster strong and impactful communities, including women's initiatives, Black professional networks, working parent circles, Pride communities, and groups recognizing other diversity dimensions and shared experiences. Mindr has elevated underrepresented voices at Google, Facebook, Citibank, NASA, the United Nations, and many other leading organizations. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Chef, nutrition coach and former molecular biologist Kanchan Koya visits Google to discuss her cookbook "Spice Spice Baby" and her podcast "Radical Vitality", where she uses science-backed evidence to encourage the use of food, spices and holistic lifestyle changes as our best preventative medicine. Kanchan Koya is a chef, author, podcast host and nutrition coach, specializing in championing the science-backed benefits of ancient spices to help people live a more vibrant, healthy and joyful life. After a stint in the Biopharma industry, Kanchan decided to leverage her expertise in science and love of food to create Spice Spice Baby, a platform dedicated to highlighting food as medicine and the benefits of spices from a science perspective. Kanchan is also the host and co-producer of the podcast "Radical Vitality," offering tangible tips and tools for increased wellness and vitality while also integrating cutting-edge science with ancient wisdom. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Rudrani Chettri visits Google to discuss her journey as a champion for LGBTQ rights in India, and how her initiatives are helping shape a new generation. A transgender Delhi native, Rudrani Chettri has spent over 10 years spreading awareness and fighting for LGBTQ+ rights in India. She founded MITR Trust in 2005 with an aim to reduce the risks of HIV and other sexually-transmitted infections and in 2015, she founded BOLD, the first transgender modeling agency in India. Rudrani is a national consultant for organizations such as the National AIDS Control Program, HIV AIDS Alliance India, and Global fund for Tuberculosis and Malaria. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Bestselling author, media pioneer, and curator of TED for over twenty years, Chris Anderson visits Google to discuss his book "Infectious Generosity: The Ultimate Idea Worth Spreading." The book explores one of humankind's defining but overlooked impulses, and how we can super-charge its potential to build a hopeful future. Let's face it: Recent years have been tough on optimists. Hopes that the Internet might bring people together have been crushed by the ills of social media. Is there a way back? As the head of TED, Chris Anderson has had a ringside view of the world's boldest thinkers sharing their most uplifting ideas. Inspired by them, he believes that it's within our grasp to turn outrage back into optimism. It all comes down to reimagining one of the most fundamental human virtues: generosity. What if generosity could become infectious generosity? Anderson's book offers a playbook for how to embark on our own generous acts—whether gifts of money, time, talent, connection, or kindness—and to prime them to have self-replicating, even world-changing, impact. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Julie Lythcott-Haims visits Google to discuss her book "Your Turn: How to Be an Adult". In the twentieth century, psychologists came up with five markers of adulthood: finish your education, get a job, leave home, marry, and have children. But early adulthood for members of the Millennial and Gen Z generations looks a lot different. Those old markers are valid choices, but any one person's choices along those lines do not make them more or less an adult. In "Your Turn," Julie exposes her own veins, dropping any pretense of authority about her subject and instead leads with disarming vulnerability. The result: A remarkable, comprehensive, loving, useful guide to living a more authentic adulthood from a leading voice in parenting. It turns out that being an adult is not about any particular checklist; it is, instead, a process—one you can get progressively better at over time. Once you begin to practice it, being an adult becomes the most complicated yet also the most abundantly rewarding and natural thing. For anyone struggling with #adulting, "Your Turn" shares a path replete with actionable items that leads to joy and fulfillment. Originally published in May of 2021. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Award-winning actress and singer Danielle Brooks visits Google to discuss her journey, career, and her Oscar nominated performance as Sofia in the highly acclaimed film "The Color Purple." Danielle rose to prominence for her portrayal of "Taystee" on the popular Netflix series Orange Is The New Black, for which she was nominated for an NAACP Image Award. In 2019, Danielle released her four-track EP entitled Four. She co-wrote the four songs, including "Seasons," which was featured in the series finale of Orange is the New Black. In 2022, she co-founded "Black Women on Broadway" and held its inaugural awards, which honors the legacy of Black Women's contributions to theater. She currently stars in "The Color Purple," the feature film adaption of the distinguished Broadway musical. Danielle reprises her iconic role of 'Sofia,' portraying another powerhouse, memorable performance that has garnered her Golden Globe, Critics Choice Award, SAG Award, BAFTA Film Award, and Academy Award nominations for "Best Supporting Actress." Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Dr. Shanna Swan visits Google to discuss her book "Count Down: How Our Modern World Is Threatening Sperm Counts, Altering Male and Female Reproductive Development, and Imperiling the Future of the Human Race". In 2017, Dr. Shanna Swan and her team of researchers completed a major study, finding that over the past four decades, sperm levels amongst men in Western countries have dropped by more than 50%. They came to this conclusion after examining 185 studies involving close to 45,000 healthy men. The result sent shockwaves around the globe—but the story didn't end there. It turns out our sexual development is changing in broader ways, for both men and women and even other species, and that the modern world is on pace to become an infertile one. How and why could this happen? What is hijacking our fertility and our health? Shanna's book unpacks these questions, revealing what Swan and other researchers have learned about how both lifestyle and chemical exposures are affecting our fertility, sexual development and general health as a species. Originally published in August of 2021. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.